LYME/OLD LYME — The Ruth Ann Heller Music Foundation Board of Trustees has announced that it has awarded private study music scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year to students from both Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School and Lyme-Old Lyme High School.
Award recipients from the Middle School are: Cassidy Buckley, Jonah Filardi (winner of the Doc Mirliani Jazz Scholarship), Gavin Gray, Alistair Hampton-Dowson, Sophia Huang, Avery Zbierski, Ceciley Buckley, and Morgan Buerger.
Award recipients from the High School are: Oliver Wyman, CJ Zapatka (winner of the Stephen Crites Low Brass Scholarship), Dominic Clark, Chloe Datum, Andrew Liu, Natalie Buckley, Stella Geromino, Douglas Griswold, and Jacob Derynioski.
As a supporting organization for Region #18 Schools, the Ruth Ann Heller Music Foundation awards scholarships to be used for private music instruction to students participating in the Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Band programs.
The 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation was formed in 1999 after the retirement of Ruth Ann (King) Heller from Lyme-Old Lyme High School, with a mission to strengthen and improve the instrumental music program in our schools.
Donations to the foundation in any amount are gratefully accepted. The mailing address is the Ruth Ann Heller Music Foundation, PO Box 298, Old Lyme, CT.
Joshua Campbell Torrance of Wethersfield has been appointed the new Executive Director of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme.
OLD LYME — The Trustees of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Conn. announced today that Joshua Campbell Torrance of Wethersfield will take the reins of the 75-year-old cultural institution beginning Feb. 6, 2023.
After former Director Rebekah Beaulieu left the Museum in August to become the President and CEO of the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, a nationwide search was launched by the recruitment firm Museum Search & Reference.
The perfect candidate was found in the Museum’s home state. Torrance brings over 22 years of experience as an executive director to his new post.
“I’d like to thank the Museum’s Search Committee for moving the process along to a quick completion and in particular Kay Knight Clarke, chair of the committee, for her knowledge, expertise, and steadfast leadership,” states Deborah Moore, Florence Griswold Museum Board of Trustees Chairman.
Moore continues, “On behalf of the board and staff, we are delighted to welcome Joshua. His commitment to community-centered projects aligns perfectly with our strategic plan.”
As Executive Director of the Webb Deane Stevens Museum in Wethersfield, Torrance oversaw the opening of the site’s 9,300 sq. ft. education and visitor center, increased contributed income, managed the rebranding of the museum, and deepened its connection to the greater Hartford region.
Prior to coming to Connecticut, Torrance helmed the Bennington Museum in Vermont through the COVID-19 pandemic.
For nearly 20 years he guided the Woodlawn Museum, Gardens & Park in Ellsworth, Maine. During this time Torrance transformed the all-volunteer historic house and 180-acre public park into a thriving, community-centered institution.
The chair of the Museum’s search committee Kay Knight Clarke notes, “Joshua understands what the FloGris needs to do to achieve its plans and has the tools to lead us there.”
Torrance, a native of Ohio, received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Elmira College in New York and carries two Masters degrees, a Master of Arts in history with a public history concentration, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in history museum studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program.
He and his wife Jennifer have two teenage children, Sophie Eliza 17, and Noah Campbell 16.
Torrance is eager to connect with his new community and engage further with statewide artistic and cultural organizations.
Regarding his new position, Torrance states, “I am honored that the search committee and board have placed their trust in me. The Florence Griswold Museum has a stellar reputation and an outstanding team. I am eager to continue the great progress that has been made over the years and help to advance the Museum’s next chapter.”
The Florence Griswold Museum, located in the heart of historic Old Lyme, Conn., has been called a “Giverny in Connecticut” by the Wall Street Journal, and a “must-see” by the Boston Globe. In addition to the restored Florence Griswold House, the Museum features a gallery for changing art exhibitions, education and landscape centers, a restored artist’s studio, 12 acres along the Lieutenant River, the Robert F. Schumann Artists’ Trail, and extensive gardens.
Its seasonal Café Flo was recognized as “best outdoor dining” by Connecticut Magazine. The Museum offers a full slate of exhibitions, programs, virtual tours, and online resources.
Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold (left in photo) sits atop a horse-drawn carriage hosted by Allegra Farms ready for a ride down Lyme Street during Lyme Academy’s 2nd Annual Holiday Enchantment and Tree Lighting.
OLD LYME – On Dec.10, Lyme Academy of Fine Arts welcomed members of the community, young and old, to gather on its campus in Old Lyme for the 2nd Annual Holiday Enchantment and Tree Lighting.
The Academy hosted an “old fashioned” holiday celebration, including horse-drawn carriage rides, visits with Santa, caroling, seasonal musical performances by the Old Lyme Town Band, guided art activities and more.
