With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
28 Hammond Avenue, Norwich
- Ellis Ruley homesite
- Ellis Ruley
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Ellis Ruley home site
- Description of Significance/Historical Narrative
- Located on the grounds of his former homestead, this park honors the legacy of Norwich native Ellis Walter Ruley (1882–1959), a self-taught African-American folk artist. Along with extended family, the Ruleys lived in a 19th/early 20th century farmhouse, on this Hammond Avenue site. Two years after the artist's death, fire destroyed the homestead along with many of Ellis’s paintings. A Connecticut Superior Court decision in 1983 transferred the homestead’s access road to others. Following a foreclosure, the City of Norwich took possession of the property. The property is a stop on the Connecticut Freedom Trail and the Norwich Freedom Trail (https://walknorwich.org/freedom-trail/stop-15/).
- Date of Construction
- 2020 (park)
- Historic Designation(s)
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n/a