Community Calendar

Five Points Gallery presents three new exhibitions: 

“In Praise of Cities”, by Merrill French,

“Ongoing”, by Patricia Weise

& “ For Real”, featuring Peter Christ, Kathy Hodge, Brian McClear

The Fantasy Book Club will take place at the Morris Public Library on Friday, May 16, at 6:30 PM and discuss “Powerless” by Lauren Roberts.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites. The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be keenly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can to stay alive and out of trouble…easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilya’s princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is…completely Ordinary.

New registrations and book requests: 860-567-7440 or https://morrispubliclibrary.net/library-calendar-event.../

Classical flair meets modern edge -- Napoli, Don Quixote and contemporary works showcase our students at their most vibrant and versatile.

On Friday, May 16th, at 7:00 2nd Home welcomes back Tom Turci (https://tomturci.com/). Tom is a guitarist, singer and songsmith from central Connecticut whose musical roots stem from bluegrass, blues, folk, rock and country. Tom says his original music echoes sounds from the 70's and earlier. Fingerstyle guitar, downhome strumming, harmonicas singing and a voice all his own to give it life. Great music, drinks, food, and fun!

For reservations (encouraged, but not required) call 860-238-4500 or email us at momanddad@2ndhomelounge.com

See our complete event list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/events/

Google Street View

https://goo.gl/maps/eC7A4ZDEjenNqzpb6

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2nd Home Lounge

524 Main Street, Winsted

2ndhomelounge.com

Join our mailing list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/email-sign-up/

Dan Moretti is an acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and educator with a career spanning over four decades.

Known for his versatility and innovative approach to jazz, Moretti has released numerous albums as a bandleader and has performed with a wide array of legendary musicians. His work continues to push the boundaries of jazz, blending traditional elements with modern influences.

Dan is thrilled to announce the release of his latest album, Dan Moretti & Brazilia: Live at the Pump House Music Works. This extraordinary live recording captures a vibrant performance dedicated to the legendary jazz composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, blending the genius of Shorter’s compositions with the dynamic rhythms of Latin jazz.

Presented by New England Arts & Entertainment.

Visit Dan Moretti's Website

Paint and sip located above Toothpick on Water Street in Torrington!

BYOB! Painting new types of still life's every week.

All materials included in price

RSVP online

Waterbury, CT – [May 16] – Renowned saxophonist and composer Dan Moretti will bring his dynamic Latin jazz project, Dan Moretti & Brazilia, to the Poli Club at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT, on May 16, 2025. Presented by the Litchfield Jazz Festival in conjunction with New England Arts & Entertainment, this special performance will feature two sets at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

Joining Moretti on stage will be an all-star lineup of musicians, including Oscar Stagnaro (bass), Ernesto Diaz (percussion), Steve Langone (drums), and Maxim Lubarsky (piano). Together, they will present selections from Moretti’s latest release, Dan Moretti & Brazilia, a vibrant tribute to the legendary Wayne Shorter, reimagining his compositions through Latin-jazz styles.

A new play by Dorothy Lyman

Three generations of women meet upstate over President’s Day weekend to decide the fate of their family farm and its matriarch.

Get ready for an incredible night of Songs & Stories with up and coming songwriter/ storyteller, Troy Ramey!

Join us for an intimate night with Troy Ramey—the soulful singer-songwriter who brought Celine Dion to tears, turned all 4 chairs on The Voice ✌️, and landed a spot on the soundtrack of Love Island Allstars. 🎶

🎤 About the Artist

Troy, a folk/Americana/heartland country artist, performs with his 4-piece band in an intimate, storyteller-style show, weaving each original song with the story behind it.

Known for blending witty commentary with deeply personal, heartfelt songwriting, Troy creates a truly immersive experience. Audiences can expect a journey that moves effortlessly from laughter to tears, making for an unforgettable evening.

🎸 If you’re into artists like Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, or Zach Bryan, you’ll love Troy’s unique blend of unfiltered emotion and captivating storytelling. With over 25 million Spotify streams and his underground hit song “Woman” becoming a wedding favorite, Troy’s voice will leave you mesmerized.

Don’t wait—Troy's last 12 shows SOLD-OUT Weeks in advance! Tickets are limited and selling fast! 🎟️

Friday, May 16th 

Doors open at 7 p.m., Show starts at 8 p.m.

Admission Range $35 - $65

https://shop.troyramey.com/products/051625

Dan Moretti is an acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and educator with a career spanning over four decades.

Known for his versatility and innovative approach to jazz, Moretti has released numerous albums as a bandleader and has performed with a wide array of legendary musicians. His work continues to push the boundaries of jazz, blending traditional elements with modern influences.

Dan is thrilled to announce the release of his latest album, Dan Moretti & Brazilia: Live at the Pump House Music Works. This extraordinary live recording captures a vibrant performance dedicated to the legendary jazz composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, blending the genius of Shorter’s compositions with the dynamic rhythms of Latin jazz.

Presented by New England Arts & Entertainment.

Visit Dan Moretti's Website

Come to our big Spring Book & Bake Sale sponsored by the Friends of the Beardsley Library. Saturday, May 17, 2025. Rain or shine, from 8:30 am to 3 pm at the Barkhamsted Town Garage, Route 44, Barkhamsted.

Examine the bold and direct capabilities of woodcut and monotype in combination. Learn to print multiple layers of transparent inks and observe how images develop with lush color relationships and luminous surfaces. Participants will develop skills in color ink mixing, registration, printing, and stencil making.

Layered Color Woodcut/Monotype

with Jim Lee

Saturdays, May 3, 10 & 17, 2025

9 AM – 5 PM

Members: $252 / Non-Members: $280

MORE INFO & REGISTER

In addition to our high-quality, organically grown produce, we offer a variety of certified organic garden seedlings for you to transplant into your own home garden in the spring. including a tempting selection of annual flowers. We grow heirloom, standard, cherry, plum, and patio tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer and winter squash, melons, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, roots, greens, a tempting selection of annual flowers, and a wide selection of culinary herbs.

The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to welcome “In Transit,” an art exhibition by Jeff McCracken on view beginning Friday, May 2. 

An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 3 from 3 to 5 pm. The public is invited to attend.

The paintings in this show demonstrate a mastery of realism, mood, and human presence.

The foundation of McCracken’s practice is linked to being emotionally influenced by the story each individual conveys. His subway series of paintings focus on individuals being private in a public place, capturing that fleeting moment when their inner humanity is revealed regardless of who they are or where they’re from.

Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook. 

Young students will learn theatre basics, as well as music and choreography. This class is highly recommended before participating in other TW Kids’ Programs.

Showcase Performance on June 7th.

The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will host its annual Homegrown Plant Sale on the weekend of May 17th and 18th from 9AM to 3PM. Falls Village’s own growers, gardeners, and CSAs will provide a wide variety of plants, including a large selection of tomatoes, vegetables, annuals and perennials, and houseplants including potted geraniums and hanging baskets from HVRHS. Proceeds benefit the Hunt Library and HVRHS. For more information, or to donate plants and pots, call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org. David M. Hunt Library is located at 63 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031.

For those who want to donate plants for sale, drop off is Friday, May 16, 2-5PM. Perennials, annuals, houseplants, decorative pots, and garden accessories are welcome. Early drop-offs may be placed by the library’s back door near the faucet. Please label your plants.

The Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery is pleased to present Restoration: Landscapes & Botanical Abstracts in Gouache, an exhibition of beautiful landscapes and botanicals by artist Susan Newbury, on view from April 5 through May 31.

Susan’s work is a celebration of nature’s depth and detail, drawing inspiration from the stunning landscapes, waterscapes, and gardens of her rural New York State roots and her home in Litchfield County. With a background in graphic and fashion design, her artistic practice has evolved into a dynamic exploration of color, pattern, and movement. She works primarily in gouache, acrylic, and mixed media on paper, canvas, and wood panel, using a bright, rich palette to create layered compositions that blend natural elements with abstract forms.

