Author: Janet

Lime Rock’s traditional Memorial Day Weekend is featuring the Trans Am Series & the Sunday Royals Car Show Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 22-24, 2015 that promises to be one of the highlights of the season.

Trans Am cars are big, bad and brutal – and really fast at Lime Rock. With Dodge coming on board to Trans Am, the real “Pony Car Wars” are back: Mustang versus Camaro versus Challenger.

The Lime Rock Trans Am field is going to be nearly 60 cars, so Trans Am will split the field and give Lime Rock two big Trans Am races! Plus, spectators will see round 2 (Friday) and round 3 (Saturday) of the exciting LRDC Spec Miata Series, and two VSCCA vintage races.

Sunday is the sixth annual Sunday Royals Car Show, Connecticut’s best “workingman’s” show, the anti-concours concours; great cars of every kind, from hot rods to sports cars and everything in between. If it’s cool, it’s at Lime Rock Park located on Rte. 112 in Lime Rock Connecticut. For more information, tickets and a complete schedule of events visit http://www.limerock.com.

Kent is called the “Cultural Heart of the Litchfield Hills” by the Kent Chamber of Commerce, and its residents and visitors have long-cherished the town’s cultural abundance.

As a center of learning with three private schools, many nonprofits with a wide variety of interesting programming and a large number of art galleries, there are a lot of things that make the town unique and draw people to visit. The Kent Historical Society is one of the groups that prides itself on the town’s cultural riches. The May 17 Sunday Series presentation will explore what Kent and the other towns in Litchfield Hills offer to its residents and visitors.

William Hosley, a cultural resource development consultant and frequent lecturer, will speak on “Discovering the Litchfield Hills’ Cultural Treasures” May 17 at 2 p.m. in Kent Town Hall as part of the Society’s ongoing Sunday Series programs.
Hosley is a strong promoter of cultural tourism and he specializes in presenting lively regional cultural histories. As a Connecticut-based consultant, he serves local communities, museums, historical organizations, and businesses,. He has more than 30 years in the business, serving as an historian, writer, photographer, marketing and communications consultant, and social media expert.

Hosley was formerly director of the New Haven Museum and Connecticut Landmarks, where he cared for a chain of historic attractions throughout Connecticut. Prior to that, he was a curator and exhibition developer at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.
Hosley’s presentation on Kent and the Litchfield Hills will explore the history, art history and cultural attractions that are located in New England’s most cherished places.

The Kent Historical Society sponsors the Sunday Series every other month September through May. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
The Kent Historical Society’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and present the rich history of Kent as well as to provide educational and research material to enrich the public understanding of Kent’s artistic and cultural heritage. For more information, see www.kenthistoricalsociety.org or call 860-927-4587.

A new exhibit, “Two the Point” Pairs Works by Joel Spector and Banjie Getsinger Nicholas At Gregory James Gallery on 93 Park Lane Rd. in New Milford is running through June 7. This show brings together two established local artists who share a passion for the medieval medium of silverpoint. Though tied together by their interest in this delicate and unforgiving art form, and the fact that they both chose to make their home in Litchfield County, the artists have disparate focal points for their work and are not limited to the medium.

Banjie Getsinger Nicholas has lived most of her life in rural northwest Connecticut, drawing inspiration from the natural landscape that surrounds her. Her art is based on her observation of birds, plants and insects and informed by her work as a licensed wild bird rehabilitator for 20 years.

In 2012, she published “Silver Linings,” a beginner’s guide to silverpoint, which requires the artist to draw a thin sterling silver wire held in a stylus across a ground that is abrasive enough to remove and hold small amounts of the silver. Nicholas prefers to work with natural materials and creates her silverpoint drawings and egg tempera paintings on traditional gesso panel, which is composed of marble dust and rabbit skin glue sanded to smooth finish. This ground has been used by egg tempera painters since the 12th century and is also ideal for silverpoint. In her book, she noted the delicate strokes produced when working in silverpoint reveal the hand of the artist. The intimacy and detail of the medium draw the viewer closer.

Joel Spector is an award-winning portraitist whose subjects range from close family and friends to CEOs and celebrities who have commissioned his work. Born in Havana, Cuba, he arrived in the United States at the age of 12 with his sister, Dorana. The two settled in New York City with an aunt and were later joined by their parents, who had manufactured women’s apparel in Cuba.
Spector knew from an early age that he wanted to be an illustrator. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and attended the Art Students League. Before he even finished his degree, he found work as an illustrator for Women’s Wear Daily, the Daily News Record and other trade journals. He also began freelancing as an illustrator for department stores and fashion designers, including Christian Dior Menswear.

While working on an advertising campaign for Bill Blass Menswear, he met his wife, Rowena, a menswear designer. The couple moved from New York to New Milford in 1990 and raised four children there. When the fashion industry shifted from illustration to photography, Spector made the natural progression to general illustrator and enjoyed a successful freelance career. In 2008, he turned his attention to portraiture. He studied under Aaron Shikler, who is perhaps best known for his iconic White House portrait of President John F. Kennedy.

A few years ago, he began working in silverpoint, which he sometimes combines with watercolor or pastel to add a tint of color to a subject’s lips, cheeks or eyes. An exacting art form, silverpoint demands confidence, especially if one is sketching a live subject, as Spector does.

The Gregory James Gallery is located at 93 Park Lane Road (Route 202) in New Milford, about 100 feet from the intersection of Route 109. For more information, please call (860) 354-3436 or visit www.gregoryjamesgallery.com. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

In the days prior to the digital photography revolution and advanced image enhancing programs such as Lightroom and Photoshop, photography was an expensive and labor intensive endeavor best left to the professionals.

