VENU Magazine #11 Jan/Feb 2012 by VENÜ MAGAZINE

Contemporary Culture

January/February_CT-NY Edition

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Contents 20 / If This Bench Could Talk City Bench is giving fallen trees a new life by creating and building unique, one-of-a-kind furniture

24 / The Urban Farmer Revolutionizing the way urban dwellers may get their farm-fresh vegetables

20 20

28 / Gordon’s Good Reads The place to find a good read 30 / Events + Gatherings 38 / A Golden Retriever's Tale Meet Barney, a cancer gene therapy poster dog 42/ Travel Iceland the rough, Iceland the refined, One woman's sojourn to the summit

46 / Escape Winvian – Nestled in the quiet hamlet of Morris, Connecticut, a world class relais & chateau resort 49 / Appetite A Classic - This little gem of a restaurant is worth a test drive 50 / Italian Immigrants and American Architecture History and stories behind Mount Rushmore,Kensico Dam, Croton Aqueduct… and more

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

January February_CT-NY Edition

Cover: Melissa Barbieri's murals are noted for their softness and luminosity, for the versatile way they capture a room's character and essence, and for creating a mood that is both fresh, timeless, and completely unique. Mastering the organic elements of lime, plaster, and water-based pigments, Barbieri has achieved unsurpassable proficiency in a painting medium that only the most daring – or “pazzo” – would even attempt tomaster: “buon fresco.”In the footsteps of Giotto, Fra Angelico, and Raffaello, she transforms rooms, walls, and framed easel paintings, into realms of wonder.

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

Contents 52 / Fashion Interview with Susan Klope, Lead Designer of the Per Se Collection

56 / Motoring Drawing the line Pura e Dura – Interview with leading car designer Jason Castriota 60 / Boating SARISSA - From Sea to Shining Sea 66 / Music John, Paul, George, Ringo, and... Bruce —or How I Almost Reunited the Beatles 68 / Art Melissa Barbieri, A very ‘fresh’ take on ancient fresco methods [68] The world according to Jonas Wickman [76] The Printmaker, James Reed and Milestone Graphics [78] 75 / Decorative Arts On The Block

81 / Comic Relief Taller on TV: Wendy Liebman It's Showtime

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82 / Stage All the world's a stage – Finding theater in unexpected places 84 / Film David – One boy. Two Faiths. 86 / Fiction Personal Day

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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

ü-list

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Artists, designers, photographers, writers, illustrators, etc., if you’ve got it, flaunt it! We’re interested in hearing from all of you that have some great things to share...

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January 19-22 Opening Night Preview January18

Metropolitan Pavilion 125 W 18th Street, NYC Select Galleries Presenting Paintings, Furniture, Drawings, Prints, Photographs, Folk Art, Ethnographic, Native American, and Applied & Decorative Arts

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Charlie Hewitt: Cut and Printed Recent Color Woodcuts January 22 – March 18, 2012 Opening Reception: Sunday, January 22, 2 – 5 pm

www.contemprints.org | 203-899-7999

Charlie Hewitt, Calypso, 2011, Woodcut, 20 x 15 In.

299 West Avenue (in Mathews Park), Norwalk CT 06850 Monday – Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm | Sunday, 12 – 5 pm

Center for Contemporary Printmaking A nonprofit organization

100/100 Editions Club A newly commissioned print with a tantalizing air of mystery! A once-a-year opportunity for discerning collectors of original prints. Editions Club Unveiling for subscribers: February 2012

2011 Subscriptions, while they last:

www.contemprints.org 203-899-7999

Each year, the Center offers a limited edition of an original print to art collectors, for $450 per subscription, while they last—only 100 impressions. The print and the artist are a mystery all year long, until the Unveiling Reception. Of course, we cannot divulge the name of this year’s artist, or show you the print that has been selected. We can say that this established artist has had a long successful career in printmaking, and has artwork in many major collections. In previous years, mystery artists have included:

Donald Sultan | Mary Frank | James Siena | Liliana Porter

299 West Avenue (in Mathews Park), Norwalk CT 06850 Monday – Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm | Sunday, 12 – 5 pm

Center for Contemporary Printmaking A nonprofit organization

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January/February_CT-NY Edition

President, Creative Director: J. Michael Woodside Vice President, Executive Director: Tracey Thomas Copy Editors: Cindy Clarke, Michael Foley, Brian Solomon Senior Arts Editor: Philip Eliasoph Film & Entertainment Editor: Peter J. Fox Decorative Arts Editor: Matthew Sturtevant Publisher: Venü Media Company Art, Design & Production: Venü Media Company, Art Director: Asami Green Contributing Writers: Jenna Blumenfeld, Cindy Clarke, Laura Einstein, Jennifer Galluzzo, Nancy Helle, Sasha Ingber, Lorenz Josef, Mike Lauterborn, Kathleen Lucente, Ryan Odinak, Bruce Pollock, Bari Alyse Rudin, Lisa Seidenberg, Brian Solomon, William Squier Business Development: Shelly Harvey/Connecticut, Liz Marks/New York Legal Counsel: Alan Neigher, Sheryle Levine (Byelas & Neigher, Westport, CT) Distribution: Thomas Cossuto, Man In Motion, LLC Office: 840 Reef Road, 2nd Floor, Fairfield, CT 06824 +1.203.333.7300 Tel +1.203.333.7301 Fax venumagazine.com Advertising Sales: advertising@venumagazine.com Editorial Contribution: editorial@venumagazine.com Subscriptions: Call 203.333.7300 subscribe@venumagazine.com

The small print: No responsibility can be taken for the quality and accuracy of the reproductions, as this is dependent upon the artwork and material supplied. No responsibility can be taken for typographical errors. The publishers reserve the right to refuse and edit material as presented. All prices and specifications to advertise are subject to change without notice. The opinions in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. Copyright VENÜ MAGAZINE. All rights reserved. The name VENÜ MAGAZINE is copyright protected. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without written consent from the publisher. VENÜ MAGAZINE does not accept responsibility for unsolicited material. This is a bimonthly publication and we encourage the public, galleries, artists, designers, photographers, writers (calling all creatives) to submit photos, features, drawings, etc., but we assume no responsibility for failure to publish submissions.

Symphony in G, Oil On Canvas, 36" x 60"

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PEOPLE + IDEAS

ENTREPRENEUR

PHOTO: Derek Dudek

City Bench is giving a second life to trees that have fallen within the city's urban forest by building one-of-a-kind furniture.

If This Bench Could Talk For some of us, stories are the honey in the tea of life. Without stories, Mark Twain would just be a riverboat pilot with a bushy mustache. The Dead Sea Scrolls would be a pile of moldy parchment. You get the idea.

by Lisa Seidenberg Two brothers, Ted and Zeb Esselstyn from Higganaum, Connecticut, also got the idea about the value of stories when they started their company City Bench. Contracted for his woodworking skills to create imaginative public children’s spaces like the Trash Museum in Hartford, Ted Esselstyn saw that both children and adults liked to see the connection between objects and where they come from. Working with that concept – and their skilled hands – the Esselstyn duo

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

began to make handcrafted furniture with a back-story and a mission. Picture a 17foot elongated narrow bench suggesting perhaps an airplane propeller… wouldn’t you like to know that it was once a tree at Bradley International Airport? Discovering that New Haven destroys over 600 trees per year, they approached various city officials to allow them to save some of the trees from their fate – the dumpster or a landfill – to “upcycle” them into a new useful table, bench or wall paneling. Besides the

teachable element, the pieces are each an original work of art. They have, in fact, been shown in museums. It took over two years for their concept to... ahem... take root. They now have a sympathetic ear in the New Haven Tree Warden, Christy Hass, who lets them know when trees are scheduled for removal. “There are so many soul-less objects being made, why shouldn’t there be some that are different? says Ted. “We like the idea of connecting objects to a sense of

LUCY M. KRUPENYE SCULPTURE ��.��

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PEOPLE + IDEAS

ENTREPRENEUR

Left: The City Bench showroom in Higganum, CT. Above: The Elm Bench in Bradley International airport made from the largest elm tree in Connecticut, which had fallen down two miles from the airport. Below Left: From left to right, Ted Esselstyn, Zeb Esselstyn and Tim Spratlin in the workshop. Below: An 18 foot red oak bench at Yale's Morse College, fabricated from a red oak that had fallen in the college's courtyard.

history, it makes them much more meaningful to people.” The name of their company, City Bench, comes from a chapter of the Esselstyn’s own personal history. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, they had admired a mural, “Life Is Sharing a Park Bench” designed by painter John Morrell and commissioned by Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of a large U.S. city. Walking around their ramshackle wood-shop in Higganaum, you might think you are in a rustic folk art site with an incongruous telephone booth steps from layered towers of milled wooden slabs

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cut from Black Walnut, American Elm or Beech trees. “We call it a social enterprise,” explains Zeb, a business that intends to be responsible as well as practical. The one-of-a-kind pieces have a zen-like beauty; graceful and sinuously curving forms that always preserve the connection to the original wood. Citing modern designer George Nakashima, Ted says he likes to keep a “live edge” in the pieces. A “live edge” is a section where the woodworker preserves an element of the original wood – incorporating cracks, holes or a jagged line of the wood texture into the design and filling them with resin.

City Bench was recently honored with a major exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford called “New Life for Connecticut Trees” which runs until March 17, 2012. As a result of that and a pop-up storefront on Crown Street in New Haven, they have received lots of phone calls, not all of them useful. “We are not a tree service,” explain the brothers. “The trees must be special in some way.” To learn more about City Bench, visit www.city-bench.com or email info@city-bench.com

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

PEOPLE + IDEAS

ENTREPRENEUR

Left: USDA scientist calibrating MetroCrops-designed grow lights at the USDA research facility in Beltsvill, Maryland. ABOVE: A typical empty old factory building in the West End of Bridgeport, Connecticut that could be an ideal site for a lettuce farm.

The Urban Farmer The timing couldn’t be better for a brilliant concept that may revolutionize the way urban dwellers get farm-fresh vegetables

by Mike Lauterborn Funded by a government grant, Steve Domyan and his Norwalk, CT-based business, MetroCrops, is using hydroponic and high-tech lighting and computer technologies to grow a crop of lettuce indoors that will be the forerunner of larger gardens housed in abandoned city warehouse and factory spaces. The pioneering effort promises to deliver a same-day fresh, highly nutritious product, job creation and urbanbased organic food production resources. Every step along sixty-three-year old Domyan’s life path has groomed him to champion this cause. To begin, he spent his early years in industrial Bridgeport where his Yugoslavian immigrant dad was a bluecollar worker at Bryant Electric. The factory in which he worked is now one of the buildings Domyan is considering as a launch space for his “urban farming” vision. “Dad walked to work every day and I recognized early on that that was a good life model if you lived in the city,” said Domyan. “You weren’t going to drive

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an hour-and-a-half to go be a farmer. My concept makes that walk-to-work scenario possible again.” After earning a B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, Domyan took a job at Summa Graphics in Fairfield. The company invented and manufactured computer graphics tablets. “One of our first customers was Steve Jobs, who was just starting Apple Computers out of his garage,” Domyan said. “I was the first design engineer they hired and got to see what it takes to make a company out of a small start-up idea.” In 1978, Domyan completed his MBA at UConn and moved over to Perkin-Elmer Corporation’s Ridgefield facility. As Senior Staff Engineer with large project management responsibilities, he worked on a category called Analytical Instruments, used for chemical analysis. “These now have RIGHT: A hydroponic tray of baby mesclun mix growing under MetroCrops LED grow lights in Storrs, Connecticut.

application in the urban farming concept,” he pointed out. Around 1986, Domyan went to work for Intel, in its Danbury office, commuting from Norwalk. In his Applications Engineer role, he helped plan products for the company’s largest line. “That helped me understand how new products are defined and how to develop others that meet market demand,” he said. After seven years with Intel, he was given the opportunity to continue his career on the West Coast, but chose to stay close to his aging parents in Fairfield. He worked as an independent engineering consultant until 2001 when he started his own 3D graphics art business, creating virtual reality animations for church fundraising campaigns. While the work was a departure from his earlier career path, it was the first time he had P&L responsibility. When the economy crashed in 2008, Domyan was not ready to retire and began

ENTREPRENEUR looking at options. “I had a conversation with someone who guided me to a provocative book by Dr. Dickson Despommier, titled, ‘The Vertical Farm,’” he said. “He is the evangelist of vertical farming, which is defined as building large glass skyscrapers in urban centers that accommodate farms growing fresh produce. He advocates farming in cities.” The facts pointed to urban farming as a smart step. “In the U.S., 66% of our lettuce is grown in California,” said Domyan. “When we get it in New York, it’s often a week old. Much is lost in shipping and there’s the energy cost of transporting it. There’s something logical in growing it where you eat it.” Domyan said the book was an inspiration, and “just by proximity and driving by Bridgeport, I was aware that there were all these buildings,” he said. “Some are being converted to loft spaces, but you can only have so many lofts. The beauty of urban farming is not only the repurposing of the space but job creation. It’s fairly labor intensive. When you grow indoors, plants grow very fast. There’s no nighttime and no seasons.” Domyan further explained, “If you have a lettuce farm in a traditional sense, you have a crop in the spring and fall. It’s a cool weather crop. You’re essentially watching it. On the other hand, in a lettuce factory, you’re picking it every day, 365 days a year. It’s a full-time job – a quality job, not minimum wage. And the buildings will be air-conditioned during the summer for the plants. These will be the nicest factories you’ll work in.” The entrepreneur began looking for funding and discovered CT Innovation, a quasi-government agency whose job is to help people get some of the research-type grants that are available. “Someone took me under their wing, convinced me to go to a national conference and apply for an SBIR grant (Small Business Innovation Research),” he said. “It’s worth way more than the money they give you,” he said. Domyan added, “Getting one of these grants is not a political process. We submitted a research plan to the U.S.D.A. for what we termed ‘Urban High-Density Indoor Farming.’ When the plans are reviewed, the business name is not on them and the business doesn’t know the names of the reviewers. It’s a peer review.” Domyan’s concept was reviewed by expert scientists in the field. “Though their

ABOVE: A hydroponic tray of baby mesclun mix growing under MetroCrops LED grow lights in Storrs, Connecticut.

budget was cut this past year, they still went ahead and funded us.” Funds are provided in two phases: a research phase, which MetroCrops is currently in, and commercialization, wherein the start-up becomes a viable independent business fulfilling its mission.

“The beauty of urban farming is not only the repurposing of the space, but job creation. It’s fairly labor intensive. When you grow indoors, plants grow very fast. There’s no nighttime and no seasons.” Re-enter UConn Storrs. “The university has a program called TIP (Technology Incubation Program), which provides incubator space for start-ups on a lease basis,” Domyan said. “We contracted for a 600-square-foot space. It’s very prototypic of what we want to do, with no heat and no a/c. we had to totally outfit it with all of that and proper growing lights. We designed the lights in fact, because we didn’t feel the commercially available ones were optimal for our purposes.”

Because growing plants inside of a building is so different from growing outside or in a greenhouse, Domyan has had to design custom hydroponics, too, allowing the plants to grow without soil. “We still use the same nutrients, but bypass soil while conserving water on a massive scale,” he said. At the Storrs space, a plant scientist oversees 150-square-feet of baby lettuce plants, adjusting chemical mixes, lights, temperature and humidity levels. All activity is computer tracked so data trends can be examined. If a parameter goes beyond a range, Domyan gets an automatic text message alert. Ultimately, these optimal conditions will yield 100%, highly nutritious natural lettuce, said Domyan. “The next step is that the U.S.D.A. will come and collect samples, take them back to their lab in Beltsville, MD, where they have the largest agricultural research facility, and confirm its phytonutrient content so we can make scientifically verified product claims about it.” With U.S.D.A. approval, MetroCrops will then conduct taste testing, via kiosks at retail locations, and gauge consumer response. “What we are doing up in Storrs was not possible five years ago, even three years ago,” said Domyan. “Science and our unique approach is now making this possible.”

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Fine Art | Framing | Installation

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Troy Fine Art Services, Inc. 3310 Post Road, Southport, Ct 06890 Deniceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flowers by Allen Wittert 46â&#x20AC;? x 48 â&#x20AC;? acrylic on linen

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BOOKS

GORDON’S GOOD READS The place to find a good read...

by Gordon Hastings

The Gordon’s Good Reads Blog has highlighted many classics, but of course, for every one I have read and posted there are dozens upon dozens of others. As book lovers, we all know that a classic is in the eyes of the reader. A blogger asked me the other day why there was no Steinbeck on the blog! Well-worn copies of The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and East of Eden (1952) are in my library. Both books are among the finest novels I have read and so many of my reading friends have shared that same view. Not to be overlooked and written in the same era as The Grapes of Wrath is Of Mice and Men (1937). Anyone who has overlooked Steinbeck has missed opening a treasure chest. The best “new” book is one you have not read.

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh–You Choose The Ending! Followers of this blog know that I enjoy delving back among the best known authors and retrieving works that I have not read. Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust is one more example. Written in 1934, A Handful of Dust is listed as number 34 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best English Language Novels of the 20th Century. A Handful of Dust is set in 1930s Victorian England, and focuses on the breakdown of the marriage of Tony and Brenda Last. The aristocratic Tony is preoccupied with the maintenance of his family country estate, Brenda is bored with her isolation there and also with Tony. Enter John Beaver, a selfinterested and impoverished social climber who invites himself to Hetton ( Tony’s estate) for the weekend. The affair with Brenda, who yearns for urban excitement, begins when she takes a flat in London and “goes back to school!” In his introduction to the Everyman’s Library publication, William Boyd quotes from Waugh’s Labels, a travel book Waugh wrote after his own broken marriage. “Fortune is the

ARTS/CULTURE/STYLE//MAGAZINE

least capricious of deities, and arranges things on the just and rigid system that no one shall be very happy for very long.” Are many great novels autobiographical? You bet! And so the story of infidelity unfolds often reminiscent to me of Idina Sackville in The Bolter although a littler less tawdry! In an amazing twist, the reader of the Everyman’s Library publication of A Handful of Dust gets the option of the two endings! When the book was to be serialized in an American magazine they determined Waugh’s original ending too dreary so he wrote a new one! I like the latter the best which includes a sort of just rewards for Tony Last. I think it made Waugh feel better. Enjoy! The best known of Waugh’s novels is Brideshead Revisited ( 1945) and later Sword of Honor ( 1952-1961), his World War II Trilogy. A Handful of Dust and Brideshead Revisited were made into motion pictures.

That Used To Be Us A must read whatever your politics! Tom Friedman’s and Michael Mandelbaum’s That Used To Be Us, How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can

Come Back, places in focus the current economic and social turbulence in America. Friedman and Mandelbaum cite four major challenges facing America: How to adapt to globalization, how to adjust to information technology, how to cope with large and soaring budget deficits and how to manage in a world of rising energy consumption and rising threats to the climate and environment. Even though That Used To Be Us was written before Occupy Wall Street its content is a predictor of the movement. That Used To Be Us meticulously peals back the covers of missed opportunities to right America’s economic ship by all stakeholders. The How We Can Come Back subtitle brings forth big challenges and a hint of optimism. The authors jump into the political fray by strongly recommending a major third party candidacy as necessary to force the established political parties to focus on the real issues that are facing the nation. Friedman and Mandelbaum call for an end to what they term the current political “gross irresponsibility.” “Anyone who proposes solutions that are not at the scale of the problem is not serious.” They elaborate by recommending among other proposals equipping the citizenry with the skills and tools essential for economic growth in a global economy, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, and emphasize that cutting is not the answer unless it is coupled with major tax increases to create hope for a future balanced budget. Quoting the authors, “Anyone who says that we can restore order to our national finances today without raising taxes is not being serious.” Great books are timeless and many have been posted on Gordon’s Good Reads. That Used To Be Us is certainly timely and adds greatly to broadening ones understanding of America at a major social and economic crossroads. Friedman and Mandelbaum reference a poinient quote from management guru Peter Drucker. “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

www.gordonsgoodreads.com

Empire of The Summer Moon Rules of Civility... or... Rules of New York? Amor Towles debut novel Rules of Civility captures the rules of New York and places George Washington’s 110 Rules of Civility in the Appendix where they rightfully belong! This read is a love relationship with New York, a city that authors its own rules! What could be more compelling? The earnest daughter of hard-working Russian immigrants born and raised on the Lower East Side. A near-do-well wanna-be who will do anything to be accepted and regain lost riches. A sweet and adventurous mid-western transplant. The swells of the Upper East Side trust fund gang, a hard charging publisher and of course, “ladies who lunch.” The players are all there and their personalities explode in a wonderful page-turning story set in the post depression era of the late 1930s. New York is bouncing back, regaining its lost energy, wealth, world status and rebuilding with money, music, bricks, mortar and unlimited opportunity for those willing to dare a ride on a rainbow. The book’s intimacy with New York is reminicent of Pete Hamill’s Downtown and Tabloid City. There is a hint of F. Scott Fitzgerald and even a flash of Hemingway.” By nine o-clock the restaurant would feel like the center of the universe.” The 21 Club, the village jazz clubs before red velvet rope lines, the big bands, the after swing parties and the glorious and transparent lives of trust fund swells of the Upper East Side and Oyster Bay. Towles builds characters who are looking out, looking in and some who don’t give a damn about all the action swirling around them. Falling in and out of love with intimacy left to the imigination. Rules of Civility is a New Yorker’s book but just like the city, it is there for the enjoyment of anyone willing to seize the moment. This is a very, very good first novel which may well have a movie running through its veins. Simply said, enjoy!

