‘Thank You for Celebrating This Moment’: Officials Cut Ribbon on Reopened ‘Rogers Studio’ at NCM&HS

More than 50 people gathered at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society last week for the widely anticipated reopening of the Rogers Studio.

Moved to the nonprofit organization’s campus from its nearby original location on Oenoke Ridge in 1965, the single-room structure was “dedicated by the Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark for its exceptional ability to illustrate United States heritage” the following year, according to NCM&HS Executive Director Nancy Geary.

“This building was the first in New Canaan to receive this designation, a rare and important honor,” Geary told the crowd on a sunny and comfortable afternoon on Sept. 12, minutes before a formal ribbon-cutting by First Selectman Dionna Carlson and NCM&HS Board President Tom Monahan. “It is a beautiful example of Victorian architecture and we are very pleased that this ‘Rogers Reimagined’ project has given it new life.”

The workspace for John Rogers, described by Geary as “the most popular sculptor in United States history,” the studio’s impressive renovation and collection came about because of many people’s generosity and respect for historic preservation, she said, specifically thanking: Todd Levine of the State Historic Preservation Office of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (he “recognized the importance of both the building and the artist and helped navigate the process,” Geary said); the Greenwich Historical Society (which “gifted the New Canaan Museum 63 groups, the vast majority of its collection. The gift included several that were new to the museum and some that were in better condition. The combined collection is now the largest in the world,” Geary said); Paul Stone and Jamie Bacco of Karp Associates (who “have been extraordinary in the care and attention they have given this project,“ Geary said. “I do not know what we would have done without their hard work, level of excellence, understanding of the significance of the building and willingness to get done whatever we needed”); Gina Federico (who “designed the exhibit and we appreciate her creativity and vision in helping us tell the story of Rogers’s life and work”); Mary Frances Malone (whose “research, expertise and patience were critical to developing this exhibition,” Geary said. “I relied on her tremendously and I’m grateful for her advice and guidance”); and the New Canaan Community Foundation which awarded a multi-year $100,000 grant to be put toward the Rogers Studio. 

“Thank you to Lauren Patterson, the New Canaan Foundation’s president and CEO,” Geary said. “To Meg Soffen, who advised me through the grant-writing process, especially when I closed the portal by mistake and hadn’t finished something. Jeff Williams, the president of the Board, and Sara Schubert, who serves on the Community Foundation Board and was our fiercest advocate.  I appreciate the Community Foundation’s generosity and its belief in this museum more than words can describe. So thank you for coming. Thank you for celebrating this moment.”

Those in attendance also included Selectmen Amy Murphy Carroll and Steve Karl, and three of New Canaan’s state legislature delegates: state Rep. Lucy Dathan (D-142nd), state Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-36th) and state Rep. Tom O’Dea (R-125th).

The NCM&HS, which now features the Jim & Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History, has eight historical buildings that are open to visitors. The organization is in the midst of its “Campus Reimagined Campaign,” with plans that include the future Jim Bach Special Collections Museum.

Geary called the reopening of the Rogers Studio “the culmination of, actually, two years of work, but six years of planning.”

“I want to take a few minutes to answer two questions and to give much needed thanks to all who have been involved in this process,” Geary said during her welcome address.

She continued: “First off, why does John Rogers matter? New Canaan resident John Rogers was the most popular sculptor in United States history. Between 1860 and 1893, Americans purchased approximately 80,000 of his putty-colored plaster Rogers groups at an average price of $14. These works tell stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction. They depict domestic scenes and they illustrate important social issues. David Wallace, the seminal historian on his life and work, writes that the reason for Rogers’s immense popularity was that ‘no other American sculptor has ever been so completely at one with his contemporaries in taste, in spirit, and in human sympathies, and none has made his work so generally available to the general public.’ This last clause bears emphasis. Rogers wanted his art to be accessible and affordable. He wanted middle-class Americans to own them. He thought, just as we do at the Museum, that everyone benefits by easy access to art and culture. Few artists in the world get praise and acknowledgement by sitting presidents.”

But John Rogers did, she said—In 1860, he gave President Abraham Lincoln ‘Wounded Scout,’ a statue of a fugitive slave supporting an injured soldier. In a letter of thanks, President Lincoln remarked that it was ‘very pretty, and I think an excellent piece of art,’ ” Geary said.

“Following Lincoln’s assassination, Rogers produced versions of the Council of War, which Lincoln’s eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, pronounced as the best likeness of his father ever created,” she continued. “In 1893, Rogers’s finest monumental work, a statue of Abraham Lincoln, won a medal at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. That this resident of Oenoke Ridge earned such accolades makes him truly one of the most remarkable of New Canaan’s many exceptional residents.”

The second question, Geary said, is: Why does the Studio matter? 

“The 1878 Rogers Studio was designed by the renowned Boston architecture firm of Peabody and Stearns, where John Rogers’s brother-in-law was a principal,” she said. “It was moved onto the campus here in 1965 from its original location where St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is now. At the time, Rogers’s grandson, also named John Rogers, served as president of the New Canaan Historical Society.”

Referring to the state workers and representatives who have supported the project, Geary said she’s “very grateful that the state of Connecticut recognizes that cultural institutions are important not only to the community, but for tourism and economic development.”

“State funds are lifelines for many of us in museum work and to all of our state representatives that are here: Thank you very, very much,” she said, adding in reference to the GHS’s gift, “COVID hit, but when the world reopened and we refocused on the project, the Greenwich Historical Society made an incredible offer.”

Patterson of the Community Foundation said that in representing her organization at the ribbon-cutting she was representing “the thousands of people in our town that chip in at all different levels and make sure that we can be here as an organization to give to leading institutions in our town if and when they grow to a point, and they have an exiting, invigorating project for their organization and this community.”

Patterson also congratulated Geary “on her tremendous leadership” and the “inspiring transformation” at the NCM&HS.

“We are so thankful that you all are energized and teaching an entirely new generation of New Canaanites what it means to be part of this community,” Patterson said. “I am not so much of a history buff and I find this organization exciting and the programs and exhibitions that you run really interesting and thought-provoking and forward-looking.”

Fazio read out a state citation from the Connecticut General Assembly to mark the day. O’Dea called for a round of applause for Geary.

Dathan said that the Rogers Studio is “just another gem in our crown of New Canaan, and it is possible because we have so many dedicated residents and leaders like Nancy that are marking New Canaan such a wonderful place.”

“I’m just delighted to see that another historic thing is happening in our town,” she said.