The Arts Paper | July & August 2018

a kidd 4

goats 5

praise dance 6

nurses 8

fashionistas 10

one city 16

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

July-August 2018

N N o O I I T T I I D D E E N O T t I S s T A a A l l R E N E G t x ne

The Party Ain’t Over but you can’t party here Well, we’ve officially made it halfway through the year. Around us, the arts have exploded into summer, the region buzzing with outdoor concerts, film festivals, and Shakespeare in the park. We’ve been covering as much as we can at artspaper.org, and urge you to check in there for daily dispatches.

In May, we made the decision to dedicate this issue to the most amazing writers we’ve ever worked with—the intrepid first cohort of our Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI). From April to June, we worked closely with seven students at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, sending them to explore music, theater, visual arts, public festivals, and fashion. In weekly pitch meetings, we had the immense honor of watching them grow as writers and reporters, discovering parts of New Haven we never knew existed.

This issue’s articles are a fraction of the tremendous work these students have put in during YAJI. As they wrap up their “capstone” projects, we want to express our

gratitude for all they have taught us.

It feels like a fitting way to wind down print—at least for a while. We’d call this a wrap, but that’s not the way we’re thinking of it. Over the next six months, we’ll be reimagining new forms of printed matter, from chapbooks to compendia. In the meantime, we’re strengthening our partnerships with print publications like the Inner-City News, where you can catch a few of our stories every week. Online, we’ve been bursting at the seams with content, celebrating the artists in our region. Come August, you can visit us at a redesigned newhavenarts.org and find a totally new hub there.

Welcome to the end of the beginning.

We’re going places. Our hands and hearts are open. Come with us.

Lucy Gellman Editor Stephen Urchick Layout Editor & Reporter

in this issue Still Just A Kidd I used to play ball, so ball is life. But I always had the artist in me.

julie francois...........................4 “Goatscaping” Takes on Edgewood Park It’s truly a moveable feast.

adia sakura-lemessy..............5 At Beluah Heights, A Bridge to God This is a spirit led, spirit driven church. God connects all the dots together.

samantha sims........................6 Nurses Write Their Way to Release You’ve got to do something so that you don’t carry all that happens with you.

mellody massaquoi...............8 Bike Month Fever Hits Newhallville If coming together has always been something that Newhallville, has struggled with— something this reporter has seen firsthand as a resident—it wasn’t a problem then.

The Arts Paper The Arts Paper is the voice of The Arts Council ... and of our community.

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven strives to advance Greater New Haven by providing leadership and support to our diverse arts community. At the heart of The Arts Council is a desire to connect both artists and residents of Greater New Haven with vibrant and creative arts experiences. We believe that art, culture, and creativity are fundamental human rights that also advance the economy, health, education, and tourism.

The arts matter right now. So does arts journalism.

Serving New Haven and its surrounding towns, The Arts Paper explores, investigates, and invests in the arts that make our cities the cultural hubs they are.

nadia gaskins...........................9

Editor

Lucy Gellman

Welcome to the “Glam and Cheese” Corner The people who bring stuff to us know that we are running a big orphanage here for clothes.

Layout Editor

Stephen Urchick

Reporters

Leah Andelsmith Julie Francois Nadia Gaskins Naama Gorham Mellody Massaquoi Adia Sakura-Lemessy Samantha Sims Grace Trufan Stephen Urchick Malia West

Partners

Inner-City News New Haven Independent The Table Underground WNHH Community Radio

grace trufan..........................10 What’s a “YAJI” Anyways?

The YAJIs were already total pros.

stephen urchick.....................12 From Music to Dentistry?

We have great teachers, who are absolutely bomb players. They kill it every single time.

naama gorham......................14 “One City” Ready To Take On The Summer We can work together, have fun together and create community together.

markeshia ricks.....................16

on the web artspaper.org

artspaper.org/articles For the latest breaking arts artspaper.org/audio newhavenarts @newhavenarts

Send citizen contributions, story ideas, comments, or questions to lucy@ newhavenarts.org or mail to: The Arts Paper 70 Audubon St. fl. 2 New Haven, CT 06511 For advertising inquiries: write jennifer@newhavenarts.org

visual art

Co-host of BarsOni95 Chuks Cease Ekere

STILL JUST A KIDD

Local point guard discovers his inner artist by julie francois 4 artspaper.org • july-august 2018

steve walter Da Kidd P.G. grew up playing point guard on the basketball courts of New Haven. He never thought he’d be doing the same forward, propulsive moves with fashion—until college challenged him to change his career path to art.

Now, he is the mastermind behind the brand A Kidd From New Haven, a fashion line that pays homage to the town in which he was born and raised. He started the brand a little over two years ago, with a few ideas and a trip down South on the horizon. Now, he has thousands of followers on Instagram.

A Kidd From New Haven started in 2015, when P.G. was headed to Atlanta and printed out a few t-shirts “to rock around in.” As he received positive responses, he started an eponymous website. From a place for merchandise, it turned into a fullfledged blog with information on music, clothing, and “stuff that I like.”

“It’s hard to compare A Kidd From New Haven because there’s nothing really like it in my opinion, especially with the fashion, video, and blogging aspect,” he said in a recent interview. “I would like the clothing aspect to be in the realm of the Supreme brand, and the videos to be more like Viceland and Complex, and have the impact of Hypebeast. All with a twist of community.”

P.G.’s clothing comprises hoodies, tees, beanies and t-shirts. On them you can find A Kidd From New Haven logos in his signature font. The “i” in “kidd” is replaced with a silhouette of a kid with a snapback cap. Most of the clothing comes in three colors, red, navy and black.

Born and raised in New Haven, P.G. said it’s important to him to do a lot for the community. In the past years he has hosted and sponsored art events, and offered probono advertising to locals who are in need of it.

“I’m from here, so I obviously want the city to be better than what it was when I was growing up,” he said. So, if I could help

in any way to make that possible, shed light on something that’s not getting the light it needs, connect with different people, of course I will do that.”

But P.G. didn’t always see himself doing design and artwork. As a kid and through his teenage years, the basketball court occupied most of his energy—and his professional dreams. It was only after he arrived at college that he considered developing his career as an artist.

“I used to play ball, so ball is life. But I always had the artist in me,” he said. “It wasn’t until college when I took my inner artist seriously and eventually pushing my brand. I was always business savvy, but again, wasn’t until recently I decided, I wanna do this.”

“The message of the brand correlates with my story,” he added. “But it’s regardless of being from a small city or state, I can make it. And regardless of your situation, city or state, you can make it too.”

When asked about future events he would like to host, he said he’s doing research on possible art events for the summer. He’s also interested in starting a project about sexuality, “especially portraying the sexuality in a black women.”

“I’m always researching and networking. It’s especially important to have trial and error and have like-minded people that have your vision,” he said.

“Which is something hard to do but definitely more ideal.”

As for the future of his brand, P.G. said that he “would also like to get more teenagers and females modeling the clothing.” He also hopes to, “somehow dictate and move culture. But especially just make an impact.”

“My purpose is really just to create and be dope. In whatever it is. Whether it be in the clothing, imagery, video, music, photography, all just to move people in a way, and try to tell my story and others in these mediums.” •

goats

adia sakura-lemessy

“Goatscaping” Takes on Edgewood Park Furry friends combat invasive species by adia sakura-lemessy It’s not the new chain-link fence that stands out in Edgewood Park, but the unmistakable smell of a farm—and the five furry, plant-chomping visitors who are bringing it in as they beautify the area.

Those visitors are goats, brought into the park to munch their way through recent overgrowth. In mid-May, the first group— Cinnamon, Brooklyn, Sunday, Casanova and Iris—arrived for their inaugural graze.

For the next two years, five of them will be spending their summers in a two-anda-half acre enclosure in the park, eating invasive plants and fertilizing the soil.

To avoid escape, they are closed in by a fence that went in before their arrival.

They are expected to be there all summer.

The program is an initiative of Friends of Edgewood Park and New York-based Green Goats, a company in Rhinebeck that specializes in eco-friendly “goatscaping,” or deliberate landscaping where furry, four-hoofed friends eat away excess and invasive greenery. The project was born

over a year ago, when Friends of Edgewood Park first realized that the exotic flora were taking over sections of the park.

The group began to brainstorm ideas when member and environmentalist Mike Uhl posed a question: What would be the most natural way to solve this problem?

The answer, the group found, was goatscaping. Unlike weed whackers or pesticides, goats reduce the environmental impact of removing invasive plants like poison ivy or knotweed, while saving the labor and cost of traditional landscaping.

Over time, their constant growing causes stress to the plants to such an extent that they aren’t able to recover properly in the spring, thereby eliminating the majority of them.

In Green Goats, Friends of Edgewood Park found goatscaping pros—Anne and Larry Cihanek, who have been goatscaping in five states for the last 12 years. In total, they care for over 150 furry friends, supervising multiple projects at any given time.

