The Arts Paper | December 2016

stephen kobasa 4

r.j. julia booksellers 5

amateur hour 6

2016 arts awards 8

The Arts Paper a free publication of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven • newhavenarts.org

December 2016

The Arts Paper december 2016

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Artists Next Door Hank Hoffman Interviews Writer/Curator Stephen Kobasa

staff

board of directors

Martha Murray interim executive director

Eileen O’Donnell president Rick Wies vice president Daisy Abreu second vice president

Debbie Hesse director of artistic services & programs Megan Manton director of development Winter Marshall executive administrative assistant Amanda May Aruani communications manager editor, the arts paper design consultant

Ken Spitzbard treasurer Wojtek Borowski secretary

directors Susan Cahan Robert B. Dannies Jr. James Gregg Todd Jokl Mark Kaduboski Jocelyn Maminta Josh Mamis Greg Marazita Rachel Mele Elizabeth Meyer-Gadon Frank Mitchell John Pancoast Mark Potocsny David Silverstone Dexter Singleton Richard S. Stahl, MD

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R.J. Julia Booksellers Our New Arts Everywhere Series Ventures to Madison

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Amateur Hour The Institute Library’s Entertaining Lecture Series Grows Up

The Arts Paper is made possible with support from AVANGRID / United Illuminating / Southern Connecticut Gas

2016 Arts Awards Read About the Winners That Will Be Honored December 2

The Arts Council is pleased to recognize the generous contributions of our business, corporate and institutional members. executive champions Total Wine & More Yale University

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven promotes, advocates, and fosters opportunities for artists, arts organizations, and audiences. Because the arts matter.

The Arts Paper is published by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, and is available by direct mail through membership with the Arts Council.

For membership information call (203) 772-2788.

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Arts Council of Greater New Haven 70 Audubon Street, 2nd Floor New Haven, CT 06510 Phone: (203) 772.2788 Fax: (203) 772.2262 info@newhavenarts.org www.newhavenarts.org

honorary members Frances T. “Bitsie” Clark Cheever Tyler In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, The Arts Council now prints The Arts Paper on more environmentally friendly paper and using soy inks. Please read and recycle.

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senior patrons Knights of Columbus L. Suzio York Hill Companies Marcum Odonnell Company Webster Bank Wiggin and Dana WSHU corporate partners Alexion Pharmaceuticals AT&T Firehouse 12 Fusco Management Company Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven Yale-New Haven Hospital business patrons Albertus Magnus College Gateway Community College H. Pearce Real Estate Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale Newman Architects Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

business members Brenner, Saltzman & Wallman, LLP ChameleonJohn Duble & O’Hearn, Inc. Griswold Home Care Tobi Travel Ticker United Aluminum foundations and government agencies AVANGRID The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Connecticut Arts Endowment Fund DECD/CT Office of the Arts Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation The Ethel & Abe Lapides Foundation Josef and Anni Albers Foundation First Niagara Foundation NewAlliance Foundation Pfizer The Wells Fargo Foundation The Werth Family Foundation media partners New Haven Independent New Haven Living WPKN

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The Arts Paper december 2016

Letter from the Editor This month is a special time to be in Greater New Haven. The twinkle of lights decorate the streets, families get together, and there are plenty of holiday special events, theatre productions, and music performances to attend. (There are 36 calendar entries this month for these three categories alone!)

In the past, I have dreaded winter, calling it a “descent” into you-knowwhat. But, like most things, it’s all a matter of perspective. I have reframed the idea of winter, and now look forward to hot cocoa, soft scarves, and entering a warm room full of laughter and music.

It turns out the cozying-up that happens as winter draws near even has a name. The Danish call it hygge and have it down to an artform. It loosely means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. With this in mind, I encourage you to embrace the season and the end of another year with enthusiasm and delight.

To get in the holiday spirit, we have compiled a holiday gift guide, especially for you, our art-savvy readers, on pages 10 & 11. It includes many options from local artists and shops, which will not only get your shopping list taken care of,

but you’ll also be taking care of the local art scene and economy. Don’t miss even more gift suggestions (in book form) within our story about the Madison bookstore, R.J. Julia, on pages 5 & 12.

The beginning of The Arts Council’s holiday season (and a highlight of our year) is always our annual awards luncheon, The Arts Awards. This year the theme is Creative Communicators and will honor Charles C. Kingsley, Kwadwo Adae, Travis Carbonella, East Street Arts, David Sepulveda, and Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky. Read more about them on pages 8 & 9, and join us at the always impeccably decorated New Haven Lawn Club on December 2.

This issue also includes a story on Amateur Hour, a series of evening lectures moderated by authors Jack Hitt and Joshua Foer that delve into what our fellow humans find interesting in their free time. Past events have focused on tinkerers, taxidermists, and most recently, what is possibly America’s newest religion, the Temple of the Jedi Order (yes, based on Star Wars). Read about it on page 6.

The New Haven Free Public Library has also started a series, theirs a literary one focusing on local authors and books.

Explore Britain in the World Free and open to the public 1 877 BRIT ART | britishart.yale.edu Long Gallery, fourth floor, Yale Center for British Art, photograph by Richard Caspole

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On the Cover Moderated by Andrew Bardin Williams, the “Get Lit” events are conversations with authors like Alice Mattison, Sarah Pemberton Strong, and most recently, Gorman Bechard. Stay tuned for their next conversation, planned for the spring and read the story on page 18.

And last, but not least, I’ll mention our Artist Next Door feature this month (page 4). Hank Hoffman wrote about Stephen Vincent Kobasa, who is a fascinating local writer and curator. The exceptional article really shines a light what makes Kobasa tick, including the lens through which he views creativity, his nonviolent civil disobedience, and finding what he needs in art.

I look forward to bringing you more local arts stories in the coming new year.

Happy Holidays!

Into the White- Stephen Vincent Kobasa, 2008 (detail) by Nathan Lewis. 24”x18”. Oil on canvas. Image courtesy of Mr. Kobasa, who is the subject of this issue’s Artists Next Door feature.

In the Next Issue …

Sincerely,

Amanda May Aruani, editor, The Arts Paper

Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light at the Yale University Art Gallery will be featured in our January/February issue. Pictured here: Thomas Wilfred, Unit #50, Elliptical Prelude and Chalice, from the First Table Model Clavilux (Luminar) series, 1928. Metal, fabric, glass, and electrical and lighting elements, on a maple table. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., Gift of Thomas C. Wilfred.

Yosemite Exploring the Incomparable Valley

Through December 31, 2016 YA L E U N I V E R S I T Y A R T GA L L E RY Free and open to the public | artgallery.yale.edu 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut | 203.432.0600 @yaleartgallery

Image: Albert Bierstadt, Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail (detail), ca. 1873.

Oil on canvas. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Mrs. Vincenzo Ardenghi

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The Arts Paper december 2016

artists next door

Open to Moments of Grace writer stephen kobasa sees in art a vision of a better world hank hoffman

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or Stephen Kobasa, a Catholic pacifist and a commentator on— and curator of—art, it is “worth paying attention as one moves through the world.” In his writings on art, Kobasa invites his readers to be open to surprise, whether it’s in the halls of a gallery or as they, too, move through the world.

To pay attention was a lesson he had to learn. In an interview, Kobasa recalled visiting museums with a friend during his first trip to Europe. Moving briskly through an exhibit, he was physically stopped by his friend, who said, “Look!”

“It was an important lesson,” said Kobasa, “particularly in our moment when it is a revolutionary act to stop and attend, and be patient with something.”

Kobasa wrote about art for the New Haven Advocate from 2006-2009. At the online New Haven Independent, Kobasa has penned over 100 pithy encounters with art and artists in the New Haven area for the series “Object Lessons” and “Look Here: New Work By Nearby Artists.” His writings on art have appeared in Art New England, the online journal Big Red & Shiny and Artes Magazine. Kobasa has also curated art shows at the Institute Library, West Cove studios, and the Mercy Center in Madison.

In his activism, he is aligned with the Catholic Worker movement, founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. A conscientious objector since 1967, Kobasa has been arrested in nonviolent civil disobedience actions a dozen times. He has submitted to arrest for such actions as bearing witness against the threat of nuclear genocide represented by the Trident submarines manufactured at Electric Boat in Groton; protesting against U.S. support for a counter-insurgency war in Colombia; and taking direct action to “make necessary corrections” to an exhibit of part of the fuselage of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

In the latter case, which Kobasa described as one his first instances of “curating,” he and two friends spilled blood and ashes on the aircraft. The initial plan for the exhibit at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which Kobasa described as “somewhat moving,” took account of the horrific toll in human life taken by the bomb. But after veterans groups and others raised a furor, the 1995 exhibit was sanitized, becoming what Kobasa called “a paean to American ingenuity.”

“Sometimes museums seem to me the most damaging institution, especially to the young, when the version of history they give is distorted to serve the purposes of the state,” said Kobasa. “The story was incomplete, it was mangled.

For at least a brief period of time, the

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Stephen Vincent Kobasa. Photograph by Paul Duda.

story was corrected.”

Kobasa sees intimate connections between his activist commitments and his writings on art and curatorial efforts.

“Art is one of the reasons for doing resistance,” he explained. “It’s one of those signs that violence is not the final human gesture.

“And, taken from the other side, art itself is always an act of resistance, up against those forces that would reduce human beings into integers, statistics,” Kobasa added.

“There is something about what human invention can manage when invited into a place of celebration rather than destruction,” said Kobasa.

Creativity, though, “is not defined by moral principle. It’s a capacity. It can be put to different uses,” Kobasa said. As an example, he offered the Trident submarine. “In a strange way, those machines have a kind of beauty to them, which makes them more terrible. You’d like to think war machines would look like war machines.”

In his writings on art, Kobasa looks for works he can celebrate. Rather than art “criticism”—he sees the term as having a “confrontational bias”—Kobasa offers commentary. In a New Haven Independent “Look Here” post on the drawings of Larry Morelli, Kobasa wrote, “The best drawings are pure suggestions to the eye, which insist that we collaborate.

We revisit our own readings of the world through them.” Kobasa’s interpretation of art is filtered through his rich education in the classics, knowledge of history and his Catholic pacifism. But it is not offered as definitive.

“I’d like to think if any of the writing is done well, it’s as an invitation for people to embrace what they bring out of their experience and their poetry to these encounters,” said Kobasa.

In that sense, Kobasa’s series of “Object Lessons” at the Independent constituted “exemplary lessons.” Each post focused on an example of the riches that could be found out in the world—of New Haven, in this case, but also more gener-

ally—by the individual open to discovery and surprise.

In his final “Object Lesson,” commenting on a Tiffany stained glass window, Kobasa presented it as “evidence of the hidden consolations that remain here around us, if only we stop and look.”

“Hidden consolations” is a resonant phrase; Kobasa does not see consolations as reductive.

“In the face of what the world can be, just to go on and engage in gestures of resistance, I think you need a sense that it’s not just rage, but it’s celebration,” Kobasa said. “The world could be different, it could be other than it is. It’s not just negative advocacy that you’re doing.”

