Welcome to Ridgefield

THE BAZAAR OF MYSTERIES ESCAPE ROOM ADVENTURE – AT THE RIDGEFIELD LIBRARY – JANUARY 2019.

Madame Zolushka, a clairvoyant Fortune Teller, has gone missing from the Bazaar of Mysteries.  Can you find her in time?

Various sessions available throughout the month of January. Each session runs for about 60 minutes; please arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled session to receive instructions. Recommended for ages 13 and up or ages 8-12 with an adult.  LIMITED TO 8 PEOPLE PER SESSION.

Please Note: The Sessions will automatically close once the 8 person maximum registration has been reached.

Purchase individual tickets for sessions at $25 per person or purchase all 8 tickets to reserve the whole room for $200.  Go to www.ridgefieldlibrary.org  for available sessions and to purchase tickets today.

If you would like to book the room for a session for a time not listed, please contact  Laureen Bubniak, 203-438-2282 x11029, lmbubniak@ridgefieldlibrary.org.

Grab a glass of wine and join us in exploring the basics of drawing the figure with artist and Aldrich staff member Noah Steinman. With a live model as inspiration, use a variety of materials such as charcoal, oil pastel and graphite sticks. Feel free to bring your own materials; no prior drawing experience necessary! Ages 21

On view: Jan 25- Feb 28 
Opening reception on Friday, Jan. 25 from 4-6pm

Ridgefield Art on Main returns with an exhibition of Abstract artists from in and around Ridgefield. The show will span over two locations: The Ridgefield Library and Touch of Sedona at 452 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT. 

Artists: Eleanor O’Keefe Anderson, Heidi Lewis Coleman, Charles Gulbrandsen, Jennifer Glover Riggs, Frances Goulart, Richard Danzig, Luiza Budea, Alice Hayes, Iulian Budea, randi Nussbaum, Daniel Wade Barett, Philip Pollak, Viorica Ghetu-Vuono.

Original members of the Billy Joel Band featuring Liberty DeVitto on drums, Richie Cannata on saxophone and Russell Javors on rhythm guitar. The band recorded and toured extensively with Billy Joel during the 70s and 80s. Hear all of Billy Joel’s greatest hits played by the original musicians!

Award-winning New York Mets play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen returns to the Ridgefield Library on January 26 for the Library’s 2019 installment of its popular Hot Stove League program.

Gary will entertain questions from the audience, share anecdotes from his 30 years broadcasting the Mets and provide his take on the upcoming Major League Baseball season. He was recently inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame alongside his broadcasting partner and former Mets player Keith Hernandez. The Hot Stove League event sold out quickly when Gary last appeared at the Library during the 2017 off-season.  Seating is limited to 200 people.  For information call Laureen Bubniak at 203-438-2282 Ext. 11029.

You may purchase tickets here.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased to present Helena Hernmarck: Weaving in Progress, organized by The Aldrich’s interim co-director Richard Klein. In addition to exhibiting a selection of her work, Hernmarck, one of the most important contemporary figures in the evolving history of woven tapestries, will be in residence at the Museum from October 14, 2018, to January 27, 2019.

Hernmarck began her career in the 1960s during an explosion of interest in fiber arts. Her innovations over the ensuing years are unsurpassed in visual imagery and technical innovation. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Hernmarck focused her practice on the pictorial, rather than sculptural form and abstraction. Influenced by pop culture, her mature style evolved into the creation of often-monumental tapestries that exhibit complex illusionary space and diverse subject matter, including trompe l’oeil, landscape, still life, and the human figure. Her primary technique, a discontinuous plain weave on top of which she hand picks a supplementary pattern weft, resembles computer pixels, enabling Hernmarck to produce images that expand the use of photographic imagery into territory that is both abstract and realistic.

During Weaving in Progress, the gallery space will not only exhibit a selection of tapestries, but also function as a weaving studio. Three days a week, Hernmarck, and her apprentice Mae Colburn, will be working at the artist’s five-foot-wide Glimåkra Countermarch loom. An inventory of the wool used in the process will be on view, along with a display of materials from the artist’s archive, including photographs, watercolors, drawings, prototype samples, and other ephemera that illustrate and inform Hernmarck’s process and the evolution of her career. The majority of the wool used in the tapestries is spun to her specifications at a family-run spinning mill in Sweden, and hand-dyed to reflect her color sensibilities. Visitors may touch and pick up the skeins of wool, amplifying the material nature of tapestry production.

