Mystic Arts Center, Florence Griswold Museum, Nathan Hale School Team Up for Outreach Project

Mystic Arts Center, Florence Griswold Museum,
 and Nathan Hale Elementary School Outreach Project

Mystic, CT – Mystic Arts Center (MAC) has teamed up with the third graders at Nathan Hale Elementary School in New London, Connecticut to build houses for the Wee Faerie Village at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The Wee Faerie Village will open October 1^st.

The Faerie Village is one of the Florence Griswold’s most popular annual exhibits. This year, the design of these miniature houses will be based on “whimsical kingdoms”.  The artists are meant to take inspiration from various fantastical realms and, using natural and found materials, create their own mystical house. The Nathan Hale team is using the popular book, “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C. S. Lewis for inspiration. With the help of MAC’s faculty members each class will create a different structure under the same theme. “The children [of Nathan Hale Elementary] were very excited to see the work slowly come to form”, said Marilyn Parnes, one of the participating third grade teachers, “[they] can’t wait to go and see the display when it is completed."

Lisa Adams, a MAC faculty member who has been working with the children at Nathan Hale, commented, “What was so heartening for me was witnessing the students respond to the natural materials…They were curious and downright gleeful in handling and applying these "supplies" from Mother Nature…They fell right into step with the myth of faery life, accepting that "other" world as true and real.”

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About Mystic Arts Center
Mystic Arts Center (MAC) is a vibrant venue for the creative arts in Connecticut. MAC is a non-profit organization dedicated to fulfilling its mission to foster the creation of art and to promote the understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of arts for the public. Learn more at www.mysticarts.org.