S.C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon is a work of non-fiction deserving of its finalist status for a 2011 Pulitzer. What is so haunting about this book is an un-avoidable love-hate relationship with the Comanche’s of West Texas and the High Plains in the period 1830-1875. You will come to respect the greatest mounted warriors that ever lived in North America. Witness the absolute freedom of Comanche life on the high plains, totally in harmony with the soil, water, wind, buffalo, and of course the horse. Then there is the depravity, ruthless killing of rival tribes and later the slaughter of white settlers. Men, women and children hacked to death or kidnapped, raped and mutilated without remorse. Within this barbaric tale evolves the portrait of Cynthia Ann Parker, captured at 9 years of age after watching her family slaughtered by a Comanche raiding party. Parker embraces the Indian culture, marries a head man and bears two sons. Later, found by the U.S. Army among a wandering Comanche tribe, she is returned to “civilization” and put on display almost as a freak show. Members of the Parker family hand her off from one to another as she tried desperately to return to Indian life and her sons. She died broken-hearted never knowing what happened to her husband and two sons. Son Quanah who saw his mother taken away by soldiers at age twelve grows to become the most brutal Comanche worrier of his time. Gwynne’s research is worthy of the book’s sub-title. Quanah Parker the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. Gwynne’s vivid detail and attention to the historical record forces the reader to try to reconcile the many faces of the Comanche, mounted nomads of the Great Plains. It is all here, Spanish Colonialism in West Texas, The Civil War, Manifest Destiny, the destruction of the great buffalo herds and of course the true story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah. Quanah from wild murdering Comanche orhpan to dinner with President Teddy Roosevelt. Empire of the Summer Moon places this incredible tale in proper historical perspective. Don’t look for a historical novel here, this is a well researched narrative and wonderful story.

Unbroken – Astonishing! by Laura Hillenbrand There is little wonder why Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand has been atop the New York Times Best Seller List since its publication last year. The epic story of the survival, resilience and redemption of Lieutenant Louis Zamperini is a triumphant accomplishment. It is a literary and historical work by Hillenbrand worthy of the highest accolades. Unbroken equals and in its research even surpasses the excellence of Hillenbrand’s wonderful Seabiscuit. Warning, it is a disturbing read. Hillenbrand traces the life of Louis Zamperini from delinquent teen to local track hero and Olympian to a World War Two B-24 bombardier shot down with his crew over the Pacific. Forty seven days in a raft first with three fellow crew members, then only two. The horror of that ordeal is trumped by his capture and incarceration for two and a half years as a Japanese POW under the most sadistic circumstances imaginable. Zamperini’s story of human survival defies belief. Hillenbrand’s research and writing misses no detail, including the story of Louie’s Post Traumatic Syndrome long before anyone had diagnosed the tragedy of post combat emotional illness. Unbroken’s historical perspective on the war in the Pacific ranks Hillenbrand’s writing in a league with Stephen Ambrose (D-Day) and (Citizen Soldiers), James Bradley (Flyboys), Jeff Shaara (The Final Storm), and Doug Stanton (In Harms Way-The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis). It is not easy to digest Hillenbrand’s descriptions of the horror’s faced by Louie Zamperini and thousands of other POW’s but the outcome is triumphant for the author, the reader and Louie Zamperini! There are many months ahead for this great book on top of best seller lists, and it is most deserving of a place in your personal library. Thank you Laura Hillendrand for a well researched narrative and incredible storytelling.

Gordon’s Good Reads now has its own domain name. You can go directly to, www.gordonsgoodreads.com

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events + gatherings

FCBUZZ IN CONNECTED SMALL TOWNS by RYAN ODINAK

Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County

rive just ten miles north of Fairfield County’s densely populated shoreline and you find New England countryside with its character still intact. Here, arts and culture play an important role in bringing communities like Easton, Weston, Wilton and New Canaan together so a country retreat doesn’t mean isolation.

where the Wilton Arts Council presents an Annual Photography Show. The Wilton Playshop welcomes those with and without experience, and produces three major productions each year. Weir Farm National Historic Site is a Wilton gem, where painter J. Alden Weir and his family transformed their modest farm and summer retreat into a creative refuge for friends and fellow artists. Today, artists explore the visual landscape through classes and nature walks on the historic site. The Artist in Residency program

since visionary sculptor Solon Borglum moved there in 1908 and established it as a place for artists to gather. Today, the Silvermine Arts Center is comprised of a Guild of over 300 professional artists, five galleries presenting new exhibitions every six weeks and sponsoring prestigious regional and national competitions; a gift shop; a School of Art providing a wide range of classes for all levels of experience from ages 2 to 102; public programs; and outreach programs in the Norwalk and Stamford schools.

Clockwise from bottom left: Easton Arts Council’s Art in the Country annual regional fine art show and Readers Theater; Michael Limone and Sarah Smegal of the Wilton Playshop; Silvermine Arts Center’s exhibits for the new year include the annual New Guild Members show plus exciting exhibitions from two Guild Artist members. "Figure" by Jak Kovatch, "Patrick Emerging" by Grace Shanley; New Canaan's Carriage Barn Arts Center.

While lots of people go to Easton to pick apples and experience a hayride, there is a community based arts scene organized by the Easton Arts Council that brings people together, often at the town library gallery. What better name than, Art in the Country for Easton’s annual regional fine art show? Art exhibits are held throughout the year and performing artists entertain through the Readers Theater and Taste of Opera. Right next door is Weston, home to many artists who come for the peace and quiet while still remaining close to New York City. The Weston Arts Commission has its own brand of local arts ranging from concerts by professional performers to art shows featuring local talent. Head west and you find Wilton’s town library, a hub for cultural activity and

provides the opportunity for an artist to work in an onsite studio for a month and to meet the community. Continuing west one finds New Canaan, where the countryside is a palette for a collection of exemplary examples of modern home design. The Philip Johnson Glass House, a National Trust Historic Site, offers its 47-acre campus as a catalyst for the preservation and interpretation of modern architecture, landscape, and art; and as a canvas for inspiration and experimentation honoring the legacy of architect Philip Johnson (1906-2005) and landscape designer David Whitney (1939-2005) the former residents who designed the house and grounds. New Canaan is also home to Silvermine Arts Center, where artists have been drawn

The New Canaan Library and the Carriage Barn Arts Center both present wonderful art exhibits. Established in 1977, the Carriage Barn encourages creative expression, celebrates artistic achievement, and enriches the community as a whole. The Center’s activities are sponsored by the New Canaan Society for the Arts (NCSA), a member-supported, non-profit cultural organization. No matter where you are in Fairfield County, arts and culture are ever present and participation is a wonderful way to connect to your communities.

Looking to add a little culture in your life? FCBuzz.org is the place to go for news on theater, exhibits, music, history and more. Visit FCBuzz.org to enrich your life and benefit from all Fairfield County has to offer. Created by the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County. www.CulturalAllianceFC.org. For more information contact the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County by emailing info@CulturalAllianceFC.org, calling 203-256-2329 or visiting the Web site at www.CulturalAllianceFC.org. 16 30

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Center for Contemporary Printmaking MONOTHON2011: November 19, 2011

It was an evening of fun, food, and fabulous art at the 13th annual monotype marathon, MONOTHON2011. Original prints by more than 100 leading and emerging artists at Silent Auction and works by preeminent artists at Live Auction were sold, in support of educational and outreach programs atthe Center for Contemporary Printmaking, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the art of the print. www.contemprints.org

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(1) Welcome to the Champagne Preview Reception, with Wouter Goedkoop, Board Member; (2) Guy Bennett, Auctioneer; (3) Aeon Cummings, Board Member, with Grace Shanley (left) and Eve Stockton; (4) Refreshments served by our outstanding volunteers; (5) Bidding at Live Auction; (6) Peggy Weis (center), Board Chair, with Jeanette Hensinger (left) and Claudia Mengel, 3 Monothon Co-chairs; (7) Cecillia and Jennifer at Silent Auction; (8) Grace Shanley, the Center's Founder and first Executive Director at the Live Auction.

Photos: MICHELE FRENTROP CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

events + gatherings

Saks Fifth Avenue Greenwich Teams up with CancerCare for The Key to the Cure Charity Shopping Weekend and Fashion Show

o help raise both money and awareness for women’s cancers, Saks Fifth Avenue Greenwich partnered with CancerCare to host the 2011 Key To The Cure, a charity shopping weekend that took place October 20 through October 23. Saks Fifth Avenue Greenwich hosted a Key To The Cure kick-off celebration on Thursday, October 20, featuring lunch, a fashion show featuring local volunteer models from Fairfield County. 100% of the ticket proceeds were donated to CancerCare. Saks offered a limited-edition Key To The Cure T-shirt designed by Elie Tahari, 100% of the purchase price of each shirt also benefitted CancerCare. Saks Fifth Avenue initiated its charity shopping weekend in 1999. Since then, the company has donated over $30 million to women’s cancer research and treatment organizations throughout the United States. CancerCare is a national nonprofit organization that provides free professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved. CancerCare programs – including counseling, education, financial assistance and practical help – are provided by trained oncology social workers and are completely free of charge.

Clockwise from top: Sandra Tripodi, Deborah Walsh and Helen Miller of CancerCare; model Karen Cusato; model Julie Smith; Geri Corrigan (left) and Billie Messina of Saks Fifth Avenue

CancerCare of Connecticut was founded in 1988 to ensure that Connecticut residents had full access to all CancerCare programs. CancerCare of Connecticut serves more than 3,000 people each year. For more information, please visit cancercare.org. Photos: MELANI LUST Media Partner: VENÜ Magazine

Susan Reinhardt Tribute at the )DLUÀHOG $UWV Center February 3rd - March 24th

Susan Reinhardt

Thomas Mezzanotte, Fairfield Arts Center’s 2010 artist of the year returns to FAC in February 2012 to curate a solo exhibition of work by his former teacher and mentor, Susan Reinhardt.

Less a retrospective and more of a tribute, camera obscura photographer Mezzanotte, discovered a muse in Reinhardt in the early 1970’s during the hey day of the University of Bridgeport’s Industrial Design program. Some 40-plus years later, the two continue to share a mutual admiration for one another’s art and are featured prominently in their respective, personal collections. Mezzanotte will exhibit amongst other artworks, a selection of Reinhardt’s spiritual

sculptures that are 5-8 feet in height and adorned with items that run the gamut from flags to feathers to full face masks; each figure bears a unique and distinctly different personality that is a result of a very powerful internal dialogue that occurs during the creative process. The show opens on February 3 and will run through March 24 at the Fairfield Arts Center, 70 Sanford Street, Fairfield, CT.

Fairfield University Bookstore opens downtown The new Fairfield University Bookstore officially opened its doors Friday, November 4th, in the heart of Fairfield at 1499 Post Road - the former site of Border’s Books. The store features best-sellers, general interest titles, a large children’s section, Vera Bradley® products and gifts. In the interactive computer department, customers can try out the latest HP® and Acer® computers, Iconia tablets and the full Kindle® line of e-reader products. A headphone listening station allows customers to test out SkullCandy® and Beats® headphones by plugging in their MP3 player or mobile device and a camera station features digital and video equipment. The store also carries emblematic apparel from the University and Fairfield Prep. (Fairfield Ludlowe, Fairfield Warde and Notre Dame high school products are coming soon.) A community gathering area on the 2nd floor will offer a variety of programs and activities. The store’s café will double as a gathering spot, offering coffee drinks, tea, soups, salads and deli items. Early in 2012, Starbucks will move into the spot, which has a projected capacity of about 50 seats and anticipated outdoor seating. For more information on the bookstore, visit: www.fairfield.bkstr.com

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Italian Cars, Cuisine and Culture Galore Shine at 2nd Annual Westchester Concorso d’Eleganza on October 2, 2011 - Tuckahoe, NY In celebration of Italian style, art, and engineering, the Westchester Italian Cultural Center hosted a spectacular car show on Sunday, October 2, featuring rare and classic models from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, and others. For an entire day, an extraordinary collection of the finest autos, many from privately owned collections, were shown exclusively at the 2nd Annual Westchester Concorso d’Eleganza, held at Depot Square in Tuckahoe, New York. www.WICCAutoShow.com

AWARD WINNERS

This 1961 Ferrari 250 TRI/61is one of only 2 cars newly constructed for the 1961 racing season, it is powered by a 3 Liter V-12 engine. This car was driven by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien to a 1st place finish at the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1961.

1. Best in Show – 1961 Ferrari 250 TRI/61 – presented by: Scuderia N.E. 2. Award of Excellence (Runner Up to Best in Show) – 1956 Maserati 350 – owner: Scott Rosen 3. People’s Choice – 1961 Ferrari 250 TRI/61 – presented by: Scuderia N.E. 4. Young People’s Choice – 2012 Fiat 500C- owner: Sue Ciaccia 5. Exceptional GT Car/Modern – 2010 Ferrari 599 GTO – owner: Eduardo Menasce 6. Exceptional Sports Car/Modern – 2003 Ferrari 360 Spider – owner: Gerry Alessi 7. Exceptional GT Car/Vintage – 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona – owner: Peter Greenfield 8. Exceptional Sports Car/Vintage – 1967 Lamborghini Miura P 400 – owner: Robert Torre 9. Bella Italia – 1948 Cisitalia Nuvolari Spyder -- owner: Herb Wolfe 10. Most Photogenic – 1963 Corvette Rondine Pininfarina Special – owner: Michael Schudroff 11. Outstanding Competition Car (Benny Caiola Memorial Award – 1962 Maserati Tipo 151 – owner: Larry Auriana 12. Journalist’s Choice – 1972 Dino 246 GT – owners: David and Brenda Swartz 13. Best Pre-War Car – 1933 Alfa Romeo Monza – owner: Peter Greenfield 14. Exceptional Special Interest Vehicle – 1973 Moto Guzzi Motorcycle (ex-City of Eldorado, California Police Bike) – owner: Robert Franciamore 15. Chairman’s Choice – 1967 Lancia Flaminia Supersport – owner: Herb Wolfe 16. Exceptional Motorcycle – 2000 Moto Guzzi Quota 1100 ES – owner: Pat Varbaro 17. Mayor’s Choice – 1961 Lancia Flaminia Pininfarina 4 Door Sedan – owner: Cesare DeFeo 18. Timeless Classic – 1950 Abarth 205 Vignale Coupe – owner: Elad Shraga 19. Domenico Spadaro Memorial Award – 1946 Lancia Aprilia Barchetta Corsa—owner: Charles Schoendorf 20. Best Italian/American Hybrid – 1952 Chrysler Ghia Prototype – owner: Michael Schudroff

This one-of-a-kind 1962 Maserati Tipo 151 was a crowd favorite, and won the Benny Caiola Memorial Award - Outstanding Competition Car.

Crowds gathered around nearly 100 exotic and rare Italian cars on the streets of Tuckahoe.

James and Alex Louis take a break with this 1998 Lamborghini Diablo.

This 1933 Alfa Romeo Monza Roadster owned by Peter Greenfield won the Oldest Italian Car award sponsored by Westchester Implant and Oral Surgery Group.

This black 2012 Lamborghini Aventador was a crowd favorite at the Westchester Concorso d’Eleganza.

Photos: DAN STOCKFIELD PHOTOGRAPHY

Over 2,000 people joined the festivities at the 2nd Annual Westchester Concorso d’Eleganza at Depot Square in Tuckahoe hosted by the Westchester Italian Cultural Center.

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Who says you have to go to Manhattan to see good theater? By ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam

We have some great “off-Broadway” options right here in Westchester and you don’t have to dress to the nines to go.

s winter’s chill peaks, you can bring your woolies and warm up in intimate theater venues around Westchester. Broadway hits and classic stage plays are a short drive or walk from most downtowns. Plan to experience the drama and emotion of the human condition as the stage offers you a level of entertainment that you just can’t get from your TV or Nook. Start the New Year off with a cult classic at the White Plains Performing Arts Center (WPPAC) when their Conservatory Theatre stages The Rocky Horror Show for three nights, January 13-15. This wacky rock musical tells the story of a young couple stuck overnight in a mansion that hosts some rather unique–to put it (1) Jillian Sayegh as Magenta for three nights in January, The Rocky Horror Picture Show at WPPAC; (2) Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck, NY; (3) A past Red Monkey Theater Group production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Tal Aviezer; (4) ArtsWestchester in White Plains, NY is home to live music, dance and theatre performances throughout the year. Photo by Lynda Shenkman Curtis

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lightly –inhabitants. It is chock full of colorful characters and catchy songs that have become pop culture staples. The WPPAC, located conveniently at City Place in the heart of downtown White Plains, presents a full spectrum of performing arts programming year round. They’re bringing Rocky Horror back for its second year in a row after a sold-out run in 2010. Head from this pop phenomenon to a play penned by the sovereign of stage himself…The Bard. The Red Monkey Theater Group will present an abridged version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, touring to four unique venues in southern Westchester, January 14-29. Red Monkey is staging the Bard’s greatest tragedy in intimate settings, with a scaled-down feel intended to erase all barriers between the playwright’s famous words and the audience. Debuting on Saturday, January 14, with a free performance at St. Paul’s Church Historic Site in Mount Vernon, Hamlet marks the pinnacle of RMTG’s exploration of Shakespeare’s plays for more than a decade. The students in Purchase College’s Repertory Theatre are also examining Shakespeare in February. They’ll be performing a theater piece called Love’s Fire featuring seven wildly distinct short plays, each inspired by a different Shakespeare sonnet, at the Performing Arts Center February 10-12, and 16-18. In February, you can experience a touch of Broadway at the Irvington Town Hall Theater. Located on an entire floor of the Town Hall in downtown Irvington, their resident theater group, Clocktower Players, will present a production of Spring Awakening by their Teen Troupe, February 10 and 11. The show, which has won eight Tony Awards including the coveted Best Musical, tells a mature coming of age tale about the journey from adolescence to adulthood, complete with a gorgeous score and poignant lyrics, mixed with alternative rock. Get another taste of New York City theater right here at Westchester’s own Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck. The Liar Show, coming to the Emelin’s stage on February 11, is truly unique in that the cast and writers are constantly changing. Four comedic actors each tell an extremely personal story, some funny, some thought provoking. But the audience is the real star, because three of the storytellers’ tales are true while one is relating a flat out lie. And, it’s up to you to pick out the con artist during an interrogation session with the performers. Those who guess right win a prize. Home to an eclectic mix of innovative theater like this, as well as its own productions, films, and music series, The Emelin has productions to appeal to all ages and tastes. And in March, get your theater fast but first-rate, when the Axial Theatre and Red Monkey Theater Group do a double-feature of one-act plays at ArtsWestchester on March 9 and 10. Axial will present a play written by company member Ward James Riley, who imagines the turn of events of a real life meeting that took place between Emily Dickinson and a leading American editor, after which Dickinson mysteriously stops trying to publish her poetry. With so many reasons to experience theatre this season, there’s good reason to indulge in stage productions close to home in Westchester. To access the complete guide to the arts in Westchester, visit ArtsWestchester’s web site: www.artswestchester.org

Be in the know! Visit www.artsw.org THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE ARTS IN WESTCHESTER Like us on Facebook 20

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ArtsWestchester’s Anything Goes Gala Raises Funds for the Arts in Westchester

he “not to be missed” social event in Westchester, ArtsWestchester’s 2011 Gala fundraiser attracted over 400 people to raise much needed funds for the arts in Westchester on November 19, 2011. Guests were greeted by Gala Dinner Chair and host Robert P. Weisz, CEO and Janet Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester and treated to an evening of music, dining and silent auction at The Atrium at 1133 Westchester Avenue. Honored at this year’s gala event were the Honorable White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach and Wells Fargo, for their steadfast support of the arts and of ArtsWestchester’s programs and services throughout Westchester County. ArtsWestchester works to support the cultural infrastructure of the County, providing over $1.5M in grants to over 150 arts organizations and individual artists annually. Additionally, ArtsWestchester is committed to keeping the arts accessible and serving area residents with arts programs in schools, daycare facilities, after-school programs and community sites.

