Sunday Quick Paint

At 8:00 am on Sunday morning, 10/5, competition artists and community members can register at the Tapping Reeve Meadow for the Quick Paint competition.

There is a $15 fee to participate in the competition for community artists.

Artists will paint wherever they wish from 9:00 to 12:00 noon & return back to the Meadow for judging and the awarding of prizes.

Competition Artist: 1st prize - $300; 2nd prize - $200; 3rd prize - $100

Community Artists: 1st prize - $300; 2nd prize - $200; 3rd prize - $100

Community members can paint along side the Competition artists, observe their process and learn by watching. This is a valuable experience for novice painters and students.

The Tapping Reeve Meadow is the beautifully developed and maintained property surrounding the Home and First Law School in the United States on South Street.

A Little History

Tapping Reeve was a lawyer, judge, and law professor and he established the first law school in 1784 at his home in Litchfield. In those days, prospective lawyers used to 'read the law' in private tutoring sessions with a member of the Bar. In 1798 he took on a partner, James Gould, and they created an18 month curriculum, which they taught in the small schoolhouse Reeve built next to his home, which is still standing and meticulously cared for by the Litchfield Historical Society.

The Alumni of the Litchfield Law School is distinguished:

2 Vice Presidents, Arron Burr (his Brother In Law) and John C. Calhoun;

28 Senators, 101 Congressmen, 6 Cabinet members, 14 Govenors, & 3 Supreme Court Justices.

More than 1,100 students studied the law at Tapping Reeve's Litchfield Law School until it closed in 1833, when Divinity schools like Yale, Dartmouth etc started teaching subjects beyond preparing ministers for the Church.

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