OLD LYME, CONN.- After a national search, the Florence Griswold Museum has selected Jennifer Stettler Parsons, Ph.D., as its new Assistant Curator. A native of the Philadelphia area, Parsons developed an interest in curatorial work through past positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and in Washington, D.C., at The Phillips Collection and the National Gallery of Art. At the Smithsonian American Art Museum she held the Sara Roby Predoctoral Fellowship in Twentieth-Century American Realism.

An expert on American and modern art, Parsons holds a BA in art history from the University of Delaware and an MA from George Washington University. She has written about artists John Sloan and Arthur Dove and looks forward to exploring the international context of American Impressionism.

“The Florence Griswold Museum’s unique collection offers an exceptional opportunity to study the globally expanding field of American art through the dynamic of a local environment,” Parsons said. “I look forward to joining the wonderful staff in order to contribute new scholarship on the artists who circulated through the Old Lyme colony.”

She also plans to turn her attention to the subject of artist-naturalists. “Jenny’s interest in this topic will draw upon the strengths of the Museum’s naturalist collection, assembled by American Impressionist Willard Metcalf. We are thrilled that she will take a fresh look at this and the rest of the permanent collection with an eye toward current scholarship on American art,” said Curator Amy Kurtz Lansing. Parsons begins her duties on May 25, following her graduation from the doctoral program at the University of Virginia.

The recipient of a Trip Advisor 2015 Certificate of Excellence, the Florence Griswold Museum has been called a “Giverny in Connecticut” by the Wall Street Journal, and a “must-see” by the Boston Globe. In addition to the restored Florence Griswold House, the Museum features a gallery for changing art exhibitions, education and landscape centers, a restored artist’s studio, thirteen acres along the Lieutenant River, and extensive gardens. The Museum is located at 96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, Connecticut. Visit www.FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org for more information.