Community Calendar

Join our adventures with an awesome Dungeon Master! No experience necessary! For grades 6-12. Registration required.

Location: Library Auditorium (Lower Level) For all skill levels. Play against our chess master, learn new techniques or just come to have fun.

**The Popular Book Club will meet at the Morris Public Library on Tuesday, May 28, at 6:30 PM, and discuss "Black Cake" by Charmaine Wilkerson.** We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves. **E-book and e-audio are available via Libby app.** **New registrations and book requests: 860-567-7440 or** **[https://morrispubliclibrary.net/library-calendar-event.../](https://morrispubliclibrary.net/library-calendar-event...)**

Every other Tuesday

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: The Tapping Reeve Meadow (82 South Street)

FREE

Registration not required

Join us for a bi-weekly knitting & crafting social meetup at the Litchfield Historical Society, where you can meet other knitters, get your questions answered about tricky patterns, and expand your knowledge. No experience is necessary, just a desire to learn to knit! Bring a project to work on and enjoy the company of your fellow crafters. It's a great place to roundtable your ideas and workshop any hiccups you might be encountering in your project.

 

Hosted by Alexandra Herst, a local knitting & crafting enthusiast, is a deep believer in the capability of anyone to master the complexities of knitting, she takes the approach of empowering beginners through education to further their skills and encourage their creativity!

Global artists have shared their floral images, film, music and poetry.

for our online art show "Plant Life"

“Plant Life” art show launches online on Friday, May 3rd.

Exciting News!

“Plant Life: NYC – Global” is an exhibition and digital event at Prime Produce, 424 West 54th St, New York City, May 17-19 featuring selections from the online show!

Personaland - our online global arts village.

https://www.personaland.com

Personaland is an artist-driven global village, transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge geographical and cultural boundaries. This uniquely positions Personaland to create accessible opportunities for artists and audiences to connect and participate. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Personaland takes the form of a virtual entertainment park, where visitors can visit art shows and exhibitions, play art games, watch movies, visit dancing flowers and a wishing well. Since our launch in 2018, Personaland has showcased over 650 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians and poets from 61 countries in 25 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions.

For more info:

Stewart Wilson

personaman@snet.net

This year’s Climate Challenge will run from Earth Day (April 22) through May 31st, and it is part of the State’s effort to meet its emission targets to help prevent further worsening of adverse climate impacts. 2024 Climate Challenge - CTrides

You are invited to visit....

A Showing of Liz Rosiello's Floral Watercolor Paintings

Roxbury Senior Center - 7 South St. Roxbury CT

April 1 - May 31

Artist Reception: Saturday May 4th - 2pm to 5pm

Children and parents learn to play, sing, create and laugh together while romping to music, exploring our indoor play land, and meeting new friends. This program helps children develop sensory awareness and build motor skills. If needed, siblings are welcome to attend, but for safety reasons, they are not permitted on any of the equipment.

Requirements:

Guardians must be present

Coordinator:

Michele Gasiewski

Tuesdays, April 30 to June 11

Session 1: Ages 1y-2y 9:15am-10:00am

Session 2: Ages 2y-3y4m 10:15am-11:00am

Session 3: Ages 2y-3y4m 11:15am-12:00pm -ONLY SESSION WITH AVAILABLE SPOTS

Wednesdays, May 1 to June 12

Session 1: Ages 1y-2y 9:15am-10:00am

Session 2: Ages 2y-3y4m 10:15am-11:00am

Residents $70.00, Non-residents $90.00

**“The Wonderful World of Peter Barrett”** The inspiring works of renowned artist Peter Barrett will be displayed from Saturday, May 25th through Saturday, July 20th, 2024.    Peter Barrett’s passion for the natural world shines through in his detailed watercolors, which appeared in over 40 wildlife and children's books, including “The Wind in the Willows.”  While living in Greece Peter Barrett was able to develop as an artist. His fascination with the natural world prompted him to paint detailed and accurate watercolors of fish, birds, flora, and fauna.  This work led to commissions from publishers of natural history books. He has illustrated over 40 books on wildlife and children. Peter Barrett had four one-man exhibitions of abstract expressionist paintings at the Drian Galleries in London. Visit the Stairwell Gallery at the Gunn Memorial Library for this upcoming exhibition.  [https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery/](https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery)

The Tremaine Art Gallery at The Hotchkiss School at 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville CT is pleased to present Dialogue: Art in Conversation, featuring works by Valerie Hammond and Nathaniel (Tate) Klacsmann, from April 2 through June 2, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. This exhibition explores the creative processes of two artists whose work reverberates around questions of social inequity, magic, myth, and the environment. Together, their pieces begin a conversation filled with reflective echoes, offering opportunity for intersection around creativity and process. Curated by Joan Baldwin and Terri Moore, Dialogue also includes video and photography by Colleen Macmillan, Ann Villano, and Hotchkiss film students. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

"Tangled in Color": an exhibition of works in oil and acrylic by Kathleen L'Hommedieu.

Kathleen L'Hommedieu, born and raised in Connecticut, finds inspiration through light and color in the landscape and sky. Many years of traveling for business and rowing competitions through Europe are also a major influence.

"We are immersed in light, color and energy from all that surrounds us no matter where we find ourselves."

Layering is nothing new for Kathleen. It is a technique that comes naturally as she builds a canvas and is guided through its evolution. Using a series of tools - from brush to palette knife - she lets the layers deepen, a process that can take years while perfecting a canvas. "The background tells me where to go," is how she explains the method, "and I add color or texture." Recently, the layers have led to new revelations of shadow and light as the colors intermingle and intertwine, creating interrelationships within a work of art informed by past canvases. Her abstracts are often memories of moments she has experienced - inspired by a foggy window after a storm by the sea, the turbulence of winter by the ocean, a still-life in its vivid interplay of color and form, or a grove of young saplings lit by the sun.

This show is a series of explorations in interwoven color to share the journey of an artist's growing perception, but expressing a universal message. Kathleen's quest leads the viewer to experience a deepening vision of fleeting color play and brilliant moments in our surroundings. "Art teaches you to see," she says, "and I strive to capture that energy."

Music and Rhyme for Children from Birth to 3s! A program for babies and their caretakers that incorporates music, rhythm, stories, and nursery rhymes to spur language development, body awareness, pre-reading skills, self-confidence, and cooperation. Gathering at 10:15, the program begins at 10:30. Registration appreciated, drop-ins welcome!

# Outsider Perspectives: Self-Taught Art from the Mattatuck Collection ## Munger Gallery May 12, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11AM - 5PM, Sunday 11 AM- 4 PM_ Included in price of admission Outsider Perspectives showcases a recent gift of American Outsider Art to the Mattatuck Museum. Produced by self-taught artists who have no formal training or concern for the conventions of the art world, Outsider Art provides a glimpse into artistic production that is little concerned with external opinions. Employing ready-at-hand materials and often deeply personal imagery, the approximately 30 works in this exhibition explore the power of art as a means of self-expression and as a way to process the world. [https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives/](https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives) Opening Celebration: June 9th

## Stitching the Revolution: Quilts as Agents of Change May 19, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM_ _Included with museum admission_ Stitching the Revolution explores themes of revolution through quilting, a medium traditionally confined to the domestic sphere and often relegated to the lower status of craft or minor art. This exhibition offers a new approach to understanding the practice of quilting as an avenue through which to express potent beliefs and an outlet to create meaningful change. Tracing the long history of quilts as a medium for communicating revolutionary ideas, the exhibition pairs historic and contemporary quilts spanning over 200 years of production. Stitching the Revolution features approximately 30 quilts from the Mattatuck Museum’s collection, and loans from New England institutions and contemporary artists. _Thanks to the generous support of the Coby Foundation._ _Opening ceremony: June 9_

## Whittemore & Noonan Galleries May 26, 2024 – August 18, 2024 Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM _Included in the price of museum admission_ This metropolis of junk, otherwise known as “the dump,” is home to one of the most coveted Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programs since 1990. Reclaimed: The Art of Recology presents a fascinating survey of 33 artists who were selected to participate in Recology’s unique Artist-in-Residence program. Armed with safety gear and a shopping cart, artists have scavenging privileges in the Public Reuse and Recycling Area to recycle and reclaim the discarded waste as reimagined art objects. Featuring approximately 50 objects, the artwork in Reclaimed is varied, unusual, yet familiar. The hybrid concoctions are highly creative and mind-blowing in execution and form. This eclectic exhibition of work created from unwanted materials encourages viewers to perceive “trash” in a new light. _Reclaimed: The Art of Recology_ was organized and traveled by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA.  **Opening Celebration: June 9**

In May, the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village (CT) will host the exhibition A Star Danced: The Paintings of Mary Anne Carley and Theresa Kenny. The exhibition features the work of two Sharon-based painters who happen to be mother and daughter. Mary Anne Carley uses a multitude of media in her abstract and impressionist paintings and monoprints including acrylic, watercolor, and ink. Carley’s daughter, Theresa Kenny, focuses on figurative works in pastel that capture the color and movement of birds, animals, and children. The exhibition’s title is from Shakespeare and evokes the astrological happiness of a star at the birth of a daughter. It will be on display at the library during operating hours through June 7.  

