Community Calendar

Romney: Brilliant Contrasts in Georgian England, co-organized by the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art to celebrate the YCBA’s reopening, features the work of the British portrait painter George Romney (1734–1802). Remembered today for his fashionable likenesses of wealthy patrons, Romney was rivaled in late 18th-century London only by the now better-known artists Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. His aspirations to be a history painter were never realized, but his many drawings serve as a testament to those greater ambitions. These swiftly executed sketches reveal a mastery of form, line, and light, while his proficiency as a musician and early experience building musical instruments distinguish him among his polymath contemporaries. To fully explore the era’s subjects and sensibilities, paintings and drawings by Romney from both museums are shown alongside selections from the Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments. Unveiling the contrasts in his artistic practice, the exhibition presents a forceful vision—one that has resonated with admirers through the centuries, from William Blake in Romney’s own time to the portraitist Kehinde Wiley today.

David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive is a major traveling retrospective exhibition that spans the seven decades of this South African photographer’s career, from the 1950s to the 2010s, demonstrating Goldblatt’s commitment to showing the realities of daily life in his country. The exhibition and accompanying publication bring together roughly 150 works by Goldblatt from the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery and the Art Institute of Chicago—two major Goldblatt repositories—including his early black-and-white photography and his post-apartheid, large-format color photography. Also included in the exhibition are photographs by some of Goldblatt’s peers, such as Ernest Cole, Santu Mofokeng, and Jo Ractliffe, as well as a generation of younger South Africans, many of whom Goldblatt mentored, including Lebohang Kganye and Zanele Muholi, placing Goldblatt within a broader and intergenerational network of photographers. This ambitious project honors the life and career of an artist who used his work to celebrate his country’s working-class people, the landscape, and the built environment.

The 1830s witnessed the emergence of abolitionism: the interracial political and social movement that demanded an immediate end to slavery in the United States. Remarkably ahead of its time, the movement also sought legal rights and integration for free Blacks and the formerly enslaved, putting it at odds with many Americans and with the colonization movement, which sought the emigration of Blacks to Africa. Through anti-slavery societies, publications, lectures, and legal channels, abolitionists forced the controversial topics of slavery and integration into the open, provoking derision and mob violence, but also launching the movement that would ultimately lead to emancipation. This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the legacy of these brave men and women and to consider how their activism can continue to inspire.
Free and open to the public Monday through Friday 10–6, late hours Thursday; Saturday 10–4.

About the Exhibition: This exhibition presents highlights from the collection of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, which explores the impact of the Irish Famine of 1845-1852 through artwork produced by eminent Irish and Irish-American artists of the past 170 years. The works on view in the exhibition will include paintings by late 19th- and early 20th‐century artists like James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O'Connor and Jack B. Yeats, as well as sculptures, paintings, and works on paper by contemporary artists including John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Brian Maguire, and Hughie O'Donoghue. The exhibition is presented by Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.

Image: James Arthur O’Connor, Scene in Connemara, 1828, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.

Experience the highlights of the Bruce Museum’s exhibitions during a guided tour that is free with museum admission. No reservations are required but capacity is limited to twenty people on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check in with the front desk if you wish to join.

Join us for a collaborative afternoon exploring the connections between our physical and mental health and the mediums of art and music. Explore the exhibitions Nature’s Impressions: The Modernist Landscape, The Art of Work: Painting Labor in Nineteenth Century Denmark and Isamu Noguchi: Metal the Mirror, on a tour designed by museum educator Corinne Flax and music therapist Caroline Greco. Utilize your senses of sight and hearing while exploring the rhythms artists create in their work and taking inspiration to create your own music.

What to expect from this program: Participants will be asked to step outside their comfort zones and be open to new collaborative experiences. Using different pieces in the galleries as inspiration, participants will create their own rhythmic and emotive musical expressions. During the workshop component participants will explore how music helps them tap into their emotions and explore the different emotional impacts of lines and densities.

Master Story Performer™, author and winner of the National Storytelling Network ORACLE Circle of Excellence award, Leeny Del Seamonds invites students to “Live the Story” and “Be the Best You Can Be!” with international tales of kindness, inspiration and the bravery to overcome adversity and make a difference! In honor of Earth Month, Leeny will share stories celebrating people's relationships with the natural world, as well as with each other.

This FREE bilingual storytelling concert is appropriate for students in Middle School and High School and their families.

Registration is required.

Register here: https://danburylibrary.events....

Questions? Contact Deirdre Johnson, djohnson@danburylibrary.org

Enjoy midway fun for the whole family with exciting rides and games for all ages and deep-fried treats, sweets and other tasty carnival eats.

Admission and parking are free.

Unlimited ride wristbands (for riders 36" & taller) are $37 on site ($35 cash price) while supplies last or online before 5 pm April 24 for $29 each, 2/$55 or 4/$99.

Visit the website for advance savings on ride tickets, discount coupons for rides and food, and event updates.

Midway hours: 5-10 pm Monday - Thursday, 5-11 pm Friday, noon-11 pm Saturday, noon-10 pm Sunday. Guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult age 21+.

More information: 866-666-3247 or DreamlandAmusements.com
https://tinyurl.com/2hwlt762

An Evening of Poetry Reading

Join us for an evening of poetry reading. Whether you want to share your own writing or just listen to others, this will be a creatively fun night. The event will feature poet William Huhn, a chemist and Vassar College graduate whose poems have appeared in The Carolina Quarterly, Verse Daily, and 34th Parallel, among other publications.

We invite you before the lecture, at 6pm, for light bites, wine and community!

Efforts to ban alcohol began in the 1700s. By 1919, Connecticut was one of two states that voted against Prohibition. In conjunction with the Fairfield Museum & History Center exhibition Building an American Voice, join the Museum’s Program Coordinator Walt Matis to explore the moments that led to the 18th amendment and to learn what Fairfield and Bridgeport were like during the Prohibition era.

Please register for this fascinating look at the past.