Goatscaping wasn’t always in their plans. Initially, the Cihaneks “just wanted to make goat cheese!” said Larry earlier this summer, as the two helped the goats get settled in their new home.

But then in 2007, a plant infestation on Staten Island wasn’t responding to chemicals or machinery, and the borough called for goats.

400 goat owners in the New York area were contacted. Eight replied; seven said the feat was too ambitious, the area too large. But the Cihaneks took the challenge.

They’ve been at it since.

The collaboration comes with the sponsorship of local nonprofit Chapel Haven, and a small army of volunteers who put up the fence, get water for the goats, and check on them every day or so. In this pilot period, the five will have intermittent police supervision as well.

While the goats are there for maintenance, Uhl said that he wants people to visit and take pictures of the

goats as well. Friends of Edgewood Park has a hashtag, #NHgoatsexcited, and they’re asking visitors to the park to use it.

“Why can’t this be a local business?”

Uhl asked aloud.

Uhl also said that he’d like to make a time-lapse video of the park over the next two summers to show what the goats are capable of. He said a successful run at the end of the two years will eliminate upwards of 95 percent of the invasive species. In that time, the Cihaneks will be returning to Edgewood park about once a week to check on their goats and to make sure the project is running smoothly. So far, they said, everything looks good.

The first furry cohort thinks so too.

When interviewed, Cinnamon was quick to point out the luxury of having a free buffet with lots of interesting new things to nibble on the menu.

“It’s truly a moveable feast,” the goat said. “And it seems like a much nicer option than playing baseball in Hartford.” •

july-august 2018 • artspaper.org 5

stage & screen

Praise dancer in action samantha sims

At Beluah Heights, A Bridge to God Praise dance team at Newhallville church visualizes the Gospel by samantha sims

6 artspaper.org • july-august 2018

Ends of royal purple cloth flared and spun around the dancers’ legs. The drummer tapped on the cymbals and sounded off the snare drums to the beat.

The dancers placed one hand after the other on their heart and then sharply raised their arms upward. They twirled once more with the sound of voices rising from the choir.

“I will praise Him. I will sing to Him a new song,” the choir sang as the dancers continued.

So unfolded a recent Sunday at Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church in Newhallville, home to Gina Caldor’s praise dance team. First established in 1923 with a congregation of only 12 members, the church has grown exponentially in size, today numbering 150-200 worshippers.

Under the leadership of Pastor Theodore L. “Bishop” Brooks, Beulah Heights has tried to discover fresh and exciting ways to draw in all kinds of people. The praise dance team is one of its more recent additions.

At a recent rehearsal, Caldor recalled how the team came to be. In 2009, Elder Alwyn Foster arrived at Beulah Heights as the church’s “young people’s president,” charged with keeping youth and young adults invested and involved in the church community. Foster said that God was giving him the idea for a praise dance team.

Caldor jumped at it.

“I thought it would be a wonderful thing to do, a way for young people to get involved and be able to minister for God,” she recalled. “We put a proposal together and talked to Bishop [Brooks] about it.”

Initially, the proposal was turned down. Caldor said that Brooks did not feel that the church was adequately prepared— it didn’t have the right amenities or space,

and something so new was unexpected from a traditional standpoint.

“It was different than from what we typically did at Beulah and other churches in our council,” Caldor said. But “God... continued to speak to [Bishop Brooks] about praise dance being a part of the worship experience at Beulah and he actually approached us three years later and said, ‘Let’s do it!’”

The pastor reached out to other church leaders to figure out the proper way of going about things. He connected with Adolphus Glenn Brady, a friend of his who is pastor at the New Bethel Church in Kansas City. Women from Brady’s parish helped Beulah Heights form their team, offering advice regarding costumes, music selection, choreography, and responsibilities.

They also discussed the scriptural support for dance ministry in the Bible. As dancers materialized, Caldor emphasized that it was crucial for a praise dance team to begin and end with prayer regardless of time restraints or the objective at hand.

“We know why we’re coming to do this,” she said. “It’s not about us. It’s not a performance! It’s really about being able to minister to God and the people of God… [The praise dance team needs] God’s inspiration, creativity, presence, power, anointing, and spirit [to be able to dance].”

The group dances every other Sunday and accompanies Brooks on trips outside of Beulah when requested. It does not have to seek approval before stepping in front of the congregation, nor is the dancing specifically planned to correspond with the sermon.

“This is a spirit led, spirit driven church, so often times you do not know

Sister Gina Caldor

what you are going to preach or what scriptures you are going to focus on,” said Caldor. “God connects all the dots together.”

The team has become highly flexible: it’s capable of choosing music and creating choreography in under two hours when it might have taken the group up to three practices in the past. Team members are also independent, and encouraged to take initiative. Caldor said they can set up and lead a whole dance routine without her. She admits she’s more a role model and mentor to the girls than an out-and-out director, “creating a space where I can see the team I want to see develop … grow.”

This was not always the case. Caldor said she did not expect to lead the team when it was first founded, and was taken aback by Brooks’s request. She described how she was nervous to have so much responsibility in a field she was unfamiliar with.

“I did not think I knew enough. I did not think I was prepared enough or able to teach these young women,” she said. “I did not think I could come up with good choreography or pick the right songs. It seemed … overwhelming.”

Caldor praised the two young women from Brady’s congregation who she had visited and advised her. She said they made her feel well-supported and able enough to take on the task despite her hesitation.

When asked if dancing had improved her relationship with God, Caldor responded with a resounding “absolutely.”

“I didn’t set out knowing that was going to happen,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily dance. I think anytime you get involved and engaged in ministry you have to get connected with God. You are finding yourself in a situation where

you are relying on Him … It causes you to really reflect on who God is and what He is capable of doing.”

She went on to describe how the praise dance team’s dancing is a work of spiritual art. It serves as one more way to illustrate the Bible visually. In the same way a picture might be open to interpretation, Caldor said that “though everyone may be watching the same dance to the same song, what it speaks to them is different based on their experience and circumstances.”

When the music ended on a recent Sunday, the man at the piano insisted that dancers and the choir needed to praise the Lord harder. By his request, the music faded back in, the choir repeated “hallelujah” from the song’s chorus, and the two praise dancers continued their ministry.

They extended both arms up to the ceiling and threw them behind their backs.

The audience clapped excitedly to the beat.

The atmosphere for the rest of service was set.

Moving forward, the church will be introducing its official junior praise dance team made up of two 5-year-olds and two 6-year-olds. The junior praise dancers will have the opportunity to graduate into the regular praise dance team with age and practice. Caldor also wants to look into including boys and young men as pole bearers or even choreographers. She said she wants to keep seeing the praise dance team evolve as Beulah Heights continues to expand as a church.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It requires a lot of energy. It engages people in a very different way. It is awesome to watch other members of the team really grow and develop!” •

H AROLD S HAPIR O over 37 years fine professional photography

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literature

Nurses Write Their Way to Release Creative writing awardees at Yale School of Nursing speak out by mellody massaquoi School of Nursing 2018 commencement dexter jones The scene was set for a picture-perfect awards ceremony. White tables, a packed house, chandeliers glinting in the sun.

Yale School of Nursing (YSN) students streamed into the New Haven Lawn Club, their chatter filling a large dining room. A lineup of speakers took their place on the stage.

But the evening’s recipients—Lisa Rich, Moya Anne Meckel, Rachel Blatt, and Mariah Baril-Dore—weren’t there for their work in nursing. They were there for their work in creative writing, which the school honors each year. That is, when students hold a pen of the non-EPI variety.

Rich, Meckel, Blatt and Baril-Dore are all nurses-in-training and writers who bring their craft to what they do. In early April, the four were honored in the YSN’s annual creative writing awards, an annual tradition that shows graduating students what their colleagues are doing outside the classroom and the hospital.

For years, the school has prided itself on a particularly creative approach to the field, teaching close looking and listening alongside traditional medicine.

Each year, incoming students spend time before a single painting at the Yale Center for British Art, learning how VTS—Visual Thinking Strategies—can translate to sick patients in the field. With professors from the Yale School of Music, students pick up instrumental parts and tempos, improving the way they listen to heart sounds. After a certain point, said Dean Linda Honan, it

only made sense to add writing.

“Our students are going to be primary health providers, caring for the underserved,” she said earlier this year, addressing a group of artists and arts professionals. “We need you to throw the net wide. What we’ve found is that when a science looks to the arts, you help us.”

That’s what Rich, Meckel, Blatt and Baril-Dore have done with their words, Honan added at the ceremony in early April. For Baril-Dore, that teaching moment unravels in “A Stolen Glance,” a letter to her father as he succumbs slowly to Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS. In the piece, she struggles with the challenges of home care, describing what it is like to nurse someone you know.

“I had no time to sit in darkness, no time to wonder why,” she writes. “Those days the feelings seemed less important than doing. I had to keep doing or else I would drown in darkness.”

