The Arts Paper | March 2018

teen program 4

ice the beef 10

august wilson 14

the foresters 15

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

March 2018

Spotlight on Young Artists they’re living out the first days of a better nation

Comedy... Music... Drama... nelsonhallelimpark.com

We Changed the Sauce Earlier this January, we watched as a once-heralded artistic director was accused of sexual misconduct and swiftly

new look. same great tastemakers.

fired from his organization. We watched as a champion of gender equity and fact-finding missions took charge, calculating the organization’s next steps and guiding it through an opening night performance and continued community programming.

Meanwhile, we read the accounts of sexual harassment, abuse, and horrific workplace conditions that surfaced in the New York Times. And we wondered if, as one interviewee said, we were complicit.

I am no longer shocked when men abuse power or leaders are reprimanded, but not fired, time and time again in society. I am not surprised that the #MeToo movement has arrived in New Haven.

But I am not content to let this happen again at an arts and cultural organization in our community.

I extend love and support from The Arts Council of Greater New Haven to those who were hurt by Gordon Edelstein during his tenure as Artistic Director at Long Wharf Theatre. Their detailed testimonies underscore the depth of the abuse and silencing pattern in our society.

Big changes are coming to Your Arts Council and The Arts Paper, layout least among them. After listening to many of your concerns, questions, and suggestions last year, we’ve instituted changes to make articles more readable, cover the arts more broadly, and open our doors to a wider audience. Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and accessibility isn’t going anywhere. We heard you loud and clear.

That’s why we’re excited to announce a renewed commitment to editorial independence. Many of you called us out on creating, over two decades, a somewhat narrow picture of the arts in the New Haven region. You weren’t wrong. So we’re trying to do better by moving away from a newsletter format, and becoming a small, hyper-local journalism outfit.

In the spirit of that rebirth, we’ve put a spotlight on youth programs, up-andcoming artists, and young voices this month.

From a piece on Ice The Beef’s use of art as activism to a hip-hop artist who finds room

for Catholicism, the words are good to the last drop. Of that, we are certain.

On the web and in print, we continue to seek out stories that are fresh and exciting and lift up the community. In fact, you’ll now find the vast bulk of our content at artspaper.org. The monthly edition you hold in your hands is peanuts compared to the 8-10 original articles we send out every week to your email inbox. We believe that a daily, digital publication is the best adapted to New Haven’s brisk creative and cultural news cycle. If you weren’t aware, we also take tips on and citizen contributions about breaking arts events—just email them to lucy@newhavenarts.org.

All the best, Lucy Gellman Editor Stephen Urchick Layout Editor & Reporter

in this issue

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

Too Cool For School Is this like what you do in school? There’s no way you could be like school.

stephen urchick......................4

Who Needs Disney World?

Moonee and her friends transform the motel into a fantasyland that can’t be bought.

thomas breen..........................6

The Word Reborn I wanna be open to you. But your piece makes the woman-loving parts of me be broken too.

lucy gellman...........................7 The Artist Formerly Known as Moonchild I grew up Catholic, so I was dipped in communion oil then also dipped in Wu Tang Clan.

sydney feinberg.......................8 “That Was my Peace” It made me whole.

malia west..............................10

leah andelsmith....................12 Foodle Canoodle The challenge: To find an Italian restaurant I could go to with my friends—and my kids.

jennifer gelband....................13

We deserve safe, respectful, and equitable work environments.

Humanity, in a Monologue Competition One of the things that is universal about this work is love. He opened the door to humanity.

lucy gellman..........................14

A Record Label Meets A Youth Experiment We wanted to find our way into their soundscape as a literal band of brothers.

trust. Arts workers are passionate about their careers, but also rely on their paychecks and medical benefits. Arts and culture are the heart of our community in greater New Haven, but how do we move forward through such anger?

the foresters..........................15

As a leader of our arts and culture community, The Arts Council of Greater New Haven will convene community

on the web

conversations, support creative events and programs, and design educational materials and trainings about safety

artspaper.org

and respect in the workplace. These initiatives will continue and evolve as needed because supporting the highest

artspaper.org/articles For the latest breaking arts

standards of excellence on and off the stage in our creative community is central to our work.

artspaper.org/audio

We cannot change the past, but I hope that our actions now will improve the lives of artists and arts workers in our

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.

Editor

Lucy Gellman

Layout Editor

Stephen Urchick

Reporters

Leah Andelsmith Thomas Breen Stephen Urchick Malia West

Partners

Inner-City News New Haven Independent WNHH Community Radio

STARS Lights the Way for Young Artists The more we can do in terms of collaboration, the better the whole world will be.

I hope that this moment serves as a reminder that arts organizations are workplaces and being an artist is a job.

Contrary to what you might think about the life of an artist, the creative process thrives on stability, security, and

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven strives to advance Greater New Haven by providing leadership and support to our diverse arts community. 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.

newhavenarts

community today and in the future. @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 stephen.urchick@yale.edu or jennifer@newhavenarts.org

the arts council of greater new haven

daniel fitzmaurice executive director

Comedy... Music... Drama 203.699.5495 • NelsonHallElimPark.com

150 Cook Hill Road • Cheshire, CT

education

Too Cool for School Teens hang out, mess around, and geek out at YUAG by stephen urchick Teens engaged in their making jessica smolinski

“Moose” remembers the first time she learned about Yale University Art Gallery’s (YUAG) Teen Program. It was a summer afternoon, and she was stressed out after work. Her friend invited her to the gallery, where they could skip looking at the art upstairs and make their own in the basement.

She’s been coming back ever since.

Moose is one of hundreds of New Haven students to frequent YUAG’s Teen Program as it catches on in the wider community. Colloquially dubbed the “Varsity Art League” by its attendees, the program is held Wednesdays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the gallery’s sub-level studios beneath High and Chapel Streets. To insure that transportation and food security aren’t barriers to entry, the gallery provides bus passes and snacks to participants.

It’s become “a second home” to Moose, a student at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School (Co-Op). A poet by practice—she has one compilation out and another volume on its way—Moose said she found painting a welcome release from the constant, writerly pressure to find the right words.

“I was instantly really comfortable,” she said.

That’s by design. Inspired partly by the ARTLAB+ initiative at the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, YUAG’s education department built its recurring after school event as a loosely structured, drop-in workshop that currently accommodates 20-40 kids. The education department purposefully opted against curricula with fixed outcomes, or an application-only

steering committee.

“We didn’t want to do something that was so exclusive kids would get turned away,” said Jessica Sack, Jan and Frederick Mayer Senior Associate Curator of Public Education.

Instead, it’s based around a teaching method known by its acronym HOMAGO—Hang Out, Mess Around, Geek Out. Teen Program participants receive unlimited access to a wide range of crafts supplies and the license to freely experiment with them. There are off-theshelf acrylics and temperas, watercolors and accompanying wax and oil resists, artist-grade sketching materials. Attendees often request particular materials, like a set of brush-tip pens to fill the gap between painting and drawing.

At these sessions, a handful of floating Wurtele Gallery Teachers mingle among the teens to offer technical assistance. Recruited across Yale University’s body of graduate and professional students, they mostly adopt a hands-off approach, delivering up their know-how on-demand.

Sack noted that teachers from the School of Art distinguish themselves— when participants burningly need to know “How do I make it look like that?” the practicing Master’s students can do tutorial right then and right there. But all of the gallery teachers are there to help.

“If we’re sometimes doing a really messy project—like printmaking—we’re there to facilitate every step,” Sack said. But “the kids are very engaged in their making,” and don’t always need extra assistance.

4 artspaper.org • march 2018

Instead, they tend to give at least a full hour of Teen Program’s time to art, after obligatory banter (“That’s lit.” “Define, ‘lit,’ please?” “I drink coffee.” “I was being careful not to kick Matt.”) and some grazing.

Over four years, the result has been a program focused on autonomous discovery, unique from the classroom visits and student tours to YUAG’s exhibition spaces. Sack recalled once asking a participant: “Is this like what you do in school?”

“There’s no way you could be like school,” the student answered.

Rylan Mayo, attending a recent session after a full day of midterms at Co-Op, confirmed this. When his Co-Op art class

Teen program art

comes to the museum, he noted that “we’re learning about the art instead of applying it.”

But working in the program after school, he indicated he has other options. Like the creative competition he had going with his friend Kevin Padilla, seated to his left.

That afternoon, their good-natured rivalry was shaping up as the Renaissance debate between disegno and colore—line and color.

Rylan defined a full-face portrait of a floppy-eared basset hound or Dalmatian in delicate, graphite tracery. Kevin had rendered red-orange nebulae with a heavy, goopy facture on a mauve, galactic void.

“I like space; it’s really cool,” said Kevin. “I associate space with the color

purple … then I add the stars.”

Asked if he considered himself much a painter, Kevin responded candidly: “No, I’m really bad at it—but, I’m practicing!”

That’s true for many of the participants in the program. Sack recalled how one attendee followed through on a single painting project over three consecutive months. In that time, she watched him experiment with process, dabbing the paint just-so or trying out new brushstrokes.

That learning process goes both ways.

Jenny Calivas, a photography MFA in her second year, was one of the assisting gallery teachers that afternoon. At work cutting out kits of readymade felt shapes for an upcoming K-5 event, she spoke at length about her involvement in the Wurtele Gallery Teacher Program, which trains its new fellows for months at a time to lead encounters based around art objects.

The gallery teachers pitch in for happenings like Teen Program put on by YUAG’s education and public programs departments. They spend the bulk of their time, however, conducting tours for all sorts of audiences.

The tours deemphasize art historical content and tend to value the voice of the average beholder. Question stems like “What do you see?” and “What do you see that make you say that?” assume that a group of high schoolers has its own intuitive taste, challenging students to take the time to look closely.

“This is really special because you’re able to slow down with the kids,” Calivas said. She recalled walking one high school

tour through an exhibition of Thomas Wilfred’s Lumia—variable-geometry light sculptures that crawled and pulsed. It complicated the prompt “What do you see?” because what they saw shifted all the time.

That kind of interpretation unfolds at the Teen Program too. Back at the session, Moose walked up to Sack, who was seated with two other students and taking turns at adding lines to a Sol LeWitt-inspired collaborative drawing. Moose flashed an artboard bearing an iridescent pink and blue disruption pattern over the day’s second purple background.

“The color of feminism,” Moose proclaimed. Sack asked her where it began.

“You see this big blotch of paint in the middle? That’s where I started,” Moose said.

“I added blue to it because it’s too pink.”

“Did you put your name on it?” Sack asked.

“No.” “You didn’t put your name on it,” Sack asked again, fake cross. She gestured for Moose to come over and bring her a marker, and to show her the still-wet board’s backside.

Sack inscribed Moose’s name— contributing a necessary clerical touch—and Teen Program continued on. Moose airlaunched a package of fruit snacks across the room. Chatter burbled up over big-band swing filtering in from a Bluetooth speaker.

“Is ‘failing’ a B+ or is ‘failing’ an F—?” one voice asked. Others followed.

“No, it’s failing. I have an F—” “I wish I could art.”

“Just do it and see what happens!” •

H AR O L D S H AP I R O o v e r 3 7 y e a r s f i n e p ro fe s s i o n a l p h o t o g r a p h y

P O R T R AI T S C O M M E R C I AL P R I VAT E P H O T O L E S S O N S h a rold s h a p i ro p h o t o @ g m a i l . c o m

h a rold s h a p i ro p h o t o . c o m

203.988.4954 G u i l fo rd , C o n n e c t i c u t

screen

poetry

Who Needs Disney World?

Incandescent outsiders living on the razor’s edge of poverty by thomas breen

Halley shares Moonee’s exuberance cre film

2017 was a tremendous year for movies about youth. Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, Columbus, Tramps, and Raw each captured, in both style and substance, the unique energy, openness, change and uncertainty that comes standing on the cusp of maturity and still feeling like the world holds something new and inexplicable around every corner. Many of them are Oscar contenders this month, and all of them have merits on which I could wax poetic.