With the death last year of his wife Anne Somsel, Kobasa has “found in art things I didn’t know were there because I didn’t need them. And now that I do, there are these moments—they’re not accidents. I always believe in grace, that it comes to you, whether in a work of poetry or film. One of the forms this takes is works of art.” n

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arts everywhere

Bookworm Mecca: R.J. Julia Booksellers dan hajducky Turning off I-95 northbound, a harsh near-winter chill slips through my driver’s side window. My fingers prickle with the juxtaposition of raw November air against the heat coming through the vents. In a moment, I’m struck by the quaint beauty of Madison’s Boston Post Road: brittle yellow-orange leaves dance in the gutters, unaware of the ominous clouds above seemingly about to burst; the early-suburban brick and mortar shops lining the main road, bathed in the streetlights’ milky glow in a matter of hours; the jovial packs of families and friends—scarved, vested, and gloved—each shopper’s arms brimming with more holiday gifts than the next.

Though Stars Hollow, the setting of CW/ WB dramedy Gilmore Girls (whose fourpart revival fittingly just hit Netflix), was inspired by Washington Depot, Connecticut.

Madison could’ve been just as pertinent a model, with its century-old movie theater, the blue-green grandfather clock where Boston Post Road meets Wall Street, and the brick firehouse of Madison Hose Co. No. 1.

Stepping onto the street, I pull my coat tight and turn towards the beating heart of Madison: R.J. Julia Booksellers, the most renowned independent bookstore in Connecticut, one of the most revered in New England, and possibly, the country.

In 1989, when Roxanne J. Coady left her New York accounting firm behind to move to Connecticut with her husband, a real estate developer, she had long harbored the burning desire to open a bookstore.

When she encountered the empty space at 768 Boston Post Road—with “soot and grease marring both the interior and exterior” as noted on the store’s website—R.J. Julia was born. Now, twenty-six years after the store first opened, the once-Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year hosts over 300 events annually, with behemoth names like Toni Morrison, Goldie Hawn, Julia Andrews, Jane Fonda, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton having been drawn to the hallowed ground over the years.

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The R.J. Julia Booksellers storefront in Madison, CT. Photo by Dan Hajducky.

Families ~ Events ~ Community

Photography Judy Sirota Rosenthal info@sirotarosenthal.com www.sirotarosenthal.com 203-281-5854 • december 2016

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The Arts Paper december 2016

Amateur Hour Grows Up

Jack Hitt and Alex Bird at Amateur Hour 19 at the Institute Library in New Haven.

lucy gellman photos by judy sirota rosenthal

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n a rainy Friday night at the end of September, New Yorker Alex Bird took a seat at the Institute Library, listened to the warm wind whipping at the windows, and prepared to do one of the things he does best: describing to a growing, still-chattery audience the Temple of the Jedi Order (TOTJO), and why its devotees are practicing America’s newest religion.

It didn’t bother him that no one in the audience had heard of TOTJO, a web-anchored international ministry inspired directly by “an epic space opera called Star Wars” and the writings of Joseph Campbell and Alan Watts. It didn’t bother him that some people, on hearing the description of TOTJO, had informed him that he was a little off his rocker, or that the myth-exploring belief was a bunch of bunk. Even as he began to speak, it didn’t bother him that a few in the crowd rolled their shoulders forward, sank into their glasses of white wine, and looked around the room with a you’ve got to be kidding me kind of look.

None of that got to him. He was amateur in the truest sense, engaging in a dogged pursuit of belief, and this was his passion.

Now he wanted to share it, in its most distilled sense, with anyone willing to listen.

Bird’s appearance came as part of the 19th

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ever Amateur Hour at the Institute Library (IL), a centuries-old private lending library sandwiched between an antiques market and a tattoo parlor on New Haven’s Chapel Street downtown. Born as an experiment in public outreach, lively discussion and newold school thinking, Amateur Hour has now grown to a staple of the IL’s programming, drawing in new audiences from the community while bringing much-needed grants into the library to pay amateurs and sustain the program.

Its beginnings, however, were relatively humble and uncertain. In 2012, Atlas Obscura founder and author Joshua Foer interviewed fellow author, journalist and gourmand Jack Hitt about his just-published Bunch of Amateurs: A Search for the American Character at the Institute Library. As the two were wrapping up, Hitt made an offhand comment: there were so many amateurs that hadn’t made it into the book, and he didn’t feel like he was done with them.

“It’s really about that quality of being obsessed with something that’s beyond the boundaries of something that’s acceptable,” Hitt explained in an interview with The Arts Paper, noting the word’s root in Latin (amare, to love) and 18th century French (amateur).

“Not something you do for a living, but something you can do because you can’t help yourself. Many of them [amateurs] are struggling to put into words what they are

trying to do. They’re real. They’re still in the flush of excitement of being in their garage doing what they do. I like that aspect of it.”

He’d said basically the same to Foer, who had a pocketful of amateurs about whom he’d wanted to learn more in mind even before the publication of Hitt’s book. As the two spoke, their words orbiting each other magnetically, a sort of timeline and proposal were born: a semi-annual series of lectures at the Institute Library, each with an amateur in their field, with the two alternating as facil-

itators of the program.

That suggestion tickled Will Baker, then director of the IL, who Hitt affectionally calls “the godfather of all of this.” A graduate of programs in Religion, Library Science, and Museum Studies, Baker had long been fascinated by the idea of a traveling cabinet of curiosities, a nineteenth-century “combination of entertainment and education” whose present-day analogues were (and continue to be) few and far between. When he’d become Director of the IL in 2011, he wanted to

Alex Bird explaining the Temple of the Jedi Order at Amateur Hour.

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reignite its old social and intellectual roots with programs that were new and innovative, but still encouraged the “learning in a context of mutual encouragement” on which the institution was founded in 1826.

The collaboration wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. But it came very, very close, a kind of present-day translation of what had been called, during the progressive era, “moral improvement.” That is, becoming— through discourse, intellectual curiosity, and social exploration—a better and more moral human being. After talking it over with Hitt and Foer, and adding Design Monsters duo George Corsillo and Susan McCaslin to the mix after they expressed interest in the Institute Library and the events themselves.

“They [the Amateur Hours] were just wonderful,” Baker said of the first sessions.

“If you think about the nineteenth-century dime museums, performances and lectures were as much a part of the institution as the museum themselves. To see other people getting so excited about unusual collectors and tinkerers and performers … the sense of wonder and dialogue that talking with them could generate was fantastic.”

“With the Amateur Hours, there was this initial sense of spectacle and novelty, and then you wind up going deeper,” he added.

“It presents new ways of looking at history, science, literature, time, medicine … I think it makes us think about how we want to live our lives.”

Four years later, the series has done just that in 19—and soon to be 20—distinct ways. After an initial Amateur Hour featuring professional media hoaxer Alan Abel, Foer and Hitt realized that “there was never really a sense of boundaries” to who they could invite, and began reaching out to amateurs across the country and the world. Almost immediately, the events stuck, bringing in new audience members who wanted to see what passions and unpaid side hustles kept their fellow humans up at night.

They’ve always been a little unexpected, a little magical, Hitt said. At a particularly memorable one in May 2014, taxidermist Robert Marbury took a seat next to taxidermist Katie Innamorato and Foer, pulled out a dead squirrel from his backpack, and began to de-fur and skin it as the audience looked on wide-eyed. At another, Hitt and Seattle-based superhero (yes, that’s right, superhero) Phoenix Jones were late to the event because Jones had taken it upon himself to stop a knifing at the New Haven Green. Others have included web sleuths hot on the JonBenét Ramsey case, urban forester Stephen Brill, and John Quijada, inventor of the involved imaginary language Ithkuil.

The presenters have one thing in common: They totally charm and beguile Hitt, without fail, every time. And they leave him—and the audience—coming back for more.

“There’s no outsider we won’t consider,” he said. n

Author Jack Hitt moderating Amateur Hour.

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The Arts Paper december 2016

2016 Arts Awards amanda may aruani photos by harold shaprio The Arts Council of Greater New Haven is proud to recognize the 2016 Arts Award winners. The theme for this year’s awards is Creative Communicators, honoring individuals and groups who engage the arts in new and creative ways. The following six winners will be recognized for meaningfully engage people, communities, cultures, and populations at our December 2 luncheon at the New Haven Lawn Club, located at 193 Whitney Avenue in New Haven. The club will open for a social hour at 11 a.m., with the awards program commencing at 11:45 a.m. Call The Arts Council at (203) 7722788 for more information and to purchase tickets for this momentous event.

C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement in and Contribution to the Arts In addition to being an accomplished lawyer and partner at Wiggin and Dana law firm, Charles C. Kingsley has long been both a participator in and patron of the arts. After receiving his Bachelor

of Arts from Yale University, Kingsley graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and promptly moved back to New Haven in 1962. According to Kingsley, one of the reasons was because there would be an opportunity to get involved in the community and have an impact.

And that he has. Kingsley has served on numerous boards in the arts community, beginning with President of the Board of the New Haven Museum and Historical Society in 1975, when it was still called the New Haven Colony Historical Society.

He went on to serve as President of the Board at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Chair of the Board at Long Wharf Theatre, and Trustee of the International Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. He is currently the Trustee of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.

In addition to his patronage of the arts, Kingsley has long been a wildlife photography hobbyist, a passion that began on a National Audubon trip to Alaska in 1975.

He was inspired by the wildlife and by the tour guide—the late Southern Connecticut State University Professor, Noble

creative communicators

Proctor, who was a wildlife photographer and known as one of the world’s great ornithologists. Kingsley was hooked. Over the years, his photographs have been exhibited at various locations in New Haven and his artistic endeavors have taken him to the Canadian Arctic, Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, and he is now planning his seventeenth trip to Alaska to photograph bears in June. When asked what his life would be like without the arts, Kingsley laughed and replied, “greatly diminished,” much like our lives would be without his presence in the arts community.

Kwadwo Adae is a muralist, visual artist, and art instructor living in New Haven who first picked up the paintbrush at the age of seven. After graduating from the University of Rochester, New York, Adae’s first commissioned mural was at the Connecticut Children’s Museum in 2001. Since then, he has graduated from New York University with a Master of Arts in Painting, completed residencies in Vermont, Arizona, and Oregon, and participated in more than thirty exhibitions.

You can now find his murals all over New Haven—the most recent unveiling was Elm City Footrace in in the Farmington Canal Greenway in October. In 2005, he founded Adae Fine Art Academy, an art school on Chapel Street where he is also the Director. The next year Adae began a mobile art studio, bringing art classes to a variety of settings and students, including an Alzheimer’s and dementia ward, senior-living centers, West Haven Mental Health Clinic, and an after school program at the Foote School. Just down the hall from Adae Fine Art Academy, he met his meditation teacher Khushi Malhotra, which led to him creating a collaborative international mural at a meditation center/school for rural children in India. To make it happen, Adae made a creative stop-motion watercolor video, which earned him over $7,000 on Kickstarter last year. He did the same for a mural in Guatemala this year (with donations of over $10,000) and has more sites in mind, including the village where his parents are from—and will soon retire to—in Ghana. He said of future international murals that he wants to continue to focus

East Street Arts. Left to right: Master Caner Rhonda Voos, Director of Creative Development Eric Ginnish.

Charles C. Kingsley

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Travis Carbonella

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on schools and working with underserved populations of children. Adae is also a student of healing and martial arts and recently began to teach a free meditation class through Breathing Room Yoga Center, connecting with the community in ever-more creative ways.

Travis Carbonella is a videographer, producer, and storyteller from Middletown who helps others craft their own narratives.

