Vivid Ballet presents Swan Lake Act II

Vivid Ballet and Connecticut Youth Ballet will be returning to the Blackstone Library (Branford, CT) to present an interactive reading of "Swan Lake" by Margot Fonteyn, and will be led by company artist Lauren Rutledge. As a part of this event, participants will be able to meet and dance with fully costumed enchanted swans from this classic tale. 

The event will be geared toward ages 2-6, but all are more than welcome! 

Thursday - June 1, 2017 - 10:00-11:00 AM 

Blackstone Library Auditorium

758 Main St, Branford, CT 06405

For more information see the library's event page or call 203-488-1441

Vivid Ballet is delighted to also announce their Spring Performance featuring Swan Lake: Act II! Come enjoy an evening of both classical and contemporary ballet as we present an act from one of the world's most beloved ballets along with tastes of the diverse repertoire from our inaugural season. Tickets are on sale now!

 

Order Online Here or call the Shubert Box Office at 203-562-5666. 

Vivid Ballet’s Summer Intensive offers pre-professional and professional dancers the highest caliber of classical ballet training with world renowned instructors, augmented by a rich diversity of classes and performance experience. The Intensive is designed to build technical strength, encourage artistic exploration and promote human flourishing.  Join us to experience the True, the Good, and the Beautiful through dance!

 Summer Intensive

Program Overview

The Summer Intensive provides a supportive environment that fosters physical and artistic challenge. Six days of intensive dance combine technique and repertory as well the opportunity to forge community and friendships with your fellow dancers.

Class Offerings

Ballet and pointe technique, modern, repertoire, pas de deux, pilates, hip-hop, and contemporary.  Instructors include Silas Farley (New York City Ballet), Ad Deum II (Houston, TX), Lars Nelson (New York City Ballet), Elizabeth McMillan (Vivid Ballet Artistic Director), and Vivid Ballet Company Artists. 

For more information or to register visit vividballet.com.

 

 

 

Award-winning Filmmaker Karyl Evans Explores Life and Work of Renowned Landscape Architect Beatrix Farrand

The first documentary film ever produced about nationally renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, by six-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker Karyl Evans, will premiere locally at the New Haven Documentary Film Festival at Yale on Monday, June 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Whitney Humanities Center in New Haven.

Six-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker Karyl Evans’ most recent documentary explores the life and career of landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, who is consideredthe most important female landscape architect in the first part of the 20th century.

“The Life and Gardens of BEATRIX FARRAND” is a captivating film about a woman born into privilege, but determined to make a name for herself in the male-dominated profession of landscape architecture. Against all odds, Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959), who was the niece of famed American author Edith Wharton, went on to design some of the country’s most important landscapes, including Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.; the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden; the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Bar Harbor, Maine; and the East Garden at the White House.

As one of the founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects she is credited with helping to open the landscape architecture profession to women. Farrand was also the first woman to be hired as the landscape consultant to Yale University and worked in that capacity from 1922-1945. During that time, she designed plans across the campus,

from the Marsh Botanical Gardens to landscape plans for the Yale Medical School. The film also highlights three exquisite gardens designed by Farrand in Connecticut, including Hill-Stead in Farmington, Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, and Promisek in Bridgewater, all of which have been recently renovated.

With rare archival images and illuminating interviews with Farrand scholars, Evans’ 40-minute documentary film gives a fascinating overview of Farrand’s 50-year career which included over 200 commissions. The film includes more than 60 Farrand-related sites, along with interviews with landscape architect Diana Balmori, landscape historian Judith

Tankard, and New Haven-based landscape architect Shavaun Towers.

Admission is free to the screening on Monday, June 5 and is open to the public. Visit NHDocs.com website for more details about NHDocs which runs from June 1 - June 11, 2017. The Whitney Humanities Center is located at 53 Wall St., New Haven, CT. 

 

About the Filmmaker
In 2016, Karyl Evans won the National Academy of Television Arts and Science’s “Outstanding Director” Emmy Award for her work as the director of “Letter from Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio,” commissioned by the GMChorale and narrated by Academy Award winning actress Meryl Streep. Evans, owner of Karyl Evans Productions LLC in North Haven, Connecticut, has produced many historical documentaries over the past 30 years about Connecticut history. Her productions include “The New Haven Green: Heart of a City,” narrated by Paul Giamatti, as well as a series of

documentaries for public television including the “History of African-Americans in Connecticut” and the “History of Connecticut Cities.”

