Take a trip to Peony Heaven in Litchfield Hills Connecticut

When Kasha and David Furman founded Cricket Hill Garden in 1989, it was one of the first nurseries in the United States to focus on rare Chinese tree peonies. These special plants have blossoms that are among the largest, most colorful and most fragrant of all flowers. They cultivated over 500 different hybrid peonies, choosing the hardiest, most vigorous and fragrant to propagate and sell. Over the years a rocky, wooded hillside has been transformed into a six-acre peony display garden they call Peony Heaven. The family, now including son Dan Furman, enjoys sharing the beauty of the garden in peak bloom in May and June.

This year the visitors are invited to join peony lovers from near and far at Peony Heaven to see a rare collection of mature peonies in a lovely, peaceful setting. Some of the tree peonies in the display garden are reaching an impressive size and age, with many plants now over 25 years old. The tree peonies will begin to bloom the week of May 15th. Expect a good show of tree peonies to about May 31st. Cricket Hill anticipates that the herbaceous and intersectional peonies will bloom as they usually do, starting near the third week of May. Call them at (860) 283-1042 or email info@crickethillgarden.com for bloom updates.

Cricket Hill located on 670 Walnut Hill Rd. in Thomaston is hosting a special garden event on Sunday,  May 14th, May 21st and May 28th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A highlight of the day is when Dan Furman leads a garden walk to discuss what they are growing and what is in bloom. Be sure to bring your walking shoes for the spectacular tour of the hillside garden that takes place from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The garden and nursery is open through June 18th, Tuesday-Sunday, from 10am-5pm. They are closed on Mondays. The exception will be Memorial Day Monday, which is always a good bloom day. After June 18, the garden and nursery is open by appointment only, please call ahead before visiting in late June and during the summer.

Authors Speakers Series @ White Hart Inn in May

The White Hart Inn located on the Green in the center of Salisbury is hosting two special events this May. This speaker series in May will host two authors that will be at the Inn to talk about their books in this intimate setting. Admission to these events are free; books discussed will be available at each event for purchase.

The first event is hosted by AnitaShreve, the New York Times best-selling author of The Weight of Water andThe Pilot's Wife (an Oprah's Book Club selection) comes The Stars are Fire, an exquisitely suspenseful new novel about an extraordinary young woman tested by a catastrophic event and its devastating aftermath, based on the true story of the largest fire in Maine's history.  This event begins at 6 p.m.

Anita Shreve grew up in Dedham, Massachusetts, the eldest of three daughters. After graduating from Tufts University, she taught high school for a number of years in and around Boston. In the middle of her last year, she quit (something that, as a parent, she finds appalling now) to start writing. "I had this panicky sensation that it was now or never." Joking that she could wallpaper her bathroom with rejections from magazines for her short stories, she published her early work in literary journals. One of these stories, "Past the Island, Drifting," won an O. Henry prize. Despite this accolade, she quickly learned that one couldn't make a living writing short fiction. Switching to journalism, Shreve traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, where she lived for three years, working as a journalist for an African magazine. One of her novels, The Last Time They Met, contains bits and pieces from her time in Africa. She is the author of 13 other novels, among them the best selling The Weight of Water (made into a movie starring Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Penn), The Pilot's Wife (also a major feature film starring Christine Lahti), A Wedding in December, Body Surfing, Testimony, and A Change in Altitude. She is the recipient of the PEN/L. L. Winship Award and the New England Book Award for fiction. Author image by Elena Seibert.

On May 18 Dani Shapiro, best selling novelist and memoirist delivers her most intimate and powerful work in Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage: a piercing, life-affirming memoir about marriage and memory, about the frailty and elasticity of our most essential bonds, and about the accretion, over time, of both sorrow and love.

Shapiro is the best-selling author of the memoirs Still Writing, Devotion, and Slow Motion, and five novels including Black & White and Family History. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, Vogue, The New York Times Book Review, the op-ed pages of The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, and has been broadcast on This American Life. Dani was recently Oprah Winfrey's guest on Super Soul Sunday. She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, The New School, and Wesleyan University; she is co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. She is also a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler.