But the movie about youth from last year that I want every New Havener to see, that most resonated with me as an exploration of the triumphs and pitfalls of a youthful openness to experience irrespective of the consequences, is not about teens on the brink of adulthood. It’s about a group of six-year-olds from Orlando, Florida.

The Florida Project (2017), the latest movie from writer-director Sean Baker, captures perfectly that childlike eagerness to revel in the present, to find the here and now’s endless capacity for laughter and joy even amidst the most adverse of conditions.

For six-year-old playmates Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), Scooty (Christopher Rivera), and Jancey (Valeria Cotto), summer days blend seamlessly together as they share ice cream, taunt adults, and explore the furthermost reaches of their neighborhood.

But Baker, whose previous movie Tangerine (2015) focused on a competitive friendship between two transgender prostitutes who work the seedier side of the Hollywood strip, is not interested in an idyllic childhood summer passively endured by the bored and the comfortable.

Much like Tangerine, The Florida Project is a story about vibrant, incandescent outsiders living on the razor’s edge of poverty. The rare movie that neither romanticizes nor collapses before the challenges of life on the margins of society, The Florida Project offers characters filled with joy and instability, activity and desperation.

Moonee, Scooty, and Jancey live with

6 artspaper.org • march 2018

their single moms and single grandmothers in a pay-by-the-week motel on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida. Painted a gaudy but majestic shade of purple, the Magic Palace motel is their incarnation of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom: a crass and artificial fantasy reimagined into a utopia of sensation and delight.

For Moonee and her friends, getting ice cream means walking blocks through empty strip mall parking lots and then shaking down nearby customers for loose change with wide smiles and open palms; taunting adults means joyfully spitting on the cars of strangers and then flipping them off when they demand that the kids stop; and exploring the neighborhood means swinging irons bars and lighting fires in an abandoned condo complex that is crumbling under the weight of its own mold, debris, and decay.

Baker has cited the original Little Rascals series from the 1930s as a great influence on his entire career. Indeed, watching Moonee and her playmates wreak such delightful havoc with such sincere and winning confidence, one can’t help but think of the gap-toothed grins and ragged joie de vivre of that gang of prepubescent MGM comedians who weathered the Great Depression with carefree recklessness and indomitable self-assurance.

But adults are not completely absent from the lives of these young children.

The problem, at least for Moonee, is that her mom, the most formative influence in her life, still lives her life according to a certain indomitable irresponsibility that is charming in a child and a terrifying when that child grows up.

After a particularly dangerous bit of summer fun leads Scooty’s mom to pull her son from Moonee’s company, both to keep him safe and to reduce the likelihood of a visit from the Department of Children and Families, Moonee spends more and more of her summer with her own mom, Halley (Bria Vinaite).

Baker has a knack for casting and

directing non-professional actors who explode off the screen with energy and authenticity. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor never had to play up their eccentric characters in Tangerine, for they seemed to embody their reality so perfectly.

In The Florida Project, Vinaite brings that very same commitment to character and indifference to expectation that the leads in Tangerine projected so well.

An ornately tattooed, twenty something beauty who spends most of her time chainsmoking in her pajamas over the third-story rail of the motel, Halley shares Moonee’s exuberance, spontaneity, and indifference to the future. She is the clear source of Moonee’s gleeful independence and disregard for authority.

But Halley, unlike Moonee, is an adult and a parent. Her stubborn insistence on enjoying the present, no matter the depths of her love for Moonee, have consequences that far outweigh any trouble that her daughter may get in while playing with her friends around the edges of the motel.

In setting this story of childhood ebullience in a rundown motel on the outskirts of Orlando, in the heart of a knockoff economy that thrives off of its proximity to Disney World, Baker conjures a powerful juxtaposition between the artificial, commercialized, grotesque fantasies of adults and the authentic, imaginative, carefree play of children.

To Moonee and her friends, the giant wizards, purple castles, and sickly, oversized marketing displays that define their built surroundings are just part of the backdrop for a world abundant with the promise of easy pleasure.

While well-heeled tourists helicopter in and out of the nearby, high-profile playground for adults that is Disney World, Moonee and her friends continually transform the motel and pool and parking lots around them into a fantasyland that cannot be bought by deep pockets.

Baker and cinematographer Alexis Zabe follow the children with tracking

shots low enough to the ground that the audience feels like it too is in on the play, and that this play is not just about fun, but about taking ownership over one’s surroundings and time.

But unlike the frantic, dynamic cinematography of Tangerine, where tracking shots swooped alongside each hustling character as she made her harried path up and down the sidewalks of East Hollywood, the camera work in The Florida Project is much more interested in taking a step back and looking at wide, still, long shots that situate these little explorers in the strange, immense context of their circumscribed world.

A wide shot of the bright-purple motel in all its communal, doorfront activity reveals a place that is bustling with life. Here is a community of neighbors, friends, and strangers who are inextricably connected by the space, spatial and economic, that they share.

But The Florida Project is not an escapist fantasy, and the similarities between Moonee’s and Halley’s experience of the summer disturb as much as they delight.

In one particularly effervescent and bittersweet scene, Halley, Mooney, and Jancey hitchhike miles from their motel late at night so that they can find a dark place to sit, sing happy birthday to Jancey, eat birthday cupcakes, and watch the fireworks explode over Disney World.

“These fireworks are just for you,” Halley tells Jancey, and, at that moment, all three of them believe it.

There’s a wonder and a beauty to such a personal reclaiming of an impersonal, commercial spectacle.

But Halley’s inability to break through her own self-delusions grates violently against her inability to provide a stable and safe life for her and her child.

By the end of the movie, the fantasies that both Halley and Mooney retreat to are no longer the ones governed by the delights of the imagination, but by fear and desperation to flee an inescapable reality. •

Troy Smith spitting lucy gellman

The Word Reborn Weekly poetry workshops take center stage by lucy gellman

Framed in the wall-length windows of Neighborhood Music School, Troy Smith was on a roll. Behind him, the human beatbox formerly known as Anton Kot stood at the ready, in case Smith wanted some accompaniment. Smith grinned, and leaned into the freshly penned words.

“My soul is like an ocean,” he began.

“Ageless./Full of mystery and wonders./I wonder on what planet will I incarnate next.”

From the middle of the room, someone let out a deep Mmmmmm. Smith’s lines, quiet but steady, bounced off the walls.

“While I’m on earth/One billion lily pads rest on my water./Each representing realities that are represented by a choice I made or didn’t make./However these lily pad are foreign to me/Because I’m busy swimmin’ and preparing for the rain.”

An employee at Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), Smith was one of New Haven’s poets to celebrate the return of The Word, a youth poetry program that culminates in an annual spring poetry jam. Now in its sixth year, it has migrated its “Weekly Word Workshops” from the Institute Library to Audubon Street, where it lives at the Neighborhood Music School each Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.

The workshops, which began in January, are free and continue through May 3.

Program director Hanifa Washington said that she hopes to see young poets, rappers, and spoken word artists from all corners of New Haven—and the greater New Haven area—come out to write and perform. To the group, she predicted it would be an “amazing year of performing,

writing, and creating community.”

This year, she and program coorganizers Aaron Jafferis and Salwa Abdussabur said they are trying to grow The Word further with new community collaborations, including a kickoff cypher, musical accompaniment, and visits from professional poets including Citizen author Claudia Rankine.

As the sun sank outside, more attendees trickled in, the room growing from a cluster of eight to ten to over twenty. In one corner, containers of falafel, guacamole, chicken, and clementine oranges sat for attendees to snag when they got hungry. At the room’s center, Washington warmed the group up with a freestyle exercise, in which attendees each added a sound to the mix. Stomping feet, clapping hands, chirps, whoops and threenote scales filled the room.

Throughout the session, Jafferis reminded participants that “The Word is censorship-free” as they jotted lines down in their notebooks and phones and prepared to read their work.

“If you do spit something that sparks something in someone else, maybe there will be another poem or another rhyme that is responding to it,” he added.

He was speaking from firsthand experience. As the session unfolded with warmups and a prompt, free writing time, and cypher, Jafferis had listened as a student dropped a new, fresh-on-the-page rap including a line addressing women as “hoes.” Slow to chafe and quick to engage, Jafferis turned back to his own notebook, and tested out a few lines. He said he’d run

the poem by the student. Now he wanted to read it for the group.

As he came to the front of the room, he turned to Kot and gave a little nod. A musician turned accompanist for the day, Kot nodded back, and then laid down a beat.

Pppt t t t/Spppt t t t came from him, voice box turned into a stuttering record player.

“I need to lift off this naked fear I have/ Of makin’ people pissed off at me/Look that fear in the eye and be like: ‘Get off of me’/But freedom comes at a cost and/fear, that shit’s awful free,” he spat.

Little bursts of Yes! sprang up in different parts of the room, a semi-circle of seated bodies around Jafferis as he rocked and nodded to the beat. The room seemed to get warmer as they leaned in, eyes tracking where he was going to go next.

“So even if I see something that makes me itch in my clothes/Like a young man calling young women bitches and hoes/I’m likely to keep my mouth and lips stitched closed,” he continued.

By now, members were swaying along to the beat in their chairs, hanging on to every word. Kot kept the beat going with a Rttt ttt ttt ttt/Rttt ttt ttt ttt in the back.

Jafferis sprinted for the end.

“I wanna be open to you/But your piece/Makes the woman-loving parts of me be broken too.”

The room exploded in applause.

Exchanges like this, Abdussabur said, were part of what The Word is all about.

“This is definitely a needed space in terms of yourself and your sound,” they said. “I don’t think there is anything else like it in New Haven.” •

march 2018 • artspaper.org 7

music

T

he artist Moon is a shape-shifter.

Poet, musician, human beatbox and spoken word performer, she resists an urge to be classified. After attending high school and college in Connecticut, she began to perform as Moonchild at intimate music venues like New Haven’s Cafe Nine and the city’s now-defunct Daggett Street Square. But when a group reached out with copyright concerns over the name two years ago, Moonchild became Moon, and started reinventing her music at the same time.

Earlier this year, Arts Council intern Sydney Feinberg had a chance to sit down with Moon and talk music, creative aesthetic, and what it means to be constantly experimenting with style. Their interview is below.

Sydney Feinberg: So how would you describe yourself as an artist?

I don’t know! I only really know hiphop. I mean, I know other genres of course, but I feel like hip-hop needs me the most.

I could be like, “oh I’m experimental or something,” but I think it’s important that I’m part of the hip-hop culture. Because number one, I rap pretty well—and hip hop needs this perspective.

And when you say “this perspective,” what do you mean?

I mean like a New England, queer perspective, as weird as that sounds. Like a New England, queer, space perspective.

How do you think being queer shapes the way you rap, or the way you perform as an artist?

It makes me more empathetic. It gives me more attention to detail because of what I see missing from most artists that I listen to. So I’m more like “oh this matters and this matters.” It shows me what matters more.

How did you come to hip-hop, and the type of music and art you create now?

I was just kind of bathed in it as a child. I grew up Catholic, so I was dipped in communion oil then also dipped in Wu Tang Clan at the same time. Like, literally, I’ve just never known a life without it.

When I was an infant, there were videos of me, and you can hear the hip-hop music playing in the background. So my parents were really, they were like really 90’s parents. So I kind of got it all.

Moon kasaad bullock

The Artist Formerly Known As Moonchild In their own words by sydney feinberg

8 artspaper.org • march 2018

Do you think the music you grew up listening to has a big influence on the music you create today?

Yeah. My parents are divorced; I lived with my mom mostly, or forever. And she had a certain string of CD’s in her car that shaped my life. Sting and the Police, Shonte, and Floetry, and Jill Scott, and Mos Def, and Kanye. She was the person that got me into Kanye. So, yeah, mostly those CD’s, traveling in the car, going to school.

She had a lot of good ones. The Fugees …

I just realized that the other day, my mom has really great taste in music. Like, really great taste.

