Nc Museum of the Art Park Collapse 1 Info
 Bendel Pond and Laurel Lake | |
| Founded | 1936 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Dr. G.R.R. Hertzberg |
| Type | 501(c)(three) not-for profit organization |
| Focus | Art, Agricultural Science, Natural Science, History |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 41°07′34″N 73°32′49″Due west / 41.126°N 73.547°W / 41.126; -73.547 Coordinates: 41°07′34″N 73°32′49″Due west / 41.126°N 73.547°W / 41.126; -73.547 |
| Website | stamfordmuseum |
| Formerly chosen | Stamford Museum |
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center, located in Stamford, Connecticut, is an art, history, nature, and agronomical sciences museum. The property covers 118 acres (ca. 48 hectares) beginning about half a mile due north of the Merritt Parkway. It was originally a private estate.
Located in the woods of Northward Stamford, Connecticut, the 118-acre museum property is abode to a ten-acre working farm, a Tudor-manner museum and gallery which hosts exhibitions, an interactive nature center, 80 acres of outdoor trails, a big planetarium, a 4-story observatory with a research telescope, an otter pond, and a large playground designed for children to feel animals' perspective on nature.
In add-on to the facilities, the SM&NC offers seasonal family-oriented exhibits and weekend festivals, yr-round childhood educational programming, camps, and volunteer opportunities.
History [edit]
In 1936, the museum's founders envisioned a safe and stimulating sanctuary where children and families could learn about the natural world, the agricultural sciences, astronomy, art, and history. Dr. Thousand.R.R Hertzberg brought this philosophy to the first organizational meeting of the museum on January 20, 1936. The Stamford Museum was founded five months subsequently, as a "cabinet of curiosities" model occupying three rooms at the Stamford Trust Company building at 300 Main Street. The original collection grew from community donations of birds, moths, butterflies, and other geological specimens. Opened to the public on June 27, 1936, this early incarnation of the museum drew families from the area, nonetheless its prime number demographic today.
In 1938, the Hall of Mammals and the Hall of Geology & Mineralogy opened. In 1939, the museum was incorporated under a state lease which enabled it to receive public funds while yet remaining autonomous. The Town and Metropolis of Stamford (there were two governments at that time) began contributing, and as the museum grew, so did the city and town's contributions. The same year, the Hoyt Marine Hall opened.
By 1945, the museum was quickly outgrowing its small downtown location. The Eastward.Y. Webster Estate deeded eight acres to the city of Stamford, creating the museum's second location at Courtland Park. The onetime railroad vehicle firm became the museum's new dwelling, and a small barnyard and wild animals surface area were synthetic. Local artists were showcased in the small gallery, and a planetarium and weather station were constructed and installed. Opening to the public in 1946, the Courtland Park location was curt-lived, every bit the Connecticut Turnpike claimed six of the viii acres in Courtland Park in 1955. Once again, the burgeoning museum sought another, larger location.
In 1955, the museum made its final motility to the former Henri Bendel manor, where it continues to attract over 160,000 visitors each year. Henri Willis Bendel was a department-store pioneer and philanthropist who, with architect Perry Barker, built his dream castle in Northward Stamford in the belatedly 1920s. Subsequently his expiry in 1936, the property passed through various hands for xx years. In 1955 the manor was bequeathed to the Stamford Museum. The big, asymmetrical, 10,000 square-human foot, neo-Tudor mansion Bendel used equally a summer home anchored the large estate and provided aplenty space for the museum's early collections. "Nature Centre" was added to the name of the not-profit as the Heckshire Farm for Children opened the same year.
Since then, the museum has grown considerably both in size and features. An additional 16 acres of the bird sanctuary endemic by the City of Stamford was fabricated attainable. Another holding of eight acres was donated by board fellow member Benjamin D. Gilbert. A right of fashion of three acres, making the museum attainable to the Bartlett Arboretum trails, was donated past Mr. & Mrs. Dwight Marshall. In 1980, eleven acres abutting these backdrop was purchased by the Metropolis of Stamford, with the museum having permanent property rights, bringing its total property to 118 acres.