“Being there with that person, showing up for that patient and for your team—that is work,” Baril-Dore added in an interview with The Arts Paper after the awards ceremony. “But in order to save yourself and not have pieces of you taken every time you go to work, you’ve got to do something so that you don’t carry all that happens with you. So I write!”

It is rarely easy, she tells her reader as they dive into her story. A nurse-in-training, Baril-Dore found herself alone for repeated hospital visits, angry at an entire medical

8 artspaper.org • july-august 2018

apparatus that surrounded her father even as it tried to prolong his life.

“I showed up like a tidal wave and had the last drop wrung out of me,” she writes in the piece, addressing her father. “Not by you but by the things that were happening to you.”

The effect is immediate and empowering. Through her words, BarilDore indicates to readers that nurses are not superheroes—made different from the rest of humanity by their schooling—but wracked by the same grief and anxiety that the rest of the world experiences when someone they love is in a dire situation.

Different aspects of the craft appealed to winner Moya Meckel, who said she uses writing as a means of release. After stressful days in the emergency room she turns to the power of the pen to get her through.

“You have to find an outlet to process all of the emotion of this kind of work,” she said.

Meckel’s winning short-story “Chapstick” describes what happens when a patient goes into cardiac arrest, or “codes” in the emergency room. Carefully, Meckel captures and reproduces the jargon of medicine, the terminology used by anesthesiologists and doctors. She remains focused, however, on the strange, onesided bond that develops between herself and the person she brings back to life.

“Her conscious mind knew nothing of our intimacy,” she writes. “The way I had placed my hands on her jaw and drawn

emergency medications into my syringe; the way I had prayed for her to stay in her body and willed her to breathe. She did not know me.”

Meckel’s writing is an escape valve that allows this built-up, unrequited intimacy to go somewhere when it can’t go back into her patients. They’re often unconscious for the entire episode, and will never feel what she feels for them.

Indeed each winning piece grappled with the problem of saving lives in the face of your own personhood and mortality.

Lisa Rich’s story was much the opposite of Baril-Dore’s: Rich’s granddaughter buried her affection to work better and act as a nurse, through-and-through. As Rachel Blatt’s unfolds, the reader gets a glimpse into how quickly personal connections can precipitate in the minutes before a surgery.

It’s a sort of statement on why the awards exist, too. Nurses bear witness to trauma, pain, and profound loss each hour they are on the clock—sometimes crises that people in other lines of work encounter once in a lifetime. With those dramas come higher highs and lower lows, emotional peaks and valleys that can threaten to derail a life. The creative writing awardees didn’t win because they got everything off of their chest, but because they thought hard about how to inform others about this curious circumstance.

Because they changed how we perceive their profession, with something as simple as putting a pen to paper. •

culture

Bike Month Fever Hits Newhallville Cycling is center stage at second annual block party by nadia gaskins new haven bike month National Stunt Rider Champion Mike Steidley hurdled through the air, defying space and time as he hovered over the street below, then began a downward descent. A handful of kids and their parents looked on, mouths hanging wide open.

Then they burst into applause.

Steidley was a highlight at the second annual Newhallville Block Party, held earlier this summer at Ivy and Butler Streets as part of New Haven Bike Month. After kicking off with a Downtown Open Streets celebration at the beginning of May, Bike Month hosted a series of weekly rides, bike-to-work breakfasts, bike-themed events and neighborhood block parties to kick off a safe (and definitely helmeted) cycling-heavy summer.

In Newhallville, Bike Month organizers worked closely with neighborhood representatives Arthur Edwards and Regina Wicks to set up bike safety and riding tutorials, give away free bikes and helmets, and showcase some wild riding from riders like Steidley. Edwards is a Project Manager for the Newhallville Safe Neighborhood Initiative (NSNI) and Wicks is a parent liaison at King Robinson Magnet School and on the New Haven Board of Education.

As gray-shirted volunteers set out supplies for bike repair on the sides of the street, they mingled with representatives from the League of Women Voters, Amity Bicycles, The Devil’s Gear Bike Shop, Safe Kids Connecticut and others, who had all gathered in the name of bike safety.

There were volunteers like Carol Nardini, who said she has volunteered at Bike Month for a number of years on her own, but that this marks the first year that she has partnered with an organization (she spent time tabling for the League of Women Voters and Safe Kids CT). She said she loves watching kids have “safe fun” while riding their bikes, and enjoys educating people on how wearing helmets is beneficial.

“How much people learn and take away never ceases to amaze me,” she said.

That was also true for Jeff Roshko, a scientist who is a member of the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-Op (BSBC) in East Rock.

“This is my second year collaborating with the Newhallville Block Party and it has always been a blast,” he said.

Around him, the afternoon evolved into a real party, with soft 90s music laying the soundtrack. On one side of the street, student volunteers painted a bike lane for children to learn how to ride their bikes. A father and his daughter rolled cautiously toward them on foot and bike, as she perfected the basics of steering and insisted that her dad, not the volunteers, help her learn the ropes.

The little girl said she wanted to spend time with her dad because he works all the time as a New Haven police officer, spending endless hours at the station. They said they both thought they would come to bond with one another, but in turn, got way more than that—an

immense amount of information and tips on how to stay safe while riding a bike.

Down the street from them, eight or so mechanics from Amity Bicycles, the Devil’s Gear Bike Shop, Elm City Cycling, and BSBC worked on people’s bikes for free.

Farther down, Nardini and fellow volunteer Griselda Luna manned a table funded by Safe Kids CT, giving away free black and pink-and-white marbled helmets for kids and adults.

On the other side of the street, three volunteers set up for Steidley’s stunt show, putting out props for the biker to use. There were two half-court basketball tournaments going on in the nearby Lincoln Bassett park, making the neighborhood feel full and vibrant. If coming together has always been something that Newhallville,

informally known as the “Ville,” has struggled with—something this reporter has seen firsthand as a resident of the neighborhood—it wasn’t a problem then.

About an hour or so passed of mingling, basketball games, and passing information along before the stunt show started. Then Steidley and his friend Tom Larkin took the street by storm.

Larkin opened the show with some ground tricks as warm-ups. He did a trick where he would do a wheelie and twist his back wheel so the bike would do an 180-degree turn. At one point, Steidley coasted over a brave volunteer who laid still in the street. The crowd cheered and clapped as viewers gathered to watch them.

They made it look like anyone could do it. •

Free helmet giveaway

july-august 2018 • artspaper.org 9

visual art

WELCOME to the

GLAM& CHEESE

CORNER

The forensic science of vintage clothing by grace trufan Todd Lyon has a name for the corner where Whitney Avenue meets Trumbull Street. On one end sits Caseus Fromagerie and Bistro and its small, fragrant basement cheese shop. Around a tight corner is the hair studio The Hive. And in the middle is her own slice of it: Fashionista Vintage & Variety, which she opened in 2010 with business partner Nancy Shea.

Enter “the glam and cheese corner,” her name for the place she holds most dear in New Haven. At the very sharpest point of it is the store, where the windows are filled

with a variety of outfits, and message by the door reads “the only thing that should be separated by color is laundry.”

Inside the building is an airy room with a thrift rack with items for sale in a range of $2$12. A map, flaunting the locations that each visitor comes from, hangs on the opposite wall.

Stepping from the hallway into the shop is a sort of magical experience.

Under soft lights, a vast array of patterns and tones dance. Oldies play softly in the background. There is the distinct smell of old things: a little musty, with luscious

stories that only age can tell. It’s the smell of bargain-hunting and summers wellspent in the 1970s, beach days and skinon-skin contact and good friendships. The smell of finding something new.

Fashionista began with Lyon and Shea selling their own things every few months out of Shea’s apartment. As the business kept expanding, they became overwhelmed with merchandise, and started renting a place on Church Street by the month.

But that got out of control too— people got wind of their vintage

experiment, and business exploded. The owner asked for a long-term lease. Lyon and Shea said they were ready to take that plunge when they saw a property on Whitney, and pounced. They have been there for eight years now.

The two said they consider themselves “true second hand.” As they see it, new, often synthetic fabrics are incredibly toxic, practically made to be thrown away. Second hand status means quality—putting whole, luxury fabrics to use until they really can’t be enjoyed anymore.

“You’re not going to see stuff in here

lucy gellman that came from other shops,” said Lyon.

“We want them directly from the source ... the people who bring stuff to us know that we are running a big orphanage here for clothes, that we’re gonna find a love match between their item and a person.”

“That’s our goal anyway,” she added.

“It doesn’t always work that way, but that’s our goal.”

Everything in the store is hand-picked from all types of clothing that are brought in, by appointment only. Since the store maintains a primary focus on costumes,

they ask for clothing from between the 1930s and 1980s—pieces from before that period are too fragile for the store. They are also selective in their search for 80’s clothing, specifically choosing items that are “wild”—punky, poppy, arty, extreme.

Their directory for selling clothes claims they tend to buy from estate sales.