Weaving in Progress is the first solo exhibition of Hernmarck’s work in the United States since 2012 and will present twenty tapestries. Many of the works will be hung from the ceiling, so visitors can experience the complex three-dimensionality of her weaving technique, and the unusual materials she sometimes uses, such as leftover sequin material. The exhibition will transform the Museum from a place of looking to a place of making, where the physicality of fiber is amplified by the presence of the artist’s hand. The sound of the loom’s beater being sharply pulled to compress each row of weft will fill the space and the evolving progress of the tapestry will encourage repeat visitation.

Helena Hernmarck was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1941. She lives and works in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Upcoming residency dates (2018-2019):

Hernmarck will be in residency working at the Museum from 12 to 4 pm on the following dates. Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm.

October: 15, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26

November: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30

December: 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29

January: 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12

A full-color, soft-cover scholarly publication with essays by Richard Klein and Mae Colburn will be available during the exhibition.

Generous support for Helena Hernmarck: Weaving in Progress is provided by The Coby Foundation and Eric G. Diefenbach and James Keith Brown.

Join Jeffrey Greene, curator of How Art Changed the Prison and manager of Community Partners In Action Prison Arts Program, for a discussion with former inmates and others involved in Connecticut’s correctional system on the impact of the visual arts for those incarcerated in the State’s prisons. Visit the website to see participating panelists.

Following the panel discussion, view the exhibition at the opening reception from 3 to 5 pm.

Join us for the kick-off program in an exciting, new series called Revisiting the Founding Era taking place on Sunday, January 27 at 2 p.m., at the Ridgefield Library.

During this lively, town-hall panel discussion, moderated by journalist and professor at Mt. Holyoke College, Todd Brewster, a distinguished panel, along with the audience, will delve into some of America’s key founding documents to discuss how they relate to our world today.

Our distinguished panelists are: 
Jennifer DeJulio, Ridgefield Teacher of the Year;
Leslie Lindenauer, Western Connecticut State University History Professor;
Nadine Strossen, NYU Law Professor and past president of the ACLU;
Will Tong, Connecticut Attorney General

There will be plenty of time for Q & A. Teens and adults are encouraged to attend and engage in this important conversation.

Refreshments will be served! Please register.

Revisiting the Founding Era is part of a new ongoing series called First Principles, which is co-sponsored by Ridgefield Library, Keeler Tavern Museum and History Center, Ridgefield Historical Society, Drum Hill Chapter of the DAR, Books on the Common, Connecticut Project for the Constitution, and Ridgefield League of Women Voters. 

Other upcoming programs in the series are:

Sunday, February 10 at 3 p.m. (Ridgefield Library)
Renowned author and legal scholar Akhil Amar will bring to life the characters from the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Sunday, February 24, 2 p.m. (Ridgefield Library)
An illustrated talk with art historian Michael Norris about George Washington and his portrayal in art.

Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. (KTM&HC)
A living history program for young people about slavery, featuring Cheyney McKnight of Not Your Momma’s History.

 Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m.
A field trip and lecture at the John Jay Homestead.
($20 – please register at ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org or call 203-438-5821).

Revisiting the Founding Era is a three-year national initiative of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, presented in partnership with the American Library Association and the National Constitution Center, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant provides 100 public libraries across the country the opportunity to use historical documents to spark public conversations about the Founding Era’s enduring ideas and themes and how they continue to influence our lives today. For more information about Revisiting the Founding Era and participating libraries, visit www.foundingera.org.

Please join us to celebrate the opening of How Art Changed the Prison: The Work of the CPA Prison Arts Program, presenting visual art made in Connecticut’s correctional institutions over the past three decades. Organized by Jeffrey Greene, manager of Community Partners in Action (CPA), a non-profit that focuses on behavioral changes of both current and past inmates, in addition to criminal justice reform, this exhibition will include the work of approximately twenty-eight artists.

At 2 pm, Jeffrey Greene will be moderating a panel discussion with former inmates and others involved in Connecticut’s correctional system on the impact of the visual arts for those incarcerated in the State’s prisons.

Join the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra for their chamber orchestra concert. This concert is part of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra Listening Live! Community Concert Series.

Admission is FREE and the public is invited to attend.

The Library and Books on the Common present an Author Talk with George Colt, who will discuss his recently released book The Game: Harvard, Yale, and America in 1968.

George Howe Colt’s The Game is the story of that iconic American year, as seen through the young men who lived it and were changed by it. One player had recently returned from eight months under fire in Vietnam. Two were members of the radical antiwar group SDS. There was an all-American football hero whose nickname was “God.” There was one NFL prospect who quit to devote his time to black altruism, another who went on to be Pro-Bowler Calvin Hill. There was a postal clerk’s son who worried about fitting in with the preppies, and a wealthy WASP eager to prove he could handle the blue-collar kids’ hits. There was a guard named Tommy Lee Jones, and fullback who dated a young Meryl Streep. They came from every class and background, but played side by side and together forged a moment of startling grace in the midst of the storm.

