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Briann Greenfield, executive director of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, will speak about the current state of the antiques market in New England and discuss how antiques are “invented.” As part of the popular Museum After Dark series, Greenfield will offer an interactive and informative look at what transforms family keepsakes into valuable artistic objects.
As Greenfield will discuss, antiquing -- particularly the practice of valuing old things for their aesthetic qualities -- is a relatively recent invention whose origins can be found in the early years of the 20th century. Although 19th century Americans did appreciate heirlooms, they saw them as memory markers, tangible representations of honored ancestors or local history.
Greenfield previously was a history professor at Central Connecticut State University, where she founded the school’s program for careers in museums and historic preservation. She was a longtime board member and consultant for Connecticut Humanities. An accomplished cultural historian, her experience includes many museums and historical societies, fellowships with the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Winterthur Museum.
Greenfield is also the author of "Out of the Attic: Inventing Antiques in Twentieth-Century New England" and "A Life of the Land: Connecticut’s Jewish Farmers," which she co-authored with Mary M. Donohue for the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford.
Museum After Dark events are open to the public and are from 6-8 p.m. at the Fairfield Museum, 370 Beach Road. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free for museum members and $5 for non-members.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. For more information, call 203-259-1598 or visit its website.
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