Upcoming Exhibits
Handweavers' Guild of Connecticut Biennial Show
April 20, 2013 - May 17, 2013
This juried exhibit of handwoven goods will display the work of contemporary weavers who use both historical and modern techniques and designs. The Biennial Show organized by the Handweavers' Guild of Connecticut will include articles of clothing (scarves, shawls, jackets), decorative pieces (wall hangings), and household items (table runners, rugs, towels, blankets). The work is produced by members of the Handweavers' Guild of Connecticut, an organization of handweavers, spinners and fiber artists from all levels of experience who are dedicated to the education, preservation, and promotion of handweaving and spinning.
This Won't Hurt a Bit! Relieving Pain, from Root Canals to Amputations
April 25, 2013 - September 28, 2013
This exhibit will explore the ways Connecticut's residents and companies help people manage their pain--both dull and acute--paying particular attention to Horace Wells's discovery of anesthesia. The discovery of pain-free surgery is a critically important part of medical and dental history. The story of its discovery and the controversy surrounding who first discovered it will be told. CHS will draw on its collection of books, pamphlets, and manuscript holdings to document the equipment and procedures available to doctors and dentists and the types of pain relievers--physical, homeopathic, and chemical--that were used to soothe or eliminate pain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries..
Behind the Wheel: American Automobile Association Posters
May 23, 2013 - September 28, 2013
See a new collection of colorful early-20th century posters about safety with automobiles sponsored for the Automobile Club of Hartford and printed by the American Automobile Association. The American Automobile Association ("AAA" or "Triple-A") was founded in 1902 when nine motor clubs joined to advocate for better roads. At that time, only 23,000 cars were being used in the United States compared to 17 million horses for transportation. Soon the club initiated a safety program to protection motorists and pedestrians on the newly paved streets.
Photography by Harriet V.S. Thorne, Rosalie Thorne McKenna, and Marie Kendall
October 2013 - March 2014
This exhibit will introduce a new collection of photography donated by the Rosalie Thorne McKenna Foundation as well as a collection by Marie Kendall. The photographs document two generations of women photographers in Connecticut. Harriet V. S. Thorne (1843-1926), a talented amateur, used her camera to compose exquisite and moving pictures of the people and places that she knew, including her Bridgeport summer home, Schoonhoven, where her studio was located. Marie Hartig Kendall (1854-1943) published poetic views of the Litchfield Hills in Northwestern Connecticut where she lived after immigrating to the U.S. from her native Alsace-Lorraine. Rosalie Thorne McKenna (1916-2003) is best-known for her revealing portraits of artistic and literary figures of the mid-20th century; she also documented the fishing community of Stonington where she made her home.