Carbonella started working in New Haven in 2009 when he got his first job out of college with Youth Rights Media. He is now a full time freelancer thriving in the unique Westville neighborhood of New Haven. He has been making videos since he was fourteen, and has developed a documentary, “on the street” aesthetic that humanizes all of his subjects. He is gifted in seeing and listening to people, which helps him to accurately document the diverse community that we live in. Even just a quick look at his website reveals the equal attention that he gives homeless subjects, the mayor of New Haven, and community organizations like Neighborhood Music School and the United Way. “I like it when things can get emotional, vulnerable or raw, revealing an underlying truth,” he has said about his work. Even in his fashion and commercial work, he looks for capturing moments and nuances. He would like to one day use his talents to make perspective-shifting videos for national progressive news organizations.

Carbonella is also the co-founder and emcee of Permission to Fail, a series of non-traditional open-mic performance events that take place in Westville. Songs, poems, stories, informational talks, theater—anything and everything is welcome at Permission to Fail, which has drawn performers from as far as Brooklyn and Queens, but prides itself on being a place to feel supported and build local community. Creativity and inclusivity are themes that are obvious in all the work Carbonella does.

East Street Arts is a maker space that engages artists throughout our community, including those with developmental challenges. It is a social enterprise of Marrakech Incorporated, which has provided a broad array of programs in the community for the past forty-five years, including the Association of Artisans to Cane for the past twenty-five years, and now East Street Arts for the past two. As a space, East Street Arts is a newly renovated and expanded arts building in the Upper State Street district of New Haven. According to their website, East Street Arts is dedicated to fostering the creation of art through artisan training programs, workshops with professional teaching artists, and community interactions for persons of all abilities. In the evenings, East Street Arts runs artist workshops open to the community, including “Wine & Design Jewelry Making,” a paint social, and seat weaving workshops. During the day, they run their artisan training program with people with developmental challenges. Participants learn techniques like block printing, seat weaving, textile weaving, and silk screen printing. The newly-trained artisans can then benefit from selling their work in the retail space attached to East Street Arts.

Bolstered with their new skills, they are also encouraged to strive for long-term goals such as a higher level of self-sufficiency and greater acceptance by the community in which they live. In this age of waste, it’s heartening to see an organization that has the dedication and vision to turn donated wares like worn chairs, fabric, yarn, and paint brushes and turn them into glee, pride, and satisfaction—not to mention an income—for an underserved population who, just like the rest of us, crave creative outlets and opportunities.

David Sepulveda

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David Sepulveda is a tireless artist, journalist, and retired teacher. Or, in his words, “an artist turned journalist turning back into an artist.” Since retiring from teaching fine art in the Stamford Public School system—where he was also the Editor of the award-winning newsletter SEA LINK—Sepulveda has stayed involved in the arts. Even before he retired, he was a painter and a contributing arts and culture writer and photographer for the New Haven Independent. He has been called a real “mover and shaker” in New Haven and has donated his time painting sets for both Collective Consciousness and Bregamos Community Theaters. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Southern Connecticut State University, a Masters in Studio Art from New York University, and another Masters in Learning from Sacred Heart through the Graduate Institute. After teaching for 36 years, he said he feels he is coming back to being a student again, as he relearns his own city and interacts with local artists. He is a proud Westville community member, and participates in their Artwalk each year. It was the tight-knit community there that led him to contribute his first article for the Independent (one of his neighbors is Paul Bass). You may also recognize his name from his largescale snow sculptures that have made headlines from Florida to the Canadian Broadcasting Network (not to mention Ludacris’ Instagram feed). Looking toward the future, Sepulveda hopes to find an art studio and paint there full time, “reporting less, creating more.” Whether its oils and acrylics, snow, lesson plans or articles, Sepulveda’s life is steeped in art and creativity.

Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky has been the executive director of the New Haven Museum since February of 2012.

A transplant from Queens, New York,

Kwadwo Adae

Tockarshewsky holds degrees from Columbia and Cornell Universities. She also has more than two decades of experience working with cultural institutions. She came to New Haven after turning down Director positions elsewhere because the museum seemed like “the right fit” and because of New Haven’s diversity— something she loved about Queens, where well over a hundred languages are spoken. While at the Queens Botanical Garden, her challenge as Director of Marketing and Communications was to make it accessible to all audiences, despite language and cultural barriers. Most of us would call that mission impossible, but she has called it a “fantastic experience.”

She brought this courage and drive to the New Haven Museum, which is becoming an outwardly-focused, increasingly relevant institution. Given a blank slate for exhibitions, Tockarshewsky has engaged new audiences and opened doors with collaborators with incredibly successful exhibitions about Wooster Square, the history of the bicycle, the Lincoln Tree that was uprooted on the New Haven Green during hurricane Sandy, the historic Shubert Theatre, and more. Under her leadership, the museum has also either started new or deepened existing collaborations with the Yale-China Association, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the Amistad Committee, the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, and the New Haven Preservation Trust. The New Haven Museum has also become involved in the pop-up festivals during the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and have expanded their public programs schedule—at times drawing standing-room only crowds. In just shy of five years, Tockarshewsky has accomplished more than anyone could have imagined and is “still excited” about going to work every day. n

Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky

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Holiday Gift Guide amanda may aruani This year, The Arts Council has reached out to a few local organizations and shops, asking them to submit gift ideas for this holiday season for our artsavvy readers. The options range from $12-1,200 and everywhere in between, so truly something for every budget.

We wish everyone a warm, happy holiday season, and don’t forget that giving presence is just as important as giving presents to friends and family.

Creative Arts Workshop After a one-year hiatus, The Celebration of American Crafts is back at Creative Arts Workshop. This will be their 47th annual exhibit and sale of fine crafts. Opening with a 60% off sale on Small Business Saturday (November 26), it continues Thursdays-Sundays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. until December 24. 80 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 562-4927.

CelebrationofAmericanCrafts.com.

The original Lokai bracelet, with elements from the highest and lowest points on Earth (water from Mt. Everest and mud from the Dead Sea), reminding wearers to find balance. $22. The Wave Gallery.

Hull’s Art Supply and Framing Your local art supply store is a great place to pick up gifts for the creative people in your life. Selling “tools for imagination since 1947,” there is truly something for everyone at their store at 1144 Chapel St., New Haven. Open Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (203) 865-4855.

HullsNewHaven.com.

East Street Arts Selling handmade goods made in their artisan training program for people with developmental challenges, East Street Art’s shop helps support their artisans and their programming (and are pretty cool too!). 597 East St., New Haven. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., or by appointment. (203) 776-6310. EastStreetArtsNH.org.

Steel and brass Seder plate by Motif. $70. The Wave Gallery.

Polar Bear by Holly Bollier. $55. Guilford Art Center.

Guilford Art Center Artistry is the Guilford Art Center’s holiday shopping event featuring one-of-a-kind works from American artisans, including jewelry, ceramics, glass, fiber, ornaments, accessories, toys, specialty foods and more. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Thursdays until 8 p.m., and Sundays 12-5 p.m. through January 8. 411 Church St., Guilford. (203) 453-5947. GuilfordArtCenter.org.

Kehler Liddell Gallery Support local artists in a very direct way by purchasing their original art during Kehler Liddell Gallery’s Deck the Walls holiday group show and sale through December 18. The exhibition/sale features 18 local artists and artworks range in price to suit any budget. 873 Whalley Ave, New Haven. (203) 389-9555. See KehlerLiddellGallery.com for hours.

Printed Tote Bag. $20. East Street Arts.

Holey Moley! by Maureen Farr from Deer Isle, ME. Photo by Robert Diamante. $140. Creative Arts Workshop.

The Wave Gallery This bright boutique shop has handmade textiles, jewelry, bowls, and more. Even walking along the lovely block of Chapel Street where Wave is located will put you in the holiday spirit. 1046 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 624-3032. Wave-Gallery-Gifts.com.

Fairhaven Furniture This alternative home store sells interesting objects, distinctively designed furniture, and artful gifts. Definitely worth a visit! Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday 12-5 p.m. 72 Blatchley Avenue, New Haven. (203) 776-3099.

Fairhaven-Furniture.com.

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Wobble Chess Set by Umbra features a uniquely designed maple and walnut wood chess board with accompanying wood chess pieces that wobble and wiggle, but don’t fall over. $249. Fairhaven Furniture.

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The Arts Paper december 2016

Paint Splash by Lowe Bow Originals from Plantsville, CT. Photo by Kellie Dunne. $50. Creative Arts Workshop.

Winsor & Newton Pigment Markers. Set of 6 $29.99, Individual $5.99. Coloring canvases starting at $11.99. Hull’s.

Textile basket by Anne Chittenden. $62. Guilford Art Center.

Printed towels. 2 pack $15. East Street Arts.

Moleskine journals and planners starting at $12.95. Faber Castell fine writing fountain pens $100-175. Hull’s.

• december 2016

Green Seeds by Gar Waterman. Persian marble, 14”x17”x4”. $1200. Kehler Liddell Gallery.

Celebrity by Hank Paper. Photograph, 42”x30”. $600. Kehler Liddell Gallery.

Riverstone Wine Glasses made from recycled glass and smooth river stones hand picked from the shores of New England. $29 each.

Fairhaven Furniture.

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The Arts Paper december 2016

R.J. Julia

10 new releases available at R.J. Julia Booksellers,

continued from page 5 Just how dedicated locals are to R.J. Julia can be measured by a 2014 contest the store participated in. Among independent bookstores, whoever sold the most copies of Neil Gaiman’s 2013 novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane over a given period of time would win a book signing courtesy of the England-born, Minneapolis-dwelling author. Sure enough, on June 3rd, 2014, the Nebula Award-winning author of American Gods and Stardust visited R.J. Julia, a testament to the bookstore’s clout and to the fervor of its loyal clientele.

Despite numerous self-promises and multiple plans to make the pilgrimage to Madison, I’d never been before this blustery November day. Truth be told, I was a little wary of the volume and fervency of the bookstore’s praise I’d received.

But upon stepping inside, my trepidation was silenced by the sea of handwritten staff recommendations, impressive both in quantity and the depth of the recommenders’ assessments of textual merit.

In fiction, nonfiction, mystery/suspense, kids/YA… the breadth of knowledge of the R.J. Julia staff and the empathy they exude in their recommendations is astounding.

(Not to mention, the 25th Anniversary Staff Recommendations—the store’s favorite books each year from 1990-2015— and the “What’s Your Perfect Next Read?” sections of the website are unique touches that only R.J. Julia is capable of.) That each and every bookseller strikes up conversations with customers and offers said knowledge willingly is an added bonus.

(I received multiple compliments on my Goodnight Moon t-shirt, just barely peeking through my mostly-zipped jacket. Nothing gets by these folks.)

A criticism of modern bookstores—if criticism of an industry crippled by online shopping is fair—is that, independent or chain notwithstanding, stores give the spotlight to bestsellers and the current slate of critically lauded books without much of a backlist inventory, leaving precious little to discover in browsing.

The opposite is true of R.J. Julia; the bestsellers and critical darlings are all here, in all genres, but they aren’t the focus. R.J. Julia’s selection is wide-ranging, immersive, and astounding, largely dedicated to books and authors you may have missed.

In an increasingly digital age, wherein shopping habits are mapped and tracked, the novelty of genuine discovery is still alive at R.J. Julia.

