Category: Connecticut Travel

The Kent Historical Society is presenting a special Sunday lecture series that will be held at the Kent Town Hall located on 41 Kent Green Blvd. just off Rte. 7 in the center of Kent. On September 17 at 2 p.m. the Sunday Series will bring guests a program titled, “The First Great Awakening — Fervor and Ferment”.

In the 1730s, a wave of religious revivals, sponsored by the established clergy of the Reformed Churches, swept the Thirteen Colonies. The fervor disrupted the connection between church and state in New England. These revivals involved extreme emotional displays by the thousands of people who heard the sermons of Jonathan Edwards and various itinerant preachers. Though there was little lasting impact on the religious commitment of the colonies, the ideas presented probably moved the colonies closer to declaring independence from Great Britain.

Tom Key, the presenter studied engineering, was a flight officer in the US Navy and retired as a Commander in the US Naval Reserves. His professional career was with an international engineering firm, designing and constructing nuclear and fossil power plants, steel mills, and chemical plants. He’s also had a career as a landscape painter exhibiting in over thirty galleries and invitational/juried shows from Delaware to Maine.

This lecture, as well as future Sunday Series events in 2017, helps give context to the Kent Historical Society’s exhibit in the summer of 2017, “The Founders of Kent,” on the emergence of one New England town in the 18th century.

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Hollister House Garden opens their gates for the annual ‘Sale of Rare and Unusual Plants’ Saturday, September 9th and Sunday, September 10th. Garden enthusiasts are invited to discover plants from vendors around the greater northeast at the sale. From local Connecticut based nurseries, to specialty nurseries from Maine to Pennsylvania, twelve vendors will be on the premises selling plants and sharing their expertise. Interested plant lovers can choose from two options ‘Preview Buying’ on Saturday, September 9th includes garden admission and cocktail party $45/pp 4-6:00 pm or enjoy the ‘All-Day Plant Sale’ only $10/pp (includes admission to the garden) on Sunday, September 10th from 9am-3pm.

The timing of the annual fall plant sale is ideal for autumn garden planting, since there is plant of time to get plants in the ground before cold weather sets in. “This is a great opportunity to find some very special plants not generally offered in the nursery trade,” says George Schoellkopf of Hollister House Garden. Specialist growers offer the latest hybrids in addition to hard-to-find classic shrubs, trees and herbaceous perennials. Participants are encouraged to tour the garden after shopping.

The twelve nurseries that will be on premises for the ‘Rare and Unusual Plant Sale’ include; Broken Arrow Nursery, Cricket Hill Garden, Falls Village Flower Farm, Garden Vision Epimediums, Huntington & Hope, Linden Hill Gardens, McCue Gardens, Meadowbrook Gardens, Oesco, Inc, Opus Plants, Rare Find Nursery and Snug Harbor Farm. “The annual fall plant sale at Hollister House offers an unrivaled selection of rare plants with the splendid backdrop of the garden in its full late season glory. It’s like Trade Secrets, but in time for fall planting and bit more mellow. Cricket Hill Garden will be bringing some fantastic peonies and pawpaws and persimmons.” says Dan Furman of Cricket Hill Garden.

The Sale of Rare and Unusual Plants ‘Preview Buying and Cocktails in the Garden’ tickets for Saturday, September 10th are $45 and available through reservation at https://hollisterhousegarden.org/events/preview-buying-sale-rare-unusual-plants-cocktails-garden/. Tickets for the ‘All-Day Plant Sale and Garden Admission will be available for $10 purchase at the gate. Please visit http://www.hollisterhousegarden.com for more information.

Hollister House Garden is open to visitors through October 7. Friday hours are 2-5PM and Saturdays 10-4PM. Private group visits are welcome weekdays by appointment only. Directions to the garden’s 300 Nettleton Hollow Road location are also available on the website. Contact: Pamela Moffett, 860-868-2200 office@hollisterhousegarden.org.

The Norwalk Historical Society has announced a new exhibit set up in Town House on the Norwalk Historical Society’s Mill House Historic Park that will be on display through July, 2018. This exhibition, Preserving and Observing is part of the continuing celebration of Norwalk’s heritage, and features 80+ pieces of art on paper highlighting the City’s significant art collection. Mill Hill Historic Park is located on 2 East Wall Street in Norwalk.

The exhibit curated by Sophia Gevas, is comprised of paintings and works on paper drawn from the four separate collections that comprise the Norwalk Collection: the City of Norwalk, the Lockwood family, the Norwalk Historical Society and the Norwalk-Village Green Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

The 80 plus featured works created by artists who lived and worked in Norwalk is presented “Salon Style” in the recently restored 1835 Town House at Mill Hill. The exhibit is a survey presented in groupings of Portraits, Still-lifes, Scenes of Working Life and Nature. The art work on display captures significant aspects and insights about city life through the ages.

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On Saturday, September 9 from 2:00 – 3:30 the Wilton Historical Society located on 224 Danbury Road will be offering a session for adults about how to make a simple farmer’s cheese from goat’s milk.