For a free monthly newsletter on things to do and see and travel tips  visit www.litchfieldhills.com

Nationally Acclaimed Living History Actress to Perform @ Lockwood Mathews Mansion

On Sunday, May 21, 2017, 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue in Norwalk, CT, Jan Turnquist will present a living history performance portraying American author Louisa May Alcott. Jan Turnquist is the executive director of the historic house museum Orchard House, in Concord, Mass, where Louisa May Alcott wrote the novel, Little Women.

Ms. Trunquist has portrayed Louisa May Alcott in Public Service Announcements currently running nationally on the FOX TV network, several BBC productions, including Blue Peter, Britain's longest running children's TV show, Book Worm and their Open University programs, as well as on Public Television (PBS) and for First Lady Laura Bush.

Jan's performance is a blend of stage drama and "Living History." In a living history portrayal, an actor becomes a character, just as they do in a play, but, unlike a play, the audience may interact with the character and ask questions or make comments. LMMM's audience will be invited to travel back in time to meet Louisa May Alcott who will enter the Mansion's Rotunda after having had a minor accident and waiting for her carriage's repair.

Jan is an educator, actress, and historian. She holds her teaching certification and degrees in English and Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin. Currently a consultant to Orchard House Museum, she spent 18 years on staff there as Living History Coordinator, Education Coordinator, and Historic Interpreter.

This will be the second in a series of Sunday Salons by experts in the field of 19th and early 20th centuries' material and cultural life. This Salon includes a living history performance, refreshments, and a tour of the first floor of the Mansion; $15 for members, $20 for non-members per session. Refreshments are courtesy of Best in Gourmet. Please RSVP by Thurs, May 17, 2017.

Please visit our website: lockwoodmathewsmansion.com to purchase tickets or contact info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com or call 203-838-9799, ext. 4. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark. For more information on schedules and programs please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum- Suzanne McClelland: Just Left Feel Right

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum located on 258 Main Street in Ridgefield  is pleased to present Suzanne McClelland: Just Left Feel Right. Spanning twenty-five years, Just Left Feel Right focuses on works from specific periods of her career that share a distinctive commonality, capturing the eruptive and disparate voices of a shifting American vernacular and its rippling effect on the way we communicate in our hyperkinetic time.

McClelland is most widely known for her deft use of linguistics and her sensually textured surfaces. She mines the ways in which communities speak, collecting language and choosing words that trend, are debated, heard on street corners, and absorbed from streaming news feeds; words that are rich in meaning, that reach and multiply, that drop in and out of everyday life. The words she selects hover between materials; letters press up against each other, run off the surface, join together, dissolve, loop, and collide into and onto themselves. Employing a wide range of materials, her compositions have a rhythm and beat as they perform, throb, and swagger, capturing the cadences of our speech, mimicking the physicality of how people express themselves. Pauses, utterances, and hysteria, the inflection of tone and the modulation of our tempo, bodily expressions and gesticulations, all are translated into painterly rhythmic compositions modeled after oratory repartee.

McClelland seizes these audible sensations, stealing words right out of the mouth, but also embodying our micro-expressions. In 2012, she began to incorporate numbers into her work as a reaction to the data onslaught of the Internet age. A mind-numbing rush of streaming lists for everything and anything are published on the Web. McClelland, a collector of messaging, in particular emotive and directional information, began researching the data that represents the individual and vice versa. This endless data stream is how twenty-first century society forecasts outcomes: from steady news spills that flood the imaginations, to engineering distorted images about identity and body type, and (in)forming biased estimates and postures. With the rise of social media as a primary source of content, opinion is now often misread as "news."

