Connecticut Travel

The Institute for American Indian Studies on 38 Curtis Rd. in the bucolic village of Washington is hosting a Veterans Day Celebration on November 12 from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

This Veterans Day celebration is a bit unusual as each year the IAIS honors local Native Americans that have served in the United States Military. The public is invited to join museum staff in honoring and remembering all veterans, Native and non-Native, that have served our country with courage and pride. Throughout history, Native Americans have served their country with the highest record of service per capita when compared to the general American population and to any other ethnic group. Following a traditional ceremony in the authentically replicated outdoor Algonkian village, participants and visitors are invited to a light lunch in the Institute’s Research and Collections Building.

Also in November, beginning on November 25 and running through December 17 on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am – 4 pm, the Winter Indian Arts and Crafts Market takes place to celebrate the holiday season. Visitors are invited to shop for one-of-a-kind holiday gifts from the Institute’s local Native American crafters, jewelers, and artists at the Winter Indian Arts & Craft Market! Meet and buy directly from the artists while learning about contemporary Native American art and cultures. Stop by to purchase pottery, jewelry, rattles, artwork, flutes and more!

In November, the David M. Hunt Library on Main St. in Falls Village will present the exhibit SEEING THROUGH by Lime Rock photographer Patricia Decker. A reception with refreshments for the artist will be held from 5pm to 7pm on Friday, November 10. The exhibit will be on display from November 3 through December 1, 2017. This event is free and open to the public. For more information call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org. The Library is open Tues. & Thurs. 10 am -5 pm, Fri. 3-7 pm and Sat. 10 – 1 pm.

Patricia Decker’s focus is fine art photography with an emphasis on STILL, as an adjective, noun, adverb and verb. Her studio in Lime Rock has a sign out front that reads STILL Photo. As the artist says, “STILL is a moment when the perfect ‘found’ forms meet, they resonate. The images in SEEING THROUGH are linked loosely in categories of WATER, TREES, FORMS. Subject matter is perpetually changing; it renders itself meaningless when the ‘space’ is found. Life is full of light, humor and relevance if you see it. I have some of that hidden in this group.”

Ms. Decker studied at City College, Art Students League, and the Studio School; attended workshops at ICP in New York City, Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport, ME and Woodstock School of Photography, NY and attended Fotofest in Houston, TX. Her multimedia exhibit in 2005, NOUX HUDSON, utilized the 150-year-old Hudson Opera House and local residents in live performance captured in still photography and video to show the evolution of the town of Hudson through characters including The Infant Moralist, AMA Ministers, opera singers, travelers, minstrel groups, orators, prostitutes, bankers, politicians, comedians, actors, Liberals and Radicals. In reference to SEEING THROUGH, the artist noted that “This showing is Noux too…all of us and TIME, and then again, we are us.”

Fifteen internationally acclaimed local artists will show selections from their works in “Thinking Visually: The Art of Connecticut Illustrators,” an exhibition celebrating the rich diversity of illustration as an art form that will run through Sunday, Dec. 3, in the Visual and Performing Arts Center Art Gallery at Western Connecticut State University.The exhibition will be open for public viewing during gallery hours from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission for gallery viewing is free and open to the public.

The exhibition will provide a sweeping presentation of works encompassing a broad spectrum from popular children’s book illustrations, magazine covers, cardboard constructions and stamp designs for the U.S. Postal Service to evocative graphic images for cartoons, albums, advertising, video games, films and television series. Each of the participating illustrators resides in Connecticut and has attained critical recognition nationally and abroad through unique contributions to the art of illustration.

Artists who will be featured in the show include: Guy Billout, Leslie Cober-Gentry, Robert Crawford, Bruce Degen, Randy Enos, Robert Giusti, James Grashow, Gerard Huerta, Roger Huyssen, Christine Kornacki, Ross MacDonald, Wendell Minor, Jon Sideriadis, Bill Thomson and David Wenzel.

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To honor the men and women who have served – and are serving – our country, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is offering free admission to veterans and current active-duty military during the month of November.

The Maritime Aquarium offers a $10 admission discount to veterans year-round. But, throughout the month in which we mark Veterans Day, we are happy to expand our offer to veterans for completely free admission. Admission is always free to those currently serving in any branch of the military, not just in November.

Maritime Aquarium admission is $22.95 for adults, $20.95 for youths (13-17) and seniors (65+), and $15.95 for children (3-12). Admission includes a 40-minute IMAX® movie.

ID/proof of service is required at the door to receive the veterans’ and active-duty discounts. (The offer is not available with advance online purchases.)

Also thoughout the month of November, Aquarium guests will be encouraged to fill out thank-you notes, which will be forwarded by Operation Gratitude to those currently serving in our Armed Forces.