“Nature not only provides the subject matter but the solitude, joy, and purpose for my paintings, creating a place of quiet introspection and restoration,” she says. Her work reflects this philosophy, infusing familiar landscapes with energy and emotion while maintaining a sense of tranquility and balance. Inspired by both the botanical world and interior design elements such as fabric, wallpaper, and tilework, her paintings feature repeating shapes and striking color contrasts for an unexpected visual experience.

Her instinctive approach to painting allows her to let go of the rules, creating compositions that are both structured and free-flowing. She paints in her Litchfield County studio and accepts commission work.

Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road at the juncture of Route 47 opposite the Green in Washington, CT. Library hours may be found at gunnlibrary.org.

For more information call (860)868-7586 or email, adoerwald@gunnlibrary.org.

Something GIANT is coming to the Gunn Memorial Library! The Junior Library invites all members of our community to join us for Story Mode, a creative storytelling adventure leading up to the start of Summer Reading in June!

In collaboration with the GIANT Room, a New York City-based innovation hub for kids, the Junior Library will provide four Remix activities Stations. These stations will allow you, your friends, and your family to draw and invent unique characters, settings, and plot twists and see them transformed into published trading cards, games, and comic strips.

Every Remix Station is a self-directed activity, so you can complete it on your own time with or without the help of a librarian. The Junior Library also offers “Creation Hours” every week, during which you can use supplies from the Makerspace to bring your vision to life. Be sure to check the library’s website for the complete schedule!

Each month focuses on a different part of your story:

– May 3-24, create challenges for your character. Help create a deck of “Would You Rather” questions by submitting a question that help you reflect on your emotions, make you smile with a rhyme, spark a debate, or give you the giggles! The GIANT Room will remix your creation into a printed trading card.

– June 7-28, tell a story about your character. Write and illustrate a comic strip using a pre-made template, and the GIANT Room will remix it into a printed poster.

– Saturday, June 21, from 10-12 pm kick off summer reading and level up your character’s story as you visit several activity stations at this community event with the GIANT Room.

This is a great opportunity to express your creativity, collaborate with your community, and see your ideas come to life!

This program was made possible by the Connecticut State Library.

Plant lovers and garden gurus are invited to The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens annual Gardenpalooza plant sale on Saturday, May 17 from 10 am to 1 pm featuring a variety of perennials, annuals, flowers, vegetable and herb plants available for purchase from Meadowbrook Gardens. Stock up on plants to start or add to your own home garden.

Additionally, Farmers and Cooks will be on site offering tasty ready-to-eat food for purchase featuring local ingredients.

Plus, local organizations will also be present to showcase their projects and initiatives. Discover how they’re growing positive change and get inspired to dig deeper into community connections!

Bamboo pens, inks, paints, and paper (to be provided at no extra cost)

Location of Workshop: Norman Sunshine Center, 11 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot

*Parking is available behind the building. 

Renowned Afghan master contemporary calligrapher Alibaba Awrang will introduce experienced artists and beginners to Persian calligraphy. One of the world’s leading living Persian calligraphers, with works hanging in museums throughout the world, Awrang will explain the historical role of calligraphy as an art form that conveys human emotions, aspirations, and beauty. He will demonstrate his art;  and then invite you to try your hand (more specifically, your bamboo pen, with inks and paint, on paper) at creating your own original piece of contemporary calligraphy.

https://www.alibabaawrang.com/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHbSA-YsDUx/?igsh=MXR5bmtoa3NuZ2h0dg%3D%3D

The Cornwall Library is delighted to present Traces, Places, and Faces, an intriguing exhibition of photography and watercolor painting by Sari Goodfriend and Eddie Watkins. They are life partners, and exhibit their shared passion for people, nature, and art in this joint show.

From an early age, New Yorker Sari Goodfriend happily spent her childhood summers in Cornwall with her sister Jenny and her art dealer parents, Carol and Jim. For a few years after college she lived in East Cornwall, photographing for local newspapers from New Milford to Salisbury. Todd Piker (of Cornwall Bridge Pottery) provided her a first opportunity to exhibit (and sell!) her personal photos in a show he curated at the Silo Gallery in New Milford. 

Moving back to New York, Sari has since worked as a commercial photographer, shooting assignments for corporations, magazines, non-profits, universities, and private individuals. She now does mostly portraits and events, but her youthful Cornwall summers are apparent in the landscape and nature-inspired images she is exhibiting at the library. Her part of the show also features some abstract photographs inspired by what she terms “bleak winter beauty” and “the wild, chaotic, post-tornado woods”. Many of her photographs are in frames that once held old master prints from her parents’ art dealership, C&J Goodfriend, Drawings and Prints.

Eddie Watkins is from Pittsburgh. After four years in the Navy stationed in Cuba and Newfoundland as a proud member of the Seabees (Construction Battalion), he moved to New York City and became a photographer of fine artwork. His clientele includes museums such as The Frick Collection, The Museum of Arts and Design, private art dealers, well known artists, and collectors. He also photographed the permanent collection of The Art Students League.

Eddie has been the drummer for many rock and blues bands, a sideline that provides subjects for personal photography seen in this show. When on the move, from 1980s city streets to rural landscapes, Eddie always carries either a camera or a set of watercolors. His painting style ranges from loose and interpretive to detailed and exacting, inspired by his naval engineering background. This show includes both his photography and watercolors. 

Traces, Places, and Faces runs from April 19 to June 7. The artists’ reception is on Saturday, April 19, from 5 to 7 pm. Registration on the library website is requested for the reception.

In Ann Kraus’s new exhibition of paintings at David M. Hunt Library, vibrant skyscapes capture the feelings evoked by a specific time and place, constantly evolving as they are buffeted by the wind, adding drama and clarity to our world at sunrise and sunset. The artist said of her paintings, "While some may be serene, others may be electrifying and chaotic."

A reception for the artist will take place on Sat May 3, 5-7PM. In addition, Kraus will host an Art Talk on Thursday, May 22, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear directly from the artist about her inspirations, techniques, and the thought-provoking themes behind her collection.

I Collect Clouds will be on display from May 2 through May 30,

Outdoors on the grounds of the park: Military Vehicles, Reenactor Displays, Camp Life, Military Demonstrations, Activities, Vendors, and More! Also, the Winsted Soldiers' Monument will be open for viewing.

You are invited to Flashes & Fragments - an art exhibit that is a fusion of mixed media, artistic lettering, video & photography. New works by Debra Lill and Kathleen Borkowski combine the beauty of visual storytelling with the expressiveness of hand lettered art. We hope you will join us as we celebrate this new work, created specifically for the Whiting Mills Gallery!

Opening: Thursday, April 24th, 5-7 pm.

Show dates: April 17-June 27

Saturday, May 17th 10-6 PM

Village Center for the Arts

12 Main Street, New Milford, CT

We want to invite you all to a fun and interactive event with activities for all ages, including a pottery smash tent, face painting, a fundraising art auction, art demonstrations, and more (think block party!). We believe that art has the power to bring people together, and we are passionate about making art accessible to everyone in New Milford and beyond.

In addition to our events and exhibitions, we offer programs like tuition assistance, our Studio Affair (a free monthly gathering), and the Unexpected Artist program, all designed to help people of all ages and backgrounds connect with their creative potential.

You can learn more about us at www.villagecenterarts.org and @villagecenterarts on Instagram and Village Center for the Arts on Facebook.

(860) 354-4318

Gallery 25 Presents: Heatwaves & Hues – A Summer Art Show

Heatwaves & Hues, running from Friday, May 2 – Sunday, August 17. This vibrant exhibition will showcase works bursting with color and inspired by the warmth and energy of summer.

Plan a Fun Weekend in New Milford!

New Milford is an exciting destination, offering a variety of activities for visitors. Enjoy well-reviewed restaurants, pubs, and unique shops, take in a film at our charming Art Deco movie theater, or catch a live performance at the innovative TheatreWorks playhouse. Stroll through our beautiful historic New England Green, a perfect spot to relax and soak in the town’s charm.

