August Fun @ Beardsley Zoo

The Beardsley Zoo located on 1875 Noble Ave. in Bridgeport has a lot to offer this summer in addition to watch the two very rare Amur Leopard Cubs and the two rare Amur Tiger Girls, now one and a half frolic. Below is a list of events taking place at the Zoo in August that will be sure to please everyone from grandparents to toddlers.

 August

Critter Chats, Every Thursday-Sunday

This summer, special education programs will be found in multiple sites around the Zoo. For everyone from toddlers to teens, these learning opportunities are designed to spark a connection with wildlife and encourage everyone to care about conservation. Meet select Zoo animal ambassadors and their expert caregivers, along with other engaging animal experiences. Ask at the front gate for the daily schedule to find out where they'll be appearing that day. Times and locations subject to change. 

Aug. 3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11, Family Favorite Chris Rowlands LIVE; 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm

Chris is famous for getting everyone involved through singing and dancing—even bringing kids up on stage with him! Rowlands brings animals to life through kid-friendly songs, dance, puppets, and colorful props. Children are invited to wear fun hats and sing along on stage as he shares his self-penned songs about animals and their environment. Free with paid admission to the Zoo. Shown at 11 am, 1 and 3 pm. daily. Each performance is 30-35 minutes long. 

Aug 6-10, Zoo Patrol, Week 6

This session of Zoo Patrol offers children ages 6-8 the opportunity to participate in keeper talks, behind-the-scenes tours, animal related games, and crafts. Hands-on lab activities and nature studies may also be part of the program. Sessions run on Zoo grounds Monday through Friday. Each week is $140/child for Zoo members and $165/child for non-members. Advance registration is required. For more information and to register, please call 203-394-6563.

Aug 13-17, Zoo Patrol, Week 7

This session of Zoo Patrol offers children ages 9-11 the opportunity to participate in keeper talks, behind-the-scenes tours, animal related games, and crafts. Hands-on lab activities and nature studies may also be part of the program. Sessions run on Zoo grounds Monday through Friday. Each week is $140/child for Zoo members and $165/child for non-members. Advance registration is required. For more information and to register, please call 203-394-6563.

Aug 21, Evening Lecture Series, 7:00 pm, A Trip to the Ireland Coast; Dr. Kirk Bartholomew
The zoo’s evening lecture series engage audiences of all ages, especially lifelong learners. Dr. Kirk Bartholomew, along with fellow Sacred Heart University faculty and colleagues in Ireland, has been working on a long-term and multi-dimensional research project focusing on the ecology of one of the most beautiful and popular tourist destinations in Ireland—The western end of the Dingle Peninsula in southwest Ireland, With the goal of maintaining this area’s natural beauty into the future, Bartholomew and colleagues are conducting coastal surveys, invertebrate sampling, watershed characterization and land classification. Come experience the magnificence of The Dingle Peninsula and learn what her beauty can teach us. $10 suggested donation. Refreshments will be served. Location: The Zoo’s Hanson Building, 1875 Noble Ave., Bridgeport.  

Aug 23, AARP Fourth Friday FREE

AARP CT’s Fourth Fridays FREE at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is back! AARP CT will provide members with free admission to the Zoo on fourth Fridays May through September (May 25, June 22, July 27, Aug. 24, Sept. 28). Join us as many times as you like, but please be sure to register at http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/aarp/. AARP members may purchase admission for up to three guests at a 15 percent discount off regular admission prices, and will receive a coupon for the gift shop. 

Aug 24, Teddy Bear Fest, 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Bring your favorite teddy bear friend to the Zoo! This “beary” fun day will feature children’s crafts and storytelling focusing on Bear Awareness and the facts about real bears. FREE admission for children under age 12 who bring their teddy bear to the “Teddy Bear Clinic” and are accompanied by a paying adult.

Native American Green Corn Festival August 3 @ Institute for American Indian Studies

The Green Corn Ceremony is one of the most important celebrations in Native American life because corn is an integral part of religious and ceremonial life that brings communities together. The Institute of American Indian Studies located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut is holding their 15th annual Green Corn Festival on August 3 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to observe this time treasured tradition.

Join Museum Staff, Members, and Friends as they welcome the first corn of the season with music, drumming, dancing, children’s activities, stories by a professional Native American Storyteller, and much more! Wander the trails to our 16th century replicated village, tour our museum to learn about Native Cultures, check out the crafts in our gift shop, and try your hands at corn-centric crafts. A special treat is the powwow styled food such as frybread that is not to be missed.

A special highlight planned for this year’s event is a performance of the Native Nations Dance Troupe led by Erin Lamb Meeches, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. These traditional dances evoke the beauty, honor, and tradition of Native People.