Colt is a journalist and also the bestselling author of The Big House, which was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and Brothers; November of the Soul. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife, the writer Anne Fadiman.

Copies of The Game will be available for sale and signing at the event.

Please register.

ALSO PERFORMING ON FEBRUARY 2nd!

VIP MEET & GREET UPGRADE AVAILABLE!

Back after a sold-out show in 2017! An incredibly powerful performer, comedian Vic DiBitetto churns energy, honesty and humanity into nonstop laughter. He’s been called a cross between Rodney Dangerfield and Ralph Kramden.

Art can be inspiring or humdrum, beautiful or ugly, worthwhile or insignificant, attentive to the world in which it is made or created seemingly in a world all its own. One thing it almost always does is promote a discussion…a conversation.

For this year’s Member Show we invite art that will spark a conversation, be it about technique or material, style or subject matter, ideas that matter deeply to the artist or ideas that may inflame the viewer. We welcome all forms of expression, so long as they encourage thought-provoking conversations.

Important Dates: (*please note, these dates have changed due to a renovation project happening at the Guild during the first few weeks of January)

Receiving: Friday, Jan. 25 from 12 – 4 and Saturday, Jan. 26 from 12 – 4, (Snow date: Sunday, Jan. 27, 12 – 4).

Opening Reception: Saturday, Feb 2, 4 – 6 pm (Snow date: Sunday, Feb. 3).

Show closes: Sunday, Feb. 17 at 4.

Pick-up of all unsold work*: Monday, Feb. 18 from 12 – 4 and Tuesday, Feb. 19 from 2 – 6 (Snow day Wednesday, Feb. 13 from 2 – 6).

*All work must be picked up during regular pick-up hours or a $20 late fee will be applied. NO 
EXCEPTIONS. If you cannot make these pick-up times, please make arrangements with a friend or family member to pick up your work for you within the time frames given. The Guild cannot be responsible for works left behind.

Entry/Fees

The Guild’s 3-part entry forms will be available to fill out when you bring your work for receiving. The show is open to all Ridgefield Guild of Artists members age 16 and older. Non-members may join when they drop off work for submission. Artists may submit up to 2 works. Fees are $15 for first entry and $10 for second entries, payable by cash, check, or credit card. Fees are nonrefundable and payable to RGA.

Criteria

All artwork must be for sale. 
Be sure your prices are correct, there will be no changes made after acceptance.

Work can be up to 52 x 52 inches, including the frame. Diptychs and Triptychs must be within the 52” x 52” restriction when assembled. They are sold as one piece unless artist pays a fee for each separate piece.

Wall-hung work must be wired and ready for hanging unless there is an artistic reason to use another method. Saw-tooth hangers are not allowed, and all work must be secure in the frame. 
Any piece that has a loose frame, falling artwork within the frame, insufficient numbers of fasteners to secure the artwork within the frame, an improper or insecure method of attaching the wire, or any other non-professional presentation will not be accepted. Sculpture must be fully assembled and secured to a stable base and weigh no more than 150lbs.

Recent pieces please! Work should have been created no earlier than 2015. Work already shown at the Guild will not be eligible.

All work must be dry and we will check to insure this. It will not be accepted.

Be sure your information is correct at the time of delivery and registering. Changes will not be allowed after the fact.

All work must be delivered within the drop-off time period. No work will be accepted after the time period is over.

All work must remain for the duration of the show. No work may be removed for any reason before the closing.

At the end of the show all work must be picked-up during the stated time periods. Any work left at the Guild after pick-up has ended is subject to a $20 storage fee. If the artist cannot pick up, we will allow someone else to do it with the artist’s permission.

Sales & Indemnity

All works must be for sale. Guild retains a 40% commission on all sales. The Ridgefield Guild of Artists will take the greatest possible care of all submitted works but will not be responsible for any damage to or loss of work submitted, exhibited, or left unclaimed.

It’s a night of fast-paced sleight of hand, escape artists, comedy and illusions! Starring Naathan Phan, Chipper Lowell, Michael Turco, Tommy Wind and The Monks from the award-winning CW TV series “Masters of Illusion,” this show came out of the success of the brain-bending Broadway sensation The Illusionists.

The Leir Foundation Arts for Everyone recipient for this show is Green Chimneys.  Additional sponsorship provided by Union Savings Bank.

Relationship guru, third generation matchmaker and reality phenomenon Patti Stanger, best known for Bravo TV’s “Millionaire Matchmaker” and WE TV’s “Million Dollar Matchmaker” (of which she is also the Executive Producer), shares insight on how to navigate the new world of dating! She is also the founder and CEO of Millionaire’s Club International, Inc., a professional matchmaking service for millionaires that she founded in 2000.