“That is, large numbers of items at a time, which usually come from stylish retirees who are downsizing; a relative who has gone to the great vintage store in the sky; or a vintage collector who is liquidating his

or her collection,” said Lyon.

The two said that they are very proud of their ever-growing collection. Most of their business comes from rentals “for theater companies, burlesque shows, rock bands, drag queens and kings, decades parties, and of course Halloween and masquerade parties,” said Lyon.

She added that they are “keenly interested in dramatic, outspoken pieces—costumey items – as well as actual costumes from any era, but especially if they’re older or vintage.”

They are forensic scientists, with the

amount of research that goes into their collection. And they try to stay affordable to New Haveners. Sometimes they find items by a designer or with the same style selling elsewhere for extreme prices, but pass it up because they think it’s too pricey.

“It’s just not our market,” said Lyon. “We have New Haven prices. If someone thinks it’s an insane bargain, good for them! We know people flip our stuff, it’s not doing anybody any good just sitting in a case somewhere. If they have a better scene out there for selling it, well good for them. That’s fine. We let it go.” •

culture

WHAT’s A

” ” I I J J A A Y Y “ “

anyways?

Seven teens join The Arts Paper as paid staff writers for an for eight-week pilot program by stephen urchick THE ARTS PAPER

YAJI

[pilot.semester]

n., jæ • dʒi (1) youth arts journalism initiative (2) a participant in (1)

a public program of

your artscouncil

of greater new haven

What does change really look like? It’s a crucial question for any institution trying to be a better friend and neighbor, but it’s especially important for The Arts Paper—a publication in the business of “looking closely” at paintings and performances.

The fresh visual identity The Arts Paper has used to signal its renewed commitment to equity of access in the arts suggests change is something we can see: wider margins, fun typography, bright colors.

Articles on everything from glam to goats say change is legible. We can read it in stories, that by faithfully portraying greater New Haven in all its diversity give a glimpse of the wider world as it ought to be.

Redesigned websites like artspaper. org and newhavenarts.org imply change is something noticed, apprehended, or brought into view. A souped-up version of The Arts Paper’s monthly print calendar, these “digital arts hubs” and “content aggregators” call our attention to original, interesting happenings that we might in our prejudices have otherwise overlooked.

Many of these “changes,” however, only go skin deep. Back in October 2017, as The Arts Paper wondered what it could do, it became apparent that no matter what it did, it would do it as part of an organization of salaried, majority-white staff officers dependent upon a spectrum of uncompensated, “volunteer” labor.

Change is a slow, tireless, barely perceptible process. It is generational and exquisitely subtle: the slightest nudge along a closed-off path; it’s the admission that, “Hey, this not only exists but is possible for me, and people who look like me, too!”

That’s why The Arts Paper believed it needed to plant seeds for a future harvest it won’t reap. The eight-week pilot Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI) emerged out of a genuine desire to help propagate a small, but structural shift through New Haven’s arts and nonprofit sector. The Arts Paper put its apparatus in the hands of novice reporters from the neighborhoods it has historically struggled to cover, that they might write the stories that most matter to them and their communities and feel empowered to keep on writing.

This fits into The Arts Council’s overarching vision as it moves forward, and prepares to jump-start its digital arts

hub in August at newhavenarts.org. With programs like YAJI, The Arts Council is rolling up its shirtsleeves and getting serious about inclusion in the arts. That was always part of the organization’s founding mission. The Arts Council is just navigating it in a new and wildly changed landscape.

For eight weeks beginning this April, The Arts Paper paper contracted with seven teen correspondents, enrolled at Cooperative Arts & Humanities (“Co-Op”) High School, to each produce three original short-form articles on New Haven’s arts and culture, as well as a feature-length, 1,200-2,000 word capstone. For their four contributions, The Arts Paper paid the YAJI teens a stipend of $400—its regular print freelance rate of $100 an article—and comped them travel and work expenses.

The decision to collaborate with the “YAJIs” as fully-fledged freelancers was not just a vague commitment to pay equity in the arts. It was an honest admission that The Arts Council stood to benefit from a public program like YAJI—despite the program’s professed long-view—in the form of renewed grant funding. These teens were entitled to at least a part of that pie, towards combating an insidious nonprofit industrial complex.

It was also a frank recognition of the fact that the YAJIs were already total pros before they ever met our team. The Arts Paper could not possibly “train” the YAJIs, but was merely there to bring the print and the professional development. The latter took the form of a five-day intensive at the very start of the program, where the YAJIs met with representatives from nine New Haven arts organizations and media outlets for conversations and hands-on practicums.

The intensive was an opportunity to expose the YAJIs to a broad cross-section of creative and common-good careers. Some of the YAJI teens entered into the program as strong writers, but others entered as violinists, or on the recommendation of their science teachers. While some YAJIs might choose to keep developing their ability to craft clear and thoughtful copy, it was crucial that the entire experience open doorways.

Journalism might be a bust, but who knew that you could be a producer for a podcast?

The most successful moments of YAJI were those where the staff of The Arts Paper were just flies on the wall. A one-on-one

with a musician, who explained how it was unsurprising to be asked to gig a reception for a plate of food. An interview with culinary arts students on the kitchen floor, as they debone a chicken and talk back about the course of their careers. By the end of the week-long intensive, it was clear that the best teacher for the teens would be life itself—simply doing the work of beat reporting. It became very important for us to shut up and get out of their way.

That said, not all of YAJI was so open-ended. The program, in fact, evolved considerably in scope through conversations last winter with faculty at Co-Op High School about the need to defend creative writing wholesale. YAJI is a creative writing curriculum aligned to satisfy the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS): an assessment regime that has no

“It became very important for us to shut up and get out of their way.” discipline-specific performance bands for creative writing and threatens in its silence to close those classrooms down.

In this regard, YAJI is a test case and hopefully ammunition in the belt of teachers who teach teens to compose expressive prose. YAJI meets NCAS where it is at, demonstrating how crafting journalistic copy acts as communication, a means of personal realization, and a vector for community engagement. YAJI is not your typical English Language Arts, as each article was a NCAS “cornerstone assessment”: a genuine performance that provided publishable content for a student’s portfolio and involved students in a meaningful learning activity.

With its focus on the journalist as freelancer, YAJI also challenged NCAS outright. It took aim at an assumption that the “lifelong goal” of arts education is to

create “artistically literate citizens.” While such a designation might be true for many of our readers, it fails to capture the importance of the arts for a creative professional. Such a philosophy suggests that while the “three R’s” are fundamental to creating a wage-earning adult, the arts are a scholastic side show. This ethos leads us to undervalue artistic labor and commit wage theft against the makers without whom life would be a dull, tired slog.

The eight-week pilot taught The Arts Paper a lot. While it is easy, for example, to engage people in open-ended conversation about a painting, it is less easy to find similarly “engaged” ways of talking about the gig economy or the ethical importance of being clearly on or off the record. Although months of curricular planning meetings preceded YAJI, identifying guest educators who can create tight, purposeful workshops will be a chief objective in future program iterations.

Furthermore, YAJI is an expansive undertaking. It wouldn’t have been possible without our partner organizations, but—even then—the pragmatics of arranging catering, or setting up spaces while still being there for the teens were formidable. An ideal YAJI demands a sharper division of labor: a parttime programs officer and assistant editor to help the editor-in-chief of The Arts Paper, freelance teachers who design their own hour-long modules, interns who can literally do the indispensable heavy lifting.

Such changes will be instrumental to making sure that YAJI makes the biggest impact, moving forward. While our hope is to bring the program to schools that lack Co-Op’s rigorous arts curriculum—and with double the participating teens—YAJI couldn’t have happened this year without the support structure of Co-Op’s outstanding administrators and at its present scale.

Does YAJI become a summer program, to allow teens more time to write outside of a school year crammed with testing?

Does it continue to accept teacher recommendations, or become applicationonly? Who might then manage such a year-round program cycle?

Know that as The Arts Paper makes the transition from print to digital, it will also be hard at work answering these questions, to make the most of this formative moment and to help make our industry a fairer and more inclusive space. •

yaji would not have been possible without the following partner organizations and sponsors

july-august 2018 • artspaper.org 13

music

judy rosenthal

From Music to Dentistry?

Long-time Music Haven student reflects on a decade of violin lessons by naama gorham

N

oel Mitchell began violin lessons at Music Haven 10 years ago, when college was far from his mind. This June he graduated from Wilbur Cross High School, with an eye on dentistry as he heads to the University of Connecticut in the fall. Earlier this year, the Arts Paper sat down with Mitchell in the most New Haven place we could think of—the city’s central green—to talk about what lies ahead. In June, the full interview was published as a podcast at artspaper.org. Listen to or download it there under the “YAJI Blog” tab. Excerpts of it are below.

How does it feel graduating— especially being a musician? Graduating, going forward, what do you want to do afterwards?

I think my long-term plan is to become a

dentist. But in terms of music, I want to keep playing chamber music, because I think it’s just one of the best things that anyone can do.

