Past Events

The National Geographic Photo Ark, led by photographer Joel Sartore, is a multiyear effort to document every species living in wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting on-the-ground conservation efforts. With ingenuity and wit, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore has captured portraits of more than 6,000 creatures in 40 countries to date. Many of the animals live in the world’s zoos and aquariums, institutions dedicated to preserving and caring for species of all kinds.

The Norwalk Art Festival features the works of 125 juried artists from local to national talent. They will exhibit a wide variety of media including photography, drawing, ceramics, jewelry, painting, mixed media, printmaking, fiber, metal sculpture and glass. Hosted with the support of The Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Stepping Stones Museum, Mathews Mansion Museum and The Norwalk Parks Department, this Art Festival will be a premier cultural event in the area. The Center for Contemporary Printmaking will also be open for their annual FOOTPRINT show and sale.

Curated by Theresa Papanikolas, Ph.D., of the Honolulu Museum of Art, the landmark exhibition Visions of Hawai’i at New York Botanical Garden offers a rare focus on 20 of O’Keeffe’s depictions of Hawai‘i from a nine-week sojourn in 1939 while on commission to produce images for a Hawaiian Pineapple Company promotional campaign.

To accompany their upcoming exhibition Becoming Tiffany: From Hudson Valley Painter to Gilded Age Tastemaker (opening June 1) Lyndhurst will host a public Symposium on Louis Comfort Tiffany’s career, focusing on new and ongoing research. It will feature esteemed speakers Professor Roberta Mayer, Professor Patricia Pongracz, Professor Martin Eidelberg and Sam White, FAIA. Howard Zar, Lyndhurst executive director will explore Jay and Helen Gould’s overlooked roles as one of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s most important and consistent patrons.

Greenwich International Film Festival is a favorite late spring event that we’ve enjoyed for the past three years as – it’s a terrific opportunity to see new films and special features locally, while supporting the Festival and filmmakers. Members are invited to join me at any of the following films during the Festival: McQueen, Connecticut Shorts, The Price of Everything, Shakespeare Wallah, Generation Wealth, Joao, O Maestro and the Panel: Women at the Helm: A Conversation about Female Directors.

Join me for a Wave Hill History Walk, followed by a visit to their Glyndor Gallery where Curator of Visual Arts Eileen Jeng Lynch, Curatorial Fellow Natika Soward, and artists Marna Chester, Peter Morgan and Tanya Chaly will be on hand to give a behind the scenes look at Avifauna: Interplay of Birds + Habitat. Artists will speak to their specific environmental concerns and the way that they study birds and habitat to create their work. They will share insights into their techniques and practice as artists/naturalists.

The Fairfield County Chorale will conclude its 55th season with J.S. Bach’s sacred masterwork, Mass in B minor on Saturday, May 12th at the Norwalk Concert Hall. The concert, conducted by music director David Rosenmeyer, features the 100+ voices of the Fairfield County Chorale, the Fairfield County Chorale Orchestra, and four dazzling young soloists: soprano Sarah Hawkey, mezzo soprano Kate Maroney, tenor Charles Sy, and baritone Elijah Blaisdel. Bach’s monumental Mass in B minor is widely regarded as one of the supreme achievements of classical music.

Join me for a visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art to see Thomas Cole’s Journey: Atlantic Crossings and Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence. Thomas Cole’s Journey marks the 200th anniversary of Cole’s first Atlantic crossing, when he emigrated from England to the United States in 1818, and brings to prominence the dialogue between American and European artists in the mid-19th century by hanging Cole’s work in direct juxtaposition with works he studied on his formative journey. Public Parks, Private Gardens will feature some 150 works by more than 70 artists, spanning the late 18th through early 20th century, from The Met’s collection, as well as other private collections.

On Thursday, May 3, the Flinn Gallery at the Greenwich Library will launch an opening reception for “Art Students League Revisited.” The exhibition includes diverse works of eight artists at the League and will feature sculpture, prints and paintings. Complementing a similar popular exhibit ten years ago, this exhibit seeks to highlight several current award-winning League artists and their varied and interesting work.