Stanger has also successfully branched out into television acting with featured roles on “Drop Dead Diva” and “Days of Our Lives.” She launched her own website, pattiknows.com, in which she features the latest advice on love, dating and relationships. The site includes a special “celebrity guest columnist” section for fans to follow and get a sneak peek into the world of love. Stanger’s Simon & Schuster books, “Become Your Own Matchmaker,” “Find Your Match,” “Seal the Deal” and “Raise your Desirability Factor” and DVD “Married in a Year,” and audio coaching programs “The Single Girls Handbook” and “Attracting a Soul Mate,” have a loyal, devoted following, and continue to brand Patti as the ultimate “matchmaking expert.” She was a featured columnist on People.com and in Star Magazine. Most recently, Patti created “P.S. Match” wines, which is available on wine.com and in specialty stores across the country. Patti has a successful jewelry collection called Je’Taime, and you can hear Patti on her new podcast, “Patti Stanger’s The Love & Sex Report” on iTunes.

Join Chef Liz of Nature’s Temptations at 32 Prospect Street, Ridgefield for Gourmet Cooking Demonstrations benefiting the Ridgefield Library

Chef Liz will show you how to prepare her gourmet dishes — while you sip wine and enjoy the recipes she creates right in front of you.  Be sure to come hungry as you will be eating all night long! 

Thursday, February 7th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm  featuring Twisted Casserole Classics and Salads   

Nothing tastes better than the casseroles from our family recipe book. Chef Liz will share her take on some of those classics and turn them into a healthy and delicious alternative. Some creamy – some not so creamy.

Recipes include- 

Green Bean Casserole – A Tetrazzini – White Beans & Root Vegetables – Ham, Broccoli and Veggies – Arugula Salad – Black Bean Salad

The event is limited to ten guests and costs $75 per person.

(As an add-on you can sign up in advance to take home a bag filled with the recipes and ingredients for Green Bean Casserole and Black Bean Salad for $75.)

 Click here to purchase tickets and add-on bag of ingredients if desired.

Back after a packed show in 2018, Terrapin is the region’s Ultimate Grateful Dead Experience!  They have performed more than 160 concerts, offering an authentic mix of Dead tunes which will appeal to the most ardent Deadhead as well as the newly acquainted listener. The band consists of players who have loved and performed this music for decades. Terrapin has invested heavily in state-of-the-art equipment which is “true to form” of recreating a live Dead concert experience.

SoulShine is a group of seasoned New York musicians united with the sole purpose of bringing you an authentic Allman Brothers Band experience. Soul Shine: An Allman Brothers Experience plays all the classic hits: “Ramblin’ Man,” “Midnight Rider,” “Whipping Post” and more!

Revisiting the Founding Era – Keynote with Akhil Amar

In this keynote to our series of public programs, Revisiting the Founding Era, constitutional scholar Akhil Amar, author and Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, describes the dynamic nature of the 1787 constitutional convention, provides short profiles of its key players and relationships, and outlines the issues that dominated their arguments. Amar shows us how the preoccupations of the new republic mirror the preoccupations of our own time and how the brilliance of the Founding Fathers led to the creation of one of the greatest and most enduring documents in human history. 

Revisiting the Founding Era is part of a new ongoing series called First Principles, which is co-sponsored by Ridgefield Library, Keeler Tavern Museum and History Center, Ridgefield Historical Society, Drum Hill Chapter of the DAR, Books on the Common, Connecticut Project for the Constitution, and Ridgefield League of Women Voters. 

Please register here. 

Other upcoming programs in the series are:

Sunday, February 24, 2 p.m. (Ridgefield Library)
An illustrated talk with art historian Michael Norris about George Washington and his portrayal in art.

Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. (KTM&HC)
A living history program for young people about slavery, featuring Cheyney McKnight of Not Your Momma’s History.

 Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m.
A field trip and lecture at the John Jay Homestead.
($20 – please register at ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org or call 203-438-5821).

Revisiting the Founding Era is a three-year national initiative of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, presented in partnership with the American Library Association and the National Constitution Center, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant provides 100 public libraries across the country the opportunity to use historical documents to spark public conversations about the Founding Era’s enduring ideas and themes and how they continue to influence our lives today. For more information about Revisiting the Founding Era and participating libraries, visit www.foundingera.org.