Stewart Wilson and Don Sexton. “Together Again.” Long-time northwest Connecticut artists and friends Stewart and Don once again join forces in a show that will dazzle you with colors and lead you to think with their intriguing and unique visions of the world.

About Don

Take a walk around the world: Paintings from five continents, images from more than 40 years and more than 3 million miles of travel. People going about their lives, at work, at rest, at play. Sexton tells their stories.

Guest comments: "Vibrant" "Fun" “Color magician” "Witty" "Joyous" "Great show" "Wonderful energies" 

About Stewart

Stewart Wilson whimsical sculptures, the “Personas,” have been exhibited world-wide. Come experience the magic of his sculptures, drawings, prints and digital works.

Hope you can see the show. 

Five Points Annex Gallery, 15 Water St, Torrington, CT, Reception: Friday May 24 5-8pm 

Open Mike: Friday May 31 6-8pm

Janine Lennon will have all the supplies you need to complete your heart project. First, you'll learn how to dot with different types of tools. Then you'll practice "dotting" before creating your beautiful heart. RSVP www.newmilfordlibrary.org

This program is generously funded by the Friends of the New Milford Public Library.

In this talk, author Peter Vermilyea analyzes the impact of the Civil War on Northern home life through the lens of a unique case in Litchfield County. The book uses first-hand accounts to explore the process of preparing for war and how it created a bond between the community and its soldiers. In 1862, state and local governments struggled to meet President Lincoln’s call for troops, leading to accusations of corruption and disloyalty against a prominent citizen, Dr. Josiah Beckwith. The case sheds light on the local impact of the war effort in the Northern home front. Join him for a fascinating look at this time period in history.

Beginner Crocheting Class

- Come learn in a class designed just for you…a beginner!! You will learn the 6 basic crochet stitches, how to start a project and end a project, how to read a yarn label so you can buy yarn on your own after classes end, how to read a crochet pattern, and more!

- 6 weekly classes, Wednesdays, 1.5 hours each

- All materials and supplies will be provided at the 1st class

- Requirements: None

Resident $110.00, Non-resident $130.00

Beginner Knitting Class

- Come learn in a class designed just for you…a beginner!! You will learn the basic stitches of knitting – the knit stitch and the purl stitch – as well as how to read a yarn label so you can buy yarn on your own after classes end, how to read a knitting pattern, and more!

- 6 weekly classes, Thursdays, 1.5 hours each

- All materials and supplies will be provided at the 1st class

- Requirements: None

Resident $110.00, Non-resident $130.00

Instructor: Andrea Dener

Are you ready to be part of something truly beautiful and unifying?! Every week, synagogues around the world come together to study the same weekly Torah portion. Let's unite in our love for Torah and join this incredible global community.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect in spirit with the world and with friends from all over Northwest CT and deepen your understanding of our shared heritage.

Join us every Wednesday at 8:00 PM for an unforgettable journey into the teachings of the Torah. From the comfort of your own home, you'll discover how to love to the greatest of heights and live a life filled with purpose and meaning. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn and grow with us! Tune in via zoom at chabadnw.org/live or on facebook live at fb.com/chabadNW. See you there!

Global artists have shared their floral images, film, music and poetry.

for our online art show "Plant Life"

“Plant Life” art show launches online on Friday, May 3rd.

Exciting News!

“Plant Life: NYC – Global” is an exhibition and digital event at Prime Produce, 424 West 54th St, New York City, May 17-19 featuring selections from the online show!

Personaland - our online global arts village.

https://www.personaland.com

Personaland is an artist-driven global village, transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge geographical and cultural boundaries. This uniquely positions Personaland to create accessible opportunities for artists and audiences to connect and participate. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Personaland takes the form of a virtual entertainment park, where visitors can visit art shows and exhibitions, play art games, watch movies, visit dancing flowers and a wishing well. Since our launch in 2018, Personaland has showcased over 650 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians and poets from 61 countries in 25 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions.

For more info:

Stewart Wilson

personaman@snet.net

This year’s Climate Challenge will run from Earth Day (April 22) through May 31st, and it is part of the State’s effort to meet its emission targets to help prevent further worsening of adverse climate impacts. 2024 Climate Challenge - CTrides

You are invited to visit....

A Showing of Liz Rosiello's Floral Watercolor Paintings

Roxbury Senior Center - 7 South St. Roxbury CT

April 1 - May 31

Artist Reception: Saturday May 4th - 2pm to 5pm

Mr. Stuart’s painting career spans forty eight years. His work has been widely exhibited including at the Highlands Museum of the Arts (solo show), the National Park Academy of the Arts, Punta Gorda National Art Exhibition Visual Arts Center, Connecticut Academy of Fine Art, Hudson Valley Art Association, Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Hammond Museum, American Watercolor Society, National Society of Casein and Acrylic Painting , Adirondack National Watercolor Society, North East Watercolor Society and Connecticut Watercolor Society. His college education include the Ringling School of Art, School of Visual Arts and Paier School of Art and he is a Signature Member North East Watercolor Society. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Kimberly Clark Corporation, Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center, and the Florence Griswold Museum. Mr. Stuart’s work will be on display during regular library hours.

**“The Wonderful World of Peter Barrett”** The inspiring works of renowned artist Peter Barrett will be displayed from Saturday, May 25th through Saturday, July 20th, 2024.    Peter Barrett’s passion for the natural world shines through in his detailed watercolors, which appeared in over 40 wildlife and children's books, including “The Wind in the Willows.”  While living in Greece Peter Barrett was able to develop as an artist. His fascination with the natural world prompted him to paint detailed and accurate watercolors of fish, birds, flora, and fauna.  This work led to commissions from publishers of natural history books. He has illustrated over 40 books on wildlife and children. Peter Barrett had four one-man exhibitions of abstract expressionist paintings at the Drian Galleries in London. Visit the Stairwell Gallery at the Gunn Memorial Library for this upcoming exhibition.  [https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery/](https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery)

The Tremaine Art Gallery at The Hotchkiss School at 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville CT is pleased to present Dialogue: Art in Conversation, featuring works by Valerie Hammond and Nathaniel (Tate) Klacsmann, from April 2 through June 2, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. This exhibition explores the creative processes of two artists whose work reverberates around questions of social inequity, magic, myth, and the environment. Together, their pieces begin a conversation filled with reflective echoes, offering opportunity for intersection around creativity and process. Curated by Joan Baldwin and Terri Moore, Dialogue also includes video and photography by Colleen Macmillan, Ann Villano, and Hotchkiss film students. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

In May, the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village (CT) will host the exhibition A Star Danced: The Paintings of Mary Anne Carley and Theresa Kenny. The exhibition features the work of two Sharon-based painters who happen to be mother and daughter. Mary Anne Carley uses a multitude of media in her abstract and impressionist paintings and monoprints including acrylic, watercolor, and ink. Carley’s daughter, Theresa Kenny, focuses on figurative works in pastel that capture the color and movement of birds, animals, and children. The exhibition’s title is from Shakespeare and evokes the astrological happiness of a star at the birth of a daughter. It will be on display at the library during operating hours through June 7.  

Color Me Creative is back!! 

Ages 2 1/2 - 5 years old

This very popular preschool arts and crafts program uses every imaginable medium to stir the creative impulse in your child. Parents and children will have fun finger painting, gluing and creating together! Each week your child will bring home several themed-based projects. Children should wear an old shirt or art smock. 

Parents, please bring a bag or box to transport projects home. 

Instructor: Michele Gasiewski

Residents $85.00, Non-residents $105.00

Two Sessions

Class 1 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

Class 2 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM

Location: Library Picture Book Room (Upper Level) Join us for interactive stories, rhymes, fables and songs. For ages 2-4.

Kids of all ages are welcome to join us for Bilingual Story Time on Thursdays at 10:30! This program includes stories in Spanish and English, songs, a craft and a snack.

iInvitamos a los niños de todas las edades a unirnos por Hora de Cuentos Bilingües los jueves a 10:30! Esta programa incluye los cuentos en español y ingles, canciones, un proyecto de manualidades y un tentempié.

