A visit to the Bushnell Performing Arts Center


This spring I was invited to submit a bid for producing a multilevel Google virtual tour, and still images of the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, Connecticut. I was awarded the job in July and I produced a three level Google tour that includes over 40 panorama images. You can view the tour here: https://goo.gl/maps/HNhM19aXRsUbnkoEA
My portfolio of Google virtual tours now includes several Hartford landmarks including the Hartford Convention Center, the Hartford Science Center, and the Hartford Yardgoats Dunkin' Donuts Statium.


 According to the Bushnell website: “Designed by the highly respected architectural firm of Corbett, Harrison, and MacMurray - the same architects responsible for New York City's Radio City-The Bushnell is regarded as a world-class facility and one of the great Halls of America. In 1930, The Bushnell opened, being heralded as ‘beacon of hope,’ in the midst of the Depression – such it has remained for over 80 years.”  The Art Deco style of the main theater; the William H Mortensen Hall, especially the ceiling, is truly amazing.


There is also a smaller 900 seat theater called the Maxwell M. and Ruth R. Belding Theater, which opened in 2002. According to the Bushnell’s website “The ceiling mural, created by Evergreen Studios of New York City, provides a dazzling modern interpretation of the original Hall's sun, moon, and stars Art Deco motifs.”


The Bushnell has hosted almost every major artist of the 20th century. It was also the site of a national Presidential debate in 1996.  There are many additional rooms in the Bushnell that are available for rent for weddings, parties, meetings and classes including the Autorino Great Hall with the large chandelier created by artist Dale Chilhuly and the Seaverns Room which is the official Memorial room to Horace Bushnell, the 19th-century minister and theologian whose daughter Dotha Bushnell Hillyer, conceived and built The Bushnell as a permanent tribute to her father.

                                                          

One of the fun aspects of this job was photographing in the old green room just off the stage that is filled with autographs of many of the artists who performed at the Bushnell.


Photographing at the Bushnell brought back great memories like seeing the “Young Rascals”when I was in High School, attending a Joan Baez solo concert, PV O’Donnell’s Irish Concert, and my daughter Maureen’s High graduation ceremony.  I feel honored and privileged to have been chosen for this job. 


Tim Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818



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