Facilities [edit]
Bendel Mansion [edit]
Congenital in the tardily 1920s by architect Perry Barker, the Bendel Mansion was Henri Willis Bendel's homage to the classical elegance of a British manor house. Using two Tudor mansions located in Maidenhead, England every bit inspiration, Barker built the epitome of the American "castle" of the time for his customer. The house is on a hill overlooking the lake and has lead-framed glass windows, half-timbered walls, gargoyles, arching staircases, slate roofs, and multiple chimneys.[ane] Today, the Bendel Mansion functions as a gallery and museum infinite and is open to the public.
Museum Displays [edit]
Art education at SM&NC stretches dorsum to its days at Courtland Park where local artists were exhibited. Art classes for all ages were introduced. The movement to the Bendel Estate attracted more donors who helped build the museum's current collection, starting with the 1956 gift of a John Singer Sargent portrait and the 1961 donation of the Schulman twentieth-century American fine art collection. In June 1973, an enlarged and modernized art gallery opened in the main building, allowing for the growth of permanent collections too equally exhibitions featuring selections from collections, as well as works from local art organizations.
Today, the museum focuses on five main areas: the natural history of New England, American art, Native American fine art and culture, American history and civilisation, and farming implements. Notable items in the SM&NC permanent collections include totem poles from a World's off-white, telescopes, outdoor sculptures, farm tools, Native American artifacts, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí prints, vintage local pedal cars, antique Yale & Towne keys and locks, and works past Stamford artists Gutzon Borglum and Reuben Nakian.
Hecksher Subcontract [edit]
The Hecksher Farm is a 10-acre (40,000 m2) working farm which references New England'south rural heritage through recreational and educational activities. Its pastoral backdrop is dotted with barns, a maple sugar house, organic vegetable garden, open up pastures, and dozens of farm animals. Since its first grant in 1955 from the Heckscher Foundation for Children Grant, the farm has grown from a small dairy subcontract to include a craven coop, pig pen, larger pastures, shelters, and many heritage breeds of farm animals including not-ethnic llamas, alpacas, and burros. Visitors are encouraged to experience rural life by observing the wildlife and staff who carry out daily chores to proceed the subcontract running smoothly.
Farm History [edit]
Farm and wild animals were introduced to SM&NC while however at its Courtland Park location. A small farmyard containing a miniature barn was abode to a lamb, a young goat, bantams, a hen and rooster, and numerous rabbits. Many orphaned or injured animals were brought to the museum where they were cared for past Junior Curators, a grouping of students who were studying in the nature and wildlife conservation classes. Before long, they developed a minor wildlife area including an American bald eagle, a golden hawkeye, a flim-flam, opossum, skunks, squirrels, and woodchucks. The Inferior Curators program withal exists at the SM&NC.
The Museum at Courtland Park
The move to the Museum's Scofieldtown Route location in 1955 brought with it the opportunity to build a larger model farmyard and barn which could adapt more wildlife. A donation from the Hecksher Foundation for Children funded the building of the reddish befouled and silo which became familiar to thousands of visitors. Over the adjacent 20 years, the Hecksher Farm expanded to include wildlife exhibits including foxes, porcupines, a sheep shelter, chicken coop, raccoons, woodchucks, and birds of casualty, besides as a medical facility to ensure proper care of the animals.
In the spring of 1977, the Board of Directors introduced a new initiative to create a period farm typical of those in Southern New England during the 19th century. The City of Stamford was quickly turning from a serenity suburban customs into a corporate eye. Small farms in the surface area were quickly disappearing as industry and housing gobbled up the land.
Over the next five years, projects adult at a rapid footstep. Land was cleared to create pastures, colonial fencing was installed, and a magnificent historic Cheshire barn, circa 1750, was moved from Cheshire, Connecticut and reassembled at the farm on a mitt-laid rock foundation. The farm became home to animals typical of the era and area: oxen, sheep, cows, pigs, goats, and chickens at present roam the farm.