_"From Stars to Stars”_ is a contemplative study of light at night's darkest time and is inspired by “The Dream Keeper” by Langston Hughes. Cedric Gairard's series of photographs is part of the gallery's permanent collection and will be on display until May 31, 2024.

# Outsider Perspectives: Self-Taught Art from the Mattatuck Collection ## Munger Gallery May 12, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11AM - 5PM, Sunday 11 AM- 4 PM_ Included in price of admission Outsider Perspectives showcases a recent gift of American Outsider Art to the Mattatuck Museum. Produced by self-taught artists who have no formal training or concern for the conventions of the art world, Outsider Art provides a glimpse into artistic production that is little concerned with external opinions. Employing ready-at-hand materials and often deeply personal imagery, the approximately 30 works in this exhibition explore the power of art as a means of self-expression and as a way to process the world. [https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives/](https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives) Opening Celebration: June 9th

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition featuring two contemporary artists whose work is focused on botany. Battenfield’s meditative painting process begins with the artist’s close attention to the graceful forms of unfolding leaves and blossoms, and to the twisted boughs and branches of trees. This series was inspired by time the artist spent at a rural meditation retreat where spring was slowly awakening the landscape from its winter bareness. Sitting by a window, in meditative silence, the artist was transfixed as tender buds and leaves daily transformed a gnarly elm tree. Battenfield’s paintings evoke the immediacy and beauty of that experience. The images of branches, leaves and blooms are first recorded as photographs, then meticulously drawn onto large sheets of translucent Mylar. Paying close attention to the true form of each natural element, the artist builds her graceful compositions. Battenfield’s paintings draw upon two natural but disparate processes: the gestural unfolding and leafing of a branching tree limb and the physical properties and behaviors of pigments. Battenfield mixes her pigments to an ink-like consistency and generously brushes the acrylic paint onto the smooth Mylar where it forms a puddle of paint. As the paint mixture dries, the pigments reassert themselves, separating and forming unexpected and distinct abstract patterns. An expert colorist, Battenfield creates hundreds of color studies to investigate and consider the different levels of color saturation and the separation affected by the various pigments’ origin and weight. To accentuate the contrast between image and ground, Battenfield leaves the background of her paintings untreated, allowing her botanical forms to float against the pristine white Mylar. Each painting is then mounted on a clear acrylic panel that allows light to play behind the translucent painted surface. Jackie Battenfield was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned an MFA in Visual Art from Syracuse University and a BS from Pennsylvania State University. She is the recipient of a Pollock Krasner Award (1991) and the Warren Tanner Award (1996). Her work is widely exhibited throughout the United States and is in more than 1000 collections worldwide including the New York Public Library, NY; The Zimmerli Art Museum, Montclair Art Museum, NJ; Palmer Museum, University Park, PA; Museum of Art at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; and the United States Embassy Collections, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Jamaica, and Peru. She recently completed public art commissions for New York University, Langone Medical Center, Radiation Treatment Suite and The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts & Design, Avenue P elevated subway station, F line, Brooklyn, NY. Jackie Battenfield lives in and works in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. For Margot Glass the idealization of nature in ornament across cultures is fascinating. Her work explores the tension between natural and synthetic symmetry and pattern in nature and design. How we see and alter nature to suit our aesthetic desires is what draws her to decorative arts traditions for inspiration as much as the fine art traditions of painting and drawing. A central theme in Glass’s work is the exploration of ephemerality, focusing primarily on weeds and other plants generally considered to be undesirable. She draws these specimens to highlight their imperfect beauty and asymmetry. Margot Glass’s subjects are found sprouting through cracks in the sidewalks, and in the margins of public spaces and forest borders. Because of her professional training in metal point drawing and gilding techniques, and because she is inspired by the tesserae of Byzantine mosaics, traditional decorative metalwork and architectural adornments, gold is a natural choice of drawing medium for the artist. Gold has light shifting properties that effect the fine lines and dense details of Glass’s drawing inviting slow, and close viewing. Margot Glass also uses traditional methods and formulas for making organic ink from black walnuts which are collected and dried and brewed. This labor-intensive process is another way to slow time that is integral to her process. In Glass’s drawings of grasses and clover, her interest is in the transcendent power of natural forms to shift from taxonomic specificity to a more meditative visual experience found in repetition of negative space, shape, and line. Margot Glass’s work is shown widely in the US and is in the collections of Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Del Coronado Hotel, San Diego, CA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Robert Kushner and other international private collections. Her work has been featured in Wall Street Journal International, art Daily, Artsy, Orion Magazine, American Art Collector and Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, to name a few. Glass earned a degree from Smith College, Historic Artist Materials and Techniques, and B.A. Honors, Brown University | Brown-RISD Reciprocal Program, Providence, RI. Margot Glass lives and works in MA. Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

## Stitching the Revolution: Quilts as Agents of Change May 19, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM_ _Included with museum admission_ Stitching the Revolution explores themes of revolution through quilting, a medium traditionally confined to the domestic sphere and often relegated to the lower status of craft or minor art. This exhibition offers a new approach to understanding the practice of quilting as an avenue through which to express potent beliefs and an outlet to create meaningful change. Tracing the long history of quilts as a medium for communicating revolutionary ideas, the exhibition pairs historic and contemporary quilts spanning over 200 years of production. Stitching the Revolution features approximately 30 quilts from the Mattatuck Museum’s collection, and loans from New England institutions and contemporary artists. _Thanks to the generous support of the Coby Foundation._ _Opening ceremony: June 9_

## Whittemore & Noonan Galleries May 26, 2024 – August 18, 2024 Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM _Included in the price of museum admission_ This metropolis of junk, otherwise known as “the dump,” is home to one of the most coveted Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programs since 1990. Reclaimed: The Art of Recology presents a fascinating survey of 33 artists who were selected to participate in Recology’s unique Artist-in-Residence program. Armed with safety gear and a shopping cart, artists have scavenging privileges in the Public Reuse and Recycling Area to recycle and reclaim the discarded waste as reimagined art objects. Featuring approximately 50 objects, the artwork in Reclaimed is varied, unusual, yet familiar. The hybrid concoctions are highly creative and mind-blowing in execution and form. This eclectic exhibition of work created from unwanted materials encourages viewers to perceive “trash” in a new light. _Reclaimed: The Art of Recology_ was organized and traveled by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA.  **Opening Celebration: June 9**

Join us for a weekly dose of inspiration with Rebbetzin Mina as she delves into the weekly Torah portion. Take a break from your busy schedule every Thursday from 11:30-12:30 at Chabad on the Green located at 69 West Litchfield, CT 06759.Come prepared to gain new insights and connect with a community of like-minded individuals. Let Rebbetzin guide you on a journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth. Don't miss out on this opportunity to nourish your soul and elevate your week. We can't wait to see you there!

"Tangled in Color": an exhibition of works in oil and acrylic by Kathleen L'Hommedieu.

Kathleen L'Hommedieu, born and raised in Connecticut, finds inspiration through light and color in the landscape and sky. Many years of traveling for business and rowing competitions through Europe are also a major influence.

"We are immersed in light, color and energy from all that surrounds us no matter where we find ourselves."

Layering is nothing new for Kathleen. It is a technique that comes naturally as she builds a canvas and is guided through its evolution. Using a series of tools - from brush to palette knife - she lets the layers deepen, a process that can take years while perfecting a canvas. "The background tells me where to go," is how she explains the method, "and I add color or texture." Recently, the layers have led to new revelations of shadow and light as the colors intermingle and intertwine, creating interrelationships within a work of art informed by past canvases. Her abstracts are often memories of moments she has experienced - inspired by a foggy window after a storm by the sea, the turbulence of winter by the ocean, a still-life in its vivid interplay of color and form, or a grove of young saplings lit by the sun.

This show is a series of explorations in interwoven color to share the journey of an artist's growing perception, but expressing a universal message. Kathleen's quest leads the viewer to experience a deepening vision of fleeting color play and brilliant moments in our surroundings. "Art teaches you to see," she says, "and I strive to capture that energy."

Bring your lunch, listen to stories, and enjoy a fun craft. Individual craft kits will be available. All are welcome, this program is intended for preschool-aged children. This event will be offered in person in the Junior Room of the Library. Registration is appreciated but not required.

Stewart Wilson and Don Sexton. “Together Again.” Long-time northwest Connecticut artists and friends Stewart and Don once again join forces in a show that will dazzle you with colors and lead you to think with their intriguing and unique visions of the world.

