Celebrating Art and Culture

Text by Patricia Platt
Photo Courtesy of The CT-Asian Cultural Center

Celebrating its motto “Love, Mutual Support and Peace,” the Connecticut-Asia Cultural Center held its grand opening on Aug. 6 at 207A Westside Road, the large stone estate built by Dr. Michael Pupin in 1907. For many years, the site was occupied by a Hutterian Brethren community, which sold the property in 1999.

The event was staffed by over 200 eager volunteers from the Confucian Study Association, the majority of whom flew in from Taiwan to help. After a buffet lunch, Jong-Yih Su, the president of the cultural center; Wendy Roberts, secretary of the association; and Norfolk First Selectman Matt Riiska gave welcoming remarks to the crowd, who were then invited inside. The volunteers gave guided tours of the museum,and guests could participate in a traditional tea ceremony or take a mini-class in calligraphy, knottying or stamping. 

The center has converted the main estate house into a museum. The ground floor contains an exhibit on the property’s history and an art gallery. The gallery will feature art from different countries each year, with art from Taiwan and Canada on display now.

Each exhibition floor is dedicated to one Eastern culture. Taoist culture is on the first floor, Confucian on the second floor, and Buddhism on the third floor. Young members of the Confucian Study Association in Taiwan developed the interactive displays that introduce the culture and core tenets of the three religions.

Riiska commented, “I attended the opening and returned the next day with my family. We all thought it was wonderful—the exhibits are informative and well worth visiting. . . . My daughter is a teacher and is already planning a trip for her fourth graders. I hope Botelle students get to visit, too. I think the center is a great addition to Norfolk’s diversity.”

The Connecticut-Asian Cultural Center’s estate is supported by the tax-exempt Confucian Study Association, whose members hail from the United States and several other countries, especially Taiwan. When the estate was purchased in 1999, a few buildings were renovated at that time. The current restoration for the cultural center started in 2018.

Roberts said that “every penny was donated by members, and almost every hour of labor was donated, except for hiring local companies to do things like pavement and elevators. Labor was donated to fix the whole building and to create the displays. Volunteers would come and go, mostly in the summers.”

“They didn’t build this to try to recruit people to a religion,” Roberts explained. “Our charter is education and to break down some of the barriers in today’s society. We present a variety of different cultures, including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, in an educational way, to show people that the different cultures are a lot more alike than different. Our message is that we are really all one; we are not as different as we might think.”

Su added that “the objective of this center is love, mutual support, and peace. We are all residents living on this earth together. Although there are many different cultures, we must learn more about how to understand each other, respect each other, accommodate each other and help each other. Let our society be full of love and joy, so that all residents of this global village can live in peace and be happy.”

The center will be used by its members as a retreat and conference center, although the future use of the center is still in its planning stage. Once the members are more settled, they will start devising ways to make the center more accessible to the Norfolk community. For example, they hope to make the center available for community meetings and to increase its cultural arts activities. 

Currently, Norfolk zoning limits the center to hosting 10 events per year, but Riiska said that he hopes its “use as a cultural center is not hindered by zoning issues.”

The Connecticut-Asia Cultural Center will be open to the public on weekends during August and September and by special request on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. More information is available at ctasiaculture.com.