MERRYALL CENTER, A BIG HIT

Two New York Times’ Critics’ Pick performers Sam Morrison in “Sugar Daddy” and singer, songwriter and cultural icon Jill Sobule, are making their way straight from the Big Apple to northwest Connecticut’s Merryall Center, at 8 Chapel Hill Road, New Milford. starting June 10 at 8 p.m.

Sugar Daddy is Morrison’s love letter to his late partner and how he has found hope and humor in loss, underscored by a satiric critique on the culture of mourning.

Continuing its homage to Pride Month, on June 17 Merryall welcomes multifaceted singer and songwriter Jill Sobule, an American musician best known for her hit singles “Super Model” and “I Kissed a Girl” the first-ever openly queer-themed Billboard Top 20 record.

Sobule has released dozens of albums and written lyrics and music that are striking chords and touching hearts by addressing personal issues like anorexia, reproduction, adolescent angst, shop lifting and the death penalty.

Tickets for both events are available on-line at merryallcenter.org.

BURKE’S NEW BOARD CHAIR

Richard Celiberti has been appointed the new chairman of the Burke Rehabilitation Board of Trustees following the retirement of John R. McCarthy.

A member of the Burke Board since 2014, Celiberti, who served as treasurer of the board, is an accomplished health-care executive with consulting and operational experience at Ernst & Young and the Montefiore Healthcare System. Prior to that, he was the partner and national director of Ernst & Young’s health-care consulting practice. Celiberti earned a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from Temple University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Burke’s Executive Director Scott Edelman, MBA, CPA, CFE, said, “…I look forward to our collaboration and the sharing of ideas as we continue to provide the highest-quality rehabilitation services to our patients.”

Burke Rehabilitation is a not-for-profit health-care organization devoted solely to acute physical rehabilitation. Its main campus is located in White Plains, New York.

A Grant For The Aldrich

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, has been approved for a $25,000 Grant for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support its exhibition

“Chi on Thomas: The Cavernous,” on view at the museum from Sept. 15 to March 3, 2024. The Aldrich project is among 1,130 projects across the country, totaling more than $31 million, that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2023 funding.

Museum Executive Director Cybele Maylone, said, “The Aldrich is thrilled to present The Cavernous artist Chi on Thomas’ first museum exhibition, later this year. Featuring a new body of work and the artist’s first outdoor sculpture, this am- bitious exhibition will also be accompanied by Thomas’ first museum publication….” With his works Thomas examines the ruptures that exist where race, gender expression and biography interconnect. He joins reclaimed materials recovered from abandoned colonial architecture — columns, windows, doorways, wooden spindles and ceiling tin — with cast fragments of his body split and fractured in urethane and foam, as well as plaster and leather, sometimes combined with sections of the Bible. Interrogating a legacy of colonialization and the Black diaspora in the U.S. Thomas interweaves materials resonant with personal and collective histories of trauma and repair as well as resilience and transformation.

Yonkers Arts & Partners, the nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the arts in Yonkers, recently created a new mural at the Carpet Mills Arts District. Conceived by artist Carson DeYoung the mural, inspired by the Wynwood Walls of Miami, reflects the vi-

Arts Transform Carpet Mills District

brancy of the district with colorful aesthetics against a black background.

The mural, approximately 18 feet high and 20 feet wide, was installed as part of 2023 Yonkers Arts Weekend and is located in the interior parking lot of 222 Lake Ave.

and 578 Nepperhan Ave. The Carpet Mills Arts District is in a former industrial area that is being redeveloped into a mixed-use arts and cultural region.

TRUMBULL MALL-AREA STUDY ENGAGES RESIDENTS

There will be multiple opportunities coming up for residents in Trumbull that have ideas for the Trumbull Mall to get involved with crafting a vision for the mall and surrounding area. Trumbull launched a market feasibility and land use study in January 2023 for the area, including and surrounding the Mall from the Merritt Parkway to the Bridgeport line and Madison Avenue to Main Street. The study goes beyond a traditional municipal plan and will undertake comprehensive property and market research in order to position the area for growth and investment into the future. Trumbull raised $300,000 in grants and private contributions and added $50,000 in local funding.

arts in Yonkers, fostering creativity and engaging the community through various artistic endeavors, including exhibitions, events and educational programs. Yonkers Arts strives to enrich the cultural landscape of the city.

Successful Business Launch Despite Covid

Farida was the head of the esthetics department at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa at the Westchester Mall when Covid hit and Red Door filed liquidation bankruptcy and closed all 30 locations. Overnight Farida lost her job, her team and her clients. Not one to be discouraged, Farida immediately decided to launch her own business to continue o ering the same high-quality services that Red Door was famous for. That’s why Farida Skin Care Studio opened for business in June of 2020, during the peak of Covid 19 starting with one treatment room and two employees. Just two and a half years later, Farida is opening a 4,500-square-foot location with six treatment rooms and 15 employees at 120 Bloomingdale Road, directly across from Bloomingdale’s.

Farida said, “We have created a retreat where our guests can receive the healthy self-care treatments they need and have a chance to relax and de-stress. We o er a nurturing environment that allows our guests to leave recharged and refreshed.”

A project homepage https://tinyurl. com/trumbullmallstudy or the town website are where residents and stakeholders can learn more about the e ort, follow project progress, learn about upcoming events and submit comments and ideas electronically. As the study advances, interactive features will be added to give residents and stakeholders a chance to react to ideas and provide feedback on concepts and strategies that emerge from the planning process.

In addition to the new project homepage, residents can attend an interactive community session at the Trumbull Mall on Tuesday, June 20 from 4-7 p.m., in the concourse area between the Cheesecake Factory and Ulta Beauty. Residents can arrive at any time during the scheduled event.

“We hope as many residents as possible get involved. We are establishing multiple ways of contributing to this important undertaking. We are setting a vision for the future of the area that will lead to new investment. It is important that the community helps to drive success into the future. This area hosts our largest taxpayer, many important amenities for Trumbull and the region, and close to 3,000 jobs. We are in this together,” said First Selectman Vicki Tesoro.