A highlight of the event was the horse-drawn carriage rides offered by Allegra Farms, which chauffeured attendees up and down Lyme Street on their authentic 19th century coaches and wagonettes, drawn by the impressive Clydesdale horses.
Children came with their wish lists in hand to visit Santa at the event.
Children brought their wish lists to Santa, which provided a perfect opportunity for a family photo.
The crowd gathered around the artistically decorated holiday tree for a musical performance by the Old Lyme Town Band and caroling began at 4 p.m., followed by a tree-lighting ceremony led by Old Lyme First Selectman, Timothy Griswold.
Editor’s Note: The mission of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is to teach the foundational skills of drawing, painting, and sculpture in the figurative tradition.
By its commitment to training students in these skills and an engagement with contemporary discourse, the Academy will empower a new generation of artists. Through its programs, the Academy is committed to enriching the cultural life of the community.
As an extension of its programming initiatives, the Academy has recently announced the opening of de Gerenday’s Fine Art Materials and Curiosities, a new shop offering fine art materials and giftable objects from around the globe.
Chad Fisher, newly appointed Sculpture Chair at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, adjusts the patina on his bronze sculpture, ‘Avarice.’
OLD LYME — Lyme Academy of Fine Arts has announced the appointment of internationally-renowned sculptor Chad Fisher as the new Charlotte Colby Danly Sculpture Chair. This appointment marks a major step in Lyme Academy’s effort to build the premier figurative sculpting program in the United States.
Set to launch in Fall 2023, this multi-year, intensive program further expands the breadth of the Academy’s fine arts curriculum, while also deepening the commitment to its mission.
“I am beyond thrilled and honored to be the incoming Sculpture Chair at Lyme Academy,” states Fisher.
He continues, “To teach is to provide students with a space to grow emotionally, intellectually, and experientially. As an art educator, I am here to help amplify each student’s dream through a very human and personal experience, and to provide the tools that are necessary for them to grow expansively, both artistically and professionally.”
Fisher’s own work is informed by a decade of rigorous academic training. This includes a long-term apprenticeship with Gary Weisman, a respect for art’s lineage, and a comprehensive understanding of rediscovered historic design principles, many based in the 19th century Parisian figurative arts tradition.
An example of Chad Fisher,’s work is this sculpture titled, ‘Torso’,’ in bronze.
In 2017, Fisher, along with his father and wife, built their own bronze foundry in Pennsylvania. Fisher Sculpture has since received commissions from the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Bears Football Club, and the Philadelphia 76ers, and has produced bronze and stone works for numerous military memorials nationwide.
Fisher’s experience and dynamic plan for the new sculpture program honor the vision of Lyme Academy’s founder, the celebrated sculptor Elisabeth Gordon Chandler (d. 2006.) The Chandler Studio, the future home of Fisher’s classes, with its dramatic skylights, north-light windows, 18 ft. ceilings, and 1600 sq. ft. of work space, is one of many state-of-the-art studios on the Academy’s four-acre campus.
The Sculpture Chair to which Fisher has been appointed is the creation of Lyme Academy alumna Charlotte Colby Danly, who generously donated $1 million to help others learn sculpting in the figurative tradition, as she herself did under the tutelage of Elisabeth Chandler.
Danly’s support of the Academy is inspired in part by the commitment and quality of its current, thriving student body, and the significant place the school holds in an area long renowned as a center for the arts.
Danly’s philanthropic act has been complemented in 2022 by two major contributions to the Academy’s holdings.
In May, the Karlheinz Kronberger Collection of 19th-Century French Bronzes, numbering well over 200 museum-quality objects, was donated to the Academy. More recently, the National Academy of Design in New York made a long-term loan of 28 plaster casts. Both collections will provide students with an inspiring study collection, likely unmatched in any teaching institution in the United States.
Along with Fisher’s much-anticipated classes, they support Lyme Academy’s status as a destination site for the next generation of figurative artists.
To learn more about classes and programs offered at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, visit http://www.lymeacademy.edu.
Editor’s Notes: i) The mission of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is to teach the foundational skills of drawing, painting, and sculpture in the figurative tradition. By its commitment to training students in these skills and an engagement with contemporary discourse, the Academy will empower a new generation of artists. Through its programs, the Academy is committed to enriching the cultural life of the community.
ii) This article is based on a press release issued by Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.
LYME — On Friday, Dec. 16, at 1 p.m., Lyme Library teams up with the Lymes’ Senior Center Book Club to bring special guest Luanne Rice to their joint meeting.
The meeting will be held in the Lyme Public Library-Community Room.
The selected book for the month is “The Geometry of Sisters” by Luanne Rice and can be picked up at the Lyme Public Library circulation desk.
Rice will conduct a Q&A about her books and her writing techniques.
