Below appears a tentative schedule of events for the 2013 season at the Eric Sloane Museum:
Calendar of Events at the Eric Sloane Museum for 2013
Re-use, Re-cycle, Re-purpose
Eric Sloane, the town dump, and re-imagining refuse
This year’s theme playfully links the site of the Eric Sloane Museum as Kent’s first town dump with examinations of how we re-use and re-cycle. Come explore this theme with us throughout 2013.
May 4th – Spring Power Up at CAMA. Discounted admission to the Sloane Museum
May 18th – Kent’s Town Dump and the Eric Sloane Museum
Historical Trash – Bill Tobin on the history of the Kent Town Dump
What Trash Can Tell Us – Making your own archeological discoveries
June 8th – Connecticut Open House – Art at Work – Repurposing Old Tools 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Free admission to the Eric Sloane Musuem
July 4th – The Annual Ringing of the Bells Ceremony @ The Eric Sloane Museum
July 20-27th – Re-use, Re-cycle, Re-imagine, Re-purpose– Trash ArtContest & Exhibit for kids and adults. July 7 – Opening reception & Making Toys From Discarded and Everyday Objects workshop for children & young adults.
August The Art of the Repair: Fixing, Mending, and Frugality
Sept. 28thEric Sloane’s Legacy:Kids Day at the Eric Sloane Museum.
Sept. Heritage Walk and Kent Iron Furnace Tour on the museum grounds
October Connecticut artists George Lawrence Nelson and Eric Sloane. A joint program between the Eric Sloane Museum and the Kent Historical Society.
For more information on any of these programs, please call the Eric Sloane Museum at 860-927-3849
Beginning in the 2013 season, the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum will have a table permanently set up in the Eric Sloane Museum. This will enable us to provide membership and other forms of information, copies of our newsletter, and press releases to museum visitors. Additionally, a small amount of items will be offered for sale to benefit the friends organization. Many thanks to Barbara Russ, Museum Assistant in the Eric Sloane Museum, and to Karin Peterson, Museum Director, for allowing us to place this table within the museum.
New Video Documentary Planned on the Life and Work of Eric Sloane
We are pleased to announce that the friends group has enlisted the services of Michael Bird, owner of MHBird Productions, to begin to videotape a documentary of those who knew Eric Sloane. The Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum will provide logistical and financial support to further enhance an oral history project begun by Barbara Russ. Over the years, Barbara has been conducting interviews with people who knew Eric Sloane. The friends group recognized the importance of Barbara’s work and understood that, because of the advancing years of many possible interviewees, her work needed to be accelerated and enhanced, if possible. To that end, Michael agreed to donate his time and services as a professional videographer to not only tape interviews, but to travel to the homes of the interview subjects.
This is an extremely important opportunity and project. We are currently seeking a person who might be interested in traveling with Michael to actually conduct the interviews as he will have his hands full in operating all of the recording equipment. Additionally, we are seeking to partner with an individual or business interested in underwriting the costs of this important project. Please contact Jim Mauch at 570-204-2906 or by email at [email protected] for additional details. MH Bird Productions can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 860-350-1134.
You are needed as a member of the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum. For a limited time, if you join at the Sponsor, Director, or President’s Circle Membership Level, you will receive a complimentary signed and inscribed copy of Aware: A Retrospective of the Life and Work of Eric Sloane. Help the Eric Sloane Museum and get a great book as a bonus!
Highlights from the Eric Sloane Harvest Celebration
October 6, 2012
What an absolutely wonderful way to kick off our membership campaign event! The weather had been threatening all week but, as if Eric Sloane himself intervened, the rain held off until the end of the day. Many, many people came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. We were all impressed with the quantity and quality of the early American demonstrators – Joe Buda showed participants how early woodworking tools were used, Bob Copolla was busy all afternoon giving tours of the iron furnace to youngsters and adults alike and playing games with our youngest visitors – and he somehow found time to teach them to write with a quill pen! Lance Kozikowski came to practice the art of tinsmithing and was seen throughout the day busily hammering and speaking with guests, Lynn White came with her husband Harold – Lynn created beautifully intricate lace and I am still uncertain as to how she has the patience to do so. Harold crafted exquisite redware pottery – including a fantastic platter depicting a whale. Elizabeth Wood demonstrated some serious dexterity, patience, and artistic craft crating baskets, and Samantha Guilbert happily spent the afternoon spinning wool and talking with her many visitors. Jennifer Blain flexed some muscle at the blacksmith forge, adding the clang of a blacksmith’s hammer on the forge, which added an ambiance to the event of which Eric Sloane himself would have approved.
The food was universally acclaimed as delicious, including hamburgers, hot dogs, and Noah Blake apple cider pancakes, complete with real Maple syrup. The Bischoff family rose to the occasion by manning the food, beverage, and dessert tables (as well as pumpkin sales and providing official photographer Grace – her work appears throughout this page) with the able assistance of Barbara Russ’s mother. Lia Brassord baked homemade Noah Blake molasses cookies which were phenomenal, and Elissa Potts was kind enough to come with a carload of delicious apple pies from her restaurant, Kent landmark Fife N Drum. Elissa is a supporter of the Eric Sloane Museum and the Friends group and was so generous to devote her time and 25% of the pie sales to the Friends. Carl Dill set out an artistic and informative display on early New England stone walls (and filled an entire class on how to build dry laid stone walls in minutes), and Dan Cain and his brother Bill brought along a vintage and beautifully restored Farmall Cub tractor, antique cider press and a few bushels of apples to provide visitors with a unique and an authentic experience pressing apples into cider. I don’t know who was having more fun – Dan, Bill, or the kids that continually swarmed around them to get a look at the process! Speaking of kids, many turned out for Bob Copolla’s activities, and to take advantage of the children’s area, which was manned by a very able and helpful Jared Kapsiak and included a bean bag toss, rope ring toss, horseshoes, jump rope, croquet and scavenger hunt. Next to Jared, Bob, and all the kids, Wendy Kennedy and her son Patrick came with the most adorable Swiss calf (appropriately named Sweetie Pie) anyone had seen for some time and a demonstration cow that the kids (and adults!) could “milk”.
