Celebrating Art, History, and Nature

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On view June 3—September 10

Object Lessons in American Art features four centuries of works from the Princeton University Art Museum that collectively explore American history, culture, and society. Inspired by the concept of the object lesson—the study of a material thing to communicate a larger idea—the exhibition brings groups of objects together to ask fundamental questions about artistic significance, materials, and how meaning changes across time and contexts.

With a focus on race, gender, and the environment, these pairings demonstrate the value of juxtaposing diverse objects to generate new understanding.

Image: Renee Cox (born 1960, Colgate, Jamaica; active New York, NY), The Signing (detail), 2018, printed 2022. Inkjet print; 73 × 213.4 cm. Princeton University Art Museum. Museum purchase, Kathleen Compton Sherrerd Fund for Acquisitions in American Art (2021-38) © Renee Cox.

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Summer Concert Series

July 6—28

This July, the FloGris is excited to launch a weekly concert series featuring local bands and food trucks on the Adrian P. Moore Terrace.

Enjoy food, friends, tunes, and a beautiful summer sunset over the Lieutenant River – and it’s all free to you, as a gift to our friends and neighbors.

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Friday, June 9

Garden Luncheon 2023

Due to overwhelming demand, tickets are Sold Out!

The Museum’s annual Garden Luncheon is one of our most joyful and beloved events as we welcome spring with flowers, food, and fancy hats! Gather your friends and join us Friday, June 9 for a day of garden-centered delights – including a delectable lunch under the tent, a raffle to please every green thumb, and a dynamic speaker!

We’ll hear from historian Victoria Johnson whose book, American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic, was a 2018 finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Ms. Johnson will share the intriguing backstory of the doctor who tended to both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton after their infamous duel and then went on to found the new nation’s first public botanical garden and New York’s first museum of fine art.

Thank you for your support! We can’t wait to see you in your garden finery at this SOLD OUT event.

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Current and Coming

Job Openings at the Museum

Find out more about working with us at the Florence Griswold Museum!

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June 9—11

Blooms with a View

The annual event returns to showcase dazzling floral displays created by local artists inspired by artworks across Museum Campus.

It’s a fan favorite, marrying the natural beauty of the bountiful spring season with masterful works of artists across the centuries. You won’t want to miss it!

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by artist jackie sumell

Solitary Garden

The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme is collaborating with the New Orleans-based artist jackie sumell to install one of her “Solitary Garden” beds on our grounds, in conjunction with the exhibition Social & Solitary: Reflections on Art, Isolation, and Renewal. The Solitary Garden project comes to life through correspondence between a volunteer and a currently incarcerated “gardener.” Their letters articulate to the Museum what kinds of flowers or plants are grown in the garden bed. Each Solitary Garden is a gesture of hope connecting an isolated person to the outside world through the restorative act of nurturing plants.

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Friends and Neighbors

Explore Old Lyme

You won’t find a more quaint and inviting arts district than Lyme Street in Old Lyme. Spend your day engaged in the American arts as you walk from the museum to our art galleries, wander through a sculpture garden of imagination, and stop by a coffeehouse where someone just might be strumming their guitar. A renowned Jazz Club joins other inspiring music venues and performance series across town, while special events celebrating the arts happen throughout the year.

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Collections

A New England Identity

Hartford Steam Boiler Collection

The paintings and sculptures in this exhibition are by artists who lived and worked in Connecticut from the late Colonial period to the early 20th century.

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In Situ

The Painted Panels

During the first summers of the Lyme art colony the artists began to paint scenes on the door panels of the boardinghouse.

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Race Into the Past

Fox Chase

One of the most celebrated works of art at the Florence Griswold Museum is the frieze-like painting titled The Fox Chase (1905) created by Henry Rankin Poore.

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Museum

Campus

Krieble Gallery

Begin your visit at the Krieble Gallery.

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Florence Griswold House

The Late Georgian mansion was transformed from a wealthy sea captain’s home into a boardinghouse for some of the most noted names in American Impressionism.

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Gardens and Grounds

The Museum’s grounds invite exploration.

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History Blog

Documents: An Illuminated Letter from George Bruestle

Transcribed by Mell Scalzi and Amy Kurtz Lansing In 2019, the Lyme Historical Society Archives at the Florence Griswold Museum...

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