Margaretta Maganini Clulow

Newport, RI - Margaretta Maganini Clulow, of Newport, Rhode Island, died Tuesday, May 12th in Providence, after a long illness. She had been a long-time resident of Greenwich, CT, prior to moving to Newport.Margy - as her family and friends knew her - was an artist, designer, writer, music-lover, friend and most importantly, mother. She was known for her ready wit, humor, intelligence and creativity in many fields. A graduate of the Hewitt School in New York, Margy received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University School of Drama, and graduated LEcole DArt Americaines in Fontainebleau, France with a Certificate in Applied Arts. She went on to design costumes for the New York City Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, the Cincinnati Opera and WNET Television. Her work was highly acclaimed and after retiring from professional work to bring up her children, she worked with several local community theatre groups in Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Norwalk, Wilton, and other places in Fairfield County CT. She came out of retirement in 1999 to design costumes for a production of Hansel Gretel at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. In 1996, she was named to the Connecticut Commission for the Arts. She received her BFA from Charter Oak University in 1998. In addition to her design work, Margy also directed and acted in several productions of various community theatre groups in the area. She taught speech and drama at Greenwich Academy and costume design at Fairfield University. She was dedicated to promoting an appreciation of the theatre as a whole in her students, wanting them to be aware of all aspects of stage design, acting, directing, stage craft and the like.Margy was also a business woman. For 33 years, she was Chairman of the Board of Kingsbury, Inc., a bearing manufacturing firm founded by her grandfather, Dr. Albert Kingsbury in 1912 in North Philadelphia, PA. She served on the Board of Directors of Spencer Turbine in Windsor, CT, and was President of Edition Musicus, Inc., a music publishing company begun by her father, Quinto Maganini, until the early eighties. She remained a board member of the company until her death. Margy was a member and past president of the Daughters of the Cincinnati, a patriotic organization dedicated to helping daughters of military officers achieve a college education. She also was a member of the Society of the Daughters of Holland Dames, the Huguenot Society of America, the National Society of Colonial Dames, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and the Colony Club of New York. She was a member for more then 45 years of Mystery Club where she contributed many written articles, musical moments and dramatic productions.More recently, Margy had a one woman show at the Newport Art Museum Fifty Years of Costume Design - where her costume renderings were on display, with much acclaim by that community. Her family home in Newport is the Vernon House, which served as the French Headquarters during the American Revolution. Margy is survived by her daughter, Evelyn, of Norwalk, CT and was predeceased by her son, Quentin, in 2006.A memorial service is scheduled for June 13th at 11:00 am in Wilton Presbyterian Church in Wilton, CT. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, Inc., 355 Lexington Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10017.