What are you listening to now?

I’m listening to a lot of local artists … Chef the Chef, Mark the Mighty. I’m listening to Lotus Halves, she’s a queer singer from New York. I met her, I did a show with her. She’s really cool, really chill too. Who else … Andre Jakia, people like that. I really like to listen to old music. But it’s hard, because I find myself in this weird

place where I really like to listen to it, but it’s problematic. Like everyone, not just some people. Everyone.

Like, I love Kodak Black, for example, and then he was like “oh I don’t really like Black women” and I was like, “wow, damn.”

I just want to listen to music, you know what I mean? But I guess, some artists you have to separate. They’re not really political … some people belong in a square.

That’s why, me as an artist, I think I can walk out of that as an artist because I can talk politically. I’m not afraid of questions.

I’m not afraid of any questions really, I just want to be in that platform where I can say some real shit.

That was actually something I was going to ask about—whether or not you would identify as a more political artist.

Oh, definitely. It’s easier for me, because I was raised to think that the issues aren’t easy, but my opinions on them are not. Because even if I say something wrong, I’ll learn. That’s what takes—just as a person, I don’t even think, to be honest, that tackling these issues are so hard. Just do the right thing. I think now, more than ever it’s pretty easy to see what the right thing is, you know what I mean? It’s kind of weird how people are like, “I don’t … I don’t want to get into it.”

I’m all for “if you don’t want to do it, don’t do it.” But I’ll do it. I’ll hopefully say the right thing, and if I don’t I’ll learn from it.

Do you think the last year, with the Trump presidency and general political turmoil, has made you more willing to speak politically and make more political work, or less?

Both. Definitely both. I can’t lie. I wish I could just be like, “oh I just put on my cape and put and S on my chest and darted out,” but I didn’t.

I was actually, especially the last couple of months last year, just so afraid to even walk outside. I was spending time in my room, not really doing much, but I just feel so ashamed doing that. Because then you look at the people who were me, like Nina Simone and Martin and Malcolm and everybody who literally gave up their lives and gave up their sanity to do what’s right.

So I feel like I have a ancestral obligation to do the right thing at all times, most likely.

But it’s okay. You’ve gotta do the right thing.

When you talk about being afraid, where does that fear come from?

Mostly just being an American. Like, more than anything. More than being Black, more than being a woman, being an American right now is scary, because this dude is really going to kill us all. And I’m scrambling to get my art out because I literally had a time where I thought that at any moment … I really thought that he could just end this whole thing for us.

People don’t think about that, but I’m sure the people of Hiroshima thought: “Oh my God, you don’t know what the accounts were.” I know how temporary life is, so I’m always super weird about that. But then I had a revelation this coming year on New Years, because I really didn’t think we were going to make it to 2018. And then I did.

So now it’s like, you know what? You’ve just gotta go for it, you know what I mean?

If anything did happen, I’m going to die anyways so you may as well just live your life in color.

You live in New Haven. What does

that mean to you?

From a person who has lived in North Carolina, California … what pulls me to Haven is two things. Number one is the diversity. The diversity is beautiful in New Haven. You meet all different types of people in different walks of life, and not just Black people and white people, but all different types of cultures, and it’s so beautiful to watch.

And, I think it’s hilarious that we have this economic dichotomy that is just such a theme for America. Where we have the juxtaposition of Yale and Dixwell right next to each other, just living and commingling. I think it’s so dope to be surrounded by that.

I’ve talked to people that are really New Haven and I’ve talked to people that went to college in New Haven, and it’s just totally different types of experiences. Not one good or bad, but it’s just totally different types of people. Like, you guys probably pass by each other with different lives every day. It’s just a better New York. New York is overrated.

There are so many people that really dislike New Haven.

For what? What did New Haven ever do to them?

What would you tell someone who doesn’t want to go into the city?

Don’t go! We don’t want you. I mean, that’s weird. That’s like hating mahogany.

Who hurt you? You can quote me as ‘who hurt you?’ They must have left their car unlocked. That’s just a bad decision anywhere. Don’t leave your car unlocked.

Come on.

Right now, what are your goals for the future as an artist?

I’m actually doing a play and a comic book. I’m trying to really centralize and I’m trying to get HBO’s attention, for real.

Because there are a lot of Black, queer women right now on television that are, like, killing it. Have you ever seen The Chi, produced by the Black, queer woman from Aziz Ansari’s Master of None (the producer is Lena Waithe)? He wrote it, and she was on it forever. There’s Shonda, the God, you know what I mean.

And I was just thinking, I don’t really want to do just one thing, and I don’t really have to do just one thing. Because I’m getting labeled as a Connecticut artist, and that truthfully for my ego is really weird.

So I’m trying to write this play right now and make this comic book. It’s like a sci-fi drama about empowerment and finding your power inside. It’s about this young queer girl, Moon, it’s gonna be me, and how she got a message from beings in space, that she has innate power within her and she has to prove that.

And when she fulfills this mission, they’ll be returning. I also really want to bring more art to my demographic. I know a lot of Connecticut artists, and I feel like they’re stifled. They’re making like, really dope music videos, that are damn near movies, and I’m just like: “Why don’t you make a movie?” You could do all this stuff. I just want to prove it.

I’d love to know a little more about what the play’s going to be like.

The play’s actually going to be soundtracked by the last release I just did, Strs&Englhtnmnt. So it’s pretty much going to be about the journey of this young, queer, Black girl who makes music, and

through the frequencies in her music, she finds she is connected to this outer being in space. And they work together to find more power that she has in her. And she has to operate and move forward and go through this stuff. But these inner conflicts are going to be represented as monsters and demons, so there’s going to be a lot of guts and blood, and it’s going to be really, really cool.

So would you say you feel like New Haven is more your home than other places you’ve lived?

Yeah, definitely. It’s weird, I was born in Waterbury, which I claimed until Trump visited my old high school. So I moved out here, and this is where I found myself. This is where I became me. This is definitely the home, you know what I mean? There’s so much culture here. The Black Panthers down on the Green, and just a whole bunch of stuff that happened here low, low key. I like the low key stuff.

How do you think being an artist plays into your identity?

They’re—what’s the word, they coexist.

There’s not one without another. My biggest inspiration is Nina Simone. Not in her tunes and her melodies or anything she does musically, but how she carried herself.

So, she had a quote that said, I don’t think I’m quoting her completely correct, but she said—basically it’s her responsibility as an artist to reflect the times in which you create art in. And I think that’s important to me, as an artist in particular.

You know, I can easily do some trap stuff and get rich. Easily. Like people really don’t know how easy it is. I could really just make a beat and be like another Little Kim, and be on the spot. I love Little Kim—no shout outs to Little Kim—but I just think that God put me here for a different type of reason. I’m just trying to figure out what that is. That’s pretty much it.

You talk about God. If you’re comfortable, would you be able to talk a little about how religion plays into your art?

It didn’t so much before, and it doesn’t completely. It’s really behind the scenes. I performed at the Yale Peabody Museum the day before yesterday for Martin Luther King’s birthday, and I was so nervous, because there were going to be like 6,000 people there. That’s like a lot of people. So I went to church, and I’m sitting in the pew, and I haven’t been to church in a really long time, so I was like, let me just be respectful, and this is where I grew up. I was raised very common—Black family, my mom made me go to church. I went to church, and I was like, “Okay God, show me some signs. I know I’m probably going to have to pick it apart, I know you’re not going to give it to me fully, so just show me how to navigate.”

Then the preacher stands up and is like: “Somebody today is afraid of taking the opportunities that they were given.”

That’s me. I like stood up and everything, and was like, “Oh my God, that’s me.” And he was like: “Don’t be afraid. Just don’t be afraid. There’s literally no reason to be, nothing good comes from fear. So just don’t do it.”

I went to the show, and I rocked it, and it was dope. So yeah, God definitely has my back, I feel like. But I’m also definitely very open to any other religion. It’s me trying to be a chill person. Minimally decent.

Is there anything that you want to plug in this interview, that you really want people to know about?

I’m in a community of Connecticut artists. There’s a lot of different types of people, and right now there’s like an uproar of Connecticut artists because, that I would say was catalyzed by Diddy’s comment.

You know Diddy, right? He, in an Instagram post, was like, “We need more artists from New York and Atlanta. Nobody wants to hear artists from Connecticut.”

Those were his very words. So people were bubbling because I’m in a community of amazing artists who are seriously much better than the mainstream. And they’re not even too complex to be mainstream.

One of the Connecticut artists just passed away, his name was Zoe [Dowdell].

He was shot by a police officer. He’s linked with a lot of different artists, and he was a good friend of mine. We weren’t super, duper close, but I knew of him and I had performed with him before, and he was literally a ball of happiness and joy and light. And, it’s just a shame, I won’t even go into the whole police thing, but it’s just a shame that this boy didn’t see his accolades for his music, because he had to die to receive them.

Recently he was posted in a magazine, and he’s now seen his fame. I think it’s ridiculous that he had to die in order to do that. A lot of people are ignoring that.

What I say to folks is just go local. If you’re willing to do it with your food—go local. Do it with your music. And if you feel like you don’t have something you want locally, talk to me, because I will hit you up. I just want to mention some artists, if I could.

Of course.

Chef the Chef, Mark the Mighty, Alyssa Hughes—you’re going to love Alyssa Hughes. Vee Skeeno, Andre Jakia, Gedda on the Tracks is good. He’s not only a rapper, but he also makes art. He’s a cartoonist and he makes really good cartoons, and it’s dope. I’ll give you three more. Another fashion person who’s really dope is Ari Serrano, he’s like an amazing fashion person. You know, I’ll just give you that. That’s a good start.

Those people are really important to music, really on a national level … They’re really dope. They’re better than like, everybody. And I’m not just saying that because I know them. Even if I hated any of those people, they would still be the greatest people ever. So, that’s how you know it’s real.

You talk a lot about the group. How do you feel performing in a group is different than performing alone on stage?

Well, doing it solo is really dope. I love doing that, I just don’t always get the opportunity. So if anyone wants to hand me that opportunity—you know what I mean?

Or sometimes, I set it up and do shows, and do it that way.

But obviously with a group, normally I perform with these folks, and the energy is better. It will always be better in a group.

It’s weird, it’s kind of like this theory of icons. I feel like we’re living in a generation where they really emphasize icons, and icons being this one thing. I hope nobody out there thinks that Apple was created by one guy in a turtleneck. I hope nobody really thinks that. Even though somebody could be the face of something, there’s always the team behind it. It’s always better. Because it adds the energy. •

march 2018 • artspaper.org 9

stage

Carmon at 2018 MLK day service

Ice the Beef dancer thomas breen

“That Was My Peace” How Ice The Beef is using art as activism by malia west There’s a distinct sound to Sherman Parkway on Tuesday nights. It starts at a hum, an inkling of a two-step, where the parkway spills out onto Goffe Street near James Hillhouse High School. It gets louder as you come up against De Gale Field, where a humble brick building sits unassuming.

Inside, you’ll find a crew of artists, orators, and peacemakers that comprise the antiviolence group Ice The Beef.

On a recent Tuesday, the building buzzed with activity. Dozens of high schoolers lined the bare walls, diving into scripts, sheet music, and dance routines. In one corner, four boys ached with laughter as they struggled to synchronize their choreography, a routine that had no music

to fall back on. From another, Ice The Beef’s girls singing group The Harmonies cast unimpressed glances at their classmates, dissolving into laughter as they started practice on a few of their devised pieces.

Other parts of the building sprang to life. Shawn Sufra and Javione Hines practiced soul-clutching Negro spirituals, followed by Mmmms so sincere you thought you were in church. Down the main hall a young man transformed into Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his I have a Dream speech.

Somewhere in the bowels of the building, a team of New Haven Public School students prepared for a debate at Yale.