About Green Corn

The expression “Green Corn” refers to the first ripened sweet corn that you can eat. The Green Corn Ceremony is marked with dancing, feasting, fasting, and religious observations. In the Eastern Woodlands Native people depended on three staples – corn, beans, and squash. These food items were called “The Three Sisters.” The Three Sisters were mixed together to make a vegetable dish called succotash that is still popular today.

Admission for this event, held rain or shine is $10 for Adults; $8 seniors; and $6 for Children. 

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs. We have an outdoor replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village and Wigwam Escape and a Museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present that allows visitors to foster a new understanding of the world and the history and culture of Native Americans. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut.

Haunted Lighthouse Cruise offers Fearsome and Friendly Family Fun August 3 & 4

  

One day of Halloween just isn’t enough for some Halloween enthusiasts!  Not to worry, the Seaport Association of Norwalk has a magical brew of events that will thrill young and old alike on the Haunted Lighthouse Cruise to Sheffield Island taking place on August 3 and 4.  This fun-filled, child–friendly event is perfect for a family summer outing…and, best of all the chance for kids to dress up in their favorite costume before October 31! To reserve your tickets https://www.seaport.org/Haunted-Lighthouse

A 45-minute cruise through Long Island Sound listening to tales of the sea sets the stage as passengers approach the 150-year-old Sheffield Island Lighthouse that is located on a wind and wave swept deserted Island. The only way to find out what fearsome and friendly spirits reside here is to hop off the CJ Toth ferry and get ready to explore this uniquely spooktacular place with its abandoned lighthouse that has attracted supernatural beings every August for centuries.

Witches and wizards have carefully decorated the rooms of the Sheffield Lighthouse with added touches by the ghosts of lighthouse keepers that lived here in lonely isolation for long periods of time.  In these rooms, visitors will find all manner of otherworldly fun - it is where spooks, spirits, spiders, sea witches, and creatures of the night abound. 

It is horrifically fun to roam through the rooms of the lighthouse that seem to twist and turn and where there is a surprise around every corner! There is even one very special room that is completely dark where only the strong of heart and pure of mind should dare enter

Tickets and Times

The Haunted Lighthouse Cruise takes place on August 3 and 4 and the ferry leaves at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on both days from the Seaport’s Dock located on 4 North Water Street in South Norwalk.  It is best to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure in order to snag the best seat and to facilitate boarding the ferry. The ferry only carries 49 passengers by law so advance reservations are strongly recommended.  To reserve your tickets for this horrifically fun event click here https://www.seaport.org/Haunted-Lighthouse

New Exhibit @ Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum will host the New York-based Canadian artist Sara Cwynar’s (b. 1985, Vancouver) first solo museum exhibition on the East Coast, Gilded Age. Cwynar’s practice spans photography, installation, book-making, and film, and surveys the transitory object-life of visual matter in our time of image infatuation. The exhibition will be on view at The Aldrich June 9 to November 10, 2019.

With a background in graphic design and a practice steeped in conceptual art, informed by artists before her such as Sherrie Levine and Sarah Charlesworth, Cwynar’s studio methodology is centered on an exploration of the internalized power dynamics dwelling inside designed images. The works selected for this exhibition specifically interrogate what constitutes a pretty picture. Appropriating imagery that ranges from art history to advertising, Cwynar collapses time and circumstance, appraising the standardization of beauty in subjects (muses and models), objects (flowers and products), and locales (historical ruins) across centuries and platforms—what persists and what is on the wane.

Conceived in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition will include a selection of Cwynar’s color photographs from 2014 to
2019 (including new work); Kitsch Encyclopedia (2014) her first artist book; Cover Girl (2018), a 16mm film on video with sound (its East Coast debut); and 72 Pictures of Modern Paintings (2016), a site-specific wallpaper (its first appearance in the United States).

Cwynar deftly probes from all angles the methods by which images are constructed, pushed, recycled, and—since the advent of the Internet—never allowed to expire. Hijacking popular photographic clichés, from the portrait to the still life to the product shot, Cwynar poses questions about entrenched stereotypes through an accumulative system of appropriation and layering. Her starting point is a dense archive she is amassing, comprised of outmoded images and objects that are still in circulation, but are primarily of a pre-digital period. Sourced from both real and virtual outlets—from the New York public library to the corner dollar store to the curbside dumpster to eBay—it reveals the mounting presence of a washed-up optimism as trends die, values adjust, and desires vanish. Cwynar’s photographs and films reflect this cultural entropy, by combining archival imagery and out-of-date objects with new footage. In doing so, she exposes the entrapments, trickeries, fantasies, and misogynies operating within these cast-offs, how lifestyle ideals have been bought and sold, prejudices have been retailed, and what all of this might come to represent.