Many, many thanks to the newest members of the Friends group:
President’s Circle:
Jeffrey and Katrina Bischoff
James, Elizabeth, and Edith Mauch
James and Rebecca Mauch
Sponsor:
Amy Gillenson
Cecilia Mullen
John Pennings
Family:
Lucy Ball
Bryan and Rachel Clothier
Linda and Ed D’Orlando
Ophelia Dahl and Lisa Frantzis
Izaak Davis
Alice Mandel
Craig Marcin
Individual:
Michael H. Bird
Douglas Erwin
Hattie Mauch
Clayton Preston
Scott Sheldon
I spent as much time as I could walking about and meeting with people – I became re-acquainted with Scott Sheldon, who brought along some rare examples of Eric Sloane books for me to see, Craig Marcin brought along a WWII era aviation illustration by Sloane for me to examine (and we had time to talk about one of our favorite events – the Lewisburg Arts Festival), I met Izaac Davis for this first time (his mother named him after Izaak Blake, Noah’s father in Eric Sloane’s Diary of An Early American Boy) and I enjoyed talking with him and with Amy Gillenson – she was so kind to take me into the museum to view her family’s collection of Eric Sloane pen and ink drawings from Eric’s last book Eighty: An American Souvenir, which her father published. Amy is extremely knowledgeable and an absolute pleasure to speak with. Michael Bird came equipped with his video equipment (he is a professional videographer and very generously donated his time and talents to produce both still photographs of the event and a professional video presentation) and brought his good friend Barbara Bourgeois to volunteer. Karin Peterson, Museum Director for all of Connecticut’s state-owned museums, was on hand and wonderfully of, and helpful to, the entire endeavor.
It was an absolutely fabulous day that was enjoyed by everyone -attendees, demonstrators, and volunteers. Much, much help was given (especially at the end where it was really, really appreciated) by James Purtle, Linda Hall and her incredibly helpful son Gage, and Peter and Barb Russ. Thank you to everyone who came – and a special thank you to all of our new members and volunteers – it is with through your efforts and generosity that the legacy of Eric Sloane is being not only kept alive, but shared with a new generation who can learn so much of value from this national treasure.
Please consider becoming a Friend of the Eric Sloane Museum. The best way to do this is to attend the October 6th Harvest Party on the grounds of the Eric Sloane Museum in Kent, Ct. This fun, historic, and educational event is FREE and will include FREE admission to the museum, early American demonstrators working in the trades of lacemaking, candle dipping, redware pottery, blacksmithing, tinsmithing, basket weaving, spinning and carding, and early American tools. Additionally, musicians will stroll through the grounds as artists paint and sculpt. Food, drinks, and pies will be available for sale, along with pumpkins and other goodies. Children are especially encouraged to attend – there will be lots and lots of games and activities!
Please bring friends and family and especially children to this event. There will be information available on how to join as a member of the friends group, a group dedicated to supporting the mission of the Eric Sloane Museum and the preservation of the museum. Please consider joining on the 6th and additionally purchasing gift memberships for friends and family. If you cannot attend the event but would like membership information sent to you, please email me through this site and I will make sure that information is sent to you. Thank you and we hope to see you on the 6th!
An Invitation for you to reconnect with two American treasures during the peak of Connecticut’s foliage season: Eric Sloane (1905-1985) and the museum he created.
When: Saturday, October 6th 2012 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: The Eric Sloane Museum, Route 7 just North of Kent
Events: Early American demonstrators, Early American games for children, apple cider making, weathervanes, quill pen writing, candle dipping, pumpkins for sale, great food, pies, contests, educational displays of early American life and history, tours of the Kent iron furnace, free admission to the museum, and much more.
Information: 860-927-3849
Proceeds to benefit the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum. For membership and volunteer opportunities, please contact Jim Mauch 570-204-2906.
The Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum met again at the Fife N Drum Restaurant in Kent, Connecticut to discuss our upcoming Eric Sloane day to be held on the grounds of the Eric Sloane Museum on October 6th. Our committee is planning a wonderful series of events and activities for children and adults of all ages. We would love to see you there!
I’m happy to report that we had a productive and robust meeting last Friday at the Fife ‘N Drum Restaurant in Kent, Connecticut. If you have never been, the Fife ‘N Drum is a wonderful eatery in downtown Kent and was a constant favorite of Eric’s through the years. The restaurant houses a collection of works by Eric and by David Armstrong. The food and service was superb.
Our focus group consists of a number of leading thinkers about, and admirers of, Eric Sloane and his legacy. We had a wonderful conversation, topped off by a private tour of the museum by museum curator Barbara Russ.
We are actively seeking members to join the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum as well as donations in support of our activities and programming. Currently, we are also offering a lifetime charter membership for the first 100 Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum. Please email James Mauch at [email protected] or call 570-204-2906 for more information.
My heartfelt thanks to all who have helped to make this friends group a reality. We are working together to help to make the museum more vibrant and to share the message and legacy of Eric Sloane with a new generation of admirers.
The Friends of the Eric Sloane Group will be meeting in Connecticut this Friday, April 13th, to discuss the role that our group can play in supporting the work of the Sloane-Stanley Museum.
