This winter, the Lebanon Township Museum will be hosting its annual art show featuring original works of art created by the Musconetcong Watercolor Group, a watercolor and drawing instruction group that meets in a 19th century stone gristmill in Imlaydale. The original gristmill was built in 1792 by wealthy landowners Samuel Bowlby and Major Henry Dusenberry. Dusenberry deeded land to the Lebanon Township Board of Education in 1823 for the construction of the New Hampton schoolhouse, now the Lebanon Township Museum.

While there is no overarching theme of the artists’ works for this exhibit, natural beauty remains their collective inspiration. Taking that into consideration along with the comfortable and charming atmosphere of the schoolhouse-turned-museum, the exhibit has been named Hyggelig. It’s a Danish/Norwegian adjective (pronounced hue-guh-leeg) used to describe a “cozy and warm atmosphere of togetherness in a pleasant setting surrounded by the beauty of nature.”

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

The Musconetcong Watercolor Group celebrates its thirteenth anniversary with a display of recent works at the Lebanon Township Museum.  They are a watercolor and drawing instruction group that meet in 19th century stone gristmill which is the home studio of artist and illustrator Doris Ettlinger and her artist husband Michael McFadden. 

The mill is located in Imlaydale which is just across the Musconetcong River from New Hampton and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. The original gristmill was built in 1792 by wealthy landowners Samuel Bowlby and Major Henry Dusenberry.  Bowlby’s will devised “half-acre lots to twelve grandchildren at what later became the nearby village of New Hampton.”  Dusenberry deeded land to the Lebanon Township Board of Education in 1823 for the construction of the New Hampton schoolhouse, whose classroom has been memorialized in watercolor by Doris Ettlinger in the children’s book T is for Teacher. The New Hampton schoolhouse reopened as the Lebanon Township Museum in 1982. 

While there is no overarching theme of the artists’ works for this exhibit, natural scenes remain their collective inspiration. Taking that into consideration along with the comfortable and charming atmosphere of the schoolhouse-turned-museum, the exhibit has been named Hyggelig. It’s a Danish/Norwegian adjective (pronounced hue-guh-leeg) used to describe a “cozy and warm atmosphere of togetherness in a pleasant setting surrounded by the beauty of nature.”

As the winter winds blow in and the ground becomes covered with snow, we invite you in to share the warmth and beauty provided by the Musconetcong Watercolor Group’s Anniversary Exhibit, Hyggelig. 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

GALLERY