Ice The Beef was founded in 2011 by Darrell “D-Russ” Allick, a former drug dealer

and gang member who turned to nonviolence after the fatal shooting of his younger brother, Donell. At the time, the city’s murder rate was climbing, and Allick saw a powerful opportunity: pull young men and women out of gang violence with discussions on circumstance, loss, and bereavement.

Get them, in other words, to “ice the beef”—cool the conflict—with each other and focus on the vibrant, lived lives around them. As the initiative took off, it gained the support of the city’s public schools and then-mayor John DeSetefano. By mid-2014, the group had secured a location in the building on De Gale Field, owned by the parks department.

That was its origin story. When Chaz

Carmon was asked to become president of the organization almost four years ago, he had one request: “Save ‘em first!”

At the time, the program focused on bereavement and healing. Carmon had a different idea: prevention through creative expression. A professional actor, he saw a strong connection between the arts and preventative anti-violence initiatives—young people were less likely to engage in violence if they were engaged in the arts, and collaborating with each other. Instead of mourning together, youth began to make music, write speeches, and devise choreography.

It was the beginning of Education and Staged Arts, now one of Ice The Beef’s flagship programs. Four years in, Carmon

said the program has confirmed his belief that “You don’t have to come in with a talent, you can come in and just hang out.”

As he spoke, a wall of sound rose up to meet the words, dozens of students hanging on and hanging out to the words of Sam Cooke.

At these weekly meetings, Carmon manages to shape-shift, often in multiple places at once. On a recent Tuesday night, he found himself working with young orator Geronte Hooks. Hooks stared into Carmon’s eyes as if they held the Constitution within them. Carmon started back, tracking Hooks’ every gesture and breath. The words of Martin Luther King Jr. thundered through the room.

“Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly, somewhere I read of the freedom of speech…”

Hooks was rehearsing the I Have a Dream speech with all the resonance that Brother Martin dreamed of. Until suddenly, he was lost.

“Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press … Damn, I forgot the words!”

Carmon nudged him on. “Now try again,” he urged.

Hooks began again. This time, when he began to falter, Carmon joined in from memory.

“Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights!”

Hooks brightened. “I got it, I got it,” he assured Carmon. Twenty minutes later he returned with the confidence of Martin, Malcolm, and every revolutionary who made it possible for him to stand with the words, and recite them.

Carmon said he is drawn to speech; oratorical competitions are a staple in the program’s success. “I really want them [students] to be able to use their words,” he said. “You have to find those words.”

The group’s program Youth and

Ice the Beef at Fall 2017 Rally for Jobs Government is meant to guide students through that process, with rehearsed speeches and debate competitions around New Haven and the state. Last year, students presented in 64 competitions, bringing home awards from several of them.

One student, Ariana “Ari” Rivera, even caught Mayor Toni Harp’s ear. It was as she told the story of her own life—which came to a halt when the life of her friend Tyrick “Reese” Keyes was cut short by gun violence last summer. Reese was a dancer with Ice The Beef Youth, beloved by members as he took on choreography about gun violence, and devised a piece memorializing Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin.

“I probably took it harder than everyone else,” Carmon said, recalling how the murder of the 14-year-old forced the students of Ice The Beef to come face-toface with the discussions they often had in their “circle time,” where they talked about personal struggles and accomplishments.

Carmon submitted a request for therapy to City Hall, a process that some of his students still go through today. He said he watched as Tyrick’s death brought some students together, and even inspired his friends to join Ice The Beef. But with Ari it was a different story.

With Keyes’ sudden and untimely death, a great weight settled on her. She struggled to get out of bed, each day. She stopped coming to rehearsals. She was, in her own words, “letting life throw me off,” until she couldn’t imagine doing anything at all.

But when she returned in January of this year, she said it was as if she’d never left—and never wanted to leave again. “This is my safe place … I need it,” she said. “This is performing, something that I’m passionate about but really have to get back into.”

With the support of Ice The Beef, she’s taking classes at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), with her eye on a full-time degree and doctorate of social work. She’s in another program called GEAR UP, focused on early access to undergraduate programs.

She credits Ice The Beef with pushing her to do that. Recalling her best performance yet, Ari time-traveled back to a competition at which she had been struggling, and refused to perform. Carmon had urged her to go on.

Ari left her cellphone with her selfproduced track onstage. Carmon wasn’t having it: He introduced Ari and played her track.

Ari took the stage. Sitting front row was a childhood friend she could never sing in front of, even when he pleaded. She channeled Carmon; she found the words.

By the end of the song the only pleas were for an encore, and the celebration of what

would become her best performance yet.

“We need Ari for everything, everything,” said Montrel “Monty” Rogers, youth vice president of Ice The Beef. “I’m a DJ, actor, model, somewhat of a singer,” he added—and Ari makes him better at all of those things.

Monty’s swagger softened and gave way to the story of his genesis with Ice The Beef. Although he knew members of the organization, his membership began when he sought solace after Tyrick’s passing. It’s just one of the things that made him fast friends with Ari, and several people in the group.

“I can do it for him now. I perform for him,” he said somberly. Recalling that the young artist was “everyone’s little brother,” he said that Reese’s passing brought a new mission to his art.

“It basically made me whole again,” he said. “Coming here was my safe haven, it’s mostly everyone’s safe haven. This was my peace.” •

yale institute of sacred music presents

Grete Pedersen conducts

Yale Schola Cantorum · Yale Camerata · with Yale Glee Club Haydn and Mendelssohn

sunday, march 4 · 4 pm

Woolsey Hall, 500 College St., New Haven

From Shape to Form

Contemporary Latinx artists explore topics including communal/individual memory and progress/regress Exhibition curated by Jon Seals

march 7–june 29 · 9–4

opening reception Wednesday, March 7 · 5 pm

Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, 409 Prospect St., New Haven

Gaby Collins Fernandez, Blue Velvet skin deep Painting, 2014, oil, paint, and crushed velvet on linen

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

10 artspaper.org • march 2018

education

food

STARS Lights the Way for Young Artists

A NEW MONTHLY EVENT BLENDING

ARTS & CULTURE & COMMUNITY

Schools hook up to spread change in the arts MAR 29 · APR 26 · MAY 31

by leah andelsmith

CHECK ARTSPAPER.ORG FOR LOCATIONS • FREE On a recent Saturday, teachers and elementary school students peeled off their coats and greeted each other with warm smiles deep in New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood. It stood in stark contrast to the scene outside, as a cold wind blew through the bare trees on the Foote School’s campus.

Students and teachers weren’t there to make up lesson time that had been lost to the snow. Instead, they were participants in the Schools Together for Arts Resources (STARS) program, gathering together to fill the cold morning with new creations and collaborations.

STARS has a history that’s over two decades in the making, and starts with Foote’s place as a small, independent school in one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods.

In 1993, teachers at Foote were seeking opportunities to collaborate with colleagues at neighboring public schools.

Funded by an anonymous donor, Foote faculty member Laura Altshul coordinated a theater and mask-making workshop with teachers and students from Lincoln-Basset School. After that first success, Altshul applied for grants.

“It’s not a costly program,” Altshul said. “It runs on a shoestring and it reaches a lot of people.” Now retired, she said she remains passionate about STARS and continues to help with grant-writing: “The more we can do in terms of collaboration, the better the whole world will be, not just our little corner of it.”

Instruction alternates each week between Foote School, Strong-21st Century Communications Magnet School and SCSU Laboratory, Celentano School, and other partnering schools. Co-teachers take the lead when in their own school.

“Regardless of what space we’re in, the core of the program is there—teachers, students, learning,” said STARS director and Foote third-grade teacher Ashley Schnabel.

That rang true as a quiet, wintery weekend morning unfolded in a flurry of activity. Sally Nunnally, a Spanish teacher at Foote and co-teacher of a STARS class called “Hello!/¡Hola!,” started a game of bilingual alphabet bingo with first and second graders, many of whom speak both Spanish and English. She paired them up, encouraging them to be open to working with anyone.

When co-teacher Carlos ReyesCouvertier, a first-grade bilingual teacher at Strong and SCSU Lab School, entered, a child spied the box of art supplies under his

arm and whispered excitedly to a neighbor.

Up in the art room, Mike Golschneider, an art teacher at Foote, and John Sykes, a visual art teacher at Celentano, introduced the day’s theme: the Northern Lights. It’s a blending of science and art endemic to STARS: teachers blend varied subjects into irresistible, hands-on activities.

“If I teach you how to do a blend, you’ll know how to do it for the rest of your life, and it’s a great art skill to have,” Golschneider said, blending paint for his sky as he spoke.

His enthusiasm was infectious. As he flicked watered-down white paint onto the canvas with a toothbrush to make stars, students let out a collective, delighted exhale and inhale.

“So awesome!” they gasped.

Sykes said he thinks so too—about the program as much as its individual projects.

“STARS is a great idea,” he said during the session. “Since our schools are right across the street, it’s good to have an exchange, for the students to meet each other.”

Building those connections and relationships is paramount to STARS educators. “I’ve lived in New Haven for three years,” said Tony Coleman, a kindergarten teacher from Foote. “Like other cities I’ve lived in, there are clear divides between parts of it. I want to be a part of bridging those gaps.”

He’s in the majority. Cheryl Luzzi, a firstgrade teacher at Celentano, said she joined STARS to help merge communities within New Haven. She said she wants her students to be exposed to new experiences—and is using the arts to get there.

In Luzzi and Coleman’s “Cooking Around the World,” students develop valuable cooking skills and get the chance to try new foods by making recipes and craft projects inspired by various countries.

This year, they’ve already “visited” Morocco, Mexico, and Japan. Senegal is coming up.

To help students understand that Africa is a diverse continent, “we purposefully chose two countries from Africa that are really different,” both teachers said.

“When the food is ready, we usually do a drum roll and sit around the table to eat,” Luzzi added. “When you break bread with someone, it’s meaningful.”

It’s not just that the students take the lessons home—their parents are learning along with them, too. “We made Moroccan

12 artspaper.org • march 2018

Fishy gabriele’s

Foodle Canoodle Family-friendly Italian eats at Gabriele’s by jennifer gelband Cooking around the world leah andelsmith

chicken from that recipe,” said one parent to Coleman after class. “It was delicious!”

“Cooking Around The World” is just one way STARS facilitators have worked the culinary arts into what they do. In a designated kindergarten room, Fran Holzbar and Lynne Banta—kindergarten teachers at Celentano and Foote, respectively—led a perfectly orchestrated two-ring circus called “Cooking from Stories.”

A vivacious bunch of kindergarteners and first graders surrounded two tables, flour up to their elbows.

“Let’s look at our recipe,” said Holzbar, “We’ve added the water and the honey… now what else do we need? The yeast.”

“It’s bubbling!” announced one child.

Holzbar nodded. “And what do you think is making it bubble?”

“The yeast?” ventured another.

At the other table Banta advised, “It’s too thick to use a spoon, now we’ve got to use our…”

The kids chimed in: “hands!” A little face peered over the bowl, eyes shining.

“It’s making dough!”

Later, their hands clean and the dough left to rise, students settled in as Banta read Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell and Lillian Hoban.

Meanwhile, the “Hello!/¡Hola!” group

snacked around the table, chatting easily in Spanish and English. Then they dug in to those much-anticipated art supplies, making animal puppets inspired by the vibrant illustrations in Cuckoo/Cucú by Lois Ehlert.

Affirmations sprang up around the table: “I love that! You’re doing really good!”

“The kids, as well as their parents, are curious, excited, engaged and appreciative,” said Luzzi. “They’re flourishing,” beamed Schnabel. Everywhere the children are in a state of flow: quiet, content, and engrossed in satisfying work. Teachers circulate with tips and encouragement: wellsprings for these eager young artists.

Back in the art room, one girl is ready to add Northern Lights to her sky. She took up a pastel, Golschneider watching each move.

“Smooth it, smooth it … Perfect!,” he exclaimed. “Look at that Northern Light!”

On the page, a constellation of sorts was forming. There was one blooming in the school, too—a marriage of art, literature, language, and cuisine that lit up tens of young minds. A whole arts galaxy, ready to be explored.