This survey will include McClelland's formative painting My Pleasure (1990); a seminal painting from the series Right (1993), originally shown as part of a group of paintings in the 1993 Whitney Biennial; the painting series Rap Sheet (2010-13), portraits of early female rap and hip hop artists during the "Roxanne Wars" in the Bronx; the painting series Action Objects (2010); paintings from the series Left (2011); the debut of three new paintings from the Before Tomorrow series (2015-16); and the premiere of a new site-engaged installation, third party (2016-17), which will incorporate materials such as glass, ceramic, and paint. Just Left Feel Right will also include many other never-before-exhibited works from past and current series.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon. - Sat. and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

For a free monthly newsletter on things to do and see and travel tips  visit www.litchfieldhills.com

New Art Show in Norwalk - Music Sets the Tone!

Art that represents music, tones paired with visions of grandeur, will be on exhibit at the Maritime Garage Gallery from through June 2, 2017. The Gallery is located in the Maritime Parking Garage exhibit space in Norwalk, CT.  The exhibit is free and open to the public from 9:00am -5:00pm, Monday through Friday.

            
The exhibit, entitled “Chromatic,” features art that shows the visual crossing of the sense of hearing and sight. Exhibiting artists include Binnie Birstein of Norwalk; Tania Canteli of Beacon, NY; Ashley Nelson and Mary Grace Leone of West Haven; Lori Slotkin of Darien; Eric Chiang of Westport; Heidi Lewis Coleman and Mari Gyorgyey of Stamford. Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu of Beachwood Arts in Westport, CT were ​guest jurors for “Chromatic”.
             
The Maritime Garage Gallery is part of the Parking Authority’s “Art in Parking Places” initiative, an effort to support art in public spaces. For more information, call 203- 831-9063, or visit www.norwalkpark.org/public-art .

For a free monthly newsletter on things to do and see and travel tips  visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Healthyville® returns to Stepping Stones Museum for Children

Children’s health matters. Not only is it a topic of vital importance for the Tri-State Area’s parents and families, but it is a critical issue for the short- and long-term health of our community as well.  As children’s early experiences help shape their lifelong habits and views on health and well-being, it is crucial to introduce and promote key health messages to them today.  Healthyville, a nationally touring exhibit created by Stepping Stones Museum for Children, delivers those important health and wellness lessons to children and families in a fun, play-based manner. This is a primary reason why Stepping Stones is excited to bring back Healthyville to Norwalk. Healthyville will be at Stepping Stones through Labor Day. 

Healthyville is a place for everybody. This bilingual (English/Spanish), interactive exhibit teaches health and wellness lessons through play-filled activities and educational messages that foster learning by doing. Designed primarily for children ages 5 – 12 and their parents, caregivers and teachers, Healthyville provides visitors with hands-on opportunities to explore health topics in ways that help them understand their bodies, the importance of making healthy choices and how to apply these concepts in everyday situations. Healthyville features engaging content about how the body works and the effects of our positive or negative health choices.

The young “residents” of Healthyville present fun facts about nutrition, fitness, safety, hygiene and the functions of the body.  Meanwhile, Stepping Stones visitors can explore how different activities affect heart rate, scan a variety of foods for nutrition facts, play sugar or salt detective and ride a bike or row a boat alongside a skeleton. Children can take a look at particle-trapping hairs and boogers inside a giant nose, learn why it’s important to cover the nose during a sneeze, brush and floss teeth inside a giant mouth, get moving on the fitness trail, balance their energy in with their energy out, choose the proper safety equipment and much, much more!

The Stepping Stones Museum for Children is located on 303 West Ave. in Norwalk.

For a free monthly newsletter on things to do and see and travel tips  visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Wine, Beer @ Food Safari June 3 @ Beardsley Zoo

If you are up for a wild time and a unique safari experience Connecticut style, don't miss the most popular event of the year, the Wine, Beer and Food Safari  hosted by the Beardsley Zoo located on 1875 Noble Ave. in Bridgeport that is taking place on June 3 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

This year guests 21 years of age and older can go on the hunt for more than 60 different types of wine from all over the country. As for food, there is food aplenty prepared by favorite local restaurants and caterers -- they know you will work up an appetite while exploring the Zoo and meeting all the wild residents that make Beardsley Zoo their home!  Please note, all wine & beer will be sampled from 6:00 PM through 8:30 PM (alcohol serving ends one half-hour before event close). Keep in mind that participating vendors are serving tastings, not full servings – the Zoo staff wants to encourage guests to sample as much as they can! There will also be plenty of non-alcoholic beverages such as soda and water at snack stations.