Join me to meet the artists in Gilles Clement Gallery’s upcoming exhibition, Clement Kamena: ILLUSIONS, for a special event as we celebrate the kick-off of Alliance Française Focus on French Film Festival. Serge Clement and Marina Kamena, Parisians now based in Westport, Connecticut, have been making collaborative art in the contemporized spirit of Renaissance ateliers for over twenty years – a prolific body of work that reflects the couple’s relentlessly dynamic, creative and visionary approach. Focus on French Cinema is an international independent film festival showcasing a diverse selection of the best and the latest contemporary French-language films from around the world.

The fifth and final concert in the New Maestro Series with the Stamford Symphony will feature Guest Maestro Rei Hotoda, with Cecile Licad, piano. The Stamford Symphony has generously offered two tickets to match our two tickets for each weekend, so the first four members to respond can enjoy a complimentary performance. We will be attending Sunday afternoon performances for each weekend in this series, the concerts begin at 3:00 pm. Afterwards, members are invited to join me for dinner at a restaurant nearby.

Join me for a visit to The Morgan Library & Museum to see their current exhibitions, including Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens which features the greatest works on paper by the artists and highlights the distinctive graphic styles of each artist and their influence on one another. Joseph Cornell: The Saint-Exupéry Dossier marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the publication of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic story The Little Prince and presents five newly discovered drawings by the author as well as intimate memorabilia from his time in New York during the 1940s.

Hieronymus Bosch’s astounding masterpiece, The Garden of Earthly Delights, lures us into a fever dream of a landscape, with a bird-headed creature eating a naked man, giant strawberries, a pig dressed as a nun, and figures of all sorts caught up in scenes of carnal frenzy and hellish torment. What does it all mean? Featuring insights from opera star Renée Fleming, artist Cai Guo-Qiang, former Metropolitan Museum director Philippe de Montebello, writers Orhan Pamuk and Salman Rushdie, and other creative thinkers.

Join me for brunch and a visit to Katonah Museum of Art for a tour of Long, Winding Journeys: Contemporary Art and the Islamic Tradition, which presents a focused look at a group of artists of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent whose work engages the diverse forms of Islamic visual tradition to explore religion, culture, and socio-political issues today. The exhibition brings artists’ voices to the fore as they mine links between the seemingly distant past and contemporary experience.

Join me for a performance in Caramoor’s elegant Music Room with favorites Colin Jacobsen (founding member of The Knights and Brooklyn Rider), Nicholas Cords and Edward Arron (both Evnin Rising Star alumni) when they join forces for a special performance of Bach’s iconic and beloved Goldberg Variations, arranged for string trio. Opening the program will be Biber’s haunting Passacaglia from his Mystery Sonatas, for solo violin. 

In conjunction with NEON:  Stephen Antonakos: Proscenium and Bending Light: Neon Art 1965 to Now, the Neuberger Museum of Art will present “In Conversation: NEON”, a discussion with Thomas Rinaldi, author of New York Neon; Jeff Friedman, owner of Let There Be Neon studio, and Sarah Blood, contemporary mixed-media artist. Avis Larson, Assistant Curator at the museum will be the moderator.

The fourth concert in the New Maestro Series with the Stamford Symphony will feature Guest Maestro Paul Watkins, with Benjamin Beilman, violin. The Stamford Symphony has generously offered two tickets to match our two tickets for each weekend, so the first four members to respond can enjoy a complimentary performance. We will be attending Sunday afternoon performances for each weekend in this series, the concerts begin at 3:00 pm. Afterwards, members are invited to join me for dinner at a restaurant nearby.

Corey Flintoff, former Moscow correspondent for NPR, presents a timely and topical discussion about current U.S.-Russian relations and how past events – from the October Revolution of 1917 to the end of the Cold War to the 2016 U.S. elections – continue to shape the public perceptions and official policies today. Joining Mr. Flintoff in the conversation is Dr. Daniel Ksepka, Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum and co-curator of the museum’s provocative new exhibition Hot Art in a Cold War: Intersections of Art and Science in the Soviet Era. There will be time to view the exhibition and have refreshments beforehand, and a 30-minute Q&A session will follow the discussion.

With In Spite of Wishing and Wanting, Wim Vandekeybus created a performance not about the chemistry between men and women, but a primal desire in a world of men alone – fierce, wild, naïve, and playful. The performance derives its power from the organic symbiosis between dance, theatre, and film. Captivating dance sequences underpinned by the sensual soundtrack by David Byrne, founding member of Talking Heads, dissolve into monologues on fear, the desire for security, and the dreadful magic of sleep. Cultural Pursuit members are offered a special rate for this performance!