Experience Gallery 25

Gallery 25 is an artist-run gallery featuring 25 members working across all genres. Along with our exciting exhibitions, we invite you to take part in our workshops, live demonstrations, artist discussions, and photography walks!

We welcome you to explore, create, and be inspired!

Bring down some extra plants you have and swap for what you need with fellow gardeners!

Saturdays in May t 10:30 AM

All Ages Welcome!

Saturday Storytime is BACK! Come to OWL for an all ages storytime in the children's room every Saturday at 10:30 then stay to play. In addition to our puppet theater, wooden blocks, and train set, and dollhouse! We also have an ongoing Scavenger Hunt with fun prizes for winners as well as a special weekly craft for older children. And most importantly come in to browse our collection of print books, Nutmeg nominees, and Wonderbooks!

The Souterrain Gallery invites you to view and pruchase the current works by Ken Krug .

Open Th-Su 11-5 and by appointment

more info at www.souterraingallery.net

About the Artist

Ken Krug is a fine artist, illustrator, and author. He illustrated Michele Obama’s book about the

White House Garden and wrote and illustrated the children’s book, No, Silly! which was on the

Bank Street College Best Books of 2016 list. His paintings have been exhibited in numerous art

shows and were featured on the set of the movie “You Can Count on Me.” Ken Krug is also an

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY

www.kenkrug.com

Ken spends much of his weekends , summers and other times with his wife Liz Van Doren in Cornwall where the family is deeply rooted .

The Art of Watercolors

This 4 hour workshop will get you started on learning the magical world of watercolor.

Liz will teach you the most important basic techniques to start you off and get warmed up!

Then we will focus on learning how to control your watercolors to create both loose washes and fine details.

Beginner and intermediate watercolor painters are welcome.

Supplies are included but if you already have watercolor supplies (please bring them) especially brushes.

Fun day of learning and finding your new voice in art!

This workshop is 4 hours, from 11-4 with a break for snacking etc..

Meet at Riverside Cemetery (496 Riverside St, Waterbury, CT 06708) for a walking tour of Riverside Cemetery, led by local historian and Riverside expert, Martin Begnal.

Non-Member: $10 Member: $5

Register Here

Interested in discounts, free admission, and more? Become a member today!

Sponsored by Linford & Mildred White Charitable Fund

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is honored to present an exhibition featuring hand-painted cyanotypes by Julia Whitney Barnes and drawings by Sarah Morejohn.

Julia Whitney Barnes is well known for her innovations in Cyanotype (camera-less photographic printing process) paintings. Whitney Barnes’ multi-step process includes harvesting flora (flowers and weeds being equally important) and combining several species into a single composition on photo sensitive cotton paper. After exposing the work to UV light, the resulting blue and white image is carefully hand-painted in many layers of watercolor, gouache, and ink, reanimating the vitality to the ghost of the objects. The artist is most interested in creating work that feels both beautiful and mysterious. Her artwork symbolizes resilience and are the records of the historical moment in which they were made, the process, and the artist’s will and interest in reasserting the presence of the image.

Whitney Barnes recently completed permanent public installations in The Botanist’s Mural, Vassar College/Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, Brooklyn Botanical: PS 253 (glass commission), Public Art in Public Schools/Percent for Art, Brooklyn, NY, Planting Utopia (interior installation), Albany International Airport, Albany, NY, Planting Utopia (interior and exterior installation), Shaker Heritage Society, Albany, NY. The artist has received the following honors and awards; Maker-Creator Research Fellowship, Winterthur Museum, Library & Garden (2024-25), Individual Artist Grant, (partnering with Shaker Heritage Society), New York State Council on the Arts (2018), Individual Artist Commission, NY State Decentralization Grant, Arts Mid-Hudson, Poughkeepsie, NY (2015), Gowanus Public Arts Initiative Grant (ArtsGowanus, The Old Stone House & District 39), Brooklyn, NY, Residency with Site-Specific Installation & Fellowship, Fjellerup I Bund I Grund, Fjellerup, Denmark, to name a few. Her work has been featured in Architectural Record, Times Union, The B Magazine, The Jealous Curator, Create Magazine, American Art Collector Magazine and many other publications and podcasts. Julia Whitney Barnes earned her BFA Fine Arts, Painting, Parsons the New School for Design, New York, NY and her MFA Fine Arts, Painting & Combined Media, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY. The artist lives and works in NY.

Sarah Morejohn’s fascination with non-linear patterns in nature drives her work. Through drawing, she considers how the relationship to nature is mediated both by objective understanding and subjective imagining of it. Considering the symbolic connections between nature, the body, and climate change Morejohn draws partial six-fold symmetries. By building a drawing line by line, sharp angles soften and wiggle, cell-like shapes minnow along while branches and flowers become a part of the flotsam disconnected from the earth. Figurative snow crystals become interlaced with one another and their environment, jumbling towards their own future transformations. Morejohn’s drawing process is intuitive and organic, artifacts of the process, drips, spills, flaws and mistakes are embraced. By collaging the imperfect pieces of her drawings together the work becomes a metaphor for the ever-changing uncertainties of life.

Sarah Morejohn’s work in in the collections of Heustis Hall, 1% for Art Oregon Arts Commission, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Echo Laboratory, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, Ursell Laboratory, Physics Department, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Project Art & Medical Museum, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City, IA. She was awarded residencies at Jentel Artist Residency, Banner, WY and Playa Art and Science Residency, Summer Lake, OR. Morejohn earned her BFA in Painting and Drawing, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. The artist lives and works in CA.

Please contact Lani Ming Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Join us in the Junior Room for some space-themed stories and a craft! Children of all ages are welcome to participate.

Create a portrait of your family pet with watercolor artist Nancy Roman! You will need a printed 5'' x 7'' photo of your pet.

Join us as we welcome our friend Susie Hoimes for a Vintage Couture Jewelry Pop-Up at Peggy! 

Susie’s swoon-worthy collection of statement making accessories spans decades and includes coveted items from Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Kenneth Jay Lane, amongst other beloved designers. This is your opportunity to own a piece of fashion history!

Join us for baubles and bubbles at our opening reception with Susie on Friday, May 16th from 5-7 PM and plan to shop all weekend long! You will not want to miss this very special event.

For more information about Susie Hoimes:

@mdvii

mdvii.com

For more information about the event, email hithere@peggymercury.com

TAB will wash your car for only $5.00

All proceeds will go towards TAB's Field Trips!

HOTCHKISS-FYLER HOUSE MUSEUM

Torrington Historical Society 

192 Main Street, Torrington, CT

2025 hours: Wednesday through Saturdays, April 16 - October 31, 2025

Guided tours at 1, 2 and 3 pm 

Phone: (860) 482-8260   info@torringtonhistoricalsociety.org

Admission: Adults $10 per person; children under 8 free

The Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum (b. 1900) will open for the season Wednesday April 16th. The Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum is a Victorian mansion that was home to two generations of Torrington residents. Gertrude F. Hotchkiss, the last family member to occupy the home, bequeathed the house and contents to the Society in 1956.  The interior of this grand house features mahogany paneling, ornate carvings, stenciled walls, murals, parquet floors and ornamental plaster treatments. Original family furnishings collections of fine and decorative arts. Artists represented are: Ammi Phillips, E.I. Couse, Winfield Scott Clime and George Lawrence Nelson.

“In Praise of Cities”, by Merrill French,

“Ongoing”, by Patricia Weise

& “ For Real”, featuring Peter Christ, Kathy Hodge, Brian McClear

Five Points Gallery presents three new exhibitions. In the Torrington Savings Bank Gallery, Merrill French paints intricate cityscapes from around the world. The Torrington Downtown Partners Gallery features gouache paintings by Patricia Weise that depict domesticity and daily life. For Real, a group exhibition in the West Gallery features three artists (Peter Christ, Kathy Hodge & Brian McClear) each of whom portray elements from the man-made world.

