Tag: Fairfield County

Impressions of Light at Weir Farm in Litchfield Hills

Black Birds Over Weir Farm
Black Birds Over Weir Farm

Weir Farm National Historic Site located in Wilton and Ridgefield is hosting an art show through July 7 called Impressions of Light that features the work of modern-day American Impressionist Dmitri Wright of Greenwich, CT.

This exhibition, Impressions of Light, includes paintings inspired by Weir Farm and by Wright’s plein air experiences. Wright has a long history with Weir Farm National Historic Site, having led the park’s Impressionist Painting Workshops since 2009 as Master Artist/Instructor. Continuing in the vein of Weir Farm’s first American Impressionists, Mr. Wright’s pieces for this exhibit were drawn “full-scale on location” in order express what is happening…behind nature.

In this show, Wright tries to communicate his visual experiences of how light changes the way matter appears and how refracted light affects color. As Master Artist and Instructor at Weir Farm, Wright seeks to help others fulfill their unique gifts through the creative process, by helping them connect with their natural ability and the technical knowledge of their chosen school or schools of art.

There will be a gallery talk on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, June 9 at 2 p.m. when Wright will discuss the challenges and rewards of plein air painting. He will use Weir Farm National Historic Site’s unique setting to discuss the history behind, and future of, American Impressionism. Participation in these gallery talks is free, but space is limited and registration is required. To register or for more information, please call (203) 834-1896 ext. 28.

The exhibit can be viewed in the Burlingham House Visitor Center Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

About Weir Farm National Historic Site
Weir Farm National Historic Site, the only National Park Service site dedicated to American painting, was home to three generations of American artists including Julian Alden Weir, a leading figure in American art and the development of American Impressionism. Today, the 60-acre park, which includes the Weir House, Weir and Young Studios, barns, gardens, and Weir Pond, is one of the nation’s finest remaining landscapes of American art. For more information about Weir Farm National Historic Site, please visit www.nps.gov/wefa or call (203) 834-1896.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

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Creating Habitat Oases for Migrating Songbirds

Join Audubon’s Patrick Comins and Michelle Frankelon April 28 at the Garden Education Center of Greenwich on 1 Bible Street in Cos Cob for a special presentation and walk through Greenwich’s Montgomery Pinetum to learn about simple ways to enhance backyards, school grounds and public parks to provide quality habitat for migrating songbirds. This event is co-sponsored by Audubon Connecticut, Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Bruce Museum and Garden Education Center. An RSVP is suggested to the Greenwich Tree Conservancy at 203- 869-1464. The program takes place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Garden Education Center of Greenwich
Garden Education Center of Greenwich

The Audubon’s Habitat Oases program identifies, improves and conserves important stop-over habitat for migrating songbirds all along the Atlantic migratory flyway, focusing on urban and suburban areas and other landscapes where there is limited quality habitat. The program, performed in collaboration with Audubon chapters, state and municipal parks departments, and other groups, engages volunteer birdwatchers – citizen scientists – in migratory songbird surveys of urban/suburban green spaces. The surveys help to determine the characteristics of high quality stop-over habitat and which species of plants are most beneficial as food sources for migrating songbirds.

Audubon and its partners are using the results of this study to promote the protection of critical stop-over habitats by helping government agencies, corporations, land trusts, and other landowners make informed land use and land protection decisions
They also work to improve the quality of public and private lands as stop-over habitat for migrating birds by guiding the management and landscaping practices of natural resource managers, private landowners and professional landscapers
and strive to develop regionally-specific lists of “bird-friendly” native plants that may be used to guide landscaping practices in parks, gardens and backyards.

Patrick Comins is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, and has worked in the bird conservation arena for the last 15 years. Patrick began his career with the Connecticut Audubon Society, doing bird surveys on the coast at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and then worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a biological technician at the refuge. He has been with Audubon Connecticut as the Director of Bird Conservation for Connecticut since 2000, overseeing Connecticut’s Important Bird Areas and other conservation programs. He is the principal author of Protecting Connecticut’s Grassland Heritage. Patrick is a past resident of the Connecticut Ornithological Association and was the 2007 recipient of their Mabel Osgood Wright Award. He has written several articles on bird conservation and identification for the Connecticut Warbler and is currently chairman and vice president of the Friends of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.