“The arts community in New Haven is so diverse,” said Sykes. “Getting students started young and letting them know what’s out there is so important.” •

The challenge: To find an Italian restaurant I could go to with my friends—and my kids.

The solution: Gabriele’s Ristorante Italiano, 326 Boston Post Rd., Orange.

The advice: Don’t knock a strip mall joint until you’ve tried it.

Despite the strip mall scene, the inside of this joint is fancy enough for a celebration but pedestrian enough to accommodate kids and toddlers. There was ample parking, a treat that, as it happens, set the stage for what was to come.

Gabriele’s has been around since 1973. And though they take reservations, you don’t need to make them. Our party of six, celebrating a birthday, changed plans last minute and decided on Gabriele’s on a recent Friday night. Though bustling, they swiftly accommodated us.

We started with beer from the plentifulenough selection on tap, some house wines, and fried calamari ($12.95). Crispy, the right amount chewy, and served with a red sauce that totally holds its own among its competitors, the portion was more than enough for four hungry grownups.

The meals are served with a salad, which was fresh and decked with olives. Of note are their homemade dressings—the creamy garlic is particularly stellar.

I ordered the chicken parmigiana ($20.95)—fried chicken breasts in tomato sauce and mozzarella with a side of spaghetti. The chicken was perfectly prepared and huge—though the side of

pasta was notably wee.

My tablemates ordered angel hair in pesto ($17.95), zuppa di clams in white sauce ($23.95), and seafood and pasta dish off the daily specials menu. For the kids, who both wanted ziti with tomato sauce, the upbeat and unperturbed waitress suggested the kids split a side dish, a loophole less expensive than a straight order off the kids’ menu (which is rife with hearty options but a little more expensive than other kids’ menus).

All the entrees were enormous, all of us eventually requested doggie bags, but not before trying each dish. The pesto was delicate and garlicy and rich, traditionally overwhelming for angel hair, but that was the diner’s preference. The clam linguini was also conventional but flavorful and loaded with clams. The special, too, was heaped with various types of seafood, fresh and cooked well but perhaps a little too fishy to call perfect.

Overall the meal was paced well. No overlap in dishes, no lag between them.

The service was great despite the hubbub, and the food was particularly outstanding.

Five of the six diners left impressed with our experience and very pleased to have found a new favorite Italian restaurant to emerge from the many options. That sixth holdout was upset only because there was to be no birthday cake at this dinner—we were all too full for dessert and it was way past his bedtime anyway. •

@breakfastxlunchxdinner

music

stage

Humanity, in a Monologue Competition

A Record Label Meets a Youth Experiment

Young voices take on August Wilson

The Foresters on their funky new project Dord

by lucy gellman The scene is set. Pittsburgh, 1948, somewhere in the belly of the city’s Hill District. It is warm and dry, like anything could snap under just the right conditions.

And Vera is filling the room with her anger, a heavy, smoldering thing that has travelled straight from her chest to the front of the room, and ripped the space clear in half.

I lay here every night in an empty bed. In an empty room. Her voice trembles. Where?

Someplace special? Someplace where you had been? The words take up every inch of her throat as they travel up and out.

Floyd. I wanted to know where you was bruised at. So I could be a woman for you.

So I could touch you there. So I could spread myself all over you and know that I was a woman. She is going to bring Floyd to his knees if it’s the last thing she does.

And then, maybe, she is going to take him back.

Except we’re not in Pittsburgh. This is the Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) on Audubon Street, where high school students like Remsen Welsh are rehearsing for the August Wilson Monologue Competition, transforming into the Veras, Floyds, Renas, Bernices, King Hedley IIs and Rubys that populate August Wilson’s most celebrated plays.

Founded in 2007 by Kenny Leon and Todd Kreidler at the True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, the August Wilson Monologue Competition is a national sort of speech tournament meets theater festival. Students choose monologues from Wilson’s heralded Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of ten plays chronicling ten decades of working-class, African-American life in 20th century Pittsburgh and Chicago.

This spring marks the second year that New Haven has participated. After piloting the program last year, Long Wharf Theatre paired up with the Yale Repertory Theatre and Wilbur Cross High School, the Regional Center for the Arts, Educational Center for the Arts, and Co-Op High School for the 2018 program.

In all, over 150 students are participating, preparing for the panel of judges that will meet them at New Haven’s Regional Final on March 9. From there, the highest-scoring two performers will continue to the national final in New York City later this spring.

* * *

On a cold, bright day in mid-January, rehearsals were well underway at ECA, where 12 high school students are vying for one of the regional spots this March.

Ensconced in Ingrid Schaeffer’s upstairs drama classroom, they made their way across the floor, some pacing fretfully as others took their time with long, careful strides across each floorboard. As they walked, breath audible, they were

transitioning out of this realm, and into Wilson’s. Whole universes unfolded before them: pool tables and kitchen gettogethers, empty bedrooms, smoky blues clubs and shiny guitars, grocery stores and rapidly gentrifying streetcorners.

“How does your core move? Do you have a strong core?,” called out Madelyn Ardito Newman, director of education at Long Wharf. “Do you take care of yourself? Are you sick? Are you hungry?”

Students changed their steps with each question. On the periphery, Zoe Eklund’s Vera (Seven Guitars, 1995) paused for a moment, her hand gliding through the air. Across the room from her, Jhenzen Gonzalez became a totally different Vera, mouth twisting as she sped up and focused on a point ahead of her. Right at the center, Hannah Stein’s Bernice (The Piano Lesson, 1987) stopped and started. On Newman’s cue, she shouted out a line: “Mama Ola polished this piano with her tears for 17 years.”

During these sessions, students are critiqued by drama teachers, theater educators, and directors—but also by each other. Huddling into smaller groups of three and four after their warmups, students migrated to different corners of the room, running lines one at a time. In one group, Justyn Velez said he was channeling his dad, a proud Boricua who talks about getting pulled over because of his darker skin, before launching into a monologue from King Hedley II (1999).

“My fifth grade teacher told me I was gonna make a good janitor,” he began, tilting his face to the ceiling. Wilson’s words worked through him. “Had me believing it. I come home and told mama Louise I wanted to be a janitor.”

His face tightened as he continued.

“Got one job the man told me he was gonna shoot me if he caught me stealing anything. I ain’t worked for him ten minutes. I quit right there. He calling me a thief before I start.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from the corner, where Daniya Chopra (she is doing Ruby from Seven Guitars) was sitting in a chair. “He’s calling you a thief,” she said during feedback later in the session. “That’s strong. Like, he doesn’t even know you and he’s calling you a thief already.”

The group cycled through. In an oversized sweatshirt, Sadie Turner transformed into Rena (Jitney, 1977), her head swaying to one side as she berated her partner Darnell for taking the grocery money, leaving their small child with nothing to eat. Chopra bowed her head and returned as Ruby, a strong women who couldn’t stand no jealous man. Then Welsh was up, channeling a woman who had been left by

14 artspaper.org • march 2018

bulletin

by the foresters

Welsh rehearsing lucy gellman her man, only to have him come back.

“You never showed me all those places where you were a man. You went to Pearl Brown and showed her,” she proclaimed, tears starting to run. “I don’t know what she did or didn’t do, but I looked up and you was back here after I had given you up.”

Earlier in the session, she had flashed a quick smile when asked why she chose to take on Vera. The competition odds are against Veras: Her monologue from Seven Guitars is one of the most frequently selected and performed in the competition. At ECA alone, there are three Veras in a group of 12, joined by several others in the region. There are sad Veras, angry Veras, strong Veras and smarting Veras cleaning their wounds as they speak.

For Welsh, that wasn’t a deterrent. It was a selling point that started when she saw the show at the Yale Rep last year.

“I was astounded by how the character did it,” she said. “It’s a thing where I get transported. There’s a part of her I think I can breathe new life into.”

But with Vera’s last line Welsh dissolved into tears. Watching the performance, Treneé McGee swooped in.

“Take a moment,” she urged Welsh.

“Just take a moment.”

A graduate of Co-Op, competition alum and resident teaching artist at Long Wharf, McGee has been helping coach the students. Earlier in the session, she said it was her hope that students didn’t just learn more about Wilson through the competition, but could also place his lived experiences in dialogue with their own.

“One of the things that is universal about this work is love,” she said. “It’s family. It’s identity. He opened the door to humanity.”

* * *

Two weeks later, ECA students headed to Audubon Street’s Little Theater to face their toughest audience yet—judges from Long Wharf, Elm Shakespeare Company, and ECA, with a large group of their peers. As they took the stage, Schaeffer made notes, scribbling furiously on papers in front of her.

Kaleb Walton’s Floyd drew laughs and Mmmmms of assent as he stepped back into the world of Seven Guitars, hollering “I seen you and said, ‘There go a woman!’” at a fixed spot to his right. Turner’s Rena had hardened, landing each line as she let a sort of seething rage take over the performance. To become Martha Pentecost (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, 1984) Tiana McGee channeled her own performance last year as Zonia, the daughter who Martha had left behind.

Up fifth, Stein returned with a sharp Bernice, parsing out her words and hitting each T sharply. A room materialized around her: wood floors, clean walls, and that piano, polished by decades of tears. A white actress, Stein said she looked to her own history of suffering as she took on Bernice, and grappled with the legacy of slavery. A practicing Jew, she said had explored the impact that the Holocaust had on not just her family, but an entire population.

“August Wilson’s work is so relatable,” she said. “For me, this was about getting to learn new things. I keep learning about the character, and breaking it down.”

Schaeffer nodded along to McGee and Stein, listening to the students as they prepared for regionals.

“Often, we think we have to reach outside of ourselves and really it’s here,” she said, pointing to her chest. “That relation to the text could come from the text, but maybe it doesn’t. And it speaks to a lot of people.” •

When we started to make music several years ago, we weren’t sure where it would go. We knew that we were inspired by bands in the New Haven area. We knew we wanted to find our way into their soundscape as a literal band of brothers. So a few years in, we decided to build a record label.

Dord Music Group is our collective, used to release The Foresters music and the music of our friends. While it may have started out as somewhat of a vanity label, it has grown and changed a lot throughout its first few years of existence. It’s become a way to create, foster, and grow the greater musical community.

Dord started in the summer of 2014, when Hayden was writing his own music for his experimental side project Batkhi Dahn. It was a chance for him to dabble in songwriting, which he liked but hadn’t gotten to work on for a sustained amount of time. In 2014, he recorded his first album, a week-long project that included basement studios and assorted spaces around New Haven.

Two of us—Evan and Hayden—wanted a sense of continuity between both The Foresters and Batkhi Dahn and thought the best way to do it would be by putting all of our music out under the umbrella of the same label. We settled on a name based on the quirkiness we wanted to achieve in our music—Dord is a word that was accidentally inserted into the 1934 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, to stand in as a synonym for density.

Our love for weird indie music is dense and sustained, but it’s wonky and unexpected too. Once we made the decision, it was an easy move to expand Dord outward. We brought on groups like Circus Propaganda, the ukulele-flecked child of Evan and musician Quinn Harley.

Then the side project Firs By Lennie, a collection of one-minute songs written on the spot. Then other bands, popping up in friends’ basements, came on, with names like 100% Beefcake, 203Ian, Flavored Cardboard, The Urinal Cakes, and Vic Mcgaga and Sakura.

Much of the inspiration of this came from the Elephant 6 Recording Company (E6), a collective of friends from Athens, Georgia by way of Louisiana. Over the years, we’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from them. Among the many members of E6 are

Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, and The Apples in stereo. All of these musicians were friends who banded together through their love of music and wanted a way to continuously put out new material, which eventually gained them much traction in the indie scene.

Like the members of E6, everyone who is part of Dord is cut from the same cloth— we’re just younger, and comfortable in the fact that we’re still starting out. We are a group of friends who want to do nothing but make music. Together we have created an ever-growing, united, family.