About Don

Take a walk around the world: Paintings from five continents, images from more than 40 years and more than 3 million miles of travel. People going about their lives, at work, at rest, at play. Sexton tells their stories.

Guest comments: "Vibrant" "Fun" “Color magician” "Witty" "Joyous" "Great show" "Wonderful energies" 

About Stewart

Stewart Wilson whimsical sculptures, the “Personas,” have been exhibited world-wide. Come experience the magic of his sculptures, drawings, prints and digital works.

Hope you can see the show. 

Five Points Annex Gallery, 15 Water St, Torrington, CT, Reception: Friday May 24 5-8pm 

Open Mike: Friday May 31 6-8pm

An Invitational and Juried Show of tactile art featuring works in fabrics and fibers

At long last, the trip of a lifetime has arrived—CANYON COUNTRY!

Join us as we travel to Canyon Country out West in the Spring of 2025. A visit to experience the Grand Canyon seems to be on everyone’s Bucket List. We’re thrilled to offer you the opportunity to check it off of your List!

Morris Community Activities (Morris Beach and Recreation / Morris Senior Center) have partnered with AAA Northeast / Collette Tours to bring you this once is a lifetime experience. You will enjoy 8 days / 7 nights in Arizona / Utah / Nevada.

Some of the highlights of your experience include, but are not limited to: visits to Scottsdale; Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon, Rafting on Horseshoe Bend, Lake Powell Cruise, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park and finally...Las Vegas!

We’ll be spending 4 days in Arizona, 2 days in Utah, and one day in Nevada.

Your tour includes 10 meals: 6 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners.

This adventure includes your round trip air fare from BRADLEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT along with ALL of your transfers including transportation to and from the airport from the Morris Town Hall, hotel accommodations, 10 meals along with activity / museum entry fees. Gratuities not included.

Looking for more information? Join us for our NO obligation / commitment travel presentation!

Thursday, May 30, 2024 / 6:00 pm

Morris Senior Center / 109-21 East Street, Morris

Travel dates are April 25 - May 2, 2025. Cost per person, double occupancy—$3,699. Single / triple rates are available upon request.

Would you like a copy of our color brochure? Email us at Activities@townofmorrisct.com

Location: Library Auditorium (Lower Level) Come relax with a weekly board game night. Bring a friend or make new friends!

Beginner Crocheting Class

- Come learn in a class designed just for you…a beginner!! You will learn the 6 basic crochet stitches, how to start a project and end a project, how to read a yarn label so you can buy yarn on your own after classes end, how to read a crochet pattern, and more!

- 6 weekly classes, Wednesdays, 1.5 hours each

- All materials and supplies will be provided at the 1st class

- Requirements: None

Resident $110.00, Non-resident $130.00

Beginner Knitting Class

- Come learn in a class designed just for you…a beginner!! You will learn the basic stitches of knitting – the knit stitch and the purl stitch – as well as how to read a yarn label so you can buy yarn on your own after classes end, how to read a knitting pattern, and more!

- 6 weekly classes, Thursdays, 1.5 hours each

- All materials and supplies will be provided at the 1st class

- Requirements: None

Resident $110.00, Non-resident $130.00

Instructor: Andrea Dener

One night only screening! William Shatner recounts his personal journey over nine decades on Earth, stripping away all the masks he's worn to embody countless characters.

Global artists have shared their floral images, film, music and poetry.

for our online art show "Plant Life"

“Plant Life” art show launches online on Friday, May 3rd.

Exciting News!

“Plant Life: NYC – Global” is an exhibition and digital event at Prime Produce, 424 West 54th St, New York City, May 17-19 featuring selections from the online show!

Personaland - our online global arts village.

https://www.personaland.com

Personaland is an artist-driven global village, transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge geographical and cultural boundaries. This uniquely positions Personaland to create accessible opportunities for artists and audiences to connect and participate. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Personaland takes the form of a virtual entertainment park, where visitors can visit art shows and exhibitions, play art games, watch movies, visit dancing flowers and a wishing well. Since our launch in 2018, Personaland has showcased over 650 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians and poets from 61 countries in 25 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions.

For more info:

Stewart Wilson

personaman@snet.net

This year’s Climate Challenge will run from Earth Day (April 22) through May 31st, and it is part of the State’s effort to meet its emission targets to help prevent further worsening of adverse climate impacts. 2024 Climate Challenge - CTrides

You are invited to visit....

A Showing of Liz Rosiello's Floral Watercolor Paintings

Roxbury Senior Center - 7 South St. Roxbury CT

April 1 - May 31

Artist Reception: Saturday May 4th - 2pm to 5pm

Mr. Stuart’s painting career spans forty eight years. His work has been widely exhibited including at the Highlands Museum of the Arts (solo show), the National Park Academy of the Arts, Punta Gorda National Art Exhibition Visual Arts Center, Connecticut Academy of Fine Art, Hudson Valley Art Association, Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Hammond Museum, American Watercolor Society, National Society of Casein and Acrylic Painting , Adirondack National Watercolor Society, North East Watercolor Society and Connecticut Watercolor Society. His college education include the Ringling School of Art, School of Visual Arts and Paier School of Art and he is a Signature Member North East Watercolor Society. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Kimberly Clark Corporation, Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center, and the Florence Griswold Museum. Mr. Stuart’s work will be on display during regular library hours.

**“The Wonderful World of Peter Barrett”** The inspiring works of renowned artist Peter Barrett will be displayed from Saturday, May 25th through Saturday, July 20th, 2024.    Peter Barrett’s passion for the natural world shines through in his detailed watercolors, which appeared in over 40 wildlife and children's books, including “The Wind in the Willows.”  While living in Greece Peter Barrett was able to develop as an artist. His fascination with the natural world prompted him to paint detailed and accurate watercolors of fish, birds, flora, and fauna.  This work led to commissions from publishers of natural history books. He has illustrated over 40 books on wildlife and children. Peter Barrett had four one-man exhibitions of abstract expressionist paintings at the Drian Galleries in London. Visit the Stairwell Gallery at the Gunn Memorial Library for this upcoming exhibition.  [https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery/](https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery)

Join us for a Guided Tour among the English inspired Garden while tulips,lilies,peonies, and roses are blooming! Lunch costs on your own at a local restaurant. TBD

The Tremaine Art Gallery at The Hotchkiss School at 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville CT is pleased to present Dialogue: Art in Conversation, featuring works by Valerie Hammond and Nathaniel (Tate) Klacsmann, from April 2 through June 2, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. This exhibition explores the creative processes of two artists whose work reverberates around questions of social inequity, magic, myth, and the environment. Together, their pieces begin a conversation filled with reflective echoes, offering opportunity for intersection around creativity and process. Curated by Joan Baldwin and Terri Moore, Dialogue also includes video and photography by Colleen Macmillan, Ann Villano, and Hotchkiss film students. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

"Tangled in Color": an exhibition of works in oil and acrylic by Kathleen L'Hommedieu.

Kathleen L'Hommedieu, born and raised in Connecticut, finds inspiration through light and color in the landscape and sky. Many years of traveling for business and rowing competitions through Europe are also a major influence.

"We are immersed in light, color and energy from all that surrounds us no matter where we find ourselves."

Layering is nothing new for Kathleen. It is a technique that comes naturally as she builds a canvas and is guided through its evolution. Using a series of tools - from brush to palette knife - she lets the layers deepen, a process that can take years while perfecting a canvas. "The background tells me where to go," is how she explains the method, "and I add color or texture." Recently, the layers have led to new revelations of shadow and light as the colors intermingle and intertwine, creating interrelationships within a work of art informed by past canvases. Her abstracts are often memories of moments she has experienced - inspired by a foggy window after a storm by the sea, the turbulence of winter by the ocean, a still-life in its vivid interplay of color and form, or a grove of young saplings lit by the sun.

This show is a series of explorations in interwoven color to share the journey of an artist's growing perception, but expressing a universal message. Kathleen's quest leads the viewer to experience a deepening vision of fleeting color play and brilliant moments in our surroundings. "Art teaches you to see," she says, "and I strive to capture that energy."

Friday morning story hour for children 10:30am

Story, snack, craft

Preschool to 6 yrs

Douglas Library

108 Main St

N. Canaan, CT 06018

860-824-7863

douglaslibrary@comcast.net

Children and caregivers are welcome to join Miss Linda on Friday mornings for various engaging activities including stories, songs, games, crafts, and playtime. The sessions revolve around seasonal themes and provide a relaxing and welcoming atmosphere for moms, caregivers, and preschoolers to socialize. Feel free to bring a friend along or make new ones during the session!