Goat milk cheese, often referred to as chèvre, is available in a wide range of tastes, textures, and firmness, and can be fresh or aged. For most of United States history, dairy goats were utilized by small family farms as a personal source of milk cheese, and during World War II, dairy goat production increased as a component of Victory Gardens.

The workshop will be led by Museum Educator Lola Chen, who will talk about the history of goat’s milk cheeses, and help participants make a scrumptious, tangy soft cheese, flavored with herbs.

Wilton Historical Society members $20; Non-members $25. Please register: info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257. Wilton Historical Society, 224 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897 www.wiltonhistorical.org

Did You Know?
Goats were introduced to North America in the 16th century by Spanish colonists. For hundreds of years the humble Spanish goat was a source of milk and meat, but goats did not become an agricultural commodity the way sheep, cattle, pigs and chickens did. Many of the original Spanish goats became feral and populated parts of what would become the United States.

Twenty new paintings by Connecticut artist Jan Dilenschneider will be featured at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in an exhibition entitled, Eco Visions, that runs through October 5, 2017, with a reception on Sept. 28, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The exhibition will be curated by Gail Ingis. Ms. Dilenschneider’s works have been successfully featured for the last four years at the prestigious Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier in the historic Le Marais district in Paris. Ms. Dilenschneider is the only living American artist to have her work on display at the Grand Palais in Paris. In the past year her exhibitions have been featured at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts Sill House Gallery and at the Bellarmine Museum in Fairfield, Conn, where she broke attendance records. Each of these exhibitions were solo shows.

The prestigious French newspaper Le Figaro reviewed the 2015 exhibition, Nature at its Most Melodically Colorful and said, “Dilenschneider expresses her artistic sensibility unhampered by the trends and tyrannies of the art market. She wields her brush with wild passion and tremulous elation, bringing trees, flowers, grass and reeds to calm majestic life.”

“I love to highlight the beauty of nature through my paintings of vegetation, clear waters and their beautiful colors” said Dilenschneider. “Through my paintings, I encourage the viewer to fall in love with nature all over again and consider ecology at all times.”

About Dilenschneider’s Work

Dilenschneider received her training at The Ohio State University, The National Academy of Design in New York, the North Shore Art League in Illinois, and the Silvermine Arts Center in Connecticut.

“One of the most exciting moments of my life was when I was entering a painting in a juried show and Roy Lichtenstein helped me put the hooks and wire on the back,” said Dilenschneider. “He was the juror and gave me first prize for The Mourners. I was 17 years old.”

Dilenschneider has painted all her life but she is relatively new to the art scene, when it comes to its marketing aspect, as she began selling her work in the spring of 2013. “My everyday surroundings in Connecticut by the sea are a vast a resource of inspiration,” says Dilenschneider. “I am continually influenced by shore grasses bending in the breeze, blue skies reflected in the cool water, and extraordinary trees silhouetted against green lawns.”

Although the French magazine LUX, among others, called her work “the new Impressionism,” Jan considers herself an Expressionist who loves the Impressionists’ palette. Dilenschneider’s most recent work combines landscapes and abstract images. One can see in them her gradual merging of the abstract into the landscape canvases.

The French Magazine, LE MAG, wrote of Dilenschneider’s work, “Dilenschneider avoids figuration and abstraction, instead painting highly charged landscapes with strong lines and bold sometimes clashing colors. But the result is so harmonious that viewers want nothing more than to lose themselves in the contemplation of the glorious nature before them, and to make sure that it remains as stunning for generations.”

Entrance Details
The exhibition will be part of the tours’ general admission and schedule: Wed. through Sun., 12-4 p.m. 45 minute tour: $10 Adults, $ 8 seniors, $6 children 8-18 years old; 90 minute tour: $20 adults, $18 seniors, $16 children 8-18 years old. Tours and reception tickets will be available online, through the Museum’s website, or by calling 203-838-9799 ext. 4. Walk-ins will be welcomed, subject to availability. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark. For more information on schedules and programs please visit http://www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799.

The Sharon Historical Society located on 18 Main Street in the historic village of Sharon has organized an exhibition and sale of art by members of the Sharon Woman’s Club through September 8, 2017.

The Sharon Woman’s Club was organized in 1910 with the purpose to stimulate and encourage all efforts toward intellectual and social betterment in the home and in the community. The organization’s motto is “In Good Things, Unity; In Small Things, Liberty; In All Things, Charity.” The Club has consistently responded to the needs in our community throughout its history, compiling an impressive and enviable catalog of civic, educational and cultural contributions and accomplishments.

There is a wide range of subject matter in a variety of media created over the past two years by the talented members of this organization. Artworks will be available for purchase. All purchases support the Sharon Historical Society & Museum’s mission.

The Gallery @the SHS is located in the Sharon Historical Society & Museum at 18 Main Street in Sharon, CT. Museum hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from noon to 4:00 PM, Saturday from 10:00AM to 2:00PM and by appointment. For more information and directions to The Gallery @the SHS, call (860) 364-5688.