Monthly Archives: April 2018

Hill-Stead Museum Awarded Re-Accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums

Hill-Stead Museum Receives Highest National Recognition

Hill-Stead Museum has again achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public. All museums must undergo a reaccreditation review at least every 10 years to maintain accredited status.
Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over 45 years, the Alliance’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public.

Susan Ballek, the museum’s Executive Director and CEO, remarked: “Hill-Stead is abundantly proud to be counted among the elite group of museums who meet the rigorous standards for best practices set forth by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum’s Trustees, Board of Governors and staff are dedicated to preserving and sharing Hill-Stead’s rich collection of French Impressionist paintings and decorative arts objects with the public in perpetuity. The guidelines set forth by the Alliance ensure we are taking the right measures to care for our collection and engage our members, donors and community, ensuring this National Historic Landmark will remain a place for learning, reflection and enjoyment for people of all ages and backgrounds.”

Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, over 1,070 are currently accredited. Hill-Stead is one of only 19 museums accredited in Connecticut.

Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. AAM’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.

“Accredited museums are a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” said Laura L. Lott, Alliance president and CEO. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”

About the American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

 

 

Winners of the Rooms in Bloom Joyce E. Coughlin Floral Design Award

You voted, and the winners are…

We hope you had the opportunity to experience Rooms in Bloom this weekend and vote for your favorite floral arrangement. Hill-Stead is thrilled to announce the winners of the first annual Joyce E. Coughlin Floral Design Award, recognizing the top two floral designs YOU selected at Rooms in Bloom. Thank you to Scot Coughlin and David Kesselman, for so generously making this award possible!

First Place $1,500
Kathleen Schwartz Flower Design

Kathleen Schwartz presented “There’s a Wedding at Hill-Stead,” arrangements inspired by envisioning a Pope-Riddle family wedding. She imagined flower girls with ruffled dresses and ribbons and flowers in their hair. She placed a small circlet of flowers resting on a tray on the settee below Mary Cassatt’s painting, a flower arrangement in a footed compote on the dresser, two smaller arrangements flanking the clock over the mantel, and an informal bunch of flowers in the bathroom.

Kathleen Schwartz Flower Design focuses on the botanical beauty of stems, petals, foliage, buds, branches, berries, fruits and greens, artfully arranged to bring sensory pleasure to the experience. Their passion and intent are with local flowers, from seed to centerpiece, and the designs from nature they inspire.

Second Place $500
Haworth’s Flowers & Gifts

Kirsten Havelevitch and Sue Albair from Haworth’s in Farmington perfectly captured the masculine hues of Hill-Stead’s First Library with two gorgeous designs. Haworth’s Flowers & Gifts, LLC is a 4th generation florist located in the heart of the Farmington Village.

 

Special thanks to Christine Petit of Le Petit Studio for photographing Rooms in Bloom

2018 Fresh Voices Finalists Announced

Hill-Stead is honored to announce the finalists for the 2019 Fresh Voices Poetry Competition:

Vanecia Fultz
Jamie Masthay
Sarah Lewis
Elliana Branchesi
Ellis McGinley
Adena Ajike
Abigail Tyrrel
Lauren Dionne
Molly Galusha
Kennedy King
Molly Alexander
Kimberly McGuire
Daniel Diaz-Villafane
Alex Nordlund
Youssef Mezrioui
Rachel Justice