Taking Their Wares to a Museum

The idea clicked with Elizabeth Connolly one day while she walked her dog past the museum of the Long Beach Historical and Preservation Society.

Connolly was searching for the ideal venue for an arts and crafts show that she had been hosting at her home each year. Living in one of those vintage stucco houses sporting a red-tiled roof on West Beech Street, she searching for something similar, something singular and intimate, and found it in the museum, a preserved early 20th century Estates home at 226 W. Penn St.

"Other venues, like the community center, would not have been so charming," Connolly said. "I wanted attendees to feel that they were having a unique experience. I feel that when I go to a box store or the mall, everything tends to look the same after awhile."

Starting Friday, Connolly will host her three-day arts and crafts show at the museum, featuring everything from pottery, wreaths and fiber to jewelry, paintings and photos by local artisans. The first night kicks off with wine and cheese and music by virtuoso harpist Eduardo Acosta; followed by coffee-and-cookie-type affairs on Saturday and Sunday. Each show is from 4 to 9 p.m.

"We have so many talented artists that live in Long Beach, I thought it would be a great thing to have here in town," Connolly said about the annual fair that she started in 2005.

When she thought to move the fair to a venue with more space and approached Carole Geraci, president of the Historical Society, about using the museum to house it, Geraci welcomed the idea. "That came about simply because the museum is always so beautifully decorated for the holidays that we decided to add another event to attract people who might not ordinarily visit the museum," Geraci said.

Last year, the fair was held a week before Christmas, but Mother Nature had other plans. "Even though there was a blizzard, we had a great time and people came," Connolly recalled. "This year we are doing it a bit earlier and hope to have a great success."

As she sees its, Connolly's involvement in and promotion of the fair and its artisan is, in part, a way to bring people, especially the youth, back to nature and simpler times. "I have found that we as a society have become so far removed from nature, our children do not comprehend how food is grown or how cloth is made," she said.

She also doesn't see the malls as the appropriate place to sell their wares, nor do the clerks there give patrons the necessary attention.

"They aren't interested in your personal needs," she said. "At our event, each artist is happy to talk about their work and help you find something that will suit you."


The Arts & Crafts Show will feature the following artisans:

• Elizabeth Connolly — hand-woven scarves and blankets and mosaics

• Mary Blair — pastels, prints and greeting cards

• Bob Shanley — photography

• Karen O'Neill — jewelry and hand-made brooms

• Drucilla Morello — jewelry

• Susan Nagel — felted bags and knitted items

• Nellie Romero — watercolor

• Nick DeMeola — silkscreened silk scarves and paintings

• Katrina Unger — antiques restoration  

For information about the Arts and Craft Show, call the museum at 432-1192 or Connolly at 889-7015.