Transport To Magical Realm At Annual 'Wee Faerie Village' In Old Lyme

OLD LYME, CT — Since 2009, what started as an event has become an annual ritual that celebrates art, artistry, and imagination. A tradition that's at once magical and enchanted, where the very young and the very old both are transported into a magical realm, albeit on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme.

The Wee Faerie Village is a winding walk through a village of fantasy fairy art installations that was founded by the Lyme Art Colony.

In the book, "Lyme Art Colony's Wee Faerie Village," the story is told this way:

"Once upon a time in the land of Old Lyme lived a sea captain's daughter named Florence. She lived in a big yellow house near colorful flower gardens, small barns for farm animals, and the sparkling waters of the Lieutenant River. When little Florence grew up and became Miss Florence, the house eventually became hers. Miss Florence neither married nor had any children, and in order to make money, she decided to let people visiting Old Lyme stay with her in what became known as the Griswold Boardinghouse."

The Florence Griswold's birth: "To preserve the legacy of the artists who thrived here from 1899 to the 1930s, the Florence Griswold Association was incorporated in 1936 to establish a museum dedicated to the art colony."

About the faeries, from Lyme Art Colony's Wee Faerie Village

The Wee Faeries Muses

Invisible to most during these many summers were the wee faerie muses that arrived with each artist. These mysterious creative helpers offered the painters sparks of inspiration. Flying back and forth, the wee faeries told the painters which colors to use and how best to render the subject in front of them. The wee faeries spoke in spider web whispers so soft the painters assumed it to be the buzzing of a bee or the rustling of the leaves, but they listened nonetheless and followed the wee faeries' good artistic advice.

The Wee Faerie Village

It was far too loud and boisterous in the Griswold boardinghouse for the faeries to relax. Being creatures of the natural world the faeries sought out dwelling places in the hollows of trees or among the roots and rocks along the riverbank. They only needed to be near enough to hear the familiar rattle of their artist packing for a day of painting to fly to their side and be off for another day of artistic adventure. With the coming and goings of so many artists and their faeries, a village of faerie dwellings emerged on the property.

Since 2009, nearly 200,000 Wee Faerie Village visitors "have immersed themselves in the spirit of imagination and whimsy that comes from visiting at least two dozen pint-sized installations across the Museum’s campus on a perfect autumn day," according to the museum.

The Wee Faerie Village experience is held in October on the Old Lyme Florence Griswold Museum grounds on the Lieutenant River. Learn more here.