Come and hear about this important event in Litchfield's Revolutionary War era history! Even if you've heard the story every year since you were little, come and celebrate this finally being marked as we honor the women and children of Litchfield! As their main America 250 project, the members of the Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution are grateful to have been supported by the William Pomeroy Foundation and the Seherr-Thoss Foundations. RSVPs appreciated here: https://forms.gle/GZh4q5WHLKdiJ3Aw5

One week a year, six local artists get together and paint at Onadune, a sprawling family house in Rhode Island. A giant porch, surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic, serves as their studio. The painters ( insert names or list above?) met fifteen years ago at the Washington Art Association, in Ira Barkoff’s class, and have continued sharing their work and ideas ever since.

While the artists have very different styles, interpretations, and backgrounds in the arts, the artwork created at Onadune shares a singular flavor of salt air and light. This special place has given the artists the rare opportunity to paint from dawn to dusk, follow their instincts while supported by each other, and has cemented the bond forged at the Washington Art Association.

The exhibit brings the viewer to Onadune and shows how six different artists have used

the same place for inspiration and personal artistic growth.The artists:

Joanne Conant

A jeweler and recognized enamellist, Joanne brought her talent to seascapes fifteen years ago and never looked back. A resident of Newtown and a former teacher at Brookfield Craft center, she is well known for her cloisonné enamels and jewelry and brings much of that sensibility to her paintings.

Elizabeth MacDonald

After Elizabeth worked as an actor in Seattle, she moved to her Bridgewater residence and started her journey with clay. She is known for her vessels, large scale mosaics, sculptures, and paintings on clay. Her time at Onadune has expanded her paintings on slate as well as canvas.

Ronnie Maddalena

A graphic designer living in Warren, Ronnie contributes her graphics skills to many important corporate and local causes, including The Farmer’sTable. Ronnie creates brilliant and exuberant still lifes, both found and arranged.

Kathleen Love Mooney

A resident of West Cornwall, Kathleen started her career as a fashion designer in NYC designing clothing on silk that she hand-painted. Her focus is painting landscapes; she continues to paint everything she sees.

Karen Simmons

Was an architect in NYC, and in France, and joined WAA when she moved to Woodbury, CT. Her paintings, landscapes and still-lifes, reflect both her architectural and European background.

Wendy Walker

Has previously worked as both an illustrator and a scenic artist /designer in NYC. When she moved to Roxbury Ct, she started painting “a little smaller” and paints landscapes and subjects that inspire her emotionally.

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.”

 Dr. Seuss’s beloved story teaches kids to treat the planet with kindness and stand up and speak up for others. Experience the beauty of the Truffula Trees and the danger of taking our earth for granted in a story that is timely, playful, and hopeful. The book’s final pages teach us that just one small seed, or one small child, can make a difference. Join White Memorial Forest Manager, Mike Berry and Environmental Educator Colleen Harrak for a la reading of this classic tale followed by a family-friendly forest walk. The program really is not just for kids! Big people are invited too! 2:00 pm, A. B. Ceder Room, Members: FREE, Non-Members: $5.00 per person. Pre-registration is required. Register online: www.whitememorialcc.org

NAACP is a civil rights organization that advocates for racial justice and equality in various issues, such as voting rights, health care, education, and environment.

Music in the Nave brings you magical moments from Mozart operas, featuring three up-and-coming vocalists. Soprano Juliet Schlefer (shown above), mezzo Danielle Casós, and baritone Benjamin Powell perform excerpts from Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and more, accompanied by pianist Margarita Nuller and cellist Adam Grabois.

"Landscapes", an exhibit of oil paintings by Pete Bergeron at Minor Memorial Library, 23 South Street, Roxbury, CT, will begin with an opening reception on Saturday May 17, 2025 from 3 pm to 5 pm.

Embellished Notifications by textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

Please join us Saturday, March 17th between 4-7PM for a conversation between Kate Lewis and curator, cultural journalist and podcast host Emily McElwreath.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com

or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis: @katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

For more information about Emily McElwreath: @emilymcelwreath_art

@theartcareer

mcelwreathadvisory.com

Come meet your neighbors and learn how to get involved in Kent. Refreshments provided. Children welcome, and an activity will be provided for those ages 3-12.

Come see the first exhibition of the New Hartford Artisans Guild. Multiple artist have come together to celebrate ate in various artistic styles.

Reception is April 5th 5-9pm.

The Norfolk Library presents Ensemble Aubade (Peter H. Bloom, flute and alto flute; Francis Grimes, viola; and Steven Sussman, piano) in a concert called Mozart, Madame Farrenc, and More.  The acclaimed trio, touring out of Boston MA, will provide an exhilarating tour of chamber music from the salons of Vienna and Paris to the concert halls of New York. The group is based in Boston and performs across the United States, captivating audiences with their virtuosity, versatility, and electrifying performances. Aubade has been praised for “intensity, imagination, skill, and finesse” (St. Lawrence University, New York). Please register here for this free concert.

The program will include:

The sunny and lyrical Kegelstatt Trio, K. 498 (1786) by Mozart, featuring Bloom on alto flute (“wonderfully smoky and mysterious” – EarRelevant).

The lush and thrilling Trio Opus 45 (1856), by the great 19th century composer Louise Farrenc, famous in her time but seldom heard today. Farrenc was the first female professor at the Paris Conservatory, where she taught from 1842 to 1873. She was an esteemed composer, an acclaimed pianist, and a successful music publisher.

Seven Postcards to Old Friends (1966), an exuberant chamber work by the legendary Broadway arranger Robert Russell Bennett who orchestrated hits like Show Boat, Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, and South Pacific.

Ensemble Aubade’s extensive career includes concerts for The Saint Louis Art Museum, The Robert H. Wood Great Artists Series (NY), The Nielsen Series in Des Moines, Kimberton Arts Alliance (PA), The Foothills Piano Festival (AL), Morton Arboretum Chamber Series (Chicago), Fairmont Chamber Music Series (WV), Saugerties Pro Musica (NY), Garmany Music Series (CT), and Seacobeck Hall in Fredericksburg, to name a few.

Peter H. Bloom, flute and alto flute, whose playing has been called “a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength” (The Boston Globe), “brightly gorgeous” (Gapplegate Music Review), and “breathtaking” (Ivan Rod Review, Denmark), performs in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand; is featured on 49 recordings; is contributing editor for Noteworthy Sheet Music; and is a winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award. Bloom has performed in London, Bangkok, Canberra, Ottawa and other world capitals, and in hundreds of cities across 40 states and four continents.  He has concertized with such noted artists as Ensemble Chaconne, The Henning Ensemble, Grammy-nominee D’Anna Fortunato, and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (52nd season). Bloom has given lectures and classes across the globe. He holds an MM with distinction in flute performance from New England Conservatory of Music, and a BA (philosophy) from Boston University. 

Francis Grimes, viola, is an esteemed chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. He has performed with the Boston Pops, Boston Opera, Masterworks Chorale, Sinfonova, Boston Ballet, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and other premier ensembles. He toured nationally with the Star Wars Orchestra and performed with choral groups in Italy, England and the Czech Republic. He serves regularly in the orchestras of Boston’s Colonial and Schubert Theatres. He attended Boston University’s School of Fine Arts and completed his BM at Indiana University as a student of William Primrose. He also studied with Roman Totenberg, Bernard Kadinoff, Eugene Lehner, and members of the Fine Arts Quartet at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Steven Sussman, piano, is acclaimed as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician and orchestral member, performing classical music, jazz, and musical theater in New England and across the United States. He is the director of Opera Presto, toured previously with Brown Bag Opera, and was staff accompanist at the Berklee College of Music. An experienced educator, Sussman serves on the faculty at The Rivers Conservatory of Music, teaches at the St. Marks School, and maintains an active private teaching studio. He earned a Master of Music in performance from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, where his principal teachers were Enrica Cavallo-Gulli and Jorge Bolet.

Marilyn Maye in Concert

* Join us as we celebrate our 25th Anniversary throughout the year!