It’s worth pointing out that, since early August alone, Lindsey Vonn, David Sedaris, Elin Hilderbrand, Abby Wambach, Liane Moriarty, Stacy Schiff, and Gayle Forman have all come to Madison for book talks and signings. In fact, in early October, Vonn and Sedaris were at R.J. Julia on the same day. An Olympic gold medalist and a Thurber Prize for American Humor winner… in Madison, Connecticut, a town of less than 20,000… on the same day.

That’s the type of respect the name R.J. Julia receives.

Around back is the fantastic RJ Café & Bistro, boasting an immaculate locally-sourced and reasonably-priced menu,

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with a macchiato that’ll knock your socks off. (Also try the B.A.M.! panini and thank me later.) The café’s cuisine, and the quality of their coffee and tea, is truly the cherry on top of the sundae.

It must be noted that R.J. Julia has not just survived the great recession, the demise of Borders, and outlasted the rise and fall of e-books. In fact, in thanks to people like Roxanne Coady and her dedicated staff, the number of independent bookstores in the United States increased from 1,410 to 1,712 from 2010 to 2015.

Between the knowledge of the staff, the welcoming atmosphere of the store, the incredible selection, and the top-notch café, one thing becomes clear: R.J. Julia is not simply a bookstore… it is an all-encompassing reading experience and a fine one at that. In a state whose cup runneth over with hidden gems begging to be discovered, R.J. Julia might be Connecticut’s most intriguing. n

just in time for gift-giving (or curling up with this winter).

fiction The Spy Paulo Coelho Knopf (Penguin Random House)

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (And Everything in Between) Lauren Graham Ballantine Books (Random House)

The Alchemist author returns with The Spy, a historical fiction turn which chronicles the life of Mata Hari, the Dutch exotic dancer who would eventually be convicted of espionage and executed via firing squad in Paris in 1917.

Release date: November 15

R.J. Julia December Events: December 1 New York Times¬bestselling author Nicola Yoon will be in Madison signing copies of her National Book Award for Young People’s Literature-shortlisted The Sun is Also a Star.

December 1 Former Culinary Institute of America fellow Elaine Khosrova comes to R.J. Julia to promote her book Butter, a detailed history of the “culinary catalyst.”

December 7 Local author and creator of the classic Caldecott Award-winning children’s book Have You Seen My Duckling? Author Nancy Tafuri comes to sign copies of Counting to Christmas and The Donkey’s Christmas Song.

December 7 Local author and renowned chronicler of American history, nonfiction writer William J. Mann, comes to town for his new book The War of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America’s Greatest Political Family.

December 8 Yale University Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science Paul Bloom will be on-hand to sign copies of Against Empathy, a study of “immorality and inequality in society.”

December 13 New York Times-bestselling YA author Neal Schusterman comes to promote Scythe, the first installment of a new series.

December 15 Brooklyn-based Men’s Journal associate editor Jason Diamond will be on-hand to sign copies of his memoir Searching for John Hughes.

non-fiction

Readers and critics alike were impressed with Graham’s 2014 debut novel. This, her first memoir, is timed to the Gilmore Girls revival. Fans are expected in droves.

Release date: November 29

What Happened to Interracial Love?: Stories Kathleen Collins Ecco (HarperCollins)

Scrappy Little Nobody Anna Kendrick Touchstone Books (Simon and Schuster)

Collins was little-known before her untimely death in 1988. In 2006, her daughter began sifting through her writings; this collection is the result, and has been lauded as one of the most anticipated releases of the year.

Anna Kendrick is seemingly capable of anything. Kendrick’s wit and sense of humor are only outmatched by her talent. Expect her memoir to be just as luminous as her career thus far.

Release date: December 6

Release date: November 15

Moonglow Michael Chabon HarperCollins

The Princess Diarist Carrie Fisher Blue Rider Press (Penguin Random House)

This must-read is based on a conversation Pulitzer Prize-winning Chabon had with his grandfather while on his deathbed—billed as “a lie that tells the truth, a work of fictional nonfiction, an autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir.”

Release date: November 22

Wishful Drinking was a joyfully sardonic precursor to The Princess Diarist, Fisher’s recollection and (supposedly) tell-all about what happened on the set of Star Wars, sparked by the recent discovery of the journals she kept on set.

Release date: November 22

Swing Time Zadie Smith Penguin Random House

The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History Chris Smith with a foreword by Jon Stewart, Grand Central Publishing (Hachette)

Since publishing her first novel, White Teeth, Smith has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (On Beauty, 2006). There’s usually a few years between Smith novels, so each publication must be savored.

Release date: November 15

An oral history of one of the most critically-adored, revered, and subversive television shows of all-time, from the mouths of the people who created and worked on it. Enough said.

Release date: November 22

Gods & Angels David Park Bloomsbury Publishing

A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind Siri Hustvedt Simon & Schuster

David Park has been called a “writer’s writer,” forging a career away from the spotlight.

Park’s new short story collection, which explores masculinity and isolation, could earn him (as well as his previous work) the recognition he’s long deserved.

For more information and events, visit rjjulia.com.

Arts Everywhere is a new Arts Paper series that will highlight events and places that take place outside of New Haven, but within the Arts Council’s 15-town region.

Release date: December 6

Building off her 2014 LA Times Book Prize for Fiction, Hustvedt turns in what Kirkus Review calls “[a] wide-ranging, irreverent, and absorbing meditation on thinking, knowing, and being.”

Release date: December 6

december 2016 •

Celebrate Your Holiday Season with the NHSO HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA

Saturday, December 10 / 2:30pm Hamden Middle School Sunday, December 11 / 3:00pm Shelton High School

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Thursday, December 15 / 7:30pm Woolsey Hall Pre-Concert Symphony Supper to Benefit Community Soup Kitchen of New Haven Saturday, December 17 / 7:30pm First Congregational Church of Madison

Nov. 19, 2016 - Jan. 29, 2017

Free Admission & Parking 1 State Street, New Haven, CT 203-865-0400 • kofcmuseum.org

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860.241.6796

Open 7 Days 1144 Chapel St 203.865.4855 HullsNewHaven.com

Much More Than an Art Supply Store!

newhavenarts.org • 13

The Arts Paper december 2016

CALENDAR

Classes & Workshops

Friends & Co. Shoreline ArtsTrail, 11 Boston Post Road, Madison. (203) 530-3330. shorelineartstrail.com Shoreline ArtsTrail at Friends & Co. On view through Sunday, December 11. Friends is open Tuesday-Thursday 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m. and Monday 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m.

Bethesda Lutheran Church 450 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (585) 200-8903. bethesdanewhaven.org/dance Ballroom Dance Classes Bethesda is offering free ballroom dance classes to the community!

Christina Castaneda is an experienced teacher and loves to use dance to build community and promote wellbeing. Singles and couples, with any level of experience, are invited to join weekly sessions through December 20. Tuesdays at 6 p.m. or Saturdays at 11 a.m. Free will donation.

Liz Pagano Erector Square, 315 Peck St., New Haven. (203) 675-1105. lizpagano.com Private art instruction for adults and children Learn in a working artist’s studio. Artists/ home schooled/portfolio prep/special needs. Draw/ paint/print/collage etc. in a spacious, lightfilled studio at Erector Square in New Haven.

Relaxed and professional. I can also come to you. Lessons created to suit individual. References available. lizpagano@snet.net.

Institute Library 847 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4045. eventbrite.com/e/ storysharing-at-the-institute-library-2016tickets-20973568508 Storysharing at the Institute Library The Institute Library sponsors a story sharing group on the third Thursday of each month as an opportunity to share stories in an informal atmosphere.

Stories may be of any kind—traditional folk tales, myths, personal experiences, etc. Open to all levels of experience. December 15, 6-8 p.m. Free.

The Poetry Institute On the third Thursday of each month from 6:30-8:30 p.m., The Poetry Institute Poetry Series celebrates an eclectic mix of poetic voices. Refreshments are served, donations welcome. Participants are also invited to bring refreshments to share. Open mic.

Outstanding featured readers. Casual setting.

December 15, 6:30-8 p.m. Free.

RSCDS at the Whitneyville Cultural Commons 1253 Whitney Avenue, Hamden. (203) 2816591. rscdsnewhaven.org Scottish Country Dancing Enjoy dancing the social dances of Scotland. Come alone or with a friend. All dances taught. Wear soft-soled nonstreet shoes. Every Tuesday evening through December 13th (except November 23rd). $8 per evening. First night free. 7-9:30 p.m.

Studio in Bethany 8 Carmel Road, Bethany.

(203) 390-0965. abbiesart.com Abstract Painting Workshop Where will your creative impulses lead you? Let’s find out! Join us in a spacious art studio located in a gorgeous, rural setting. This workshop focuses on self-expression and intuition. Explore rhythm, form, and movement using line, shape, and color.

Supportive critiques. All materials included. All levels welcome! December 3, 1-4 p.m. $59.

Suzanne Siegel Studio 2351 Boston Post Rd., Bldg. 2, Suite 210, Guilford. (203) 215-1468. suzannesiegel.net New Drop-In Program Come and work on your art among a supportive and friendly group of artists in a quiet, large, and comfortable studio with good light and large tables. Enjoy an interactive process with questions answered, tools supplied, and plenty of suggestions for improving your process with your materials. Email to sign up - suzanne@suzannesiegel.net. Every Wednesday morning, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. $30/week.

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David Ottenstein and Robert Lisak’s photographs in The National Parks Seen: Two Views at The Gallery at EleMar capture the beauty of our national parks and also explore the attempts to reconcile the lofty goals our national parks to embody the desire to preserve pristine nature, to accommodate thousands of visitors, and to reflect the meaning of the American character. Photo courtesy of David Ottenstein.

Annie Sailer Dance Company Trinity Lutheran Church, 292 Orange St. (at corner of Wall St.), New Haven. (347) 306-7660. anniesailerdancecompany.com Modern/Contemporary Dance Classes Annie Sailer teaches ongoing dance classes (adult, intermediate). Please visit website for details.

Mondays, 6-7:30 p.m., Wednesdays, 5:30-7 p.m. 10-class card (good for 11 weeks): $150, single class: $18.

Connecticut Natural Science Illustrators Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 695-1215. ctnsi.com Winter Art Classes We are drawn to nature!

Come experience a wide offering of art classes at the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Botanical Watercolor, Landscape Painting in Oil, Drawing and Painting Birds, Basic Drawing, Colored Pencil, Drawing from the Peabody Dioramas and more! To register: ctnsi.com, ctnsi.info@ gmail.com, or (203) 695-1215. Mondays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. through December 20.

Dance 4 Sunday Worlds of Dance Concert Crowell Concert Hall, Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Introduction to Dance and beginning dance students perform works of various styles including hip hop, Bharata Natyam (South Indian Classical), and West African dance. December 4, 2 p.m.

50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 6853355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

9 Friday & 10 Saturday Winter Dance Concert CFA Theater, Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Advanced student choreographers present recent works.

Friday, December 9, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, December 10, at 8 p.m. 271 Washington Terrace, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

Exhibitions Artspace 50 Orange St., New Haven. (203) 772-2709. artspacenh.org A new job to unwork at An exhibition and ongoing performative symposium that considers the role of work as a social, material, and economic concept, crucial in shaping our identity and reality. The selected artists contemplate this notion, while examining cultural production and its position in a larger system of labor relations.

December 2, 5-8 p.m. Free.

