Mattatuck Museum

Notice the surveillance sign in the corner - LOL!

Look who greats you in the parking lot of the Mattatuck Museum - The surveillance team!

   The Mattatuck Museum is located in the heart of Waterbury, Connecticut, directly across from its quintessential New England Town Green. On this visit, we saw Lesley Dill's Poetry Dresses, the American Art Gallery, and the Button Collection.

Poem Dresses by Lesley Dill

   Lesley Dill's exhibit ran June 24, 2018 – September 2, 2018. Dill is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work reflects the poetry, prose, and declarations of early New England figures. Tall thin figures represent John Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anne Hutchinson, Sojourner Truth and Walt Whitman.  Emily Dickinson, whose poetry inspired Dill’s use of text in her art, is also featured on the dresses. These icons are represented by the strength of their words.

Mattatuck Museum American Art Gallery (Connecticut Magazine)

   The Mattatuck Museum began acquiring paintings in the early 1900s. Connecticut art and subjects became the focus of the collection, along with many portraits of prominent Waterbury and Connecticut families. Waterbury city scenes and Connecticut landscapes provide a visual history of the region and its artists. Beginning in the 21st century, the Museum enlarged its mission to include all American art. Prominent artist's works in the collection include Frederick Church, William Jennys, John Kensett, Charles Ethan Porter, John Vanderlyn and John Ferguson Weir. Twentieth-century and contemporary artists include Anni and Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, William Glackens, Jasper Johns, Sol LeWitt, Kiki Smith, and Doug and Mike Starn. 

A small sample of the Mattatuck's button collection

   A fun part of visiting the Mattatuck, is going up to the top floor, and opening all the drawers of buttons! The city of Waterbury takes great pride in its manufacturing history. Buttons have been a big part of the Waterbury story for more than 200 years. The manufacture of buttons, both by hand and later by machine, has been a constant of this areas economy due to expertise in the elaborate working of metals. Large military contracts and the demands of changing fashions resulted in the importance of button manufacturing for many area companies. These miniature works of art reflect changing artistic influences. They have been made in a variety of materials, including glass, porcelain, pearl, metal, bone, paste, wood and jade. More than 3,000 buttons are on permanent display. 

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