Michelle Frankel, Ph.D., is a Conservation Biologist with Audubon Connecticut and is coordinating the Habitat Oases program in CT, and facilitating the implementation of the program in a number of other states along the Atlantic migratory flyway. Michelle previously worked with Audubon of Florida, where she originally piloted the Habitat Oases program. Prior to her work with Audubon, she was Education Director for Earthspan, a nonprofit that develops and applies advanced technologies for wildlife conservation. Michelle received her Ph.D. in behavioral ecology from Boston University, focusing on forest fragmentation effects on migratory songbirds. She subsequently pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Tel Aviv University and the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration in Israel, where she studied the impacts of urbanization on the globally-threatened Lesser Kestrel.

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Audubon Greenwich celebrates spring

If you are looking for signs of spring, don’t miss the April events at Audubon Greenwich, http://greenwich.audubon.org located on 613 Riversville Rd. in Greenwich.

Go on a bird walk this spring
Go on a bird walk this spring

On Wednesday, April 17 from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. visitors are invited on a morning bird walk at the Fairchild Wildflower Garden area on North Porchuck Rd.

Benjamin T. Fairchild developed the Fairchild Garden as a wildflower sanctuary on abandoned farmland he purchased in 1890. After his death in 1939, Mrs. Elon Huntington Hooker, with the help of local garden clubs, raised the money to purchase the sanctuary. It was donated to the National Audubon Society in 1945. It is not a formal garden, but a natural area, with introduced wildflower species and some interesting rocks into the landscape. The unique feature of this 135-acre sanctuary is its variety of wetland habitats. These include a stream, pond, wetland meadow, red maple swamp, hillside wetland, emergent freshwater marsh and a wetland scrub thicket. The sanctuary also boasts eight miles of trails winding through deep shady gorges under cover of mature deciduous forest, and a grove of white pines. The Fairchild Wildflower Garden becomes a birding hot spot in the late spring and early summer seasons.

To continue the spring birding tradition, the Audubon is offering a Bird Walk on the trails at their main sanctuary located on Riversville Road from 7 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Later in the day, the Audubon will host a spring flower walk lead by a naturalist that will explain the histories, ecological niches and insect pollination partners
Of the various spring flowers found here. This walk is good for ages 5 and up.

Rounding out a month of walks, on April 24 the Audubon will host a springtime sunset and moonlight walk from 7:45 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. Participants will seek out the sights, sounds, and smells of a spring evening visiting field, pond, forest, and lake in search of wildlife. Hikers will also listen overhead and look up at the moon in search of silhouettes of night-flying springtime bird migrants. This event is good for ages 7 & up. Please note that space limited & RSVP required.

For questions and reservations to the events sponsored by the Audubon Greenwich call Ted Gilman at 203-869-5272 x230. For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Announces New Season’s Events

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will reopen its doors in April for an eventful Spring season. This season, the Mansion will highlight Victorian era technology, a cutting-edge art movement called Steampunk, and a nod to the Mansion’s beginnings with its annual Victorian Tea.

Lookwood Mathews Mansion
Lookwood Mathews Mansion

The Mansion will kick off the season with an Opening Night Gala & Exhibitions Preview on April 13, 2013 at 7:00pm. This black tie dinner will allow guests a sneak peak of the Mansion’s two new exhibits, What Is It? Technologies and Discoveries of the Victorian Era and Steampunk: Nature & Machine. The Gala includes a special presentation by history of technology luminary Steven Lubar, Professor of the Departments of American Studies, History, and History of Art and Architecture at Brown University.

What Is It? Technologies and Discoveries of the Victorian Era features 19th century technological and scientific marvels of the Mansion’s heyday that revolutionized the way people lived. The exhibit is made possible thanks to a grant from the Connecticut Humanities (CTH), a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities that funds, creates and collaborates on hundreds of cultural programs across Connecticut each year. CTH brings together people of all ages and backgrounds to express, share and explore ideas in thoughtful and productive ways. From local discussion groups to major exhibitions on important historical events, CTH programs engage, enlighten and educate. Learn more by visiting http://www.cthumanities.org. The exhibit opens to the public on April 17th and runs through October 6, 2013.

Herter Brothers Furniture LMM

Also in April, the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum presents an exciting short-term exhibit, Steampunk: Nature & Machine. At this, the first Steampunk exhibit in Fairfield County, visitors will catch a view of this bold new style, a neo-retro aesthetic that borrows imagery from the Industrial Revolution and Victorian eras and has influenced everything from literature and product design to fashion and fine art. The exhibit will feature the art of renowned Steampunk artists Bruce Rosenbaum, Katie Shima and Leslie Mueller. There will be an opening reception on April 25, from 6:00 – 8:00pm. The exhibit runs until June 15.