A Celebration of Song with Internationally Acclaimed Performer Marilyn Maye

Savory Fare, Specialty Cocktails & Full Bar

5:30PM - 6:30PM

Marilyn Maye & Guests, Accompanied by Piano, Bass & Drums Trio

7:00PM - 8:00PM

Cost:

$200 Per Person

$1200 for Table of 6

Join us for a Studio Affair

Saturday, May 17th

21+ 6:30 - 10:00PM - Free

Unleash Your Inner Artist

Express your Creativity

Bring your Passion

Do you have a craving to unleash your creativity but aren't sure where to start? Well, look no further! We aim to create a vibrant space for our community to gather, socialize with friends, and even make new ones. Our focus is on inclusivity and fostering creativity.

If you're already working on a masterpiece, feel free to bring it along and showcase your skills. You don't have to be a professional artist to join in; all you need is the passion to create. Just bring your enthusiasm, and we'll supply a variety of materials for you to play around with.

Spread the word, invite your friends, and get ready for an unforgettable experience! Plus, if you're feeling thirsty, don't forget to bring your own beverages.

Located at 12 Main Street, New Milford, CT

(860) 354-4318

https://www.villagecenterarts.org/eventscalendar

Saturday, May 17th, at 7:00 PM, the blues are back at 2nd Home with Slim & St. George and their own brand of blues/roots/Americana. Great music, food, drinks, and fun. Come down and enjoy!

For reservations call 860-238-4500 or email us at momanddad@2ndhomelounge.com

See our complete event list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/events/

Google Street View

https://goo.gl/maps/eC7A4ZDEjenNqzpb6

https://goo.gl/maps/NWGK4NRyk6MNfmWZ6

2nd Home Lounge

524 Main Street, Winsted

2ndhomelounge.com

Join our mailing list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/email-sign-up/ 

Bring a picnic and enjoy a perfect spring evening in the company of this wonderful guitar ensemble that will perform a variety of genres.

Michael Stubblefield (b. 1989) is an American composer, guitarist, and music educator based in Hartford, Connecticut. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Michael began his higher education studies in music at Diablo Valley Community College, ultimately transferring to California State University, East Bay where he earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music. Michael is also a graduate of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Composition and a minor in Music Theory.

Michael's interests outside of music include animals (especially exotic reptiles), reading, hiking, cooking, the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, and coffee. Michael is currently working throughout New England in a variety of music relation activities, as a composer, a private teacher in guitar, bass, piano, ukulele, voice, composition, and music theory, and at The Hartt School as an administrative assistant and tutor of music theory and music history.7:00pm , Activity Shed, All tickets: $10.00. Please pre-register online : www.whitememorialcc.org In the event of cold weather, the concert will take place in the Carriage House.

Back by Popular Demand. Not Your Father’s Storytelling! Come join us for an exciting evening of tough, funny, poignant stories from some of NYC's and the Northeast region's most dynamic storytellers!!! Neil Intraub hosts an evening filled with Moth Grand Slam/Story Slam winners who have also been spotlighted on PBS’ Stories From the Stage.

A new play by Dorothy Lyman

Three generations of women meet upstate over President’s Day weekend to decide the fate of their family farm and its matriarch.

The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to welcome “In Transit,” an art exhibition by Jeff McCracken on view beginning Friday, May 2. 

An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 3 from 3 to 5 pm. The public is invited to attend.

The paintings in this show demonstrate a mastery of realism, mood, and human presence.

The foundation of McCracken’s practice is linked to being emotionally influenced by the story each individual conveys. His subway series of paintings focus on individuals being private in a public place, capturing that fleeting moment when their inner humanity is revealed regardless of who they are or where they’re from.

Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook. 

The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will host its annual Homegrown Plant Sale on the weekend of May 17th and 18th from 9AM to 3PM. Falls Village’s own growers, gardeners, and CSAs will provide a wide variety of plants, including a large selection of tomatoes, vegetables, annuals and perennials, and houseplants including potted geraniums and hanging baskets from HVRHS. Proceeds benefit the Hunt Library and HVRHS. For more information, or to donate plants and pots, call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org. David M. Hunt Library is located at 63 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031.

For those who want to donate plants for sale, drop off is Friday, May 16, 2-5PM. Perennials, annuals, houseplants, decorative pots, and garden accessories are welcome. Early drop-offs may be placed by the library’s back door near the faucet. Please label your plants.

Come join us in this 5K run through the beautiful Action Wildlife Zoo in Goshen, Connecticut. The run will take you through a unique collection of animals spanning 6 of the 7 continents! Everything from African Zebra and Watusi Cattle, Asian Water Buffalo Vietnamese Potbelly Pig, South American Llama, North American Bison and Elk, Scottish Cattle, Russian Boar, Australian Emu, and many more!

Prizes will be awarded to overall winners and age categories winners. The Run with the Animals is the second race in Northwest CT YMCA’s 2025 Grand Prix Race Series. All money raised during the series goes to support financial assistance so that everyone has a chance to learn, grow and thrive at the Y! 

T-shirts are only available if you register by 11:59pm on May 9.

Race begins at 10am. Day of registration opens at 9 am. All runner should arrive by 9:30 am to pick up their race bags.

Are you ready to embark on an extraordinary journey through time? Introducing the Chabad of Northwest CT JLI Course: Colorful Profiles, where we will dive into the lives of twelve remarkable characters who shaped Jewish history in ways you never imagined! Over the course of four enlightening weeks, you'll meet a tapestry of personalities from courageous converts to wise royal advisors, from daring captives to inspiring philanthropists. Each story is a vibrant thread in the rich fabric of our heritage, offering you a kaleidoscope of experiences that will leave you captivated and craving more.

Discover the sacrifices that paved the way for future generations, the adventures that defied the odds, and the achievements that illuminate our collective past. This course is not just a lesson in history; its a celebration of resilience, identity, and the colorful spectrum of Jewish life. Don't miss out on this chance to enrich your understanding and appreciation of our peoples legacy come join us and let the stories unfold! After all, history is best told through the vivid colors of its characters!

Classes meet in-person on four Sunday mornings at Chabad Lubavitch Of Northwest CT. 

RSVP: chabadNW.org/JLI (zoom option available)

You are invited to Flashes & Fragments - an art exhibit that is a fusion of mixed media, artistic lettering, video & photography. New works by Debra Lill and Kathleen Borkowski combine the beauty of visual storytelling with the expressiveness of hand lettered art. We hope you will join us as we celebrate this new work, created specifically for the Whiting Mills Gallery!

Opening: Thursday, April 24th, 5-7 pm.

Show dates: April 17-June 27

Gallery 25 Presents: Heatwaves & Hues – A Summer Art Show

Heatwaves & Hues, running from Friday, May 2 – Sunday, August 17. This vibrant exhibition will showcase works bursting with color and inspired by the warmth and energy of summer.

Plan a Fun Weekend in New Milford!

New Milford is an exciting destination, offering a variety of activities for visitors. Enjoy well-reviewed restaurants, pubs, and unique shops, take in a film at our charming Art Deco movie theater, or catch a live performance at the innovative TheatreWorks playhouse. Stroll through our beautiful historic New England Green, a perfect spot to relax and soak in the town’s charm.

Experience Gallery 25

Gallery 25 is an artist-run gallery featuring 25 members working across all genres. Along with our exciting exhibitions, we invite you to take part in our workshops, live demonstrations, artist discussions, and photography walks!

We welcome you to explore, create, and be inspired!

August 15, 2024 – August 17, 2025

Celebrating the year-long loan of three Georgia O’Keeffe paintings, this exhibition unites the Mattatuck Museum’s collection with O’Keeffe’s life and work through common themes.

 These unique spotlight exhibitions celebrate the year-long loan of three Georgia O’Keeffe paintings and will unite the Mattatuck Museum’s collection with O’Keeffe’s life and work through common themes, creating a unique dialogue between her work and other celebrated artists. Each unique pairing will be curated and narrated by a different member of the Museum’s curatorial department and offer a distinctive perspective on the Mattatuck Collection in relation to the works and story of Georgia O’Keeffe.