As a bonus during Veterans Day Weekend, on Sat., Nov. 11 and Sun., Nov. 12, three military vehicles will be onhand for exploration and photos during “Military Touch-A-Truck.” Sit inside a World War II Jeep, a 1950 M38 Jeep and a 1987 Humvee (HMMWV) during the special visits. You can even pop a helmet on for a photo!

In addition, on Sat., Nov. 11, who better to join in on the Aquarium’s three daily seal-training demonstrations than a decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL? Capt. Peter Wikul retired in 2009 after a 39-year Navy career with the honorific title of “Bullfrog 13” as the longest-serving active-duty SEAL. His roles included deputy commander of Special Operations Command South and commanding officer of the Kennedy Irregular Warfare Center at the Office of Navy Intelligence.

Wikul will participate in the seal trainings on Nov. 11 at 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 & 3:45 p.m. He actually will be the second Navy veteran in the Aquarium’s seal exhibit: in the 1980s, Rasal the harbor seal was trained by the Navy to retrieve objects from the sea floor.

Between the demonstrations on Nov. 11, Wikul will be onhand to talk with Aquarium guests about the Navy and his experiences as a SEAL.

Plus, on Nov. 11th, 12th & 13th, veterans are free to come aboard The Maritime Aquarium’s special “Scenic Coastal Cruises,” departing each day at 1 p.m. (Tickets for non-veterans are $29.95, or $24.95 for Aquarium members.) Space aboard the R/V Spirit of the Sound™ is limited, so advance registration is strongly suggested for these 2-hour cruises, which will follow the beautiful Connecticut coastline as Aquarium educators point out historic lighthouses, gorgeous waterfront homes and other sights. Advance registration is by phone only: (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206. Tickets will be sold at the dock, space permitting. ID/proof of service is required at the dock prior to boarding.

Get details about all of the Aquarium’s current exhibits, programs, IMAX® movies and more this fall at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

The Victorian Tea is being held this year at the Lockwood Mathews Mansion on November 12 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. A highlight of this event is the formal traditional English tea for tea lovers, history buffs, and anyone looking to escape everyday life surrounded by the timeless splendor of this iconic National Historic Landmark. Tickets are $35 for members and $45 for non-members and are available online.

In addition to the formal tea, the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will feature a talk and book signing by Esther Crain, author of The Gilded Age in New York, 1870-1910. Published in 2016, this fascinating account of the Gilded Age in New York City takes a broad look at the political and social changes during one of the most transformative eras in the city’s history.

Ms. Crain is also the founder and editor of the very popular and well-reviewed website, Ephemeral New York, which chronicles the city’s past. Ephemeral New York has been featured in numerous publications including the New York Times, New York Daily News, and New York Post. Ms. Crain regularly works with historical groups and non-profit organizations to give talks and walking tours that explore the hidden remains and forgotten pockets of New York City.

The Discovery Museum and Planetarium in Bridgeport is pleased to present the saturated colors and vivid patterning of New York-based artist Gloria Garfinkel, showing in the Center Gallery, through November, 2017. Garfinkel’s works embed bright and colorful arrays into an animated geometry inspired by origami paper folding objects and techniques.

In Garfinkel’s paintings, colorful patterns are energized by mounting them on aluminum panels constructed so that they are able to be manipulated by the viewer. In addition to these panels, Garfinkel presents a number of maquettes of proposals for flamboyant triumphant gateways, influenced by Japanese forms, for public art.

In the range of work presented in this exhibition, Garfinkel continues her fascination with the wide variety of patterns to be found in traditional Japanese fabrics. She takes these patterns and juxtaposes them with others, creating fields of conflicting color that act on the eye in lively ways.

The most distinctive body of work presented in this exhibition consists of striped wall panels, fabricated in aluminum, with inset sections that rotate when manipulated by the viewer. Garfinkel has accommodated patterning to the optical potential of moving discs by processing patterns through mathematics, the basis of most of her pattern work. If one wishes to see a wilder arrangement, the viewer is free to rotate the disk of stripes until, either diagonally or horizontally, the stripes prod the horizontal with a different energy level.

Garfinkel’s introduction of viewer manipulation is novel: it is also derived from Japanese influence, where careful arrangement of forms in very particular ways is part of the aesthetic experience. In this synthesis, Garfinkel has devised a uniquely approachable and participatory form of wall art.

In Garfinkel’s Flip pieces, squares, diamonds and tondos are divided in half into planes of soft color again derived from Japanese prototypes. An inconspicuous hinge running down the center of the panel reveals an overlaid panel that can be moved on the hinge to cover over either half of the circle and re-present the overall circle with a new arrangement of colors. Garfinkel, in her painting, combines a keen sense of the energy emitted by colors arranged vis-à-vis other colors, with a grounded drive to realize physical-sculptural ideas in finely fabricated devices.