June 13, 2011

Weekend Six

(Roll & Go)

Weather was the word for this weekend in Connecticut.  As we prepared to depart for a Thursday evening concert in Mystic, a violent rain storm swept through the area.  A large limb slammed into our house, but nothing was broken.  We were, however, late for the concert.

In the Boat Shed

Not too bad though, as the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival kicked-off just a few minutes before we arrived.  And while a light rain continued through the night, we were dry in the Boat Shed for the first concert of the festival, called, appropriately, the Fitting Out.  There was Bonnie and Dan Milne serving as hosts and performers, with the Mystic Seaport Chanteymen (yes, there is a woman-get over it), Tom Kastle , David Littlefield, Roll & Go, Rick Spencer, Carl Thornton and Caryl P. Weiss.  Here is some video of a few of the performances:

Dan Seneti and the MS Chanteymen

Caryl P. Weiss

Click on the name to see more videos.

Of course on Friday there were more Art openings.  One in Middletown, home of Wesleyan University and the other in New Britain, home of Stanley tools..

Along with the University, there is a fair number of Art galleries and cooperatives in Middletown.  The Wesleyan Potters was founded in 1948 and they have a beautiful facility right on Main Street.  While they were doing a salt firing out back, there was an opening for artists with work that was hand-built.  Not thrown.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Martha Hundley
Alice Schumacher

And here are a few pictures I shot while in Middletown:



Henry Clay Root, composer Marching Through Georgia, was born in Middletown.

Then it was on to New Britain where the Art League of New Britain (founded in 1928) was presenting a show by new ALNB President, Laurencia Ciprus.



It was toasty inside and work needs to be done, but since it's an historic structure, hoops must be jumped through.  Good luck Laurencia.


Here are a few more shots of New Britain:

While the Rose Garden came later, Walnut Hill Park was
originally designed by Frederic Law Olmsted in 1847.
Winged Victory on top of the Civil War soldiers memorial built by Ernest Flagg in 1897.
Home by Craig M. Frederick, 2000
lawyers office
Human Rights Memorial built in memory of Father Jerzy Poieluszko and the Solidarity Movement.

It rained all day Saturday causing me to miss the commemoration of Harriett Beecher Stowe's 100th birthday at her home on Farmington Ave.  On Sunday, I bicycled over to downtown West Hartford for the Celebrate West Hartford! site to see what was going on.

It was all around Town Hall, basically.  There was a carnival in the parking lot and tents on the lawns.  They spread some plywood between the tents to provide some footing as the ground was still soggy. Like all the others, there was little real Art to be found.  Here are a few of the artists I found there:

Robin Grace from Australia via West Kingston, RI
Elaine Thompson of Ellenville, NY
Tatyana Eliseeva of Cranston, RI

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