In addition to beer, wine and food tastings, there will be live music performed on the stage in the Peacock Pavilion, and even a silent auction with eighty great prizes to set your sights on! And, while on "safari", be sure not to miss visiting the Zoo's Amur tigers & leopards, otters, wolves and more outside; then stop in to the South American Rainforest to see monkeys, ocelot, and tamarins. Be sure to check the schedule of events that evening for animal demonstrations and feedings.

Admission to this event is $75 per person, groups of four or more are $70 per person and VIP admission is $120. VIP guests enjoy early admission, and a special cocktail reception hosted by Tito's Handmade Vodka from 5 pm - 6 pm, hors d'oeuvres and a special animal encounter! As a travel tip, buy your tickets in advance because this event is a sell out! Tickets are sold online.http://www.beardsleyzoo.com/wild-wine-safari/

House and Spring Garden in Bridgeport @ Colorblends

The Colorblends House & Spring Garden located in Bridgeport on 893 Clinton Ave. is open to the public from early April through mid-May and is free. Opening and closing dates will depend on the weather. Please follow on Facebook for up-to-date flowering reports. 

The Garden
The spring garden is located on the south side of the house and occupies about half an acre. More than 40,000 flowerbulbs have been planted since fall 2014. These plantings, the handiwork of Dutch designer Jacqueline van der Kloet in collaboration with COLORBLENDS, are designed to show what is possible with bulbs.

Whether you want to brighten your front walk, backyard or vegetable garden, whether you want to plant 200 bulbs or 2000, the COLORBLENDS spring garden will show you how to create a great spring display. The plantings exhibit a range of choices in spring-flowering bulbs and give ideas on where to plant them and how to maintain a bulb display year after year.

The garden also shows how you can attract birds, bees and other wildlife to your yard. Aging trees, which provide habitat and food for many birds and small animals, have been spared. A new fruit tree has been planted. An innovative compost pile screens the vegetable garden and provides a haven for birds and insects.

The House
COLORBLENDS purchased the house, a fine example of Colonial Revival architecture, from Nationstar Mortgage LLC and Fannie Mae in a short sale on December 4, 2013, five years after it was put on the market.

The house was built in 1903 for Albert S. Wells, general superintendent of the Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company. It is set among other beautiful houses in the Stratfield historic district in Bridgeport.

The long road to restoration COLORBLENDS intends to bring the house back to its former glory. Initial steps have included opening up three porches that were enclosed over the years and clearing out the basement, which had been divided into nine small rooms during a period when the house was used for private tutoring. Other previous uses of the house were as offices for an architect and before that a doctor who also lived there with his family.

Fortunately, many original elements, such as the woodwork on the stairs and several stained glass windows, have been spared over the years. Replacing them would have been prohibitively expensive, if not impossible.

The goal is slow, steady progress towards restoration. During the spring while the garden is open the House will also be open with a pop-up gallery featuring works from 4 to 5 local artists.

Photography, Sculptures and the Yankee- Red Sox Riveralry @ Mattatuck Museum

The Mattatuck Museum located on 144 West Main St. in Waterbury has announced the opening of four new shows on March 26 including: Luminous Garden, the art of Beth Galston, Black and White, photos from the collection of Kevin McNamara and Craig Nowak, sculptures by Federico Uribe and a show tracing the rivalry of the Yankees and Red Sox in Connecticut. The fist three exhibits run through July 16, the Yankee- Red Sox exhibit runs through December 3.

Sculptor and conceptual artist Beth Galston creates site-based installations that are informed by many sources, including science, architecture, engineering, and nature. The immersive environment of Luminous Garden (Aerial) is an ephemeral light piece made of tiny yellow LEDs set in cast resin acorn caps. It is captivating because of it's delicate beauty.