Registration required at www.gunnlibrary.org/junior-library/

_"From Stars to Stars”_ is a contemplative study of light at night's darkest time and is inspired by “The Dream Keeper” by Langston Hughes. Cedric Gairard's series of photographs is part of the gallery's permanent collection and will be on display until May 31, 2024.

# Outsider Perspectives: Self-Taught Art from the Mattatuck Collection ## Munger Gallery May 12, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11AM - 5PM, Sunday 11 AM- 4 PM_ Included in price of admission Outsider Perspectives showcases a recent gift of American Outsider Art to the Mattatuck Museum. Produced by self-taught artists who have no formal training or concern for the conventions of the art world, Outsider Art provides a glimpse into artistic production that is little concerned with external opinions. Employing ready-at-hand materials and often deeply personal imagery, the approximately 30 works in this exhibition explore the power of art as a means of self-expression and as a way to process the world. [https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives/](https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives) Opening Celebration: June 9th

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition featuring two contemporary artists whose work is focused on botany. Battenfield’s meditative painting process begins with the artist’s close attention to the graceful forms of unfolding leaves and blossoms, and to the twisted boughs and branches of trees. This series was inspired by time the artist spent at a rural meditation retreat where spring was slowly awakening the landscape from its winter bareness. Sitting by a window, in meditative silence, the artist was transfixed as tender buds and leaves daily transformed a gnarly elm tree. Battenfield’s paintings evoke the immediacy and beauty of that experience. The images of branches, leaves and blooms are first recorded as photographs, then meticulously drawn onto large sheets of translucent Mylar. Paying close attention to the true form of each natural element, the artist builds her graceful compositions. Battenfield’s paintings draw upon two natural but disparate processes: the gestural unfolding and leafing of a branching tree limb and the physical properties and behaviors of pigments. Battenfield mixes her pigments to an ink-like consistency and generously brushes the acrylic paint onto the smooth Mylar where it forms a puddle of paint. As the paint mixture dries, the pigments reassert themselves, separating and forming unexpected and distinct abstract patterns. An expert colorist, Battenfield creates hundreds of color studies to investigate and consider the different levels of color saturation and the separation affected by the various pigments’ origin and weight. To accentuate the contrast between image and ground, Battenfield leaves the background of her paintings untreated, allowing her botanical forms to float against the pristine white Mylar. Each painting is then mounted on a clear acrylic panel that allows light to play behind the translucent painted surface. Jackie Battenfield was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned an MFA in Visual Art from Syracuse University and a BS from Pennsylvania State University. She is the recipient of a Pollock Krasner Award (1991) and the Warren Tanner Award (1996). Her work is widely exhibited throughout the United States and is in more than 1000 collections worldwide including the New York Public Library, NY; The Zimmerli Art Museum, Montclair Art Museum, NJ; Palmer Museum, University Park, PA; Museum of Art at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; and the United States Embassy Collections, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Jamaica, and Peru. She recently completed public art commissions for New York University, Langone Medical Center, Radiation Treatment Suite and The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts & Design, Avenue P elevated subway station, F line, Brooklyn, NY. Jackie Battenfield lives in and works in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. For Margot Glass the idealization of nature in ornament across cultures is fascinating. Her work explores the tension between natural and synthetic symmetry and pattern in nature and design. How we see and alter nature to suit our aesthetic desires is what draws her to decorative arts traditions for inspiration as much as the fine art traditions of painting and drawing. A central theme in Glass’s work is the exploration of ephemerality, focusing primarily on weeds and other plants generally considered to be undesirable. She draws these specimens to highlight their imperfect beauty and asymmetry. Margot Glass’s subjects are found sprouting through cracks in the sidewalks, and in the margins of public spaces and forest borders. Because of her professional training in metal point drawing and gilding techniques, and because she is inspired by the tesserae of Byzantine mosaics, traditional decorative metalwork and architectural adornments, gold is a natural choice of drawing medium for the artist. Gold has light shifting properties that effect the fine lines and dense details of Glass’s drawing inviting slow, and close viewing. Margot Glass also uses traditional methods and formulas for making organic ink from black walnuts which are collected and dried and brewed. This labor-intensive process is another way to slow time that is integral to her process. In Glass’s drawings of grasses and clover, her interest is in the transcendent power of natural forms to shift from taxonomic specificity to a more meditative visual experience found in repetition of negative space, shape, and line. Margot Glass’s work is shown widely in the US and is in the collections of Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Del Coronado Hotel, San Diego, CA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Robert Kushner and other international private collections. Her work has been featured in Wall Street Journal International, art Daily, Artsy, Orion Magazine, American Art Collector and Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, to name a few. Glass earned a degree from Smith College, Historic Artist Materials and Techniques, and B.A. Honors, Brown University | Brown-RISD Reciprocal Program, Providence, RI. Margot Glass lives and works in MA. Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

## Stitching the Revolution: Quilts as Agents of Change May 19, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM_ _Included with museum admission_ Stitching the Revolution explores themes of revolution through quilting, a medium traditionally confined to the domestic sphere and often relegated to the lower status of craft or minor art. This exhibition offers a new approach to understanding the practice of quilting as an avenue through which to express potent beliefs and an outlet to create meaningful change. Tracing the long history of quilts as a medium for communicating revolutionary ideas, the exhibition pairs historic and contemporary quilts spanning over 200 years of production. Stitching the Revolution features approximately 30 quilts from the Mattatuck Museum’s collection, and loans from New England institutions and contemporary artists. _Thanks to the generous support of the Coby Foundation._ _Opening ceremony: June 9_

## Whittemore & Noonan Galleries May 26, 2024 – August 18, 2024 Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM _Included in the price of museum admission_ This metropolis of junk, otherwise known as “the dump,” is home to one of the most coveted Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programs since 1990. Reclaimed: The Art of Recology presents a fascinating survey of 33 artists who were selected to participate in Recology’s unique Artist-in-Residence program. Armed with safety gear and a shopping cart, artists have scavenging privileges in the Public Reuse and Recycling Area to recycle and reclaim the discarded waste as reimagined art objects. Featuring approximately 50 objects, the artwork in Reclaimed is varied, unusual, yet familiar. The hybrid concoctions are highly creative and mind-blowing in execution and form. This eclectic exhibition of work created from unwanted materials encourages viewers to perceive “trash” in a new light. _Reclaimed: The Art of Recology_ was organized and traveled by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA.  **Opening Celebration: June 9**

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND GALLERY 25 INVITES YOU TO ITS MEMBERS’ SPRING ART SHOW!

The increasingly balmy weather is ushering in Spring 2024, and with it, the Gallery 25 Member’s Annual Spring Show which will run from April 12 to June 9.

Terry Tougas, G25 Director, notes, “The public is invited to view and enjoy some of our member artists’ best work in a wide variety of mediums including paintings, pottery, collages, assemblages, mixed media, photography, wood work, wearable art jewelry and more not-to-be-missed works”.

Our opening reception is on Saturday, April 13 from 4-6 pm and everyone is welcome to attend! Light refreshments and wine will be served. We are holding our reception later in the day so come on by for our wonderful art show and then stop by one of downtown New Milford's delicious restaurants for dinner and dessert.

Get excited for our April Workshops! Adele Moros will be hosting one of her popular Sip & Paint artist classes in which participants will be creating a spring bouquet. This class will be held on April 12 at 6pm. And Bobbi Soares’ “Sound at the Station” will demonstrate an exciting sound bath on April 21 from 11am-12pm. To reserve your place at these workshops and for a full list of our upcoming workshops, visit gallery25ct.com.

New Milford is an exciting destination, offering many enjoyable activities, among them well-reviewed restaurants, pubs and unique shops, as well as an Art Deco movie theater, an innovative playhouse, Theaterworks, and a historical New England green. Plan a fun weekend in our fine town!

Gallery 25 and Creative Arts Studio

New Milford Commission on the Arts

11 Railroad St., New Milford, CT 06776

860-355-6009 \* gallery25ct.com

G25 is open Friday and Saturday 12-6 and Sunday 10-4.

G25 wishes to thank the town of New Milford and the New Milford Commission on the Arts for their continued generous support.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @Gallery25 and Creative Arts Studio.