Evans was a full-time professor at Southern Connecticut State University for two years;
she is currently a fellow at Yale University, and is one of the organizers of the New
Haven Documentary Film Festival at Yale. To download photographs, learn more about Karyl Evans and “The Life and Gardens of BEATRIX FARRAND" visit BeatrixFarrandDocumentary.com.
 

Paid Arts Internships for Young Aspiring and Emerging Arts Administrators, Educators, Artists

Eligibility:
To be eligible, individuals must:
Be a Connecticut Resident
Demonstrate Financial Need
Align to COA's READI framework
Have availability to successfully complete the program
Be enrolled in an accredited College of University OR be an emerging arts professional within the following categories: arts administration, arts presenting/curating, media arts, performing arts, visual arts, arts education, and literary arts.

Awards:
The internship is for 25 hours per week for 10 weeks. Selected organizations will be granted $3,750 per intern and will pay the intern at the rate of $15 per hour.

Funding Period:
Interns will receive payment from the organization where their internship will take place. The internship must take place from June 5th through August 11th, 2017.

How to Apply:
Prepare a Word document and include the following information:

1. Applicant Information
    Include full name, title, home address, contact information, affiliated College/University or affiliated professional Arts Organization. Indicate whether you are a College Student or an Emerging Arts professional. Indicate your are focus of the following options: arts administration, arts presenting/curating, media arts, performing arts, visual arts, arts education, and literary arts (100 word maximum).

2. Personal Statement
    Provide a brief description of the internship experience you visualize. Be very specific to how you see an internship of this nature helping you to meet your professional and career goals. (500-word maximum).

3. Describe how you align to our READI Framework (Please follow this link for explanation of READI). (500 word maximum).

4. Financial Need
    Please indicate how a apid internship opportunity will help you financially. (200-word maximum).

5. Required Attachments
     a) Applicant's Resume
     b) One letter of recommendation/support from applicant's affiliated arts organization or College/University
    c) Cover letter

Send email with attachments to Adriane Jefferson at Adriane.Jefferson@ct.gov.
The subject line of the email should read: Arts Workforce Initiative: Your Name
You will receive a confirmation email.






Reporting Requirements:
Selected interns will be required to submit a weekly report of their internship experience, including their work duties and internship milestones. Students will also have a bi-weekly check in with Connecticut Office of the Arts.

Questions:
Contact Adriane Jefferson at 860-256-2786 or Adriane.Jefferson@ct.gov.

Advocacy Alert!!

ADVOCACY ALERT

Last week the White House submitted a budget proposal to Congress that eliminates funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the Corporation for National and Community Services (Americorps), among other federal agencies. Eliminating the NEA would be a devastating blow to the arts and cultural ecosystem of our region, Connecticut, and the nation.  With only a $148 million annual appropriation - that's 0.004% of the total federal budget - the NEA awards grants to artists and organizations in every Congressional district, generates more than $600 million annually in additional matching funds, and supports 4.8 million jobs. Congress will now consider this budget proposal. Funding federal arts and cultural agencies has historically received bipartisan support, and we want you to share your voice with our Congressional representatives. President Trump himself has said, "The Congress, as representatives of the people, make the determination as to what the spending priorities ought to be." 1. Take 2 minutes now to contact your members of Congress and join the #SaveTheNEA campaign. Send a customizable message to your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to oppose any attempt to eliminate or cut funding to the NEA. 2. Call or write your members of Congress and tell them to continue funding arts and culture.  Senator Richard Blumenthal (202) 224-2823 706 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 www.blumenthal.senate.gov Senator Chris Murphy (202) 224-4041 136 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 www.murphy.senate.gov 3. Post on Facebook and Twitter to help rally support. 4. Learn more about the NEA and its impact locally, statewide and across the nation Americans for the Arts Mobilization Center: http://www.americansforthearts.org/news-room/arts-mobilization-center Fact vs. Fiction: Government Arts Funding (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies): http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Advocacy/Advocacy-Tools/FactvFictionGovtArtsFunding.pdf  "The Real Cost of Abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts" (The Atlantic): https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/03/what-eliminating-the-arts-and-humanities-endowments-would-really-mean/519774/ "Trump's Budget Worry State's Arts and Cultural Leaders" including Eugene   O' Neill Theater Center's Preston Whiteway (Hartford Courant): http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-nea-neh-cpb-funding-cuts-proposal-0317-20170316-story.html

U.S Representatives
John Larson                                                                                                            Jim Himes
(202)-225-2265                                                                                                       (202)-225-5541
1501 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20515                              1227 Longworth House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515

www.larson.house.gov                                                                                            www.himes.house.gov

Joe Courtney                                                                                                           Elizabeth Esty
(202)225-2076                                                                                                        (202)-225-4476
2348 Rayburn House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515                                      221 Cannon House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515
www.courtney.house.gov                                                                                        www.esty.house.gov

Rosa DeLauro
(202)-225-3661
2413 Rayburn Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515

Ride to School in a Guilford Fire Truck - Auction Item

Want to hitch a ride to school in style? The recipient of this auction item will be eligible to receive a ride to school in a Guilford fire truck. Recipient must be a resident of Guilford and the ride must be scheduled directly with the fire department.