Another ongoing preoccupation is color. Not only its optical and psychological effects and its inherent biases (as we all see color differently), but how it is marketed by commercial industries to homogenize taste. The film Cover Girl mixes footage Cwynar took inside a cosmetics assembly line, with shots of her friend and regular sitter Tracy and beauty products styled in her studio. A script read by Cwynar as well as male and female voice actors conflates her writing with texts lifted from artists and theorists such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Frantz Fanon, Henri Matisse, David Batchelor, Kathy Peiss, and Susan Stewart. The film asks us to consider the ethical and perceptual associations we attribute to color; specifically, how it has been employed by beauty companies like COVERGIRL®, to propagate gendered and prejudiced ideals of prettiness.

Sara Cwynar (b. 1985, Vancouver, BC) currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA from Yale University, New Haven, CT; a Bachelor of Design from York University, Toronto, ON; and studied English Literature at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Solo exhibitions include: Image Model Muse, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis (2018/19), traveled to Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee (2019); Tracy, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, ON, Canada (2018); Soft Film, MMKMuseum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany (2017); Everything in the Studio Destroyed, Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2013). Selected group exhibitions include: 33rd Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil;Mademoiselle, Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain d’Occitane, Sète, France; Mast Foundation for Photography Grant on Industry and Work, Mast Foundation, Bologna, Italy (all 2018); Hard to Picture: A Tribute to Ad Reinhardt, Mudam, Luxembourg; Subjektiv, Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; You Are Looking at Something That Never Occurred, Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK (all 2017); L’Image Volée, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2016); Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Queens, NY (2015/16); Under Construction – New Positions in American Photography, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY (2015).

Cwynar’s works are in the permanent collections of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; MMKMuseum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Milwaukee Art Museum; Fondazione Prada, Milan; Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco; Zabludowicz Collection, London; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City; Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalogue, the artist’s first, which will include an interview between the artist and the exhibition’s curator, Amy Smith-Stewart.

Organized by Amy Smith-Stewart, curator, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

Living History Day @ Sharon Historical Society

The Sharon Historical Society located on 18 Main Street is hosting a Living History Day on Saturday, July 27 from 1 pm to 4 pm.  This family fun event is free and open to the public.

A highlight of the day will be the old-time games and activities for kids of all ages.  Kids will learn what it was like to be a child in Sharon in the 1800s when playing these historic games.  To round out the fun, the Sharon Historical Society has organized a scavenger hunt with clues that will teach kids about Sharon's intriguing history.

Some of the activities that are planned include butter making, candle making, corn husk doll making, and Victorian-era games like "graces, hoops, and marbles.

This event will be held rain or shine.  In case of inclement weather, activities will be held inside the museum.

While at the museum don't miss Wind and Water, a new juried exhibition and sale of artwork by loca artists.

Danbury Concert Season Just Announced

The brilliant volunteers who, annually, piece together an always exciting and oft-daring Danbury Concert Association series, truly know what "in concert" means, and they generously serve up a musical feast each year that pleases those on both sides of the footlights. This year is no exception as the Danbury Concert Association unveils its 2019-2020 season, highlighting a new collaboration, two DCA debuts, and a gala return appearance, and all "in concert" with a mission to provide audiences with virtuoso performances, in a pitch-perfect setting, and accessible to all.

DCA season tickets, with each of the four performances followed by a meet-the-artist reception, are $65 per person and can be obtained now by calling (203) 748-2177. The Danbury Concert Association's 2019-2020 season includes: 

Sunday, September 15th at 3 p.m.  Andrew Armstrong, piano / Tessa Lark, violin / Raman Ramakrishnan, cello 

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, Andrew Armstrong returns to the DCA stage, with budding superstar, violinist Tessa Lark, and cellist extraordinaire, Raman Ramakrishnan to launch an exciting new collaboration.

Sunday, October 20th at 3 p.m. Cecile Licad, piano       

Known throughout the music world for daring musical instinct, superb training, and repertoire spanning Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century works, Cecile Licad’s boundless talent has inspired the compliment “a pianist’s pianist." With this appearance, Cecile is making her DCA debut.

Sunday, March 29th, 2020, at 3 p.m. Camerata RCO

In another DCA debut, these players, members of Amsterdam’s famed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, know their way around the Classical and Romantic repertoire for strings and winds. Come hear why The Washington Post proclaimed their music-making “as snug as the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.”

Sunday, May 17th, 2020, at 3 p.m. Borealis Wind Quintet 

These returning, Grammy-nominated musicians generate special, charismatic energy - not unlike the dazzling natural light show whose name they share - and are hailed as one of America’s preeminent chamber ensembles.