The Souterrain Gallery invites you to view and pruchase the current works by Ken Krug .

Open Th-Su 11-5 and by appointment

more info at www.souterraingallery.net

About the Artist

Ken Krug is a fine artist, illustrator, and author. He illustrated Michele Obama’s book about the

White House Garden and wrote and illustrated the children’s book, No, Silly! which was on the

Bank Street College Best Books of 2016 list. His paintings have been exhibited in numerous art

shows and were featured on the set of the movie “You Can Count on Me.” Ken Krug is also an

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY

www.kenkrug.com

Ken spends much of his weekends , summers and other times with his wife Liz Van Doren in Cornwall where the family is deeply rooted .

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is honored to present an exhibition featuring hand-painted cyanotypes by Julia Whitney Barnes and drawings by Sarah Morejohn.

Julia Whitney Barnes is well known for her innovations in Cyanotype (camera-less photographic printing process) paintings. Whitney Barnes’ multi-step process includes harvesting flora (flowers and weeds being equally important) and combining several species into a single composition on photo sensitive cotton paper. After exposing the work to UV light, the resulting blue and white image is carefully hand-painted in many layers of watercolor, gouache, and ink, reanimating the vitality to the ghost of the objects. The artist is most interested in creating work that feels both beautiful and mysterious. Her artwork symbolizes resilience and are the records of the historical moment in which they were made, the process, and the artist’s will and interest in reasserting the presence of the image.

Whitney Barnes recently completed permanent public installations in The Botanist’s Mural, Vassar College/Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, Brooklyn Botanical: PS 253 (glass commission), Public Art in Public Schools/Percent for Art, Brooklyn, NY, Planting Utopia (interior installation), Albany International Airport, Albany, NY, Planting Utopia (interior and exterior installation), Shaker Heritage Society, Albany, NY. The artist has received the following honors and awards; Maker-Creator Research Fellowship, Winterthur Museum, Library & Garden (2024-25), Individual Artist Grant, (partnering with Shaker Heritage Society), New York State Council on the Arts (2018), Individual Artist Commission, NY State Decentralization Grant, Arts Mid-Hudson, Poughkeepsie, NY (2015), Gowanus Public Arts Initiative Grant (ArtsGowanus, The Old Stone House & District 39), Brooklyn, NY, Residency with Site-Specific Installation & Fellowship, Fjellerup I Bund I Grund, Fjellerup, Denmark, to name a few. Her work has been featured in Architectural Record, Times Union, The B Magazine, The Jealous Curator, Create Magazine, American Art Collector Magazine and many other publications and podcasts. Julia Whitney Barnes earned her BFA Fine Arts, Painting, Parsons the New School for Design, New York, NY and her MFA Fine Arts, Painting & Combined Media, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY. The artist lives and works in NY.

Sarah Morejohn’s fascination with non-linear patterns in nature drives her work. Through drawing, she considers how the relationship to nature is mediated both by objective understanding and subjective imagining of it. Considering the symbolic connections between nature, the body, and climate change Morejohn draws partial six-fold symmetries. By building a drawing line by line, sharp angles soften and wiggle, cell-like shapes minnow along while branches and flowers become a part of the flotsam disconnected from the earth. Figurative snow crystals become interlaced with one another and their environment, jumbling towards their own future transformations. Morejohn’s drawing process is intuitive and organic, artifacts of the process, drips, spills, flaws and mistakes are embraced. By collaging the imperfect pieces of her drawings together the work becomes a metaphor for the ever-changing uncertainties of life.

Sarah Morejohn’s work in in the collections of Heustis Hall, 1% for Art Oregon Arts Commission, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Echo Laboratory, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, Ursell Laboratory, Physics Department, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Project Art & Medical Museum, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City, IA. She was awarded residencies at Jentel Artist Residency, Banner, WY and Playa Art and Science Residency, Summer Lake, OR. Morejohn earned her BFA in Painting and Drawing, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. The artist lives and works in CA.

Please contact Lani Ming Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Join us as we welcome our friend Susie Hoimes for a Vintage Couture Jewelry Pop-Up at Peggy! 

Susie’s swoon-worthy collection of statement making accessories spans decades and includes coveted items from Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Kenneth Jay Lane, amongst other beloved designers. This is your opportunity to own a piece of fashion history!

Join us for baubles and bubbles at our opening reception with Susie on Friday, May 16th from 5-7 PM and plan to shop all weekend long! You will not want to miss this very special event.

For more information about Susie Hoimes:

@mdvii

mdvii.com

For more information about the event, email hithere@peggymercury.com

The Cornwall Library is delighted to present Traces, Places, and Faces, an intriguing exhibition of photography and watercolor painting by Sari Goodfriend and Eddie Watkins. They are life partners, and exhibit their shared passion for people, nature, and art in this joint show.

From an early age, New Yorker Sari Goodfriend happily spent her childhood summers in Cornwall with her sister Jenny and her art dealer parents, Carol and Jim. For a few years after college she lived in East Cornwall, photographing for local newspapers from New Milford to Salisbury. Todd Piker (of Cornwall Bridge Pottery) provided her a first opportunity to exhibit (and sell!) her personal photos in a show he curated at the Silo Gallery in New Milford. 

Moving back to New York, Sari has since worked as a commercial photographer, shooting assignments for corporations, magazines, non-profits, universities, and private individuals. She now does mostly portraits and events, but her youthful Cornwall summers are apparent in the landscape and nature-inspired images she is exhibiting at the library. Her part of the show also features some abstract photographs inspired by what she terms “bleak winter beauty” and “the wild, chaotic, post-tornado woods”. Many of her photographs are in frames that once held old master prints from her parents’ art dealership, C&J Goodfriend, Drawings and Prints.

Eddie Watkins is from Pittsburgh. After four years in the Navy stationed in Cuba and Newfoundland as a proud member of the Seabees (Construction Battalion), he moved to New York City and became a photographer of fine artwork. His clientele includes museums such as The Frick Collection, The Museum of Arts and Design, private art dealers, well known artists, and collectors. He also photographed the permanent collection of The Art Students League.

Eddie has been the drummer for many rock and blues bands, a sideline that provides subjects for personal photography seen in this show. When on the move, from 1980s city streets to rural landscapes, Eddie always carries either a camera or a set of watercolors. His painting style ranges from loose and interpretive to detailed and exacting, inspired by his naval engineering background. This show includes both his photography and watercolors. 

Traces, Places, and Faces runs from April 19 to June 7. The artists’ reception is on Saturday, April 19, from 5 to 7 pm. Registration on the library website is requested for the reception.

Join us for a day packed with fun and learning as you explore our fire trucks, get an up-close look at our life-saving equipment, and meet your local fire and EMS volunteers. Discover vital safety tips that will keep your family safe, and participate in a variety of activities including:

• Firefighter Gear Race

• Car Extraction Demonstration

• Stretcher Race

• Stop, Drop & Roll Demonstration

• Kids Obstacle Course

• Fire Truck, Ambulance and Specialty Vehicle Tours

• Prize Giveaways

• Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (while supplies last)

And much more!!

Whether you’re a longtime resident or just moved to the area, come and connect with your local fire and EMS volunteers and help us build a safer community together. Don’t miss out on all the excitement – bring your friends and family for a day of fun. 

We’ll see you there!

HOTCHKISS-FYLER HOUSE MUSEUM

Torrington Historical Society 

192 Main Street, Torrington, CT

2025 hours: Wednesday through Saturdays, April 16 - October 31, 2025

Guided tours at 1, 2 and 3 pm 

Phone: (860) 482-8260   info@torringtonhistoricalsociety.org

Admission: Adults $10 per person; children under 8 free

The Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum (b. 1900) will open for the season Wednesday April 16th. The Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum is a Victorian mansion that was home to two generations of Torrington residents. Gertrude F. Hotchkiss, the last family member to occupy the home, bequeathed the house and contents to the Society in 1956.  The interior of this grand house features mahogany paneling, ornate carvings, stenciled walls, murals, parquet floors and ornamental plaster treatments. Original family furnishings collections of fine and decorative arts. Artists represented are: Ammi Phillips, E.I. Couse, Winfield Scott Clime and George Lawrence Nelson.

