Abby Epplett, Historian

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. My first stop was Heritage Museums & Gardens (HMG) in Sandwich, MA. The first part of this six-part miniseries focused on the gardens , second part on J.K. Lilly III Automobile Gallery , the third on small buildings , a fourth covering art installations on the grounds, and the fifth on the reproduction Temple of Virtue . This sixth and final post highlights the delightful Looff carousel.

My bonus stop during my trip last Saturday — July 6, 2024 — was Attleboro Art Museum, a single gallery exhibition space down the street from the Attleboro Area Industrial Museum . Most pieces in the museum were for sale, so if you have the money, purchasing artwork is a great way to support emerging artists. The exhibit on display at the time of my visit was called Morning Noon Night . My favorite piece in the exhibit was a Juror’s Award Winner called “Orange Watercolor” by Natalie McGuire of Saint Paul, MN. I loved how her customized mosaic picture frame extended the landscape appearing in her colorful photograph of sunset by a lake. Another unique piece was “Wild Swans” by Hannah Cole Dahar of Manchester, NH, which showed phases of the moon on one side of the hanging circle and zodiac symbols surrounding a princess on the opposite side. Dahar claimed she was inspired by the Grimm’s Fairy tale The Wild Swans , but that version had six swan brothers. The twelve sw...

A few weeks ago, I visited the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, CT. This delightful member of the New England Museum Association (NEMA) is among the largest permanent collections of carousel animals in the country. The museum explained the history of carousels, demonstrated how carousels animals were constructed, and highlighted modern carousel creators. As a bonus, the museum had a working carousel inside the building.