In May, the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village (CT) will host the exhibition A Star Danced: The Paintings of Mary Anne Carley and Theresa Kenny. The exhibition features the work of two Sharon-based painters who happen to be mother and daughter. Mary Anne Carley uses a multitude of media in her abstract and impressionist paintings and monoprints including acrylic, watercolor, and ink. Carley’s daughter, Theresa Kenny, focuses on figurative works in pastel that capture the color and movement of birds, animals, and children. The exhibition’s title is from Shakespeare and evokes the astrological happiness of a star at the birth of a daughter. It will be on display at the library during operating hours through June 7.  

Stewart Wilson and Don Sexton. “Together Again.” Long-time northwest Connecticut artists and friends Stewart and Don once again join forces in a show that will dazzle you with colors and lead you to think with their intriguing and unique visions of the world.

About Don

Take a walk around the world: Paintings from five continents, images from more than 40 years and more than 3 million miles of travel. People going about their lives, at work, at rest, at play. Sexton tells their stories.

Guest comments: "Vibrant" "Fun" “Color magician” "Witty" "Joyous" "Great show" "Wonderful energies" 

About Stewart

Stewart Wilson whimsical sculptures, the “Personas,” have been exhibited world-wide. Come experience the magic of his sculptures, drawings, prints and digital works.

Hope you can see the show. 

Five Points Annex Gallery, 15 Water St, Torrington, CT, Reception: Friday May 24 5-8pm 

Open Mike: Friday May 31 6-8pm

An Invitational and Juried Show of tactile art featuring works in fabrics and fibers

Creative Writing Jr.

Friday's - 10 week sessions

4:00-5:30 PM

Ages 8-11 

Our newest teacher Miss Brittney of Muse Squad will inspire your children to express themselves and write short stories, novels, or stand alone pieces. She will bring their writing to the next level. 

Under the guidance of the amazing Miss Brittney, you'll unleash your imagination with fun prompts, building up your confidence as you go.

After class concludes there will be a final reading and a reception open to family and friends. $350.

Call (860) 354-4318 for more info.

Registration and payment due before class.

(No Class March 9th, April 5th, or April 19th)

This is a community group for anyone who has experienced a loss, is feeling grief, or grieving. Grief is a natural emotional and physical response to loss. Every person reacts differently and it may be expressed in many ways. This group is neither traditional therapy nor counseling, per se, but it is a safe supportive space where people can come together, speak about their loss, explore their emotions and thoughts, if it is the right time and place for them to do so.   \*This group meets on the last Friday of every month

Bring a game or play one of ours! All are welcome to come play free of charge. No obligation to buy anything, but full menu is available until 9pm.

Join Regina Olson & Patti Kitson for Tarot Readings in the bank vault!

Fridays 5-7 PM

Easy online booking or drop in!

Starting at 15 mins $39

www.tarotinthyme.com

Celebrate Walt Whitman's Birthday with this splendid one-man show! Since the late 1990’s, Stephen’s performances have captured the attention of the audience. It is not just the stunning resemblance to Walt Whitman himself, but the portrayal of the character and the essence that he brings within arm’s reach to the audience that makes the poet come to life. This program is generously funded by the Friends of the New Milford Public Library. RSVP www.newmilfordlibrary.org

See the artwork of Don Sexton and Stewart Wilson while enjoying a wonderful performance experience. Special local musicians and comics plus other performers wishing to share will be entertaining during our "Together Again Open Mic" night. Invited performers – musicians, singers, comedians – and anyone who would like to participate.  A night for fun and good will and fellowship. Friday, May 31st, 6-8 PM Five Points Gallery Annex, 15 Water Street, Torrington

Venture out of the default small-talk zone with strangers and friends, guided by a facilitator. Equally satisfying for extroverts and introverts, this program provides the opportunity for meaningful connection. Registration limited, suggested donation of $10, tickets available online on May 1st. Non-alcoholic drinks provided. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our [website](https://www.thecenteronmain.org). 

Global artists have shared their floral images, film, music and poetry.

for our online art show "Plant Life"

“Plant Life” art show launches online on Friday, May 3rd.

Exciting News!

“Plant Life: NYC – Global” is an exhibition and digital event at Prime Produce, 424 West 54th St, New York City, May 17-19 featuring selections from the online show!

Personaland - our online global arts village.

https://www.personaland.com

Personaland is an artist-driven global village, transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge geographical and cultural boundaries. This uniquely positions Personaland to create accessible opportunities for artists and audiences to connect and participate. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Personaland takes the form of a virtual entertainment park, where visitors can visit art shows and exhibitions, play art games, watch movies, visit dancing flowers and a wishing well. Since our launch in 2018, Personaland has showcased over 650 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians and poets from 61 countries in 25 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions.

For more info:

Stewart Wilson

personaman@snet.net

**_JUNE 17 THROUGH AUGUST 24._** **Registration available beginning June 1.** OWL’s Fully Booked Summer Reading Challenge is back for a second year! Once you've registered, come to the library to pick up your challenge bookmark. ** Starting Monday, June 17th,**  the first 20 people who register AND come to the library to pick up their bookmark will receive a $5 gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts. _Generously gifted to us by Litchfield Dunkin. _ Your bookmark will include a list of 13 different challenges for you to try throughout the summer. However, you are not required to complete all of the challenges. Participate at your own pace in whatever way works best for you and your reading habits! One lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive a Book Lover’s Gift basket that will include a $25 gift card to Hickory Stick bookshop and other reader goodies. For each completed challenge, participants earn one entry towards the prize. Be sure to come to the library at some point before the end of the program to enter your prize slips for the drawing. Participants who complete at least 6 challenges will gain entry to an exclusive event on  **Tuesday, August 27th at 6:00 PM.**  At this event, nature-based artist and educator Denise Smith will help attendees create their own mandala stenciled canvas bag—perfect for carrying your library books! And, all of us will have an opportunity to share what books we loved reading this summer! Registration is at:

The NM Garden Club's annual Flower Sale includes perennials, veggies, annuals, and houseplants—lots of variety and great prices. Many knowledgeable Garden Club members will assist with your selections.

Questions: info.nmgardenclub@gmail.com

gardenclubofnewmilford.com

Local and organic produce, baked goods, cheese, soap, pasta, pasture meat and eggs, plants, cut flowers dairy and so much more. The best of Litchfield County

Opening Reception: June 2, 1-4 PM  Juror: Donna Frustrere Exhibition runs from May 31 - July 12  with the Award Winner announced at 3 PM. This exhibition will coincide with the Five Points Arts Print Festival, featuring BIG INK June 1 & 2, 2024 at the Five Points Arts Center. Exhibition Dates: May 31 – July 12, 2024

Looking for an intimate meaningful Prayer experience... At Chabad we don't pray with labels or levels. Every one talks to G‑d on their level and in their language and pace. The service are led in the beautiful traditional manner but are tailored to the individual's needs. 

Followed always by a scrumptious Kiddush.

_ All are Welcome

_ NO Membership

_ Spirited, song-filled prayers

_ Warm, Friendly Community

_ User-Friendly Services

_ Relaxed, non-judgemental atmoshpere

\* Hebrew/English Prayer-Books

**“The Wonderful World of Peter Barrett”** The inspiring works of renowned artist Peter Barrett will be displayed from Saturday, May 25th through Saturday, July 20th, 2024.    Peter Barrett’s passion for the natural world shines through in his detailed watercolors, which appeared in over 40 wildlife and children's books, including “The Wind in the Willows.”  While living in Greece Peter Barrett was able to develop as an artist. His fascination with the natural world prompted him to paint detailed and accurate watercolors of fish, birds, flora, and fauna.  This work led to commissions from publishers of natural history books. He has illustrated over 40 books on wildlife and children. Peter Barrett had four one-man exhibitions of abstract expressionist paintings at the Drian Galleries in London. Visit the Stairwell Gallery at the Gunn Memorial Library for this upcoming exhibition.  [https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery/](https://www.gunnlibrary.org/stairwell-gallery)

Inner wisdom gives confidence, courage and hope on your journey throughout life.  Come as you are and join us in a special morning of meditation, mindfulness, creativity and community. Enjoy our beautiful grounds, nourishing lunch and a chance to have a bit of fun in a new season.  

The Woodbury Public Library Gallery Space will showcase “Variety Is The Spice of Life” paintings and drawings by award winning artist Ray Mosser.    Thanks to Mr. Mosser’s life-long fascination with racing and classic cars he has created many illustrations for brochures and auto publications. Expanding his interests to include landscapes, still life and figure paintings he has had the benefit of classes with impressionist Cyril Gardner in Philadelphia, Anthony Holdsworth in San Francisco, and at UC Berkeley. While living in California he was represented by Wine Country Motorsports at Sears Point International Raceway in Sonoma; consequently, most of his commissions were of racing and high-performance cars. When producing illustrations, he ensures that details and proportions are accurately portrayed but he also always ensures that the work is expressive. His painting of the iconic Ferrari F-40 won 2nd prize at Napa Valley’s Wine Country Artists show in 1991. He was honored that his paintings were exclusively chosen to decorate the walls of the Ferrari dealership in San Francisco for its grand opening and at winery hospitality events in Sonoma.  He is represented by Studio Hill Gallery in Woodbury. 

