A Stitch in Time: Quilts from the Collection

March 3 to August 29, 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: Greenwich Historical Society Gallery Exhibit "A Stitch in Time"

Click here for more information

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
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or call 203-869-6899.

“Greenwich Revisited: One Hundred Summers Later ” Artist Ilse Gordon

June 23 - August 11, 2010

Artist Ilsa Gordon moved to Cos Cob 20 years ago and immediately became enamored with the local landscape. Early on, she painted a view of the Cos Cob railroad bridge, depicting the scene in blustery autumn. She later learned that one hundred years before, artists Elmer Livingston MacRae, Childe Hassam, and John Henry Twachtman (all major figures in American Impressionist art who stayed and worked at the current site of the Greenwich Historical Society) had also documented the life, light and sights of the region. Seeking to walk in their footsteps, Ms. Gordon sets her paintings in lush gardens and along local shores, and reinterprets these artists’ visions, incorporating European Impressionist, Japanese and graphic influences in her work. Her varied subject matter chronicles the passage of time, the few remaining farms in town, the ever-changing movement at Greenwich Point, and the course of the sun in its infinitely subtle gradations of shadow and light.

Ilse Gordon is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and trained at the Art Students League and the National Academy in New York City. She will display etchings, recent drawings, and small pastels and oils, with a special emphasis on warm-weather scenes. 

An opening reception for the exhibition is planned for June 24 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., and Ms. Gordon will host an on-site gallery talk on July 11 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. All works featured in “Greenwich Revisited: One Hundred Summers Later” will be available for purchase.

Image Attached Title:  Garden by the Sea’s Edge

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.