In a move that caught both dealers and patrons of the popular Connecticut Spring Antiques Show by surprise, the Haddam Historical Society (HHS) announced a management change for the show late last week. The change, initiated by the HHS show committee, and announced by the board of directors of HHS, involves the selection of Karen DiSaia as the new manager.

Long touted as “America’s premier show of period American furniture and appropriate accessories,” the show had been managed most recently by Forbes and Turner with Linda Turner at the helm since 1986. For the past 32 years, Betty Forbes, who was a partner of the show’s founder, Francis Phipps, has had her name associated with the show.

In a separate press release, the board of directors of HHS “thanks Ms Linda Turner, principal of Forbes & Turner Antiques Shows, for her 19 years of service to the show. Ms Turner performed invaluable service,” it stated.

The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show is owned by HHS. The Fall Connecticut Antiques Show, however, is the property of Forbes and Turner and will remain under its management.

“This is an exciting step for us,” stated Sandra McCurdy, a member of the Haddam Historical Society board and chair of the antiques show committee in a prepared statement, dated Thursday, May 25. “Karen is a recognized leader in the antiques show business and she is particularly well qualified to help us to bring the show to a new level. The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show has been one of the country’s foremost regional shows and the leader in Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century New England antiques for 32 years.”

Ms DiSaia and her husband, Ralph, own Oriental Rugs Ltd in Old Lyme, Conn. She is an active member of the Antiques Council and is currently the manager of three other shows, the ADA show in Deerfield, Mass., the Minneapolis Institute of Art Antiques Show and the Litchfield Antiques Show. She has also just been named the new manager of American Folk Art Museum’s show, The American Antiques Show, which takes place in New York City during Americana Week in January (see related article).

When queried as to the future of the show, the new manager commented, “Right now, we are just getting the word out that things are changing. We have a dealer committee that I will be working with. There are currently four members and we are looking to add two more.”

Commenting about how the management changes came about, Ms DiSaia stated, “For many years they [HHS] didn’t have a strong committee … and now they do. They have a young and energetic and very focused group of people who want to make this show really special again. They want to make it an exciting destination show for Americana.”

“We have now developed a new business model for the show,” stated Ms McCurdy, “and are working on ways to attract serious collectors, support new collectors and bring both together with dealers and scholars who share a passion for period New England furniture and decorative arts.”

Despite the proposed changes, said Ms DiSaia, the show “will maintain its character” and “probably have about the same number of dealers that it has had.” Although, she noted, plans are in place to “reconstruct the dealer list.”

“I guess we are hoping to attract some of the dealers who used to do the show,” said Ms DiSaia. “We would like to see some of the old standbys that haven’t done it in a while come back. There are some really good dealers that do that show, and we want to maintain all those and add some more.”

Other changes are likely to include the layout of the show. “We are looking to play with the floor plan a little. We want to make it a really terrific show,” stated Ms DiSaia, “even more exciting than it has been in the past and even more of a must-see kind of show.”