Brookfield, CT

by Laurence Michie

A group of Brookfield High School students stand before their easels, painting on canvas. Although this is just an exercise—the students are in a semicircle around their subject, a bust on a table—they’re serious about what they’re doing.

Art is like that in Brookfield. Tucked into the hills of rural western Connecticut, the town itself is like a painting of a New England village—in this case, a village that might easily have succumbed to growth pressure, but instead found ways to keep history alive.

Founded in 1788, Brookfield remained a quiet farm community for almost 200 years. Then, in the 1960s, it became one of the fastest growing towns in Fairfield County. Only 75 miles from Manhattan, the historic village was a magnet for New Yorkers, and still is. With a population nearing 15,000, it has little more room to grow.

But while elements of sprawl have touched Brookfield’s edges, much of the town, especially the area bordering Lake Lillinonah, has remained intact. Early American architecture is still strongly apparent, a 200-acre park graces the center of Brookfield’s national historic district, and the town’s historical society museum includes a 9-acre colonial garden. Timely planning and zoning have guided growth and largely protected the town’s character.

Perhaps even more importantly, for nearly 50 years the town has been keeping historic traditions alive by supporting a remarkable school for artisans—the Brookfield Craft Center. Since 1954 the center has been a living monument to the practical and artistic skills of the town’s colonial past—a centerpiece of historical pride.

The center hosts classes in everything from blacksmithing to woodworking, papermaking, ceramics, and glassblowing. Workshops are structured to accommodate everyone from beginners to experts.

“We’re one of only a dozen or so national, nonacademic craft schools,” says John I. (Jack) Russell, the center’s director since 1980.

With an annual budget of about $750,000, he says the school “is looked at as a new model for managing nonprofits,” and in 1982 received the state’s highest recognition for excellence in the arts, The Connecticut Arts Award.

Tuitions cover all operational costs, with renovation of facilities being covered by grants and fund-raising. That means day-to-day operations pay for themselves, Russell notes. Workshops cost about $100 a day and draw faculty and students from across the country.

Area businesses pay the tuition of any high school student in the region who wants to take a class, and many do. Artisans who are strapped for funds can apply for scholarships. “In 20 years,” Russell says, “I’ve never turned down an application. Classes aren’t inexpensive, but access is almost universal.

“Several students have told me they’ve taken the skills and values they’ve learned here and passed them on to other students at the high school,” Russell adds. “And some of our students have gone on to professional art schools.”

The center’s campus is partly historical, partly a work in progress. Located on 2.5 acres along the Still River in the historic district, the facility includes five buildings. An old mill houses the administrative offices, along with an exhibition gallery and a retail shop.

Next to the mill is a summer cottage renovated into an art studio. Across the river is an old house where visiting faculty usually stay for weekend workshops. Behind the old home is its ancient barn, with classes in ceramics, woodworking, and papermaking. Nearby is a small building devoted to blacksmithing.

Hundreds of volunteers maintain the school’s buildings, and faculty members—many of them nationally respected artists—settle for travel expenses and a modest honorarium to teach here.

“We’re working hard to maintain our rural character,” says Brookfield First Selectman Martin Foncello. “Quite a few town people are on the craft center board. It’s a good cross-section. The craft center is a crown jewel right there in a very strategic location.”

Laurence Michie is a freelance writer based in Northampton, Mass., and Martha’s Vineyard.

first appeared: 2/4/2001