Anna Damiano, Wells Fargo, Gala Honoree

Gala Dinner Chair Robert P. Weisz and White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, Gala Honoree

Gil and Doreen Bassin and Jacqueline and Arthur Walker

Janet T. Langsam (center), with Farooq and Farida Kathwari Frank & Lisa Fraley with original dress in photo designed by The Westchester Fashion Academy for Children

Bedford Councilman Peter Chryssos , NY State Assemblyman Robert Castelli, Kenneth W. Jenkins, Chairman, Westchester County Board of Legislators, William Mooney, III, John Peckham Westchester County Assemblyman Tom Abinanti and Barbara Z. Monohan

Larry Salley

ArtsWestchester guests enjoyed the gala dinner with centerpieces celebrating the art of fashion by House of Flowers.

Photos: BARRY L. MASON

Media Partner: VENÜ Magazine

Andrew and Karen Greenspan

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Eighth Annual Scarsdale Concours d’Elegance Featured Over 120 Exotic & Classic Cars October 16, 2011 - Scarsdale, NY

passion for exotic and collectible cars started as a hobby for two Scarsdale High School students in 2003 and turned into an opportunity to raise money for local charities and hold an annual event featuring millions of dollars in exotic and collectible cars. Evan Cygler and Denis O’Leary met at the Windward School in White Plains, NY and used their shared love of cars to start a car show that not only rivals the highly respected Greenwich Concours in terms of attendance and cars displayed, but also serves as an inspiration to other newcomers to the field. Fast forward eight years. Evan and Denis are now college graduates, gainfully employed at Miller Motorcars and J.P. Morgan Chase respectively. Their beloved Scarsdale Concours has taken on a life of its own, with support from current Board of Directors Lucas Meyer, Ralph Della Cava, Gordan Rafajac and Shelly Krohnengold and community support from police, local government, merchants and car collectors. This year’s event, held October 16th in the Village of Scarsdale, drew 120 classic automobiles and hundreds of attendees enjoying the glorious fall weather. In the past eight years the event has raised over $200,000 for charities across Westchester County. This year’s beneficiaries included the Windward School, White Plains Hospital Center and Scarsdale-Edgemont Family Counseling. The event has grown and now includes high-end local sponsors looking to reach car fans, including the Pepé Auto Group, Miller Motorcars, Chubb Collector Car Insurance, Classic Audi, Performance Flight, Five Corners Real Estate and VENÜ Magazine. Award winning cars included Best in Show – 1950 Abarth 205, Best Supercar – 1970 Lamborghini Miura and Most Unique – 1962 Gaz Volga . Even Scarsdale Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser was on hand to give out the awards. The show drew car aficionados and experts as well. This year’s judges included journalists, photographers and automobile executives. “We are thrilled for the community support and attendance that helped support local charities,” said Co-Founder Evan Cygler. “Helping people indulge their passions for vintage cars is an honor.”

Photos: JASON THORGALSEN 36

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REX REED "Hollywood Notebook: Glory or Gory?"

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rom newsmakers to tastemakers, Open VISIONS Forum, the signature lecture series at Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, has it all. And its next speaker, Rex Reed, perfectly fits the bill. The outspoken movie critic, columnist, journalist, author, television personality, and sometimes movie actor, appears at 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 29, at 3 p.m. in a lecture entitled “Hollywood Notebook: Glory or Gory?” Single tickets are $45.

years, he starred in the nationally syndicated television show, “At the Movies”. As an actor, he appeared in the films Myra Breckinridge, Inchon!, Superman, and the anti-war film The Rehearsal. He’s written eight books about the movies and his first novel, Personal Effects, sold 75,000 copies in its first printing. In 1993, he was inducted, along with James Carville and legendary Supreme Court Judge Minor Wisdom, into the Louisiana Hall of Fame in his native state.

Rex Reed is an acclaimed writer and critic whose film reviews appear every week in the New York Observer. He was an arts critic for the New York Daily News and the film critic for the New York Post, and he is the only film critic to ever have a movie review - of the Oscar-winning anti-Vietnam film Hearts and Minds - read aloud in both houses of Congress, thus becoming a permanent part of the Congressional Record. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics, and his articles and essays on the arts have appeared in almost every national magazine and newspaper in London and the United States. For five

Following Reed’s presentation, there will be an informal conversation with OVF moderator Professor Philip Eliasoph and a special guest, Peter Fox. Fox, a resident of Essex, CT., is a screenwriter, active consultant to Hollywood, “script doctor,” and an instructor of screenwriting. Fox is also the Film & Entertainment Editor for VENÜ Magazine. This Open Visions Forum event is presented with the support of several partners: Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, The Office of Film, Television & Digital Media of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and VENÜ Magazine.

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield. For tickets call (203) 254-4010, or visit www.quickcenter.com

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Alliance For Cancer Gene Therapy’s Miracle in the genes:

A Golden Retriever's Tale I am a Cancer Gene Therapy Poster Dog! My name is Barney, I am a 13-year-old Golden Retriever and I live just outside Philadelphia. I am lucky to have as loving

owners Carol and Barry Doohan. At age six, with half my life ahead of me, complete with a loving family and a huge backyard, life was very good. The only time I had ever

been sick was with Lyme Disease, which is not uncommon in Central Pennsylvania.

Then came what was to become an eventful trip to the vet for a final and routine Lyme check-up. Ushered into the familiar back of the family Jeep I was off on a journey

that would not only change my life but perhaps that of many other dogs and perhaps some people. I had been to see Dr. Lauren Strine at Longwood Veterinary Clinic

many times before. On this visit, my owner’s body language told me that something was very different. Dogs understand body language better than words! Dogs Are Asymptomatic I heard the conversation all right, but advanced “Stage Four Lymphoma” were words not in my daily routine. During a routine physical, Dr. Strine’s trained hands found many peculiar lumps. Oddly enough, I felt great! I heard her tell my owner that dogs tend to mask their symptoms. Luckily, she did not take my apparent well-being for granted. Suddenly my daily routine changed dramatically. Dr. Strine placed her hand softly on my shoulder as she always does before something else is about to happen. I heard her say “clinical trials”. I wondered, is that anything like field trials for hunting dogs like me? I would soon learn that clinical trials, at which I became very accomplished, were to become much more important to me than retrieving! I am a lucky dog because Dr. Strine worked in close concert with the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine and the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital. It was located close by my home and it was not

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long before I had made so many trips there I could have found my own way! Dr. Strine introduced me to Dr. Karin Sorenmo at Penn Vet. I felt like a celebrity! Dr. Sorenmo is not only an excellent vet, but she is also associate professor of oncology at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. When you are a sick dog, this is where you want to be. Now, the story gets more complicated. As it turned out it is a good thing that Dr. Strine did not start chemotherapy for my lymphoma back at Longwood when she first found the lumps because if she had, I would not have been eligible to be treated in a clinical trial at U Penn Vet specifically designed for advanced lymphoma in dogs. Penn Vet. is located next to the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where coincidentally associate professor of hematology and oncology Dr. Robert H. Vonderheide has his laboratory. Dr. Vonderheide’s investigative research into cancer gene therapy and immunology was initially funded by

a grant from the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy of Stamford, Connecticut. Little did I know that because many good folks loved me, I was about to be among the very first dogs in the world treated with a new cancer gene therapy for nonHodgkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lymphoma. It was a little frightening because the doctors told my owners there were no guarantees of success in clinical trials. Dr. Vonderheide together with Dr. Nicola Mason, an assistant professor at Penn Vet., had established a clinical trial to determine whether a genetically engineered vaccine would eliminate the cancer or prolong life for dogs like me with Non-Hodgkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lymphoma. I had standard chemotherapy followed by three doses of this vaccine, prepared from my own cells, administered over a nineweek period. No, it did not hurt but you have to lie still for a short time while the specially treated cells are injected into your body. I am told they now hope to use the same vaccine treatment for humans. Here is how it works.

Cells are taken from my blood (takes a long time), treated with material from my tumor and then infused back into my body. These new cells stimulate my immune system to attack and kill the cancer cells. Guess what, I did not have any side effects except that on each trip my faced itched on the way home in the car! All dogs scratch anyway. I turned thirteen this August and aside for a couple of scrapes and a mole on my lip (non-cancerous) I am proud to report that I am in perfect shape! How can I thank everyone involved in saving my life? The answer is to tell folks do not ever be afraid of a clinical trial, because that is what kept this dog in the hunt. By the way, other dogs have shared my good fortune at U Penn Vet. Dr. Sorenmo has told me about Eljer, a Labrador retriever, enrolled in the therapy in 2008, who never relapsed. Basil is also a Labrador, he is one of the dogs that relapsed relatively quickly after the vaccine, but then went into a durable remission with rescue chemotherapy and has been off chemotherapy for several years!

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A Thankful Barney frolics in the Delaware Bay.

There are also several others dogs that lived long and normal lives but died from other causes. Their owners remain very grateful for the opportunity to have had their dog participate in the trial and remain with the families for years. Of course, we cannot forget about Kyra the pioneering gene therapy K-9 success story in 2006, who lived to the age of eleven and died of natural causes. Clinical Trials for Privately Owned Animals Many Species - One Medicine The scientists behind Barney’s incredible story are Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Research Fellow Dr. Robert Vonderheide of U Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center along with U Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine’s Dr. Karin U. Sorenmo and Dr. Nicola Mason of U Penn Veterinary School. Says Dr. Vonderheide, “The University of Pennsylvania School Of Veterinary Medicine is intricately involved with the global bio-medical research effort, particularly in the field of gene therapy immunology. I think there is a great opportunity of working together to develop new treatments for cancer because in dogs we have an out bred animal exposed to the same diseases and environmental conditions as humans. The ethics of treating diseases in privately owned animals with informed consent and longterm commitment allow us to test therapies much sooner in the course of the disease than we could test the same therapies in human patients. It is very important to note that we are not talking about using experimental dogs in

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these trials. The dog’s families bring the animals to us. There have been minimal side effects in the dogs from cancer gene therapy. “In collaboration with the U Penn Veterinary School, we realized that lymphoma in dogs looked very much the same as human lymphoma. The ability to treat privately owned pets with gene therapy in clinical trials can expedite by a number of years the time line for clinical trials for human patients. There is a two-fold benefit, we can treat the family pet and prepare for human trials. They have a great motto at the U Penn Veterinary School: Many Species, and One Medicine. “That reference describes our unique partnership at Penn Vet,” says Vonderheide. All Patients Do Better in Clinical Trials “Barney Is Family” Dr. Vonderheide is an enthusiastic advocate of cancer patient participation in clinical trials, whether human or K-9. “It is very clear that even for a therapy that is ultimately not-beneficial, there is extensive broader care provided to patients enrolled in clinical trials. Research shows that overall; patients in clinical trials tend to do much better. The care and intense follow-up in clinical trials is extraordinary. It was remarkable at Penn Vet. to see the relationships between the doctors and the dog owners who brought their pets for clinical trial treatment.” Says Dr. Sorenmo, “Barney was and is a member of the family!”

Long Term K-9 Cancer Survivors Dr. Sorenmo personally oversaw Barney’s treatments. “Several of the dogs from the initial 2007 clinical trials are now long-term cancer survivors and free of disease for more than a year. Overall, these clinical and immunological results suggest that cell-based cancer vaccination is safe and synergizes with chemotherapy to improve clinical outcome in canine lymphoma. More broadly, our findings underscore the unique value of clinical investigations. Thirty privately owned dogs were enrolled in the trial. Nineteen of these dogs were eligible to receive the cancer gene therapy vaccination. Fourteen of those dogs relapsed but were then treated with chemotherapy and did not relapse again, lived extended lives and died of natural causes. Three of the aforementioned dogs remain alive with no evidence of lymphoma. Forty percent of the dogs in the original trials were long-term survivors. Barney, who remains cancer free, was dog number 9 in this trial. His legacy at age thirteen may well transfer to human treatments. We hope to begin human trials with this therapy in three years.” Human Clinical Trial Crisis Sadly, A Lack of Patients Vonderheide: “Most major cancer centers in the United States only place 30% of their patients in clinical trials. Pediatric Cancer Centers are a dramatic exception. At pediatric cancer centers, nearly all child patients are placed in clinical trials. The successes of these trials, which have literally cured childhood leukemia, have everything to do with the fact that nearly all children with Leukemia are treated in clinical trials. It is proof of their efficacy and importance.” Chemotherapy and Gene Therapy A Surprising and Formidable Partnership Knowledge Transfer from Barney and Friends to Humans “There is a huge amount of research coming out of immunology labs suggesting the interplay between chemotherapy and gene therapy, says Vonderheide. “On the one hand, chemotherapy can sensitize patients to immune therapy and on the other hand, immune therapies sensitize patients to the good effects of chemotherapy. A much-unexpected result. No one likes the side effects of chemotherapy but we learn more as we move forward toward successful cancer treatment. Vonderheide: “The big effort in cancer therapy is recognizing that an individual scientist can only do so much but when we team together and pool research and ideas that is where we see the big hits. The work with the dogs

Carol and Barney celebrating a joyous recovery.

really opened our eyes into the power of combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy and this has opened a new avenue of exploration in human cancer treatment. The work with Barney and other dogs with cell-based gene therapy at Penn Vet. has brought us to a tipping point where we can now talk about the real results. It is really happening and the results are stunning! We must all roll up our sleeves and continue to work together.” From Barney, if dogs could speak, comes a wonderful simplification of a complicated, complex and expensive process. “Using the seven year dog to people multiple I am now 91 and still playing Frisbee! What’s cancer? I feel great! Doctors Sorenmo, Mason and Vonderheide heartily agree! ALLIANCE FOR CANCER GENE THERAPY The Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) is unique in that it is the only national non-profit organization committed exclusively to cancer gene therapy research that encompasses all types of cancer. One hundred percent of all funds raised by ACGT go directly to support medical research, and since inception in 2001, ACGT has issued close to $20 million in substantial research grants to 31 researchers through its Investigator Grants for Innovative Gene Therapy Research. ACGT believes that cancer gene therapy has the greatest potential not only to improve the quality of life of cancer patients, but also to ultimately realize a cure for cancer. To learn more, visit www.acgtfoundation.org.

ACGT will celebrate its tenth anniversary and honor its co-founder the late Edward Netter of Greenwich on Thursday, April 19, at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Keynote speaker will by NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Chief Scientific Correspondent Robert Bazell. For further information visit www. acgtfoundation.org or telephone 203-358-8000 extension 705.

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Travel

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iceland the rough iceland the refined One Woman's Sojourn to the Summit Written by Jenna Blumenfeld

Photograph courtesy of Visit Iceland

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Travel

My journey to the apex of Iceland was an event called “Reach the Top”, part of an effort to inspire Icelanders to marvel at the beauty of their own country.

Right before

I exited the small, salt-crusted fishing boat, the equally salt-crusted captain handed my guide a freshly caught cod wrapped in a plastic bag. “See that was a very Icelandic thing for him to do, giving me a fish,” she explained, swinging the filleted cod as she walked down the sidewalk. “Maybe I can give it to someone on the street.” Contrary to this vision of fish-wielding pedestrians, the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik is a metropolis, albeit a subdued one. While its nightlife thrives on the weekends, during the day the city is quiet and peaceful. But when one investigates the winding and curvy streets, thick with impossible-to-pronounce road names like ‘Flugvallarvegur,’ it is clear that there is something more to Iceland than its hot springs, geysers, volcanic eruptions and economic collapses that lay in the consciousness of Western Europeans and Americans. Rather, Iceland is a contradiction, being both a brutally jagged and quixotically romantic country. Here it’s possible to embark on the adventure of your life and return to find the toilet paper in your hotel room folded to a luxurious little triangle- a truly thrilling discovery. You can stand next to a glacial lagoon, riddled with severed chunks of ice (the same lagoon that made an appearance in the James Bond film Die Another Day), and later wallow in the opulent comfort of a very different type of lagoon, The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa. Indeed, when visiting Iceland I encountered both the rough and the refined.

The Rough: Trek to Hvannadalshnúkur

The blisters that had formed on the back of my heels, the ones resulting from my ill broken-in

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Photo: Christopher Lund

hiking boots, no longer bothered me. After climbing eight grueling hours I had finally reached the top of Iceland’s highest peak: the 6,592 foot glacier-topped (and barely pronounceable) Hvannadalshnúkur volcano. And as the hazy clouds cleared to reveal a gorgeously austere mountain range that rivaled images I had seen of the Himalayas, the bubble of pain in my heels diminished. Only a dull and peculiarly delicious type of ache remained; the kind that manifests after a push for a summit so arduous that you have to stop every ten steps to catch your breath. My journey to the apex of Iceland was an event called “Reach the Top”, part of an effort to inspire Icelanders to marvel at the beauty of their own country, as well as to increase public awareness of the country’s rapidly receding glaciers. It was four in the morning when we arrived at the base of the mountain and there were an astonishing 150 participants in the hike, journalists along with natives, preparing to embark. Iceland isn’t dubbed “the land of the midnight sun” erroneously. In the summer there is essentially no night; the sun hovering in the sky close to 24 hours, barely dipping below the horizon. Despite the early time, a dusky glow lingered; giving the impression that it was hours later than it actually was. The first stretch of the hike was a steep, narrow and slippery gravel trail winding above the

mossy and rocky valley, and I was apprehensive over the safety of so many climbers being in close quarters. But as we rose in elevation, hikers were sectioned off into teams of eight with one truly exceptional leader of the company Icelandic Mountain Guides for each group. Hiking on a glacier is tricky business. Due to the inherent nature of the dwindling natural phenomenon, a constant shifting, melting and freezing deep within the ice persistently occurs– a living force. Weak spots in the snow are abundant, even with a thick post-spring snow bridge covering it. As a result harnesses were distributed along with crampons and ice picks, and as a final vital precaution, we were roped together, the sprightly guide leading the way. Groups thinned out as the climb progressed, leaving each hiker deep within their own thoughts, the feeling of isolation bolstered by the wide expanse of crystalline, glittery snow. The chilling silence was pierced only by the crunch of my own boots and the labored, distant breathing of my red-jacketed teammates tethered to me. The iconic clothing line, 66 Degrees North had designed these jackets specifically for the oft-brutal weather Iceland experiences, and provided them expressly for the climb. Although the jacket’s roomy hood sufficed in shielding my skin from the sun, sunglasses and high-spectrum sunscreen

Photo: Courtesy of Visit Iceland

All Icelanders want to go see the world, but we like to come back. It’s a good place to call home.

Photo: Courtesy of Visit Iceland

were indispensable due to the reflective glare of the sun off the ice. And the view from the top? To the West, you are astounded by the scene in front of you—snowy mountains just barely revealing the dark and stony rock underneath. To the East, there is the shimmering vastness of the sea. It’s the best of both worlds. This is the rough of Iceland.