Overbrook Nature Middle and Trails [edit]
The Overbrook Nature Eye is the focal point of the SM&NC's nature and educational programs. Information technology contains an interactive exhibit surface area with pocket-size local animals and "Nature'due south Classroom", a classroom for immature student groups. Behind the Overbrook building are miles of walking trails.
Winding through 80 acres of the museum's property, the trails are diverse and arable with wildlife. Teeming vernal pools, glacial erratic boulders, mature forests, and maintained woodland meadows are establish throughout the area. The trails connect with the 88-acre Bartlett Arboretum on the north end of the museum'due south property.
In 2006, the universally-accessible Wheels in the Woods Trail #7 was added along Poorhouse Brook, allowing handicap access to the SM&NC trails.
Edith and Robert Graham Otter Pond [edit]
The Edith and Robert Graham Otter Pond is the home of the SM&NC'south resident river otters [ii]
Observatory and Planetarium [edit]
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center has a four-story observatory which houses a 22-inch (560 mm) reflecting telescope and is used for research (primarily of binary star systems) by the Fairfield County Astronomical Society (FCAS). The observatory is currently closed to the public and the SM&NC is currently in the heart of a capital campaign to raise money for a new Astronomy & Concrete Science Center.
The Museum's astronomical history began in 1941 when the Fairfield County Astronomical Order was formed. Members would bring their telescopes and fix them upwards on the steps of the former Boondocks Hall. In Courtland Park, a planetarium was synthetic in one end of the lecture hall by edifice a dome which could be raised and lowered for planetarium shows.
This was one of the first Armand Spitz planetariums. Concerned that the only planetariums so available were so expensive that few institutions could have them and few people would live near enough to visit, in 1947 Spitz completed design work on a very inexpensive planetarium model. The primary problem, he discovered, was that creating a globe for stellar projection was very complex and expensive. Following a proffer past Albert Einstein, Spitz used a dodecahedron as the "globe" equivalent for his star projector.
Following a demonstration at an astronomical briefing at the Harvard-Smithsonian Eye for Astrophysics, Spitz received considerable publicity, and began marketing his Model A planetarium for $500. These were sold to the diverse American military academies, pocket-size museums, schools, and even to Rex Farouk of Egypt.
Within a few years, Spitz introduced the model A-1, which incorporated the Sun, Moon, and five naked eye planets, however using the dodecahedron shape for the star projector. Later a model A-2 came out, projecting more stars (the model A only gave stars brighter than magnitude 4.iii). At nowadays no record has been plant establishing which model SM&NC purchased.
After moving to Scofieldtown Road, an open up courtyard of the principal building was enclosed to build the new planetarium.
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Altschul contributed the funds to construct an observatory on the property, which was completed in 1960. Materials were donated past local corporations, and the telescope was built by volunteers and the Fairfield Canton Astronomical Society. The largest telescope in the Eastward available for public viewing was dedicated on June 13, 1965.
Alive Exotic Animal Exhibit In 2007, the SM&NC entered into partnership with Creature Embassy. Founded by local naturalist Chris Evers, Animal Diplomatic mission provided children and adults the opportunity to interact with creatures and their natural habitats. The Brute Embassy exhibit, onsite and open up to the public at SM&NC, provided dedicated space for housing, feeding, and caring for Animal Diplomatic mission'southward collection of non-releasable exotic animal ambassadors. In 2014, the partnership with Brute Embassy ended due to the museum'due south program growth and need for its ain exhibit infinite. In March 2015, the SM&NC opened Heckscher WILD!, a live animate being exhibit that features non-releasable animals from all over the world in four ecosystems—grasslands, rainforest, mountains, and desert.
Events and Offerings [edit]
Annual Events [edit]
Harvest Fest Sundays [edit]
Maple Sugar Festival Weekend
Each fall, the Stamford Museum & Nature Center hosts its annual Harvest Fest Sundays, focused on seasonal activities including apple cider demonstrations, hayrides, apple slingshots, pumpkin carving, farm beast demonstrations, face painting, storytelling, crafts, a costume parade, and more than.
