Franco-American & French Canadian Bus Tour of East Hartford and Hebron, 2008
SubjectPortrait of
Daniel Boucher
(American, born 1980)
SubjectPortrait of
Colette Fournier
Date2008 March 8
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.548.27-.40
DescriptionPhotographs of the French Canadian/Franco-American Bus Tour visiting the Hebron Maple Festival in Hebron and the French Social Circle in East Hartford on March 8, 2008.
(.27) Bus tour participants settling in at the French Social Circle Hall to listen to music and have dinner.
(.28-.30) French Canadian-American musicians Daniel Boucher and Colette Fournier playing fiddle at the French Social Circle Hall for the bus tour.
(.31) Daniel Boucher and other musicians playing fiddle at the French Social Circle Hall for the bus tour. The French Social Circle of Hartford banner is on the wall.
(.32-.37) Blacksmiths at Country Carpenters in Hebron working during the bus tour visit to Hebron.
(.38-.40) Bus tour visiting Wenzel Sugar House in Hebron.
NotesSubject Note: The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Institute for Community Research collaborated with Manchester Community College (MCC) on a cultural tourism project in 2004-2008. Each year, three or four day-long bus tours visited cultural events and artist studios in ethnic communities living in different parts of the state as a way for new audiences to experience and meet Connecticut’s ethnic and occupational communities. Project goals included 1) expanding awareness of unfamiliar art forms and heritage tourism assets, 2) encouraging access to little-known ethnic or occupational communities, 3) creating audience and artist interactions, 4) stimulating sales and commissions of traditional arts and foods, and 5) developing new partnerships with community organizations and artists. The tours were developed and led by the Connecticut state folk arts program director, Lynne Williamson along with artists from each community. The partnership with MCC ensured that the tours were advertised in the Credit-Free Catalogue each semester. Audiences for the tours were primarily members of the Older Adults Association, a core audience for MCC’s Credit-Free courses. (.27) Bus tour participants settling in at the French Social Circle Hall to listen to music and have dinner.
(.28-.30) French Canadian-American musicians Daniel Boucher and Colette Fournier playing fiddle at the French Social Circle Hall for the bus tour.
(.31) Daniel Boucher and other musicians playing fiddle at the French Social Circle Hall for the bus tour. The French Social Circle of Hartford banner is on the wall.
(.32-.37) Blacksmiths at Country Carpenters in Hebron working during the bus tour visit to Hebron.
(.38-.40) Bus tour visiting Wenzel Sugar House in Hebron.
Each day-long bus tour included a visit to folk artists’ studios or shops to observe them producing or selling their work, while engaging with visitors in discussions on the history of their communities and the background of their art form. Tours stopped at related landmarks and/or restaurants in the artists’ neighborhoods, or attended a local community festival. The artists and community groups visited gave insightful presentations on their cultures and artistic traditions. Each tour included a traditional dinner or lunch where visitors could sit down to eat and talk with the artists and community members. CCHAP received an NEA Challenge America Cultural Tourism grant for a pilot series of bus tours in 2004. Subsequent project funders also included the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.
On March 8, 2008, a tour focusing on French Canadian/Franco-American traditions in Connecticut visited sites and events in Hebron and East Hartford. The tour traveled to the 18th Annual Hebron Maple Festival, visiting several working sugar houses as well as other maple-oriented activities happening throughout the town. Tour stops included Pierce’s sugar house on Route 66, Hope Valley Sugar House on Hope Valley Road, booths and vendors throughout downtown Hebron, Country Carpenters on Gilead St., and the Wenzel Sugar House on East St. The tour group then traveled to the East Hartford French Social Circle Hall for a late afternoon French soirée with traditional French music provided by the dynamic fiddler Daniel Boucher and friends, and included a supper of typical French dishes such as tourtiere, and sugar on snow and a presentation by the French Canadian Genealogical Society of Connecticut.
Biographical Note: Daniel Boucher is a talented fiddle player and composer from Bristol, Connecticut who learned French Canadian songs from his father and other musicians in the local community. CCHAP first met Daniel in 1998 when he played with his father Jules at the opening of "Sur Bois: Franco-American Woodcarvers of New England," an exhibit presented by CCHAP at the Institute for Community Research gallery. A dynamic performer and cultural activist, Daniel organized regular French Canadian music jams and cultural events/celebrations around central Connecticut, drawing participants from all over New England. He participated in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program as an apprentice to Rosaire LeHoux and Donna Hebert, and as teacher to Nate Ouellette, Collette Fournier, and Jean Galipeau. CCHAP presented Daniel with a group of musicians at the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress Homegrown: Music of America series in 2011, and he played with Josee Vachon and Patrick Ross at an outdoor concert at the Connecticut Historical Society in 2015.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this event and these artists.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
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