Philip Johnson’s Glass House, New Canaan Connecticut
The Glass House, a National Trust for Historic Preservation Site
Since moving to Westport in 1993, I’ve known that Philip Johnson’s Glass House was in nearby New Canaan. I had heard of it before, maybe in the class I took at Mount Holyoke on Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and influence.
The Glass House was built in 1949. It “is one of the world’s most important icons of modern architecture,” I read on their postcard introduction. There are marvelous pictures on their website. Philip Johnson and his partner David Whitney “used the Glass House campus as a place to experiment with new forms in architecture, to house a cutting-edge collection of contemporary art, and, most importantly, to hold gatherings.”
I had no idea of the scope of the site. It’s 49 acres and has many buildings in addition to sculptures, the art gallery, a pool, walkways and bridges.
Eileen posing with the fall foliage
Why did it take me 26 years to visit? No reason. I didn’t think my husband would be interested, and our son Sam, who would be, was never here long enough or with enough free time. So when tickets for two were offered as part of the silent auction at Music on the Hill’s soiree several weeks ago, I bid and won!
My friend Eileen had shoulder surgery recently and was unable to drive to work for a few weeks. So I invited her to come. It was amazing! Our guide took us into five buildings, including of course the house itself, the highlight of the tour for me. The views of the surrounding woods and structures from inside took my breath away!
From the Art Museum
He also pointed out architectural and artistic details in the house and other buildings I would never have noticed. The art museum has movable walls. Different exhibits can be shown without moving the art, just the walls! It has an intriguing ceiling that was designed to cast unusual shadows on the art, walls, and floor.
I’d be happy to go again. I’ll see if Sam can find time for a tour on his next visit.
Speaking of Creativity
We have a tradition at our Unitarian Church of holding “Fall Follies.” The event doesn’t happen every year. It depends on enough willing people with enough talent to produce the show. They enlist actors and also encourage anyone who wants to audition for a spot in the show.
The “Trustees” wore huge yellow ribbons.
This year we were fortunate. Seven people formed the creative team, finding the theme, writing the scripts and tying it all together. I was asked a couple of months ago if I would participate. I didn’t hesitate!
The show was called “UUs Got Talent!” I played myself – the church treasurer – in two scenes. In the first, I was with other trustees. I had an adding machine and announced that our capital campaign had raised way more money than we anticipated. We decided to hold auditions for ideas to spend the extra cash, thus setting the stage for the following acts!
Martha Stewart, played by Berta, proposed plans for decorating our space. The descriptions of her colors were fabulous and her choice of fabrics, like embossed silk, were hilarious in the context of the church! Our architects, Goody Clancy, had their name invoked in a lively song.
For our capital campaign and our annual pledge drive we ask congregants to be “visiting stewards.” They are assigned a few families or individuals to visit to ask for their pledges. One very funny skit had visiting stewards take over the home of a couple they were supposed to be calling on.
It was lots of fun. My performances were not exactly show-stopping, but I had a good time and didn’t forget too many words of the songs we sang, Yesterday, and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Both had their words cleverly altered to reflect our “situation” of having too much extra cash!
The song from Sound of Music was changed to How Do You Solve a Problem of Abundance? And Yesterday had the line, “Yesterday, carpets stained from potluck Cabernet, gave us such a shabby entryway!”
My other scene involved a drug dealer proposing to fill our Meditation Garden, which he called our Medication Garden, with psychedelic plants! He kept responding with “Namaste” to my long last name. For his departing word he dropped Namaste and uttered, “Onyemelukwe.”
I hope I’ll have a couple of pictures to share next time.
Have you done a show like this in community theater or for an organization?
Slavery Among the Igbo Brought Request for Writing
Based on my last post about slavery among the Igbo people, Peter from our Friends of Nigeria Peace Corps group, emailed me. “African slavery could be the topic of an interesting FON Newsletter article,” he said. Would I be interested in writing this, he asked.
Yes, I’m interested and I told him so. I’ll share it will you when I do.
I like sharing my writing, my form of creativity. What’s yours?
