"Antiques Roadshow" Appraiser to Lecture at Old Salem Museums & Gardens

February 7, 2008

Contact:
Karen Jarvis or Jeanne Sturiale
Annese Public Relations, Inc.
336-722-1921

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Kenneth W. Farmer Jr., an expert on the appraisal and sale of American furniture and folk art, and an appraiser on the PBS-TV series “Antiques Roadshow,” will deliver the Horton Lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 29, at the James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium at the Old Salem Museums & Gardens Visitor Center.

The lecture is designed for participants in the sixteenth annual MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts) Furniture Seminar, which is being held on February 29 and March 1 at Old Salem.

Farmer, whose lecture is titled “Furniture Surfaces and the Value of Antique Objects,” has spent more than 30 years pursuing and gaining expertise in the areas of appraisals, antiques, collecting, and auction sales. He is the owner of Ken Farmer Auctions and Appraisals LLC in Radford, Va., which specializes in the auction sale of antiques, including American furniture, folk art, fine art, and decorative art, as well as real estate. Widely recognized as an “Antiques Roadshow” guest appraiser, Farmer has also appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as an appraiser.

Since 1975 Farmer has been self-employed first as an antiques dealer specializing in Southern furniture and folk art, and later as an appraiser and consultant to collectors and institutions.

Farmer holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory and Henry College and did postgraduate work at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

About Old Salem

Old Salem Museums & Gardens is one of America’s most comprehensive history attractions. Its three museums – the Historic Town of Salem, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), and the Old Salem Toy Museum – engage visitors in an educational and memorable historical experience about those who lived and worked in the early South.