Hill-Stead is pleased to announce the recent receipt of two grants in support of the museum’s education programs and technology upgrades. In November, 2009, the SBM Charitable Foundation awarded Hill-Stead a “We’re Pulling for You” grant in the amount of $15,000 in support of the World Languages / Fine Arts educational programs for East Hartford and Manchester high school students. “Thanks to the generosity of this grant, the partnership between Hill-Stead Museum and the students of East Hartford and Manchester schools is thriving,” reported Celeste Polley, the museum’s School Program Coordinator.
“The program is bringing a record number of children from east of the river to the museum and engaging them in immersion programs featuring museum tours and numerous related art activities.” Schools include Synergy Alternative High School in East Hartford, O’Brien Elementary School in East Hartford, Manchester High School, and East Hartford Elementary School.
In January, 2010, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving awarded Hill-Stead a Strategic Technology Grant of $40,000 for upgrading equipment and systems. “This grant will provide tremendous assistance to the museum in our efforts to utilize technology to better serve and inform our public, and to help us work more efficiently and effectively,” remarked Marie Dalton-Meyer, Director of Institutional Advancement.
Through the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Nonprofit Support Program, the museum has developed a three-year Strategic Technology Plan that will guide a wide range of technology and visitor services upgrades.
A National Historic Landmark, Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, is most noted for its 1901 33,000-square-foot house filled with art and antiques. Pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle designed the Colonial Revival-style house, set on 152 hilltop acres, to showcase the Impressionist masterpieces amassed by her father, Cleveland iron industrialist Alfred A. Pope. Collections include paintings by Monet, Degas, Manet, Whistler and Cassatt, as well as numerous works on paper and Japanese woodblock prints, all displayed among original furnishings. Stately trees, seasonal gardens, over three miles of stone walls and woodland trails accent the grounds. A centerpiece of the property is the c. 1920 Sunken Garden designed by Beatrix Farrand, today the site of the renowned Sunken Garden Poetry & Music Festival.
Hill-Stead Museum is a member of Connecticut’s Historic Gardens and a stop on the Connecticut Art Trail (www.arttrail.org), a partnership of fifteen world-class museums and historic sites across the state. The museum’s period rooms are open for tours Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 3 pm, November - April, and 10 am – 4 pm May - October. The last tour of the day begins one hour before closing. Grounds are open to the public daily 7:30 am-5:30 pm.