Sunday, February 10 at 6 pm
Bernard’s, Ridgefield, CT

Caroline Chanin, vocals
Dave Radovich, woodwinds
Kevin Callaghan, bass
Al Montecalvo, drums
Kinny Landrum, piano

Chocolates by Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe
Reservations: 203-438-8282

Join us in The Studio to create your own moon sand, a squishy, pliable, and fun sand product to mold into a variety of shapes and designs. Take home the moon sand you make! Ages 2 to 5

Sponsored by: Adam Broderick Salon & Spa, Addessi Jewelers, BMW of Ridgefield, and Treasury Wine Estates
Silver Sponsor – Deb & Howard Bubb
Bronze Sponsor – Shari Goodstein

With support from: All Season Party Rentals, Campari, Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe, Hollandia Nurseries, Nutmeg Livery Service, Pera Wines and Whistle Stop Bakery

Kool & the Gang have influenced the music of three generations. Thanks to songs like “Celebration,” “Cherish,” “Ladies Night,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Joanna” and “Get Down On It.” They’ve earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits and 31 gold and platinum albums. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. Kool & the Gang has performed continuously for the past 43 years, longer than any R&B group in history. Their bulletproof funk and jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled band of all time.

6:30pm  – Raffle, Champagne & Chocolates
Free glass of Champagne for every raffle purchased!

Raffle tickets available for a chance to win:

• Diamond & Gold pendant: 3 champagne and brown marquis diamonds surrounded by 143 round diamonds- totaling 2.39 carats. Pendant hangs from a 16 inch 14kt white gold cable chain.  Retail value: $5400! Courtesy of Addessi Jewelers
• “Me Time” package – $750 gift certificate courtesy of Adam Broderick Salon & Spa
• Date night: A night out with a BMW and personal driver that includes dinner for two (at Bernard’s) and tickets to a show of your choice at The Ridgefield Playhouse, courtesy of BMW of Ridgefield

8:00pm Performance – Raffle winners pulled and live performance by Kool & the Gang

WORKING is the extraordinary musical from Grammy and Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (WICKED) based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with the American workforce. This highly original and universal portrait of the American workday is told from the perspective of those that the world so often overlooks – the school teacher, the housewife, the fireman and the waitress amongst many – whose daily grind and aspirations reflect the truths of the people that make up a nation. This world-premier version of WORKING features new music by Lin-Manuel Miranda (HAMILTON) with additional contributions by Daniel C. Levine.

Performances Thursday-Sunday with Matinees on Saturday & Sunday. 

Bring the whole family out for a night at The Aldrich. Join us for pizza and snacks as we start the evening with a screening of the movie Monsters, Inc.!at 6:15 pm. Following the movie, participate in a flashlight tour around the Museum.

Visit The Aldrich for FREE the Third Saturday of each month! See the latest in contemporary art and participate in family-friendly art-making workshops in The Studio.

Family Workshop: Sumi-e Self-Portraits

10 am to 12 noon; children ages 2 to 5

1 to 3 pm; children ages 6 to 10

Explore the Japanese style of Sumi-e (black ink paintings) to create portraits of you and your family on watercolor paper. Explore how different brush strokes can evoke texture, shape, and emotion as you use lines and shapes to create unique and custom portraits.

Explore the ocean in this exciting afternoon workshop! Create your own paper sea creatures to add to our three-dimensional Aldrich Aquarium installation! Will there be sea turtles? A school of fish? Anemones? You decide! Help us create a beautiful Aldrich Aquarium. All ages

With more than 20 years of stand-up comedy experience, Jim Breuer remains one of today’s top touring comedians, known for his charismatic stage antics, dead-on impressions, and family-friendly stand-up. After making his big break in 1995 when he joined the cast of NBC’s legendary “Saturday Night Live,” Breuer quickly became a fan-favorite for his original character “Goat Boy: and his dead-on impressions of actor Joe Pesci. Following his success on SNL, Breuer starred alongside Dave Chappelle in the cult favorite film “Half Baked.”

Over the years, Breuer has been something of a multi-media sensation currently appearing alongside Kevin James on “Kevin Can Wait” on CBS as well as popular films “Zookeeper,” “Dick,” “Titan A.E.” and “Beer League”; hosting MTV’s popular “Beach House” and VH1’s “Web Junk 20”; and being featured on “Comedy Jam,” “This Is Not Happening,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” and “The Marriage Ref.”

Grab a glass of wine and join us in exploring the basics of drawing the figure with artist and Aldrich staff member Noah Steinman. With a live model as inspiration, use a variety of materials such as charcoal, oil pastel and graphite sticks. Feel free to bring your own materials; no prior drawing experience necessary! Ages 21

With more than 20 years of stand-up comedy experience, Jim Breuer remains one of today’s top touring comedians, known for his charismatic stage antics, dead-on impressions, and family-friendly stand-up. After making his big break in 1995 when he joined the cast of NBC’s legendary “Saturday Night Live,” Breuer quickly became a fan-favorite for his original character “Goat Boy: and his dead-on impressions of actor Joe Pesci. Following his success on SNL, Breuer starred alongside Dave Chappelle in the cult favorite film “Half Baked.”