“In Praise of Cities”, by Merrill French,

“Ongoing”, by Patricia Weise

& “ For Real”, featuring Peter Christ, Kathy Hodge, Brian McClear

Five Points Gallery presents three new exhibitions. In the Torrington Savings Bank Gallery, Merrill French paints intricate cityscapes from around the world. The Torrington Downtown Partners Gallery features gouache paintings by Patricia Weise that depict domesticity and daily life. For Real, a group exhibition in the West Gallery features three artists (Peter Christ, Kathy Hodge & Brian McClear) each of whom portray elements from the man-made world.

One week a year, six local artists get together and paint at Onadune, a sprawling family house in Rhode Island. A giant porch, surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic, serves as their studio. The painters ( insert names or list above?) met fifteen years ago at the Washington Art Association, in Ira Barkoff’s class, and have continued sharing their work and ideas ever since.

While the artists have very different styles, interpretations, and backgrounds in the arts, the artwork created at Onadune shares a singular flavor of salt air and light. This special place has given the artists the rare opportunity to paint from dawn to dusk, follow their instincts while supported by each other, and has cemented the bond forged at the Washington Art Association.

The exhibit brings the viewer to Onadune and shows how six different artists have used

the same place for inspiration and personal artistic growth.The artists:

Joanne Conant

A jeweler and recognized enamellist, Joanne brought her talent to seascapes fifteen years ago and never looked back. A resident of Newtown and a former teacher at Brookfield Craft center, she is well known for her cloisonné enamels and jewelry and brings much of that sensibility to her paintings.

Elizabeth MacDonald

After Elizabeth worked as an actor in Seattle, she moved to her Bridgewater residence and started her journey with clay. She is known for her vessels, large scale mosaics, sculptures, and paintings on clay. Her time at Onadune has expanded her paintings on slate as well as canvas.

Ronnie Maddalena

A graphic designer living in Warren, Ronnie contributes her graphics skills to many important corporate and local causes, including The Farmer’sTable. Ronnie creates brilliant and exuberant still lifes, both found and arranged.

Kathleen Love Mooney

A resident of West Cornwall, Kathleen started her career as a fashion designer in NYC designing clothing on silk that she hand-painted. Her focus is painting landscapes; she continues to paint everything she sees.

Karen Simmons

Was an architect in NYC, and in France, and joined WAA when she moved to Woodbury, CT. Her paintings, landscapes and still-lifes, reflect both her architectural and European background.

Wendy Walker

Has previously worked as both an illustrator and a scenic artist /designer in NYC. When she moved to Roxbury Ct, she started painting “a little smaller” and paints landscapes and subjects that inspire her emotionally.

Unique photography exhibit showcasing over 70 captivating photos from local artist Maura Salvati. Artist recepion is Sunday May 18th from 2 till 5 at the Harwinton Library; all are welcome. Exhibit will be open during library hours May 5th through June. All pieces are available for purchase and 20% of all sales benefit the library.

A new play by Dorothy Lyman

Three generations of women meet upstate over President’s Day weekend to decide the fate of their family farm and its matriarch.

Ted Hine's presentation about the history of the school.

The Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery is pleased to present Restoration: Landscapes & Botanical Abstracts in Gouache, an exhibition of beautiful landscapes and botanicals by artist Susan Newbury, on view from April 5 through May 31.

Susan’s work is a celebration of nature’s depth and detail, drawing inspiration from the stunning landscapes, waterscapes, and gardens of her rural New York State roots and her home in Litchfield County. With a background in graphic and fashion design, her artistic practice has evolved into a dynamic exploration of color, pattern, and movement. She works primarily in gouache, acrylic, and mixed media on paper, canvas, and wood panel, using a bright, rich palette to create layered compositions that blend natural elements with abstract forms.

“Nature not only provides the subject matter but the solitude, joy, and purpose for my paintings, creating a place of quiet introspection and restoration,” she says. Her work reflects this philosophy, infusing familiar landscapes with energy and emotion while maintaining a sense of tranquility and balance. Inspired by both the botanical world and interior design elements such as fabric, wallpaper, and tilework, her paintings feature repeating shapes and striking color contrasts for an unexpected visual experience.

Her instinctive approach to painting allows her to let go of the rules, creating compositions that are both structured and free-flowing. She paints in her Litchfield County studio and accepts commission work.

Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road at the juncture of Route 47 opposite the Green in Washington, CT. Library hours may be found at gunnlibrary.org.

For more information call (860)868-7586 or email, adoerwald@gunnlibrary.org.

Something GIANT is coming to the Gunn Memorial Library! The Junior Library invites all members of our community to join us for Story Mode, a creative storytelling adventure leading up to the start of Summer Reading in June!

In collaboration with the GIANT Room, a New York City-based innovation hub for kids, the Junior Library will provide four Remix activities Stations. These stations will allow you, your friends, and your family to draw and invent unique characters, settings, and plot twists and see them transformed into published trading cards, games, and comic strips.

Every Remix Station is a self-directed activity, so you can complete it on your own time with or without the help of a librarian. The Junior Library also offers “Creation Hours” every week, during which you can use supplies from the Makerspace to bring your vision to life. Be sure to check the library’s website for the complete schedule!

Each month focuses on a different part of your story:

– May 3-24, create challenges for your character. Help create a deck of “Would You Rather” questions by submitting a question that help you reflect on your emotions, make you smile with a rhyme, spark a debate, or give you the giggles! The GIANT Room will remix your creation into a printed trading card.

– June 7-28, tell a story about your character. Write and illustrate a comic strip using a pre-made template, and the GIANT Room will remix it into a printed poster.

– Saturday, June 21, from 10-12 pm kick off summer reading and level up your character’s story as you visit several activity stations at this community event with the GIANT Room.

This is a great opportunity to express your creativity, collaborate with your community, and see your ideas come to life!

This program was made possible by the Connecticut State Library.

You are invited to Flashes & Fragments - an art exhibit that is a fusion of mixed media, artistic lettering, video & photography. New works by Debra Lill and Kathleen Borkowski combine the beauty of visual storytelling with the expressiveness of hand lettered art. We hope you will join us as we celebrate this new work, created specifically for the Whiting Mills Gallery!

Opening: Thursday, April 24th, 5-7 pm.

Show dates: April 17-June 27

August 15, 2024 – August 17, 2025

Celebrating the year-long loan of three Georgia O’Keeffe paintings, this exhibition unites the Mattatuck Museum’s collection with O’Keeffe’s life and work through common themes. The first pairing, Flowers and Landscapes, showcases artists who tackled similar subject matter to O’Keeffe and participated in emerging art movements, yet also occupied marginalized spaces in society. These unique spotlight exhibitions celebrate the year-long loan of three Georgia O’Keeffe paintings and will unite the Mattatuck Museum’s collection with O’Keeffe’s life and work through common themes, creating a unique dialogue between her work and other celebrated artists. Each unique pairing will be curated and narrated by a different member of the Museum’s curatorial department and offer a distinctive perspective on the Mattatuck Collection in relation to the works and story of Georgia O’Keeffe.

Landscapes: an exhibit of oil paintings by Pete Bergeron.

Connecticut artist Pete Bergeron has been painting since early childhood, inspired by the classic television instruction series "You Are an Artist", hosted by Jon Gnagy. Pete's formal art training began at Paier School of Art in Hamden, CT, studying illustration. Eventually he turned to large scale painting and, like artist James Rosenquist before him, he worked as a billboard painter, creating giant images of hamburgers, beer bottles, cars and other colorful oversized advertisements.

