Dear Friends,
With only weeks-in as Executive Director, I am writing to thank you for your support through the transition and for your many good wishes as we begin a new chapter at Hill-Stead. With you with us, the museum is stronger and better able to move quickly in exciting new directions.
On Valentine’s Day evening, we hosted our first dramatic reading of Shakespeare in the drawing room. Known to many from their summertime outdoor festival in West Hartford, Shakespeare under the Stars, the performers of Capital Classics Theatre Company read, sang, and channeled pieces of Shakespearean love. At one particularly heady moment, I looked from the individuals to the walls – where the paintings seemed aglow – and thought about the marvelous artistic dialogue occurring before my eyes, a conversation spanning centuries and mediums. The words of Shakespeare, the actors interpreting them, as their musician accompanied, and all presented within a setting filled with magnificent examples of fine and decorative arts. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was sitting in – inch by the square inch – the most artistically creative room in Connecticut?!
For myself and my family, I continually seek out such sublime expressions of human creativity in artistic form. And one of my favorite parts of this new role is collaborating with colleagues and artists to create such experiences for our visitors. Our next event – Rumba Flamenca on Thursday, March 20, when the musicians will perform between the two Spanish- and musically-inspired canvases by Edouard Manet hanging on our walls – is something I eagerly
await. I’d love to welcome you to this event, or any of the other new offerings coming up: our Mixology à la Monet competition (February 29), at which guests will join in selecting the museum’s new signature cocktail, or our family-friendly sheep-to-shawl extravaganza on the first day of spring, March 21. This event, which we’ve aptly titled The Art of Shearing, stars the beloved sheep of Clatter Ridge Farm who graze our pastures daily and provide countless
moments of zen for those stuck in the perennial traffic jam on Route 4.
Looking forward to seeing you here!
Warm wishes,
Anna
Dr. Anna Swinbourne, Hill-Stead Museum Executive Director