A Year in New England: Weekend Thirty-Seven

Rehearsal was cut short on Thursday night, because it was Chester’s 90th birthday. After playing Happy Birthday and Solat (at traditional Polish tune), we had cake while Chester joked about cracking open the big bottle of Canadian Club he received. He still plays a pretty mean baritone horn.

I started the day dropping Marie at the airport for her long weekend in Florida. Before rehearsal, there was an opening at the St. Joseph College Art Gallery, in West Hartford. The featured artist was Emilio Sanchez. This Cuban-born artist is well known for his architecturally inspired works, which were almost made abstract by his use of light and color. Seventeen pieces were recently donated to the college.

For me the highlights are found in the rest of the gallery from the rotating pieces donated by Reverend Andrew Kelly. I don’t know how much money he made, but he was some collector. There were pieces by well-known artists:

The Banjo Lesson by Mary Cassatt, c 1893

June by Milton Avery

King Philip by Thomas Hart Benton, 1922

And not so well-known. Aurelia Calonesco (or Caloenesco) is one of my favorites that we discovered here:

Romanian Woman by Aurelia Calonesco

Born in Romania (Sept 23, 1895), Aurelia studied at the Beaux-Arts Academy in Bucharest. She exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Artistes Independants and Salon de la Societe des Artistes Francais, 1922-1928. She married Robert Hallowell, one of the founders of the New Republic Magazine, on February 14, 1926.

She exhibited in New York City in solo shows and with her husband at the Montross Gallery, 1929, and the Delphic Studios, 1936. Aurelia worked with the WPA from March 1936 until January 1937. She died in the Bronx in November of 1968. This is all we know about Ms. Calonesco.

Friday was The Hartt School’s Collage 2012 at the University of Hartford. Hartt began as a conservatory of music in 1920 before becoming part of the University, so performing arts is the name of the game. For this performance everyone had at least a brief appearance. In addition to the full orchestra and chorus with various conductors and soloists, there was ballet and other dancing, excerpts from plays such as Hamlet, Sunday in the Park with George, Hotel Casablanca, and Kiss Me Kate, an African drum ensemble, jazz and opera singers, even a bagpiper percussionist duo and some bluegrass. Everything was fast-paced, going from one act to the next with barely a breath for an hour and a half. Of course, I should mention the opening monologue by Kevin Gray, which was very funny.

Kevin Gray

Another Openin', Another Show

Hartt Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

Keith Williams

from Sunday in the Park with George

Metamorphoses

Percussion Ensemble

Haruka Terayama

Curtain Call

Saturday was an opening at ArtSpace in Hartford for Ashleigh Kay. We’ve seen Ashleigh’s work a couple of other times and I always enjoy it. There was a nice turnout for the reception.

She was made to blow you away

Before that, I stopped at the gallery at TheaterWorks to see work by Jenni Freidman. Monotype prints. Very soft. Pastel. The refreshments matched.

Jenni Freidman

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day, once again defying New England Winter. So I drove down to Chester for their 22nd Winter Carnivale. I got there early, so was able to find a parking spot in a bank parking lot. It was also nice to get a feel for the town before it got crowded.

Chester is the quintessential New England village, settled along the bank of the Connecticut River in 1692. The Pattaconk Brook, which once powered the mills, still runs through the center, though mostly underground.

The center has an assortment of gift/antique/gallery shops and restaurants. Many were selling their wares on the sidewalks for the event. While there was a small sculpture gallery, I only found one real Art gallery (though several claimed to be). Spring Street Studio and Gallery featured the art of Leif Nilsson, on two floors of an old Colonial. A band was preparing to play Grateful Dead tunes, while I perused. And while I found the art appalling, the prices he was asking were even moreso. This piece costs $30,000:

Up Spring Street with Rhododendrons

Outside, on the porch of the gallery, three professional ice carvers were preparing to begin working on their blocks of ice at 10:30. Actually, they began a few minutes early, and were rewarded by a tripped circuit breaker, as they all use electric chainsaws, and other appliances.

Down on the square were seven amateur carvers. Some came from Middlesex Community College, where they have a culinary arts program which I presume includes ice carving.

They had until 1:00 to finish their creations. In the meantime, there were a few street performers:

And at the firehouse, the chili cook-off was underway. I walked up there, but of course, most (if not all) the contestants included beef, so I didn’t partake. I did find this unusual way of delighting the dogs, however:

There were lots of dogs in attendance.

And the crowd was pretty thick by noon.

One group of strange people used their block of ice to stage a Sylvester Stallone movie using Barbie, Ken, and GI Joe dolls. If they weren’t on drugs, they had used them extensively in the past.