Thanks to Lynn Sottile for sending the above flyer.
The following information is copyrighted material : Copyright 2022, Manchester Historical Society, founded 1965
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Tickets now on sale for our fabulous October 15 house tour, at $35 per person. Purchase at: • Woodland Gardens, 168 Woodland St. • 
We are currently raising funds for Elisabeth’s statue. Here are some opportunities for the public to participate in and support the sculpture project:
We are selling tote bags in natural color canvas with navy blue lettering. The Elisabeth Bennet tote measures
Notecards with the image of the Joe McCluskey statue are for 
Find out more about Miss Bennet’s career as an educator in “Moments with Miss Bennet.” Click each icon to bring up the video…
Background on this project. The Sculpture Committee has planned three bronze statues for the Town of Manchester as permanent public art designed to connect us to our past and create a legacy for future generations, emphasizing Manchester’s historic assets and illustrating its cultural heritage. The bronze sculptures will honor individuals who have made significant contributions to our community in the areas of sports, education, the arts, inventing, etc. Manchester’s history is all around us — in the architecture, the paintings in Town Hall, the Dancing Bear fountain, and the silk industry legacy left to us by the Cheney family. With thanks to the very generous donors who funded the first sculpture, the Sculpture Project continues its fundraising efforts. Your investment will make the sculptures a significant asset to our community.
To donate and become a Sponsor of the Sculpture Project, please click SPONSORSHIP FORM, print, and enclose it with your check as described on the form. All contributions welcome! Mail your check to “Sculpture Project,” Manchester Historical Society, 175 Pine Street, Manchester, CT 06040. Write Sculpture Project on the memo line. Contributions by credit card can be made by calling the Historical Society at 860-647-9983. Thank you for your donation! Read more about the project’s Nine-page sponsorship packet.
Honorees are:
Completed:
- Joe McCluskey (1911-2002) statue located in the parklet near the intersection of Highland, Wyllys, and Spring Street, along the route of the Manchester Road Race. Joe, Olympic medalist and winner of multiple national titles in various distance events, is credited with the early success of the Manchester Road Race, winning three consecutive years. Click to read the printed program distributed at the November 10, 2019, ceremony dedicating Joe McCluskey’s statue. Click to read “Joe McCluskey, Manchester’s Greatest Runner.”
In the fundraising process:
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- Elisabeth Bennet (1881-1959), principal of Manchester Public Schools, was credited with many “firsts,” including establishing a school library in the basement of Barnard School with donations from friends and her own personal library. She is credited for saving the lives of 1,100 students in the 1913 fire that destroyed the school building. Two years after her death, Barnard Junior High was renamed in her honor to the Elisabeth M. Bennet Middle School. Click to read more about Elisabeth M. Bennet. Click here for information about Miss Bennet’s own educational records.
- Next on the plan: Emily Cheney Neville (1919-1997), mother of five children, began writing when her youngest entered school. She won the Newbery Medal for her first novel, “It’s Like This, Cat,” and is recognized as a notable author of children’s books. She went on to publish many books, including an autobiographical novel, “Traveler from a Small Kingdom,” which describes her life growing up in Manchester. You can read “It’s Like This, Cat,” online here. To be located outside of the Mary Cheney Library, seated on a bench holding a book. Click to read more about Emily Cheney Neville and her books. Click to read Emily’s Autobiography.
About the sculptor: Michael Keropian of Carmel, NY, grew up in Manchester.
He began his professional career and training as a sculptor at the oldest art school in the country, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in 1978. To further his training in sculpture, he moved to New York’s Hudson Valley in 1986 and worked for ten years at the Tallix Sculpture Foundry in Beacon, NY, working on hundreds of sculptures and learning the technical skills that go into casting a sculpture into metal.
During this period, he started Keropian Sculpture LLC and worked after hours to develop his business. Keropian Sculpture LLC provides sculptural services and consulting to a variety of clientele.
After leaving the Tallix Foundry in 1996, he continued building Keropian Sculpture LLC and started teaching at a number of schools in the New York Metro area, such as the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City and Artlife Studio in Portchester, NY. He currently teaches privately and at the Katonah Art Center. Keropian Sculpture has also completed sculpture restorations for a number of private estates, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design and Fairfield University’s Bellarmine Museum. In 2000, Michael received a commission to create nine heroic-size tigers for the new baseball stadium of the Detroit Tigers, Comerica Park.
Since 2000, Michael’s commissions includethese sculptural projects:
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- Memorial bronze plaques for the Mayor of Brewster, NY, John Cesar, Daniel Nimham (Revolutionary Hero) and Edith G. Read (Naturalist), Luigi Del Bianco (Carver), Wendell Scherer (Teacher), and Bob Steele (Radio Personality).
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- Medallions for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Archbishop Brunett.
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- Historic portraits busts of John Cesar, Edgard Varese, and Louis Armstrong.
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- Full figures of Frank Zappa, Vic Morrow, John Cooper Fitch, and RIT President Dr. Albert Simone.
- Memorials for Aaron Vays and Tiran Nersoyan (Founder of St. Nersess Seminary). Michael is currently working on a bust of General Thomas F. Meager (Irish orator and Civil War General) for Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
Michael has won numerous awards throughout the years and recently won the coveted Hudson Valley Art Association’s Gold Medal. His works can be found in private collections around the world.
He is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society and is the Sculpture Chairperson for the Hudson Valley Art Association. Watch a video of Michael describing his work.
The committee: Inspired by the possibilities of public art and support from the community, the committee has organized and raised funds to honor Manchester’s historical figures with sculptures. Committee members are Lynn Sottile, Joyce Hodgson Post, Tana Parseliti, Donna Fitzgerald, Claudia Kuehl, Michele O’Neil, Ann Lucente, Catherine Wynn, Susan Wright, and Susan Barlow.
One of our fund-raising projects was a house tour of six private homes in Manchester on Saturday, October 13, 2018. Read more, including information about each house: House Tour Pamphlet.
All content copyright 2022, Manchester Historical Society, founded 1965. All rights reserved.