The third concert in the New Maestro Series with the Stamford Symphony will feature Guest Maestro David Lockington, with Joshua Roman, cello. The Stamford Symphony has generously offered two tickets to match our two tickets for each weekend, so the first four members to respond can enjoy a complimentary performance. We will be attending Sunday afternoon performances for each weekend in this series, the concerts begin at 3:00 pm. Afterwards, members are invited to join me for dinner at a restaurant nearby.

Please join me for a series of artist talks by 4 internationally renowned artists from the exhibition Beyond Street Art at the Flinn Gallery, an exciting multimedia art exhibition that encompasses the work of 5 iconic street artists who have evolved their careers into becoming globally recognized contemporary artists. Featuring the work of Billy the Artist, Paul Deo, Blake Jamieson, Lady Pink, and Swoon.  Curated by Ruth Sutcliffe-Heagney.

Please join me for the public opening reception for Birds in Art at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. This will be a juried collection of 60 outstanding contemporary artistic interpretations of birds and related subject matter. More than 60 artists have created original paintings, sculptures, and graphics within the past three years, for inclusion in this 42nd annual exhibition. Wildlife enthusiasts, ornithologists, and backyard birders will be delighted by the quality and variety of the artworks that capture birds in all their natural splendor.

Heather Gaudio Fine Art is pleased to present Jeremy Holmes: New Sculpture, the first solo exhibition of the artist at the gallery. Holmes engages the viewer with beautiful abstract three-dimensional forms created out of natural wood. Using traditional wood-working techniques, he starts by soaking 12-foot long planks to make the naturally rigid material more malleable.  Improvising as he works, Holmes bends, twists and coils the slabs into graceful sinewy forms, then joins them to become stunning free-standing or wall-mounted sculptures.

Please join me for a series of artist talks by 4 internationally renowned artists from the exhibition Beyond Street Art at the Flinn Gallery, an exciting multimedia art exhibition that encompasses the work of 5 iconic street artists who have evolved their careers into becoming globally recognized contemporary artists. Featuring the work of Billy the Artist, Paul Deo, Blake Jamieson, Lady Pink, and Swoon.  Curated by Ruth Sutcliffe-Heagney.

Please join me for a series of artist talks by 4 internationally renowned artists from the exhibition Beyond Street Art at the Flinn Gallery, an exciting multimedia art exhibition that encompasses the work of 5 iconic street artists who have evolved their careers into becoming globally recognized contemporary artists. Featuring the work of Billy the Artist, Paul Deo, Blake Jamieson, Lady Pink, and Swoon.  Curated by Ruth Sutcliffe-Heagney.

In the first exhibition of its kind for Greenwich, Beyond Street Art brings the explosive energy of the street to the Flinn Gallery.  Curated by Ruth Sutcliffe, it features the work of five prominent urban artists: Swoon, Lady Pink, Billy the Artist, Paul Deo and Blake Jamieson. Bursting with a supercharged array of voices, the exhibition showcases the movement’s range and impact, its freshness, dynamism and continuing relevance. 

Considered by many to be America’s greatest living choreographer, Paul Taylor is a founder and towering icon of America’s indigenous art form of modern dance. Taylor was awarded the National Medal of the Arts, recognized as a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, and won an Emmy award for his achievements in choreography. The Paul Taylor Dance Company returns to the Quick with a program that features a roster of classic works and audience favorites.

89-year old Agnes Varda, one of the leading figures of the French New Wave, and acclaimed 33 year-old French photographer and muralist JR teamed up to co-direct this enchanting documentary/road movie. Kindred spirits, they travel around the villages of France in JR’s photo truck meeting locals, learning their stories and producing epic-size portraits of them. Faces Places documents these heart-warming encounters as well as the unlikely, tender friendship they formed along the way.

This exhibition will present a stunning range and number of works by the artist: 128 of his drawings, three of his marble sculptures, his earliest painting, his wood architectural model for a chapel vault, as well as a substantial body of complementary works by other artists for comparison and context. Among the extraordinary international loans are the complete series of masterpiece drawings he created for his friend Tommaso de’ Cavalieri and a monumental cartoon for his last fresco in the Vatican Palace. Selected from 50 public and private collections in the United States and Europe, the exhibition will examine Michelangelo’s rich legacy as a supreme draftsman and designer.