The Friends of the David M. Hunt Library host a monthly book sale on the first Saturday of every month from 10 am to 1 pm. Books of all kinds, cds, dvds, gifts and more! There is something for everyone at this sale.

The Litchfield Farmers Market is one of the few year-round markets in the Connecticut. The weekly Saturday market offers fresh seasonal produce, fruit, berries, herbs, sustainably sourced fish; artisanal cheeses, breads and baked goods, local honey, maple syrup and gifts - all raised, grown or crafted by 15+ local vendors. 

The market occasionally hosts live music and supports non-profits from throughout the Litchfield area.

Indoor Market - November through mid-June (intermittent Saturdays through the winter months -- check the website for listing.) Open Saturdays 10am - 1pm at the Litchfield Community Center located at 421 Litchfield Road, Litchfield, CT.

Outdoor Market - June 10 through mid-October located at Center School, Litchfield.

This event is held the first Saturday of every month. It will feature crafters, artists, and vendors from the queer community.

The fair will be held at Love It Vegan in Torrington, CT and will run from 10AM - 3PM.

Stop by, eat food, support local artists, and enjoy a Saturday downtown in the heart of Torrington.

The Tremaine Art Gallery at The Hotchkiss School at 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville CT is pleased to present Dialogue: Art in Conversation, featuring works by Valerie Hammond and Nathaniel (Tate) Klacsmann, from April 2 through June 2, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. This exhibition explores the creative processes of two artists whose work reverberates around questions of social inequity, magic, myth, and the environment. Together, their pieces begin a conversation filled with reflective echoes, offering opportunity for intersection around creativity and process. Curated by Joan Baldwin and Terri Moore, Dialogue also includes video and photography by Colleen Macmillan, Ann Villano, and Hotchkiss film students. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

In May, the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village (CT) will host the exhibition A Star Danced: The Paintings of Mary Anne Carley and Theresa Kenny. The exhibition features the work of two Sharon-based painters who happen to be mother and daughter. Mary Anne Carley uses a multitude of media in her abstract and impressionist paintings and monoprints including acrylic, watercolor, and ink. Carley’s daughter, Theresa Kenny, focuses on figurative works in pastel that capture the color and movement of birds, animals, and children. The exhibition’s title is from Shakespeare and evokes the astrological happiness of a star at the birth of a daughter. It will be on display at the library during operating hours through June 7.  

"Tangled in Color": an exhibition of works in oil and acrylic by Kathleen L'Hommedieu.

Kathleen L'Hommedieu, born and raised in Connecticut, finds inspiration through light and color in the landscape and sky. Many years of traveling for business and rowing competitions through Europe are also a major influence.

"We are immersed in light, color and energy from all that surrounds us no matter where we find ourselves."

Layering is nothing new for Kathleen. It is a technique that comes naturally as she builds a canvas and is guided through its evolution. Using a series of tools - from brush to palette knife - she lets the layers deepen, a process that can take years while perfecting a canvas. "The background tells me where to go," is how she explains the method, "and I add color or texture." Recently, the layers have led to new revelations of shadow and light as the colors intermingle and intertwine, creating interrelationships within a work of art informed by past canvases. Her abstracts are often memories of moments she has experienced - inspired by a foggy window after a storm by the sea, the turbulence of winter by the ocean, a still-life in its vivid interplay of color and form, or a grove of young saplings lit by the sun.

This show is a series of explorations in interwoven color to share the journey of an artist's growing perception, but expressing a universal message. Kathleen's quest leads the viewer to experience a deepening vision of fleeting color play and brilliant moments in our surroundings. "Art teaches you to see," she says, "and I strive to capture that energy."

Free and Open to the Public Artists creating on BIG INK’s legendary press, Juried Print Exhibition, Prints and Poetry, Interactive Print, Activities for All Ages, Print Demonstrations: Wood Cut to Digital, “Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute” Scavenger Hunt, Festival Gift Shop, Music, Food Trucks, Beer  fivepointsarts.org/print-festival

Immigrant Stories — In Their Own Words is a new speaker series that aims to educate and inspire the audience through first-person accounts of an individual's journey to a new country. The first speaker is Hossna Samadi, the Outreach Coordinator for IRIS, an organization that assists refugees in Connecticut during the resettlement process.

Hossna Samadi will offer her unique perspective, detailing her personal journey from Afghanistan to Connecticut. From overcoming obstacles and prejudices to assimilating into a new community, her story serves as testament to the resilience, perseverance, and determination that so many immigrants possess as they work to make a better life in a new country.

Hossna grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, before relocating with her family to New Haven in 2016. When she first arrived, Hossna took English classes through IRIS, which led to an ongoing relationship with that organization. In 2021, she became an IRIS Ambassador, speaking at a wide range of venues and panels. As the IRIS Outreach Coordinator, she helps educate people about IRIS as well as the challenges and journeys experienced by immigrants and refugees. Additionally, Hossna is the co-founder of the Collective for Refugee & Immigrant Women's Wellbeing, a pilot project that evaluates existing services for refugee women’s mental health and wellbeing in New Haven.

Susan Suhr, the founder of New Start Ministry, will give a brief introduction before the talk, providing some background understanding about refugees and immigrants. New Start Ministry is an interfaith group that works in conjunction with IRIS to co-sponsor refugee families for local resettlement.

Immigrant Stories — In Their Own Words is a new speaker series that aims to educate and inspire the audience through first-person accounts of an individual’s journey to a new country. The first speaker is Hossna Samadi, the Outreach Coordinator for IRIS, an organization that assists refugees in Connecticut during the resettlement process. Hossna Samadi will offer her unique perspective, detailing her personal journey from Afghanistan to Connecticut. From overcoming obstacles and prejudices to assimilating into a new community, her story serves as testament to the resilience, perseverance, and determination that so many immigrants possess as they work to make a better life in a new country. Hossna grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, before relocating with her family to New Haven in 2016. When she first arrived, Hossna took English classes through IRIS, which led to an ongoing relationship with that organization. In 2021, she became an IRIS Ambassador, speaking at a wide range of venues and panels. As the IRIS Outreach Coordinator, she helps educate people about IRIS as well as the challenges and journeys experienced by immigrants and refugees. Additionally, Hossna is the co-founder of the Collective for Refugee & Immigrant Women’s Wellbeing, a pilot project that evaluates existing services for refugee women’s mental health and wellbeing in New Haven. Susan Suhr, the founder of New Start Ministry, will give a brief introduction before the talk, providing some background understanding about refugees and immigrants. New Start Ministry is an interfaith group that works in conjunction with IRIS to co-sponsor refugee families for local resettlement.

Practice yoga in this family friendly environment! Stretch your body and mind with a certified instructor in this creative outlet designed to boost self-esteem and reduce stress. Pre-registration Here: [https://www.mattmuseum.org/calendar/family-yoga/](https://www.mattmuseum.org/calendar/family-yoga) $5 child | $8 adult

Join this intermediate-level course for kids ages 9-15, where students will be guided by a teaching artist to learn the practice of printmaking. Pre-registration Here: [https://www.mattmuseum.org/calendar/intermediate-art-workshop-expressionist-abstract-art-2/](https://www.mattmuseum.org/calendar/intermediate-art-workshop-expressionist-abstract-art-2)

Saturday, June 1st from 11 - 2 pm Rain Date: Sunday, June 2nd Food, Dance, Crafts, Games at John Pettibone Community Center Contact Maria Leo for more information - mleo@newmilfordct.gov Follow us on Instagram @nmyouthagency

# Outsider Perspectives: Self-Taught Art from the Mattatuck Collection ## Munger Gallery May 12, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11AM - 5PM, Sunday 11 AM- 4 PM_ Included in price of admission Outsider Perspectives showcases a recent gift of American Outsider Art to the Mattatuck Museum. Produced by self-taught artists who have no formal training or concern for the conventions of the art world, Outsider Art provides a glimpse into artistic production that is little concerned with external opinions. Employing ready-at-hand materials and often deeply personal imagery, the approximately 30 works in this exhibition explore the power of art as a means of self-expression and as a way to process the world. [https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives/](https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/outsider-perspectives) Opening Celebration: June 9th