Black and White displays images from the collection of Kevin McNamara and Craig Nowak. It features photographs by masters of 20th and 21st century American photography including John Dugdale, Sally Mann, and Jock Sturges among others. Like many contemporary photographers, the artists in this exhibition make imaginative use of the camera's power to document reality. Their pictures pose questions about identity, self-representation, history and truth.

QUEDAMOS EN PAZ #3 reflects the work of  Colombian-born, Miami-based artist Federico Uribe who trained as a painter, but in 1996 he abandoned paint brushes to make art with the objects of everyday life. In the At Peace series he creates sculptures from ammunition, his work informed both by his homeland Colombia, where violence is part of daily life, and the epidemic of gun crime in the United States where he has lived for 15 years.

Like most sports rivalries, picking a side in the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry is almost entirely geographic – and Connecticut is at the epicenter, more or less being split in two. Guest curated by sports lover Neil Scherer, this exhibition had its inception in the 2004 American League Champion Series. This was the infamous year that the Yankees won the first three games, leading everyone to believe the Yankees would sweep, only to leave America stunned as the Red Sox rebounded to win the remaining four games and their first World Series title in 86 years. Scherer was at the deciding seventh game. The exhibition tells this and other exciting stories about each team.

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Lighthouse Cruise of Long Island Sound

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk located on 10 North Water St. is offering a series of lighthouse cruises in central and western Long Island Sound this May in their new boat Spirit of the Sound. Revolutionary in design, this new catamaran is the only research vessel in North America with hybrid-electric propulsion. She runs virtually silently on electric power for thier cruises on Long Island Sound. This vessel also has a climate controlled cabin. It is advised that you make advance reservations for these very special cruises.

On May 6 the Aquarium is offering a cruise to western Long Island Sound. This seven hour cruise departs at 9 a.m. from the dock outside the Aquarium.  Participants will venture out for a rare close-up look at eight historic lighthouses on Long Island Sound! Participants aboard R/V Spirit of the Sound will make passes by these lighthouses: Greens Ledge, Sheffield Island, Stamford Harbor (or Harbor Ledge), Great Captain Island, Execution Rocks, Stepping Stones, Sands Point and Eatons Neck. Tickets are $75 ($65 for Aquarium members). Advance purchase is required.

On May 20, the Aquarium is offering a five hour cruise of central Long Island Sound that departs from the Aquarium's dock at 10 a.m.  Guests will get a rare close-up look at five historic lighthouses on Long Island Sound! Participants aboard R/V Spirit of the Sound will make passes by five century-old beacons: Peck Ledge, Greens Ledge and Sheffield Island lighthouses in Norwalk, Penfield Reef Lighthouse in Fairfield and Stratford Shoal (Middle Ground) Light. All the lighthouses are on the National Register of Historic Places. Tickets are $70 ($60 for Aquarium members). Advance purchase is required.

On both cruises Aquarium educators will share history and anecdotes about the lighthouses, and also point out the Sound's waterfowl. Binoculars are provided. Lighthouse Cruises are a special photo opportunity for both lighthouse buffs and bird-watchers, so bring your camera! Water will be provided but food is not available for purchase on the boat. You may bring food and non-alcoholic beverages in a small bag or soft-sided cooler. Glass bottles are prohibited. 

NEW FOR 2017! The Maritime Aquarium is now participating in the U.S. Lighthouse Society's Lighthouse Passport program, a fun way to officially log your lighthouse adventures. Bring along your Passport, or buy one aboard the R/V Spirit of the Sound. We'll stamp your Passport for every lighthouse we see during your Aquarium Lighthouse Cruise. Also, members of the U.S. Lighthouse Society now receive 10% discounts on the Aquarium's Lighthouse Cruises.