Celebrate the holidays with this special performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Fairfield County Chorale’s 100+ voices, their Orchestra and four dazzling soloists:  soprano Pascale Beaudin, countertenor Gon Halevi, tenor Nils Neubert, and bass Andrew Cummings.  This will be the rarely-performed complete version, conducted by David Rosenmeyer, performed in the Norwalk Concert Hall. 

A number of paintings on view in the Yale University Art Gallery’s newly reinstalled American paintings and sculpture galleries are apt to incite curiosity about the artists’ chosen subjects. What was special about a particular view? What did the painter actually see, and from what viewpoint? In each lecture in this series, John Walsh selects an American painting in the Gallery’s collection and examines the similarities and differences between depiction and reality, returning to the painter’s original vantage point in an attempt to work out just what happened when he returned to the studio.

Join me for a walk in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan to visit 5 galleries: Yayoi Kusama Festival of Life at David Zwirner, Ellen Harvey Nostalgia at Danese Corey, Claes Oldenburg/van Bruggen Shelf Life at Pace Gallery, Lee Krasner The Umber Paintings 1959 – 1962 at Paul Kasmin Gallery and Kate Breakey at Littlejohn Contemporary

With the perfect fusion of culture, food, and wine, Italy has incredible presence in the world. When the Greeks first came to Southern Italy, grapes were already so easily cultivated that they named the country Oenotria, The Land of Wine. With at least twenty wine regions, Italy has created a reputation for not only outstanding wines, but also incredible gems at reasonable prices. Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti, Pinot Grigio and Prosecco call this country home. With all these incredible names to live up to, imagine all the grapes you may not have heard of that come from Italy. Italy truly has it all. 

Join me for the second concert in the New Maestro Series with the Stamford Symphony, featuring Guest Maestro Daniel Hege, with Orion Weiss, piano. The Stamford Symphony has generously offered two tickets to match our two tickets for each weekend, so the first four members to respond can enjoy a complimentary performance. We will be attending Sunday afternoon performances for each weekend in this series, the concerts begin at 3:00 pm. Afterwards, members are invited to join me for dinner at a restaurant nearby.

This selection of short films curated by choreographer Peter Pucci explores how professional dancers take on and overcome technical, environmental, and other challenges to deliver a huge variety of choreographic styles. Whether submerged in a mountain lake, tempting perfection with precision footwork, or traversing an emotional landscape in a confined space, the featured dancers rise to the occasion and deliver extraordinary performances.

Modigliani Unmasked considers the celebrated artist Amedeo Modigliani (Italian, 1884-1920) shortly after he arrived in Paris in 1906, when the city was still roiling with anti-Semitism after the long-running tumult of the Dreyfus Affair and the influx of foreign emigres. Modigliani’s Italian-Sephardic background helped forge a complex cultural identity that rested in part on the ability of Italian Jews historically to assimilate and embrace diversity. The exhibition puts a spotlight on Modigliani’s drawings, and shows that his art cannot be fully understood without acknowledging the ways the artist responded to the social realities that he confronted in the unprecedented artistic melting pot of Paris.

Exploring the question “What defines Craft versus Art – and does that division have meaning?”, this exhibition will feature nine artists working in “traditional” craft media – fiber, clay and glass – who artfully unite concept and technique. Participating artists are Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong, Emily Barletta, Susan Eisen, Norma Minkowitz, Kathleen Mulcahy, Ellen Schiffman, Josh Simpson, Phyllis Kudder Sullivan, and Adam Waimon. 

One of the oldest grapes used for wine, Pinot Noir can be traced back to the first century, when the Romans conquered Gaul and discovered its beauty. It was the wine of choice for Sacraments, and the public quickly came to love it as well. Originating in France (which also has the most Pinot Noir planted, at 29,542 hectares) this little grape has made its way all over the world and back. We can find Pinot in California, Oregon, New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, Chile, Germany, and many others. 

Join me for an Opening Weekend concert with the Stamford Symphony, featuring Guest Maestro Lidiya Yankovskaya. The Stamford Symphony has generously offered two tickets to match our two tickets for each weekend, so the first four members to respond can enjoy a complimentary performance! We will be attending Sunday afternoon performances for each weekend in this series, the concerts begin at 3:00 pm. Afterwards, members are invited to join me for a cocktail or dinner at a restaurant nearby – there are many to choose from in downtown Stamford.

