Programs

Programs

The Mattatuck Museum will be offering a variety of programs and activities this fall in conjunction with the Images of Contentment exhibit. Scroll down or click on one of the following categories to learn more:

Gallery Talks

Evening Lectures

Boat Trips

All programs are subject to change.

Gallery Talks

Fridays at Noon
Tickets are free to museum members, $5 for non-members.

Images of Contentment: An Introduction to the Exhibit September 21 Curator Ann Smith will guide visitors through the exhibit, offering an overview of the Contentment Island story.	Exhibit Highlight: "Fish Island from Kensett's Studio on Contentment Island" October 19 Assistant Curator Raechel Guest will discuss individual paintings in depth. A graduate of the Winterthur program in American material culture, she has taught American cultural history in several secondary and undergraduate schools in the region.
Vincent Colyer: Adventures in Art September 28 Madeline Hart, former Director of the Darien Historical Society, will present an illustrated talk on Vincent Colyer, artist, humanitarian and civic activist. A great friend of the Colyers, Kensett lived in their home on Contentment Island.	Exhibit Highlight: "Gathering Storm on Long Island Sound" October 26 Raechel Guest, Assistant Curator, Mattatuck Museum
The Nature and History Revealed in Kensett's Contentment Island Paintings October 5 David Challinor, Scientist Emeritus of Smithsonian Institution, returns each year to his family home overlooking Contentment Island. A respected author on our natural environment, Dr. Challinor will discuss the evolving environmental cycles at coastal Connecticut as seen in Kensett's paintings.	Exhibit Highlight: "Passing Off of the Storm" November 2 Raechel Guest, Assistant Curator, Mattatuck Museum
Seascapes of the New England Coast October 12 Thomas Denenberg, Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum, will discuss the images of the sea in American painting after the Civil War. Dr. Denenburg was the Project Coordinator for the Smithsonian's exhibit and publication Image and Memory: Picturing Old New England on the creation of the New England image after 1865.	Exhibit Highlight: "Shore of Darien, Connecticut" November 9 Raechel Guest, Assistant Curator, Mattatuck Museum

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Evening Lectures

Lectures will be held on Thursdays at 7:30pm.
Refreshments will be provided.
Tickets are $10 for members, $12 for non-members.
Series Tickets are $35 for members, $40 for non-members.
Contact the museum at (203) 753-0381, x10 for more information.

Kensett at Contentment Island
October 4
John Driscoll, Ph.D.

Dr. Driscoll is the author of several books on Kensett and is the Director of the Kensett catalogue raisonné. He is the Director of Babcock Galleries in New York City.

Creative Havens: Homes and Studios of American Artists in the Late 19th Century
October 11
Jack Becker

The curator of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT, Dr. Becker earned his PhD at the University of Delaware and has published a number of catalogues and essays on American painting in the late 19th century.

Kensett at Newport
October 18
Mark Sullivan

Dr. Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Art History at Villanova University, is the author of a number of articles and books on 19th century painting, including an article on Kensett’s Newport paintings that was published in The Magazine Antiques in November, 1990. He earned his Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College, where he wrote his dissertation on John Kensett.

Darien and Suburbanization
October 25
Herb Jannick and Ken Reiss

Dr. Jannick, Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University and author of the principal study on the history of suburbanization in Connecticut, will team up with Ken Reiss, President of the Darien Historical Society and Curator of their recent exhibition on the railroad in Darien, to look at the impact of suburban development in Darien during Kensett's time.

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Symposium
Kensett's World: Perspectives on Art and Nature

Saturday, October 27
9am to 5pm
Tickets: $30; $25 museum members; $15 student rate
Box lunch: $15.50
.6 CEU credits are available for teachers attending the symposium

Registration
8:30-9:00

Franklin Kelly
9:00-9:45
Keynote address: Sites of the Hudson River School: The Importance of Place in American Landscape Painting

Janice Simon
9:45-10:30
Images of Contentment: John Frederick Kensett and the Connecticut Shore

