inspiration
19th Century Traditions
As part of the Manchester Historical Society, Cheney Homestead Arts is the arts education initiative of the nearby Cheney Homestead Museum which is where our first drawing classes began in 2019. With the arrival of new instructors and students in 2020, the studio was established in its present location on the corner of Forest and Pine Streets in Manchester, CT. Our classes and workshops focus on 19th Century classical drawing and painting methods as well as learning experiences that explore historical and cultural traditions. The spacious mill studio once served as part of the machine shop to the original Cheney silk mills built at the turn of the last century. Today, it is a place where people of all ages come together to learn and to grow.