The communication that we have between string players, or just musicians in general, while playing chamber music is so loving and very connected.

But being a graduating senior and moving on to an “adult life” is like—it’s scary! And I’m excited to find out what the unknown is.

You really changed your plans there!

I thought you’d keep going with music.

What made you think you want to be a dentist?

I grew up with dentists. My mom worked in a lot of dental offices, and I always shadowed the dentists that my mom worked with. In my high school, I was able to shadow some dentists and orthodontists, and I just saw the impact

14 artspaper.org • july-august 2018

they had on other people’s lives.

I was shadowing a dentist one time, and there was this lady who had just gotten into a car accident. She needed to have construction for her teeth, and she went to a dentist. I had been shadowing this dentist for a while, and I saw this progress being made, and I saw the impact. I saw her smiling more, and really loving herself again. I thought that was such a big impact.

A dentist made her feel better about herself. I want to help people in the way that dentist helped her.

How does that incorporate with your music? Like, how did you combine that together?

Like, finding the time. I really have to prioritize my time between studying and pursuing a dental career and playing music. If I have to pick one over the other,

I’m probably going to pick dentistry—but I really want to keep playing in a fun sort of way with people I really like playing with.

When you started music, how did it make you feel? Like, how did it … did it help you in that way?

I recently learned a word: frisson. And it’s when music gives somebody the ability to have an all-body experience. Music has the ability to make a person cry, to make a person happy … to really get deep down into their emotions.

With that lady who had been in the car accident … I think that dentist really made her get back into her emotions. It really made her weep when she looked into the mirror and saw that her teeth were good. And I think music and helping people, however you do it, helps them in getting deep into their emotions. That’s how they intertwine.

A young Mitchell kathleen cei

Throughout high school, did being a musician also help with your schooling?

I think anyone who plays an instrument is just generally … they have a better sense of science and math in general. So I think having that strength in those two subjects really helped me know that I could do this. That I could be a biology major and figure out these different things with teeth.

Was there a subject that didn’t incorporate with your music? That you felt was difficult?

Organic chemistry! That is the one subject that has no connection to music whatsoever … and it’s like the worst thing.

But it’s fun in a way. You get to draw carbons in chair formations. But I think that’s the subject that doesn’t really go.

Was there ever a teacher that discouraged you? In music or dentistry?

I went to a summer camp once, and this teacher—she wasn’t a very nice person. It really turned me off from music for a while. I took a year-long break from the camp and I didn’t go back, because I knew that she was there. She just made me feel really bad about myself to a point where she made me cry.

That was the point where I thought about just stopping … I was going to stop playing music.

I did go back. I had a teacher who was really supportive, and she helped me through it.

But that one teacher, she made me want to quit.

I know that senior year is like a huge step into adulthood and everything. How do you … how is the end of year going to conclude for you?

Probably just a lot of studying. I visited Upon one, and I sat inside of a biology lecture with a professor. He was really into what he was teaching. There were a lot of things that were like “Oh, I can get this,” but then there were other things where I just had no idea what he was talking about. So I’m probably going to spend a lot of time studying this and trying to get my life together.

It’s gonna be hard. But I like a challenge. So hopefully I will get through it.

a teacher. My third-grade year, the program was being cut and the school was being knocked down. The teacher at the time told me: “I’ve signed you up for Music Haven.

Go to this place at this time and you’re gonna take lessons with them.”

I told my mom, and then we went. I guess the rest is history.

How did Music Haven warm you up to keep going with music?

Music Haven has taught me that I have to be really determined and I have to try really hard, cause there are struggles in everything you do—especially in music.

It just takes practice. Practice practice practice. That’s probably the biggest thing that I’ve struggled with.

I would always try to find some sort of shortcut to get the best possible result. But in music, you can’t really take a shortcut.

You just have to do the nitty-gritty work that it takes to be good, and you have to improve your skills with practice. I think that finding that sense of how to do the nitty-gritty work is what’s probably what’s going to help me the best in dentistry. I just can’t cut corners.

Was there ever someone that pushed you to keep going … to become a better musician?

All of them, honestly. Like, all the teachers were just so supportive. They wanted me to be the best me possible, and to be the best musician that I could be. And then there are also my friends who I play with, who also made me want to be a better player. I saw them improving and doing different things, and it made me think “I wanna do that. I want to be on par with them.”

We kept pushing each other. It’s like, we want to be the best we can be. And it was … it’s not like “I’m better than you, you suck.” No. It’s like family. Like, “You’re doing really well. You have me shook.”

We have great teachers, who are absolutely bomb players. They kill it every single time. I’m so grateful to have them as teachers, to teach me what they know. It’s just overall a great experience.

Well, when you started in Music Haven, what made you want to keep going?

I actually started music inside my elementary school, in kindergarten. There was a small music program with four or seven other kids inside a music room with

Have you ever done something during a concert or while practicing that made you kind of embarrassed?

Constantly. Every day of my life. There are always going to be embarrassing things, and they vary. There are very small things that you are aware of personally but no one in the

audience is really aware of, like when you play a note out of tune or something.

And then there are other things where you just stop playing all together. I remember I was playing a duet with my teacher [Gregory Tompkins] … I messed up a lot. And I just started laughing in the middle of the concert.

I just was losing it. And I was embarrassed afterwards. You probably shouldn’t be laughing so loud during your own concert, but I just couldn’t help it. I will always remember that day. It was so embarrassing for me.

Has Music Haven helped you to the point where you know exactly what your plan is, solidly? Like, you know you don’t want to change it?

Well. I tell people that I want to be a dentist, but I always add “subject to change.”

Because when you go to college, I think the statistic is like every college freshman changes their major 13 times or something like that. So I don’t know! I might take a finance class and realize that finances are really cool … become some sort of accountant or something.

I feel like nothing is set in stone. I know that right now, dentistry seems to be where it’s at for me. But I’m not going to shut myself out to other possibilities. Like, maybe I would become an accountant at some point. Or some sort of philosopher. Nothing is ever set in stone in terms of what you want you career to be and who you want to be as a person.

If I were to change, what would I be? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I have to experience more of the world to know what I want to do, who I want to be, for my future.

And when I get there, I’ll let you know! I have to figure it out first. •

july-august 2018 • artspaper.org 15

culture

bulletin

“One City” Ready To Take On The Summer Management teams program affordable family fun

calls for Artists Open submission through July 31, 2018.

No Entry Fee. The Woven Tale Press is a monthly online literary and fine arts magazine. The Press mission is to grow traffic to noteworthy artists and writers on the Web; we link contributors works directly back to their websites or blogs.

The Press welcomes submissions of painting, mixed media, crafts (including fiber), sculpture, photography, printmaking, and experimental. We pride ourselves on being eclectic. For submission guidelines visit http://thewoventalepress.net/ how-to-submit/. Please review current issues before submitting. Website: thewoventalepress.net. Contact person: Editor-in-Chief Sandra Tyler, email (for info only): editor@thewoventalepress.net Artists

by markeshia ricks After months of planning, neighborhood leaders from all over town served up a sample of what you can expect from their efforts to create a summer of fun—affordable fun—all over the city.

The leaders of the city’s 12 community management teams who have formed a new “One City Initiative” offered up that sample City Hall in mid-June to showcase some of the activities planned for 60 days in all 12 neighborhoods.

The initiative kicks off with a “Family Fun Expo” June 28 at the New Haven Field House on Sherman Parkway, continues with the 60 days of neighborhood events, then culminates with a closing ceremony on the New Haven Green Aug. 26.

During those 60 days, you can stop by the firehouses in each neighborhood and receive fire safety training. You can head to Westville to enter the Hi-Fi Pie Fest and enjoy a summer concert series in Beecher Park. You can learn to skateboard at Stetson Library or get your Zumba on in Dixwell. You can eat sundaes with your kids and read books from the library bookmobile on Mondays in Newhallville.

Mayor Toni Harp said that all of the activities planned under the One City Initiative will make certain that this will be “a summer to remember.”

“New Haven is rich with talent, enthusiasm, and ambition,” she said at June’s event. “This summer’s One City Initiative is building the community from within—adventures to be shared in every corner of our city with an invitation for all residents to attend and enjoy samples of the creative talents that will be on display this summer.”

The idea to unite the city’s management teams to create affordable opportunities for families all over the city and encourage people to get out and explore the city was the brainchild of Newhallville Management Team CoChair Kim Harris, who said it took a village and team to make the whole thing come together.

“It’s about building stronger communities through shared ideas and solutions,” Harris said of the initiative.

“Newhallville is no different than any other neighborhood. We all need and want

opportunities and access and examples and samples and just sharing ideas and solutions in order to make a difference.”

In addition to tons of fun, there will be training opportunities. The Newhallville Management Team with the support of the Newhallville Safe Neighborhood Initiative will host free, comprehensive training throughout the next three months for people who want to become leaders of their neighborhood management teams.