Join us for a visit to Storm King this fall! One of our favorite destinations, we like to make this an all day event, starting with lunch at Storm King Cafe, take in a tour, and finish the afternoon exploring on foot, bicycle, or via their trams. Their current special exhibitions are David Smith: The White Sculptures (through November 12, 2017) and Outlooks: Heather Hart (through November 26, 2017).  

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec enjoyed the spectacle, the night life, and the tawdry side of Belle Époque Paris. Best known for his art portraying the café-concert and the entertainers who performed there, this exhibition explores how Toulouse-Lautrec used portraiture to comment on the absurdity and excess of Bohemian life in Paris at the turn of the century. This show examines the relationship between portraiture, caricature, and rise of the cult of celebrity in the late 19th century, while focusing on the artist’s portraits of entertainers who became icons of the Parisian nightlife.

Set amidst the colorful backdrop of mid-20th century New York City, Rebel in the Rye follows a young Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) as he struggles to find his voice, pursues a love affair with famed socialite Oona O’Neill (Zoey Deutch), and fights on the frontlines of World War II. It’s these experiences that will inform the creation of his masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye, bringing him overnight fame (and notoriety) and leading him to withdraw from the public eye for the rest of his life. Costarring Kevin Spacey and Sarah Paulson, Rebel in the Rye offers a tantalizing window into the life and times of a little-understood genius who broke the rules and redefined American literature.

Donald M. Kendall, former chairman of the board and CEO, conceived the gardens which bear his name. He imagined an atmosphere of stability and creativity. The sculpture collection was started in 1965 and consists of works by major twentieth century artists.  Russell Page, the internationally famous garden designer, cultivated the corporate grounds into an arboretum transforming the gardens into a work of art. Let’s explore these sculptures and gardens which exist in harmony on a carefully maintained landscape, one of Westchester County’s beautiful cultural destinations.

Please join me for an Artist Talk featuring both artists, Thomas Doyle and Frank Poor, from “Memory of Place”, the new show opening at the Flinn Gallery. The public Opening Reception is on Thursday, September 7th from 6 – 8 pm, all are invited. “Memory of Place” is a show based on the concept of time, place and memory and explores the meaning of a place, its effect on our memories and our imagination and the unsettling effect of displacement. 

Join me at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich for their Summer Party with Friends!  This is a fun way to see their current exhibitions, and to enjoy a summer evening with other arts lovers in the community. Stroll the galleries, there will be live music, and light bites and bubbly will be served. 

This special, invitation-only Salon Series event will feature an exclusive gallery tour of their summer exhibition, MAIZE: Mysteries of an Ancient Grain, by Curator Kirsten Reinhardt, featuring John Dowell, Professor Emeritus of Printmaking at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, a noted photographer of agricultural landscapes. Plus, you’ll meet John and David Baker, co-owners of Litchfield Distillery, taste some of their hand-crafted spirits, and enjoy some small bites from Stamford’s favorite Peruvian restaurant, Fiesta on Main.

Join Pamela Paul, author of My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues and editor of The New York Times Book Review, and Janet Maslin, JBFC Board President and longtime New York Times critic, as they discuss the deep and powerful relationship between book and reader.

Curated by Jazz at Lincoln Center, Caramoor’s 24th annual Jazz Festival is for jazz enthusiasts of all ages. Headlined by legendary jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, the day-long festival throughout the grounds will feature a wide range of music—including interactive sessions for the kids, the infectious Cuban rhythms of the Pedritro Martinez Group, the innovative guitarist Mary Halvorson, and a centennial celebration of innovative jazz great Thelonious Monk.

The exhibition Spring into Summer with Andy Warhol and Friends! takes an unusual approach to this most famous of Pop artists. Although we tend to associate Warhol’s work with artifice and mass production—think of his bold images of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s Soup cans—there is another side to the artist that is often overlooked, his interest in the natural, the real, and the intimate.

Members are invited to join me for A Summer Evening at the Rosens’, a special evening reimagining the lavish soirées hosted by Caramoor’s founders in the 1930s and ’40s. Indulge in a cocktail hour in the Sense Circle Garden, a presentation on the Rosens and Caramoor’s origins, a theremin (one of the earliest electronic instruments; a favorite of Lucie Rosen’s) mini concert, and an elegant catered dinner on the open-air East Porch. Join us following dinner for Jason Vieaux with Escher String Quartet at 8:00pm in the Spanish Courtyard.