107. Miss Florence’s Boardinghouse and American Impressionism

In this episode, Mary Donohue talks to Curator Amy Kurtz Lansing about one of the most beautiful places to visit in Connecticut - the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. Did Old Lyme become the home to an art colony because of the good food at Miss Florence’s  boardinghouse or because of the soft, lovely light on the salt marshes along the Lieutenant River? The episode uncovers the roots of the Old Lyme Art Colony and also new exhibitions up now including Celebrating 20 Years of the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection, an exhibit that marks the arrival of 190 works of art in 2001, a gift that transformed the Griswold Museum, and a second exhibition, the Centennial of the Lyme Art Association Gallery , the museum’s neighbor, that partially recreates their 1921 inaugural exhibition in their shingle style building designed by society architect Charles A. Platt, designer of the Freer Art Gallery in Washington, DC and the Lyman Allyn Museum in New London, Connecticut. Florence Griswold was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

https://www.cwhf.org/inductees/florence-griswold

 

For more information and photos go to the website of Connecticut Explored at:

https://www.ctexplored.org/the-spirit-of-miss-florence-restored/

 

https://www.ctexplored.org/painting-with-needle-thread/

 

https://www.ctexplored.org/only-waiting-to-be-painted-the-inspirational-landscape-of-old-lyme/

 

To learn more about the Florence Griswold Museum and the current exhibitions, go to https://florencegriswoldmuseum.org/

Mary M. Donohue is the Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history. She has documented Connecticut’s architecture, built environment and pop culture for over 30 years.

 

This episode was produced by Mary M. Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan.

 

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