Geralene Valentine and Jay Misencik have created a vintage photography video and slideshow presentation of the work of Jay’s uncle, Ed Brinsko, a legend in the world of The Post Publishing Company. In 1931, Brinsko began to work for this company and his career spanned 43 years. Like the best of the early to late 20th century newspaper photographers, Brinsko had to carry heavy cameras and rolls and rolls of film in order to capture the perfect shot and then had to spend hours developing images in a dark room.

This presentation is called ReVisit Bridgeport…photographs by Ed Brinsko and highlights the images that were the high points of Brinsko’s career. This photography collection is a treasure trove of images that are important to Bridgeport’s history. The collection includes images of Malcolm X, Jane Fonda, President John F. Kennedy, Gregory Peck, Bob Hope, Bette Davis, Lena Horne and Ed Sullivan to name a few. In addition to photos of luminaries, many newsworthy historic events that happened over the years in Bridgeport from fires and parades to community events and occasions such as the Barnum Festival were shot.

On Saturday, May 16 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. there will be a photo/video presentation of approximately 150 images, narrated by Mike Daly, Editorial Page Editor of the Connecticut Post at the Bridgeport Public Library located on 3455 Madison Ave. in Bridgeport. For additional information contact misencik.images@gmail.com. This event is being presented by the Bridgeport Community Historical Society.

Seven Fairfield County historical organizations have banded together to continue the tradition with the Second Annual Great Letterboxing History Hunt. The event begins on Friday, May 15 and ends with a festive family get-together at the Wilton Historical Society on Sunday, May 31 from 3-4 p.m. Letterboxing, which originated on the moors of Dartmoor, England in the 1850’s, is an outdoor walking or hiking activity that combines elements of orienteering, stamp art and puzzle-solving in a treasure hunt-style quest. This is a wonderful family activity, offering a chance to learn about reading maps, following clues, and local history.

The event is a collaboration between the Fairfield Museum and History Center, the Historical Society of Easton, the New Canaan Historical Society, the Norwalk Historical Society, Ridgefield’s Keeler Tavern Museum, the Weston Historical Society, the Westport Historical Society, and the Wilton Historical Society. Complete information about the Great Letterboxing History Hunt can be found at the event’s “host” — the Wilton Historical Society — at www.wiltonhistorical.org . Contacts, addresses, and links for each of the historical organizations, plus downloadable maps and clues will be posted.

All you need to get started is a nifty signature stamp and an ink pad. Anytime during the weeks of May 15 – May 31, get your stamp and ink pad, go to one of the historical societies listed, pick up the official Letterboxing History Hunt Map and clues there, or print one out at www.wiltonhistorical.org, and you are on your way!

Be sure to get a fun signature stamp before you start out! Make your own unique stamp or get an unusual one at the Wilton Historical Society. The Betts Store is offering Yellow Owl Workshop’s DYI “Carve-A- Stamp Kit” as well as some of their unusual stamps, all made in the USA.

Participants who stamp their official Map at all eight locations will be eligible for a prize, and will be entered in a drawing for a wonderful grand prize. All prizes will be awarded at the Wilton Historical Society closing get-together from 3-4 on Sunday, May 31. (Don’t forget to bring your fully stamped map!) A fun, family event, there will be refreshments and live music with Leigh Richards on acoustic guitar.

A Brief History of Letterboxing, from Letterboxing.Info from Silent Doug:

“According to legend, letterboxing began in southwestern England in 1854 when a Victorian gentleman named James Perrott hid his calling card in a jar in a remote area by Cranmere Pool on the moors of Dartmoor (the setting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles). Perrot was a guide on the moor, and he encouraged his clients to leave their cards in the jar, as well. Eventually, visitors began leaving a self-addressed post card or note in the jar, hoping for them to be returned by mail by the next visitor (thus the origin of the term “letterboxing”. “Letterbox” is a British term for what we in the U.S. know as a mailbox). This practice ended in time, however, and the current custom of using rubber stamps and logbooks came into use.”

Letterboxing did not begin in the United States until 1998, when an article in Smithsonian prompted interest. In Connecticut, there are letterboxes and clues at all 32 State Forests!

It is hard to believe that 2015 marks the 95th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in the United States. To commemorate this landmark event that extended the right to vote to women, the Litchfield Historical Society will be presenting a new temporary exhibition examining the topic.

Ballots for Both! The Fight for Equal Voting Rights will explore the battle for woman suffrage in Litchfield and the state of Connecticut. The exhibit will also look at the larger movement in the state, the pro- and anti-suffrage organizations in Litchfield during the 1910s, activities of the groups, and local leaders. Also featured will be a selection of objects on loan from the Museum of Connecticut History.

In addition to this major exhibit, “The Lure of the Litchfield Hills will be on view through November 2015. This exhibit details the Colonial Revival period in Litchfield and the impact it had on this town in the 19th and 20th centuries. It traces the way residents embraced their ancestral past, developed the community to how it looks today, and experienced a time of change in architecture, fashion, and home decoration.

In addition to these two special exhibitions, The Litchfield Historical Society has been busy this winter adding new objects to view in their permanent gallery, which tells the story of Litchfield’s history through different periods. Cases feature history of Litchfield’s districts of Bantam, Morris, East Litchfield, and Northfield.

The Litchfield History Museum and the Tapping Reeve House & Law School are open Tuesday-Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $5 adults, $3 seniors and students, Free for children under 14 and Law School students. For additional information, please visit www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org or call us at (860) 567-4501.