Since its inception the Dord Music Group has put out over 60 albums and singles. We started out and continue to thrive though BandCamp, which we have found to be the best way to get our music out in a way that anyone can hear. There are no contracts or anything like that; we just talk to our friends or meet new ones and, if they have something recorded, we put it up for them and tag it as a Dord release. This makes it easy for people to fully explore the Dord catalog and continue to support it if they like what we’re doing.

A pivotal moment for our label was when we started hosting concerts featuring various Dord bands that we called Dordfests. The first Dordfest was hosted at Never Ending Books in New Haven in May of 2015. It was the first time we ventured into the physical realm by burning our own CDs, putting on labels by hand, and personally making our own packaging.

This is when it truly began to feel like a real label. We were able to showcase our artists all at once, in the same place, and see the real effects of our promotion by knowing that there were real people there coming to hear the music and support our collective.

That was an amazing feeling and one that we will continue to chase.

Looking into Dord’s future, the collective only see growth. With an everexpanding circle of friends, Dord’s roster will always be growing. With more and more experience, Dord’s recordings will only get better. And with so many tools, both digital and physical, they will continue to promote Dord to the people of the world, bringing in new influences, and creating a musical community around it. We are particularly excited for the new album from The Foresters, scheduled for release this year. •

We also rely on our member organizations to input their entries by the deadline. Please note that submissions for the April 2018 issue is Monday, Feb. 26 no later than 5 p.m. We can not accept late entries.

sculpture in any medium. No video, film, installation, giclées or similar reproductions.

Entry fee: $35/1-3 works, $5/ea. additional work, max. 6. Eligible works: oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, drawings, prints, mixed media, photography and sculpture. Online application only. See prospectus for details: www.firststreetgallery.org/njeprospectus18.

Must be received by April 3, 2018.

calls for

Artists

Member organizations are responsible for the correct information, including ticketing fees, times, and dates.

Artists The Shoreline Arts Trail announces its 17th annual Open Studios Weekend on November 10 and 11, 2018. Approximately 40 member artists who live and work in Branford, Guilford and Madison show and sell their work during the weekend. Artists with media such as ceramics and pottery, stained and fused glass, paintings, jewelry, sculpture, weaving, prints, photography, textiles, quilts, paper and wood are invited to apply for this event. Artists will be considered based on their mastery of methods and materials and originality of concept. All considered art must be handmade by the artist. Among the benefits of becoming a member are: inclusion on the ArtsTrail map and website; statewide publicity via print and online; 13,000 brochures/maps distributed throughout Connecticut; and year-round marketing, networking, and social media opportunities.

To apply for this Call for Entry, please register at https://youjudgeit.org/sat/ by creating a free profile, filling out all the requested information, and uploading three high-resolution images. The entry deadline is April 23, 2018. Jurying will take place in April and artists will be notified

by April 30, 2018. Please contact Barbara Shulman-Kirwin at bsk@bskdesign.net or 203.314.3250 with any questions.

Artists Mills Pond Gallery invites artists to submit works for a juried exhibition on the theme “A Summer Song.” Juror: Carol Strickland. The exhibition is open to varied interpretations of the subject, from literal to far-ranging.

Representational images of summerrelated sights, activities, impressions, or atmosphere—as well as surrealistic or abstract evocations inspired by the subject—are welcome. Expressions may range from images of sun, sea, surf, and verdure to a more melancholy awareness of summer’s last gasp, a prelude to fall. Artists may also respond to the musical aspect of this call for entries. One could interpret the rhythm of the season, composing a visual image of summer’s harmonies. Open to USA artists age 18 or older. All media considered except photography, digital, or new-media computer-generated art. Awards: $750 Best in Show, $500 Second Place, $200 Third Place. Entry Deadline March 29, 2018.

Prospectus at https://www.millspondgallery. org or email gallery@stacarts.org Exhibit Dates: May 26 - June 23. 660 Route 25A, St. James, NY 11780. 631-862-6575 Artists First Street Gallery 2018 National Juried Exhibition. Open to artists residing in the U.S. 18 yrs. or older. Exception: Artists currently represented by FIRST STREET GALLERY. Eligible works include ORIGINAL oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, drawings, prints, photography, mixed media, and

Spectrum Gallery announces a call for Representational and Abstract Painters, Sculptors, Illustrators, Photographers, Original Printmakers, Fabric Artists, Glass and Wood Artisans, Jewelry Designers and Crafters for the 2018 Essex Town Green Outdoor Summer Arts Festival! Open to visual artists working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, photography, pencil and charcoal, paper, mixed media, fabric, glass, wood, stone and clay. The Summer Festival in Essex is Saturday, June 9 (10-5pm) and Sunday, June 10 (11-5pm) and will be limited to 50 local and regional fine artists and artisans. This event is free for guests. If you are in the Festival, you can also submit work for consideration in our concurrent 6-week long exhibit at the Gallery in Centerbrook, CT (May 25-July 8, 2018), Essex Green Summer Arts Festival Group Show. Receiving for this show is May 14-18…so the deadline for submission is imminent. Only artists participating in the Essex Arts Festival are invited to submit for this show. There is no specific theme. Note the Essex Green can only display a limited number of booths so, please, submit early to the festival and then after acceptance into the festival submit as soon as possible to the gallery group show which opens two weeks ahead of the Essex Green Festival. And finally, another opportunity for those involved in the Gallery Show and Festival is to present and sell work in our online shop and gallery, Spectrum Anytime.

Prospectus: http://spectrumartgallery.org/ Prospectus-2018-Summer-Arts-FestivalGallery-Group-Show.pdf Artists Kehler Liddell Gallery (KLG) invites artists working in all media (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.) to submit works that: represent fierce expressions of beauty; offer an understanding of our shared humanity; create a profoundly needed respite or refuge. In short, works that show beauty and love as a form of resistance. Submission Deadline: March 25th, 2018. Entry Fee: $30 for (up to) 3 artworks. Exhibition Dates: April 26th – May 27th, 2018 (includes Westville Art Walk) Submission Details: www.

KehlerLiddellGallery.com Artists The Connecticut Sea Grant Arts Support Awards Program awards up to $1000 to an artist through this competitive funding program. The winning submission will be selected on the basis of its aesthetic quality, relevance to coastal and marine environments and Connecticut Sea Grant themes, as well as its potential impact on non-traditional “audiences”. Artists who live in Connecticut, or whose work is related to Connecticut’s coastal and marine environments and/or Long Island Sound are eligible for funding consideration. Previous recipients of Sea Grant Arts awards are not eligible for 5 years. The grant application will be submitted electronically

march 2018 • artspaper.org 15

bulletin as a compiled PDF file with one additional media file (mp3 or mov file), if needed, via email to SeagrantResearch@uconn. edu for receipt no later than 4:30 p.m.

EDT on Monday, May 7, 2018. For more information refer to the Call guidelines: http://seagrant.uconn.edu/wp-content/ uploads/sites/1985/2017/10/CTSG_ artsgrant_rfp_2018.pdf

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

activities. Jan. 4-March 1. First Thursday of the month . $7-17. 5-7 p.m.

Improv @ The MATT Join comedy writer Andrew Smith and Ruthless Spectator for an evening of fun and laughter with sketch comedy and stand up. Cash bar available.

March 3 . $20. 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Volunteers Spectrum Art Gallery

Artists Artspace invites emerging and mid-career artists from all fields to apply for our one year Artist-in-Residence program. The dates of the residency run from August 2018 through July 2019. Deadline: March 5, 2018. Applicants will be notified by March 31, 2018. Apply here: https:// artspacenewhaven.org/opportunities/ artist-residence-2018-19/

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.

Authors Connecticut Book Awards submissions are open.These awards recognize the best books of 2017 by authors and illustrators who reside in Connecticut. Categories include: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Young Readers. Entry fee starts at $40 for a 2,000 copy or less print run. Award winners will receive exposure in Connecticut media outlets and personal appearances in Connecticut locations. For guidelines and to submit, please visit http://bit.ly/2018CBA. Deadline is April 20, 2018.

Musicians Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and FACE Foundation are pleased to announce that the NEW French-American Jazz Exchange (FAJE) program guidelines and application are now available online. For program guidelines and Creative Project Grant online application, click here. The application deadline for FAJE Creative Projects is March 16, 2018, 5:00 PM ET Singers Want to sing Elijah with choirs and orchestra? The Bethesda Choir is calling experienced choral singers to join us for the spring season, as we prepare Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah for a concert on May 23. Our choir rehearses at Bethesda Lutheran Church, 305 St. Ronan St, New Haven, on Wednesday nights at 7:30-9pm.

Please contact Music Director Dr. Lars Gjerde at music@bethesdanewhaven.org for details if you are interested.

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

specimens exploring collecting and preserving plants and animals, arks, zoos, libraries, archives, hives, collections, the melting seed repository in Iceland, endangered or extinct plants and animals, our current fragile ecology, and more. Opening Reception: Thurs. March 8th from 6 -8 p.m.

Gallery Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. or by appointment. Free. The Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., New Haven.

classes

The Rise and Fail of the N-Word 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 children. Please visit our online calendar for information and to register: spectrumartgallery.org. Questions? Call (860) 663-5593. Jan. 1-March 31.

creative services Historic Home Restoration

Language Arts Learning in the Museum Through gallery activities, small-group discussions, and hands-on activities, learn new tools to strengthen literacy across the visual and language arts. This workshop explores the benefits of teaching a foreign language in an art museum and how looking at art improves vocabulary and conversation skills. Participants will be given a practicum for teaching languages in a museum, strategies for students to practice speaking, listening, and writing in a public space, and activities specific to language practice. The workshop is free, but registration is required.

Saturday, Feb. 3. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. (203) 4322800. britishart.yale.edu Barre Workout Class I can come to you, New Haven to Westport.

(203) 690-8501. sharonbaily30@gmail. com. 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. Choose a time and day private hours are flexible. $55 for an hour session.

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 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.

dance Modern/Contemporary Dance Classes Adults of all ages welcome! Come dance with us in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. Release tight muscles, increase flexibility, and strengthen your body. Integrate your movement. Experience dance as an art form. Times and dates vary by skill level. $18-$150. Annie Sailer Studio Space, Erector Square, 319 Peck St., Bldg.

2, Fl. 1, Studio D, New Haven. (347) 3067660. anniesailerdancecompany.com

Free Ballroom Dance Classes Barre Workout Class Ballroom dance classes are being held at Bethesda Lutheran Church. Singles or couples are welcome, beginners to advanced. Please join teacher Christina Castaneda for a fun, easy, causal lesson. January we start Tango! Email bethesdadance@yahoo.com with questions or to sign up. Wednesdays, Jan. 9-May 15. Freewill offering. 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Bethesda Lutheran Church 450 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 787-2346. bethesdanewhaven.org/dance Mattatuck Museum 144 West Main St., Waterbury. (203) 753-0381. mattmuseum.org Late Night @ The MATT: Paint & Party Social On the first Thursday of each month, The MATT is open late until 7:00 p.m. Come bring the kids to the CAMPsite, explore the galleries solo or participate in one of our fun

16 artspaper.org • march 2018

Barre workout class, Yogi Boho Fitness, 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. Every Monday and Wednesday 12:30 -1:30 p.m., Sunday 2-3 p.m. 1125 Dixwell Ave, Hamden. (203) 690-8501. sagenda.net/Frontend/59724fa8f6eb4c08500cd49a?retrieveFromCookies=Fa

exhibitions ARK//HIVE Art Opening and Exhibition ARK/HIVE features art about nature: artwork, books, images, objects, and

The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund presents this provocative exhibition that challenges the lack of a common language in our efforts to understand and communicate across perspectives about racism, and seeks to engage viewers in an emotional and often redemptive dialogue.

Details: www.wcgmf.org. Performance & Discussion Hosted by Literary Happy Hour: Thursday, March 15th, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Exhibition Conclusion & Roundtable Discussion: Sunday, March 17th, 6:009:00 p.m.. Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; or by appointment. Free.

Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. (203) 389-9555. kehlerliddellgallery.com Far and Wide Panoramas and composite photographs are meant to unfold a wide world where separate images are arranged to form a single view. Both show more than what our eyes let us see in one glance, but that we know is there. Much of this work was composed on a recent trip to Italy, and on the artist’s favorite island, Martha’s Vineyard. Opening reception. Opening reception, Sunday, March 25th, 3-6p.m.; Closing Reception: Sunday, April 22nd, 1-4 p.m., featuring Artist Talk at 2 p.m. Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; or by appointment. Free. Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. (203) 3899555. kehlerliddellgallery.com.

Expanded Visions The spaces created in this multimedia collection are based on observations and memory. They are not intended to represent any single moment in time, but rather to assimilate multiple moments and observations into a dynamic experience.

Most of the works were developed over long periods of time, with many changes and shifts of direction. Sunday, March 25th, 3-6p.m.; Closing Reception: Sunday, April 22nd, 1-4 p.m., featuring Artist Talk at 2 p.m. Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; or by appointment. Free.

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

in a cozy Chelsea bistro. Transportation is not included. March 24 . 11am $70 general public; $65 Friends of the Davison Art Center Reservation required, space limited.

Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery WWesleyan University Center for the Arts, 283 Washington Terrace, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/zilkha A New Subjectivity: Figurative Painting after 2000 An exhibition composed entirely of paintings by women, attempts to categorize Expressionism in new terms.

Referencing cartoons, fashion spreads, and personal narratives, the artists address the fragmentation of individual subjectivity in a technological world. Jan. 30 - March 4 . Tuesdays Noon-7 p.m., WednesdaysSundays, Noon-5 p.m.

Guided Tour of A New Subjectivity Take a closer look at A New Subjectivity: Figurative Painting after 2000 by joining a 45-minute tour, led by Wesleyan University gallery guides. Tours begin in the lobby of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. Public guided tours are for individuals and small groups up to ten people. Larger groups can be arranged by emailing rlennox@ wesleyan.edu. Feb. 10-March 3. Saturdays at 1 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Opening: Middletown Public Schools This event is sponsored by the Middletown Board of Education, Middletown Public Schools Cultural Council, and Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts. March 17, 4-6 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Mansfield Freeman Center

As a child with crayon in hand, Al Gilbert enjoyed drawing lions, tigers, bears, and birds. Today he is regarded as one of the world’s premiere wildlife artists. Sept.

2-April 15 . Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday noon-5 p.m. $6-$13. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 170 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 4325050. peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/albertearl-gilbert-artist-conservation Invisible Boundaries Invisible Boundaries is a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary exhibition that combines art and science to explore the meaning of wildlife migrations to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Sept. 16-March 25 . Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m. $6-$13. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 170 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 432-5050. peabody.yale.edu

film Orlando Based on the eponymous novel by Virginia Woolf, the young nobleman Orlando is blessed with eternal youth by Queen Elizabeth I. The film follows him moving through several centuries of British history, experiencing a variety of lives and relationships along the way, and even magically changing his sex. This film is part of the series Art, Alchemy, and the Paston Treasure. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. (203) 432-2800.

kids & families Sketching in the Galleries

Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, 343 Washington Terrace, Middletown.

(860) 685-2330. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Opening Reception: Lêna Bùi - Proliferation Drawing on her context of living in a rapidly changing Vietnam, works by Lêna Bùi ‘07 range from abstract paintings to candid video, broadly examining the less obvious effects of development on the sociopolitical and cultural fabrics of the country, and specifically dealing with people’s negotiation with nature in various forms.

March 29. 12 p.m. Free and open to the public, includes a luncheon buffet.

Enjoy the tradition of sketching from original works of art in the Center’s collection and special exhibitions. The artists Beth Lovell and Jaime Ursic will offer insights on drawing techniques and observational skills. Drawing materials are provided, and all skill levels are welcome.

The program is free, but preregistration is requested for each session. Contact Education (ycba.education@yale.edu (link sends e-mail) | +1 203 432 2858). Noon, March 7 & 21. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. (203) 4322800. britishart.yale.edu.

Old-School Ink Mattatuck Museum On view through March 10, 2018. The materials and stories in the exhibit reveal the roots of a thriving Old School tradition, and offer insight into how the Elm City has contributed to the tattoo field worldwide.

Sept. 23-March 10. daily except Mondays.

Open 1st Sundays 10-5 p.m. $2-4. New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave., New Haven.

(203) 562-4183. newhavenmuseum.org.

21st-Century Tales from WWI

Davison Art Center Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, 301 High St., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Tour of New York City Photograph Galleries An exciting tour of New York City’s photograph galleries. Led by Wesleyan’s Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek and Professor of Classical Studies Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, the tour meets in New York at 11am and visits galleries on 57th St. and in Chelsea. Tickets include a prix-fixe lunch

An Artist for Conservation

Award-winning comic-book illustrator Nadir Balan creates a series of dynamic, oversized, graphic-novel 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. The powerful result is The Courier: Tales from the Great War. On view through fall 2018. New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 5624183. newhavenmuseum.org.

144 West Main St., Waterbury. (203) 7530381. mattmuseum.org Community Free Day Explore the Museum all day at no charge and join us each month for a new theme and family-friendly art activity, view the changing exhibitions on display and selections from the permanent collection. Explore the region’s history through interactive displays and examine the intriguing Button Gallery.

Jan. 14 - March 11 . Second Sunday of every month 12-5 p.m. Free!

music Greater New Haven Community Chorus Greater New Haven Community Chorus (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. GNHCC offers a

welcoming and supportive atmosphere for all. During the three-week enrollment period at the beginning of each semester (September and Jan.), interested singers are invited to attend three rehearsals before making the commitment to join. Even after open enrollment ends, rehearsals are open to visitors. Rehearsals are held every Thursday from September to mid-December and Jan. to mid-June, from 7-9 p.m, at the First Presbyterian Church, 704 Whitney Ave., New Haven. GNHCC presents a concert at the end of each semester. For more, contact: info@gnhcc. org, (203) 303-4642, or visit gnhcc.org.

Rolling Auditions for 2017-2018 The New Haven Chorale will hold auditions throughout the year by appointment with the music director. Interested singers are encouraged to call the chorale office for appointments or go to our audition website to request more information or to schedule an audition: newhavenchoraleauditions. com. Sept. 11-May 14. Monday evenings from 7- 9:30 p.m Annual Dues after the first year. New Haven Chorale, Bethesda Lutheran Church, 450 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 776-SONG. newhavenchoraleauditions.com Rolling Auditions for the 2018 Season The New Haven Chorale will hold auditions throughout the year by appointment with the music director. If you would like to sing in a good choir, you are welcome to observe rehearsals of the New Haven Chorale on Monday evenings from 7-9:30 p.m at Bethesda Lutheran Church, 450 Whitney Ave., New Haven starting on Jan. 8th. Jan. 8 - May 7 . Every Monday from 7-9:30 p.m.

7-9:30 p.m. Dues after first year.. New Haven Chorale, Bethesda Lutheran Church, 5 Hillhouse Ave., , New Haven. (203) 776SONG. newhavenchorale.org/concerts/ our-2017-2018-concert-season.html

storyteller Tom Lee back to tell the story of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat and the Hat. March 3, 2-4 p.m. Free. New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Davis St. School, 35 Davis St., New Haven, CT. (203) 865-0831.

NewHavenSymphony.org Robert Ashley’s Life and Work Kyle Gann, Tom Hamilton, Mimi Johnson, David Behrman, and Alvin Lucier, John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, present talks about Robert Ashley’s life and work. March 3. 1-5 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, The Russell House, 350 High St., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Musical Instrument Pet Children and families can learn about all the instruments of the orchestra and how they work together in a fun interactive musical exploration. The hour-long dinosaur-themed performance by the Wesleyan University Orchestra, under the direction of Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Nadya Potemkina, is followed by a musical instrument petting zoo. March 3 . 3 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Ave., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Robert Ashley’s Crash The last opera written by American composer Robert Ashley. Throughout his five-decade career, he radically redefined the operatic genre. A new generation of artists perform this haunting masterpiece, rotating through the three characters of the opera, with sound by Music Director Tom Hamilton. March 3 . 8 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Ring Family Performing Arts Hall, 287 Washington Terrace, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/

Zoe & Cloyd Celebrating O.N.E.’S 44th Birthday!

Guitartown CT presents bluerass duo Zoe & Cloyd. Friday, Feb. 16. More information at guitartownct.ticketleap.com/zoe--cloyd/ Youth Gamelan Ensemble Classes Start Open to all children ages 7 to 14, no prior experience necessary. Come for the first class free if your child likes it, sign them up! Classes conclude with a performance with the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at 7 p.m.. Register online at wesleyan.edu/boxoffice or call (860) 685-3355. Jan. 20-April 28 .

Saturday morning classes are held from 10 a.m. to 11a.m. $30 for a semester of classes plus a final performance. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Ave, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Tom Buckner sings Robert Ashley Baritone Tom Buckner performs a series of works for voice by Robert Ashley March 2 . 8 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Ave., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ The Cat and the Hat The NHSO’s Piano Trio invites local

O.N.E. gives a concert on its precise birthday, March 3 (1974). To celebrate we’ll present a “Kaleidoscope” - a potpourri of old and new music. Mark Kuss is composing a piece for our concertmaster Raphael Ryger and a percussion concerto for our timpanist Patrick Smith. Also included are pieces by Charles Ives, Joseph Haydn featuring Gary Cha p.m.an. March 3 . Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. $20 General Admission $35 Premium Seating $5 Students at the door. Orchestra New England, Unitarian Society of New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden. 207-288-1807. orchestranewengland.org/page-1784436 Haydn and More Internationally-acclaimed conductor, Grete Pedersen, leads the Yale Camerata, Yale Glee Club, and Yale Schola Cantorum in works

by Haydn and others. March 4 . 4 5:30 p.m.

Free. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Woolsey Hall, 500 College St., New Haven. (203) 4325062. ism.yale.edu/calendar Senior Recital: Benjamin Klausner A senior music recital by Benjamin Klausner. March 4 . 7 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, World

march 2018 • artspaper.org 17

bulletin

members

Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Ave., Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Toneburst Sampler Concert Wesleyan’s Toneburst Laptop and Electronic Arts Ensemble presents new works and works in progress for live electronics under the direction of Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Department Paula Matthusen. March 5 .

8 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Ring Family Performing Arts Hall, 287 Washington Terrace, Middletown.

(860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Japan Twang An Evening with Shamisen Player Michiyoshi Sato. A rare performance by Michiyoshi Sato outside of Japan. He is one of Japan’s leading practitioners of tsugaru-jamisen, an improvisatory musical style performed on a Japanese three-stringed spike lute called a shamisen. Mr. Sato is known for a cuttingedge performance style that fuses the traditional with the modern, and the classics with pop. March 6 . 7 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Ave., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Antonio Draghi: Judith A performance of and lecture on Antonio Draghi’s Judith. The Academy of Sacred Drama is a society of amateur and professional writers, artists, and musicians and their advocates who explore history, music, and culture through the philosophical and storytelling lens of Baroque-era sacred dramatic music. March 9 . 7:30-10 p.m.

Free. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Sterling Divinity Quadrangle-Marquand Chapel, 409 Prospect St., New Haven. (203) 432-5062. ism.yale.edu/calendar

offering to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen. Bethesda Music Series, Bethesda Lutheran Church, 450 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 787-2346. bethesdanewhaven. org/music/bethesda-music-series/ Miller Conducts Tchaikovsky Program Includes: Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4 Shostakovich, Concerto for Cello Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia March 22 . 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. $15$74; KidTix Free with Adult; College Students $10. New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Woolsey hall, 500 College St, New Haven CT. (203) 436-4840.

NewHavenSymphony.org Graduate Recital: Jordan Dykstra A graduate music recital by Jordan Dykstra.

