Category: Connecticut Travel

Throughout his nearly seventy-year career, photographer Brett Weston (1911-1993) was obsessed with abstracted micro-images of reality as well as of cities and landscapes captured by a long telephoto lens that diminished the depth of field, thus flattening the image.

Now through February 12, 2017, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich presents an exhibition of twenty-three vintage 11 x 14 and 8 x 10-inch, black-and-white photographs by Brett Weston that were part of a 2015 gift to the Museum from the Christian Keesee Collection. Keesee, who is a collector and philanthropist, acquired the vintage prints from the Brett Weston Estate in 1996, then created an archive to organize and catalog the works as well as increase public awareness of the artist.

The exhibition titled Towards Abstraction, 1940-1985: Brett Weston Photographs from the Bruce Museum Collection features images of architectural designs from major cities and natural elements from the desert to lush tropical landscapes.

Brett Weston gained international recognition at the age of seventeen, when he was included, with his father, Edward Weston, in an avant-garde exhibition at Film und Foto in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1929. Three years later, he had his first one-person museum retrospective in San Francisco and frequently exhibited in the 1930s with the California group of photographers known as Group f.64, named for the aperture setting.

The exhibition Towards Abstraction, 1940-1985: Brett Weston Photographs from the Bruce Museum Collection is supported by the Deborah G. and Charles M. Royce Exhibition Fund and the Connecticut Office of the Arts. The Bruce Museum is located at 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT. For information, call 203-869-0376 or visit brucemuseum.org.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of WWII, the Weston Historical Society located on 104 Weston Rd. in Weston has put together a new exhibition called Memories of World War II. This exhibition celebrates our Weston’s contributions to the war.

In 1940, the Town of Weston was a small rural community of about 1,053 people. When war was declared Weston’s citizens responded. During the war 155 men and women left our town to join the services, becoming fighter pilots, rifle marksmen, bomber and transfer pilots, administrators, and radio operators in every branch of the military.

The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday November 11, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Society’s museum, 104 Weston Road, Weston. On that day only, World War II Collector Ken Boughton will display one of the state’s largest collections of World War II military equipment, vehicles and armaments on the Coley Homestead grounds.

This exhibition runs through March 26, 2017 and displays powerful prints by Weston artist Doug Leigh, depicting his experiences in the Battle of the Bulge as young staff sergeant, plus photos of war materiel representing land, air, and sea forces, and actual uniforms worn by our GI’s. The exhibition also includes a wide range of personal memorabilia that ties Weston residents, past and present, directly to the conflict. There are even large military artifacts on display including a 50 Caliber Machine Gun, a Army Jeep
and a Military Motor-cycle with sidecar.

Memories of World War II will be open to the public on Sundays from 1:00p.m. to 4:00p.m. through Sunday March 26th, 2017.

The Housatonic Museum of Art located on 900 Lafayette Blvd. in Bridgeport is hosting a photography show by Steve McCurry on India. The show features forty-four incredible photographs that capture the vibrant color and chaos of this ancient country, providing a stunning backdrop for the ordinary people who live and work in an extraordinary place. The show continues through February 10, 2017. All are welcome and encouraged to visit.

Best known for his iconic ‘Afghan Girl’ image that graced the cover of National Geographic over 30 years ago, McCurry stands as one of the most important voices in contemporary photography. With scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name, McCurry recently turned to India for inspiration. He says, “I was looking for street scenes, images that show the economy, recreation, and religion—pictures that address the key elements of a place and, at the same time, are interesting in their own right.”

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday evening until 7 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. (call for holiday times). The Gallery is closed Sundays.

Maple sugaring time, a New England tradition, will be starting soon! Each year Flanders taps and collects sap from dozens of trees both at their nature center and around Woodbury. Tree tapping day, weather permitting, is scheduled for Saturday, January 28. No experience is needed and all ages and families are welcome to come to help out. For the purposes of coordination they are requesting that those planning on coming that day to also preregister. Tree tappper volunteers will meet at the Flanders Sugar House at 9:30 AM. It is located at 5 Church Hill Road in Woodbury. These events are free and open to the public.

