The Magic of Christmas
A Festive Holiday Celebration
November 22 through January 4, 2009
 This joyous holiday exhibition is sponsored by Essex Savings Bank & Essex Financial Services, loyal supporters of the Museum.
PHOTOS from November 28 ---Santa!
 We promise even more magic this holiday season with a new addition--four Connecticut artists have been invited to create handmade decorations for a new collection of trees called, Handmade for the Holidays. These unique trees will be displayed in the second floor galleries of the Griswold House.
Director of Education, David Rau, chose the artists for Handmade for the Holidays based on their fine craftsmanship and infectious eagerness to be pioneers for such a new program. Not all of these artists make traditional ornaments, but each were willing to take on the project and use the Christmas tree as a new form to express their artistry.
 Craig Nelson is a woodworker and furnituremaker who transforms his leftover remnants of wood into intricate wooden snowflakes. Throughout the year, Nelson gathers his material, both common and exotic woods, and at times historic (such as wood left over from
reconstructing the Amistad) to make his snowflakes. In keeping with the notion that no two snowflakes are identical, Nelson’s tree features hundreds of ornaments with 70 distinct patterns along with playful wood curlings from his wood planes similar to those presented
beneath the tree as as holiday gifts.
 Dottie Netherton is an artist who has worked in the
time-honored tradition of paper cutting known as
scherenschnitte (pronounced shair-en-shnit-teh) for the last two dozen years. With cuticle scissors she has crafted hundreds of delicate paper confections to adorn this tree. Rows of colorful paper mittens hang side by side with cutouts of dogs, flowers, and stars. Self-taught in the art of scissoring, Netherton was born and raised
Pennsylvania Dutch Country where the centuries-old craft of scissoring is common. Although she began by following patterns, she quickly began cutting her own original compositions such as an elaborate Noah’s Ark and her cutting tour de force, The Twelve Days of Christmas.
 Jeffrey P’an is a glass artist who owns and manages Prescient Studio, a combination glass studio and gallery in the old Velvet Mill in Stonington. Having trained on the island of Murano, the glass capital off the coast of Venice, P’an is a virtuoso in both color and glass technique.
Although based on his sculpture and chandeliers, this tree was conceived, designed, welded, and clad in glass pendants especially for this Museum installation. The stainless steel armature holds nearly 100 pieces of clear flat glass several streaked with white or embedded with silver or gold. Like P’an’s signature vases, the tree allows light to passes through it, reflecting the colors, patterns and textures from all sides.
 James Polisky of West Haven is a printmaker whose tree, like his art, is inspired by both the beauty and the bizarreness of the everyday world. For this project, Polisky looked to the holidays for inspiration and conjured his own subversive blend of merriment -- a snowman sporting a black eye, a frail reindeer tugging heavy cargo, and a Christmas tree seemingly strung out on pure joy. Polisky’s ornaments are miniature silkscreened prints on cardboard...lush flat areas awash in vibrant and unusual colors (mixed by Polisky himself).
 Miss Florence’s Artist Tree is back this year with 10 additional painted palettes, bringing the count to over 90 artists from across the country who have donated works to this one-of-a-kind tradition. The 12-foot tree has become a holiday icon for the region. The idea of artists painting on palettes relates directly to the Museum’s history as the center for the Lyme Art Colony, and alludes to the doors and wooden wall panels the artists painted throughout Miss Florence's house over a hundred years ago.
 The palette artists’ styles and subject matter are as varied as the individuals. Oils, acrylics, watercolors, ceramics, and collage are used to transform the palettes into traditional holiday scenes, delightful landscapes, and more than a few surprises!
 In the historic rooms of the Griswold House visitors can see how families celebrated Christmas in 1910, as historically accurate decorations reveal homespun creativity and the use of surprising materials. The 1910 time period was an important era for the Griswold House, as it was the heyday of its use as boardinghouse for the artists of the Lyme Art Colony. Christmas was also Miss Florence’s birthday! She would have been 60 in 1910.
This joyous holiday exhibition is sponsored by Essex Savings Bank & Essex Financial Services, loyal supporters of the Museum.
Museum Shop
Open Museum hours (Tuesday - Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm to 5pm) with unique holiday ornaments, the latest, lavish art books, unusual items for kids, artful jewelry, giftworthy art supplies, and fun stocking stuffers for the have-everything and hard-to-please.
Holiday Hours
The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm to 5pm. The Museum will be closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, $7 for students, and, new this year, free to children 12 and under. This includes admission to the Museum’s other exhibition.
GALLERY TALK
Sunday, November 30
2pm
The Problem of the Palette:
Artistic Solutions Adorning Miss Florence’s Artist Tree
David D.J. Rau, Director of Education & Outreach
FREE with Museum Admission
 *FAMILY PROGRAMS EVERY SUNDAY
1-5pm
Joy in the Making: A Creative Approach to the Holidays
FREE with Museum Admission
Sunday visitors enjoy hands-on holiday craft workshops and creative projects that relate to the spirit of the season. For all ages!
 CHRISTMASTIME TEAS
Tuesday through Friday
December 2 through 19
2pm
Reservations required
$30 (members $25) Tea participants receive a voucher for 10% off in the Museum Shop (no additional members’ discount).
Enjoy our Christmastime Teas in beautifully decorated Marshfield House overlooking the Lieutenant River. Sip the Museum’s signature tea exclusively blended by Sundial Gardens in Higganum, CT. Fare includes an assortment of tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and a wonderful assortment of sweets.Register Online
Please Note: Christmastime Teas are very popular and sell out quickly, please make your reservations early.
 Book signing
Sunday, December 7
2-4pm
Meet David Macaulay: Book Signing of The Way We Work
Known for his best-selling book The Way Things Work, author and illustrator David Macaulay returns to the Museum to sign his newly published The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body, featured in the Florence Griswold Museum exhibition last year.
 Shop Event
Friday, December 12
11am-3pm
All That Glitters: Jewelry Trunk Show & More
Back by popular demand, this one-day event features the dazzlingly colorful handmade jewelry by Billie Beads as well as the sophisticated work of Kate Hines.
Other surprises in store!
Gallery Talk
Sunday, December 14
2pm
Welded, Screened, Snipped & Sawed:
The Talent Behind the “Handmade for the Holidays” Trees
David D.J. Rau, Director of Education & Outreach
FREE with Museum Admission
 *Teddy Bear Tea
Monday, December 15
choose 11:30am or 2:30pm
A Very Merry Teddy Bear Tea Party
$14 per pair (child and adult)/$12 (members)
extra people $7/$6 (members)
Register Online
Share the excitement of the holidays with your little ones at this fun teddy bear tea party. Enjoy stories and crafts, yummy FUNwiches and treats. Children can bring their favorite stuffed animal.
 * BETWIXT-THE-HOLIDAYS
The Pumpernickle Puppets Present
Sir George and the Dragon
Tuesday, December 30
choose 11am or 2pm show
$5 ($4 members) per person*
*does not include Museum admission
Register Online
Come and meet the Pumpernickel Puppets! These colorful puppets share the magical tale of Sir George and the Dragon with you and your young buddies. Geared for children ages 4-9, but fun for the whole family!
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