The Refined: Lamb Dogs and Lagoons

Almost all Icelanders speak English fluently. With the exception of children under the age of ten and citizens over eighty, conversing is incredibly easy. But the Icelandic language is well preserved, remarkably demonstrated by their ability to read Old Norse, the thousand-year language of the Vikings. In further efforts to protect the language, the government funds a committee specifically designed to invent new Icelandic words for modern times. For example, the English word “Walkman” literally means “pocket disco”. Complementing these adorable translations are the adorable citizens. With a strong Scandinavian heritage, many Icelanders are tall, slim, blonde and fashionable year-round even with their idiosyncratic weather

(it is frequently said that if it’s not raining in Iceland it will be in five minutes.) It’s hard to say there is nightlife in Reykjavik when there is literally no summer night. But fueled by the elongated daylight hours and reinforced by the especially late closing time of bars, Icelanders know how to party into the wee hours of the morning. The trendiest of people; women dressed smartly in high heels and black clothing, the men in tight jeans and vests, frequent The English Pub, a bar in central Reykjavik. It jives with young hipsters who teeter home only after stopping at a food truck to scarf a ground lamb hot dog, a pylsur; the beloved national dish along with a type of hurl-inducing fermented shark called hákarl and of course, salted cod. The Blue Lagoon is a touristy, yet essential place to spend a day. The main attraction is a large, cerulean blue geothermal pool that has silica mud, a mineral-dense substance incredibly beneficial for the skin (especially for those with psoriasis) lining the bottom. At first glance, the lagoon appears to be positively prehistoric: steam billows eerily from the water, and pock-

eted black lava rocks encompass the edge. But when you paddle up to the Blue Lagoon Bar for a turquoise cocktail or vitamin Energy Shot, enter the attached fine dining restaurant Lava or sample the many skincare products available at the gift shop you do realize that the Blue Lagoon is the epitome of sophistication, lavishness and relaxation. This is the refined of Iceland. There is a distinct uniqueness to Iceland that is found nowhere else. The people here have a fierce nationality that stems from knowing that less than one million Icelanders in all of the country’s roughly millennia-old history have ever lived; with twenty-five percent of the population currently alive today. Almost every Icelander can trace their ancestral roots back a thousand years to the very founding colonies, and they are all genealogically related. There is a rich, concrete and tangible connection to the beautifully stark geothermic landscape that is reflected in the devotion and steadfastness of its citizens. This quietly ferocious pride continuously leaks through during casual conversations, whether in a surprisingly busy bar in Reykjavik or perched on the side of a mountainous glacier. This sentiment was most accurately explained over a dinner of, what else, cod: “All Icelanders want to go see the world, but we like to come back. It’s a good place to call home.”

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ESCAPE

Winvian Connecticut’s own Shangri-La

Nestled in the rolling hills of Litchfield County in the quiet hamlet of Morris is one of Connecticut’s hidden jewels – a world class Relais & Chateau resort called Winvian Writer: Nancy Helle

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his unique getaway resort - which has been attracting devotees from far and near since opening in 2007 - is now “aglow with diamonds”, having just received not one but two five diamond awards from AAA. One award is for its accommodations and another for its exceptional cuisine and restaurant. This is the second year in a row for both awards and Winvian was also voted one of the “Top 30 Best Small U.S. Resorts” in the November 2011 issue of Conde Nast Traveler in the “World Best Readers’ Choice Awards”. Part of a 113-acre private estate, Winvian is one part historic charm, one part modern luxury and one part whimsical fun and fancy, all in a beautiful natural setting far removed from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan or even southwestern Fairfield County which is just over an hour away. Two thirds of the Winvian estate borders the White Memorial Foundation, a wildlife preserve of over 4,000 acres of woodlands, fields and water. The site lends itself to many activities including hiking, biking, horseback riding, trout fishing in the pond, canoeing in the Bantam River and boating in the Bantam Lake. In the winter snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and ice skating are popular. Downhill skiing opportunities are not far away. Also available are racing car events

at Limerock, seasonal hot air ballooning, and golfing which can be arranged at a nearby course. The historic charm comes from the Seth Bird House, a classic colonial farmhouse built by Dr. Seth Bird in 1775 on Alain White Road where neighbors were among the region’s most distinguished families. The home was purchased in l948 by the Winthrop Smith family of New York and was soon renamed Win-Vian, the combination of the first names of Winthrop and his wife Vivian. A founding partner of Merrill Lynch, Win was a respected Wall Street leader and Vivian was a glamorous and celebrated New York model in the l940s. The Smiths had a grand residence in New York but loved to escape to the Litchfield Hills where Win would unwind from the pressures of Wall Street while enjoying the role of gentleman farmer, riding his tractor and tending to his animals. Their young son Winthrop Junior was raised here as were numerous sheep, Hereford cattle, horses, pigs and pheasants. Today the pig pens are the site of the elegant, state-of-the-art Winvian Spa where a different type of mud treatments are now offered. Winvian has remained in the hands of the Smith family to this day; it opened to the public as a resort and restaurant in 2007 through the initiative and management of Maggie Smith of Greenwich, as proprietor. Today it is run by Maggie and her

children, Winthrop Smith III, also known as “Win” who serves as director of marketing, and his sister Heather Smith, managing director. Maggie is known to Vermonters as owner of the popular Molly Pitcher Inn in Warren which she purchased and helped reconstruct and redesign after it was destroyed by fire. She next parlayed her enjoyment and expertise in running a B & B into the development of Winvian as a similar “welcome home” type of getaway inn. She notes that “Although I may get calls from first time visitors about ‘What is there to do?’, most guests typically settle in and don’t leave Winvian during their entire visit.” The Winvian of today incorporates the historic Seth Bird house into three distinctive, authentically restored areas, beautifully furnished with antiques. On the first floor is the three room Hadley Suite, the only lodging accommodation which is not a separate cottage, and on the ground floor, is the Blue Parlor, Pumpkin Room, and Vivian’s Pantry, comprising three kitchens, of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The original historic residence is connected to the two more contemporary “Smith Ell” houses. On the upper level is the Ortan Hill (main) Dining Room, Doc’s Brandy and Cigar Lounge, an intimate place to enjoy an after dinner drink, and the 21st century working kitchen. A grand staircase inside a silo leads to the ground level which includes a reception area, a bar and parlor with fireplace for pre-dinner cocktail gatherings, a solarium and a game room with vintage pool table, a table top shuffle board and various board games. The Restaurant at Winvian thrives under the helm of Executive Chef Chris Eddy, who learned classical French cuisine at the French Culinary Institute of New York, and worked with culinary icons Daniel Boulud in New York and Palm Beach and most recently as sous chef at Alain Ducasse’s Mix in Las Vegas before coming to Connecticut. An ardent ecologist and organic gardener, he utilizes only the freshest farm-to-table cuisine and takes advantage of local game and fish. As Chef Eddy says, CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

ESCAPE

“Guests feel like their favorite cottage is home;” says Win Smith. “They say, now I don’t feel like I need to buy a second home.”

“People have asked for menus in advance, but I say, we do it the same day, as it’s growing in the garden right now.” Selections from Winvian’s excellent and extensive wine cellar enhance his culinary expertise. According to managing director Heather Smith, the cuisine aims to enchant much more than just the palate; it aims to augment the entire Winvian experience, perhaps with a surprise tasting menu, or a simple meal by the fire. She says, “We are small enough to provide a country home ambiance while giving rein to the imagination.” Chef Eddy also presides over the popular Winvian cooking school which was launched in the fall of 2010, offering a variety of classes by day, weekly or three day weekend courses.

himsical fantasy meets modern luxury in the 18 unique individual cottages at Winvian, each one designed by a different architect, reflecting the vision of Maggie Smith. She created a competition and selected 18 architects who shared her commitment of creating cottages which had a theme relevant to Connecticut, saying, “The architects and craftsmen chosen understood what we were trying to do; they were as passionate as we were.” The exteriors are vastly different, and the interiors feature memorabilia, furnishings and artwork that complement each architect’s vision. All share common luxurious amenities such as wood burning fireplaces, a sitting area, wet bars, coffee makers and state of the art technology. The king-sized beds have down duvets and bathrooms have extra large whirlpool bathtubs and separate walk-in steam showers plus radiant floor heating. Cottages include Beaver Lodge, inspired by a beaver’s den with handcrafted woodwork and intricate stone masonry. For naturalists, there is a Camping Cottage and a Log Cabin, both nestled in Winvian woodlands but the camping experience is luxurious Winvian style. Woodland Cottage blurs the lines between indoor and outdoors with tree trunks framing some of the inside rooms and sinks crafted from tree trunks. The whimsical Treehouse is two stories, ten meters off the ground and suspended among the trees, where one can “sway with the breeze and touch the leaves.” Artist’s Cottage is based on a 1920s artist’s bungalow with an adjoining studio replete with easel and paints for guests to indulge their creative fantasy. Library Cottage, inspired by the

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libraries of yesteryear has two story walls of books with a wraparound balcony above the stone fireplace (A Rhodes scholar helped document the books). Music Cottage is of modern design, celebrating all things musical. One wall has floor to ceiling windows but the opposite wall has a series of small windows which create a playful scenario suggesting musical notes. There’s also CT Yankee Cottage, Maritime Cottage, Lighthouse Cottage, Stone Cottage, Stable Cottage, Industry Cottage – a tribute to Connecticut’s steel industry, Golf, Greenhouse and Helicopter Cottages, Lighthouse Cottage, and Secret Society Cottage. (Our lips are sealed). “Guests feel like their favorite cottage is home;” says Win Smith. “They say, now I don’t feel like I need to buy a second home.” Of special interest to couples traveling together is the Charter Oak Cottage, a spacious retreat in the farmyard where three clustered cottages make it an ideal place for friends to sojourn together. Inside is an imposing tree reminiscent of the tree that hid the Connecticut Charter during the revolutionary period, as well as a tavern and a staircase inside a silo leading to an upstairs porch with lovely views. The Events Barn or Gordon Brown House, connected to the main Winvian complex by a covered walkway, charms with its rustic chic, serving as a multipurpose space for weddings and catered parties as well as the cooking school headed by Chef Eddy. The school offers a variety of courses, from a classic two hour introduction class on mastering savory pasta dishes or delicious pastries to more in-depth, longer courses, meeting once a week or for three days, Thursdays through Saturdays. The schools attract both visiting guests and locals with its friendly gatherings of up to 12 participants, who gain hands-on experience in creating French Bistro Fare or Tuscan treats, cooking with herbs, salad greens and vegetables from Winvian’s garden and locally sourced seafood and game. As Maggie Smith says, “The Cooking School will teach special dishes that can be easily made by the home cook and taken home as a token of their experience at Winvian.” Last but not least, the Spa plays a major rule in Winvian’s rejuvenation process which is both physical and mental. The architecturally attractive spa building with its stone and wood accents evokes a centuries old glass conservatory, reinforcing the concept of Winvian as an unconventional and extra-ordinary getaway. The Spa specializes in REN, a treatment that pampers the body with all natural products, which was developed in the UK and has attracted an international following. While the Spa pampers the body and psyche, the entire Winvian experience - ideally with an overnight stay for a day or two - is indeed an enchanting experience, stimulating, luxuriating and rejuvenating to the spirit. Winvian’s tempting Winter Packages include a “Sweetheart Escape” and an “Ultimate Gourmet Experience”. For more information call 860-567-9600 or Email info@winvian.com.

APPETITE

by Cindy Clarke

A Classic...

Tucked away between a Porsche and a Mercedes dealership, this little gem of a restaurant is worth a test drive.

t was the summer of 1989 when Denise Lamoureux opened the doors of her new restaurant, Tucker’s Café, to welcome her first customers. They came, slowly at first, couples, families and groups of friends who wanted to discover someplace new. Once inside the little gray house, Denise tempted them with a charming décor replete with fresh flowers, linen tablecloths, and a menu of dining choices that would ultimately redefine comfort food and that would serve as the staple for a 22-year run as one of Fairfield’s coziest restaurants. It wasn’t long before word got out about this hidden gem on Commerce Avenue and lines regularly formed outside as the nine-table pub served up classic, homestyle fare that nourished body and soul. “While our menu has evolved with the times to offer lighter, more innovative cuisine, Tucker’s still makes the best hamburger in town,” laughs Denise, who hung up her chef’s hat and apron in favor of hostess attire so she could personally make sure her patrons were well taken care of and well fed. “Even though I really do miss cooking for the restaurant – she served as second cook and bottle washer as well as hostess, waitress and sometimes bartender for the restaurant for years – my chef is amazing. He’s been with me for more than 10 years, making magic with my original recipes and constantly introducing specialty dishes that add a contemporary and healthy flair to our menu.” By original recipes, Denise is referring to the standard favorites that turned those first customers into regulars after all these years. Her Jack Black Burger still earns rave reviews, which according to not a few loyal patrons, is a huge draw, lunch and dinner, along with other long-time favorites from stews to soups that a regular diner “can’t get enough of.” Soups are homemade and family-style, promising to satisfy stomachs – and a nostalgic longing for the past. As one long-time customer attests, “The food is great. You can always find something you want on the menu – I have yet to get tired of the Jack Black burger – or you can try the chef’s specials that are listed on the blackboard. They change every day with something new.”

Think pan fried tilapia with kiwi salsa, blackened tuna, grilled salmon salad with mandarin dressing, sole Française over wilted spinach, sautéed soft shell crabs, along with ravioli, veal saltimbocca or any number of gourmet inspired dishes that tempt and reward your palate with culinary excellence. Special culinary themed menus are available on select evenings during the week and include international night on Mondays and just-like-home Sunday suppers of meat loaf, roast turkey and pot roast that send you taste buds time traveling. Denise likes to keep her food fresh, taking advantage of market-ready seafood and vegetables that supplement her regular menu each day and seasoning them with herbs from her garden in back of the restaurant. The crowd spans the generations, with couples, families, friends and solo diners of all ages and interests sharing the bar and the nine cozy tables. Faces are familiar, with newcomers quickly becoming regulars. Tucked away between high-end car dealerships, from Audi to Porsche to Mercedes-Benz, the café to some may seem out of place on a busy thoroughfare like Commerce Drive. But not to its devoted following who know a classic when they experience one.

“When I opened 22 years ago, there was nothing else around. Tucker’s Café was it,” remembers owner Denise Lamoureux. “My business grew on word of mouth.” Mouths, which we might add, that leave satisfied and smiling. And when two movie theaters opened down the street in the 90s, Tucker’s became a virtual star. The little café that could is one of a few restaurants that keep the kitchen and bar open until midnight to accommodate moviegoers who are hungry for a full meal after the show. In spite of the continuing influx of new eateries in town, Tucker’s Café continues to hold its own with a line up of farm-to-table vegetables, fresh fish and salads that have evolved with the times and sophisticated taste of her customers. Fairfield is home to some of Fairfield County’s most innovative restaurants and bars, ranging from gourmet Artisan fare and a bodalicous Bodega to cozy long-time stand-bys like Tucker’s Café that specializes in home-cooked food, garden-fresh and original, served with an abundance of comfort and old-fashioned hospitality. To borrow the refrain from a popular TV show… It’s the place where everybody knows your name. Cheers!

TUCKER’S CAFÉ Mango Salsa Topped FisH

Ingredients: 4 8oz. Fish filets or steaks of your choice i.e. sword, tilapia, grouper etc. 1 Red bell pepper 1 Green bell pepper 1 Small Bermuda onion 1 Jalapeno pepper or Chili pepper of your choice 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro 1 garlic clove chopped 1 mango (substitute 4 kiwi, ½ pineapple or use all three) 2 oz’s Olive oil 4 oz’s pineapple juice Instructions: Coarsely chop red, green, chili pepper and onion and place in a mixing bowl. Peel fruit of your choice and cut into 1/4'' cubes and add to the mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients except fish to bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hrs or overnight. When ready to serve cook fish to your liking (grill, broil, panfry) and top with generous portion of salsa.

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A crew of Stone Masons at Station 7 of the Croton Dam in September of 1898 - Courtesy of the Croton Historical Society.

Italian Immigrants And American Architecture “Italian Builders, Artisans, and Trades” Offers a Fresh Look into the History and Compelling Stories Behind Mount Rushmore, Kensico Dam, Croton Aqueduct… and more

by Jennifer Galluzzo In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the majority of Italian immigrants to New York were, by trade, laborers, carpenters, builders, and masons. Thousands helped shape the actual ‘look’ of America, as they were responsible for the construction of many iconic examples of American infrastructure, buildings and monuments.“Unfortunately, manydid not receive recognition for these feats,” says Maria Masciotti, Executive Director of the Westchester Italian Cultural Center. “For example, Luigi Del Bianco was actually the chief carver of Mount Rushmore, but there is no mention of him in history books. In fairness, 50

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his and many other stories need to be told.” Last Fall The Westchester Italian Cultural Center told their stories in an exhibit, Italian Builders, Artisans, and Trades, which was dedicated to the Italian immigrants’ contributions to major construction projects, primarily in Westchester County and New York City, and also throughout the United States. The exhibit was on display last fall in the Generoso Pope Foundation building in Tuckahoe, New York. Featured were photographs, manifests, tools, statues, and original pieces of stone, as well as the compelling stories themselves. Documents illustrated the numbers and qualifications of the Italian work-

ers, as well as chronicled the working conditions and health concerns that plagued the laborers. Videos, books and testimonials further illuminated the plight of the workers and the ways in which they overcame their obstacles. “Their accomplishments include paving thousands of miles of streets and highways, the westward expansion of the transcontinental railroad, the construction of buildings, including factories and skyscrapers, and the sculpting of many statues and monuments throughout America,” Ms. Masciotti points out. According to Carl E. Petrillo, President and CEO of Yonkers Contracting Company,

was one of the most suitable and honorable “This ways to showcase my grandfather’s story and those of the many Italian-Americans who made significant contributions to this country

”

Inc., the Major Benefactor of Italian Builders, Artisans, and Trades: “This fascinating show celebrated the mostly unrecognized national accomplishments and local achievements of these gifted and dedicated Italian tradesmen, which paved the way for many major construction companies today. We were delighted to be a major part of this important exhibit at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center.” The four main themes of the exhibit were: Local Public Works and Quarries including Kensico Dam; Croton Aqueduct; Tuckahoe Marble; Silver Lake Quarry; and Cranberry Lake Quarry; National Monuments and Artists including the Piccirilli Brothers (carvers of the Lincoln Memorial), Luigi Del Bianco (master carver of Mount Rushmore), Terrazieri and Mosaics; Families with long traditions of construction in the Metropolitan New York Area; and Trade Unions, highlighting the legacy and work ethic handed down through generations. The major benefactor of Italian Builders, Artisans and Trades was Yonkers Contracting Company. Major sponsors included: Apogee Translite, Inc., Laborers’ International 235, Paraco Gas Corp., and the Generoso Pope Foundation, with content support from ArtsWestchester, Gregg Wyatt, Mount Pleasant Historical Society, Croton Historical Society, Tuckahoe Historical Society,

and Eastchester Historical Society. “This was one of the most suitable and honorable ways to showcase my grandfather’s story and those of the many Italian-Americans who made significant contributions to this country,” says Lou Del Bianco, grandson of Mount Rushmore’s chief carver, Luigi Del Bianco. “As a Westchester resident and Italian immigrant, my grandfather is finally getting his rightful place in our county’s history.” In conjunction with the show, the Cultural Center held the following events: Special Lecture: The History of the Italian Immigration Labor: Speakers were the Center’s Professor-in-Residence Antonio Rutigliano of New York University, and Josephine DeCaro, an adjunct lecturer at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York. Intimate Conversations with Contemporary Authors: Images of America, Mount Pleasant: A history of Mount Pleasant and the lost village of Kensico, and the construction of the Kensico Dam was presented by George and Claudine Waterbury and Bert Ruiz. Film: The Lost Village of Kensico and the Building of the Kensico Dam: This non-commercial documentary produced by Barbara Massi and George Waterbury recounts the history of the Village of Kensico in Westchester County, which no longer exists.