March 26. 8 p.m. free. Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, Memorial Chapel, 221 Church St., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/

spaces 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/Event Space 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

Pushing Boundaries: Women Composers Selections include: A. Vrebalov: “My Desert, My Rose” for String Quartet G. Bacewicz: Quartet for 4 Violins F. Mendelssohn-Hensel: String Quartet in E-Flat Major J. Higdon March 10 . Saturday, March 10th, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. $25 General Admission; $10 for students and USNH members. Haven String Quartet, Unitarian Society of New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden. (203) 7459030. musichavenct.org/all-events/ womenwhocompose St. Patrick’s Pops The NHSO Pops transforms Connecticut into the Emerald Isle for St. Patrick’s Day, with favorite Irish songs and jigs, including O Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, and Whiskey in the Jar. March 17 . 2:30 4:30 p.m. $35 or $49; KidTix Free with Adult; College Students $10. New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Hamden Middle School, 2623 Dixwell Ave, Hamden CT. (203) 865-0831. NewHavenSymphony.org Pictures at an Exhibition Eric Trudel, pianist, and Margaret Astrup, soprano, present an hour-long program, including the colorful Pictures at an Exhibition

by Mussorgsky and Le travail du peintre by Poulenc. Free parking. Reception to follow.

Join us for a beautiful afternoon of piano and vocal music! March 18. 4 p.m. Freewill

Exhibition Tours Join a docent-led tour of the exhibition The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World. All tours at 11 a.m. on the following: March 1, 4, 8, 15, 18, 22, 25, and 29. 1 p.m. tour on March 11. Free and open to the public; Wheelchair accessible. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. (203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu Technical Analysis of Paston Treasure Jessica David, Senior Conservator of Paintings, Yale Center for British Art, will deliver a thirty-minute gallery talk. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. (203) 432-2800. britishart.yale.edu.

Cafe et Tartines: French Conversation Join Mattatuck staff member, Roxane Sanders, and meet fellow Francophones and culture lovers for French conversation and fun! Practice speaking and build your vocabulary. Jan. 17-March 28 . Every other Wednesday 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Free and open to the public. Mattatuck Museum, 144 West Main St., Waterbury. (203) 7530381. mattmuseum.org

Tuesday, March 13, 5:00 p.m. Thursday, March 29, 1:00 p.m. see above Free-$10.

Mattatuck Museum, Mattatuck Museum, 144 West Main St., Waterbury. (203) 7530381. mattmuseum.org

theater Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery A wild hellhound prowls the moors of Devonshire, dispatching the male heirs of the Baskerville line one by one. Sherlock Holmes is on the case. To find the ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Feb. 28-March 25.

Times and prices vary. Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive New Haven. (203) 7874282. longwharf.org/baskerville/ Herstory Two evenings of four new short plays culled from over 200 submissions from women around the world, celebrating the strength and bravery of unsung heroines. Part of the international playwriting coalition 365 Women a Year, each one-act play spotlights an extraordinary woman in history. Join us for one or both nights to see the same plays each night, performed by different actors.

Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10. Doors open at 6:30, plays occur from 7 to 9 p.m..

Ticket price: $10.00/night, all proceeds go to NOplays. Please consider tickets at $15/ night to also support the Institute Library. The Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., New Haven.

Follows the flawed but powerful relationship between Li’l Bit and her Uncle Peck. Told through a collection of memories, this play explores sexuality, trauma, love, and moral ambiguity. The play asks the audience to examine the sometimes uncomfortable complexities of human relationships. Feb. 28-March 3. Free and open to the public.

213 High St., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa Histories A play about memory, legacy, trauma, and the unbreakable bond between mother and child. As Eunice confronts the ghosts of a difficult past, she also struggles to move forward with her present: to reconcile with her mother and to learn the meaning of “Chung.” Free and open to the public. 213 High St., Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ (Dis)placement This performance by Jose Luis Sanchez ‘18 involves the histories of (dis)placement from Jalisco, Mexico to San Francisco’s Mission District. It aims to encapsulate the ways in which (dis)placement through the consequences of capitalism affects the sentiments surrounding (dis)specialty.

Reservations will be available two weeks in advance. March 30- 31, 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact wesleyan.edu/boxoffice or call (860) 685-3355 for reservations. 275 Washington Terrace, Middletown. (860) 685-3355. wesleyan.edu/cfa/ Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

18 artspaper.org • march 2018

arts council member organizations A Broken Umbrella Theatre www.abrokenumbrella.org Alyla Suzuki Early Childhood Music Education www.alylasuzuki.com (203) 239-6026 American Guild of Organists www.sacredmusicct.org

1-800-644-cgmc www.ctgmc.org Connecticut Hospice Arts Program www.hospice.com Connecticut Women Artists www.ctwomenartists.org Creative Arts Workshop 203-562-4927 www.creativeartsworkshop.org Creative Concerts 203-795-3365 CT Folk www.ctfolk.com DaSilva Gallery www.dasilva-gallery.com 203-387-2539 East Street Arts 203-776-6310 www.eaststreetartsnh.org EcoWorks CT www.ecoworksct.org

Another Octave-CT Women’s Chorus www.anotheroctave.org 203-672-1919

Elm City Dance Collective www.elmcitydance.org

Arts for Learning Connecticut www.aflct.org

Elm Shakespeare Company www.elmshakespeare.org

Artspace www.artspacenh.org (203) 772-2709

Firehouse 12 www.firehouse12.com 203-785-0468

How I Learned to Drive

Mixmaster Juried Members Exhibition and salon talks.

March 4-29. Sunday, March 4, 2:00 p.m.

remarkable rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. March 6-11. March 6-8, 7:30 p.m.; March 9-10 2:00 p.m. and 8 p.m. March 11, 12:30 p.m. Price varies By Seat Location.

Shubert Theatre, 247 College St., New Haven. (203) 562-5666. shubert.com

Tells the inspiring true story of King’s

Artsplace: Cheshire Performing & Fine Arts www.cpfa-artsplace.org (203) 272-2787 Artfarm Art-farm.org Ball & Socket Arts www.ballandsocket.org Bethesda Music Series 203-787-2346 www.bethesdanewhaven.org Blackfriars Repertory Theatre www.blackfriarsrep.com Branford Art Center www.branfordartscenter.org Branford Folk Music Society www.branfordfolk.org

Gallery One CT www.galleryonect.com Guilford Art Center www.guilfordartcenter.org (203) 453-5947 Guilford Art League www.gal-ct.blogspot.com Guilford Poets Guild www.guilfordpoetsguild.org Guitartown CT Productions (203) 430-6020 www.guitartownct.com Hamden Art League 203-494-2316 www.hamdenartleague.com Hamden Arts Commission www.hamdenartscommission.org

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

Hamden Symphony Orchestra www.hamdensymphony.org

The Choirs of Trinity Church on the Green trinitynewhaven.org

Hugo Kauder Society www.hugokauder.org

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

Imaginary Theater Company www.imaginarytheatercompany.org

Civic Orchestra of New Haven www.civicorchestraofnewhaven.org College Street Music Hall www.collegestreetmusichall.com Connecticut Dance Alliance www.ctdanceall.com Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus

The Institute Library www.institutelibrary.org International Festival of Arts & Ideas www.artidea.org Jazz Haven www.jazzhaven.org Kehler Liddell Gallery 203-389-9555

www.kehlerliddell.com

www.silknsounds.org

Knights of Columbus Museum www.kofcmuseum.org

Site Projects Siteprojects.org

Legacy Theatre www.legacytheatrect.org

Spectrum Art Gallery & Store www.spectrumartgallery.org

Long Wharf Theatre www.longwharf.org (203) 787-4282

Susan Powell Fine Art www.susanpowellfineart.com 203-318-0616

Madison Art Society madisonartsociety.blogspot.com

Theater Department at SCSU/Crescent Players www.southernct.edu/theater

Make Haven www.makehaven.org

University Glee Club of New Haven Universitygleeclub.org

Mattatuck Museum www.mattatuckmuseum.org

Wesleyan University Center for the Arts www.wesleyan.edu/cfa

Meet the Artists and Artisans www.meettheartistsandartisans.com

Whitney Arts Center 203-773-3033

Mirror Visions Ensemble www.mirrorvisions.org

Yale Cabaret www.yalecabaret.org (203) 432-1566

Fractured Atlas www.fracturedatlas.org Homehaven www.homehavenvillages.org Hopkins School www.hopkins.edu (203) 397-1001 JCC of Greater New Haven www.jccnh.org

New Haven Preservation Trust 203-562-5919 www.nhpt.org Overseas Ministries Study Center www.omsc.org Town Green Special Services District www.infonewhaven.com (203) 401-4245

Musical Folk Musicalfolk.com 203-691-9759

Yale Center for British Art www.yale.edu/ycba

Music Haven www.musichavenct.org 203-745-9030

Yale Institute of Sacred Music www.yale.edu.ism 203-432-5180

Neighborhood Music School 203-624-5189 www.neighborhoodmusicschool.org

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History www.peabody.yale.edu

New Haven Ballet Newhavenballet.org

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

New Haven Chamber Orchestra www.newhavenchamberorchestra.org New Haven Chorale www.newhavenchorale.org New Haven Museum www.newhavenmuseum.org (203) 562-4183 New Haven Oratorio Choir www.nhoratorio.org New Haven Symphony Orchestra www.newhavensymphony.org New World Arts Northeast 203-507-8875

Toad’s Place www.toadsplace.com

Silk n’ Sounds

Executive Champions Yale University Senior Patrons L. Suzio York Hill Companies Marcum Odonnell Company Webster Bank Wiggin and Dana Corporate Partners Edgehill Realtors Firehouse 12 Fusco Management Company Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven Key Bank Knights of Columbus Metropolitan Interactive Yale-New Haven Hospital

Access Audio-Visual Systems www.accessaudiovisual.com

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

Yale-China Association www.yalechina.org

major institutional support

creative business members

Hull’s Art Supply and Framing 203-865-4855 www.hullsnewhaven.com

Shubert Theater www.shubert.com (203) 562-5666

Whitneyville Cultural Commons www.1253whitney.com

Yale University Bands www.yale.edu/yaleband

Pantochino Productions www.pantochino.com

Shoreline Arts Alliance www.shorelinearts.org (203) 453-3890

Westville Village Renaissance Alliance www.westvillect.org

Yale University Art Gallery www.artgallery.yale.edu

Billy DiCrosta Vocal Studio www.billydicrosta.com

The Second Movement www.secondmovementseries.org

Visit New Haven www.visitnewhaven.com

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

Orchestra New England 203-777-4690 www.orchestranewengland.org

New Haven Free Public Library www.nhfpl.org

Business Members Access Audio-Visual Systems Branner, Saltzman & Wallman, LLP

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

Foundations & Government AVANGRID The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven DECD/CT Office of the Arts The Ethel & Abe Lapides Foundation First Niagara Foundation Josef and Anni Albers Foundation NewAlliance Foundation The Wells Fargo Foundation The Werth Family Foundation

march 2018 • artspaper.org 19

\ The

Paston Treasure \

microcosm of the known world February 15–May 27, 2018

This exhibition has been organized by the Yale Center for British Art and Norfolk Museums Service Free and open to the public 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven 1 877 BRIT ART | britishart.yale.edu @yalebritishart #PastonTreasure

Unknown artist (Dutch School), The Paston Treasure (detail), ca. 1663, oil on canvas, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, UK, courtesy of Norfolk Museums Service

OPENING MARCH 2, 2018

Joel Shapiro Plaster, Paper, Wood, and Wire

Manuel Neri

The Human Figure in Plaster and on Paper

BEYOND THE FRONT LINES April 6, 2017Dec. 30, 2018

Pompeii

Photographs and Fragments

Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings Expanding a Legacy

YALE U N IVERS IT Y ART GALLERY Free and open to the public | artgallery.yale.edu 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut | 203.432.0600 @yaleartgallery

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

MUSEUM 1 State Street, New Haven • 203-865-0400 kofcmuseum.org • Free admission & parking