Preserving the Bounty Series @ The Silo

The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm's cooking school in New Milford is offering a new series of classes called Preserving the Bounty that runs from May 6 through September 16.  Each class offers techniques on how to work with the season's freshest vegetables. The techniques you learn in each class with help you extend the season with simple easy to use recipes. Every class covers food safety and general procedures for a successful seal every time! These are "Hands-on" classes with each participant taking home recipes and 2 freshly made jars of seasonal goodness- plus the confidence to DIY at home

Preserving the Bounty kicks off on May 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a class, Pickles int he Pantry with chef Pam Lillis. As a participant you will become part of the farm to table movement as you learn to pickle almost anything! The class will start with creating your own jars of garlic dills or string beans, and pickled fruit or ginger ...and then can them from start to finish. Participants will learn about the brines, technique, and about the science of pickling.

On Saturday, June 17 participants will learn how to preserve the spring and summer bounty of fruits, and berries. Learn to make sweet and savory jams and jellies and take full advantage of what we wait for all year long here in the New England! Recipes using the best of the season will become favorites as you explore fresh flavor profiles to accommodate favorite flavors such as chai and cardamom.

The class on July 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. will be an intro to infusions: Oils, Vinegar, and Shrubs. This class will show students how to make their own herb infused oils for dipping and recipes. Participants will create flavored vinegar's that are not only delicious but beautiful to look at.  They will also explore fruit shrubs in creative combinations for cocktails and mocktails!

The final class on Saturday, September 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 pm is all about tomatoes !  A perfect class to take if you have a bumper crop!   Recipes include Original Gazpacho Salsa & Roasted Tomato Puree.  A highlight of this class is the focus on the methods used  to safely can whole or diced tomatoes that you can serve all winter long.

For a free monthly newsletter on things to do and see and travel tips  visit www.litchfieldhills.com

Reigning Fashion: Victoria and the Queen @ Lockwood Mathews Mansion

If you are interested in Queen Victoria and fashion, this is a lecture not to miss. The Lockwood Mathews Mansion in Norwalk is hosting a special lecture on the fashion of Queen Victoria on April 23 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

The popular new PBS series, Victoria, examines the life of Great Britain's nineteenth-century queen. The dazzling costumes worn by the actors prompt this lecture's examination of the cultural history of clothing in the Victorian era. What was the inspiration for women's dress styles in the period? How was clothing made and who did the work? What was Queen Victoria's role as a fashion leader? And, how authentic are the costumes worn in the PBS series? To complement the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum's current exhibition of wedding dresses, this lecture will include a discussion of nineteenth-century wedding fashions and the effect of Queen Victoria's 1840 marriage to Prince Albert.

Ms. Bassett is an independent scholar specializing in New England's historic costume and textiles. From 1995‒2000 she was the curator of textiles and fine arts at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Since going independent, Lynne has undertaken a number of large projects, including curating an exhibition and catalog for the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford: Modesty Died When Clothes Were Born: Costume in the Life and Literature of Mark Twain, for which she won the Costume Society of America's Richard Martin Award for Excellence. Since 2007, Lynne has been the guest curator of costumes and textiles for the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, also in Hartford. Her 2016 exhibition and catalogue for the Wadsworth, Gothic to Goth: Romantic Era Fashion & Its Legacy garnered enthusiastic reviews in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Vogue, and has been nominated for several awards (tba). Another recent publication, Homefront & Battlefield: Civil War Quilts in Context, (co-authored with Madelyn Shaw), published in 2012 by the American Textile History Museum of Lowell, Massachusetts, was awarded a bronze medal in history by the Independent Publishers Book Awards. Lynne is also the editor of Uncoverings, the annual journal of the American Quilt Study Group. Her contribution to the field of historic costume and textiles has been recognized by the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Historic New England, and the International Quilt Study Center, which have all elected her to membership in their honorary or advisory societies.

The Salon includes a talk, refreshments, and a tour of the first floor of the Mansion. Refreshments are courtesy of Best in Gourmet. Tickets are available online or by calling the museum.