Maple Sugar Fest Sundays [edit]
Each tardily winter, the SM&NC revives the New England pastime of maple sugaring during the Maple Sugar Fest Sundays. At the Hecksher Farm sugarhouse, one can view tree tapping, sap collecting, and taste the sugariness maple carbohydrate that ushers in the annual agricultural awakening. Other offerings include scavenger hunts, storytellers, face painting, maple-themed crafts, pancake brunch, and a Chef's Cook-off Challenge.
Annual Fundraiser [edit]
Their biggest fundraiser of the yr had, for many years, been the annual wine tasting and silent sale which paid tribute to Stamford Museum & Nature Eye's history within its community. The June event consisted of vino tastings, samplings of food from local restaurants and caterers and a silent sale. In 2019, the SM&NC launched "An Evening With", an annual fundraiser. The inaugural upshot was held in May 2019.
Spring on the Farm Festival Weekend
Jump on the Farm Fests [edit]
Stamford Museum & Nature Center hosts its family-oriented Bound on the Farm Fests Sundays in May.
Model T'south to Mustangs Antique & Classic Car Testify [edit]
Each jump the Stamford Museum & Nature Center hosts its antique archetype and classic machine show featuring automobiles of all makes and models, United states of america also as imports, manufactured betwixt 1900 and 1979. The almanac upshot features a special "focus group" dedicated to a specific brand of machine. The SM&NC concluded the Model T's event after the 20th iteration.
Past Exhibitions and Events [edit]
- 1942 – wartime exhibition Camouflage in Nature and its Uses in the Armed forces
- 1944 – Museum'south first Gutzon Borglum exhibition, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore
Architecture of the Imagination: The Lure of the LEGO Brick exhibition - 1971 – Open House Moon Rock on display
- 1973 – Henry Moore'due south Elephant Skull
- 1975 – Delacroix and the French Romantic Print
- 1976 – Mr. Audubon & Mr. Bien; Navaho Blankets; Salon des Refuses
- 1978 – NASA's Space Shuttle, Vintage Toys
- 1980 – 25 years on Loftier Ridge; Toy Treasures, Permanent Collection
- 1994 – MAD Mag; Ken Marchione, Elgiac Paintings
- 1997 – Ruben Nakian, Working the Image
- 2001 – Springs, Sprockets & Pulleys: The Mechanical Sculptures of Steve Gerberich; l Years of Beetle Bailey
- 2002 – Ukulele Fever: The Craze that Swept the Nation
- 2003 – Pedal to the Metal: A History of Children'southward Pedal Cars
- 2004 – From Goodnight Moon to Art Dog: The World of Clement, Edith and Thatcher Hurd
- 2005 – Creative Contraptions: Rube Goldberg and Goldberg-inspired art
- 2006 – Consuming Desires: Mod Marketing Posters, 1880–1918; Built to Calibration: Automobile, Aeroplane & Gunkhole Model Masterpieces
- 2008 – Compages of the Imagination: The Lure of the LEGO Brick exhibition, showcasing the sculpture of Nathan Sawaya and Neb Probert's Trainscape, synthetic with team of Stamford High Schoolhouse students, set record-breaking gallery attendance of 69,000 visitors
- 2009 – Rodin: In his Own Words; Baseball's League of Nations: A Salute to Native American Baseball Players
- 2010 – Gerberich's Gadgetry; Robert Deyber, Turning a Phrase
- 2011 – Assemble up the Fragments: The Andrew Shaker Drove; To The Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA
Fine art, Nature and Me Preschool
Education [edit]
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center offers year-round classes and educational programs in fine art, nature, science, and agriculture, for children, families, and adults.
References [edit]
- ^ "The Henri Bendel Mansion'south Story". Stamford Museum. Retrieved ane May 2014.
- ^ "Stamford Museum & Nature Center". Archived from the original on 2007-03-21.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Museum_and_Nature_Center