The series will include an all-day youth conference on leadership and conflict resolution held in June; an adult training on the same topic will be held in July. In August, a workshop on creating a 501(c)(3) will be conducted by the Yale Law Clinic and the New Haven Legal Assistance Association. Management Team 101 training for new and established leaders will be taught by former Fair Haven Management Team co-chair Lee Cruz.

Children who come to the family expo in late June will go home with lots of goodies including a book. Earlier this year Marjorie Wiener, co-chair of the Westville/ West Hills Management Team, collected 400 books from libraries in New Haven, Bethany, and Woodbridge. And you’ll be able to help stimulate the local economy and get a small discount at certain stores in the city thanks to a One City Initiative club card that you will be able to get at the expo.

Mayor Harp thanked all the management teams for coming up with creative and innovative ideas to showcase the city and their neighborhoods.

“The census says we’re the area that looks most like America demographically and what we’re showing the rest of America is that we can work together, have fun together and create community together,” she said. “I believe that once we do this, we will do it for years to come and show other cities how to become one city and one community.”

To get a full schedule of events for the One City Initiative, visit onecityinitiative.org.

This piece first appeared last month in the New Haven Independent, a collaborating partner with the Arts Paper. To find out more about the New Haven Independent, visit newhavenindependent.org. •

16 artspaper.org • july-august 2018

The Bruce S. Kershner Gallery of the Fairfield Public Library would like to invite visual artists to apply to show their work in its dedicated gallery space during the upcoming calendar of rotating exhibitions.

Artists interested in applying should visit the website for full information about submitting an application: http:// fairfieldpubliclibrary.org/our-community/ bruce-s-kershner-gallery/ Also follow us on Instagram to see the gallery and our recent exhibitions: https://www.instagram.com/ the_kershner_gallery/ Artist Residencies The New Haven Land Trust is seeking 4 artists in residence for 4 of our community gardens. The gardens we’ve selected are strategically located in the hearts of 4 different neighborhoods in New Haven: Fair Haven, Newhallville, The Hill, and Dwight. The goal is to activate these gardens as community hubs of activity, not limited to gardening, but encompassing healthy lifestyle in the broadest sense, including the arts. We are putting out a call for artists to submit proposals for their visions of what artistic element could be added to any one of the 4 unique spaces.

Artists of all mediums are encouraged to apply, and particular attention will be given to proposals by artists who grew up or live in the neighborhoods in which these gardens are located. Please use the addresses listed below to scout the sites and get the ideas flowing. Small stipends will be paid to artists in exchange for organizing at least one interactive workshop and curating the artistic element of the garden for the duration of the growing season (through September). The artists in residence will be selected in part by garden coordinators and will work with garden leadership to accomplish their vision, whatever that may be. Use our gardens as your canvas, and build community while doing so! Dates: Summer/Early Fall. Stipend: $500.

Available Hub Gardens: 47 Grand Ave. (at Perkins St.), 255 Shelton Ave. (at Ivy St.), 145 Davenport Ave. (at Ward St.) OR 60 Truman St. (at Clover Pl.), 290 Goffe St. (at County St.) To apply please send a resume, cover letter, portfolio or examples of your work by email to stephen.grant@newhavenlandtrust.org

Skopelos is offering artist residencies for 2018. The studio is equipped for painters, printmakers, clay artists, digital photographers, and videographers. The length of residence is from 2-4 weeks from March-October. The studio is perched high on a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea near the village of Skopelos.

Application information: https://.www. skopartfoundation.org Singers The Connecticut Yuletide Carolers (CT’s premiere Victorian Christmas caroling group) is looking for SATB singers for The Connecticut Mistletones, a new a capella group to perform contemporary, jazzy Christmas songs in the style of The Manhattan Transfer/New York Voices.

Group will perform a fully memorized 50-60 minute show at each gig, dressed in contemporary/festive costumes. Need: Good availability during Nov. and Dec. (including some daytime/weekends).

Ability to perform tight harmonies. Ability to do simple movement/choreography.

Transportation to/from the gigs. PAID JOBS. Send resume to info@ctyuletide.com Singers Silk ’n Sounds a’ Capella women’s chorus is looking for new members to join us on our amazing journey of musical discovery!

Come meet us (we are very friendly) and our award winning director, Christine Lampe-Onnerud, at one of our Tuesday night rehearsals from 6:15-9:15pm at the Spring Glen Church located at 1825 Whitney Ave in Hamden. You can contact Lynn at (203) 623-1276 for more information or check us out online at www. silknsounds.org or on Facebook.

Singers The New Haven Oratorio Choir, a community chamber choir, invites singers of all voice parts to audition for a position in the choir.

Singers are also welcome to attend one of our rehearsals which are held Wednesday nights from 8-10 pm at Church of the Redeemer, 185 Cold Spring St. in New Haven. For more information please check out our website http://www.nhoratorio.org/sing-with-us/.

To schedule an audition please contact Gretchen at 203-624-2520 or membership@ nhoratorio.org.

Submissions Submissions for Tribeca TV Festival are now open! New to the Tribeca TV Festival this year is Indie Pilots, a showcase of the most exciting new independent voices in episodic television. The program, which has been a part of the annual April Tribeca Film Festival, was created to identity and provide visibility for independent creators work in the episodic space. Submission rules, regulations, and complete information regarding eligibility for the 2018 Tribeca TV Festival are now available at https://www.tribecafilm.com/tvfestival/ submissions. Questions regarding submissions may be directed to entries@tribecafilmfestival. org. Entry deadline: July 6, 2018 Volunteers

Artist Residencies The Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, an American owned and operated artist studio located on the Greek Island of

The non-profit Spectrum Art Gallery and its affiliate, Arts Center Killingworth offer numerous opportunities for volunteers! Learn new skills, meet new people, and be part

of a creative organization that gives to the community. Opportunities exist throughout the year for a variety of events and ongoing programs. Teens are welcome and can earn community service credit. Email Barbara Nair, Director, at barbara@spectrumartgallery.org or call 860-663-5593.

Volunteers Interested in working with theatre artists in a thriving New Haven Arts Community?

If the answer is yes, join Collective Consciousness Theatre’s volunteer team today! Ushering, House Management, Social Media Consulting, Marketing. Please email us at ccttheatreorg@gmail.com if you are interested in becoming a part of CCT. Volunteers Masonicare Home Health and Hospice is seeking hospice volunteers to visit our hospice patients. We are looking for singers who can sing in small groups at bedside. We are also looking for volunteers with a variety of artistic talents for our expressive arts program. We are a community based program and have needs in many towns and communities.

Please call Jolan at 203.679.5342 or jszollosi@masonicare.org to find out how you can make a difference in someone’s life.

classes Barre Workout I can come to you, New Haven to Westport.

(203) 690-8501. sharonbaily30@gmail.com Private Barre fitness training Offering private Barre fitness training. Get help with losing weight while sculpting and toning all parts of the body with this ballet and yoga inspired workout. See great results right away using isometric movements at the ballet barre. Get personal private training focusing on desired target areas that need muscular toning and developing. $55 for an hour session.

Learn how to use the carving tools, prepare an image for carving, execute basic carving techniques, print a block by hand, print multiple colors (registration), and print cards/stationary. Develop a one- or twocolor design on tracing paper, transfer the designs to woodblock(s), & print by hand.

Leave with your block, prints, & a resource guide. July 17 & Aug. 8. $40, $35 for MakeHaven members. 6:30-9:30 p.m Basics of Molding and Casting Make Haven. 770 Chapel St., New Haven. (203) 936-9830. makehaven.org/events Smooth-On experts provide a hands-on demonstration of mold making and info on how to work with rubbers, plastics, foams and gypsums. These materials are used for reproducing sculptures, casting concrete, prototype making, theatrical props, architectural restoration, robotics, toy making, special effects, culinary applications, casting wax, and more July 23. Free and open to the public. 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Advanced Printing Press Make Haven. 770 Chapel St., New Haven.

(203) 936-9830. makehaven.org/events Artists who have a wood or linoleum block already carved learn to pull their prints using the Chandler & Price printing press.

The press delivers much more pressure for a more consistent ink distribution, simplified registration, and edition printing.

See event info for block requirements.

Printing ink and paper to make at least 5 prints provided. Aug. 2 . . $25, $20 for MakeHaven members. 6:30pm-8:30pm Yoga in the Galleries Mattatuck Museum 144 West Main St., Waterbury. (203) 753-0381. mattmuseum. org Find a calm mind and strengthened body with an all-levels flowing yoga class in the Early American Art Gallery. Instructors may vary. Bring your own mat. Feb. 6- Dec. 31. Every Tuesday, 5:30-6:30 p.m. $8-12.

