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A Stitch in Time: Quilts from the Collection
March 3 to June 13, 2010
Curators: Kathleen Motes Bennewitz with Karen Frederick and Sue Reich 
A Stitch in Time: Quilts from Collection of The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich The exhibition is curated by Historical Society Director of Exhibitions and Programs Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Curator of Museum Collections Karen Frederick and quilt historian, author and lecturer Sue Reich. This exhibition is generously funded by a grant from The Coby Foundation.
The exhibition, which will be shown in both the museum gallery and Bush-Holley House, offers a rare look at over twenty-five distinctive and colorful quilts made between the early and late 1800s. The selection of rarely exhibited quilts is rich in the history of the people and the town of Greenwich and illustrates the historical and technical aspects of traditional patterns and quilting, ranging in style from traditional, whole-cloth and white-work quilts to appliquéd and signature quilts. Greenwich women, several of whom were descendants of the town’s founding families, made ten of the quilts on display. Of these quilts, some were made and given for special occasions that link families together—births, weddings and deaths—and others for charitable causes or moves to western territories where quilts brought a sense of history to a new location and made the new dwelling home. This exhibition is generously funded by a grant from The Coby Foundation.
Image:Chimney Sweep/Album Pattern Quilt. Maker: Stilson Benevolent Society/Mead Family 1851-1852
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Greenwich Historical Society Community Artists Series
The Greenwich Historical Society Museum Shop launched the Community Artists Series on March 3, 2010. The program will feature selected artists who work in a variety of media and will highlight examples of their work that complement themes of the Historical Society’s rotating exhibitions.
Art has always been a major focus for the Greenwich Historical Society, whose Bush-Holley House in Cos Cob was a cradle for American Impressionism and the inspiration for many prominent American artists. As a renewed commitment to this artistic legacy, the Community Artists Series has been established to support and encourage contemporary local artists by offering a welcoming venue for the exhibition of their work.
Artists interested in participating in this program should contact
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or call 203-869-6899.
Stitches in Our Time - Carol Nipomnich Dixon
March 3 – April 27
Old Greenwich artist, Carol Nipomnich Dixon, the first featured artist in the Community Artists Series, exhibits a collection of over 25  works entitled, “Stitches in Our Time." The show highlights her embroideries and pays homage to the historic quilt exhibition "A Stitch in Time" in the main gallery. The artist's embroidered collages combine stitchery with contemporary found papers, fabrics, and objects. Ms. Dixon’s themes range from the Greenwich landscape to cultures abroad. The use of stitches, fabrics and "crazy quilt" or geometric patterns in her work offers a modern counterpoint to the historic quilts on display in the main gallery. A few recent paintings accompanied by embroidered interpretations of the same subject are also on display.
According to Ms. Dixon, "I create art because I love to do it, even when struggles are involved. I have been drawing, painting, sculpting, taking photographs and experimenting with mixed media since I was a child. I like to think that the child in me still appears in the art I do, along with more experienced soul, feeling, intelligence and wit, expressed in large part through color, texture, shape, and composition. Among my greatest inspirations are my Russian-born grandparents who taught me to embroider and work with fabrics; my most influential teachers, Reuben Tam and Leo Manso; my favorite painters Kandinsky, Turner, and Rothko; and my encouraging husband, John Morris Dixon, whose critical eye continually energizes and challenges me.
Image: Museum Visits, Embroidered Collage,13" square, framed, by Carol Nipomnich Dixon
Permanent Exhibition:
The Bush-Holley House is open to the public through guided tours. The house museum has a dual interpretation including documentation and presentation of two significant periods in the history of the house– the Colonial Period when the Bush family was in residence from 1790 to 1825 and the Cos Cob art colony from 1890 to 1920. Eight evocative, well-documented rooms tell a story of change over time, beginning with the turn of the century and moving backward in time to the Federal era.
Bush-Holley Historic Site is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail, a partnership of fifteen world-class museums and historic sites across the state. Discover collections rich in history and heritage, including European masterpieces, American Impressionism, ancient art and contemporary culture. Visit www.arttrail.org for information about member museums.
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