Exhibitions 2011
Rooms With A View: 200 Years of American Design
Highlights of the exhibition include a Hartford Chest, Woodbury case furniture, and pieces made by Eliphalet Chapin, preeminent cabinet maker in the Connecticut Valley in the second half of the 1700s.The Victorian era’s spirited, luxurious forms will come to life in a recreation of the Luther White Parlor, a gift to the Museum from the late H. Wade White in 1957 of furniture, paintings, mirrors and ornamental articles from his family home. The new excitement in American design from the 1920s modern movement will be represented by the sleek and efficient furniture and household items inspired by the industrial age. The exhibition will provide an overview of regional design for both the experienced collector and the inquisitive novice.
The popularity of Clare Leighton's wood-engraved images has resulted in the extension of the exhibition through April 10, 2011. Opening Reception: Friday, November 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Connecticut artist Clare Leighton (1898-1989) was a leading figure in the revival of the art of wood engraving in the early 20th century. She was also a prominent figure in the art of illustration, providing pictures for her own writing as well as classic and contemporary literature. Born in London to an artistic family, Leighton studied wood engraving in Great Britain before moving to the U.S. during World War II. Settling first in Baltimore, she moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1943 and served as a visiting art lecturer at Duke University from 1943-1945. She came to New England in 1951 when she was commissioned to design a set of twelve engravings of "New England Industries" for use on Wedgewood plates. In 1952 she built a home in Woodbury, Connecticut and spent the remainder of her life there and on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She is well-remembered in the Woodbury community as a cheerful, forthright woman, a truly gifted artist and a craftsman of unspeakable courage, drive and discipline. During her career, she wrote 15 books and created more than 700 prints. The natural world and her surroundings were a continuous source of inspiration. Her timeless images reveal an abiding interest in and respect for the earth and those who tend it, advocating the virtue of hard labor and the rhythms of nature. On the surface, her subjects are simple working people -- the ploughman, the washerwoman, the net mender, the cotton picker -- but Leighton portrays them and their labor with dignity and reverence. Throughout her career, Leighton faced the challenges of bias against not only her gender but also the validity of wood engraving illustration as a legitimate means of artistic expression. Even against such challenges, Leighton persevered and strove to make her art original statements of spirit and aesthetic expression. Quiet Spirit, Skillful Hand will focus on the legacy she created within her art, her writing and her commitment to the field of printmaking. The exhibition was organized by the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina and is supplemented with works from the collection of the Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center and with works drawn from private collections. An illustrated catalogue, published by the Mint Museum with three scholarly essays will accompany the exhibit. A gallery guide, written by Marc Chabot, will tell the story of her Woodbury years.
18th Annual National Exhibition of Connecticut Pastel Society This exhibition features the finest examples of talent and creativity from across the country by over 100 artists. Jurors Sigmund Abeles, NAPHFA and Susan Powell of Powell Fine Art Gallery, Madison will award more than fifteen prizes including Best in Show, the Salmagundi Club Award and Allied Artists of America Award.
Waterbury in the Civil War: Letters from the Front
Residential development began shortly after the 1908 introduction of trolley service from Waterbury to Lake Quassapaug, where simple cottage colonies soon appeared. Public transportation also made it financially feasible to lay out the first large subdivisions near the border with Waterbury. Among these early planned neighborhoods were Hillcrest, Bissell Heights and Westview Heights—all carved out of former farmland within walking range of Middlebury’s easternmost trolley stop on Foster Street. As the century progressed, an increase in automobile traffic led to more development near the main east/west highway, which ran over present-day Route 64 to Four Corners (the intersection of Regan Road and Glenwood Avenue) before veering up Tucker Hill. By the 1930s, when residential enclaves like Stevens Road were developed, each property came with a private garage, now a must-have for those in quest of an increasingly universal American dream: owning a home in the suburbs. This exhibition is organized by guest curator Rachel Carley and illustrated with photographs by artist Avery Danziger. It is based on an extensive survey of historic sites and buildings in Middlebury undertaken during the last few years by Ms. Carley, an architectural historian. The project has been sponsored by the Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center in cooperation with the Middlebury Historical Society and the Town of Middlebury. It is generously funded by the Connecticut Humanities Council.
One hundred years ago, Waterbury was booming. And when fire destroyed the City Hall on West Main Street in 1912, civic leaders decided the time was right for a municipal building that represented Waterbury's growing wealth and position as America's Brass City. Their vision was to create a "Grand Street" with a majestic city hall as it centerpiece. They commissioned Cass Gilbert, then the foremost architect of great public buildings in the nation whose work included the Woolworth Building in New York and the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Gilbert was given broad support by Henry Chase, president of the Chase Companies, whom Gilbert had known socially. Gilbert designed a stately brick and stone building in the Georgian Revival style. The three-story structure is built of brick, marble and limestone. It is a true municipal building as it cohesively locates many city functions under one roof: a fire station, a police department headquarters, city courtrooms, aldermanic chambers and the mayor's office. Gilbert looked to the Federal Era for historic references when designing the building, though the result is larger and more richly ornamented than a building of the earlier era. The Municipal Building is set behind a public garden that is used as a ceremonial gathering space. One enters through a marble archway into a chandelier-lit lobby; a grand stairway leads to the upper floor as beautifully furnished as the lower hallway with skillfully worked cabinets and furniture combining harmoniously with the elegant richness of the floor and window trimmings. A witness to history, Waterbury's City Hall, especially its garden "entourage", served as a ceremonial gathering place. At the Declaration of War in 1917 men eligible for the draft gathered before the building, forming long lines along Grand street. Two years later, when the Welcome Home parade that officially marked the close of all war service was held the viewing stand stood in the entourage. In 1936 President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt were there, arriving for a political rally in Library Park. During World War II scrap metal was amassed in enormous piles in the entourage and scaffolding was built around the Municipal Building tower where aircraft spotters and air raid wardens kept careful watch. City parades routinely used the Grand Street route on July 4 and other special occasions. In the course of three-quarters of a century, City Hall serviced hundreds of thousands of citizens; it also suffered the wear and tear of such utilization. After years of deterioration and neglected maintenance, the building was threatened with demolition in 2006. Local citizens organized to save the building. In 2007, the Waterbury Development Corporation drew up plans to rehabilitate the building and the city aldermen approved the funds; the voters approved a bond issue. Much of the work was carried out in 2009-2010. The building will be re-dedicated with a public event on January 1, 2011. |
Rooms with a View draws on the long and rich traditions of domestic and decorative arts used in transforming our houses into safe, comfortable, and appealing homes. Interior design and home makeovers have become one of America’s favorite pastimes. Television channels are dedicated to the idea of making a person’s home reflect their individual needs, style and love of beauty. Our homes reflect our needs and tastes, our values, and our love for beauty. This story of home design begins in the colonial period and moves into the mid-twentieth-century. It brings together articles of daily use and adornment, fine arts and hand-crafts, furnishings and costumes to examine how our needs and tastes are constantly evolving. This is not a comprehensive index of design; rather, it features stylistic highlights and showcases seldom-seen objects drawn from the museum's collections along with pieces on loan from area antique shops and private collections. 
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