The main house is currently under rennovations and will be closed until the Summer of 2006, but the gallery, Chadwick Studio, grounds, and flower gardens were open.

The Robert and Nancy Krieble Gallery at the Florence Griswold Museum opened in 2002.  The gallery is an exhibition space, collection storage, and a museum shop.  The curvilinear walls and airy feel in the exhibition area is perfect for enjoying the museum's collection of American impressionist paintings.

The Chadwick Studio was also open for viewing.  William Chadwick was an American Impressionist artist.  He painted in the studio for over 40 years. The studio was donated by the artist's daughter-in-law and moved to its current site at the museum complete with its furnishings in 1992. The studio is furnished and appears today as it did during the artist's lifetime.

We took advantage of the museum's "Impromptu Encounters with Art" program (no experience necessary!) and spent a few hours trying our hand at painting some of the lovely scenes around the grounds. 

Before we knew it, 3 hours had passed and we had to wrap up our visit and start finding our way back to Boston. We mades some stops along the way...but that's another article.

If you have time this Summer or Fall, we encourage you to plan a weekend in CT and definitely a day at the Florence Griswold Museum.  There are plenty of B&Bs near the Museum and neighboring towns.

Don't forget to tell them you read about it on RainyDayMagazine :-)

We make the drive between Boston and NYC at least once a month.  On Route 95, there is a sign for the Florence Griswold Museum around Exit 70.

We must have passed it about 50 times when Carolyn decided that we MUST find out what the museum was all about!

Well, we combined a few events and made a weekend of it in CT.  We stayed in a wonderful B&B in New London.  Had lunch in the Old Lyme Inn. We drove around the New London, Lyme, and Mystic area and checked out various sites (Fort Trumbull, Gillette Castle, Florence Griswold Museum).

NOTE:  Click on the various images to go directly to links related to those images.