City Gallery 994 State St., New Haven. (203) 782-2489. city-gallery.org Freddie Elton: Other Galaxies “Dry point on a polyurethane-covered cardboard plate involves only one mark-maker, a diamond tipped scribe.

I try to create mass & form, light & dark without using other instruments, brushes, or colored medium. I work with abstract intentions, but find familiar creatures insinuating themselves into the plates. Have they come from other life forms?”- Elton. December 1-31. Opening reception Saturday, December 3, 1-4 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Creative Arts Workshop 80 Audubon Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4927. creativeartsworkshop.org The 47th Annual Celebration of American Crafts Exhibition and sale of fine crafts from local, state, and regional crafters. Special events will be held throughout the sale. Thursdays through Sundays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. through December 24.

Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, 283 Washington Terrace, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa FLYING CARPETS: new paintings by David Schorr Professor of Art David Schorr’s solo exhibition and site-specific installation, FLYING CARPETS, revisits his childhood days spent playing on his grandmother’s Persian rugs. The exhibition is on display through Sunday, December 11, 2016. Free.

Hamden Art League at Miller Library Senior Center Hamden Art League, 2901 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden. (203) 287-1322. hamdenartleague.com Reception for Hamden Art League’s Annual Silverbells Exhibition and Sale The HAL’s Annual Silverbells exhibit and sale opens with a festive reception on December 6 with refreshments, an awards presentation, and the raffling off of many art-related gifts. It features close to 100 original 2D works in oil, pastel, acrylic, pencil, watercolor, printmaking and mixed-media by Hamden and area artists. Opening reception for the exhibit is Tuesday, Dec. 6, 7-9 p.m. The exhibit itself runs through Jan. 3, 2017. Viewing hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. If the Miller Library Complex is closed due to inclement weather the exhibit will be closed for that day. If closed on Dec. 6, please call (203) 278-1322 for word on the reception.

The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.

Institute Library 847 Chapel Street, New Haven.

(203) 562-4045. eventbrite.com/e/ out-of-the-fog-opening-reception-tickets-28456 Out of the Fog Photographs by Marion Belanger, Sean Kernan, Steven B. Smith, Marjorie Gillette Wolfe, and Stefan Znosko. Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa. On view through January 15th.

Free.

Kehler Liddell Gallery 873 Whalley Ave, New Haven. (203) 389-9555. kehlerliddellgallery.com Deck the Walls Holiday Show Take the edge off your holiday shopping list. Check out Deck the Walls, Kehler Liddell Gallery’s annual holiday group show and sale featuring 18 local artists and creative works in price ranges to suit all budgets.

Runs through December 18. Celebrate the season at the festive opening reception on December 10 from 4-7 p.m. See website for gallery hours.

Knights of Columbus Museum 1 State St., New Haven. (203) 865-0400. kofcmuseum.org Creches of Germany: Tradition and Faith Germany is a country of picturesque landscapes and charming villages, but also of deeply-rooted ancestral culture. Christmas is a significant holiday in Christianity, and it is lived and celebrated in Germany with a solemnity that finds few parallels. Through January 29. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission & parking.

New Haven Museum 114 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 562-4183. newhavenmuseum.org Road Trip! This New Haven Museum exhibition is a celebration of the architecture, food, and fun found on the byways and back roads of America.

November 22-June 17. See website for museum hours. $2-$4.

Paul Mellon Arts Center Choate Rosemary Hall, 332 Christian Street, Wallingford. (203) 6972398. choate.edu/boxoffice Overflow This exhibition features the collaborative and collective work of Martha Lewis, Eva Mantell, Melissa Marks, and Laura Watt. It is a four-way conversation, on paper, about too much. Through December 18. It is free and open to the public, daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., when school is in session. Free.

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The Arts Paper december 2016

PEABODY2 Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 1 Broadway, New Haven. (203) 4325050. peabody.yale.edu/events/ Identity, Difference, and Understanding: Lessons from Oceania and SE Asia As part of its sesquicentennial celebration, the Yale Peabody Museum announces the opening of PEABODY2, a satellite gallery. The objective of this exhibition is to suggest new ways of thinking about what ethnographic art has to tell us about distant peoples, times, and places. Through April 30, 2017.

Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1-6 p.m.

Free.

Perspectives ... The Gallery at Whitney Center The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 200 Leeder Hill Drive, south entrance, Hamden. (203) 772-2788. newhavenarts.org/2016/09/20/ nature-constructed-at-perspectives-gallery Nature Constructed A multimedia exhibition that examines the complex intersection between art, nature, and culture. The artists who will be exhibiting work are: Leila Daw, Geoffrey Detrani, Joan Fitzsimmons, Fritz Horstman, Joseph Saccio, and Mark Williams. Debbie Hesse curated this exhibition. On view Tuesdays and Thursdays 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. through January 6. Free.

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon St., 2nd Floor, New Haven. (203) 772-2788. newhavenarts.org/2016/11/01/all-in-at-thesumner-mcknight-crosby-jr-gallery ALL IN The 2016 Arts Council members show. On view through December 30. The gallery is open during normal office hours, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free.

The Gallery at EleMar 2 Gibbs Street, New Haven. (203) 782-3544. elemarnewengland.com The National Parks Seen: Two Views David Ottenstein and Robert Lisak’s photographs in The National Parks Seen: Two Views, capture the beauty of our national parks and also explore the attempts to reconcile the lofty goals our national parks to embody the desire to preserve pristine nature, to accommodate thousands of visitors, and to reflect the meaning of the American character. December 4-January 14. Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Free.

Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery The Artists of Gallery One, 250 Flat Rock Place, Westbrook. (860) 358-6200. galleryoneCT.com The Artists of Gallery One at Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery On view through January 4, 2017. Free.

Holiday Student Exhibition at Yale Peabody Museum Come enjoy an exhibition of scientific art and illustration in the Hall of Dinosaurs at Yale Peabody Museum. Students of Connecticut Natural Science Illustrator’s art program at the Peabody Museum will display their recent work. Free with museum admission. December 4, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

play with intricately carved leather puppets, accompanied by the gamelan, an ensemble of tuned gongs, metallophones, two-stringed fiddle, xylophone, flute, and vocalists. December 2, 7 p.m. Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/ cfa/events.

Film

West African Drumming and Dance Concert Featuring choreographer and Artist in Residence Iddi Saaka joined by his students, guest artists, and drummers, this invigorating performance showcases the vibrancy of West African cultures through their music and dance forms. December 2, 8 p.m. $8 general public; $6 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 6853355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

3 Saturday Neighborhood Spotlight - Film Screening: Letter From Italy Letter from Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio by Karyl Evans with Sarah Meneely-Kyder, former NMS faculty member.

December 3, 4 p.m. Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. neighborhoodmusicschool.org.

Kids & Families Neighborhood Music School 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. neighborhoodmusicschool.org Holiday Play and Sing-In Join us for this joyful NMS community tradition for students and parents from all studios. We’ll play and sing seasonal music that is so much more than carols: traditional, contemporary, rounds, and fun! Absolute beginners and families of players are welcome to come and sing. December 17, 10-11:30 a.m. Free.

3 Saturday Yale Camerata: Advent Concert Marguerite L. Brooks, conductor December 3, 7:30 p.m. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Battell Chapel, College and Elm Streets., New Haven. (203) 432-3220. ism.yale.edu/calendar.

Music

Wesleyan University Orchestra The Wesleyan University Orchestra, under direction of Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Nadya Potemkina and student Assistant Conductor Hanhee Song ‘17, present an exciting program featuring Wesleyan Private Lesson Instructor Charlie Suriyakham on clarinet. December 3, 8 p.m. Free.

Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

1 Thursday

4 Sunday

Music from East Asia Featuring Wesleyan’s three East Asian ensembles- the Taiko Drumming Ensemble directed by Visiting Instructor in Music Barbara Merjan, the Chinese Music Ensemble directed by Ph.D. candidate Huan Li, and the Korean Drumming Ensemble, directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Jin Hi Kim. December 1, 7 p.m. Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

2 Friday Javanese Puppet Play University Professor of Music and puppet master Sumarsam and the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble, with guest musicians, will present a Javanese wayang puppet

Great Organ Music at Yale: Olukola Owolabi Kola Owolabi, a native of Toronto, Canada, is Associate Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan. December 4, 7:30 p.m. Free. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Woolsey Hall, 500 College St., New Haven. 203-432-3220. ism.yale. edu/calendar.

Concert Choir The Wesleyan Concert Choir under direction of Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Nadya Potemkina present a concert featuring both a cappella and accompanied selections from classical and modern choral repertoire. December 4, 3 p.m. Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Memorial Chapel, 221 High Street, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/ cfa/events.

Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library 146 Thimble Islands Rd., Stony Creek. (203) 4888702. wwml.org Double Vision: Paintings and Works on Paper Paulette Rosen and Lisa Hess Hesselgrave present multimedia drawings, paintings and artist’s books rooted in the atmosphere of the natural world.

Please join us for an artists’ reception on Sunday, December 4, 4-6 p.m. On view through January 2. Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday & Satruday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1-4 p.m. Free.

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 432-5050. peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/treasurespeabody-150-years-exploration-discovery Treasures of the Peabody: 150 Years of Exploration and Discovery It’s the 150th anniversary of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Founded in 1866 with a generous gift from international financier George Peabody, the museum has served as a world leader for 150 years in the collection, preservation, and study of objects that document the diversity and history of both nature and humanity. Through January 8. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. $6-$13

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Passion The New Haven Chamber Orchestra concert, Passion, will be on Sunday Dec. 4, 2 p.m. at the Fair Haven Middle School, 164 Grand Avenue in New Haven. The orchestra, led by Music Director Heejung Park, will perform Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Borodin’s Symphony #2, and Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso featuring violinist Yurie Mitsuhasi. The concert is free. For more information go to newhavenchamberorchestra.org.

5 Monday Ebony Singers Winter Concert An evening of great gospel music featuring the Wesleyan University Ebony Singers conducted by Marichal Monts ‘85. December 5, 8 p.m. $7 general public; $6 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/ alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $5 Wesleyan students. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

6 Tuesday Wesleyan Chamber Music Concert Students from the Wesleyan chamber music program perform works by various composers on a variety of instruments. December 6, noon. Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 6853355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

WesWinds Fall Concert The Wesleyan Wind Ensemble performs an exciting array of pieces for winds and percussion. December 6, 7 p.m. Free.

Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

Elliott Sharp’s Port Bou- a chamber opera The New England premiere of the opera Port Bou (2014) by Elliott Sharp depicts the last moments in the life of philosopher Walter Benjamin at Port Bou, in 1940, as he was fleeing Nazi-occupied France. December 6, 9 p.m. Check website for ticket prices. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Fayerweather Beckham Hall, 55 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

7 Wednesday South Indian Music Student Recital Students of Adjunct Assistant Professors of Music B. Balasubrahmaniyan and David Nelson perform a recital of music from the Karnatak tradition of South India. Performances will feature vocal and instrumental music, percussion, and solkattu (spoken rhythm). December 7, 7 p.m. Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

New Work Featuring works by graduate music students Tomek Arnold, Jordan Dykstra, Warren Enström, Omar Fraire, Aurora Nealand, Dave Scanlon, and Matt Wellins. December 7, 9 p.m.

Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Ring Family Performing Arts Hall (Former CFA Hall), 287 Washington Terrace, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

8 Thursday John Cage’s Musicircus Students from the adventurous MUSC 109 “Introduction to Experimental Music” class present a series of overlapping performances alongside special mystery guests in this rendition of John Cage’s Musicircus. Everything at once and all together. The first of Mr. Cage’s Musicircus “happenings” took place in 1967 at the University of Illinois. December 8, 3:15 p.m.

Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

Out of the Fog is an exhibition at the Institute Library of photographs by Marion Belanger, Sean Kernan, Steven B. Smith, Marjorie Gillette Wolfe, and Stefan Znosko. Photo courtesy of Marion Belanger.

Javanese Gamelan Consisting mostly of gong and metallaphone-type instruments, the gamelan is an essential accompaniment to feasts and

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The Arts Paper december 2016

ceremonies. Beginning students of the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble will present an evening of Javanese music, performing a selection of repertoire for celebratory events, with a prelude by the Wesleyan Youth Gamelan Ensemble. December 8, 7 p.m. Free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/events.

9 Friday Faculty Concert Series: Words with Wings: An Evening of Poetry and Song Dan Gurvich, baritone, Deborah Lifton, soprano, Guest artist Tomoko Nakayama, piano, Naomi Senzer, flute, Stephen Dest, narrator, Viara Albonetti, violin, Guest Artist Kat Wallace, violin, Jody Rowitsch, viola, Ravenna Michalsen, cello. December 9, 7 p.m. Free. Neighborhood Music School, Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. neighborhoodmusicschool.org.

Lieder of Gustav Mahler Guest artist Christian Gerhaher, baritone. Gerold Huber, piano. December 9, 7:30 p.m. Free. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Sprague Memorial Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. (203) 432-3220. ism.yale.edu/calendar.

Fauré‘s Requiem The New Haven Oratorio Choir will sing Fauré‘s Requiem accompanied by a chamber orchestra. We will also sing pieces by Tibbets, Schroeder, Batterham, and our Artistic Director, Daniel Shaw. December 9, 8 p.m. $20, $15 for students and seniors. New Haven Oratorio Choir, Church of the Redeemer, 185 Cold Spring Street, New Haven. (203) 624-2520. nhoratorio.org.

Dale Ann Bradley Band Dale Ann Bradley, with Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent, are the three top women in bluegrass music today. Dale Ann’s life reads like a fairy tale, from a tar paper shack in Kentucky to worldwide acclaim. December 9, 7:30 p.m. $25 in advance, $30 at the door. GuitartownCT Productions, Best Video, 1842 Whitney Avenue, Hamden. (203) 430-6020. guitartownct.com.

10 Saturday Choral Concert - Tapestry of Voices Featuring Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata, Haydn’s Missa Brevis in B-flat, works by Lauridsen, Runestad, and more. Guest Brass Choir. December 10, 7:30 p.m. $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Greater New Haven Community Chorus, Battell Chapel, 400 College Street, New Haven. (203) 303-4642. www.gnhcc.org USNH II: Golijov, Britten The Haven String Quartet presents the music of Golijov and Britten. December 10, 7:30 p.m. $20; $10 students, seniors & USNH members. Music Haven, Unitarian Society of New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden.

(203) 745-9030. musichavenct.org.

10 Saturday & 11 Sunday Holiday Extravaganza Experience a New England musical winter wonderland at the NHSO’s beloved Holiday Extravaganza. Led by pops conductor Chelsea Tipton, this program of seasonal favorites includes the Nutcracker, Sleigh Ride, and a Christmas carol sing-along, plus performances by the Elm City Girls’ Choir and a special guest from the North Pole! Saturday, December 10, 2:30 p.m.: Hamden Middle School, 2623 Dixwill Ave., Hamden. (203) 407-3140. Sunday, December 11, 3 p.m.: Shelton High School, 120 Meadow Street, Shelton. (203) 922-3004. $35-49; college students $10; kids 7-17 go free with the purchase of an adult ticket. NewHavenSymphony.org.

11 Sunday Family Holiday Show Amahl and the Night Visitors presented by Western Connecticut State University’s opera program, directed by Margaret Astrup.

This wonderful holiday opera lasts just under an hour and is filled with dance and charming music that appeals to the whole family. December 11, 7 p.m. Free will donation. Bethesda Music Series,

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The New Haven Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker at the Shubert Theater on Friday, December 9, 7 p.m., Saturday, December 10, 1 & 5 p.m., and Sunday, December 11, 1 & 5 p.m. Visit newhavenballet.org for more info. Photo by Thomas Giroir.

Bethesda Lutheran Church, 450 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 787-2346. bethesdanewhaven.org.

Special Events

Theater

Happy Holiday Harmonies Your holiday season will be brightened when you hear the wonderful four-part a cappella harmonies by the award winning Silk’n Sounds Chorus. There will be delicious refreshments and wonderful raffle baskets. Donations of nonperishable foods are requested to support the CT Food Bank. Contact Donna to reserve your ticket (203) 248-7348. Join us. December 11, 2:30 p.m. General admission- $12, seniors and students- $10, children 12 and under- free. Silk’n Sounds, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 830 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. www.silknsounds.org.

Artistry: American Craft Shopping for the Holidays Holiday shopping event featuring one-of-a-kind works from American artisans, including jewelry, ceramics, glass, fiber, ornaments, accessories, toys, specialty foods and more. Find beautiful and unique gifts or everyone on your shopping list this year!

Through January 8. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Thursdays until 8 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. No entry charge; open to the public. GAC members receive 10% off all purchases. 411 Church Street, Guilford. (203) 453-5947. guilfordartcenter.org.

Seven Guitars Pittsburgh, 1948. Following the untimely death of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a local blues guitarist on the edge of stardom, friends grapple with his legacy. The fifth chapter in August Wilson’s cycle, Seven Guitars strikes moving chords of the African American experience in the 20th century.

November 25-December 17. Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 432-1234. yalerep.org.

13 Tuesday

2016 Arts Awards This year’s Arts Awards will honor Creative Communicators, individuals and groups who engage the arts in new and creative ways. We will honor awardees who employ the arts in greater New Haven to meaningfully engage people, communities, cultures, and populations at our annual luncheon at the New Haven Lawn Club.

December 2, 11 a.m. social hour, 11:45 a.m. award program. Contact The Arts Council at (203) 7722788 to purchase tickets. New Haven Lawn Club, 193 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 772-2788. newhavenarts.org/special-events-2/arts-awards.

Yale Voxtet | Vespers Members of the Yale Voxtet are current students of James Taylor at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale School of Music, where they are candidates for graduate degrees in voice. The ensemble sings as part of the Yale Schola Cantorum and presents two chamber concerts a year. December 13, 7:30 p.m. Free. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Dwight Hall, 67 High Street, New Haven. (203) 432-3220. ism.yale.edu/ calendar.

15 Thursday Handel’s Messiah Hallelujah! The NHSO and Christ Church Choir celebrate the holiday season with Handel’s beloved vocal masterpiece, Messiah.

A portion of the proceeds from this concert will be donated to the New Haven Community Soup Kitchen. December 15, 7:30 p.m. $15-74; College students $10; Kids 7-17 go free with the purchase of an adult ticket. New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Woolsey Hall, 500 College Street, New Haven.

(203) 436-4840. NewHavenSymphony.org.

16 Friday Pink Martini Pink Martini Holiday Spectacular - The fabulously eclectic ensemble’s vintage-chic style is an intoxicating concoction of sultry Latin music, swinging jazz, cabaret and more... with a twist of holiday gems!

December 16, 8 p.m. Price varies by seat location. Shubert Theatre, 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666. shubert.com.

Winter Performance Party Join the Music Haven community as we celebrate the accomplishments of our 80 young students! Hear performances by Music Haven students and their teachers, the Haven String Quartet. December 16, 6 p.m. Free. Music Haven, Fair Haven School, 164 Grand Avenue, New Haven. (203) 745-9030. musichavenct.org.

2 Friday

Talks & Tours 1 Thursday Photo Arts Collective Monthly Meeting The Photo Arts Collective aims to cultivate and support a community who share a passionate interest in photography through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques and special events. December 1, 7-9 p.m. Every first Thursday of the month from September to June (unless the 1st Thursday is a holiday). Photo Arts Collective, Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Avenue, New Haven. (203) 722-2788. newhavenarts.org/programs/photoarts.html

3 Saturday & 7 Wednesday Backstage Tour This hour-long tour is the perfect activity for any theater or history enthusiast– you’ll be amazed by the incredible history of the legendary Shubert. Please meet at the main lobby doors- no reservations required. December 3 & 7, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Free. Shubert Theatre, 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666. shubert.com.

The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus Where did Santa Claus come from? From the pages of L. Frank Baum’s (The Wizard of Oz) fascinating book comes this new musical telling of the story of Santa Claus.

From his humble beginnings in an enchanted forest of mythical creatures to his toy deliveries to all the world’s children, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a sweeping saga. December 2-18. Fridays 7:30 p.m., Saturdays 2 & 5:30 p.m., Sundays 2 p.m. $20 online, $22 at the door. 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford.

(203) 937-6206. pantochino.com.

Capstone Theater Production THE SELF THE SELF is an exploration in performing one’s own life. A seven-person ensemble will tell personal stories.

Together, from those stories, we will reveal what lies beneath our everyday- a true sense of self. This production is a senior capstone project by Jessica Wolinsky ‘17. Thursday, December 8, 7 p.m., and Friday, December 9, 7&9 p.m. Free! Reservations required, two ticket limit person. 213 High Street, Middletown. (860) 685-2330. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ events/2016/12-2016/12082016the-self.html.

Listen Here: Short Shorts Join us for an evening of great short fiction performed by members of the New Haven Theater Company, followed by a half-hour “talk back” with the New Haven Review team. Donations accepted; registration encouraged. The third Tuesday of every month. December 20, 7-9 p.m. Free.

847 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4045. eventbrite.com/e/listen-here-short-shortstickets-27386500761.

ELF The Musical Based on the beloved 2003 hit movie, ELF The Musical is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner elf. December 2024. Tuesday 7 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m., Thursday 1 & 7 p.m., Friday 2 & 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Christmas Eve, 11 a.m. Price varies by seat location. Shubert Theatre, 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666.

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The Arts Paper december 2016

BULLETIN BOARD

The Arts Council provides bulletin board listings as a service to our membership and is not responsible for the content or deadlines.

Call For Actors, Singers, Dancers I Luv a Party, Inc., entertainment & event company is seeking male and female actors, singers and dancers for their fall and winter season of corporate and party events. Part time work is available in New Haven, Hartford, and Fairfield counties. You may email us with picture and resume as well as call Nancy Douglass at (203) 4613357 to arrange for an interview/audition.

Artists for The Power of Color community art show.

January 7–February 19, 2017 at The Bruce S. Kershner Art Gallery in the Fairfield Public Library. Artists are invited to submit works exploring the use of color to express their ideas. Entry deadline December 19, 2016. Download the entry form at fairfieldpubliclibrary.org/wp-content/ uploads/2016/09/power_of_color.pdf.

Artists Guilford Art Center invites fine craft artists to apply to participate in the 60th annual Craft Expo July 14-16, 2017. Works in a variety of media; must be handmade in the U.S. or Canada. See guilfordartcenter.org for info and link to online application. Deadline is January 9, 2017.

Artists Smithtown Township Arts Council seeks entries for juried fine art exhibition The Fine Art of Illustration at the Mills Pond Gallery in St. James, NY. Exhibit Dates: January 21–February 19, 2017.