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition featuring two contemporary artists whose work is focused on botany. Battenfield’s meditative painting process begins with the artist’s close attention to the graceful forms of unfolding leaves and blossoms, and to the twisted boughs and branches of trees. This series was inspired by time the artist spent at a rural meditation retreat where spring was slowly awakening the landscape from its winter bareness. Sitting by a window, in meditative silence, the artist was transfixed as tender buds and leaves daily transformed a gnarly elm tree. Battenfield’s paintings evoke the immediacy and beauty of that experience. The images of branches, leaves and blooms are first recorded as photographs, then meticulously drawn onto large sheets of translucent Mylar. Paying close attention to the true form of each natural element, the artist builds her graceful compositions. Battenfield’s paintings draw upon two natural but disparate processes: the gestural unfolding and leafing of a branching tree limb and the physical properties and behaviors of pigments. Battenfield mixes her pigments to an ink-like consistency and generously brushes the acrylic paint onto the smooth Mylar where it forms a puddle of paint. As the paint mixture dries, the pigments reassert themselves, separating and forming unexpected and distinct abstract patterns. An expert colorist, Battenfield creates hundreds of color studies to investigate and consider the different levels of color saturation and the separation affected by the various pigments’ origin and weight. To accentuate the contrast between image and ground, Battenfield leaves the background of her paintings untreated, allowing her botanical forms to float against the pristine white Mylar. Each painting is then mounted on a clear acrylic panel that allows light to play behind the translucent painted surface. Jackie Battenfield was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned an MFA in Visual Art from Syracuse University and a BS from Pennsylvania State University. She is the recipient of a Pollock Krasner Award (1991) and the Warren Tanner Award (1996). Her work is widely exhibited throughout the United States and is in more than 1000 collections worldwide including the New York Public Library, NY; The Zimmerli Art Museum, Montclair Art Museum, NJ; Palmer Museum, University Park, PA; Museum of Art at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; and the United States Embassy Collections, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Jamaica, and Peru. She recently completed public art commissions for New York University, Langone Medical Center, Radiation Treatment Suite and The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts & Design, Avenue P elevated subway station, F line, Brooklyn, NY. Jackie Battenfield lives in and works in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. For Margot Glass the idealization of nature in ornament across cultures is fascinating. Her work explores the tension between natural and synthetic symmetry and pattern in nature and design. How we see and alter nature to suit our aesthetic desires is what draws her to decorative arts traditions for inspiration as much as the fine art traditions of painting and drawing. A central theme in Glass’s work is the exploration of ephemerality, focusing primarily on weeds and other plants generally considered to be undesirable. She draws these specimens to highlight their imperfect beauty and asymmetry. Margot Glass’s subjects are found sprouting through cracks in the sidewalks, and in the margins of public spaces and forest borders. Because of her professional training in metal point drawing and gilding techniques, and because she is inspired by the tesserae of Byzantine mosaics, traditional decorative metalwork and architectural adornments, gold is a natural choice of drawing medium for the artist. Gold has light shifting properties that effect the fine lines and dense details of Glass’s drawing inviting slow, and close viewing. Margot Glass also uses traditional methods and formulas for making organic ink from black walnuts which are collected and dried and brewed. This labor-intensive process is another way to slow time that is integral to her process. In Glass’s drawings of grasses and clover, her interest is in the transcendent power of natural forms to shift from taxonomic specificity to a more meditative visual experience found in repetition of negative space, shape, and line. Margot Glass’s work is shown widely in the US and is in the collections of Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Del Coronado Hotel, San Diego, CA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Robert Kushner and other international private collections. Her work has been featured in Wall Street Journal International, art Daily, Artsy, Orion Magazine, American Art Collector and Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, to name a few. Glass earned a degree from Smith College, Historic Artist Materials and Techniques, and B.A. Honors, Brown University | Brown-RISD Reciprocal Program, Providence, RI. Margot Glass lives and works in MA. Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

## Stitching the Revolution: Quilts as Agents of Change May 19, 2024 – August 25, 2024 _Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM_ _Included with museum admission_ Stitching the Revolution explores themes of revolution through quilting, a medium traditionally confined to the domestic sphere and often relegated to the lower status of craft or minor art. This exhibition offers a new approach to understanding the practice of quilting as an avenue through which to express potent beliefs and an outlet to create meaningful change. Tracing the long history of quilts as a medium for communicating revolutionary ideas, the exhibition pairs historic and contemporary quilts spanning over 200 years of production. Stitching the Revolution features approximately 30 quilts from the Mattatuck Museum’s collection, and loans from New England institutions and contemporary artists. _Thanks to the generous support of the Coby Foundation._ _Opening ceremony: June 9_

## Whittemore & Noonan Galleries May 26, 2024 – August 18, 2024 Hours: Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM _Included in the price of museum admission_ This metropolis of junk, otherwise known as “the dump,” is home to one of the most coveted Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programs since 1990. Reclaimed: The Art of Recology presents a fascinating survey of 33 artists who were selected to participate in Recology’s unique Artist-in-Residence program. Armed with safety gear and a shopping cart, artists have scavenging privileges in the Public Reuse and Recycling Area to recycle and reclaim the discarded waste as reimagined art objects. Featuring approximately 50 objects, the artwork in Reclaimed is varied, unusual, yet familiar. The hybrid concoctions are highly creative and mind-blowing in execution and form. This eclectic exhibition of work created from unwanted materials encourages viewers to perceive “trash” in a new light. _Reclaimed: The Art of Recology_ was organized and traveled by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA.  **Opening Celebration: June 9**

Join Lee Sohl and her dogs for story time! We will be meeting in the Junior Room. Children of all ages are welcome to participate. Registration appreciated.

Join us for the seasonal opening of Spring Hill Vineyards! Don't miss this opportunity to celebrate the start of a new chapter with us at Spring Hill Vineyards. Cheers to spring! 🍇🌷🍷

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND GALLERY 25 INVITES YOU TO ITS MEMBERS’ SPRING ART SHOW!

The increasingly balmy weather is ushering in Spring 2024, and with it, the Gallery 25 Member’s Annual Spring Show which will run from April 12 to June 9.

Terry Tougas, G25 Director, notes, “The public is invited to view and enjoy some of our member artists’ best work in a wide variety of mediums including paintings, pottery, collages, assemblages, mixed media, photography, wood work, wearable art jewelry and more not-to-be-missed works”.

Our opening reception is on Saturday, April 13 from 4-6 pm and everyone is welcome to attend! Light refreshments and wine will be served. We are holding our reception later in the day so come on by for our wonderful art show and then stop by one of downtown New Milford's delicious restaurants for dinner and dessert.

Get excited for our April Workshops! Adele Moros will be hosting one of her popular Sip & Paint artist classes in which participants will be creating a spring bouquet. This class will be held on April 12 at 6pm. And Bobbi Soares’ “Sound at the Station” will demonstrate an exciting sound bath on April 21 from 11am-12pm. To reserve your place at these workshops and for a full list of our upcoming workshops, visit gallery25ct.com.

New Milford is an exciting destination, offering many enjoyable activities, among them well-reviewed restaurants, pubs and unique shops, as well as an Art Deco movie theater, an innovative playhouse, Theaterworks, and a historical New England green. Plan a fun weekend in our fine town!

Gallery 25 and Creative Arts Studio

New Milford Commission on the Arts

11 Railroad St., New Milford, CT 06776

860-355-6009 \* gallery25ct.com

G25 is open Friday and Saturday 12-6 and Sunday 10-4.

G25 wishes to thank the town of New Milford and the New Milford Commission on the Arts for their continued generous support.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @Gallery25 and Creative Arts Studio.

[Roxbury Land Trust](https://roxburylandtrust.org/event/mine-hill-preserve-celebration-and-ct-trails-day) [INVITES YOU TO JOIN IN THE FUN for the](https://roxburylandtrust.org/event/mine-hill-preserve-celebration-and-ct-trails-day) [MINE HILL PRESERVE 45th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION](https://roxburylandtrust.org/event/mine-hill-preserve-celebration-and-ct-trails-day) Saturday, June 1st 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Mine Hill, Roxbury 9 a.m. CT Trails Day Hike at Mine Hill Preserve, 32 Mine Hill Rd. 11 a.m. “Litchfield County Railroad” Presentation at the Mine Hill Distillery Train Station, 5 Mine Hill Rd. (co-sponsored with Minor Memorial Library) 12 – 2 p.m. Food & Live Music on the Lawn Next to the RLT Office, 6 Mine Hill Rd. Bring lunch or purchase one from Backwoods Dawgz!