Intimate Conversations with Contemporary Authors: Stoneco: The Life and Times of Antonio DiDomizio: Author John DiDomizio, grandson of a quarryman, discussed his upcoming book Stoneco: The Life and Times of Antonio DiDomizio, and focused on the life of the Italian community during early 1900s at the stone quarry in Dutchess County known as Stoneco. The Piccirilli Brothers: Freeing the Angel from the Stone: A multimedia presentation by Eleanor and Jeff Koffler, authors of Freeing the Angel from the Stone, which is a comprehensive guide book of the major sculptures of the Piccirilli Brothers in New York City. Family Program: In the Shadow of the Mountain: Storyteller Lou Del Bianco told the story of his grandfather, Luigi Del Bianco, and his unique contribution to the carving of our nation’s greatest memorial, Mount Rushmore. Intimate Conversations with Contemporary Authors: An American Trilogy: Author William Pisani discussed his latest novel, An American Trilogy, which reflects his experiences growing up in a neighborhood of Italian-and Irish-Americans during the 1950s and 60s. About the Westchester Italian Cultural Center: The Westchester Italian Cultural Center, located in the Generoso Pope Foundation building at Depot Square in Tuckahoe, NY, preserves, promotes and celebrates the rich heritage of classic and contemporary Italian culture by encouraging an appreciation of the Italian language, arts and letters, history, cuisine and commerce through educational programs, exhibits and events. The Cultural Center is open to people of all cultures, and encourages the community and members to take advantage of the diverse events and programs presented throughout the year. The Center provides programs that celebrate Italian culture for people of all ages, all ethnicities, and from all walks of life. In the spirit of Generoso Pope, the Center will continue to provide quality programming, unique educational courses, and engaging ways to keep Italian culture alive for now and for generations to come. For more information about the Center’s programs and events or to become a member, please call (914) 771-8700 or email info @wiccny.org

A crew of Stone Masons at the Croton Dam - Courtesy of the Croton Historical Society

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FASHION

Interview with Susan Klope, Lead Designer – Per Se Collection Susan Klope sold her first design sketches in Toronto at the age of thirteen. By seventeen, her portfolio gained her entree to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, despite having not finished high school. Eventually, she would go on to work at major fashion houses, including Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta and as head designer for Elie Tahari. Today, as lead designer for the Per Se Collection at the Connaught Group (creators of the Carlisle Collection), Klope has the opportunity to create smaller, more personalized collections than those she worked on at the big fashion houses. In this role, Klope says she finds inspiration in dealing directly with clients and stylists, whose feedback she incorporates into each new collection she designs. And, it allows her to pursue her passion for working outside what she calls `arbitrary styling rules’ to create the unexpected VENÜ Magazine caught up with Susan Klope as she launched her new Spring 2012 line at the Carlisle/Per Se Showroom in Greenwich.

VM: Tell us one or two words that sum up the look for spring 2012: SK: Feminine and confident. It’s all about the juxtaposition of soft and hard and the unique way each woman will combine this for her personalized look this Spring. 52

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My collection for Per Se Spring 2012 showcases the underlying strength of being a woman. Instead of thinking of things in terms of masculine and feminine – think hard and soft. The collection showcases the juxtaposition of those two – hard and soft. Just think of nature and how a stone can be hard but it can also be polished, smooth and exquisite in showing the depth of color. This season it will be all about the play of hard and soft and how uniquely each woman will combine this for her personalized look this season. What I love this season is that the defining factor of chic elegance is going to be the woman herself and how she expresses herself and how she feels in her clothing. What were your muses this season? Music: Music was a major part of my drive this season and I found myself listen-

ing to a lot of Adele with songs like “One and Only” and Van Morrision’s “That’s Entrainment.” Emotion: For me it seems like people are longing for a softer world that is filled with passion and desire. A world that is more in touch with emotion and that seems to be reflected in the fashion I’m producing and those around me as well. Society seems to think of women as having emotions more on the surface – this is also defining how fashion is evolving right now for that woman! Life has changed and people – including designers are defining things that matter. People are really ready to bring emotions to the surface again in playful and meaningful ways. Drawing: When I’m not designing I’m often sketching large nudes and that’s something that empowers me to think of the natural lines of the body. Allowing the body to be what it really

is. Not redefining the body but really going with what the shape of the woman is. I love taking this into my thinking for my designs because I am designing garments that look beautiful on women who are sizes 0 to 18 and I want the cloth to fall just so and the lines of the garment to accentuate the beauty in each woman from thin to curvy. It’s an art that I love and it means thinking about every design I make and how it will look and fall on the body in every size. Every season you are known for bringing together a new neutral with pops of fresh colors. What’s in store this season? This season women will love the shots of bright color. Colors that transport emotionally. After a long winter women will be longing for strong colors that speak loud. At the same

by Lisa Seidenberg

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FASHION

time, I made sure to introduce some new neutrals that act as the undercurrents that form the backdrop for all the other colors. Two colors: Sand Dune and Driftwood. Even the names are very evocative. These are baseline colors and they make me think of playing the part of a wall in a museum. The colors are there to really allow the art to speak and make the noise. The bright, delicious colors in the collection get to make the noise this spring and these are edible color names that make you smile even when you just say the name. Mandarin orange, lemonade, raspberry, kiwi – the names will all transport you some place. What are the MUST-HAVE pieces from your collection this season? Vibrant – the mandarin orange topper is the power shot of color that ever women needs to incorporate into her wardrobe this spring. Hilton – which is an amazing sleeveless dress that introduces a new interpretation of lace that women are going to love. Sloane: Another musthave means for incorporating lace into your spring wardrobe -- this dress is structured lace, which allows women to take on lace in a new way vs. being scared off by the traditional fragile interpretation of the fabric. Paparazzi – a beautiful lace tunic that combines floral lace with black leather delivering a tough yet soft look. Lace going hard and edgy. Citrine: the perfect dress and topper combination. This is open

cotton weave backed with silk organza, which forms the frame of the jacket and gives it the most divine shape. Also, ankle skimming skirts are big this spring: Woodgrain is one in our collection and what I love about it is it has a transparency to it that allows it to flow. Frolic is another and it is wool gauze lining in jersey so the fabric flows the way it wants to. Both are best worn with flats or kitten heel shoes. Color combos – this season I’m loving the Vibrant topper worn with marble and stone-color undercurrents or more casually paired with a dark denim jean. What will you be incorporating into your own wardrobe from the collection? My shopping list from the Per Se Spring collection is clear. It includes: Vibrant – the jacket I love so much! Valencia – a Jersey dress in mandarin orange. Delicate – a perforated leather jacket to wear with the long Frolic skirt or with jeans. Hilton – lacy dress to be paired with the Gold long linen jacket. Focus – a fun fringe skirt in black and white with a pattern that enhances a woman’s natural movement. This skirt brings to mind the French Riviera feel. Clambake – the blouse you expect to see on a sexy yet coy French woman who looks effortlessly beautiful. The black chiffon at the neck drapes just as you want it to and once again romances the neckline. Pair this with slim pants that crop at the

Visit the Carlisle Showroom at 283 Greenwich Avenue, 2nd Floor, Greenwich, Connecticut, (203) 422-2464 or shop online at the newly launched www.carlisleboutique.com

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ankle and Voila – a simple elegance! What can women expect and plan for when it comes to the accessories for Spring? Going into Spring, it will be cloth romancing the neck rather than jewelry. The bracelet and earrings will make their own music the wrist being the main focal point. Charm bracelets and strong oversized watches will be worn loose. Structured handbags will be the go-to for the bold fashion-savvy woman. Shoes are more polished, feminine and defined. We will see pointy toes to elongate the leg and foot. No more heavy footwear or clunky wedges! How do you evolve a woman from wearing black and dark colors all winter to move into a Spring wardrobe? First I tell her to breathe! Then we talk about how there is a rhythm to fashion. It’s an evolution not a revolution. Never stop cold – you start by getting a pop of color and playing it back into your neutrals. Having a stylist at our showroom truly helps women push out of their comfort zone and guides them toward evolving their wardrobe into the pieces that will make them feel and look their very best. The best designers guide you into the next new thing – they don’t force you into it. Look at this season as being sent out to recess! Winter was the school time and now you get to play!

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motoring

Drawing The Line

Pura e Dura

When you were a kid, did you ever want to draw cars? I did! Or, perhaps your children expressed a desire to draw cars. Mine did! In fact, we still have a copy of How to Draw Cars on the bookshelf and the results of our “in house” competition taped to the kitchen walls. Recently we had a chance to catch up with Greenwich resident, Jason Castriota, one of the leading automobile designers in the world today. In a 10 year professional career to-date, Jason has styled some of the world’s most famous automobiles. His body of work is already well known and respected by auto aficionados. Initially, Castriota worked at Pininfarina where as part of a design team he is credited with the exterior design of the very fast Ferrari 599 GTB and the sensual Maserati Granturismo. He is probably best known for his one-off design of the Pininfarina P4/5 for Westchester resident, Jim Glickenhaus. Jason also restyled a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti for New York collector, Peter Kalikow. In addition, he did a radical redesign of a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead (convertible) known as the Hyperion. Subsequently, he moved to the cross town design powerhouse, Bertone and produced some fantastic designs. A year later he started his own design company. How did Jason go from home sketches to automobile icons? That is what we wanted to know.

by Lorenz Josef 56

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Photo: Mark Coletti

Lorenz Josef: When did you first start drawing anything and when did cars come into the picture, no pun intended? Jason Castriota: I started drawing fairly proficiently when I was only four years old and was particularly fond of drawing tanks and planes. One day in kindergarten I spent the entire day drawing a battle scene on 6 feet of butcher paper! Do you still have some of your earliest “works of art: My mother has managed to save some drawings here and there. I have to admit we never prized any of it like it was some precious work of art in waiting. My parents would say, “Wow that’s great! I bet the next one will be even better!” Do you draw or paint anything non-automotive today? Unfortunately I never really have the time to get “lost” in creating art for pleasure as much as I’d like. When I do have the time, I create digital paintings of future car concepts - which ironic-

ally enough often end up inspiring actual projects – so I guess even when I am supposedly “relaxing” I am really working… Did you go to art school right out of high school? No, my parents were adamant that I become very well rounded and have a proper liberal arts education. This admittedly frustrated me at the time as I was so focused on my dream of being a car designer. In fact I stopped drawing cars altogether in my junior year in high school. I attended Emerson College in Boston and majored in Mass Communication and Filmmaking. Why did you select Art Center School of Design? I had actually dreamed about going to Art Center from the time I was about twelve. Do you still have some of the car designs you completed at Art Center? I have all of the designs and models in storage. I haven’t looked at them in about ten years, but it will be nice to

pull it all out someday in the far future and have a good laugh! Did you participate in any internships while at Art Center? Yes I was awarded three different internships in my time there, each one vital to my development. The first was at the VW concept studio that was located in Simi Valley, California. I then went on to intern at Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Next up was Pininfarina, which awarded me an internship a bit past midway though my studies at Art Center. Needless to say that was the internship I coveted the most and the one I was waiting for. I read somewhere that you dropped out of art school, is that true? Yes, when I was invited to PF, I knew I was leaving school for good. Pininfarina was my dream. I was given the option to return and finish school, or stay…. Never did get that Art Center degree… How long were you at Pininfarina? I was at PF for 8 years and that is when I really developed as a designer. During CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

motoring

Photo: Ripley and Ripley

this time I won several key projects that really established me in the company including the Ferrari 599, and the Maserati Granturismo. Can you tell us a bit about the Birdcage 75 and how that helped resurrect the “Special Projects” Division which created such spectacular one offs like Jim Glickenhaus’ P4/5 and Peter Kalikow’s 612 “K”? Aside from winning a myriad of awards, the Birdcage - which was based on the chassis of the Maserati MC12 – generated a tremendous amount of interest amongst well known car collectors. Its popularity and success ultimately gave Pininfarina the confidence to resurrect the bespoke “Special Projects” one off program. Using the Birdcage as our poster child, we travelled the world to market the program and interfaced directly with our clients which included the likes of Jim Glickenhaus and Peter Kalikow amongst many other collectors. What are your favorite automobile designs, not from your pen? There are so many it is really hard. My favorite concepts are the Pininfarina Dino Competizione and the extraordinary Modulo. I also love Gandini’s work in his prime Bertone years including the Stratos Zero prototype, the Lamborghini Bravo concept, the Lancia Stratos rally car and of course the in58

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I really believe that great design needs to have some nervous energy and by marrying contrasting elements you create a kinetic power. I liken it to a beautiful woman in a sensual flowing gown that is contrasted by chunky jewelry and dangerously tall spiked heels. comparable LP400 Countach. Gandini’s brutal, hard edged, avant-garde design at Bertone was the perfect counterbalance to Pininfarina’s sensuality, elegance and restraint. Needless to say both equally inspired me. How is it that you have managed to evolve a style which marries these two contrasting styles so well in your designs? I really believe that great design needs to have some nervous energy and by marrying contrasting elements you cre-

ate a kinetic power. I liken it to a beautiful woman in a sensual flowing gown that is contrasted by chunky jewelry and dangerously tall spiked heels. There is something sensual and restrained, yet raw and sexy at that same time. I like to use the Italian phrase, “pura e dura” which signifies something that is pure and a bit raw. It is visceral. So is the Birdcage 75 the most memorable project in your career? Every project is memorable as they are all unique challenges. I guess if I was Photo: Courtesy of BBC Top Gear Magazine

really pressed I would say the Birdcage and the Maserati Granturismo – which both came to fruition essentially unedited and that is very rare. I also love the Bertone Mantide project for its audacity. We took risks and wanted to create something unique. It is pure shock and awe, and evokes such a passionate reaction from people. That is the greatest compliment because it is almost perceived as more art than automobile. Speaking of the Mantide, in 2008 you moved across town and joined the well-known Italian design firm Stile Bertone as Design Director. Can you tell us about your work there during your brief tenure and why you chose to leave? The idea of working for both of automotive history’s greatest design houses was an opportunity not to be passed upon. I had accomplished everything I could hope to at Pininfarina and them some, so when Bertone approached me I was really honored and taken by the challenge so I accepted. As for my brevity of my stay as Bertone’s Design Director, unfortunately my father passed away unexpectedly and I needed to return to the states to be there to help my family. My father always wanted me to go on my own, and with his passing, I knew that it was time. What have you been doing since going on your own? I began focusing on building my company - Jason Castriota Design in the fall of 2009. Since then we have been hired by a number of companies in the automotive and non-automotive sectors. While many of our projects are confidential, our first publicly presented project was the SSC Tuatara, which will hit the road next year and make another run at the Bugatti Super Sport’s world speed record. Our largest non-confidential client is of course Saab. Can you explain your working relationship with Saab, and how that is going? Saab reached out to me at the Geneva auto show in 2010. A month later we presented them a new vision for Saab and they were blown away. We were hired as the design house for Saab

Photo: Joe Windsor Williams

and I was named Executive Design Director. In 2011 we unveiled the Saab PhoeniX Concept car at automobile shows around the world to great reviews! We are confident that Saab will battle through these difficult times and find a special place in the market once more. Thankfully Saab has one of the most loyal and rabid fan bases in the industry. We just need to give them true Saabs again. Where is Castriota Design located and what type of design commissions does it undertake? We are based in the NY area and also have a space in Torino, Italy. We are receiving interest from a number of industries beyond automotive – industrial design, apparel, furniture, hospitality space, nautical. It is an exciting time and our goal is to grow our brand into the first 21st century carrozeria. What is the personal design project that you are working on right now? I was fortunate enough to realize a dream that only a handful of people have – I was lead designer of a production V12 Ferrari. I was also fortunate to have a father that felt he had to own it at all costs. It is important to note that my father was quite literally a

“Horatio Alger” figure – a real American dream success story. He was born in Calabria, Italy and immigrated to the US with his parents when he was only 11 years old. After years of hard work, he became successful enough to return to Italy to buy the Ferrari his son designed. It was an incredible experience and we were able to do quite a few personalized bits. Of course our dream was always to go back and redesign a few elements that were compromised versus my own vision for the car. Unfortunately when my father passed, I did not have the means to keep his car, but was fortunate enough to find a local guy to buy it. He and I quickly became friends and he became intrigued with the idea of finishing what my father and I had started. This year he engaged me to redesign his 599 to be closer to my own personal vision. It is a dream come true! What automobiles do you drive and why do you like them? In Italy I have a proper Euro model Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale. Stateside I have a Granturismo S Cambio Corsa as my daily driver. My next car will be my first production Saab - the next generation 93. CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

Boating

TEXT: Naval Architect's Statement – Bill Tripp, Tripp Design, Norwalk, Connecticut

Sarissa - From Sea to Shining Sea! Exactly at the point where the state-of-the-art large sailing yacht world lies, Sarissa is a modern, technical boat whose design was guided by close client input and involvement. She will be used to sail all over the world with the family in tow, and will take part in such regattas that are now firmly established as a rally circuit for café racing: St Barths, Palma, Sardinia, and St. Tropez.

hile she is a large boat at 142 feet, once aboard, she is designed to scale down to human proportions for use and living. This doesn’t mean that she feels small; rather she feels inviting, intimate, and interactive, providing the ultimate combination of deep luxury and advanced performance. We have been working along this line since the 1997 Shaman --- pilothouse, lift keel, carbon composite, and globetrotter. The design and execution of this type of yacht is complex, as the boat is neither the simpler luxurious motor sailor, nor a racing boat. In her creation, we strive to select and balance the best qualities from each. We deliver on that question of balance by wrapping a boat of the volume needed for that globetrotting mission in proportion that are easily propelled, assuring that she is indeed sailed while taking her world with her as she goes, in independence. This design perfectly represents what modern big boats give to their owners: luxurious comfort, accessible and easy sailing, integrated design, advanced performance, and confidence to sail anywhere in safety. Technology and modern design

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merge, providing the owner with a wonderfully comfortable live-aboard yacht that is a joy to sail. Sarissa’s lineage stems from the aluminum Mystere and the carbon/composite Saudade. She is a sleek pilothouse sloop with a fully modern hull shape, sail plan, and foils. Like Mystere she is built to MCA, has an interior designed by Rhoades Young, with Jens Cornelsen as project manager. Like Saudade she is carbon/composite, with a sleek hull and a racy edge to her performance (again Jens Cornelsen as project manager). As with both Mystere and Saudade, she has a lifting keel. Green Marine built Sarissa’s carbon composite hull and Vitters Shipyard fit her out. She was built to very high standards with a keen, steady eye trained on weight control in the structure, the systems, and the interior construction. She is quick to start sailing -- her rig and sail plan are pared down to the simplest elements so she is easily handled with a short crew, in myriad conditions. She has a basic two sail set up -- a jib and a mainsail, with three removable furling sails on cables -- a staysail, a code one, and a “top-down” furling spinnaker. These sails are used to suit the conditions and are stowed in deck lockers forward. The first

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Boating

time sailing with the spinnaker, when the button was pressed, the spinnaker was furled tightly on its cable after 30 seconds, and people were clapping. Sarissa’s owners were very involved with the design of the boat from the interior layout to the exterior sightlines, with an emphasis on a clean and modern look. The boat is geared for adventure: spear fishing in the Pacific, racing at Hamilton Island, and exploring to be used during month-long stays on board. To this end, the aft cockpit can be transformed into a swimming pool for the kids if sharks patrol the surrounding waters. The main sheet has been placed on an arch spanning the cockpit to keep the deck clear for children, protecting them from mainsheet perils. The coamings sweep around the cockpit and into the superstructure in a fluid design. Protected behind the superstructure, and within the coamings are three living spaces with a large living cockpit, dual helm and sailing stations, and sunpad/ sofas that float over the deck. An aft owner’s cockpit converts into the kids swim pool. A large convertible dodger and bimini stow in the superstructure, to be set up for sun and storm protection over the cockpit as desired. Below decks the sweeping theme is reflected in the layout with curved corridors emanating from the main salon and leading to circular foyers. The aft accommodation hosts one owner’s suite, one guest suite, a children’s cabin, and a connecting nanny’s quarter. Forward of the main salon a flight of stairs leads to the lower salon, a private office / guest cabin as well as a formal dining room. To add spectacle

to the culinary arts a wall of the dining room can be removed to merge the space with the galley. The foreship is home to six crew sharing three cabins en suite in professional surrounds. Composite rigging, lifting keel and lightweight construction are all part of the now classic set up enjoyed by most of our cruising boat designs. These combine to improve design options, and create a new generation of sailing yachts that raise the game. Their size makes them great “hotels” carrying a world within them, and their hull form coupled with a lifting keel and lightweight construction gives them sparkling sailing qualities, able to sail anywhere easily.