Roger B. Stein
10:45-12:15
Panel Discussion: Culture and Vision
  Katherine Manthorne
Kensett, Suydam, and the Passage from Antebellum Brotherhood to
  Reconstruction-Era Culture
  H. Daniel Peck
  Thoreau and Durand: An Unlikely Comparison

Spotlights
1:45-2:15
  Melissa Trafton
  'Refined' Landscapes and their Viewers: the Reception of Kensett's Paintings
  Huntley Eikenburg
  The Kensett Catalogue Raisonné Project

Dona Brown
2:15-3:45
Panel Discussion: Seeing Nature
  Rebecca Bedell
  The Anatomy of Nature: Geology & American Landscape Painting, 1825-1875
  Tim Davis
  Beyond Contentment: The Nature of Public Parks and Pleasure Grounds

Reception
4:00-5:00

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Family Activities

Ecology Kids
Saturday, September 29,
10:30am – 12pm
Ages 7 – 12

Get your hands wet in this exploration of Long Island Sound, presented by staff from the Kellogg Environmental Center. We will study Kensett’s paintings to spark a discussion about how the landscape and waterways change over time. We will look at watershed models and investigate the many factors that affect water quality and wildlife in the waters of Long Island Sound throughhands-on exploration and activities.

$5 for kids

Hidey Places and Secret Spaces
Saturday, October 6, 1:30 - 3:30pm
Ages 7 – 12
Susan Skipp and Rosanne Shea

A tree house, a secret rock or a quiet place, think of your own personal hideaway spots. Kids will be encouraged to create images of their ideal hidey places in this art and poetry workshop. We’ll paint and write poetry to create our own “poetic paintings” of secret spaces.

$5 for kids

Interpreting Nature
Saturday, October 6, 1:30 – 3:30pm
Ages 12 - 14
Mally DeSomma

Draw and interpret nature in this pastel study workshop emulating natural light and its effects on the scenery around us.

$5 for kids

Cheshire Day
Sunday, October 21, 1:00pm – 3:00pm

The Mattatuck Museum, in collaboration with the Cheshire Fine Arts Committee and the Cheshire Historical Society, presents a
fun-filled day of art and history based on Cheshire native John Frederick Kensett. Learn about life in the mid-1800s and what
Cheshire was like when Kensett was a boy. People dressed in period costume will take you back in time. You may even meet Kensett himself! People of all ages will enjoy presentations and a variety of art activities taught by Cheshire artists. We’ll explore drawing, printing and sculpture projects inspired by coastal scenes and the play of light, sky and water in Kensett’s paintings.

Cheshire Residents: $1 for kids, $2 for adults, kids 5 and under free.

All Others: $5 for kids, $5 for adults, kids 5 and under free.

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Boat Trips

Sunset Sail: John Kensett and the Connecticut Shore
Wednesday, September 26
Thursday, September 27
5:00 - 8:00 pm

The Mattatuck Museum, in partnership with SoundWaters, the environmental education center in Stamford, will present a sunset sail aboard a historic sloop. The 3 hour sail to Darien will search out the locations that John Kensett painted at Contentment Island, led by Curator Ann Smith.

A champagne picnic supper will be served by the museum's acclaimed Exhibition Café. Travelers are encouraged to dress in warm and comfortable clothing, with rubber-soled shoes.

Tickets are $45 per person, which includes the tour and picnic supper. A shuttle coach from Chase Parkway in Waterbury will be available for an additional $30, if enough people register.

For further information, please contact the Museum at (203) 753-0381, x10.

Reservations required by September 19.
Space is limited.

For more details and a photo, click here.

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Bus Trips

Please contact Nina Cherubino at ncherubino@mattatuckmuseum.org or 203-753-0381, x13 for more details on any of the Bus Trips.

Advance registration required.

Perspectives of Land and Sea
Sunday, September 30
10am - 7pm

Perspectives of Land and Sea begins with a tour of the Images of Contentment exhibit. Following the tour we will board a coach bus to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme for a guided tour of the exhibit, A Painter's Paradise, which explores "a sense of place" in artwork, maps and photographs. We'll finish the day with a delightful Connecticut Shore Supper at the Old Lyme Inn on the waterfront, with a menu choice of Fisher Island Oysters or Shrimp Cocktail and Mushroom Ravioli or Jumbo Crab Cakes. A boxed lunch will be provided on the bus.