Three Sicilian Tenors

The celebrated three SICILIAN TENORS,Caruso,Scaccio and Vitale lend their voices to the music of Italy, Broadway and Hollywood. Their united forces create a whirlwind of bella musica and light-hearted fun…not to mention the requisite “one-upmanship” expected when tenors gather! Their nationally-acclaimed performances stretch from Carnegie Hall to Las Vegas! The three tenors all have Sicilian ancestry.

Aaron Caruso studied in Italy and New York and has performed opera from La Boheme, La Traviata, I Pagliacci, andTosca. He was recently chosen to sing the role of Mario Lanza which will open on Broadway in the future. At nearly all of the major Italian music festivals in the U.S. he has been a headliner, specializing in Neapolitan Italian music. Elio Scaccio,a seasoned credentialed opera performer, has been an on-stage artist since early childhood. Classically-trained, his pop-classical debut CD “Lettere D’Amore”was released recently. It is comprised of original compositions along with well-known Italian classics and was followed by a Spanish version. He has the ability to “crossover” between classical and pop standards. Sam Vitale is also a classically-trained tenor and seasoned credentialed opera performer. He has sung the lead tenor roles in Carmen, La Traviata, Tosca, L’Elisir d’Amore, The Phantom of the Opera, Don Giovanni and I Pagliacci . While in the United States Air Force Vitale won 1st place in the World Wide Tops in Blue Competition - Classical Division. He is a proud veteran of Operation Desert Storm. The Sicilian Tenors are accompanied by David Gross,conductor, piano accompanist, music director and arranger for top stars including Andrea Bocelli, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Vale, and many others.

The Middletown Concert Series recently made the move to the new MHS Performing Arts Auditorium at Middletown High School. While always changing, in the past the Series has featured outstanding classical ensembles, ethnic dance, jazz, cabaret and folk music. Other performers and performances include as orchestras, trios and quartets as well as nationally and internationally known classical and nontraditional soloists.

Palate to Palette

There is still time to support the Lyme Art Association and enjoy the special treats they are offering on both platters and walls. Enjoy a sumptuous offering of fine food by the area's top restaurants and caterers, plus a variety of local beer and wine. Event includes a silent auction featuring specially created works of art.

Reservations are $50 per guest ($45 for LAA members) and can be made here.

Participating vendors include: A Thyme to Cook, Coffees Country Market, Fresh Salt, Frommage Fine Foods & Coffee, Gourmet Galley, Haylon's Market, Lillian's Cafe, Old Lyme Inn, Old Lyme Seafood, Saybrook Soup and Sandwich, The Public House Restaurant, Beer by 30 Mile Brewing Co.

Lyme Art Association hosts a diverse schedule of juried art exhibitions with all works for sale by its Member Artists. Further, in keeping with the Association’s commitment to provide a showcase for the exhibition and sale of fine art, the spacious gallery is offered periodically as a gallery for the works of some of the region’s finest and newest representational artists.

Incorporated in 1914, the Lyme Art Association continues the tradition of presenting fine art exhibitions and sales by its artist members in the historic gallery. Exhibitions of Lyme Impressionist paintings began in 1902 and were held every summer in the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library in Old Lyme until August 6, 1921, when the present Lyme Art Association gallery opened.

American Impressionist painters Gifford Beal, Louis Paul Dessar, Childe Hassam, and Willard L. Metcalf joined with Will Howe Foote, Henry Rankin Poore, Allen B. Talcott, and Carleton Wiggins in the early exhibitions of the Association. The Lyme Art Association gallery was the culmination of seven years of planning by artists Frank Bicknell, William Chadwick, Harry Hoffmann, Wilson Irvine, Lawton Parker, William Robinson, Edward Rook, and Gregory Smith.

The building site was adjacent to Miss Florence Griswold's late Georgian mansion, today a renowned museum of American Impressionism, where many of the artists gathered each summer season. Click here to visit the Florence Griswold Museum’s website. The land was purchased from Miss Florence in 1917.

