In this digital extra, Wistariahurst director Megan Seiler discusses the Holyoke museum’s history and mission.
Explore “Unseen” and “When,” two art installations currently on display at the museum.
Read the full transcript:
Megan Seiler, Wistariahurst Museum: The Wistariahurst Museum is owned and operated by the city of Holyoke, and we are a cultural institution that supports art, music, and history.
Skinner Family brought this house here after a flood in Williamsburg in 1874, and it was built here on this property. This was their permanent home. They hosted all sorts of people, dignitaries, and he was a very prominent businessman here in the area.
We have garden tours that we do in the summer when everything is beautiful and in bloom. Everything is modeled as well as possible after the English garden plans that were made by the Skinner family.
I’ve had to move around a lot for grad school and for jobs, and I just…when I came here, I felt like this is the kind of town that deserves a great community space, that deserves a great museum. And I want to help provide that space for Holyoke and anybody who comes to visit.
