EC-CHAP Lecture Series: “Reviving History in the Graveyard - Replicating Three Revolutionary War Veteran’s Headstones with Randall Nelson”

Registration Required

Masks Optional | 75% Capacity | Socially Distanced Tables

 In 2019, the director of the Ancient Burying Ground Association asked Mr. Nelson if he could make new versions of three badly deteriorated headstones in the Ancient Burying Ground, which is the oldest existing cemetery in CT. These headstones mark the burials of three Revolutionary War veterans: Captain Joseph Talcott, Captain John Watson and Major Daniel Jones.

Randall Nelson will speak about the Ancient Burying Ground and the individuals for whom the stones were originally created. He will also show the steps involved in producing and installing these replicas of the original headstones, two of which were made from Portland CT brownstone and one from Lee MA marble.   

 Please join us for this unique lecture about our historic . This program is hosted by the "Eastern Connecticut Center for History, Art, and Performance" (EC-CHAP). Doors 6:30pm / Lecture 7:00pm. Admission is free. Donations gratefully accepted. Soft drinks and snacks available.

 For more information, please visit: www.thepackinghouse/upcoming or call 518-791-9474.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Mr. Nelson earned his BFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in 1974, then served a five-year apprenticeship in woodworking with Master Sculptor Toshio Odate from 1975 to 1980. He received my MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College for the Arts in 2006, and has have been an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of CT, Storrs and the University of Hartford, Bloomfield.   He has also been Adjunct Faculty at Quinebaug Valley Community College, Middlesex Community College and Asnuntuck Community College.  

Mr. Nelson has been a working artist for thirty years, teaching art courses while maintaining my own art practice and managing a sculptural restoration business specializing in the preservation of building facades, monuments and statuary. He has extensive experience in the different fields of sculptural production, including wood and stone carving, mold making, casting and metal working.

As a restoration sculptor, his company, Nelson Architectural Restoration, has worked on hundreds of decorative stone and terra cotta projects nation-wide, repairing monuments and buildings in New England and other parts of the country, including the brownstone Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park in Hartford and the famous brownstone McClellan Gate at Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Nelson has also worked on several major monument restoration projects for the City of Savannah, GA.

Presently, Mr. Nelson is providing curatorial work for several local historic cemeteries, repairing and replicating damaged monuments and headstones.

Mr. Nelson can be reached at: Nelson Architectural Restoration, (860) 429-3830;  andromeda1388@yahoo.com