Over the years, Breuer has been something of a multi-media sensation currently appearing alongside Kevin James on “Kevin Can Wait” on CBS as well as popular films “Zookeeper,” “Dick,” “Titan A.E.” and “Beer League”; hosting MTV’s popular “Beach House” and VH1’s “Web Junk 20”; and being featured on “Comedy Jam,” “This Is Not Happening,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” and “The Marriage Ref.”

Dr. Michael Norris, art historian and former museum educator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will give an illustrated talk about George Washington through works of art drawn from area museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum and the New York Historical Society.  Norris will emphasize how artists of Washington’s on time portrayed him for posterity and how that posterity, through its own crop of artists, commemorated his deeds.

This program is part of Revisiting the Founding Era, a three-year national initiative of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, presented in partnership with the American Library Association and the National Constitution Center, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant provides 100 public libraries across the country the opportunity to use historical documents to spark public conversations about the Founding Era’s enduring ideas and themes and how they continue to influence our lives today. This program is part of a larger series called First Principles, which aims to continue this conversation into the future.

Please register.

With special guests: Cha Wa & Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound

Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 7:30pm

Three bands direct from New Orleans are bringing Mardi Gras to CT! For more than 40 years, the internationally renowned, New Orleans-based Dirty Dozen Brass Band has taken the traditional foundation of brass band music and incorporated it into a blend of Bebop Jazz, Funk and R&B/Soul. In addition to their genre-bending romps and high-octane performances, they are known for collaborations with Modest Mouse, Widespread Panic, Norah Jones and others! New Orleans brass band-meets-Mardi Gras Indian outfit Cha Wa radiates the fiery energy of the best features of the city’s street culture. Preservation Hall Jazz Band hall-of-famer, Joe Lastie brings his drumming, along with a full band direct from NOLA for a night of traditional jazz, brass-band songs and gospel. The night is complete with Mardi Gras beads at the door and Hurricanes at the bar!

Tickets: $39.50

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY IN 2018!

13,137 donors gave $1,400,887 to 416 nonprofits on March 1, 2018

Powered by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, this dynamic 24-hour fundraising event unites our community around local causes that are closest to your hearts.

This special day allows anyone to become a philanthropist! When thousands of people come together for the greater good, transformative thinking and actions begin to happen. The Community Foundation joins individuals, families, nonprofits and companies – like lead sponsor Bank of America.

The region’s biggest philanthropic event, Giving Day 2018 made a huge impact by raising over $1.4 million, which was donated by 13,000+ individuals in support of 415 local nonprofits.

With original lead vocalist and founder Gary Brooker at the helm, Procol Harum returns to The Playhouse!

Best known for their international smash hit, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, which is one of fewer than 30 singles to have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and, their follow-up hits “Conquistador” and Salty Dog”, Procol Harum have become one of the most beloved bands to ever come out of the UK. Still going strong in 2018, singer/pianist/composer and founding member, Gary Brooker, remains at the helm.  They recently announced a remastered & expanded edition reissue of the classic 1972 album ‘Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’ to be released in vinyl LP & CD formats in late October 2018.

A funny and emotional portrait about the powerful connection of love, starring two iconic TV stars – Barbara Eden (“I Dream of Jeannie”) and Hal Linden (“Barney Miller”).

Two friends, rebellious Melissa Gardner and straight-arrow Andrew Makepeace Ladd III have exchanged notes, cards and letters with each other for over 50 years. From second grade, through summer vacations, to college, and well into adulthood, they have spent a lifetime discussing their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, and victories and defeats. But long after the letters are done, the real question remains: Have they made the right choices or is the love of their life only a letter away?

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased to present the first museum survey of the work of the trailblazing artist, feminist and lesbian scholar, curator, activist, and author Harmony Hammond. Spanning almost fifty years, 1971 to 2018, the exhibition will bring together her earliest painted sculptures and sculpted paintings, mixed-media and monumental “installational” paintings of the 1980’s and 1990’s, and recent thickly painted “near monochromes,” as well as works on paper, ephemera, and publications. Harmony Hammond: Material Witness, Five Decades of Art will be on view at The Aldrich from March 3 to September 15, 2019.

