Tuesday, March 19, 2024

LITTLE COMPTON RHODE ISLAND

Opening Weekend Festivities Celebrate 20th-Century Artists at

Little Compton Historical Society Little Compton

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Fish Nets by E. Atwater Byers

Opening Weekend June 30 & July 1

This Friday and Saturday the Little Compton Historical Society unveils a new special exhibition celebrating thirty-five local artists whose lives and artwork span the twentieth century.

From Jennie Furbish???s early-century botanical watercolors to the late-century photographs of Nunnie Byers, the exhibit will include an array of work from artists who differed in many ways, but who each drew inspiration from the people and places of Little Compton.

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Still Life by Audrey Buller

Artists include Sydney Burleigh, Reginald Marsh, Molly Lucy, David Aldrich, Debbie Bodington and many others.

A complete list is available on the Historical Society???s website littlecompton.org.

Much of the work in the exhibition has been in private collections

and is rarely available to the public. The 70+ pieces in the exhibition include a 12-foot-long mural by Augusta Kelley, sculptures by Betts Woodhouse and paintings depicting some of Little Compton???s long lost landmarks.

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Wilbur???s Store by M.E. Post

The weekend begins with an Exhibit Preview Party on Friday June 30 from 6 to 8 pm at the Wilbor House Museum.

The event includes the first opportunity to see the new exhibition, catering by Compton Catering and Clambakes, an open wine, beer and soft drink bar, and a silent auction of artwork by over 20 local 21st century artists who have joined the Historical Society to celebrate and honor the talented local men and women who came before them.

Tickets are $35 and are available by calling the Historical Society at 401-635-4035.

The celebration continues on Saturday, July 1 from noon until 4 pm with the Historical Society???s annual Family Day Celebration.

This event is free and open to the public and is supported in part by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Family Day includes free admission to the exhibition, free Wilbor House tours and an opportunity to provide feedback to help the

Historical Society revise and improve the tour, free hot dogs, chips and drinks, free family activities including art activities, and free contests including pie eating, seed spitting and skillet throwing.

The event is rain or shine and will take place under a large tent on the Historical Society Grounds in case of inclement weather. The Silent Auction of work by local 21st-century artists will also continue throughout Family Day with the last bids accepted at 4 pm.

Volunteers are needed for Family Day. Please call 401-635-4035 if you can help.???

The Exhibit Continues All Season

Beginning Sunday, July 2, the exhibit will be open to the public from 1 to 5 pm each Thursday through Sunday until Labor Day and on Saturday and Sunday through October 8.

Admission is free to members of the Little Compton Historical Society and $5 for non-members. Non-members may also include a tour of the Wilbor House Museum for an additional $2.50.

Whenever possible the Historical Society staff will accommodate requests to open the exhibition at other times.

The exhibition contains approximately two pieces of art for each of the 35 artists featured in in it as well as a brief biography for each artist written, in most cases, by a family member or friend.

This community-curated exhibition was almost a year in the making with eleven members of the Exhibit Committee working with over fifty community members to identify local artists and learn more about their lives and artwork.

Over 45 people have loaned art to the project.

Each artist in the exhibition had a strong connection to Little Compton, created a large body of work in the twentieth century, and is now deceased. In addition to planning the exhibition, the committee has been gathering images of their art work along with biographical information to create a permanent archive of their work.

Several new works of art have been donated to the Historical Society as a result of this process. Community members are encouraged to continue to send images of art in their collections or biographical information on the artists after the exhibit opens to continue to improve the Historical Society???s archives.??