Past Exhibitions
A Good Light: The Artist’s Studio in Cos Cob and Beyond
October 3, 2012 to January 6, 2013
To celebrate the restoration of the room in Bush-Holley House that served at various times as the studio of Childe Hassam, John Twachtman and Elmer MacRae, the Greenwich Historical Society presented an exhibition exploring the changing concept of the artist’s studio. Representations of an American art student’s Parisian garret, William Merritt Chase’s opulent Tenth Street studio in New York, Dorothy Ochtman’s view of her father in the studio they shared in their Cos Cob home and the repurposed farm sheds used by artists in Old Lyme: these and other paintings suggest the wide range of spaces in which turn-of-the-century artists worked and provide a cultural context for our own restored studio. The exhibition also presented the models for Childe Hassam’s work in Cos Cob and a sampling of work done outside the studio by Hassam, John H. Twachtman and Elmer MacRae.
A separate gallery was devoted to a travelling exhibition on loan from Chesterwood, (the home and studio of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln monument). Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios featured culturally and artistically diverse photographs of the “intimate living and work spaces” of famous American artists including (among others) the N.C. Wyeth House and Studio, the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, and the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site.
Generously funded by Deborah and Chuck Royce
and
New Century, New Eyes, An Exhibition Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Greenwich Art Society
Elmer MacRae in His Studio at Bush-Holley House
October 24 through November 18, 2012
The Greenwich Art Society was established in 1912, and its first secretary was none other than former Bush-Holley House resident and artist Elmer MacRae. To celebrate this centennial anniversary, the Greenwich Historical Society is partnering with the Greenwich Art Society to host a special exhibition that looks at the “Old House” with new eyes.
The premise of this unique exhibit was to ask artists to create contemporary works inspired by Bush-Holley’s period rooms, gardens and artifacts–just as Elmer MacRae and his Cos Cob art colony contemporaries did a century ago. The fascinating results range widely in style and media and include works in paint, pastels, modeled clay and paper, as well as collage, fabric, embroidery thread, and digital imagery. The works will be displayed in the Vanderbilt Education Center and the Bush-Holley House from October 24 through November 18, 2012. The public is welcome to the opening reception on October 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Kathryn Shorts
Vase, Bush-Holley House
oil
Mary Newcomb
Happy Peonies Under Window
acrylic on paper
Peg Benison
Journey to Color
digital collage
Carol Nipomnich Dixon
Sharing a Palette
oil paint and photo collage on wood
Kathie Milligan,
The Storehouse
oil
The juried show was coordinated by the Greenwich Historical Society and by Greenwich Art Society Board Members Michelle Rudolph and Carol Nipomnich Dixon along with by co-chairs Kathryn Shorts and Valerie O’Halpin. Award Judges were Leslee Asch, Executive Director Silvermine Arts Center; Angela Vecchio, artist and creative director, GNF Marketing; and Karen Frederick, Greenwich Historical Society curator and exhibitions coordinator.
Everyday Heroes: Greenwich First Responders
September 14, 2011 through August 26, 2012
In today’s parlance, the term “first responder” is associated with trained emergency professionals, but originally it meant literally the first person to respond in a crisis. This exhibition chronicles the history of Greenwich’s Fire, Police and Emergency Medical Services beginning with General Putman, one of Greenwich’s “first” first responders who, in 1779, rode to warn of invading British troops and whose image now appears on the Town seal, as well as on Greenwich’s Fire and Police Department badges.
The show delves into headline-making Greenwich disasters from 1873 to 2010, such as the Greenwich Avenue conflagration of 1936 and the Mianus River Bridge collapse in 1983, looks at the way first responders worked together to respond to these incidents and at how first response protocols have evolved as a result of experience and technology. At the very heart of the exhibition is an exploration of values underlying civic service, collaboration and acts of heroism by ordinary men and women who face the prospect of being called upon to risk their lives each day. Visitors will be asked to decide in their own minds what qualities define a hero.
Everyday Heroes has been three years in the making. The idea was originally put forth by the Historical Society’s Collection Curator Karen Frederick and former Curator of Library and Archives Anne Young. The Historical Society worked with Greenwich Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services representatives as well as town officials and community focus groups to further hone the show’s content. Along with objects, photos and ephemera from the Greenwich Historical Society collection and loans from the collections of the Fire, Police and GEMS Departments, Everyday Heroes features interactive elements including a revolving timeline and a hands-on gallery where kids can try on real equipment and learn what it takes to become a first responder. A simulated dispatch center punctuates how “sounding the alarm” has changed over time and includes an opportunity to “make” or “answer” a 911 call.
In the initial stages of the exhibition’s development, the Historical Society received planning and development grants from the Connecticut Humanities Council; a subsequent $50,000 grant was given in recognition of the exhibition’s educational and community outreach potential. An Exhibition Patrons Council also was established by the Historical Society to solicit funding, and Moffly Media will be the exclusive media sponsor for Everyday Heroes and its adult and family-related programs planned throughout the run of the exhibition.
From This Day Forward: Looking Back at
Greenwich Weddings
September 29, 2010 to March 6, 2011
Stitch in Time: Quilts from the Collection
March 3 to June 13, 2010
Once Upon a Page: Illustrations by Cos Cob
Artists
October 3, 2007 to January 6, 2008
Cherishing Our Past: Preserving Greenwich
History
January 17 to June 30, 2007
John Twachtman (1853-1902): A Painter's
Painter
July 13 to October 29, 2006
Greenwich By Design: Visionary Architecture and
Landscapes
January 25 to May 21, 2006
Cos Cob's
Surprising Modernist: Henry Fitch Taylor
September 30 to December 31, 2005
Flowers in Nature and Art: Constant Holley and Elmer
MacRae
May 11 to September 4, 2005
Intimate Strangers: Slavery and Freedom in Fairfield
County, 1700-1850
October 15, 2004 to April 17, 2005
Childe Hassam: Impressions of Cos Cob
June 1 to September 5, 2004
"No to
UNOville!" Greenwich and the Origins of the United Nations
October 24, 2003 to March 28, 2004