Members, $125.00
Non-Members, $135.00

Intimate Engagements
Wednesday, October 3
8am - 5pm

Intimate Engagements begins with a visit to the Newington Cropsey Foundation Gallery and "Ever Rest", the home and studio of 19th century Hudson River School artist Jasper Cropsey, located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. See Cropsey's home, decorated as it looked in the 19th century, as well as a Gallery of Art with many of Cropsey's finest oil paintings on display. A luncheon will be served at Harvest on Hudson. Following lunch, we'll return to the Mattatuck Museum for a tour of the Images of Contentment exhibit. A boxed breakfast will be provided on the bus.

Members, $95.00
Non-Members, $105.00

Imagined and Painted Landscapes
Thursday, October 18
8am - 5pm

Imagined and Printed Landscapes begins with a guided visit to Olana, the breathtaking home of 19th century Hudson River School artist Frederic Church, located in Hudson, New York. This historic home overlooking the Hudson River is a magnificent combination of late Victorian and Moorish architecture. We'll return to the Mattatuck for High Tea and a tour of the Images of Contentment exhibit. A boxed breakfast and lunch will be provided on the bus.

Members, $95.00
Non-Members, $105.00

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Guided Tours

Tours are 2 hours each.
$8 per person with video, $6 tour only.
To arrange a tour, please contact Nina Cherubino at ncherubino@mattatuckmuseum.org or at 203-753-0381, x13.

Intimate Engagements: Visions of Sea and Sky

Kensett's studio on the Connecticut shore provided him with an intensely intimate engagement with air, light, clouds, water, rocks and foliage. These elements inspired Kensett to express in paint a place of private retreat and of natural communion. We will compare these paintings with historic images of the coastline through records of social history, such as antique postcards, period photographs and maps of Contentment Island. Kensett's intrepretations of the coast impart visions of light infused with sentiment.

Includes video presentation of "Images of Contentment: John Frederick Kensett and the Connecticut Shore."

Artist and Nature: Visions of Land and Sea

Kensett's paintings of the Connecticut coast give us an opportunity to identify different land forms: woodland, meadow, coves and tidal streams. We will examine the uses of the land and sea by commercial activities like the harvesting of oysters along the shore and the transport of people along the New York to Boston shipping corridor. These paintings impart the breadth and the radiance Kensett found in every nook of Contentment Island.

Includes video presentation of "Images of Contentment: John Frederick Kensett and the Connecticut Shore."

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School Programs

Teachers should contact Nina Cherubino for more information at ncherubino@mattatuckmuseum.org or at 203-753-0381, x13.

Shoreline Ecology: Yesterday and Today
Grades Pre-K through 5

This program will teach students to identify different land forms in the exhibit: woodland, meadow, coves and tidal streams. Students will examine the uses of the land and sea by commercial activities like the harvesting of oysters along the shore and the transport of people along the New York to Boston shipping corridor. The promotion of the nearby tourist businesses at Roton Point will also be discussed. Hands-on activities will include working with sea creatures, including live hermit crabs.

Coastal Connecticut Studies
Grades 4 through 12

Kensett's Connecticut paintings will allow students to examine records of social history: postcards, period photographs and maps from Contentment Island, to compare with the paintings. Leisure and work activities at the sea and shore will be the subject of class discussions as they search for evidence of the comparison between the activities of vacationers and working people along the shore.

Reading Narrative: Messages in Visual Art
Grade K through College Level

Student activities will build on and refine skills of careful inspection, discovering themes, evaluating subject and forming opinions. Students will learn to read narratives and messages in historic paintings, and will learn to describe what they see and to develop their own stories based on the content of the paintings.

Learning to Look
High School and College Level Art Students

This tour will build and enhance visual literary skills by exploring the different ways that the American landscape has been imagined and painted over time. Students will compare works in the museum's permanent collection with works in the Kensett exhibit, looking at changes in subject, mood and technique over time, and discussing historic events that influenced how the artist viewed the world.

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