Weir Farm National Historical Park Redesignation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 5852 would redesignate Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut as a National Historical Park.

This 68-acre historic site is the only National Park System unit dedicated to American painting and was established as a unit of the system in 1990. It preserves the home, studio, and grounds of American artist Julian Alden Weir.

Weir spent nearly four decades painting, and his artist friends Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, Emil Carlsen, John Singer Sargent, and Albert Pinkham Ryder often joined him there. Together, they created masterpieces of light and color on canvas that came to define American Impressionism.

Following his death, Weir's daughter, Dorothy Weir Young, an artist in her own right, and her sculptor husband carried on the artistic legacy at the farm. They were followed by New England painters Sperry and Doris Andrews.

Madam Speaker, redesignation of Weir Farm as a national historic park does not affect the laws or policies that govern the area.

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Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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