Robert and Nancy Krieble Gallery Grand Opening Fact Sheet
What
After two years of planning and one and a half years of construction, the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, one of New England's premier cultural attractions, opens the doors of its new riverfront gallery. The Krieble Gallery, along with the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection and associated educational programming, provides a much anticipated new resource for the state's residents while answering the demands of southeastern Connecticut‚s booming tourism industry.
Public Opening Tuesday, July 2, 2002
Inaugural Exhibition On view through June 22, 2003 The American Artist in Connecticut: The Legacy of the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection features selections from the former collection of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. Last spring, in a marvelous act of philanthropy, the company gave its entire holdings of American art -- 188 paintings and 2 sculptures -- to the Florence Griswold Museum. Visitors to the exhibition will be the first to view this newly public collection. The American Artist in Connecticut showcases the state's importance to American art history with over 80 works from the collection.
Project Leadership Jeffrey W. Andersen, Museum Director
Cost $5.8 million construction and sitework
Museum Gallery Committee
Rick Platt, Chair
Jack Becker
Rudolph Besier
David W. Dangremond
John C. L. Evans
Hedy Korst
Anthony C. Thurston
George Willauer
Steve Parent, Facilities Manager
Architectural Team
Centerbrook Architects Centerbrook, Connecticut
Project Architect, Chad Floyd, FAIA
Landscape Architect
Towers/Golde Landscape Architects, New Haven, CT
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer
van Zelm Heywood & Shadford, Inc.
West Hartford, CT
Structural Engineer
Gibble Norden Champion Brown
Consulting Engineers
Old Saybrook, CT
General Contractor
Burd Building Company, Old Lyme, CT
Civil Engineer
Nathan L. Jacobson & Associates, Inc., Chester, CT
Security Consultant
Ducibella Venter & Santore, North Haven, CT
Lighting Designer
Warfel Schrager Architectural Lighting, LLC,
New Haven, CT
Signage
M.A. Rumney Associates, New Haven, CT
Photographer
Jeff Goldberg/Esto Photographics, Mamaroneck, NY
Construction Management
Burd Building Company, Old Lyme, Connecticut
Architectural Components
The Krieble Gallery is dedicated in fond memory of former trustee Nancy Krieble and her husband, Robert, for their enduring commitment to the Florence Griswold Museum.
The design of the gallery presents an intriguing mix of American vernacular architecture. The barn-like forms of the three galleries evoke the rural Connecticut tradition of its tobacco barns and the beacon-like octagons suggest silos or even lighthouses, all elements found throughout New England. The three galleries soar upwards through large shading devices towards structural skylights, giving them a luminous quality of natural light ideal for showing paintings and sculptures, but without the damaging effects of ultra-violet intrusion. The aluminum-clad serpentine walls that connect the galleries and the octagons are meant to symbolically suggest the Lieutenant River that flows just beyond the gallery.
The addition contains a lobby, a museum gift shop, restrooms, three art galleries, art storage, an exhibition preparation area, a study center, and loading dock. It connects to the Marshfield House, a twentieth-century residence on a site overlooking the Lieutenant River, making, with it, a single facility that provides new space for art, visitor services, and administrative offices. The entire complex is linked by the Adrian P. Moore Garden Terrace that will be used for special events.
Funding for this project has been underwritten by over 350 individual donors, corporations, foundations, and governmental agencies to the ongoing Centennial Campaign, a comprehensive campaign encompassing capital and endowment needs. Thanks to the support of the Homeland Foundation, an entire wing of the Krieble Gallery devoted to collections storage and study is named for the foundation‚s founder, Chauncey Stillman. The center exhibition gallery within the building bears the name of charter trustee William E. Phillips and his wife, Barbara Smith.
The historic core of the 11-acre museum grounds is the Florence Griswold House, which faces Lyme Street to the south. This Late Georgian building housed artists who came to the colony in the late- nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. With the completion of the gallery project, the Museum is planning over the next three years to restore and reinterpret this landmark house as a boarding house for artists circa 1910. West of the historic house, a new entry road was introduced to bring visitors to the grounds, the new gallery building, and visitor parking without disturbing the historic landscape. New walkways, wide and accessible, lead visitors through the grounds and gardens and connect each building. Vehicular and pedestrian signs also help guide visitors.
Project
Scope New Art Gallery Addition - 9, 500 square feet
New Exterior Porches - 1,500 square feet Existing Marshfield House Renovation - approximately 3,000 square feet
Total of addition and renovation - 14,000 square feet
Orientation Theatre
A Certain Light DVD plays continuously on a wide, flat-screen monitor to give visitors a 12 minute introduction to the history of the area, the life of Miss Florence Griswold, and the artists behind the Lyme Art Colony. The program is subtitled for the hearing impaired.
Publications
Accompanying the exhibition is a 144-page catalogue written by Museum Director Jeffrey Andersen and consulting curator Hildy Cummings. The catalogue, which retails for $29.95, contains 54 color plates. A special feature of the book is its 190 halftones, representing each work in the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection. An exhibition poster, 12 postcards and 5 notecards further reproduce works from the collection.