Juror: William Low. Open to U.S. artists 18 and older.

Prospectus at stacarts.org/exhibits/show/101 or email gallery@stacarts.org. (631) 862-6575. $45/3 entries. Cash Awards for first and second. Entry deadline: December 9, 2016.

Artists The Tiny Gallery: a very big opportunity for very small art. The Tiny Gallery is a premiere space for “micro” exhibitions in the historic Audubon Arts District, located within the lighted display “totem” outside Creative Arts Workshop, at 80 Audubon St., in New Haven. The Tiny Gallery is on view 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Submissions will be considered on a rolling basis and should include a written proposal, artist statement, and images of artwork. Call (203) 562-4927x14, email gallery@creativeartsworkshop.org, or visit creativeartsworkshop.org/tiny.

Instructors Are you a maker who loves to share your knowledge? If yes, MakeHaven has been looking for you. We are hiring instructors to teach: fabrication, woodworking, 3D printing, sewing, mechanics, brewing, arduino, electronics, cooking and other maker activities. What could you teach us? makehaven.org.

Musicians The New Haven Chamber Orchestra has openings for strings for the 2016-2017 season. The orchestra rehearses on Tuesday evenings at the Fair Haven School, 164 Grand Avenue. The orchestra performs three concerts per season. To sit in on a rehearsal or to audition, contact the orchestra via e-mail at info@newhavenchamberorchestra.org.

Photographers Are you a fan of photography? A program of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Photo Arts Collective aims to cultivate and support a community of individuals who share an interest in photography through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques, and special events. The Photo Arts Collective meets the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven.

Poets Artspace New Haven invites poets working in all genres of poetry to apply to be considered for our Opening Poems project. Artspace will consider applications on a rolling basis. Through this project, Artspace seeks to commission original poems written in response to one or more images and/or works

• december 2016

in our exhibitions opening between fall 2016 and spring 2018. Poets both emerging and established, based in New Haven or out-of-state are invited to submit. Learn more: artspacenewhaven.org/ opportunities.

Singers of all experience levels are invited to join Greater New Haven Community Chorus. No audition required during open enrollment period.

Spring repertoire for the June 10th concert features John Rutter’s Requiem. Thursday rehearsals begin January 5, 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 704 Whitney Ave., New Haven. Details at www.gnhcc.org.

Singers The New Haven Chorale invites you to audition for its 2016-2017 season and become part of a community of passionate singers! The Chorale holds auditions throughout the year by individual appointment with the music director.

Singers of all voice parts are encouraged to call the Chorale business office at (203) 776-SONG (7664) or email business@newhavenchorale.org to arrange an audition. Please visit our website at newhavenchorale.org for information including the Chorale’s audition schedule, past and upcoming performances, community activities, and more.

Singers The award winning Silk n’ Sounds Chorus is looking for new members from the greater New Haven area. We invite women to join us at any of our rehearsals to learn more. We enjoy 4-part a cappella singing, specializing in the barbershop harmony style. Our repertoire has broadened to also include jazz, traditional American Song Book and other styles. Rehearsals are every Tuesday from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Spring Glen Church located at 1825 Whitney Ave. in Hamden. Contact Lynn at (203) 623-1276 for more information. silknsounds.org.

Teachers Teaching positions at Neighborhood Music School. We are always on the lookout for talented and dedicated instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers to join our exceptional faculty! If you are passionate about teaching, please send your CV/resume, along with a cover letter detailing your teaching interests and expertise to: jobs@ neighborhoodmusicschool.org. Tell us what you value, and why you feel you might be a good fit for NMS. We look forward to hearing from you!

Volunteers Creative Arts Workshop seeks volunteers for multiple roles in the Celebration of American Crafts.

This exhibition and sale, with additional fun events, enters its 47th year. It runs November 26 through December 24th, with additional discount days of December 29 & 30 and January 3 & 4. Descriptions and application at creativeartsworkshop.org/get-involved/ cacvolunteers.

Volunteers The Yale Center for British Art welcomes applications for Information Volunteers. Volunteers make an invaluable contribution by helping to carry out our mission to inform and educate the public about our collections. Following training, volunteers commit to the program for a minimum of one year.

Volunteers receive special benefits including private tours and a museum shop discount. If you would like to be part of a committed corps of individuals, possess a love and appreciation of art, and a fondness for interacting with the public. Please email ycba. volunteer@yale.edu or call (203) 432-9491 for more information.

Volunteers and Interns Volunteering at the Institute Library is a great way to meet your local community, have fun, and make a major difference at one New Haven’s great treasures. More volunteers means more (and longer) hours that we can stay open! Contact us if you are interested at home@institutelibrary.org. Our internship program is also expanding! Let us know if

you are a high school, college, or continuing ed. student looking for credit and a meaningful professional development experience.

Volunteers, Artists, and Board Members Secession Cabal, a New Haven-based group of outsider artists working in theatre, film, visual art, and other mediums seek people for our board, sponsors, volunteers with fundraising experience, and artists in all mediums who agree with our mission and create radical, brave work. Volunteers/board members/ sponsors: Please send a brief introduction. Artists: Please email a letter of interest/introduction with examples of your bravest work. More information at art-secession.org.

Volunteers Volunteers are a vital part of Artspace’s operation. Volunteering with Artspace is a great way to support the organization, meet new people, and develop new skills. Our volunteers provide a service that is invaluable to making Artspace function smoothly. We simply couldn’t operate without the tremendous support of our volunteers. To find out more about volunteer opportunities, please contact Shelli Stevens, shelli@artspacenh.org.

Creative Services Art Therapy I help people of all ages use creative expression to access their innate wisdom and transform suffering into joy. My New Haven office has a relaxing view of the Quinnipiac River. I offer a free consultation to discuss if an expressive approach could benefit you. (203) 903-3156. Abigail Tischler, LCSW, ATR-BC. Historic Home Restoration Contractor Period appropriate additions, baths, kitchens & remodeling, Sagging porches straightened/leveled, wood windows restored, plaster restored, historic molding & hardware, vinyl/aluminum siding removal, wood siding repair/replace, CT & NH Preservation Trusts.

RJ Aley Building Contractor (203) 226-9933 jaley@ rjaley.com Web Design & Art Consulting Services Startup business solutions. Creative, sleek web design by art curator and editor for artist, design, architecture, and small-business sites. Will create and maintain any kind of website. Hosting provided. Also available for low-cost, in-depth artwork analysis, writing, and editing services. (203) 387-4933. azothgallery@ comcast.net.

Websites & Promotion for Artists and Businesses Need help setting up a website that you can maintain yourself? Need a postcard, business card, or other promotional materials? For experienced and artist-friendly help: laura@laurabarrdesign.com or (203) 481-3921.

Space Artist Studio West Cove Studio and Gallery offers work space with two large Charles Brand intaglio etching presses, lithography press, and stainless-steel work station. Workshops and technical support available. Ample display area for shows.

Membership: $75 per month. 30 Elm St., West Haven. Individual studio space also available. Call (609) 638-8501 or visit westcovestudio.org.

Commercial Space for Rent 847 Chapel Street, 1st Floor. Call (203) 562-4045 or email home@institutelibrary.org.

Events and Parties With 2,000 square feet of open exhibition space, Kehler Liddell Gallery is a unique venue for hosting events. We tailor to the special

interests of private parties, corporate groups, arts organizations, charities and academic institutions.

Our inviting, contemporary setting provides the perfect venue for your guests to relax, mingle, and enjoy the company of friends. We provide a warm atmosphere filled with paintings, drawings and sculptures by local CT artists and free parking, with front door wheelchair access. See kehlerliddellgallery.com/ event-rental/ and contact roywmon@gmail.com or Roy at (203) 872-4139.

Studio Space for dance, performing arts, events. A 1,500-square-foot space with adjoining rooms in a turn-of-the-century mansion in a historic district.

Hardwood floors. Vintage stage with curtains. Mahogany woodwork and glass doors. Ample natural light. Chairs and tables on premises. Contact whitneyartsctr@aol.com.

Jobs Please visit newhavenarts.org for up-to-date local employment opportunities in the arts.

The Arts Paper advertising and calendar deadlines: The deadline for advertisements and calendar listings for the January/February issue of The Arts Paper is: Monday, November 28, at 5 p.m.

Future deadlines are as follows: March 2017: Monday, January 30, 5 p.m.

April 2017: Monday, February 27, 5 p.m.

May 2017: Monday, March 27, 5 p.m.

June 2017: Monday, April 24, 5 p.m.

July/August 2017: Friday, May 26, 5 p.m.

September 2017: Monday, July 24, 5 p.m.

October 2017: Monday, August 28, 5 p.m.

November 2017: Monday, September 25, 5 p.m.

December 2017: Monday, October 23, 5 p.m.

Calendar listings are for Arts Council members only and should be submitted online at newhavenarts. org. Arts Council members can request a username and password by sending an e-mail to communications@newhavenarts.org.

The Arts Council’s online calendar includes listings for programs and events taking place within 12 months of the current date.

Listings submitted by the calendar deadline are included on a monthly basis in The Arts Paper.

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The Arts Paper december 2016

Locally-Sourced Literature steve scarpa The New Haven Free Public Library is currently presenting a series for people who like their literature locally-sourced.

The series, called “Get Lit!,” has already had three presentations thus far, with more planned for the future. The idea is to host a conversation with a New Haven writer quarterly, with the next one set for the spring.

Andrew Bardin Williams, founder of the website Placing Literature and moderator of the event, interviewed New Haven writers Alice Mattison, Sarah Pemberton Strong, and most recently, Gorman Bechard—a filmmaker and author of a novel called Ninth Square.

“They all turned into really interesting conversations,” said Williams, a writer currently finishing a novel based in his previous hometown of San Francisco before he moves on to writing about his current home in New Haven.

City Librarian Martha Brogan and Community Relations and Communications Manager Ashley Sklar approached Williams about doing some programming at the library and the initial reviews have been favorable.

“I spoke to a few people after the event and they loved it. They liked the way Andrew led the event and found Gorman very interesting and funny,” said Brad Bullis, public service administrator for adult services at the library.

“The reason I recommended Gorman for ‘Get Lit!’ is due in part because I love his writing and his work definitely resonates with me. His writing is extremely visual and paints a very real picture of New Haven.”

The format is simple. Williams leads a conversation about the quite literal map of their books—the real physical world in which the characters reside. Then they go from there, discussing a particular book from the author’s work (or, in the case of Bechard, talk turned to pizza and his upcoming film on the subject).

The criteria for selection is that the book must be set in New Haven. “To a person, all three authors wants to make sure they got things right,” Williams said.

It’s logical that Williams would start the conversation with the landscape of the writers’ fiction. Williams’ website, placingliterature. com, has created a unique way to engage

literature. Readers place moments from their favorite novels onto a digital map of the world.

Thousands of locations have been mapped across the world. If, for example, you wanted to know the places where Sherlock Holmes did his sleuthing, all you’d need to do is check out the site. Between 80 and 90 literary locations have been mapped in New Haven alone. (Arts Paper readers may remember Williams and Placing Literature from a story in our November 2015 issue, and Placing Literature as one of the Arts Council’s Reintegrate grant winners from 2012/2013.)