SPECIFICATIONS Designer: Builder:

Tripp Design Vitters Shipyard Green Marine (for structure)

Type: Naval Architect: Exterior Stylist: Interior Designer:

Sailing Yacht Bill Tripp / Tripp Design Tripp Design Rhoades Young Design

LOA: LWL: Beam: Draft - Up/Down: Sail Area: Hull Material: Superstructure Material: Displacement:

139.76' (42.6m) 127.3’ (38.8m) 28.22’ (8.6m) 13.12’ (4.0m) / 20.34’ (6.2m) 10,764 ft2 (1,000m2) Carbon Composite Carbon Composite 140 tonnes (half load)

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by Bruce Pollock

John, Paul, George, Ringo, and... Bruce —or How I Almost Reunited the Beatles On the Kevin Bacon celebrity thermometer, my closest link to the Beatles as the Beatles is Roger McGuinn, founder of the Byrds, who hung out with them in hotel bathrooms and elsewhere in the ‘60s. I interviewed McGuinn for my book, When the Music Mattered: Portraits from the 1960s, which was published by Holt in 1982 and is slated soon for an ebook reissue. “George didn’t believe in anything when I first met him,” McGuinn recalled. “I remember his response, because I thought it was really odd. He said, ‘We don’t believe in God.’ Like he didn’t have a personal mind or ego of his own. It was a group consciousness. Well, we don’t know what to think about that. They were kind of neat the

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way they worked, the Beatles. They used to all protect each other; it was like a little gang. If you do something to one of them, they’ll get you.” When I interviewed him by telephone in June of 1980, Paul McCartney didn’t have a lot to say. About the Beatles, he had even less. “I suppose the inside story won’t really ever be told unless one of the four of us writes it,” he said for the Family Weekly audience of over 14 million newspaper readers. “My trouble is, I can’t remember half of it. The ‘60s went by in a bit of a blur for me.” Which is a convenient echo of the oftuttered line: “If you can remember the ‘60s, then you weren’t really there,” attributed

by The New York Times to comedian Robin Williams. I’d go even further. “If you can remember the ‘70s, you weren’t really there either.” Which, I think, is even more accurate, since the ‘60s didn’t start being ‘The ‘60s’ until 1966 or so, while the ‘70s lasted about 20 years, none of which I remember that well. For instance, I only vaguely recall coming into contact with close John Lennon associate May Pang in the mid-‘70s--or at least someone in her office--who may or may not have approached me to ghostwrite a tell-all book about John Lennon, in the voice of a loose cannon within his entourage. Did we ever have a meeting? Was I ever inside her office? And if so, did I bring

MUSIC

anything with me? These details are lost. That Lennon and I may have had a connection was brought home to me a few years ago. While indulging in my favorite sport, trolling the internet for my name, I uncovered a mention of a Beatles memorabilia auction that took place in Japan on March 22, 1999. There it was, on page 24 of the list of items sold, “Lot 239: John Lennon’s proof copy of Lyrics and Lyricists 1955-1975, In Their Own Words by Bruce Pollock” which went for the whopping sum of 150,000 yen. (It was whopping even in American dollars, translating into 1215 big ones, not that I ever got a royalty from it). Just to put this in a little bit more perspective, the stuff that sold that day went from Paul McCartney’s birth certificate (9 million yen) to the complete Volume 1 of Mersey Beat Magazine (90,000 yen) to a copy of the censored “butcher block” cover of Yesterday and Today (150,000 yen). To have had a proof copy in his possession, someone at my publisher, Macmillan, must have sent it to John. And they wouldn’t have sent it to him unless he or someone at his office requested it. There’s no way he would have had a proof copy in his possession unless, as I said, I left it as a calling card after my meeting. In any case, although the tell-all never came out, Lennon held onto the book until he died. Whether he read it, or even cracked open a page, I can’t say. But he didn’t toss it. A few years before my fabled interview with McCartney, in which Paul referred to his career with Wings as “a second bite of the cake,” I had a much more difficult and frustrating encounter with the Beatles’ “gang” mentality. One that, to be successful, would have required a feat on a par with reuniting the Beatles! Embarking with designer and humorist and Music and Art classmate of Laura Nyro, John Wagman, on a coffee table book called The Face of Rock & Roll: Images of a Generation, we set out to portray the secret history rock and roll through the use of a magnificent array of diserningly selected album covers. Just glancing through the book now gives me chills. But the chills are reserved for when I remember what occurred about midway into the project. This is when we got word from the lawyers at Holt that the use of any cover in the book might need as many as three different permissions, one from the record label, one from the cover’s photographer, and one from the artist (or, if it was a group, each artist in the group). I’m not sure what

they said about getting a release as well from anyone else pictured on the cover, Suze Rotolo, for instance, on Bob Dylan’s Freewheelin. I had probably dropped the phone by then and lapsed into a coma (which explains why the rest of the ‘70s, as well as the ‘80s and ‘90s went by “in a bit of a blur for me”). We had collected, by that point, over 900 releases. But this new directive would have required about 4,000 more. Needless to say, in the true spirit of the age, we said, ‘The hell with it,’ and put the book out anyway and the only person who complained was a lawyer for Buffy Sainte-Marie. When it came to the Beatles, however, we weren’t about to take any chances. If we couldn’t effectively reunite them with four separate signatures, we’d have to revert to plan B (which did not include any hejiras to Liverpool). Owing to my good graces within the Lennon camp, John’s signature was the first to arrive. Ringo being Ringo, he didn’t have any problem with the concept. Always on the lookout for his best interest, Paul surprised both of us by coming through on the bottom line without complaint. With three of the four signatures in hand (note to John Wagman: have you still got those signatures? I have Japan on the line), surely George, the acquiescent baby brother, would have to follow. But as the days went by, with the deadline passing, no letter from George arrived, and thus we had to go to press Beatleless. I was nevertheless generous in my essay that accompanied those pages in which

solo album covers from Ringo, Paul, and John substituted for Sergeant Pepper and Rubber Soul. “In the collective absense of the Beatles, their American audience has been given what it really wants. Instead of an actual reunion concert and tour they’ve been handed a stage play--Beatlemania-four imitation Beatles, harmonizing nightly for parents and kids and grandchildren, evoking those faintly remembered strains of long ago. See, the people must intuitively understand that if the Beatles did really reunite for a show or a tour, they’d inevitably disappoint, perhaps depress. And no one wants to see the Beatles going out like Willie Mays, pathetically swinging for the fences only to produce a scratch single. “So John and George and Ringo and Paul have had their championship seasons, seven of them--giving Tin Pan Alley its greatest dynasty. And now their number jerseys have been retired. “Let it be.” “Obviously, there are a lof of people who would like to see the Beatles get back together, but it’s virtually a physical impossibility now,” Paul was kind enough to address the issue in Family Weekly in the spring of 1980. Maybe he was referring to the drug charges that might have kept him out of America. But I doubt those would have stuck. A few months later, though, he’d be all-too sadly prophetic. “And then there are those who would prefer to experience them only in the affectionate perfection of memory,” I wrote at the time. “Yeah,” McCartney agreed. “I’m with that lot.”

Bruce Pollock has had a busy fall, with the publication by Backbeat Books of IF YOU LIKE THE BEATLES and the re-release as ebooks of WHEN THE MUSIC MATTERED: PORTRAITS FROM THE 1960S and IT’S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL, a novel. CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

ART

A very ‘fresh’ take on ancient Fresco methods by PHILIP ELIASOPH, Senior Arts Editor

Chimerically garbed in an unpredictable wardrobe from paint-splattered denim to a silk and cashmere haute couture ensemble, artist Melissa Barbieri is stretching out a mural sized canvas. Stepping out of her studio, she’s a vision of Jackie Kennedy with some of Georgia O’Keeffe’s earthiness. Converging her autobiography and boundless creative energies – she’s on a jet-fueled, art-world romp. She’s tearing up any boundaries between the

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imaginary and reality creating a sensation. With her “cowgirl à la Grace Kelly panache”, her autobiographical narrative is a sprawling fresco like the ethereal ceilings of a Baroque villa. But instead of missionary saints or cherubs floating up into the heavens, every brushstroke confirms Barbieri’s delicate touch is the invisible subject. An encapsulating title for this epic painting is: “My Big Life.” Classically trained and romantically inspired by 19th-century poets, she reminds us that art generates power when technical skill merges with passionate vibrancy. “All art is autobiographical,” said film maestro Federico Fellini. “The pearl is the oyster’s biography,” he concluded. There’s plenty of attitude, spunk, and febrile intensity. And from the likes of her sizzling string of successful mural projects and new easel paintings, a clear vision emerges. Often tart, this sassiness is lathered in degrees of a brash, Annie Oakley-esque capability. “I can do anything better than you” is the admirable self-confidence it takes to pull off painting every square inch of an palatial dining room for one of her celebrity clients. Covering an entire surface allows no room for a “do over.” She’s labored too hard and logged too many hours engaged in backbreaking labor to pass off her off as a lightweight. Preparing a fresco is no walk in the park. No wonder it took an entire squad of athletic young apprentices - garzoni - to flex their muscles to prepare surfaces for masters like Masaccio and Michelangelo. We can’t be anything but simply dazed by her fortitude. Barbieri exudes the frisson of a good uncorked champagne, while her sheer physicality as

an industrious painter deserves a blue-collar, late afternoon, domestic beer. Retreating to her library, she curls up with authors such as Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and Babe Paley with background music provided by Shirley Bassey and Lucinda Williams. With increasing recognition, her clients and collectors are delighted to see the next aquatic fantasy. In these marvelous compositions, mollusks, star fish, turtles, sharks, and art nouveau-inspired jelly fish dance within the illusionistic realms of two dimensional renderings and three dimensional spaces. Myriad forms of marine life swim within her phantasmagorical fresco paintings. They remind us of antique Minoan palaces and Roman villas while exuding a contemporary beat. Look carefully – the surfaces sparkles in the light. Mastering the organic elements of lime, plaster, and water-based pigments, Barbieri has achieved unsurpassable proficiency in a painting medium that only the most daring – or “pazzo” – would even attempt to master: “buon fresco.” In the footsteps of Giotto, Fra Angelico, and Raffaello, she transforms rooms, walls, and framed easel paintings, into realms of wonder. Unless you were living during the Florentine golden age or Rome under Papa Giuliano II, one cannot just go to the Yellow Pages and look for

a “Fresco Master.” I’m not sure how Cosimo de’ Medici or Francesco Gonzaga would have found her number. Certainly not living in Connecticut in the here and now. But if, by chance, you find Barbieri’s cell phone – consider yourself lucky.

VENÜ Magazine – Interview with Melissa Barbieri A successful muralist designs her new life as a studio fine artist: Lessons learned and new challenges ahead Venü – In the last three years or so your artistic focus has moved towards a greater intensification of your fine art studio work. You achieved so much success as a muralist, what’s happened now? Melissa – I’ve painted what I call “fine art murals” for over 25 years, for a very sophisticated clientele coast to coast. And it’s important to state that I think the term “muralist” just means the ability to translate art on a grander scale. To me, because I like to paint large, many of my fine art paintings could be considered murals, and vice-versa. A muralist has to have an innate sense of design, scale, and proportion as well as an understanding of architecture. Two of the most amazing artists I can think of who had that are Diego Rivera and Antoni Gaudi - one a muralist and one

an architect in the strictest sense, but the excitement I feel looking at their work in the drama of layers and color and emotion is every bit as profound as the most tightly executed easel painting. For 15 years, I had this studio set up like a Renaissance workshop, with apprentice assistants and a huge amount of space. Now that I’ve put my two sons through college and with that phase of my life behind me, I’ve scaled down. I’m able to be totally dedicated to my important work now, which requires total concentration. Venü –When did you first realize that your career path was to become a self-sustaining artist? What is it about your persona – your balance of mind, spirit, and creativity – that put you on this pathway? CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

ART

Melissa – Well, I had always known I wanted to be an artist. I was in art school at the age of 19 in Florida when I decided to leave and run off with the captain of a crewboat in the Gulf of Mexico! I was married and had two babies by the time I was 23, so when I left for Texas I had to make a living somehow for myself and 2 small boys. Everyone on the coast of Texas is either a cowboy or a surfer, so that’s what I painted. I made enough to get by for a couple of years by painting billboards for surf shops, boatyards, and even a cattle ranch. When I moved back North I opened my studio in Greenwich, Connecticut where I received my first commission to paint a mural for a wealthy French family who had a home here. Through the years I’ve had some amazing opportunities to create art for some pretty exciting residences; a notable 5th Avenue apartment, a home in Gloucester, England, and a commission to do a painting that was presented to Prince Rainier of Monaco. VENÜ – Let’s talk for a moment about your remarkable rendering and compositional abilities. How much of this did you learn in art school versus how much is some instinctive talent in your DNA? Melissa – My grandmother was an artist from Southport, Connecticut, and she was the biggest influence in my young life, taking me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a girl, to the beach and harbor to paint al fresco. She enrolled me in the Covino Academy

of Art at age 14 where I studied for 4 years. There I learned all the rigors of classical academic oil painting, which was the foundation for everything I knew about art. And I learned from my mother that you can’t wait for inspiration if you want to be a success - your inspiration will come from sheer hard work. When I was young I was uncultivated, like a young person should be. I was always getting reprimanded in school for either laughing or talking or drawing caricatures of certain teachers, and I still have that side to me in full force. But as time went on I became very serious and totally consumed with my art. It’s lovely and exhilarating at the same time, but it’s all about the work. VENÜ – So often people misunderstand the aesthetic basis of “realism.” They might mistake “realism” for something that has almost a photographic resemblance to actual objects. You are a very romantic realist painter. What’s your take on the ageless topic of “art versus illusion?” Melissa – I think for me it’s the old adage, “Art for art’s sake”… not to record or idealize nature, but to make art ‘out’ of nature... a very Baudelairean philosophy. I’m really concerned with the sensuousness of beauty in the work I do. In my paintings and frescoes, I’m looking to capture a feeling, a deep impression. Philip Roth wrote a line that said somewhere “from miles down and eons back.” I admire technicality and detail, and although there are some photorealist painters whose work I admire very much, the genre as a whole is too sterile for me. The detail I’m after is in layers and in trying to evoke a very strong or very subtle mood... trying to capture the essence is how I’d describe it. VENÜ – Your clients and collectors seem to click with you and your art. They magically seem to “get it” when commissioning you to create a mural or when purchasing a fine art painting. How do you describe that special “Melissa” quality – that really connects you to your appreciative audience? Melissa – I’m very confident in my abilities to connect with my collectors, because there’s a mutual respect for the client who really wants to own a piece of my work, or who has the trust when commissioning me to create a piece of art specifically for them. I do a substantial amount of custom pieces. I first invite a client to see where I virtually live three quarters of my life. Anyone who walks through the door can probably feel the intensity or electricity of what’s going on in this place by sheer volume and the layers of paintings, drawings, sketches and frescoes in various stages all over the walls and floors. I think people want to feel there’s a truth in an artist’s convictions, and collectors are looking for a high, high degree of quality in what they’re purchasing. I think both of those credos are a big part of my success. VENÜ – Let’s take a stroll down memory lane a bit to review your training and early work as a professional. What inspired you to attend the Ringling College of Art in Sarasota, Florida? What did you find out there about yourself? Melissa – Well, I found out I loved the beach, swimming, a Corona Light and a golden tan and none of those was conducive to studying! ... Really, I was too young to take full advantage. Remember, I was classically trained at a young age - at 14, I was learning to mix paints from Leonardo’s paint recipes, so when I

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ART

Rechtermann, an artist in her own right, by my side for 19 of those. I rely on her set of eyes and her criticism to keep me focused. What’s missing in today’s culture is a place like Paris in the 1920s where artists and writers were coming out of the woodwork – how amazing to be able to congregate in cafés discussing philosophies, having a camaraderie of intelligent conversation, and feeding off the energy of what was blazing up around them...... VENÜ – You are so deeply engaged in literature – taking inspiration from so many classic and contemporary novels. There’s a very 19th century spirit in your life – devoted to romantics such as Byron, Keats, and the Bronte sisters. How do these literary adventures translate into your artistic vision?

came to Ringling in the early 80s, figurative realism wasn’t de rigueur. After my classical training I found a year of art school hadn’t taught me much so I left... What taught me was to take all the early training I’d had, and then the freedom to take all that knowledge and expand it into my own style. VENÜ – One of your unique qualities is an uncanny ability to apply “fresco secco” with remarkable flexibility. Tell us about the demands of this medium? How did this ancient method – used in Egyptian tombs and Roman villas – survive as a painting medium in the 21st century? Why is it so ‘tricky’ – and how have you come to master it? MELISSA – I adore the sound of the word “Fresco” – it must be the Italian in me. Who isn’t captivated by the enigma of a fresco painting? Who even knows how to do it anymore? It’s virtually a lost art. There’s an Italian text written during the Renaissance by Cennino Cellini called “Il Libro delle Arte.” It was translated in the 1920s by Daniel V. Thompson. I’d been so immersed in the classical techniques of oil painting, and I was intrigued with the idea of being able to paint in fresco. So I began reading. The fascinating thing for me is the fact that one of the components in this lime putty is the skeletal debris of marine organisms and coral beds – and that fresco as a medium is organic and green. It’s from the earth, from the sea. The plaster actually breathes. I wanted to be able to create paintings with that soft tactile quality. It really lends itself to a style of painting that I consider very modern. You can run your hand over a fresco panel and feel 600 years under your fingertips. It’s pretty amazing. VENÜ – What’s the most difficult part about being a practicing, serious, and highly dedicated artist in today’s culture? MELISSA – There’s a balance so coveted that you’re striving for... the need to work and make a living vs. the time you’re left with to create what you consider your real art. Most serious artists I’ve known seem to have one thing in common: a very shy and sensitive core on the one hand, and yet a ferocious ego and will on the other. As an artist you spend countless hours in solitude, and there’s a lonesome quality to it. It’s like being in a small boat on a still sea. I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have been able to make a living solely from my art for 25 years, and my trusted assistant, Ann 74

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MELISSA – For me, after a day of say 6 or 7 hours painting, I’m pretty fatigued and need to take a break before my night starts. I have my music and my books. A lot of evenings I’ll go to the library which for me is an adventure. To prowl the aisles on a hunt for a book and leave with an armful is the greatest thing. I find the poets and writers and artists of the last decades and centuries so captivating –their lives and struggles and what made them who they were. I read all the biographies and classics and philosophy I can, and pour over books on every subject imaginable. When I read about Lord Byron galloping his horse over the Lido in Venice in his cape and open collar, it’s very potent to my imagination... I can’t help it – he’s so “alive”! The written word has a very erotic and sometimes sensuous quality to me that’s always fueled my imagination for being creative. VENÜ – When all is said and done – let’s face it – you finish a major painting, and you just can’t put down your brush and say: “now I am satisfied.” What is that inner drive which challenges the very essence of your artistic spirit? MELISSA – As soon as I finish a painting, I have two more started and usually half a dozen ideas as well as notes and sketches for another series. I’m insatiable with ideas, and sometimes that’s the hardest part of being productive – harnessing my own mind! I equate painting to that feeling you get of being in love – that sensation when you can’t wait to start working in the morning, and then it’s the last thing you’re thinking of when you close your eyes at night. “A painter’s brush consumes his dreams.” That’s a quote I love by Yeats. I was reading this interview with Grace Kelly from the 1950s when she told the interviewer, “I love being in love. It puts the lights in my eyes.” And that’s exactly what it’s like for me painting. VENÜ – Finally, as one who has frescoed so many wonderful navigational maps and charts of coastal New England – I wonder if you can tell us what’s your direction for the future? Where will the winds of fate steer you – as you seek higher and distant horizons? MELISSA – I’m preparing to begin a series I call “Under Glass” for a residence in Miami, and I’ll be returning to Martha’s Vineyard to work on some frescoes I’m painting for a client who has this beautiful rugged sea captain’s home on the ocean. Those things keep me excited and fresh. The rest of the time, besides a much-needed trip to the Amalfi Coast with my husband to get some rest and inspiration, I’ll be in my studio painting and getting prepared for my next show. I do like to attend an occasional sparkling cocktail party to break up the monotony, but painting in my boots and jeans is where I’m happiest.