About Tickets

Single performance tickets are $25 per adult and may be reserved within two weeks of performance by calling the WCSU box office at (203) 837-8732 or by going to wcsupac.eventbrite.com  Availability may be limited. Through a grant from the Danbury Cultural Commission, those 18 and under may attend for free, although advance reservations through Eventbrite are required. For more information about the Danbury Concert Association, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, go to danburyconcert.org  There, you can also get directions and contribute to the support of the Danbury Concert Association. You may also call (203) 748-2177. (Artists and dates subject to change.) 

For more information about Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County click here.

http://www.visitwesternct.com

Photographs Illustrating New Book About Weir Farm on Exhibit at Mark Twain Library

To celebrate the new book, Weir Farm National Historic Site (Arcadia Publishing), a select number of the photographs showcasing the park are on view now until July 31, 2019, at the Mark Twain Library in Redding.

 

The photographs were created by the book’s author, Xiomaro, who is the Visiting Artist at Weir Farm and an alumnus of its Artist-in-Residence program.  The book tells the story of Julian Alden Weir (1852–1919), a leading innovator of American Impressionist painting, and chronicles his farm’s rescue from residential development to its establishment as a park.  The farm’s landscape inspired countless masterpieces created by Weir, his famous painter-friends, two subsequent generations of artist-owners, and contemporary artists who continue to create at the park.  The book’s historical narrative unfolds with well over 100 photographs, most of which were created by Xiomaro under commissions from the National Park Service. 

 

The foreword was written by Senator Joe Lieberman who introduced legislation in 1990 to establish Weir Farm, located in Wilton and Ridgefield, as Connecticut’s first national park.  Weir Farm is also the only one in the nation dedicated to painting.  In 2020, the park will be depicted as part of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful series.  The Mint’s website says the series “captures the breathtaking beauty of America’s natural landscapes that have inspired countless poets, adventurers, and artists.  Today, these hallowed sites are… enshrined” through the quarters designed by the Mint.

 

The large photographic prints, measuring 17″ x 25,” offer immersive and detailed views of Weir’s studio, his brushes, his home, and the landscape.  The photographs have been widely circulated throughout Connecticut at venues such as the Capitol building in Hartford, the Bridgeport office of Congressman Jim Himes, and the Stamford Mayor’s office.

 

Xiomaro (pronounced “SEE-oh-MAH-ro”) is an internationally recognized artist and speaker whose photography has been covered by The New York Times, CBS Eyewitness News, and News 12.  His work has been exhibited at Harvard University, museums, galleries, and public spaces. 

 

The book was released internationally by Arcadia Publishing as part of its Images of Modern America series, which the company website describes as uncovering “amazing aspects of American history that are all too often overlooked by standard texts” and “filled with expertly penned content and stunning full-color images.”  Arcadia, based in Charleston, South Carolina, is the leading publisher of local and regional books in the United States with a library of more than 14,000 titles.

 

The Mark Twain Library was founded in 1908 by the most popular American author of the time, Samuel Clemens – best known as Mark Twain – who lived in Redding.

 

The Mark Twain Library is located at 439 Redding Road, Redding, CT 06896 and the exhibition runs until July 31, 2019.  For more information and a free Weir Farm print, visit www.xiomaro.com.   

BBQ on Sheffield Island is Smokin Hot - July 27, 2019

Is there anything more American than BBQ? The Spanish conquistadores brought BBQ to the American South after enjoying it in the Caribbean and on July 27 the Seaport Association is hosting an authentic southern BBQ. Only 49 lucky guests will cruise to the island and enjoy a down-home slow cooked southern bbq in the Association's new wood framed pavilion. The boat departs the dock at 5:30 p.m. to and returns at 9 p.m. For tickets click here.

Like BBQ, the Lighthouse on Sheffield Island has a long history and, this year, the Lighthouse will be 151 years old. Over time, four distinct styles of bbq developed in the U.S. including Carolina, Texas, Memphis, and Kansas City. Along the way, a few European spices were mixed in, and the techniques modified here and there resulting in the four basic types of BBQ found here today. No matter what style of bbq you favor, this bbq cruise to Sheffield Island is still doing today what it did from day one, which is bringing friends old and new together over great food.

The menu for the Sheffield Island BBQ includes all the classics - baby back ribs cooked low and slow, smoked pulled pork sliders, grilled wings - sweet and spicy, shrimp on the barbie plus classic salads, soft drinks, and dessert. Feel free to BYOB and don't forget your plastic cups! An added bonus of the Sheffield Island BBQ is that guests dine as the sun sets over Long Island Sound making for memorable photo opportunities.

This event does require advance reservations so get your tickets early! The Seaport Association dock is located on 4 North Water Street adjacent to the Maritime Aquarium Imax Parking Lot. Parking is available at the adjacent Maritime Garage