This dynamic exhibition explores how entrepreneurial women enabled Holley House to become the setting for the Cos Cob art colony, the first Impressionist community in Connecticut, and among the earliest in the nation.

The Centennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence in 1876 reignited national interest in the ideals of the Revolution and ushered in new opportunities for women. This enabled the Holley House proprietors to expand upon their domestic roles and become influential businesswomen who attracted the founders of American Impressionism.

The picturesque setting on the banks of the Mianus River and familial home environment created by Josephine Holley and her daughter Constant Holley MacRae ignited the creativity of the artists who were attracted to Holley House as a respite from their New York City dwellings. Cos Cob art colony founders and frequent boarders included John Henry Twachtman, J. Alden Weir, Childe Hassam and Theodore Robinson who were instrumental in shaping American Impressionism during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.