Decorative Arts

ON THE BLOCK by Matthew Sturtevant

The fall season at auction has been a stellar time for blue chip as well as some emerging markets. The Safra collection part II highlighted in our September/October 2011 issue set the tone for well-established collections assemblage of diverse works that represent the finest caliber of French and Continental European classics such as the suite of lacquered furniture comprising a commode and secretaire by Adam Weisweiller sold for $6,914,500. The sales totals exceeded the estimate for the sale fetching $45,900,000 of which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Edmund J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation. The high water marks for the season belong to the Post War and Contemporary Art sales Christie’s set a record for Roy Lichtensteins’ “I Can See the Whole Room!... and There’s Nobody in it!” oil on canvas painted in 1961 at just over $43 million as well as a world record for Louise Bourgeois “Spider” bronze executed in 1996 soaring past the high estimate of $6 million and finally settling at just over $10.7 million. The sales total reached $247,597,000 with very few unsold lots commonly referred to as buy ins. Sotheby’s followed suite with even stronger results offering four very rare Clyfford Still paintings sold by the City and County of Denver to further support the endowment of the new Clyfford Still Museum. This grouping of four hammered down at $114,100,000 far beyond the high estimate of $71.5 million and the illustrated lot 11 “1949-A-No. 1” set a record for the artist at a little more than $61.5 million. The sales totals reached an astounding $599,835,000 out running even the Impressionist and modern sales almost by three times. This presents a significant shift towards post war and contemporary art and may also indicate that not many of the prized works from earlier eras are coming to market. Also, collectors are gravitating to the present as these artists establish themselves and tastes shift.

20th Century Decorative ArtS Rings In A Winner Also in the well established realm of 20th century decorative arts Leslie Hindman Auctioneers of Chicago, Illinois sold a Rare Frank Lloyd Wright bronze urn from the Edward C. Waller house in River Forest, Illinois for $770,000 showing that it is not necessarily the large auctions that fetch the high prices. It is not clear how many urns were produced or have survived, but only five others are known to exist in public collections.

Another market is in things Chinese As the Chinese establish themselves as a dominant force in the world market so they have done in the art markets. The illustrated Qinglong porcelain vase circa 1750 fetched $14,300,000 at Bonhams, London. While at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong an Imperial Ming Blue and White Porcelain vase hammered for $21,600,000. As China has opened up it is now reclaiming its heritage and when fine items such as white jade, imperial porcelains and other objects make it to market they are fetching very strong prices. These prices also indicate that the sales of contemporary art in China will also be strong as well. Will find out in the next issue! CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

Art

The world according to Jonas Wickman...

...Blue Houses Giant Flowers and Life Unrestrained by Cindy Clarke

Photo: Kaitlin Parry

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Ask Swedish artist Jonas Wickman to describe his work and he will give you an answer that is colored in double entendres and contradictions. He is primarily a muralist, a talented modern-day painter who depicts art that is larger than life, because, as he suggests in word and deed, life is too big to define – or confine. Walk into his world when you walk inside the new Artisan restaurant at the Southport Delamar and you’ll come face to stem with floral walls of magnolias and tulips, nurtured with Jonas’ signature brand of miracle grow. These oversized flowers represent nature at its most overpowering and empowering, growing delicately but decidedly to new heights of beauty and self-expression, much like the work of the artist himself. The son of a book illustrator, Jonas studied art in his native country of Sweden. He got his start in the industry as a furniture painter, copiously and carefully gilding antique tables, chairs and mirrors with the decorative Gustavian-style ornamentation of the 18h-century. “I became quite good at replicating design motifs favored by royalty on to my clients’ furnishings and walls,” he explained. He became so good, in fact, that his work attracted the notice of one his largest patrons, Stefan Persson, the founding owner of Swedish retail fashion giant, H & M, who commissioned Jonas to work on art for one of his residences, and later for his many homes and businesses around the world. This was Jonas’ break out opportunity, a time when the client, also a design expert, turned to the artist for inspiration, offering him free rein and a clean palette to create and interpret his vision of decorative art in his Stockholm apartment. Using the walls as his canvas, Jonas painted giant tulips in various stages of bloom against a dark background in the master bedroom. The contrasting colors provided a dramatic, day and night, juxtaposition between the impressionistic images. Was this the start of Wickman’s fondness for expressing dual meanings through his work? “Everyone can relate to flowers,” explained Wickman, who said they evoke people’s sensitive sides. By supersizing them and having them stand alone, he is revealing their singular beau-

ty in a world that is not always light and easy. “We are all lonely, together,” he laughs as he sums up the subliminal messaging behind works like this. But could he also be planting the idea that opportunity and promise can grow out of unexpected places? “I have always been fascinated by the resilience of the human spirit,” said Wickman who grew up in Stockholm, playing basketball and enjoying the advantages of the good life under the tutelage of his accomplished parents. “During the school year, I lived a privileged life in the city surrounded by art, books and culture. We spent summers in the family cottage on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, a land of flowers and beauty and youthful innocence, so my world growing up was pretty close to picture perfect.” In spite of, or maybe because of, his upper-class upbringing, he was sensitive to his surroundings and to the people around him. To balance his intellectual sensibilities with the hardscrabble ways of kids not as fortunate as he was, he often made trips out to the poorer suburbs of Stockholm to play football and to learn how to be as strong and irrepressible as the “dandelion people” who thrived and grew there regardless of daunting odds. It was character building for him, he said, describing his sports-oriented friendships with his tough friends who shrugged off poverty and hardship like they were nothing and continued to forge through whatever obstacles the road ahead put in their path. “I gave these boys a measure of sensitivity that they were not used to in their lives, and they gave me a new perspective on strength and tenacity.” These experiences provided Jonas with lifelong memories that today have taken shape in his current wave of paintings. Many of his newest works were showcased at the Southport Delamar in collaboration with Southport Galleries from October 12

through November 30, 2011, offering visitors a fascinating insight into the more personal side of the muralist whose art welcomes you inside Artisan restaurant. The exhibit, entitled Blue Houses, “paintings drawn from memories and aspects of myself slowly emerging through the haziness of time,” depicted Jonas’ appreciation of the world as seen through his very perceptive eyes. Leading the line up of artwork was a self-portrait of the artist himself. Hidden in a haze of shadows, his facial features are both pronounced and muted, giving the viewer the impression that he is half present, and half in another, more mysterious world. “Isn’t that how life is?” he asks me as he takes me on a personal tour of his work. “We never really know if we’re coming or going… which is one of the unifying themes of my show.” His paintings of buildings and barns combine blues with splashes of yellows to add an element of surprise and to present contemplative contradictions. In one, a stone fortress is bathed in light. Its meaning, while not immediately clear to me, suggests that life eventually makes people open up to the world around them, no matter how isolated or self-protective they want to be. In another, words written on the bottom of the canvas speak volumes about the hidden message of the painting – and our rushed, stress-filled society. “Suddenly, nothing happened.” “Think about it,” says Jonas, as we move to his next painting, acknowledging his delight in making people slow down and figure out what he is really saying through the contrasting imagery in his work. To see a portfolio of his work, visit www.arcanumswede.com or stop by the Southport Delamar. Like the imaginative fantasy world he painted on the walls of a children’s hospital treatment room to help its tiny patients escape the pain they had to endure during their illness, his murals will whet your appetite for artistic creations that challenge the obvious and nourish the soul.

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

The Printmaker

James Reed and Milestone Graphics

by Laura G. Einstein

“James Reed is an alchemist,” artist Ann Chernow states. Alchemy is vital to a lithographer’s work due to the chemical interaction that takes place between water and the greasy inked images that have been painted on a lithographic stone. Reed is a master lithographer whose passion is evidenced in a printmaking career spanning over forty years. Grace Shanley, founder of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Connecticut, states, “Jim Reed is the best lithographer around.” Jim laughingly replies, “I am the only lithographer in this area.” The artists that Jim works with marvel at his technical ability to combine the complex chemistry of the medium with their own creative expression. Reed received his training in the early 1970s at, among other places, Tamarind Institute, a world-renowned printmaking facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which specializes in lithography. Reed explains, “The logo for Tamarind is a medieval symbol for alchemy.” Each print created at Tamarind Institute is embossed with this logo. Logos, called chops, are similar to those found on European and Japanese prints that comprise symbolic messages meant to convey a deeper meaning to the work of art as well as provenance, place of production or perhaps an artist’s sobriquet. Reed’s own chop is the Egyptian hieroglyph for a reed. Now he uses JMR as well as the reed for the prints that he produces at his own facility, Milestone Graphics. In 1972 Reed hitchhiked to Albuquerque, New Mexico or, as he calls it “Litho City” wherehe introduced himself to Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc. (TLW). TLW had established itself 78

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in Albuquerque in 1970 when it affiliated with the University of New Mexico. Reed began an apprenticeship that lasted a productive few years. Reed worked for six months as a sponger and stone grainer before he was elevated to a full-time apprentice. The term lithography comes from Latin -- stone (litho) and mark (graph). The process was invented in Germany around 1796 by Alois Senefelder, a playwright from Prague, who found that he could reproduce large quantities of scripts by writing them in greasy crayon on slabs of Bavarian limestone and impressing them on paper. Reed has fifty stones for use in his printmaking facility, ranging in size from 8" x 10" to 24" x 32". He prefers Bavarian limestone and specifically seeks out stones from the Jurassic period. He identifies them by the unique veining throughout the stone and a softness that creates a smooth image.

ART

Left: James Reed and Ann Chernow working on a Lithograph. Below: A proof and the stone of an Ann Chernow Lithograph from the noir series, The Kiss. Below right: James Reed printing an Ann Chernow lithograph. Above right: The stone from Nomi Silverman's lithograph, Mother and Child.

Lithography is a multi-step process that requires intimate collaboration between printmaker and artist. To begin, the artist creates an image on the stone with greasy pigments that contain a large amount of petroleum. Coal, wood, animal fats, and vegetable oils are also part of the organic mix that creates rich, vibrant colors or shades from deep black to grey. The next stage is where Reed’s magic comes in. He removes the original drawing with a solvent, leaving the greasy image barely visible on the stone. The printing inks, which are also greasy, then adhere to the image area. The stone’s surface is kept wet, preventing the ink from adhering to non-image areas. Reed then rolls out the image on his Griffin lithography press, which can accommodate both stones and plates. Speaking of the importance of collaboration, artist Nomi Silverman states, “Jim and I have worked together for about ten years and I work exclusively with him. I suspect that I am a relative newbie. The whole process of collaboration -- by process I mean the way of seeing and working together -- takes time. I think perhaps the best way to describe a collaboration is that it is very much like a marriage. A printer cannot completely ignore his own aesthetics. Aside from Jim’s being an excellent printer, and despite his own semi-humorous contention that all he does is push ink around, it is his aesthetic that distinguishes him. My work has grown enormously since I’ve been working with him, and I guess that is due to the way he gets me to look at my work differently -- and to think about different aspects of the work in a way that I hadn’t before. I will confess that this thinking extends

beyond the time that I am in his studio. I find myself thinking about all the same issues and concerns that we talked about when I am in my own studio. He is integral to the art. What is produced at the end is not entirely mine, but has a piece of both of us within it. I will say what is truly amazing is that every artist that he works with works differently, so he clearly has an ability to bring out the best of each of them and definitely the best of me. You will never see his “fingerprints” on the prints; they will all be the artists’, but they are there nonetheless.” Artist Alberta Cifolelli reflects on Jim’s talent as a master printer and his intuitiveness: “Jim never imposed his aesthetic upon me. That is a very important aspect of working with a master printer. You can’t look at his artists and say you can see the influence.” Being thought of as a master printer comes from the high praise of those artists that a printer works with -- not from the printer professing to be a master printe Jim Reed balks at this practice believing that printmakers all too easily bestow this designation upon themselves. It is, in fact, high praise that one earns over years of work and through the praises of those that one works with. Being called a master printer is also a testament to one’s facility in all of the printmaking techniques, whether intaglio, relief and/or serigraphy. Reed was on the cusp of receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree twice. He was lured away from both the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The University of New Mexico to work with influential artists David Folkman, in particular, had an impact on Jim’s career as a printmaker and artist. Folkman was one CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

ART

Above: Nomi Silverman, color lithograph, Mother and Child. Left: Alberta Cifolelli, color lithograph.

of the first graduates of Tamarind Institute of Lithography founded in Los Angeles in 1960. By 1971, he had established his own printmaking shop, Little Egypt Enterprises, a collaborative printmaking studio in Carbondale, Illinois, that he moved to Houston, Texas. It was not only Reed’s work with David Folkman that was so important but also his interest in the atelier, apprenticeships and independent printmaking studios that impressed him so greatly. With Folkman, he was able to further collaborate with artists and print for them as well as experiment with the handling of the medium. Folkman would, along with fellow master printers at Tamarind Institute Ben Q. Adams and Harry Westlund, provide letters of recommendation for him at Tamarind Institute. Reed believes that his practical experience gained as he progressed from a student of printmaking, to junior printer and ultimately senior printer was what was most important. The formality of a degree was not necessary. Printmakers are an itinerant breed.Reed opened his own independent studio in Kansas City called “Beauty Parlor Prints” named for the neon sign that he found in the loft space that he rented. However, David Folkman for the second time invited Reed to work with him, this time in Houston, Texas. Although Folkman was developing a sizeable following, Reed found that Houston was, as he states, “a bust.” He left Folkman again, drove to San Francisco, rented an apartment, and opened Milestone Graphics on July 4, 1976. Reed refers to this as his own Independence Day celebration in the “spirit of American entrepreneurship.” He regularly printed for the graduate school at San Francisco State University during this time. Again on the move, Reed traveled to Mexico City and settled for a time at Tailler Graphica Mexicana, working with luminaries such as Rufino Tamayo, who would print at the same workshop with its new name Mixografia Workshop. For the next few years, 80

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Reed would commute back and forth to San Francisco, working with artists as a master printer in both places. Reed moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1980, and his firm, Milestone Graphics, has been producing limited edition prints there ever since. He has also spent a few summers in Les Cerqueux sous Passavant, at the cusp of the Loire Valley, printing with artist Richard A. Byrnes, Ted Seth Jacobs, and at times with Ann Chernow. Byrnes states, “Jim Reed is called a Master Printer because he is one, having mastered every mode of printing. To collaborate with him in the studio is to have a unique professional experience with a good friend.” Chernow adds, “Jim is like my alter ego. He knows what I need before I need it. I am in awe of his printmaking abilities as well his knowledge of everything about the printmaking past. I pay no attention to printing technique or method because I know that Jim will get the variations of blacks and greys that are so important to my work.” Milestone Graphics is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in Fairfield County. Reed enjoys maintaining this quiet center for artists to explore traditional print media. Over the years, the work of the shop has expanded from lithography to various print media including etching, relief, silk screen, intaglio, aquatint, and monotype. Although Jim Reed prefers some more than others, he is well-versed and agile in each technique and the variations within those techniques including the mixed media format called chine collé. Jim Reed is indeed a master printer with a significant personal collection that informs his own work as a printmaker and an artist. Ann Chernow states, “Jim is a print connoisseur. His own collection shows his incredible knowledge of the medium. I couldn’t have done the work that I have done without him. I wish that I could win the lottery to buy Jim so that he could only work with me.”

COMIC RELIEF

Taller On TV:

Wendy Liebman It’s Showtime! by Bari Alyse Rudin

As I write this, it’s a great week in the life of funny and adorable comedian Wendy Liebman. She was in Chicago to tape a stand-up set on the Rosie Show, her stand-up special Taller On TV premiered on Showtime and she left her home in L.A. and returned to Long Island where she grew up for a weekend of live comedy at the Brokerage Comedy Club. A great week, or rather, a typical one for Wendy who has been a hard working and beloved comedian for 27 years, ever since she “graduated Wellesley College with a degree in psychology and went right into therapy”…and stand-up in Boston. Wendy has appeared on every TV show that has stand-up comedians: The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, Rosie, etc, etc…and has done more TV appearances than you most comics can imagine. She was the 1997 winner of Best Female Stand-Up Comedian from the American Comedy Awards and around that time had a hilarious HBO special that made her known to wide audiences. There is something about Wendy that just makes you fall in love with her. Of course, she is hilarious in her clever, smart quick-witted style of comedy that has had people call her the “Queen of the Asides”. Wendy takes you down one path with a joke and when you are laughing because you think that was the punch line, she takes it in another direction with an unexpected new punch line. Even though you know this is her comedic style just when you think the joke is over, she takes you in another direction and it’s always a fun ride for the audience. Wendy is also widely respected among fellow comedians for not only being one of the best and funniest but for being one of the nicest comedians there is. Wendy grew up in Roslyn, New York, and when I asked her if it was hard to tell her parents she was going to pursue stand-up comedy she told me, “My dad said ‘Do whatever makes you money.’” And that’s a typical

Photos: Lowell Hiles

Wendy joke. She said her parents weren’t completely typical and because she always paid her own bills with her day job, they were never discouraging of stand-up as a career. I asked Wendy how she found her particular and very specific style on-stage. She told me that when she started as a stand-up in Boston, like all stand-ups, she watched her contemporaries and the com-

ics who were senior to her. That was the style of Boston comedy at the time and she learned from all of the people who were doing it, she credits Brian Kiley with doing it best. And then she says, she ripped them off… of course she’s kidding. After six years of comedy in Boston, Wendy credits Bud Friedman and his wife Alix of the World Famous Improv for the reason she moved to L.A. She was part of a contest in Boston and they had seen her and really liked her comedy and suggested she moved to L.A. and become a regular at the Improv on Melrose. Wendy figured eventually she would move from Boston to New York or L.A. and since her parents still lived in New York, she decided to give L.A. a try. She knew it was the right place for her to be as soon as she got there. She knew her way around instinctively. I asked Wendy if she ever gets nervous anymore on stage and she told me “I finally don’t really get nervous anymore, unless I’m about to tape a television spot… and this one time that my friend and I did karaoke for fun in a hotel bar.” After almost three decades of stand-up she has mostly overcome the butterflies in the stomach feeling, but not the excitement and the passion for standup. Wendy has a whimsical, delightful, happy stage persona and always seems to be having the best time on stage and every joke seems like it’s the first time she has told it. I was fascinated to find out about Wendy’s writing and rehearsal methods because her comedy and timing is done with such skilled precision. “My comedy was probably the slowest act to evolve of any comic.” Wendy told me. “I would change one word and then have to perform the set several times.” Timing and knowing when to give a laugh enough time that you don’t step on it, but coming back to your set before there is too much down time is a skill and craft that the best comics including Wendy have down to a science. I asked her if there is a secret to how she comes back in at just the right time because in my opinion, her mastery of that is even more important with her brand of comedy. Wendy said “I’m only aware of it if I have waited too long. Someone once asked me why I have so many tag lines and I told them because I was uncomfortable if the audience was silent.” Those multiple tag lines are also signature Wendy Liebman. Look for the DVD of Wendy’s Showtime special at her website, wendyLiebman.com. You should also get out and see her next time she performs near you for a happy, fun night of laughter and intelligent humor. Show dates can also be found on her website. True confession: Wendy Liebman was one of my early inspirations a few years into doing stand-up and I adore her as a performer and as a person, which is why if you follow me on Twitter @BariAlyse, you will often see me writing I heart Wendy Liebman!