For five decades, Hammond has created an inimitable approach that unites Minimalist and Postminimalist concerns—the grid, repetition, an engagement with materials, process, and site-activation—with feminist art strategies. In doing so, she recovers marginalized craft traditions that combine abstraction with a wide cast of materials: those that are scavenged and imbued with redolent stories like fabric, burlap, rope, straw, leaves, roots, pine needles, dirt, hair, blood, bone, linoleum, metal roofing, burnt wood, and grommets; and those that are traditional such as oil and acrylic paint, graphite, watercolor, latex rubber, and bronze. Through her use of primarily additive and connective processes, Hammond has created a network of meaning that “presences the body.” Her surfaces are expressive, skins endowed with fleshly textures, marks, and appendages. They exude a toughness, an imperative energy, predicated on performative muscular procedures of production such as ripping, tying, wrapping, binding, braiding, puncturing, strapping, and patching, resulting in surfaces and forms infused with social implications.

Harmony Hammond (b. 1944) was a prominent figure in the development of the feminist art movement in New York in the early 1970s. Besides her being a co-founder of A.I.R. and the journal HERESIES: A Feminist Publication of Art & Politics(1976), she is the author of Wrappings: Essays on Feminism, Art, and the Martial Arts(TSL Press, 1984), considered to be a seminal publication of 1970s feminist art; her groundbreaking book Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History (Rizzoli, 2000) received a Lambda Literary Award. Hammond attended the University of Minnesota from 1963 to 1967, and moved to New York City in 1969. Since 1984, she has lived and worked in New Mexico, teaching at the University of Arizona, Tucson, from 1989 to 2006. In 2013, Hammond was honored with the College Art Association’s Distinguished Feminist Award. Her work has been exhibited at institutions nationally and internationally.

A full-color scholarly publication, with an essay by Amy Smith-Stewart, will be available during the exhibition. This book will be the first hardcover monograph of Hammond’s work.

Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra will be performing a concert featuring their string ensemble and wind ensemble. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for seniors and students–available at the door.

Join Camerata d’Amici for their annual Winter Concert on Sunday, March 3rd at 4:00 p.m. More information to come!

Join us for the 2019 Kids Expo & Camp Fair at Lounsbury House. Learn about all the wonderful youth centered organizations and summer camp options for kids of all ages. There will be a variety of new and exciting camps to check out. Hope to see you there!

This event is FREE and open to the public.

We will have two sessions 11:00AM to 2:00PM and 5:30PM to 8:00PM.

For more information, email Christina Collura at Christina@lounsburyhouse.org.

Adults and teens interested in learning how to draw are invited in for a fun and instructive drawing workshop with Claire Watson Garcia, author of the celebrated book Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner, now available in a 5th anniversary revised edition. Claire is a Ridgefield resident and instructor at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, where she teaches art courses for adults. She will share the proven techniques in her book to help participants get started drawing confidence. Registration is required. A $5.00 fee will be collected at the door at cover art materials. 

Please register at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282. 

Come support the Lounsbury House and enjoy a few drinks at Gallo Ristorante!

As seen on “America’s Got Talent: The Champions,” Tape Face returns in a funny, family-friendly show! Every once in a while, something magical reminds us that we all have an inner child that must be fed. Through simple, clever and charming humor aimed at satisfying that hunger, Tape Face has created one of the most accessible and enjoyable shows the world has ever seen. Mime with noise, stand-up with no talking – drama with no acting. Tape Face has to be seen to be believed. So what does he do exactly? Well, simply mentioning any aspect of this diverse show would be a disservice – the less you know the more you will enjoy this show. Tape Face is a character with universal appeal. Delightful, wry, many-layered and hilarious, he transcends the barriers of language and culture. You’ll laugh, you’ll scream and ultimately end up like Tape Face – lost for words.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Jefferson Starship return to The Playhouse with a night of hits – “Volunteers,” “White Rabbit,” “Wooden Ships,” “Somebody to Love,” “Crown of Creation,” “Miracles,” “Count on Me,” “Jane” and “Find Your Way Back” and many more! The band features original and historic members David Freiberg (also a founder of San Francisco luminaries Quicksilver Messenger Service) and drummer Donny Baldwin, along with longtime members Chris Smith on keyboards and synth bass, Jude Gold on lead guitar and GRAMMY Nominee Cathy Richardson anchoring the female lead vocal spot. Between 1974 and 1984, Jefferson Starship released eight gold and platinum albums, twenty hit singles, sold out concerts worldwide and lived out legendary rock and roll escapades.

There will be a table in the lobby at this show to learn more about PETA and the ethical treatment of animals.

High Art

Six Pieces for Orchestra
Anton Webern

Trittico Botticelliano
Ottorino Respighi

Cello Concerto in C Major
Franz Joseph Haydn

The Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra’s commitment to world-class performances of the greatest music ever written is our history and our future!  Beethovan, Bartok, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Stravinsky and more will be played in wonderful live performances by the superb musicians of the RSO during our 2018-19 Season.

