A new exhibition at Winterthur, An American Country Estate, explores the rich artistic and social legacy of Byrdcliffe, the utopian Arts and Crafts colony founded in 1902 in Woodstock, N.Y.

On view from June 11 to September 5, the exhibition includes more than 190 paintings, photographs, prints, frames, metalwork, furniture, ceramics and textiles from nearly two-dozen artists who called Byrdcliffe home. “Byrdcliffe: An American Arts and Crafts Colony” covers the years from the colony’s founding to the death of its principal force, Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead in 1929.

From examples of hand crafted furniture such as an oak chest by George Eggers featuring painted panels of stark winter landscapes to jewelry and tableware designer Bertha Thompson’s silver table spoon, along with landscape paintings, ceramic bowls, textiles, photographs and hand-bound journals, “Byrdcliffe” tells the story of how the desire to create beautiful, functional objects drew an array of artisans to a pristine setting in the heart of the Catskills, where they lived in a communal atmosphere of shared artistic endeavor.

Despite its ultimate failure as an artists’ community, Byrdcliffe’s influence on Woodstock was real and enduring. Over the years, Byrdcliffe has hosted celebrity visitors/guests including dancer Isadora Duncan, actors Helen Hayes, Joanne Woodward and Chevy Chase, painters Milton Avery, Philip Guston and George Bellows, sculptor Eva Hesse, writer Thomas Mann, educator John Dewey and musicians Bob Dylan and The Band. Today, the Artist In Residence Program offers writers, visual artists and composers one-month residencies from June through September.

The Winterthur Library includes an extensive collection of materials from and relating to Byrdcliffe. These include photographs, prints used for design inspiration, hand drawn depictions of rugs and furniture decorations, manuscript records of the site’s pottery works, trade catalogs containing fabric swatches, the card catalog of Byrdcliffe’s library and other resources.

A catalog accompanies the exhibition and costs $29.95. It may be ordered from the Winterthur Bookstore at 302-888-4741.

Hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday-Sunday. Winterthur, on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Del., and five miles south of US Route 1, is closed Mondays, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. For information, www. winterthur.org, 800-448-3883, 302-888-4600 or TTY: 302-888-4907.