“Get Lit!” is just one part of the library’s offerings for writers, said Sklar. There is the usual listing of book clubs and writers groups that one might find in a library, but the NHFPL uses the abundant resources found in the city to foster its own literary scene.

This past year alone, the library has hosted a memoir writing workshop for people aged 50 and older, led by Julia Pistell, director of writing programs at the Mark Twain House, writers Alice Mattison and Anne Fadiman gave talks about their craft, and the library was the venue for a portion of the Windham Campbell Literary Prize Festival, presenting prize winners C. E. Morgan, Jerry Pinto, and Tessa Hadley in a conversation about the role that libraries have played in the development of their imaginative work.

All of this activity begs a question—what is it about New Haven that makes it such a fertile place for writers?

“New Haven is a city full of stories—historical ones, ones we are in the middle of, and ones yet to unfold. There is a vibrancy and an energy that I attribute to the diversity, the neighborhoods, and the sense that there are a lot of people here who believe in this city with all its challenges and successes,” Sklar said.

“Though I am not a writer, I think that being surrounded by a creative, civically engaged, and invested community is nothing short of inspiring.” n For more information about the New Haven Free Public Library’s literary offerings, visit nhfpl.org. For more information about Placing Literature, go to placingliterature.com.

yale institute of sacred music presents

The Ives Main Library branch of the New Haven Free Public Library at 133 Elm Street in New Haven.

Photo courtesy of the NHFPL.

A COMMUNIT Y UNLIKE ANY OTHER The retirees at Evergreen Woods have created a community unlike any other.

They thoroughly enjoy 88 acres of natural woodlands, manicured lawns and lush gardens.

Calendars are crowded with intellectual and cultural pursuits, sports and exercise, music and art, travel, visits to the shore and classic, Connecticut small towns, friends, family and fun.

saturday, december 3 7:30 pm

friday, december 9 7:30 pm

Marguerite L. Brooks, conductor

Gerold Huber piano

Yale Camerata Advent Concert

Music of J.S Bach, Von Herzogenberg, Sirota, and more Battell Chapel 400 College St., New Haven

Christian Gerhaher, baritone Liederabend

Songs of Gustav Mahler

Associates are energetic and caring, providing a worry-free lifestyle.

Please call to schedule your visit and see for yourself why so many people are choosing Evergreen Woods. 203-488-8000

Sprague Memorial Hall 470 College St, New Haven

presented with Yale School of Music

Both concerts are free; no tickets required. ism.yale.edu

18 • newhavenarts.org

Apartment homes are artfully designed, spacious and beautifully decorated.

88 Notch Hill Road • N. Branford, CT 06471

december 2016 •

The Arts Paper member organizations & partners

Arts & Cultural Organizations

The Choirs of Trinity Church on the Green trinitynewhaven.org

Guilford Art Center guilfordartcenter.org (203) 453-5947

A Broken Umbrella Theatre abrokenumbrella.org

City Gallery city-gallery.org (203) 782-2489

Guilford Art League gal-cat.blogspot.com

ACES Educational Center for the Arts aces.k12.ct.us

Civic Orchestra of New Haven civicorchestraofnewhaven.org

Guitartown CT Productions guitartownct.com (203) 430-6020

Make Haven makehaven.org

New Haven Theater Company newhaventheatercompany.com

Mattatuck Museum mattatuckmuseum.org

New World Arts Northeast (203) 507-8875

Meet the Artists and Artisans meettheartistsandartisans.com (203) 874-5672

One True Palette onetruepalette.com

Alyla Suzuki Early Childhood Music Education alylasuzuki.com (203) 239-6026

Classical Contemporary Ballet Theatre ccbtballettheatre.org

Greater New Haven Community Chorus gnhcc.org

Melinda Marquez Flamenco Dance Center melindamarquezfdc.org (203) 361-1210

American Guild of Organists sacredmusicct.org

College Street Music Hall collegestreetmusichall.com

Hamden Art League hamdenartleague.com (203) 494-2316

Milford Fine Arts Council milfordarts.org (203) 878-6647

Artfarm art-farm.org

Connecticut Dance Alliance ctdanceall.com

Hamden Arts Commission hamdenartscommission.org

Arts Center Killingworth artscenterkillingworth.org (860) 663-5593

Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus ctgmc.org 1-800-644-cgmc

Music Haven musichavenct.org (203) 745-9030

Arts for Learning Connecticut www.aflct.org

Connecticut Natural Science Illustrators ctnsi.com (203) 934-0878

Arts in CT artsinct.org Artspace artspacenh.org (203) 772-2709 Artsplace: Cheshire Performing & Fine Art cpfa-artsplace.org (203) 272-2787 ARTTN Gallery www.arttngallery.com Ball & Socket Arts ballandsocket.org Bethesda Music Series bethesdanewhaven.org (203) 787-2346 Blackfriars Repertory Theatre blackfriarsrep.com Branford Folk Music Society branfordfolk.org Chestnut Hill Concerts chestnuthillconcerts.org (203) 245-5736

Creative Arts Workshop 203-562-4927 creativeartsworkshop.org CT Folk ctfolk.com DaSilva Gallery dasilva-gallery.com 203-387-2539 East Street Arts eaststreetartsnh.org (203) 776-6310 EcoWorks CT ecoworksct.org Elm City Dance Collective elmcitydance.org Elm Shakespeare Company elmshakespeare.org (203) 874-0801

Hamden Symphony Orchestra hamdensymphony.org Hopkins School hopkins.edu The Institute Library institutelibrary.org International Festival of Arts & Ideas artidea.org International Silat Federation of America & Indonesia isfnewhaven.org Jazz Haven jazzhaven.org Kehler Liddell Gallery (203) 389-9555 kehlerliddell.com Knights of Columbus Museum kofcmuseum.org Legacy Theatre legacytheatrect.org Long Wharf Theatre longwharf.org (203) 787-4282

Firehouse 12 firehouse12.com (203) 785-0468

Lyman Center at SCSU www.lyman.southernct.edu

Gallery One CT galleryonect.com

Madison Art Society madisonartsociety.blogspot.com

• december 2016

Musical Folk musicalfolk.com Neighborhood Music School neighborhoodmusicschool.org (203) 624-5189 Nelson Hall at Elim Park nelsonhallelimpark.org New Haven Ballet newhavenballet.org (203) 782-9038

Orchestra New England orchestranewengland.org (203) 777-4690

Theater Department at SCSU/ Crescent Players southernct.edu/theater University Glee Club of New Haven universitygleeclub.org Wesleyan University Center for the Arts wesleyan.edu/cfa

I Luv A Party 203-461-3357

West Cove Studio & Gallery westcovestudio.com (609) 638-8501

Pantochino Productions pantochino.com

Whitney Arts Center (203) 773-3033

Paul Mellon Arts Center choate.edu/artscenter

Whitney Humanities Center yale.edu/whc

Play with Grace playwithgrace.com

Yale Cabaret yalecabaret.org (203) 432-1566

Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, New Haven Branch nhrscds.org Shoreline Arts Alliance shorelinearts.org (203) 453-3890

Access Audio-Visual Systems accessaudiovisual.com Hull’s Art Supply and Framing hullsnewhaven.com (203) 865-4855

Palette Art Studio paletteartstudio.com

Reynolds Fine Art reynoldsfineart.com

Creative Businesses

Yale Center for British Art yale.edu/ycba Yale Institute of Sacred Music yale.edu.ism (203) 432-5180

Toad’s Place toadsplace.com

Community Partners Department of Arts Culture & Tourism, City of New Haven cityofnewhaven.com (203) 946-8378 DECD/CT Office of the Arts cultureandtourism.org (860) 256-2800 Fractured Atlas fracturedatlas.org

Shoreline ArtsTrail shorelineartstrail.com

Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital Child Life Arts & Enrichment Program www.ynhh.org (203) 688-9532

New Haven Chorale newhavenchorale.org

Shubert Theater shubert.com (203) 562-5666

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History peabody.yale.edu

New Haven Free Public Library nhfpl.org

Silk n’ Sounds silknsounds.org

Yale Repertory Theatre yalerep.org (203) 432-1234

Visit New Haven visitnewhaven.com

New Haven Museum newhavenmuseum.org (203) 562-4183

Site Projects siteprojects.org

Yale School of Music music.yale.edu (203) 432-1965

Westville Village Renaissance Alliance westvillect.org

New Haven Chamber Orchestra newhavenchamberorchestra.org

New Haven Oratorio Choir nhoratorio.org

Susan Powell Fine Art susanpowellfineart.com (203) 318-0616

New Haven Paint & Clay Club newhavenpaintandclayclub.org

The Bird Nest Gallery thebirdnestsalon.com

New Haven Symphony Orchestra newhavensymphony.org (203) 865-0831

The Second Movement secondmovementseries.org

JCC of Greater New Haven jccnh.org New Haven Preservation Trust nhpt.org Town Green Special Services District infonewhaven.com

Yale University Art Gallery artgallery.yale.edu Yale University Bands yale.edu/yaleband (203) 432-4111

newhavenarts.org • 19

The Arts Paper arts council programs

Perspectives …

The Gallery at Whitney Center Location: 200 Leeder Hill Drive, South Entrance, Hamden Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

Nature Constructed Curated by Debbie Hesse A multimedia exhibition that examines the complex intersection between art, nature, and culture.

Dates: On view through January 6

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery Location: The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon St., 2nd Floor, New Haven Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The 2016 Arts Awards will take place on December 2 at the New Haven Lawn Club. Photo by Judy Sirota Rosenthal.

ALL IN The Arts Council’s Annual Members Show Dates: Through December 30

2016 Arts Awards

This year’s Arts Awards will honor Creative Communicators, individuals and groups who engage the arts in new and creative ways. Contact The Arts Council at (203) 772-2788 for more information and to purchase tickets.

Date: Friday, December 2, 11 a.m. social hour, 11:45 a.m. awards program Location: The New Haven Lawn Club, 193 Whitney Ave.

Advice from the AC

Need help finding exhibition space/opportunities, performance/ rehearsal space or developing new ways to promote your work or creative event? Schedule a free one-on-one consultation with Debbie Hesse, the organization’s director of artist services and programs, by calling (203) 772-2788. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Dates: Thursdays, December 1 & 8, 2-4 p.m.

Location: The Arts Council, 70 Audubon St., 2nd Floor, New Haven

Photo Arts Collective

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery. ALL IN. Kristina Zallinger.

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery. ALL IN. Jean Swanson.

Corina S. Alvarezdelugo (right) during a workshop with the Vista Life Innovations’ Connect Through Art program in Madison.

Seniors from Home Haven during a Briah Luckey workshop at Mitchell Branch Library in New Haven.

The Photo Arts Collective is an Arts Council program that aims to cultivate and support a community of individuals who share an interest in photography, through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques, and events. The Photo Arts Collective meets the first Thursday of the month at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whitney Ave., New Haven, at 7 p.m.

To learn more, send email to photoartscollective@gmail.com.

Artist-Led Workshops in the Community If you are a visual artist and are interested in conducting an artist-led workshop this coming year, please contact Debbie Hesse at dhesse@newhavenarts.org.

For more information on these events and more visit newhavenarts.org or check out our mobile events calendar using the Arts, Nightlife, Dining & Information (ANDI) app for smartphones.

Perspectives ... The Gallery at Whitney Center. Gallery view of Nature Constructed. Photo by exhibition curator Debbie Hesse.