Exhibition Team
Hildegard Cummings, Consulting Curator
Rick Johnson and Lyn Bell Rose, exhibition design
Georgiana Goodwin, publication design
Sponsorship
The American Artist in Connecticut is generously supported by grants from
The Starr Foundation and the Connecticut Humanities Council.
Public Programming
New Collection Inspires Programs for Adults and Children
Highlight Tours
A new corps of volunteers known as the Art Gallery Docents will offer hour-long Highlight Tours of the new exhibition The American Artist in Connecticut: The Legacy of the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection. Coordinated by Director of Education & Outreach David D.J. Rau, the Art Gallery Docent training included intensive workshops and individual research projects and featured guest lectures. Highlight Tours are included with admission and will begin in the lobby of the new Krieble Gallery. There will be two tours daily at 11am and 2pm, and one on Sunday at 2pm. Please note that there will be a single tour at 2pm during January, February and March.
Open for Interpretation: Innovations in Museum
Learning Emmy Award-winning Sound Designer Jeff Jacoby opens this new series on Sunday, July 21, at 3pm. Jacoby will debut the soundtracks or "sound-scapes" he designed for several paintings in the new exhibition. Program will take place in the new galleries directly in front of the works of art.
Other artists to be featured in the series include Poet Sue Ellen Thompson, Physical Actor Seth Bloom, Percussionist Peter Hawes, Thespian/Educator Carol Glynn and more. The monthly programs are included with Museum admission and take place on Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
Words+Pictures with Storyteller-in-Residence Tom Lee
Pictures tell a thousand words, but they say even more when in the presence of the Museum‚s Storyteller-in-Residence Tom Lee. For the new exhibition, Lee will offer storytelling sessions in the Krieble Gallery based on specific themes and paintings. Performing seasonally, Lee will present a Thursday evening performance geared towards adults followed by a Sunday afternoon performance for families with children. The fall program will be on Thursday, September 19 at 7:30 p.m. followed by Sunday, September 22 at 12:00 p.m. The theme is Daydreams, Nightmares & Reverie.
Saturday Morning Masterpiece: Art & Art Appreciation Workshops for Children
Children ages 6-11 are invited to explore the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection one great work of art at a time. Each of the monthly Saturday morning sessions will focus on a single work of art. The gallery program will involve a fun art discussion led by a member of the education staff followed by a related hands-on art-making project in the Hartman Education Center.
Explorer's Guides and Kits offer Families Interactive Fun
Families visiting the Museum will receive an Explorer's Guide filled with gallery activities for the young visitor. Nature-loving families can also have fun discovering the gardens and grounds in new and exciting ways with Explorer's Kits.
Visitors Become American Artists during Impromptu Encounters with Art.
Free creative activities every Sunday from 1-5pm. These drop-in programs feature hands-on, minds-on activities for all ages. Visitors will have the opportunity to paint "en plein air" on the beautiful grounds with authentic art-making materials supplied by the Museum.
Museum
History At the turn of the 20th century, scores of artists flocked to Old Lyme to immortalize the area‚s abundant scenery. Florence Griswold‚s boarding house became the home of the Lyme Art Colony, where noted names in American Impressionism such as Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf and Matilda Browne created some of their best work. Today, this National Historic Landmark is recognized as the Home of American Impressionism and encompasses 11 acres along the Lieutenant River, an education center, a restored artist studio, gardens, the 1817 Griswold House, and the Krieble Gallery for American art.
Hartman Education Center The Hartman Education Center opened in the summer of 1999. The Center is built in the spirit of a barn/studio that once stood on the site. The light-filled, hands-on discovery classroom/studio/performance space offers flexible areas for activities, literary and dramatic presentations. Comfortable chairs, lights and music provide an inviting atmosphere for children, families, and adults to use their imagination to experience the world of art, history, literature, and nature.
Museum Shop
The expanded Museum Shop offers merchandise inspired by the Museum‚s collection, the architecture of the new gallery, and the site‚s lush natural setting. A wide selection of fine jewelry, art books, notecards, posters, children's educational toys, and fine crafts fills the new space, which is nearly three times the size of the previous store.
New Graphic Identity
As seen on this letterhead, the Museum has introduced a new graphic identity. The symbolic representation of the Griswold House communicates its importance as the source of the Museum‚s identity and history. "The Home of American Impressionism" signals that as the Museum moves forward in exciting new ways it remains connected to its artistic heritage. The new identity can be found on museum communications, exterior signage, publications, and new items in the Museum Shop.
Location
The Museum is located in Southeastern Connecticut, in the historic district of Old Lyme, Connecticut, just 2.5 hours from both New York and Boston. Exit 70 off I-95 at 96 Lyme Street.
Parking Ample parking and handicapped parking available.
Hours
April -- December: Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm; Sunday 1pm to 5pm
January -- March: Wednesday through Sunday 1-5pm
The Museum is closed Mondays and major holidays
Admission
Adults: $7.00
Seniors and students: $6.00
Children 6-12: $4.00 Children under 6: Free
Members: Free
Groups of 10+ $6.00 per person
(booking at least 3 weeks in advance)
Telephone 860-434-5542
Website www.flogris.org
Contact Tammi Flynn
Director of Marketing
Florence Griswold Museum
860-434-5542 x 109
tammi@flogris.org
|
