In Words and Art: Sketching In Harriet’s Garden with Jean Mackay

Stowe Center Gardens

In Words and Art:

Sketching In Harriet’s Garden with Jean Mackay

July 10, 2021

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s writing explores injustice and hardship, but did you know that she sought out and celebrated beauty in her gardens and botanical paintings? Surrounded by Stowe’s bountiful gardens, this workshop will invite you to look, learn, find inspiration, and sketch. Participants will view three of Harriet’s paintings hanging inside the Stowe House, learn a bit about her painting practice, have a basic tutorial with artist Jean Mackay, and find a place to sit and sketch in Harriet’s garden. Participants will select quotes to incorporate into their sketches to give voice to the beauty and wisdom that Stowe so powerfully portrayed in words and art.

Registrants will receive a copy of Mackay’s new book The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook, all the basic art materials for making sketches, and sparkling water and snacks will be served at the end as we look at each other’s sketches. (Note: This program is designed to be perfect for caregiver/child or grandparent/child engagement as a multi-generational activity.)

Artist and educator Jean Mackay has been exploring and sketching nature for more than 25 years. Working in all kinds of settings, from tide pools to farm fields to her own backyard in Upstate New York, Jean’s watercolor paintings and journals reflect a keen eye for detail and profound sense of wonder. She offers workshops nationally and virtually. Discover the ordinary, yet extraordinary things that she encounters close to home and farther afield on her blog, Drawn In, www.jeanmackayart.com.

Reservations are required; limited to 15ppl; Ages 10 and up and designed to be a multi-generational program. $40pp; $60 for duel child/adult ticket (2ppl) Reservations are required; limited to 15ppl; Ages 10 and up and designed to be a multi-generational program. $35pp; $50 for dual child/adult ticket (2ppl). Includes signed copy of The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook, art materials, snacks and instruction.

View some of Jean’s work below.

Location The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center/77 Forest St./Hartford, CT 06105

Doors Open 3:00 PM

Program 5:30 PM

School Group Interest Form

School Group Interest Form 2023

Thank you so much for your interest in a group tour at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! Please help us schedule your visit by answering the questions below.

School name:

Please suggest three dates and times when your group would like to visit. (Note: the Stowe Center is closed on Sunday and Tuesday.)

Contact Teacher Name:

Contact Teacher Email:(Required)

Contact Teacher Phone Number:(Required)

Number of students expected to attend:(Required)

Please enter a number from 8 to 40.

Please identify the grade level(s) of attending students:(Required)

Likely number of chaperones (including other teachers):

The Stowe Center requires one adult per every 10 students.

Are there special student, teacher, or chaperone accommodations that can help us serve you best?

Do you plan to have lunch on site?

Yes, please.

No, thank you.

Are you interested in scheduling a joint visit with our neighbor, The Mark Twain House and Museum?

Yes, please

No, thank you.

If yes, have you already contacted The Mark Twain House?

Yes

Adult Group Interest Form

Group Tour Interest Form 2022

Thank you so much for your interest in a group tour at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! Please help us schedule your visit by answering the questions below.

Group Name:

Name of Primary Contact:(Required)

Contact Email:(Required)

Contact Phone Number:(Required)

What date would you like to visit? (The Stowe Center typically books group tours for Thursday through Sunday visits.)

Expected number of visitors:(Required)

Please enter a number from 20 to 42.

Please indicate the number of adults, seniors, and children expected in your group:

Are there special accommodations that can help us serve you best?

Are you interested in a joint visit with our neighbor, The Mark Twain House and Museum?

Yes, please.

No, thank you.

If yes, have you already contacted The Mark Twain House?

Yes

Isabella Beecher Hooker

Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker (1822-1907)
An ardent member of the woman’s suffrage movement, Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker joined in the cause along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Isabella was the first child of Lyman Beecher and his second wife, Harriet Porter Beecher.

Isabella began her education at Catharine Beecher’s Hartford Female Seminary and lived with her sister Mary Perkins. In 1841 she married John Hooker, a descendant of Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford. John Hooker was a lawyer and an abolitionist.

In the early 1860s Isabella got involved in the woman’s suffrage movement. Isabella joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as a member of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1869. She was a founding member of the Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association. Isabella’s ideas of equality were influenced by John Stuart Mills’ On Liberty and the Subjection of Women.

In 1871, Isabella organized the annual convention of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in Washington D.C. and presented her argument before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. Her husband, John Hooker, believed in his wife and supported her activities. He helped Isabella draft a bill to the Connecticut Legislature giving married women the same property rights as their husbands. The bill passed in 1877. Isabella annually submitted a bill granting women the right to vote, but it did not pass in her lifetime.