Private Yoga Class for Women

Tai Chi

32 Webster St., New Haven. (203) 6908501. sharonbaily30@gmail.com Private Yoga for depression and Anxiety Gentle yoga uses to relax and calm the body and mind for those suffering from depression and or anxiety using proper poses to release negative moods and tense excited feelings along with some affirmative guided meditation during savasana. Be renewed and invigorated with gentle calming vinyasa yoga. Apr. 2 - Apr. 1 . These are private one on one sessions I can come to you. . $30 for a 45 minute session.. Mornings

Mattatuck Museum 144 West Main St., Waterbury. Move and groove to music with certified Tai Chi instructor Joe Atkins. Tai Chi classes will allow you to find new energy and stamina. Tai chi also helps improve balance, flexibility and mobility, and reduces stiffness and soreness. Wear comfortable clothes. All levels welcome. Feb. 7- Dec. 3.

Every Wednesday, 10-11:00 a.m. $8-$12.

Basics of Glass on Metal Make Haven. 770 Chapel St., New Haven.

(203) 936-9830. makehaven.org/events Fused Enamel: Basics of Glass on Metal Learn to create vibrant and lasting pieces through the art of glass fusing enamel. After a brief lecture on varieties of enamel, application techniques, and firing methods, you will experiment with oven-firing a variety of powder and watercolor enamels on copper to create your own design. July 7. $50, $30 for MakeHaven members. 4-6 p.m.

Intro Woodcut Printmaking Make Haven. 770 Chapel St., New Haven.

(203) 936-9830. makehaven.org/events

Summer Musical Theater Camp New Haven Academy of Performing Arts 597 Main St., East Haven. (475) 238-8119. nhaopa.com/summer-musical-theatrecamp.html Give your child a summer they will never forget and send them to the New Haven Academy of Performing Arts.

The summer musical theatre offers two three-week sessions for students, ages 7-17, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Each session includes fun-filled performance classes in dance, acting, singing, improvisation and team building theatre June 25-Aug. 12.

children. Please visit our online calendar for information and to register.

Sketching in the Galleries Yale Center for British Art 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510. (203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu Enjoy the tradition of sketching from original works of art in the center’s collection and special exhibitions. Artists will offer insights on drawing techniques and observational skills. Drawing materials are provided, and all skill levels are welcome. May 2-July 25. Select Wednesdays from noon-1 p.m.

The program is free, but preregistration is requested for each session. Contact Education at ycba.education@yale.edu for more information.

(printmaker). The exhibit will be on view from Thursday, June 28- July 29. There will be an Opening Reception on July 12, 5-7 p.m., and an Artists’ Talk on June 29 at 2 p.m. Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Ives Main Library

dance

New Haven Free Public Library , 133 Elm St., New Haven. (203) 946-8130. WALLS: Works by Liz Antle-O’Donnell In 2011, roughly 6-9 million people in the U.S. were estimated to live in a gated community, with one in every two houses being built behind walls in California alone. Liz AntleO’Donnell’s recent body of work focuses specifically on gated communities, drawing parallels between this rapidly expanding phenomenon and what is happening in our country today May 14 -July 6. For more information, visit the library’s website.

Yogi Boho Fitness

Kehler Liddell Gallery

1125 Dixwell Ave, Hamden. (203) 6908501. Yogi Boho Fitness is offering Barre workout classes. Barre is a sculpting and conditioning class inspired by ballet barre warmups targeting the core, posture alignment, toning and strengthening the arms, legs as well as firming the bottom. A portion of the class utilizes small weights and the class cools down with gentle yoga floor stretches. Dates and times vary; for more information, please call our number.

Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. (203) 389-9555. kehlerliddellgallery.com Robert Bienstock.

May 31- July 1. Gallery Hours: Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., other days/times by appointment. Free and open to all.

Amy Browning. May 31-July 1. Gallery Hours: Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., other days/times by appointment. Free and open to all.

creative services Express Yourself Expressive writing & art sessions for healing through grief and life transitions in private and group settings, facilitated

by Amy J. Barry, certified expressive arts educator and bereavement counselor.

For rates and more information, email amyjaybarry@gmail.com, visit www.aimwrite-ct.net or www. rubeesconstellation.com 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 removed; 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 smallbusiness sites. Will create and maintain any kind of website. Hosting provided.

Also low-cost in-depth artwork analysis, writing, editing services. (203) 387-4933. azothgallery@comcast.net.

exhibitions

New Haven Museum 114 Whitney Ave.,, New Haven. (203) 562-4183. newhavenmuseum.org 21stCentury Tales from WWI Award-winning comic-book illustrator Nadir Balan creates a series of dynamic, over-sized, graphicnovel style murals based on the dramatic World War I (WWI) diary of one New Haven serviceman who witnessed firsthand the adventure, horror, and pathos of the front lines. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5p.m.; Saturday noon-5 p.m. $2-4.

Spectrum Art Gallery 61 Main St., Centerbrook. (860) 767-0742. spectrumartgallery.org Summer Group Gallery Exhibit A six-week group gallery show at the Spectrum Gallery and Store of select pieces by artists participating in the annual Summer Arts Festival in Essex (June 9-10, 2018). May 25-July 8. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday noon-6 p.m., Thursday and Sunday noon-5 p.m. Free and open to the public. Summer Arts Festival Exhibition The nonprofit Spectrum Art Gallery and Arts Center Killingworth hosts the Third Annual Summer Arts Festival and this exciting, annual event also includes a sixweek group gallery show at the Spectrum Gallery and Store of select pieces by participating award-winning Festival artists and artisans from Connecticut and tri-state area. May 25-July 8. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday noon-6 p.m., Thursday and Sunday noon-5 p.m. Free and open to the public.

City Gallery Westerly Public Library’s Hoxie Gallery

Spectrum Art Gallery 61 Main St., Centerbrook. (860) 7670742. spectrumartgallery.org Ongoing Art Classes and Workshops Spectrum Gallery in Essex Township hosts an array of seasonal art programs for adults and

994 State St., New Haven. (203) 7822489. city-gallery.org CITY PAPER at City Gallery For its July show, City Gallery presents CITY PAPER featuring William Frucht (photographer), Mary Lesser (painter/printmaker), and Michael Zack

The Artists of Gallery One, 44 West Broad St. , Westerly. (401) 596-2877. galleryoneCT.com The Artists of Gallery One at Westerly Public Library’s Hoxie Gallery The work is by a diverse group of

july-august 2018 • artspaper.org 17

bulletin mid-career artists who use current modes of expression in a variety of contemporary media. Member artists include Catherine Christiano, Ellen Gaube, Deborah Hornbake, Gray Jacobik, Judith Barbour Osborne, T. Willie Raney, Diana Rogers, Rick Silberberg, and Jill Vaughn. July 2-26 with opening reception on Thursday, July 5 from 5-7:45 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.- 8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.- 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

John Lyman Center for Performing Arts The Artists of Gallery One, 501 Crescent St., New Haven, CT. (203) 392-6154. galleryoneCT.com The Artists of Gallery One at the John Lyman Center The work is by a diverse group of mid-career artists who use current modes of expression in a variety of contemporary media.

The hanging intentionally emphasizes connections between representational and abstract work. Opening reception on Sunday, Sept. 9 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 28 -Oct. 14 . Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Yale Center for British Art 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510.

(203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu Celia Paul The Center presents an exhibition of work by the contemporary British artist Celia Paul (b.

1959) curated by award-winning critic Hilton Als. Docent-led tours of this special exhibition are offered on select Thursdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. Apr. 3-Aug. 12. TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Art in Focus: John Goto’s “High Summer” In his series “High Summer, the photographer John Goto creates composite scenes in which contemporary figures disrupt the landscape gardens of 18th century British country estates. This student-curated exhibition explores the historical sites that Goto references in eight of his photographs. Apr. 6-Aug. 19. TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Salt and Silver: Early Photography, 1840-1860 Featuring more than one hundred seldom-displayed salt prints, on loan from the Wilson Centre for Photography in London, the exhibition will provide visitors with an opportunity to see some of the earliest photographs in the world.

Docent-led tours of this special exhibition are offered on select Thursdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m.June 28-Sept. 9. TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

Free and open to the public.

music NMS Chamber Winds Recital NMS Chamber Winds Weeklong Intensive Recital. July 7. 11:00 a.m. Free and open to the public. Neighborhood Music School, Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. NMSnewhaven.org

Nelson Hall Theater, Nelson Hall Theater, 140 Cook Hill Road, Cheshire. (203) 6995495. nelsonhallelimpark.org GNHCC Invites Singers for 2018-19 GNHCC is a non-auditioned, four-part (SATB) chorus with singers of diverse musical backgrounds, some who have never sung in a chorus before and others who are highly skilled. Visit our website and Facebook page for information about our next season. Greater New Haven Community Chorus, First Presbyterian Church, 704 Whitney Ave., New Haven.

(203) 303-4642. gnhcc.org

spaces Event/Party Space 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 atmosphere provides the perfect setting for your guests to relax, mingle and enjoy the company of friends. We provide a warm atmosphere filled with paintings, drawings and sculptures by CT contemporary artists and free parking, with front door wheel chair access. Contact Kehler Liddell Gallery at 203-389-9555 or kehlerliddell@gmail.com.

