Patchwork: Connecticut Artists Consider 250
Following the legacy of Florence Griswold (1850–1937), who invited contemporary artists to her home and grounds, the Museum honors the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States by showcasing the perspective of today’s Connecticut artists.
The eighty-six artists in Patchwork: Connecticut Artists Consider 250 submitted their work in response to our call for art that reflects themes of American identity and history established by The America 250 | CT Commission. The four themes—Telling Inclusive Stories, Power of Place, Doing History, and For the Common Good—ask American citizens to consider the nation’s founding ideals and how we continue to realize them today. The themes incorporate a range of ideas, from community building, civic engagement, and democracy, to how Connecticut’s diverse populations, sites, and events are remembered and represented. The ninety-seven works in the exhibition display demonstrate how Connecticut artists play a significant role in fostering this dialogue.
The Museum’s Bicentennial Quilt (on view in the Collections Highlights Gallery) served as an inspiration and metaphor for this exhibition’s concept—history is patched together, preserved, and reinterpreted by each generation. Patchwork offers an opportunity for Connecticut’s artistic community to contribute their own observations, mend absences, and uniquely engage with the United States’ Semiquincentennial.
This exhibition was juried by Amy Kurtz Lansing, Curator; Jenny Parsons, Senior Curator; and David D.J. Rau, Senior Director, Education and Visitor Engagement, Florence Griswold Museum.
Sylvia Harding, Mary Connors, Josephine Brown, Ann Traver, Johanna Kooij, Winifred Laubach, Mary Gordon, Ruby McClernon, Margaret Smith, Dorothy Smith, and Joy Malloy, Bicentennial Quilt, 1976. Cotton and dacron, 86 x 60 in. Florence Griswold Museum, Gift of the makers, 1989.4
Lisa Kereszi, 4th of July at the racetrack Lime Rock Park, Salisbury, Conn. 1999. Chromogenic print, 38 x 29 in. Courtesy of the artist
Clara Nartey, Feeling Good, 2024. Cotton, Polyester, Digitally Designed and Printed Fabrics, Felt, 73 x 57 in. Courtesy of the artist
Andrea Lawl Manning, Spangler, 2026. Acrylic on canvas, 56 x 52 in. Courtesy of the artist
This exhibition is made possible with the generous support of the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust, the David T. Langrock Foundation, HSB, Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, Bouvier Insurance (a HUB International Company), as well as donors to the Exhibition Fund and the Annual Fund. Media sponsor: WSHU Public Radio.