The building committee chaired by Lawton Parker, worked with architect Charles A. Platt, designer of the Freer Art Gallery in Washington , D.C. and the Lyman Allyn Museum in New London , CT.

The plans for the gallery called for perfect lighting and architectural compatibility with the other buildings in the New England village of Old Lyme . In its review of the opening exhibition, the New York Times praised the gallery as, “an embodiment of art in harmony with its natural surroundings.”

A fourth spacious room, the Goodman Gallery, was built in 1938. It was donated by Mrs. William Owen Goodman in memory of her husband, a Chicago art patron and the Association’s third president. In 1986 the building was named to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Historic District of Old Lyme, Connecticut.

The mission of the Lyme Art Association is to advance the cause of representational fine arts by owning, maintaining, and preserving an historic building and galleries in Old Lyme, Connecticut, holding art exhibitions, and conducting educational programs for the benefit of the local community and the general public.

Autumn Arts Festival

The Arts Center Killingworth presents its 12th Annual Autumn Arts Festival on the Madison Connecticut Town Green (Boston Post Rd/Route 1 and Copse Rd) Saturday, October 8 (9:30-5pm) and Sunday, October 9 (12-5pm), with a rain date of Monday, October 12 (10-5pm). This annual art event includes the original work of award-winning artists and fine artisans throughout Connecticut and the tri-state region.  On the Green this Columbus Day Weekend will be representational and abstract painters working in oil, wax, acrylic and pastel, collage artists, photographers, potters and ceramicists, glass artisans and jewelry designers showing pieces in silver, semi-precious stones and polymer clay.

For the third year, the Festival includes a six-week (September 23-November 6) juried Group Gallery Show at the Spectrum Gallery and Artisans Store in Centerbrook.  Select pieces by Festival artists are presented and include painting, photography and mixed media collage, while the Store offers many one-of-a-kind fine crafts.  Spectrum Gallery, an expansion of the Arts Center Killingworth, located at 61 Main Street, Centerbrook, CT is open Wednesday-Saturday (12-6pm) and Sunday (12-5pm).

“We are very pleased that this is our 12th year presenting to the public this group of high-quality artists and fine artisans on such a picturesque spot on the Shoreline,” said Barbara Nair, Executive Director of the Arts Center Killingworth and Spectrum Gallery. “We see people return each year for a weekend of art, music, and an up-close look at the creative process of established and emerging artists.”

Entrance to both the Autumn Arts Festival and Gallery Group Show is free.  In addition to the artist exhibits, the Green also includes several food options as well as musical performances both afternoons.  Visitors will receive a complimentary event program with map and booth locations of each artist, and information on upcoming Arts Center and Spectrum Gallery classes, workshops, and Gallery receptions.

“The Autumn Arts Festival this year has attracted artists from as far away as Garden City, NY, and Brewster and Yorktown Heights, NY.  At our relatively new gallery and store in Centerbrook, Spectrum Art Gallery, we have been working with many new artists for more than two years, and others longer through the Arts Center before the gallery opened.  Relationships are developing which is evident in the quality of fine art and crafts offered on the Green this year.  Our loyal returning public and new attendees will have much to enjoy on what we hope will be beautiful fall days this Columbus Day Weekend!” Read more.

To help plan a Festival visit, the Arts Center’s website (artscenterkillingworth.org) offers online galleries featuring artwork images and background on each participating artist. More photos and information can also be found on the Center’s various social media sites such as facebook.com/artscenterkillingworth, twitter.com/arts_center_ct, pinterest.com/artscenterct, and at instagram.com/spectrum_art_gallery.

The Arts Center Killingworth, a nonprofit founded in 2004, organizes outdoor festivals, and offers classes, camps and workshops for children, teens and adults. The Center provides volunteer opportunities for adults to become more involved with the arts and the community, while providing teens the opportunity to earn community service hours.  The Center also offers tax-deductible Membership which provides unique benefits including class and workshop discounts, member and donor special invitations, and advertising and fee discounts for artists, local and regional businesses.

Spectrum Gallery and Store in Centerbrook opened in the spring of 2014 and presents approximately six annual exhibits, showcasing representational and abstract painting, mixed media, sculpture and photography. The Artisans Store offers fine crafts in fabric, glass, ceramics, pottery, jewelry and more. Educational and interactive events such as classes and workshops, artist discussions and demos, and family day events are also offered at the Gallery.

• For more information about Arts Center programming visit www.artscenterkillingworth.org or call (860) 663-5593 / email artscenterkillingworth@gmail.com.  For more information about the Spectrum Gallery and Store visit www.spectrumartgallery.org or call