The CORA Foundation Community Conversation with Ellen Harvey + Dan Woog
Join us for an evening inspired by Looking for History, MoCA\CT’s summer exhibition featuring Ellen Harvey’s The Disappointed Tourist. This special program brings the exhibition’s themes of memory, loss, and place into a local context, inviting audiences to reflect on the spaces that have shaped—and disappeared from—our shared landscape.
Moderated by journalist and 06880 founder Dan Woog, the conversation features an interview with artist Harvey alongside preservation advocate Ed Gerber (Historic New England). Together, they will explore the cultural and emotional significance of lost places, from global landmarks to beloved Westport institutions.
For the MoCA\CT Looking for History exhibition, Harvey has created four new paintings based on local submissions: The Remarkable Book Shop, Cedar Brook Cafe, Bloodroot, and Allen’s Clam House, which will serve as a starting point for a broader community dialogue.
The evening will also include brief presentations from selected community participants sharing their own “lost places,” adding personal perspective and storytelling to the discussion. As our Disappointed Tourist Guide, Woog will present the award selections. Categories include “Gone Too Soon,” “Place You Thought Would Last Forever,” “What a Cool Hangout!” “Just One More Bite,” followed by an audience vote to crown one favorite missed location.
Schedule:
- 5:30 pm – Doors open
- 5:45 pm – Introductory remarks
- 6:00 pm – Program begins
About Ellen Harvey
An internationally recognized artist, the British-born, Brooklyn-based Harvey has exhibited at major museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Frieze selected The Disappointed Tourist at Turner Contemporary in Margate as one of the five best institutional shows in the UK in 2021. The exhibition was most recently featured at the Chicago Architecture Center before opening at MoCA\CT.
About Dan Woog
Dan Woog is a lifelong Westport resident who has chronicled the town for decades, beginning with his writing for Staples High School publications. Since 2017, he has published the widely read 06880 blog, whose tagline, “Where Westport meets the world,” reflects its blend of local news, features, history, and photography. The site attracts up to 20,000 daily readers. In 2021, “06880” became a nonprofit foundation dedicated to educating and strengthening the Westport community.
A full-time freelance writer, Dan’s work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, and Sports Illustrated. He is also the author of 18 books, including a comprehensive 380-page history of Staples High School.
About Ed Gerber
Ed Gerber is a longtime preservation advocate whose leadership has shaped historic preservation efforts across Connecticut. He is the past president of the Westport Historical Society (now the Westport Museum for History and Culture) and former vice chair of the Historic District Commission. A member of the Board of Trustees of Historic New England, he serves as an ambassador for Connecticut and founded the Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Fund, which supports restoration of historic homes in urban communities statewide. Gerber also restored his own 1764 Sturges-Wright House. In 2023, he was honored with a medallion presented on behalf of President Biden in recognition of his 50 years of volunteer service.
About the CORA Foundation
The CORA Foundation is dedicated to safeguarding and celebrating culture and heritage.The foundation works on a global scale to support projects that protect, elevate, and interpret culture and heritage in all its forms.
