I haz a sad - Higgins Armory
My morning radio station just announced on the news that the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester is closing their doors in December. The armor collection is going to go to the Worcester Art Museum.
This makes me sad. I've got a history with the Higgins. They did a demo at Arisia *yoinks* ago and I dragged the Wasband to their basic longsword class with me. That's where I met malterre and fbhjr. I really enjoyed the class and almost joined the Higgins Sword Guild. I actually went to a couple of their meetings. But it wasn't quite what I was looking for (Their lead academic thought he was a swordfighting expert, even though he had no formal training in any sort of martial art, eastern or western. And the sequences we were learning changed from week to week, which makes it really hard to remember what the heck you're supposed to do!) But I was on the Sword Guild mailing list until the guy who was hosting it shut it down last year. And I took three or four more of their sword classes. The last one was a rapier class with Patri Pugliese that I'd been waiting for three years for him to find time to teach. I'm so glad I got to take a class with him before he passed away.
I had a museum membership for a couple of years. And I know they've been struggling for years. It's hard to keep such a specialized museum open. Especially when the collections don't rotate that much. I'm sure with the crap economy and cuts in public funding for the arts they've lost a bunch of money over the past couple of years.
So yeah, I haz a sad today. =(
I need to plan at least one trip to The Higgy before they close in December.
ETA - I met palusbuteo through the Higgins too. Heck, just about everyone I know in New England who plays with swords has some sort of Higgins connection.
Edit #2 - http://www.telegram.com/article/20130307/NEWS/130309688
This makes me sad. I've got a history with the Higgins. They did a demo at Arisia *yoinks* ago and I dragged the Wasband to their basic longsword class with me. That's where I met malterre and fbhjr. I really enjoyed the class and almost joined the Higgins Sword Guild. I actually went to a couple of their meetings. But it wasn't quite what I was looking for (Their lead academic thought he was a swordfighting expert, even though he had no formal training in any sort of martial art, eastern or western. And the sequences we were learning changed from week to week, which makes it really hard to remember what the heck you're supposed to do!) But I was on the Sword Guild mailing list until the guy who was hosting it shut it down last year. And I took three or four more of their sword classes. The last one was a rapier class with Patri Pugliese that I'd been waiting for three years for him to find time to teach. I'm so glad I got to take a class with him before he passed away.
I had a museum membership for a couple of years. And I know they've been struggling for years. It's hard to keep such a specialized museum open. Especially when the collections don't rotate that much. I'm sure with the crap economy and cuts in public funding for the arts they've lost a bunch of money over the past couple of years.
So yeah, I haz a sad today. =(
I need to plan at least one trip to The Higgy before they close in December.
ETA - I met palusbuteo through the Higgins too. Heck, just about everyone I know in New England who plays with swords has some sort of Higgins connection.
Edit #2 - http://www.telegram.com/article/20130307/NEWS/130309688