Arts Commission to Embrace Hamden's Rich and Storied Past (and Present)

Academy-award winning actor Ernest Borgnine was born here, and Thornton Wilder, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and novelist, spent his later years in life in town, where he now eternally rests at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

Those men who once called Hamden home are just two of the many famous faces who have ties here. And the Hamden Arts Commission has embarked on a mission to uncover even more of the town’s rich and storied past, and present.

The commission is working to create “the most comprehensive cultural directory“ that Hamden has ever seen, according to Mimsie Coleman, coordinator of the Hamden Arts Commission.

“The Hamden Arts Commission is embarking on a two-stage research project that will culminate in the most comprehensive cultural directory Hamden has ever had,” Coleman said. “The first stage -- our current focus -- involves gathering information about and writing descriptions of Hamden's cultural institutions and organizations. The second stage will involve collecting information about individual artists who once lived here or who still call Hamden home.”

Coleman said the commission’s motive is twofold.

“One is simply to provide this essential and/or interesting information,” Coleman added. “The other is to unearth and reveal a major Hamden secret: that Hamden has given birth to, educated, nourished and nurtured large numbers of incredible artists. Some live here now; many have left to pursue professional careers in the arts or non-professional but lifelong commitments to the arts. We want to unearth the facts, reveal the truth and celebrate this accomplishment.”

Coleman said the commission has talked about creating such a directory for many years, but was never quite able to get it off the ground. However, thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of one commissioner in particular, Mark Peel, the project has finally taken off, according to Coleman.

“We now have amongst us a Hamden Arts Commissioner named Mark Peel,” Coleman said. “He is a writer and musician, among other professional achievements, and he has agreed to take this on. He is the chief architect of this project. From the initial concepts, to the planning, to the development of the documents, to the writing of the descriptions and organizing the format, to developing the criteria and guidelines and even establishing the panel of judges, (Mark) is the prime mover.”

Coleman said the commission has received a state Culture and Tourism grant to cover the project costs, which she said will be minimal.

Peel said the concept of the project lies with Coleman, who he said has wanted to unveil Hamden’s “wealth of cultural resources,” for years, and Peel said he fortunately had time to help make it happen.

“I found I had some time and some background in developing an on-line reference resource, so I volunteered to lead the project,” Peel said. “I believe, as does Mimsie, that Hamden has a wealth of cultural resources that have supported, and continue to support the arts. Our project is an attempt to identify as many of those resources as possible and put them where they can be easily accessed and used by the public. At the same time, we feel it important to recognize those individuals somehow connected to Hamden who have made or are just now making significant contributions to the arts.”

Peel said once the project is completed, it will be added to the town’s website for all to explore and enjoy.

But ensuring the project will be done right will take some time, Peel added.

“The project has been underway for about a year and will probably take another year to complete,” he said. “Much of the time so far has been committed to the development of a proper design of the project that will not only produce the initial Resource Directory and a separate web page of Hamden Notables, but will provide a system for the continuous updating of both features.”

Peel added that even when the project is officially launched, it will remain “a work in progress because of the changing nature of the organizations and contributions of individuals who qualify for inclusion.”

He said the system includes nominating criteria, procedures, forms and a subcommittee of the Hamden Arts Commission charged with reviewing all nominations.

“We believe it will be critically important for the Directory information to be kept current and for the list of Notables to reflect the emerging talents coming out of Hamden,” Peel said.

The subcommittee handling the initial review of nominations includes Donna Elkin, Charles Kortsep, both longtime arts commissioners, and Peel. Coleman, Peel said, continues to serve as the project’s “motivator and sounding board.”