Concerts are held in the Anne S. Richardson Auditorium at Ridgefield High School, 700 North Salem Road, Ridgefield, CT and at the Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Road in Ridgefield, CT.  Concerts begin at 8:00 pm.

Purchasing tickets is convenient!  Order online, call the RSO Box Office at 203.438.3889 or buy tickets in person at the RSO Office.  We are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm and are located at 77 Danbury Road in Ridgefield.

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY of The Machine with 3 Albums – 1 Incredible Night
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and an extended encore!

THE MACHINE performs Pink Floyd, America’s top Pink Floyd show, has forged a 30-year reputation for extending the legacy of Pink Floyd, selling out theaters, premier showcase rooms and casinos across North America, Europe and Asia, performing at renowned music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Riverbend, and Gathering of the Vibes, and sharing the stage with full symphony orchestras, including the Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and San Diego Symphonies, as well as the Buffalo Philharmonic.

The New York-based quartet performs a diverse mix of The Floyd’s extensive 16-album repertoire, complete with faithful renditions of popular hits as well as obscure gems. With stellar musicianship and passionate delivery, The Machine explores collective improvisation rivaling that of an early 1970’s Pink Floyd. Their use of expanded theatrical elements and elaborate stage displays and lighting continues in the spirit of the later Floyd of the 1980’s. The band is also known for recreating entire albums as a part of their show, accepting requests from fans, and for taking an A to Z approach in which one song is played for every letter of the alphabet. Special shows include lasers by the same company that provides classic Pink Floyd laser effects for Roger Waters and David Gilmour tours.

The members of The Machine include founding members Joe Pascarell (guitar, vocals) and Tahrah Cohen (drums), and long time band mates Stephen Bard (bass, vocals) and Scott Chasolen (keys, vocals).

A Tour and Lecture at the John Jay Homestead

Ridgefield Historical Society

4 Sunset Lane

Ridgefield, CT 06877

203.438.5821

ridgefieldhistory@sbcglobal.net

The Ridgefield Historical Society is pleased to announce a tour and lecture at the John Jay Homestead, 400 Jay Street, Katonah, NY, on Saturday, March 23 from 1 to 3 pm.  Just 20 minutes west of Ridgefield, the John Jay Homestead is the place to which Founding Father John Jay retired in 1801 after decades of public service. He had served as President of the Second Continental Congress, principal negotiator of the Treaty of Paris, Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, and the first Chief Justice of the United States. The tour will focus on the years of his residency (many of the Jay family furnishings remain within the house) and the lecture will touch on Jay’s relationships with Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison and his work as a diplomat, jurist, and prominent citizen of the Founding Era.

Space is limited. The cost of the program is $18 for members and $20 for nonmembers. To RSVP online, please visit the event page at ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org or call 203-438-5821. For more information about membership, please visit ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org/member.

Join us for the first in a series of interviews presented by Emmy Award-winner Dick Cavett! Cavett will interview legends in the entertainment industry throughout the season live on The Playhouse stage. We start with Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner. Danner is best known for her role as Dina Byrnes in Meet the Parents, and its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers. She has collaborated on several occasions with Woody Allen, appearing in three of his films: Another Woman, Alice, and Husbands and Wives. Danner’s celebrated television roles include “Huff” (for which she won two Emmy Awards), “Will & Grace,” “We Were the Mulvaneys” and “Back When We Were Grownups.” She is also the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.

Over the course of his five-decade career, Dick Cavett has conducted in-depth, television interviews with some of the greatest talents of our time including Salvador Dali, Groucho Marx, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, John Lennon and many more!

A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Leir Foundation Arts for Everyone outreach program.

Ridgefield’s older adult community is invited to attend a wonderful Senior Luncheon in our beautiful, historic setting. You’ll be treated to a delicious three-course catered lunch from a local restaurant, and special performances. Each luncheon runs from 12:00-2:00 p.m.

We are pleased to offer the 2019 luncheons free of charge, thanks to our amazing sponsors. We are incredibly grateful for their generosity and commitment.

Reservations are required and may be made by contacting our Event Office at 203-438-6962.

Imagine being able to step into the mind of one of the world’s greatest authors as she completes her masterpiece…

Austen’s Pride springs to life as Jane Austen transforms her rough draft into a beloved classic. As the characters from “Pride and Prejudice” come to life around her, Jane Austen learns to see both the story and herself in a new light. With a glorious and sweeping score, Austen’s Pride is a Connecticut premier, and we are thrilled that our audiences will be the first to see it! 

Performances Thursday-Sunday with Matinees on Saturday & Sunday.