Where History Inspires Art
Art:
The mission of the Hampton Arts Initiative (HAI) is to encourage artists of all abilities to discover, or rediscover, Hampton, to be inspired by its beauty, and to bring attention to this wonderful resource. By encouraging artists and patrons to visit often, to create, and to get involved with programming and events, the HAI hopes to attract new audiences who will help to generate awareness and stewardship so that Hampton National Historic Site may continue to serve as a national treasure for generations to come.
The HAI sponsors art exhibitions, musical concerts, and theatrical productions that all celebrate the breadth of Hampton’s resources.
Artist-in-Residence Program:
| Sharon Trumbull and Robert Creamer |
The Arts and Education Committee of Historic Hampton, Inc. is thrilled to welcome our new Artist-in-Residence, Sharon Trumbull! As an Art Professor at the Community College of Baltimore County’s Institute of Art, Design and Interactive Media, Sharon has brought students to Hampton for Plein Air painting classes for several years, and held a painting workshop this past June.
Sharon received a BFA from the University of Delaware and an MFA in Painting from the University of Maryland, College Park. Sharon’s work focuses on aspects of light as well as psychological themes. We are looking forward to working with Sharon to bring many more plein air painters to our beautiful site.!
We are also honored to thank our retiring Artist-in-Residence, the amazing photographer Robert Creamer. For four years Bob has encouraged student photographers as they worked at Hampton. He has conducted workshops for teachers and students as well as arranged a beautiful show of student work on display in the Orangery. With Bob’s tremendous background with the Smithsonian and the National Park Service, he was also a great asset to our Curator, Gregory Weidman, and has been working to create new photos of the interior of the Mansion.
In addition to Bob, our other past Artists-in-Residence were Elaine Bryant, Harpist, and Paul Moscatt, Painter. We thank them, as well, for their participation in the Hampton Arts Initiative Artist-in-Residence program.
We were proud to have Robert Creamer, Smithsonian Fellow and Community College of Baltimore County photography professor, as Hampton’s third Artist-in-Residence! Read more about his work here.
Music:
A Harp in Time
2017 was the Year of the Harp for Hampton. Our HAI featured artist in residence was Elaine Bryant Her initial harp performance was hosted by the Trinity Episcopal Church in Towson, on October 30, 2016, at 1 pm. This concert was held to raise awareness for the conservation of Eliza Ridgely’s historic harp, which is currently on display at the Hampton National Historic Site.
The featured program, A Harp in Time, was an entertaining tour of famous music from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Interesting and humorous stories about each piece bring the music alive for listeners.
Elaine Bryant, the featured harpist has a bachelor’s degree in harp performance from Temple University and a master’s degree in education from The Johns Hopkins University. She studied harp with Marilyn Costello, the late first harpist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mrs. Bryant has performed with the Gettysburg Symphony and the Frederick Symphony Orchestra.
More performances by Elaine and her students were enjoyed by many during the year-long celebration.
Theatre:
Baltimore School for the Arts
Hundreds of visitors came to Hampton this past weekend to witness the very talented ensemble of sophomore students, led by Production Coordinator Norah Worthington, as they presented Finding the Story: Confronting the Past. This consisted of three short plays – Voices, The Gardens, and Historic Preservation – that provided insight into the backstories at Hampton through the centuries and included reenactments based actual historical documentation of the Ridgely family and their workforce. Kudos to all for doing a tremendous job of taking us back in time with the hope of understanding the complexities of relationships that are still with us today. As we celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service it is a great time to look at what we have chosen to preserve, and how much we can still discover when we look with the eyes of the next generation.