Tapping the trees is just the start of the busy maple season for Flanders! Volunteers are needed also to collect sap, and help out at maple sugaring activities like syrup making demonstrations, and a pancake breakfast where Flanders syrup will be served!

To register for the information session and/or tapping day please call 203-263-3711 Ext. 10. If you are unable to attend either session but are interested in volunteering during the season then call and they will be happy to match your interests to the volunteer opportunities.

About Flanders
Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that focuses on environmental education, and on the acquisition, conservation, and stewardship of open space. Through its land trust initiatives, Flanders actively works to protect important natural sites and the area’s landscape character and quality of life. Flanders manages over 2,100 acres of preserved land in Woodbury and neighboring towns. Educational programs for children and adults are offered at the Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary, Flanders’ main campus in Woodbury. Trails at its major nature preserves are open to the public at no charge from dawn to dusk. For more information, call 203-263-3711 or go to www.flandersnaturecenter.org.

The Kent Historical Society has planned a lecture on January 22 at 2 p.m. called “The Howling Wilderness: Western Connecticut in the 18th Century” that is sure to chase the January winter blues away!

Michael Everett, the President of the Kent Historical Society and an Emeritus Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, will discuss conditions in Western Connecticut at the beginning of the 18th century. The Revolutionary period is often viewed as the starting point of Kent’s history, but the town was founded well before that. Through the entire period, the Puritan view of the countryside as a “howling wilderness” had theological and cultural consequences, which Everett will explore as he examines the natives and settlers, changing agricultural and ownership ideas, and more.

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

The Kent Historical Society sponsors the Sunday Series every other month September through May. Free admission for members; $5 suggested donation for non-members.

For more information please call 860.927.4587 or visit www.kenthistoricalsociety.org.

The holidays are full of traditions, and more often than not those traditions revolve around eating. In New Year celebrations, menus often contain foods meant to symbolize or even bring about good fortune. In times past, it was customary to hold open houses on New Year’s Day, and offer guests a cup of punch and New Year’s Cakes, often sweetened with honey. This month, the children will be making New Year’s Cake. A recipe for New Year’s Cake from The Practical Cook Book by Mrs. Bliss (Published in Philadelphia, 1850), calls for honey and caraway seeds, and makes a stiff dough that is to be rolled out, cut and baked — this “cake” is actually what we would call a cookie. The Colonial Cookery and Customs for Kids program will be held on Saturday, January 28, from 11:00 – 12:30.

Every month, the Colonial Cookery and Customs for Kids workshop at the Wilton Historical Society teaches kids in grades 4 – 8 a Colonial “reciept” (recipe) used in the Connecticut region. While the food is prepared, they hear about Colonial manners, morals and way of life. The workshops feature relatively simple dishes made with local, seasonal ingredients. The recipes used will be adapted for modern kitchens. This is done for safety reasons, and also so that the attendees can recreate their meals at home. All participants sample their own cooking and take home recipe cards – as well as any leftovers! The children learn how a Colonial kitchen would have operated, in order to appreciate the modern conveniences we take for granted. Previous sessions have made bannock cakes, pease porridge, pickles, an amulet of green peas, apple tansey, fairy butter, pumpkin bread and cranberry shortbread.

Members: $10; Non-members $15. Space is limited — please register by contacting info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257. The Wilton Historical Society is located on 224 Danbury Road/Rt. 7, Wilton, CT 06897 www.wiltonhistorical.org

Did You Know?
Why do we Americans choose “cookies” over “biscuits?”

The answer to this is probably twofold: (1) Our early Dutch heritage and (2) Our revolutionary tradition of separating ourselves from “all things British.” — From the Foodtimeline.org
“Early English and Dutch immigrants first introduced the cookie to America in the 1600s. While the English primarily referred to cookies as small cakes, seed biscuits, or tea cakes, or by specific names, such as jumbal or macaroon, the Dutch called the koekjes, a diminutive of koek (cake)…Etymologists note that by the early 1700s, koekje had been Anglicized into “cookie” or “cookey,” and the word clearly had become part of the American vernacular. Following the American Revolution, people from other parts of the country became familiar with the cookie when visiting New York City, the nation’s first capitol, a factor that resulted in widespread use of the term.”
—Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press: New York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 317)