Weir Farm National Historical Park, Connecticut July 27th, 2024
Weir Farm National Historic Park. When we first arrived, we went to the visitor center, which had a great museum, and today all buildings were open for tours. We learned that on the national historic site list, there are only two national parks dedicated to artists: this one and one in New Hampshire. This was such a cool place! The visitor center offered cancellations, a site sticker, and a book sticker, so we got everything.
After we left the visitor center, we noticed a paintbrush on the national historic site, and I thought that was the coolest thing. Since we had plenty of time at the park, we decided to participate in the Junior Ranger program. Jason took charge of that, and we did the letterbox tour, which had five stations throughout the park. We hit the ground running and started exploring. We visited the Weir Studio and the Young Studio. I had no idea that Weir's art is featured in the archives in D.C. and that he was one of the first Americans to embrace Impressionist art. He and his fellow artists really defined art for America, and this is one of the places where they found inspiration. His art truly captured the actual landscape, and studio is fun to explore.
Then we visited the Young studio and got to see the that Young made. He is known for his famous statue is not located in Salt Lake City, UT, and it was created in the very building where we were standing. I can’t wait to see that structure in the future. It was really cool to see his studio and how sculptures are made out of plaster. After the studios, we started to figure out the letterboxes and found two. Then I wanted to go on the 12 PM tour of the Weir house. It was pretty inside, and they said that 85% of it was original. They sure greens and blues. The guide was great and talked about the paintings and how Weir himself became an impressionist. He didn’t like the artistic style at first, but it grew on him, and he was inspired by his land. The guide talked about his daughters, and it was cool to see that one of the paintings from his daughter was in front of the window in the house.
We also learned that he acquired this land for a painting and $10. When he got the land, it was 100 acres, and today 70 acres are preserved by the national historic parks for all people to visit. Inside the house, there was a weird chandelier above the table that I just had to get a picture of. Then, when we entered the kitchen, they had some mock recipes and ingredients laid out on the counter. One was crème brûlée, and the other was pork cake. I had never heard of pork cake and thought it was quite strange, but it could be good. Apparently, it is only made with the fat. The house tour can only be done when a ranger is on the hour, so be mindful of that. I really liked the little stained glass in the windows and asked if Weir painted them, and he said they had them installed. The tour was good, and if you get a chance, you should visit it.
