Passing: Elizabeth Tashjian, Founder of Nut Museum - Self-Described "Nut Artist"
I know I've been at this "on the road" stuff for a while, when I look back at an interview I did with Elizabeth Tashjian, founder of the Nut Museum. That talk now goes back some twenty years.
Known as the "nut lady", she preferred being called a "nut artist" or "nut culturist". In any event, this all came to mind, when I saw a post indicating that Elizabeth Tashjian had passed away at the age of 94.
No matter what you call her, this woman was a one of a kind personality - the kind of stuff that brought the likes of Charles Kuralt visiting.
For example, an obituary in the New York Times states that " she died died without fulfilling her dream of opening a nut theme park certain to surpass Disneyland . (Her reasoning: Squirrels are cuter than a certain mouse.)".
She did achieve fame, if not fortune, through the Nut Museum - which filled a room of Ms. Tashjian’s 17-room Gothic Revival mansion in Old Lyme , Ct.. The objects have since been in museum and library exhibitions.
The New York Times piece described her museum as follows: It ".....fits comfortably within an American tradition of enthrallment with odd collections, including museums of vacuum cleaners, toilet seats, mustard, postcards, potted meat, Antarctic dogs and dirt. But it aspired to be an art museum..."
For more on the Nut (Lady)/Artist/Culturist, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/dining/04tashjian.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Known as the "nut lady", she preferred being called a "nut artist" or "nut culturist". In any event, this all came to mind, when I saw a post indicating that Elizabeth Tashjian had passed away at the age of 94.
No matter what you call her, this woman was a one of a kind personality - the kind of stuff that brought the likes of Charles Kuralt visiting.
For example, an obituary in the New York Times states that " she died died without fulfilling her dream of opening a nut theme park certain to surpass Disneyland . (Her reasoning: Squirrels are cuter than a certain mouse.)".
She did achieve fame, if not fortune, through the Nut Museum - which filled a room of Ms. Tashjian’s 17-room Gothic Revival mansion in Old Lyme , Ct.. The objects have since been in museum and library exhibitions.
The New York Times piece described her museum as follows: It ".....fits comfortably within an American tradition of enthrallment with odd collections, including museums of vacuum cleaners, toilet seats, mustard, postcards, potted meat, Antarctic dogs and dirt. But it aspired to be an art museum..."
For more on the Nut (Lady)/Artist/Culturist, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/dining/04tashjian.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
posted by eric model | 3:33 AM
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