In 1990 he studied with Frank Covino of Waitsfield, VT, learning the Classical Academic approach to painting: a systematic method that begins with a detailed monochromatic under painting superimposed with many layers of thinly applied colored glazes. The resulting effect gives an overall luminous quality to the finished painting. His commitment to fine art was a natural direction that led to a consuming full-time passion for creating lasting and timeless works of art.

Pete’s paintings are reminiscent of the late nineteenth century American landscape painters of the Hudson River School, including John Frederick Kensett, Sanford Robinson Gifford and William Trost Richards, and of the Tonalist painters of that period.

His work hangs in many collections throughout the country.

 “Landscapes” is an exhibition of paintings of unique locations the artist has visited many times, and through the use of strong composition, a wide range of values and a complex layering of color, the artist turns the otherwise commonplace – a crashing wave, the quiet of a passing cloud or the early light of a new day – into moments of awe and inspiration and creates a connection to the eternal beauty and reassuring qualities of Nature.

HOTCHKISS-FYLER HOUSE MUSEUM

Torrington Historical Society 

192 Main Street, Torrington, CT

2025 hours: Wednesday through Saturdays, April 16 - October 31, 2025

Guided tours at 1, 2 and 3 pm 

Phone: (860) 482-8260   info@torringtonhistoricalsociety.org

Admission: Adults $10 per person; children under 8 free

The Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum (b. 1900) will open for the season Wednesday April 16th. The Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum is a Victorian mansion that was home to two generations of Torrington residents. Gertrude F. Hotchkiss, the last family member to occupy the home, bequeathed the house and contents to the Society in 1956.  The interior of this grand house features mahogany paneling, ornate carvings, stenciled walls, murals, parquet floors and ornamental plaster treatments. Original family furnishings collections of fine and decorative arts. Artists represented are: Ammi Phillips, E.I. Couse, Winfield Scott Clime and George Lawrence Nelson.

Chess players of all ages are invited to join our Monday night Chess Club. Sharpen your skills and make new friends while you enjoy a friendly game. Players should already be familiar with the basics of how to play. Registration is helpful, but not required.

The Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery is pleased to present Restoration: Landscapes & Botanical Abstracts in Gouache, an exhibition of beautiful landscapes and botanicals by artist Susan Newbury, on view from April 5 through May 31.

Susan’s work is a celebration of nature’s depth and detail, drawing inspiration from the stunning landscapes, waterscapes, and gardens of her rural New York State roots and her home in Litchfield County. With a background in graphic and fashion design, her artistic practice has evolved into a dynamic exploration of color, pattern, and movement. She works primarily in gouache, acrylic, and mixed media on paper, canvas, and wood panel, using a bright, rich palette to create layered compositions that blend natural elements with abstract forms.

“Nature not only provides the subject matter but the solitude, joy, and purpose for my paintings, creating a place of quiet introspection and restoration,” she says. Her work reflects this philosophy, infusing familiar landscapes with energy and emotion while maintaining a sense of tranquility and balance. Inspired by both the botanical world and interior design elements such as fabric, wallpaper, and tilework, her paintings feature repeating shapes and striking color contrasts for an unexpected visual experience.

Her instinctive approach to painting allows her to let go of the rules, creating compositions that are both structured and free-flowing. She paints in her Litchfield County studio and accepts commission work.

Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road at the juncture of Route 47 opposite the Green in Washington, CT. Library hours may be found at gunnlibrary.org.

For more information call (860)868-7586 or email, adoerwald@gunnlibrary.org.

Something GIANT is coming to the Gunn Memorial Library! The Junior Library invites all members of our community to join us for Story Mode, a creative storytelling adventure leading up to the start of Summer Reading in June!

In collaboration with the GIANT Room, a New York City-based innovation hub for kids, the Junior Library will provide four Remix activities Stations. These stations will allow you, your friends, and your family to draw and invent unique characters, settings, and plot twists and see them transformed into published trading cards, games, and comic strips.

Every Remix Station is a self-directed activity, so you can complete it on your own time with or without the help of a librarian. The Junior Library also offers “Creation Hours” every week, during which you can use supplies from the Makerspace to bring your vision to life. Be sure to check the library’s website for the complete schedule!

Each month focuses on a different part of your story:

– May 3-24, create challenges for your character. Help create a deck of “Would You Rather” questions by submitting a question that help you reflect on your emotions, make you smile with a rhyme, spark a debate, or give you the giggles! The GIANT Room will remix your creation into a printed trading card.

– June 7-28, tell a story about your character. Write and illustrate a comic strip using a pre-made template, and the GIANT Room will remix it into a printed poster.

– Saturday, June 21, from 10-12 pm kick off summer reading and level up your character’s story as you visit several activity stations at this community event with the GIANT Room.

This is a great opportunity to express your creativity, collaborate with your community, and see your ideas come to life!

This program was made possible by the Connecticut State Library.

The Morris Public Library offers Story and Music Time for participants ages 9 mo. - 5 y.o every Tuesday at 10 am.

Please call to ask if a spot is available: 860-567-7440.

Sing songs, read a story, do a craft!

The Cornwall Library is delighted to present Traces, Places, and Faces, an intriguing exhibition of photography and watercolor painting by Sari Goodfriend and Eddie Watkins. They are life partners, and exhibit their shared passion for people, nature, and art in this joint show.

From an early age, New Yorker Sari Goodfriend happily spent her childhood summers in Cornwall with her sister Jenny and her art dealer parents, Carol and Jim. For a few years after college she lived in East Cornwall, photographing for local newspapers from New Milford to Salisbury. Todd Piker (of Cornwall Bridge Pottery) provided her a first opportunity to exhibit (and sell!) her personal photos in a show he curated at the Silo Gallery in New Milford. 

Moving back to New York, Sari has since worked as a commercial photographer, shooting assignments for corporations, magazines, non-profits, universities, and private individuals. She now does mostly portraits and events, but her youthful Cornwall summers are apparent in the landscape and nature-inspired images she is exhibiting at the library. Her part of the show also features some abstract photographs inspired by what she terms “bleak winter beauty” and “the wild, chaotic, post-tornado woods”. Many of her photographs are in frames that once held old master prints from her parents’ art dealership, C&J Goodfriend, Drawings and Prints.

Eddie Watkins is from Pittsburgh. After four years in the Navy stationed in Cuba and Newfoundland as a proud member of the Seabees (Construction Battalion), he moved to New York City and became a photographer of fine artwork. His clientele includes museums such as The Frick Collection, The Museum of Arts and Design, private art dealers, well known artists, and collectors. He also photographed the permanent collection of The Art Students League.

Eddie has been the drummer for many rock and blues bands, a sideline that provides subjects for personal photography seen in this show. When on the move, from 1980s city streets to rural landscapes, Eddie always carries either a camera or a set of watercolors. His painting style ranges from loose and interpretive to detailed and exacting, inspired by his naval engineering background. This show includes both his photography and watercolors. 

Traces, Places, and Faces runs from April 19 to June 7. The artists’ reception is on Saturday, April 19, from 5 to 7 pm. Registration on the library website is requested for the reception.

In Ann Kraus’s new exhibition of paintings at David M. Hunt Library, vibrant skyscapes capture the feelings evoked by a specific time and place, constantly evolving as they are buffeted by the wind, adding drama and clarity to our world at sunrise and sunset. The artist said of her paintings, "While some may be serene, others may be electrifying and chaotic."

A reception for the artist will take place on Sat May 3, 5-7PM. In addition, Kraus will host an Art Talk on Thursday, May 22, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear directly from the artist about her inspirations, techniques, and the thought-provoking themes behind her collection.

I Collect Clouds will be on display from May 2 through May 30,

You are invited to Flashes & Fragments - an art exhibit that is a fusion of mixed media, artistic lettering, video & photography. New works by Debra Lill and Kathleen Borkowski combine the beauty of visual storytelling with the expressiveness of hand lettered art. We hope you will join us as we celebrate this new work, created specifically for the Whiting Mills Gallery!

Opening: Thursday, April 24th, 5-7 pm.

Show dates: April 17-June 27

Join us for Story Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 for new books, free play, and fun crafts!