Cultural Attractions

Wilton Arts Council
PO Box 351

Wilton, CT 06897
Sponsor of a wide variety of programs in the visual and performing arts including demonstrations, discussions and recitals. To help Wilton artists gain a wider audience, make contact with each other, and help the public enjoy more of the art resources, they have a directory which lists the artists and showcases in Wilton. There are also local artists presentations to school groups. The Arts Council publishes a monthly newsletter which provides highlights of art events in Wilton and vicinity.

Wilton Playshop
15 Lovers Lane
762-7629

www.wiltonplayshop.org
The Wilton Playshop marks its 70th anniversary offering a cultural cornucopia of theater productions to area residents, making it one of the longest continuously running community theatres in the northeast. The Playshop caters to a wide variety of theatrical tastes with up to five major productions during its season, which runs from October to August. It is staffed entirely by volunteers and welcomes participation by new members. The 2007 season includes the following productions: Neil Simon's The Good Doctor, Larry Shue's The Nerd, and A.K. Gurney's Sylvia.

Wilton Heritage Museum
249 Danbury Road
762-7257

www.wiltonhistorical.org
Exhibits and programs at the museum, located in a 1757 Colonial house, help residents visualize what Wilton was like in the pre-World War II era, a more rural period for Wilton. At the turn of the century, Wilton fields were still clear, trees did not cover the landscape, and there were few roads. The museum helps people understand what life was like before the advent of suburbanization and commercial development, which was only a few generations ago. Furnished period rooms, a costume and textile collection, toys and dolls help tell the story.

Musical Performances
During the summer months, the Wilton Library sponsors a variety of concerts at the library and Wilton Pizza holds jazz concerts at the restaurant. The Wilton Congregational Church sponsors a chamber music series during the year. The Wilton Singers gives adults an opportunity to join a small ensemble singing group that performs four concerts and a spring festival annually.

Weir Farm National Historic Site
735 Nod Hill Road
834-1896
www.nps.gov/wefa
Weir Farm National Historic Site is one of only two National Park Service locations out of 379 that is devoted to an American artist, and the only one devoted primarily to an American painter. The site currently preserves approximately 60 acres of the historic landscape associated with J. Alden Weir and American Impressionism.

The setting retains many of the qualities that made it appealing to Weir and his contemporaries, including Childe Hassam, John Twachtman and Albert Pinkham Ryder. Country retreats and summer homes were becoming more and more popular in the later 19th century, and Weir chose to settle in Branchville for extended visits over a 37-year period.

Weir acquired the property in 1882, then built a painting studio, twice enlarged the house and developed the landscape into an interesting palette with stone walls, woods and gardens. It was in Connecticut that Weir matured as an artist. Other members of the American Impressionist tradition drew similar inspiration from the area.

The Burlingham House Visitor Center is open all year, Wednesdays through Sundays and features an introduction to the site and changing exhibits. Also, tours of the J. Alden Weir and Mahonri Young studios and the overall site are given. Special exhibitions, lectures, art workshops and a visiting artist program are offered.

Weir Farm is a featured destination on the Connecticut Impressionist Art Trail, which includes twelve museums and sites around the state.