Rounding out the 2013 spring season is the Mansion’s Victorian Tea on Sunday, May 5 at 2:00pm. The family-friendly event features a formal English tea in the Mansion’s Rotunda, including a wide selection of desserts, sandwiches, the traditional scones and cream, as well as music and other entertainment. The Tea is sponsored by Cottages & Gardens Publications and King Industries.

LockwoodMansionEexteriorretouched

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark located at 295 West Avenue in Norwalk. Tours will begin in April and are offered Wednesdays through Sundays, at noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m.

For more information on tours and programs, visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799. For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com.

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Concerts at Keeler Tavern

The Louise McKeon Chamber Music Concerts will return to the Keeler Tavern Museum, (http://keelertavernmuseum.org) located at 132 Main Street in Ridgefield on Sunday April, 14th at 3 PM . The first concert of the season will feature Threeds, an oboe trio based in New York City. The trio includes oboists Kathy Halvorson, Katie Schele and Mark Snyder. Formed in 2008, the trio enjoys creating new paths for the oboe and English horn.

keeler tavern

The ensemble plays their own arrangements of pop, rock, jazz, folk and world music while using improvisational techniques. A special guest of Threeds at this concert will be Christof Knoche who plays the bass clarinet. Threeds has also arranged music to accompany local singer-song writers and has recorded at Avatar Studios and Daytone Records.

One of the founding principles of Threeds is to make the oboe an instrument more accessible to the general public by bringing their music out of the concert hall to bars, galleries and other public places that include sites from Joe’s Pub to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Recently, the trio was invited (by audition) to participate in MTA’s Music under NY where they will play in the New York subway.

Over the last few years Threeds have performed in Los Angeles, Providence, Philadelphia, Cape May as well as at the New York and Arizona Summer Music Festivals. The trio is composed of accomplished musicians that have performed with many prestigious orchestras, including Broadway Shows and Emmy nominated independent film tracks. In addition to the trio, the artists of the trio have taught at WestConn University, C. W. Post, Rudolph Steiner School, and the Brooklyn Conservatory among others.

Tickets at the door are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $10 children under 12 years. Members of the audience are invited to enjoy conversation with the musicians following the concert. Light refreshments will be provided

The final performance of the 2012-2013 season on Sunday May 19th at 3 PM will feature the Devonshire Players, a string quarter.

For area information www.visitwesternct.com or www.litchfieldhills.com

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African Penguins Return to Maritime Aquarium At Norwalk through April 22

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is bringing back one of the most popular species it’s ever displayed: African penguins, who will waddle in for a celebratory encore exhibit through April 22, 2013.

Aquar.AfricanPenguin

African Penguins” will be open through April 22 in an outdoor exhibit on the Aquarium’s riverfront courtyard. It’s free with admission. The small colony of penguins will be on loan from the Leo Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich (www.LEOzoo.org).

Educating visitors on where penguins live may be one of the first basic goals of the exhibit. None of them live at the North Pole, or with Eskimos or polar bears. Some species do live in Antarctica. But many penguins can be found in warmer climates of the southern hemisphere, like African penguins in South Africa and several species that live up the western coast of South America, all the way to the equator and the Galapagos Islands. The African penguins – whose conservation status is listed as endangered – will help call attention to Africa’s troubled coastal environments, which receive far less conservation protection than the continent’s inland savannahs, plains and jungles.

African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) stand about two feet tall and weigh 8 pounds. They’re recognizable by the black stripe that loops up across their chest and their pink “eyebrows.” The pink “eyebrows” actually are an adaptation that helps them to survive in a warmer habitat like South Africa – or Norwalk. The “eyebrows” are featherless patches with lots of blood vessels underneath. When a penguin gets too hot, these patches get brighter as the penguin circulates more blood there to dissipate body heat.

African penguins also have evolved shorter feathers because, unlike Antarctic species, they do not face extreme cold.

The previous penguins exhibit at the Aquarium was open from February 2009-December 2010. For more details about The Maritime Aquarium’s exhibits, programs and IMAX movies, go to http://www.maritimeaquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700.

JanetLeave a comment