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Written by William Squier

The set for I Hate Hamlet at the Carriage House Art Center.

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE Finding Theater in Unexpected Places

If a competition were held to decide which of the area’s theater companies has performed in the most unlikely spot, the New Haven Theater Company would win hands down. In 2007 NHTC staged its Meter Theater production of the play Tent in a parking space. Then, in 2008, they followed up with Exact Change, an evening of improv comedy and spoken word poetry that took place on four of the city’s buses. But, there are any number of other theaters in Connecticut and Westchester County that could give NETC a run for their money.

While well-appointed venues like the Stamford Center for the Performing Arts often stand silent, dark and empty, mostly due to expensive running costs, structures that were never intended to house theaters are bursting with activity. The SCA’s neighbor, Curtain Call, uses a converted shed that once stored golf cars as a second stage where as many as five plays are presented

82 Sylvia at the Pound Ridge Theatre Company.

per season. The Eastbound Theatre Company performs in an abandoned depot at the Milford MetroNorth train station. And the Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls, NY, is – well -- in an old schoolhouse. Fortunately, many of these theaters make a virtue of performing in unconventional and, often, very tiny spaces. A prime example is the Pound Ridge Theatre Company, which is in the midst of celebrating twenty-five years of mounting productions in that hamlet’s Conant Hall. The building, which dates back to the 1890’s, was originally a Presbyterian church. In 1983 it was donated to the town for use as a community center, and then in 1985 was one of more than 40 buildings in Pound Ridge that were added to the National Register of Historic Places. PRTC has to juggle its annual roster of productions and play readings with the schedules of many other groups that use the Hall – everything from bingo, bridge and scrabble players to yoga classes and private parties. The company’s access to the building is limited to two or three weeks before each production opens, making construction of the sets particularly challenging. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that Conant Hall is a landmarked building. “We can’t even put nails in the wall,” PRTC’s President, Sherry Asch explains. “So, we have to build simply and carefully.” The limitations of the space mean that programming each season is done with equal care. The list of plays that have been produced by PRTC over the last quarter century shows a penchant for small cast, one-set comedies and dramas that would fit comfortably into an OffBroadway theater. That often led to mounting fare, like Dancing at Lughnasa, Wonder of the

Art at the Square One Theater Company.

The Carriage House Art Center.

Irena’s Vow at the Square One Theater Company.

World or True West, you’re less likely to see on the area’s roomier stages. Playgoers in the 75-seat theater sit very close to the action. Sherry Asch, who has directed six of PRTC’s productions since 2004, says that the proximity of the audience influences the choices her actors make. “It’s so intimate that it’s got to be truthful,” she explains. “It’s got to be real. Because they can see you sweat.” An intimate performing space has also played a part in the choice of shows presented at Norwalk’s Carriage House Art Center since 2006. As the name would sug-

gest, the black-box theater is in a former carriage house on the grounds of the city’s Cranbury Park. Though for the most part it was used as an equipment garage, the building was occasionally the site of a Parks and Recreations Department theatre program in the late 1990’s. Then, six years ago a group of volunteers completely overhauled the interior so that it could accommodate a full season of plays that runs from May to October. “It is a beautiful building with many lovely features on the outside,” says CHAC Artistic Director, Frank Gaffney. “But the inside really had to serve our purposes and cinderblock isn’t that attractive, so we tried to mask as much of that as we could by covering the walls with fabric.” Left visible were quirky reminders of the building’s past, like the garage doors that flank the audience on the left side. The end result was a cozy 70-seat venue where you’re liable to see popular two-hand-

Stage

ers, like Same Time, Next Year and Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune. and small musicals, such as The Fantasticks. But, CHAC also specializes in original parodies like Cinderella Wore Combat Boots, Boob Tube Bonanza and, most recently, a comic paean to the 1970’s disaster films, Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical. “We really try not to be hampered by the intimacy, but to embrace it,” Gaffney explains. “We’re not going to do Titanic: the Musical any time soon, but capsizing the Poseidon seemed to work out just fine.” It takes less of a leap of imagination to see how an abandoned movie house could be repurposed for live stage performances. In the case of the Stratford Theatre, however, it had to be turned into a Masonic lodge before it could also become the home of the Square One Theater Company. “We had friends in the lodge who made connections for us,” recalls SOTC Artistic Director, Tom Holehan. “They were interested in us being one of the main tenants. We had our first performance in October 1990 and have been there ever since.” STOC’s 22-year residency hasn’t been without surprises. Holehan points out that the Masons perform historical reenactments as part of their organization. “It is sometimes interesting to stumble across artifacts and props that they use,” he notes. “Alters, elaborate medieval costuming, stuffed animals, etc…” In 2000, however, the surprise was an unpleasant one. “Stratford Center suffered a devastating flood which basically wiped out storefronts and businesses,” says Holehan. “The theatre was decimated. Our first production that season was -- don’t laugh -- The Rainmaker!” Fortunately, within three months the building was reopened and performances resumed. Prior to moving into the Stratford Theatre, STOC focused on mounting readings of plays at the town’s library. They return to their roots each summer to perform weekly readings of new work to support their inhouse playwriting group, SquareWrights. “It is a very popular series,” Holehan reports. “We also take our readings ‘on the road’ to other libraries and venues in Milford, Orange and Greater Fairfield County. It’s a great way to spread the word.” Maybe they can borrow a bus from the NHTC?

Visit www.prtc01.org for information about the Pound Ridge Theatre Company’s April production of “Collected Stories;” and www.squareonetheatre.com to learn about the Square One Theatre Company’s Connecticut premiere of “Freud’s Last Session.” And watch for details of the Carriage House Arts Center’s next season at www.carriagehouseartscenter.org CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

Fox on Film... and Entertainment

david

One boy. Two faiths. Directed by Joel Fendelman This year’s crop of films from the independent festival circuit include Sound of my Voice, directed by Zal Batmanglij, a dark look at a cult that meets in the San Fernando valley; Pariah, directed by Dees Rees, about a young African-American woman’s struggle to come to terms with her sexuality, and Take Cover, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, about a husband and father whose apocalyptic visions create havoc for his family and community. Each filmmaker employs a sense of cinematic economy, that is; human beings in heightened conflict, placed in the locale of the everyman, minimally photographed. (Take Cover, with its smartly employed, minimal special effects, is the most ambitious of the bunch, technically speaking). But of all of the independent films that I have

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screened this year, my top pick is David, directed by Mr. Fendelman, a simple, yet profound tale of the journey of an eleven-yearold Muslim boy, Daud, who suddenly finds himself immersed with boys his own age at an orthodox Jewish school. Daud, or David, as he is known to the kids at the school, first encounters

the Jewish schoolboys after one of them forgets to collect his Torah from a park bench. Seeing this, Daud, younger sister in tow, fruitlessly gives chase, then shows up the next day to place the book into the school mailbox. Later that night, upon opening his knapsack, he discovers that he has not dropped the correct book into the school mailbox, but instead, a Koran which was presented to him as a family heirloom by

his father, skillfully portrayed by comedian Maz Jobrani. He returns to the school the next day, and after lingering at the door of the school with hopes of sneaking in to retrieve his family’s Koran, he is corralled in by a Rabbi who mistakes him as a late arriving student. Once he is brought to the classroom and placed at a desk, he tells the group that his name is David, and that his father is from Jerusalem. Day after day, he lingers

Film

Peter Fox

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The lead role of David is wonderfully acted by newcomer Muatasem Mishal, witha poise, depth and maturity far beyond his eleven years. David’s best friend in the film, Yoav, played by Binyomin Shtaynberger, is equally poised and mature. The scenes with both boys are, at once, riveting and poigniant.

after class in an attempt to retrieve the Koran. As his repeated attempts to snare the book from the Rabbi’s office fail, he is forced to play out the charade that he has erected. Daud’s father, a devout Muslim, admonishes him for being absent from recitation studies, while his older sister wrestles with the choice of attending Stanford University on a full scholarship, or stay home and enter an ar-

ranged marriage. Burdened with these pressures, Daud is unable to resist the joy and camaraderie with his newfound Jewish friends, a joy that he has never felt before. Torn between his need to fit within his own family and community and a desire to be part of a wider world with people of a culture diametrically opposed to his own, Daud finds himself at a crossroads that examines the boundaries of our

cultures and religions, and discovers how static and yet how fluid these boundaries can actually be. Set in Brooklyn, the story resonates in regard to how close to home the themes examined in the film actually are. Says Fendelman: “There were two particular neighborhoods that were most intriguing to me for the purposes of this film, Bay Ridge, a predominantly Muslim Palestinian neigh-

borhood, and Borough Park, an orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Both neighborhoods are adjacent to one another, having much overflow, where Muslim men in robes will on a daily basis pass orthodox Jews in black suits and hats. In a sense, this area is proof that a peaceful way of life is possible, in contrary to the situation in Israel today. This special place of cross over allowed for the story of David to take place.” The lead role of David is wonderfully acted by newcomer Muatasem Mishal, with a poise, depth and maturity far beyond his eleven years. David’s best friend in the film, Yoav, played by Binyomin Shtaynberger, is equally poised and mature. The scenes with both boys are, at once, riveting and poignant. Produced on a micro budget, David is a triumph. The cinematic narrative is delivered through effective cuts, simple photography and, most importantly, a story that actually matters. Its message at the film’s conclusion will leave every viewer to question any preconceived ideas about either side of the Jewish/ Palestinian question. In addition to provoking thought and discussion, this is a beautiful, entertaining movie and is, by far, the most important independent film of 2011. David is a must see for moviegoers of all ages; yes, it is completely child friendly and yes, do take them with you.

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FICTION

Story by Pam MuiR Photograph by BraNdon Godfrey

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Personal Day

Family Rest Cemetery was so inviting this time of year, the trees bursting with orange, red, and gold leaves, and the single women or couples swapping the dirty white summertime plastic lilies and daisies for winter chrysanthemums. The crisp air, the vibrant sun, the brilliant trees, invigorating. It reminded Bob of his parents’ funeral all those years ago. Such a nice shiny day that was, too. He turned and moved in closer to the big crowd, men and women, a few children, a baby who didn’t cry, but all the adults in black or grey, heads downcast. Bob Foster clasped his hands and filtered through the crowd—sometimes shimmying sideways to protect his eye from a rough shoulder pad or his ribs from a boney elbow— until he arrived at the best place. Graveside. Money. Bob figured the dead man had plenty of it, given the coffin, the huge crowd, and the long procession of expensive cars complete with official police escort. Boy, was Bob thankful; if it hadn’t been for the flashing lights, he might not have noticed from his booth in the diner. Bob loved a good funeral. Plus, it wasn’t like he had anything else do to today. OK, best case, he’d be in his cube finishing the Accounts Payable report. But no. Sorry Bob, not today. Because of Jim fucking Thorpe. Bob noticed the woman in black next to him clutching only soggy remnants of a tissue. He pulled a fresh Kleenex from his jacket sidepocket supply and nudged her elbow. She made quick eye contact and accepted the tissue with a tight little smile. He watched her take a second look at his brown suit. Bob crossed his arms, elbows on belly. He always wore his brown suit to work on Mondays. Work. Bob straightened his back. Jim Thorpe. Bastard. The jackass was getting paddled by his mommy for wetting the bed when Bob first started working for United. A “personal day.” Bob thought that sounded dirty. Oh no. Jim had insisted. He had parked himself on Bob’s desk, smiled his little teeth, a day off, “non-negotiable.” In front of everyone. The Old Man had never cared about days off. Just get the job done, add up your figures, get accounts straight— that was what he’d taught Bob. “Personal day.” My hairy ass. Bob angled himself to watch the people in the front row, family and close friends; they huddled closer together as the hidden motor hummed and the coffin started to lower into the ground. Wow. He hadn’t seen a nicer coffin. It was taupe, with gold and silver designs. He craned his neck to see if there was

an ornament on the front, like you’d find on a Mercedes-Benz or Jaguar. Bob glanced behind and around. Not a dry eye. Almost every hand held a tissue or fancy hankie. Even the men had pulled out white handkerchiefs. Who was this guy? “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” and then, the crowd ebbed back to their parked cars. People hugged when they spotted one another and murmured, their faces close together. “So selfless,” said one woman in a grey coat, “it’s hard to believe he’s gone.” “He was so good to her. And to the boys,” her friend tried to smile. “Will I see you at the reception?” Reception? To think he was worried about finding something to do today. Ha! Take that Jim Thorpe! Bob slid into his brown Civic, Belinda. Her interior had a tang from the take-out containers he’d tossed in back and the funky musk of mildew colonizing deep in the unused backseat. Sure, his old friend’s exterior was a bit pimpled with rust and a few bumps, but Belinda had never let him down. She puttered as Bob waited for the end of the line. When the final car in the procession passed, he slid her into first. He was a “tail,” like in the movies or one of those cop shows on TV. He only needed a pair of leather gloves. Tight leather that creaked when he flexed his hands around Belinda’s steering wheel. A few of the cars turned away from the caravan, too busy for the reception, but most stuck with the parade uphill, arriving at a large pink Victorian house overlooking town. Bob parked his car a few blocks away and walked. At the bottom of the Victorian’s brick walkway, he looked up. Bob had to tip his head way back to see the turrets atop the steep roof. It was covered in aged greenish metal and edging it, a cutout white border detailed with flowers and diamond shapes. The same border design decorated the windows, and made the stained-glass edges on the huge picture window stand out even more. The walls looked pastry-puffy, or as if they were covered by a giant bubble-gum pink quilt. Bob wrapped his arms around his shoulders and tucked his chin to his chest. A tingle slithered through him at the thought of seeing the street and the town through the other side of the stained glass. Fuck you, Jim Thorpe. On the wide front porch, a dozen or so people milled about, some smoking, others just talking. Bob caught the scent of prime rib, mashed potatoes, with just a hint of Sterno through the open front door. Ummm, his stomach twitched. He slipped inside and

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FICTION

made his way through the busy living room. He whispered “Excuse me,” and “I beg your pardon,” as he moved closer to the buffet. When Bob saw the spread, it looked like Christmas. As a child, his parents always took him to “wealthy” Aunt Willow and Uncle Chester’s big party on Christmas Eve. His mom would fuss over his suit and tie from leaving their house until they were standing at Aunt and Uncle’s front door. There she rang the bell and with crooked twist of her small mouth, she’d give up fixing the tie. His father would stand there with his back to them, cursing under his breath. Every Christmas, the same. But then, there was always so much food. And dessert. And candy. And the gifts! Yes the stuff he “needed”— the socks and underwear, the pajamas and coat, the plaid scarf that had chafed so when he was 13— but Aunt Willow would always give him one nice thing. This dead guy’s buffet was pretty close to those Christmas Eve feasts. Bob’s mouth was filling with saliva as he grabbed a plate and loaded up. He used his fork to spear a bite of steak, and stepped through the mourners into the next room, stalling behind a round woman absorbed in conversation with the priest. “Oh Father, you know, Daniel never looked his age. He jogged every day! I bet that helped. And going to church every week, too.” She clasped her hands under her chin. “Yes, Mr. Fellows kept his youth to the last.” The preacher’s voice was deep and practiced. His head nodded like a bobble doll above his stiff white collar. “The Fellows boys are so like him. But his death has hit them so hard. They’re suffering... they were all so close. So close. Let’s pray for them.” The round woman bowed her head and the holy man placed a pink hand on hers. The big whitehaired head bobbed as he blessed the departed soul, the suffering boys, the dear wife. Bob pressed gently past, swallowing a few forkfuls of mashed potatoes along the way. Smooth and buttery. Perfect saltiness. The next room was covered in mauve wallpaper with tiny white vertical lines. And, well! a white baby grand. This must be the Music Room. Bob felt as though he could curl up under the Steinway and take a nap; maybe someone would play a soft melody. “Your father always helped me out. I’m blessed to have known him.” Bob turned at the shaky sound of an old woman’s voice. She swung a heavy cane to address three men around Bob’s own age; the woman, bent at the waist, much older than them, the sons? Yes, they looked like family, brothers. Bob slipped behind the woman to study their red eyes, the grey puffy skin under them, and their unhappy smiles. Then Bob forked the last piece of warm pink steak. So tender. A hand pressed lightly on his forearm. “Excuse me, sorry. I’m just trying to see the boys before I go. Full house, eh?” The man smiled down at Bob as he passed, hiss blue pinstripe suit swooshed a little. Bob nodded, then looked down at his empty plate when the man shook hands with the sons. At the dessert table, he aimed between a younger man and woman, twenties? He bumped them a little. He was surprised to see all her earrings when she glanced back at him. Bob decided to take one of everything. He left the small dessert plate, empty, on a corner of the baby grand. Then he accepted a warm china cup of coffee from a woman in a black dress and made his way to the polished curve of the staircase, a staircase, Bob thought, just as beautiful as the casket. He paused on the first step. Who was watching? Bob held the saucer properly as he sipped from his hot cup and turned around, taking in the room. From the staircase, he could see everyone as

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

they talk talk talked. He looked up. The chandelier was bigger than he was, golden metal, strung with thin chains and cut crystal, it shimmered high above the pale green marble floor. Bob wished the little lights were glowing, giving the crystals more life. He moved up two steps and squinted out through the stained-glass edge of the giant window; he melted the houses and trees across outside into green and red globs. Bob looked back at the pulsing crowd. No one noticed him. No Jim Thorpe to send him away. Not as he stood there on the third step, not as he stopped on the landing half-way up, and not as he looked down at them from the top. Not as he nestled the saucer and cup in the topmost curl of the bannister. At the end of the hall, the dark wood door was open, just an inch or so. Bob felt his heartbeat in the fingers that gave it a gentle push, and he slipped inside. “Hello?” he peered this way and then that. The master bedroom. Really really big. His ears heard only the soft clink of china and the slurred hum of voices floating up from downstairs. Bob swept the door closed behind him and trespassed a little further into the vast room. The big bed, centered along the far wall, was covered in a smooth gold spread with contrasting pillows in brown, green and orange. Zow-wee. It was the largest bed Bob had ever seen, and had a headboard of carved gods and goddesses chasing around. He figured at least three grown men could sleep in it. If they wanted to. Bob tiptoed over and the gold fabric felt cool yet soft against his warm hand. The light in the room was strange and glowey. Bob looked up. Directly over the bed, the ceiling was translucent milky-blue glass, like in a big bank or a church. With just a little jump, Bob was sitting on the bed. He scooted over the silken bedspread until he had positioned himself exactly in the center of the bed, against two fat, firm pillows. And then, basking in the vivid light from the ceiling, he stretched out fully, flexing his feet far out in front of him. His mother had never, ever allowed shoes on a bed. Any bed. He turned his head to the right. There was a picture, an older couple smiled out from the polished picture frame on the bedside table. The man stood behind the seated woman, his hands on her shoulders, hers on her lap. Bob recognized the pose – church photo. He had a similar one of his parents, somewhere in his apartment. On the opposite side of the bed, same people, different picture. He knew that woman... her large eyes, tart mouth, square chin, she looked so familiar. Ah! The Kleenex woman from the funeral, and... of course, the cup of coffee downstairs. Yes, her eyes were so blue. Bob studied the man with his large hands on her small shoulders. So this is Daniel Fellows. Bob looked over his toes; there was a fireplace. He looked back a Daniel. He reminded Bob of an actor, the older guy whose face looked like he’d just tasted something sweet. Bob took a big bolster pillow covered in dark green velvet and adjusted it so it was lengthwise, next to him. He curled his arms and legs around it, and rested his head on the soft sun-warmed surface. Eyes closed, he pretended the pillow was Daniel Fellows, that he rested on Daniel’s strong arm. Bob could hear a heart beat in his ear, the soft pound of Daniel’s heart against his cheek. The arm wrapped around him with a little squeeze, and then, yes, the soft sensation of a skilled hand stroking the hair around his ear. It tickled and Bob sighed. As if in response to his sigh, Bob felt a soft pressure, Daniel’s warm lips pressed against his forehead. This was way better than being at work, in his cube. Fuck you, Jim Thorpe.

Walk up the stairs. Turn right. Relax.

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