INVITE YOU TO ITS
33rd Annual Meeting
Thursday, November 15th at 5:30 pm
AT THE ELI WHITNEY MUSEUM
NORMAND METHOT: Cabinet Maker, Community Maker
& Educator
RSVP • 203.777.1833 or kl@eliwhitney.org
Norm Methot came to New Haven to study wood technology at the Yale School of Forestry. He was determined to find an outlet for his passion for wood broader than the high school Industrial Arts he had been teaching. Charles Montgomery, curator of the Mabel Brady Garvan collection at Yale, admired Norm's drive and resourcefulness and offered challenges more vibrant than the Forestry School. Charles engaged Norm to help install the Garvan Collection. When Norm took a deep interest in the techniques of early period furniture, Charles helped him enter a furniture restoration program in England. The interest that Charles Montgomery invested in him Norm re-invested in a whole generation of New Haven woodworkers. The Eli Whitney Museum, is, in part, a by-product of that investment. |
Alex Tavares |
Jill Clough |
Gleeson Ryan |
Charles Montgomery came to Yale in 1970 to be professor of the history of art and curator of the Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, one of the preeminent collections of American decorative arts in the country. Montgomery had graduated from Harvard in 1932. He developed his expertise as a collector and dealer and his confidence in his own eye before he entered academic circles. He had been director of the Winterthur Museum in Delaware and taught the connoisseurship courses in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. He brought to Yale persuasive confidence and ambition. He educated and shaped his students. Many describe themselves as more than students – as protegés or even disciples. |
Speaker Patricia Kane, Ph.D FRIENDS OF AMERICAN ARTS CURATOR OF AMERICAN DECORATIVE ARTS AT THE YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY |
Patricia Kane was a student and colleague of Professor Montgomery's. She oversees collections, including the Garvan Furniture, from the 17th century to the present. She researches early American silver and furniture. We have asked Dr. Kane to introduce the ties that link Charles Montgomery, The Garvan Collection, and Normand. |
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During the summer, we teach summer camp classes during the day here in the Museum.
Monday – Friday, Office Hours 9am – 5pm
Walk-in Projects available during open hours on
Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday: 10am – 3pm
Sunday: 10am – 3pm
Phone: (203) 777-1833
Fax: (203) 777-1229