Studio/Event Space At Erector Square in New Haven available for dance and theatre rehearsals and performances, events, workshops, and exhibitions. 1,500 sq. ft., 1st floor, 14 ft ceilings, white walls, great light, wooden floors.

Contact Annie at anniesailer@gmail.com.

Studio Space For Dance, Performing Arts, Events Hall 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.

talks & tours Art Circles Join a museum educator for a thirty-minute discussion in the center’s galleries to explore one highlight of the collection. The work of art changes every session, making each visit a new experience. Meet at the Information Desk. May 3-July 19. Select Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. Free. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510.

(203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu Introductory Tour

Changes in Latitudes Changes in Latitudes recreates the Jimmy Buffett concert experience with amazing authenticity, complete with a full tropical stage set-up of palm trees, surf boards, and more. Leader Steve Kareta mimics Jimmy’s casual, storyteller style, taking you on a laid-back yet up-beat musical trip through the sun-drenched Caribbean. July 26 . 2:00 and 7:30 p.m. Prices range from $12 - $41.

Docent-led introductory tours of the center’s collections are offered on most Fridays at 2 p.m., and Saturdays at 11 a.m. Saturday tours feature a visit to the Founder’s Room. Please visit the center’s website for more information. Apr. 20Aug. 10 . Free and open to the public. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510. (203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu

18 artspaper.org • july-august 2018

Architecture Tour Tours of the center’s architecture are offered on Saturdays at 11 a.m. Apr. 28July 28 . Free and open to the public. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510. (203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu

theater Elm Shakespeare Teen Intensive This brand-new summer program brings teens together for a three week session of pure Shakespearian adventure. Students spend three weeks immersed in a challenging, creative and fun environment working with theater professionals who are experts in their specialty. June 25July 13 . Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $750. 501 Crescent St., New Haven. (203) 392-8882. elmshakespeare.org NMS Summer Rocks! Festival Summer Rocks! student performances.

Great food, Summer Rocks! faculty jam, guest artists and more! Aug. 18, noon-6:00 p.m . 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. NMSnewhaven.org

arts council member organizations A Broken Umbrella Theatre abrokenumbrella.org (203) 868-0428 Alyla Suzuki Childhood Music Education alylasuzuki.com (203) 239-6026 American Guild of Organists sacredmusicct.org (203) 671-9393 Another Octave-CT Women’s Chorus anotheroctave.org (203) 672-1919 Artspace artspacenh.org (203) 772-2709 Artsplace: Cheshire Performing & Fine Arts cpfa-artsplace.org (203) 272-2787

The Choirs of Trinity Church on the Green trinitynewhaven.org (203) 776-2616 City Gallery city-gallery.org (203) 782-2489 Civic Orchestra of New Haven civicorchestraofnewhaven.org Connecticut Dance Alliance ctdanceall.com Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus ctgmc.org (203) 777-2923 Connecticut Hospice Arts Program hospice.com (203) 315-7522 Connecticut Women Artists ctwomenartists.org (201) 803-3766 Creative Arts Workshop creativeartsworkshop.org (203) 562-4927 Creative Concerts (203) 795-3365 CT Folk ctfolk.com DaSilva Gallery dasilva-gallery.com (203) 387-2539 East Street Arts eaststreetartsnh.org (203) 776-6310 EcoWorks CT ecoworksct.org (203) 498-0710 Firehouse 12 firehouse12.com (203) 785-0468 Gallery One CT galleryonect.com (860) 663-3095 Greater New Haven Community Chorus gnhcc.org Guilford Art Center guilfordartcenter.org (203) 453-5947 Guilford Art League gal-ct.blogspot.com

Artfarm art-farm.org (860) 346-4390

Guilford Poets Guild guilfordpoetsguild.org

Ball & Socket Arts ballandsocket.org

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

Bethesda Music Series bethesdanewhaven.org (203) 787-2346

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

Blackfriars Repertory Theatre blackfriarsrep.com (646) 461-2445

Hamden Symphony Orchestra hamdensymphony.org (203) 433-4207

Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance facebook.com/bacact

Hugo Kauder Society hugokauder.org (203) 562-5200

Branford Folk Music Society branfordfolk.org (203) 488-7715

Imaginary Theater Company imaginarytheatercompany.org

Chestnut Hill Concerts chestnuthillconcerts.org (203) 245-5736

The Institute Library institutelibrary.org (203) 562-4045

International Festival of Arts & Ideas artidea.org (203) 498-1212

Silk n’ Sounds silknsounds.org

Town Green Special Services District infonewhaven.com (203) 401-4245

Site Projects siteprojects.org (203) 376-8668

Visit New Haven visitnewhaven.com

Knights of Columbus Museum kofcmuseum.org (203) 865-0400

Spectrum Art Gallery & Store spectrumartgallery.org (860) 767-0742

Westville Village Renaissance Alliance westvillect.org (203) 285-8539

Legacy Theatre legacytheatrect.org (203) 208-5504

Summer Theatre of New Canaan (203) 966-4634 stonc.org

Whitneyville Cultural Commons 1253whitney.com (203) 780-8890

Madison Art Society madisonartsociety.blogspot.com (203) 458-8555

Theater Department at SCSU southernct.edu/theater

Make Haven makehaven.org (203) 936-9830

University Glee Club of New Haven universitygleeclub.org (203) 248-8515

Yale-China Association yalechina.org (203) 432-0880

Mattatuck Museum mattatuckmuseum.org (203) 753-0381

Wesleyan University Center for the Arts wesleyan.edu/cfa (860) 685-3355

Kehler Liddell Gallery kehlerliddell.com (203) 389-9555

Mirror Visions Ensemble mirrorvisions.org Milford Arts Council milfordarts.org (203) 876-9013 Musical Folk musicalfolk.com (203) 691-9759 Music Haven musichavenct.org (203) 745-9030 Neighborhood Music School neighborhoodmusicschool.org (203) 624-5189 Nelson Hall at Elim Park nelsonhallelimpark.org

Whitney Arts Center (203) 773-3033 Yale Center for British Art britishart.yale.edu (203) 432-2800 Yale Institute of Sacred Music yale.edu.ism (203) 432-5180 Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History peabody.yale.edu (203) 432-8987 Yale Repertory Theatre yalerep.org (203) 432-1234

New Haven Ballet newhavenballet.org (203) 782-9038

Yale University Art Gallery artgallery.yale.edu (203) 432-0601

New Haven Chamber Orchestra newhavenchamberorchestra.org

community partners

New Haven Museum newhavenmuseum.org (203) 562-4183 New Haven Oratorio Choir nhoratorio.org (860) 339-6462 New Haven Paint and Clay Club newhavenpaintandclayclub.org

Department of Arts Culture & Tourism cityofnewhaven.com (203) 946-8378 Dept. of Economic & Community Development cultureandtourism.org (860) 256-2800

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

Homehaven homehavenvillages.org (203) 776-7378

Pantochino Productions pantochino.com (203) 937-6206

Hopkins School (203) 397-1001 hopkins.edu

Paul Mellon Arts Center choate.edu/artscenter (203) 697-2398

JCC of Greater New Haven jccnh.org (203) 387-2522

The Second Movement secondmovementseries.org Shoreline Arts Alliance shorelinearts.org (203) 453-3890 Shoreline Arts Trail shorelineartstrail.com Shubert Theater shubert.com (203) 562-5666

New Haven Free Public Library nhfpl.org (203) 946-8130 New Haven Preservation Trust nhpt.org (203) 562-5919 Overseas Ministries Study Center omsc.org (203) 624-6672

creative businesses Branford Art Center branfordartcenterct.com (203) 208-4455 Billy DiCrosta Vocal Studio billydicrosta.com (203) 376-0609 Toad’s Place toadsplace.com (203) 624-8623

institutional support Executive Champions Yale University

Senior Patrons H. Pearce Real Estate L. Suzio York Hill Companies Marcum Odonnell Company Corporate Partners Firehouse 12 Fusco Management Company Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven Knights of Columbus Webster Bank Yale-New Haven Hospital Business Patrons Albertus Magnus College Gateway Community College Halsey Associates Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale Newman Architects Wiggin and Dana Business Members Access Audio-Visual Systems Brenner, Saltzman & Wallman, LLP Griswold Home Care Foundations & Government Community Foundation for Greater New Haven DECD/CT Office of the Arts City of New Haven Department of Arts, Culture, & Tourism The Ethel & Abe Lapides Foundation Josef and Anni Albers Foundation National Endowment for the Arts NewAlliance Foundation The Wells Fargo Foundation The Werth Family Foundation

PHENOMENAL

WOMEN

Arts Awards Commissions Open calls for performance and graphic design due July 19 Details at newhavenarts.org

38th ANNUAL ARTS AWARDS