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Street Smart: Photographs of New York City, 1945-1980 @ Bruce Museum

In the decades that followed World War II, New York City became a world cultural center and was host to a whirlwind of activity: jazz music by legendary practitioners like Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald, feminist and anti-war protests, Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, and race riots in Harlem. James Baldwin once called the city “spitefully inconsistent” and Le Corbusier described it as a “beautiful catastrophe.” During the time showcased here, photographers raced around the city, capturing both cacophonous scenes of urban life and moments of quietude and respite from the chaos.

This exhibition features 30 photographs, chiefly drawn from the Bruce Museum’s permanent collection, including work by Larry Fink, Herman Leonard, Leon Levinstein, John Shearer, and Garry Winogrand. Street Smart provides a glimpse at life in the city during the post-war period and at how street-savvy New Yorkers navigated its bustling landscape.

The Bruce Museum is located on One Museum Drive in Greenwich and galleries are open Tuesday - Sunday 10 am - 5 pm
Doors close 1/2 hour before closing, Last admission 4:30 pm.

New Exhibit opens @ Litchfield Historical Society - Americas Pastimes Sports and Recreation

On April 16, the Litchfield Historical Society opens its 2017 special exhibit, America's Pastimes: Sports and Recreation in Litchfield that runs through November 26. Swing a bat with the Tri-State Champion Cowboys. Race your way through the Litchfield Hills. Splash around in Bantam Lake. Ride a high wheel to the town green. Score a basket in the school gym. Play cricket with the students of the Law School.

ports and recreation are universal experiences. Whether we make it to the big leagues or never leave our backyards, these activities play important roles in our lives. They promote health and wellness as well as leisure and relaxation. They teach us about competition, but also about working together. They help build teams and form lasting relationships. Above all else, they encourage us to move, to think, and to interact.

On April 16, 2016 the Litchfield Historical Society will open to the public its latest exhibition, America's Pastimes: Sports and Recreation in Litchfield. The exhibit highlights the role of sports and recreation in town from its founding to today, showcasing the stories and experiences of Litchfield residents, players, coaches, fans, and enthusiasts. To communicate the active nature of this history, the exhibit groups together sports, games, and leisure activities of both past and present based on the actions they entail, from swinging a tennis racket to playing a game of chess. The exhibit incorporates several hands-on interactives for visitors to enjoy.

Two workshops @ Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum  located on Main St in Ridgefield is hosting a special Glass Bending workshop with with Suzanne McClelland and Dorie Guthrie on Thursday, April 27, 2017, 6 pm to 8:30 pm.  Participants will join exhibiting  artist Suzanne McClelland and master glass artist and UrbanGlass instructor Dorie Guthrie for this special workshop in The Studio at the Museum.

The highlight will be experimenting with bending glass rods using open flame, combining rich colors and flexible forms. McClelland will talk about her exhibition, including the site-engaged glass installations, then partner with Guthrie to lead participants through the exciting process of working with glass. Materials and light refreshments provided.

This workshop will be followed by a weekday workshop: mix, mash and make on April 28 from 10 am to 11:30 am for kids ages 4 to 8 with an adult.  Kids will discover how Suzanne McClelland uses various materials and a range of art-making methods in her exhibition Just Left Feel Right, combining collage, drawing, and painting. Experiment with images, tools, and techniques to make mixed-media masterpieces. The cose is $15 per adult and one child; member $12.

About Dorie Guthrie

Born in 1982 in Moline, Illinois, Dorie Guthrie was first exposed to the medium when she stumbled upon a small glass studio in her hometown. Since graduating from Illinois State University in 2008, she has continued her studies, being awarded scholarships at Corning Museum of Glass, Penland School of Craft, and Pittsburgh Glass Center, where she furthered her technique. Over the last five years, she has worked on staff at the Pilchuck Glass School and has also been a teacher's assistant at Corning Museum, Pilchuck, and Pittsburgh Glass Center. Guthrie was selected to demonstrate flameworking at the 2013 Glass Art Society Conference in Toledo, Ohio. Before moving to Brooklyn, she taught kilncasting, flameworking, fusing, and imagery techniques at Brazee Street Studio, a Bullseye Resource Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.