This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

CT + 6 at West Hartford Art League, Open Studios and Mother's Day Gifts at Farmington Valley Arts Center, and More

Enrich your life, April 28 – May 4, 2011

West Hartford Art League Presents CT+6

A juried exhibition of art works by regional artists annually makes up the West Hartford Art League's CT + show. This year, it's CT +6 for entrants who hail from Connecticut and six other states — Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Dina Deitsch, associate curator of contemporary art at the Decordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Mass., is juror.

CT +6 runs from April 28 through May 29 at the Clubhouse Gallery, 37 Buena Vista Road, West Hartford.  An opening reception for the artists is May 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. Awards will be announced at 3 p.m. For more information, visitwww.westhartfordart.org or call 860-231-8019.

Find out what's happening in Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mary Miss Exhibition at Joseloff Gallery

New York-based sculptor Mary Miss is at the forefront of Eco Art, a movement spawned in the 1970s that reconnects art with science and politics around issues including climate change, biodiversity, pollution, and water quality. Eschewing dry, statistical methods of advocating change, Eco Art relies on the use of images, performances, art exhibits and films to make the case for a greener world. Mary Miss: City as Living Laboratory, Hartford centers on a site-specific, multi-part installation created by Miss at the Joseloff Gallery in West Hartford. It is designed to bring attention to the Park River and its watershed. The 77-square mile Park River watershed stretches east through Connecticut from the Metacomet Ridge to the Connecticut River. The north branch of the Park River flows through the campus of the University of Hartford into a buried conduit at Farmington Avenue near the Mark Twain House.  The north and south branches of the Park River converge underground and travel beneath Bushnell Park in Hartford before pouring into the Connecticut River.  Miss hopes her work engages citizens and makes them aware of the importance of local watersheds and how their behavior affects them.

Find out what's happening in Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The exhibition runs through May 29 at the Joseloff Gallery. The Joseloff Art Gallery is at 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford. For more information, visit www.joseloffgallery.org or call 860-768-4090.

Original Artwork for Mom

Remember when honoring your mom on Mother's Day meant making a pot holder or a pinch pot in your school art class? Well, you're older now, and it's time you let the professionals take over. On April 29 from 6 to 9 p.m., the Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon hosts an opening reception forSentiments for Mothers, an exhibition and sale of handcrafted greeting cards and small works of art created by Connecticut artists. The card selection includes hand-painted, mixed media, and other styles. Prices range from $5 to $8. Small works of art range in price from $25 to $50. All will remain on sale through May 7 in the center's Esther Drezner Visitors' Gallery. Also available for purchase are items including jewelry, handbags and scarves. If you feel you must make your mom's gift with your own hands, the center offers two gift-making workshops: On May 7 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., design a hand-felted scarf with instructor Robin McCahill. Fee is $35 plus a $15 materials fee. On May 8 from noon to 3 p.m., instructors Deb Wadsworth and Heather Whitehouse guide you through three beginner-friendly creation stations on a Mother's Day Play Day. Create monoprints, collages, and wax art. Fee is $80 plus a $20 materials fee.

To register for either workshop. phone 860-678-1867. The Farmington Valley Arts Center is at 25 Arts Center Lane, Avon Park North, Avon. For additional information, visit www.artsfvac.org or call 860-678-1867.

Open Studios at Arts Center

Spring has sprung, and that brings a seasonal Open Studio weekend at the Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon. The public is invited to drop by 20 artist's studios, watch demonstrations, and enjoy music, workshops, and hospitality. A community May pole installation fundraiser is also in the works. 

Open Studios is a free event. Hours are April 30 from  6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and May 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All ages are welcome. The Farmington Valley Arts Center is at 25 Arts Center Lane, Avon Park North, Avon. For additional information or to register for workshops, visit www.artsfvac.org or call 860-678-1867. 

19th Century Romantic Music at Windsor Art Center

Award-winning guitarist Stanley Alexandrowicz, a scholar and specialist in the field of 19th century music, performs a program of Romantic guitar music on May 2 at the Windsor Art Center. The New Jersey native began studying music at the age of 8, later graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, and now performs solo and chamber concerts. In addition, Alexandrowicz has delved into research concerning the music, instruments, players, performance practices, and aesthetics of the great late-Romantic guitarists.

Concert time is 2 p.m. Suggested donation is $10. The Windsor Art Center is at the corner of Central and Mechanic streets in Windsor. For more information, visit www.windsorartcenter.org or emailinfo@windsorartcenter.org.

Matinee Magic at Suffield Library

Two utterly different films are slated for free screenings this week at the Kent Memorial Library in Suffield. On April 29 at 2 p.m., it's the Oscar-winning family drama The Fighter, in which Mark Wahlberg plays an aspiring boxer who must first battle family dynamics before becoming a contender. Christian Bale won an Oscar in the role of Dickie Ward, the brother whose own boxing career was sacrificed to addiction. The film is rated R. On May 4 at 2 p.m., the curtain goes up on an oldie but a goodie. Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe co-star in the 1953 musical comedyGentlemen Prefer Blondes. Do they? The film is not rated.

No registration required. No food or drink. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Kent Memorial Library is at 50 North Main St., Suffield. For more information, visit www.suffield-library.org or call 860-668-3896.

Broadway's Memphis at the Movies

Less expensive by far than beaming yourself to the Great White Way is taking a seat at one of your local cinema palaces for a screening of Broadway's current Tony Award-winning Best MusicalMemphis. The cinematic event marks the first time the Tony Award-winning Best Musical is presented in theaters while concurrently running on Broadway. The film features the entire musical with the original cast plus behind-the-scenes footage. (The touring production of the musical arrives next year at Hartford's Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts.)

Screenings are April 28, April 30, and May 3 at 7:30 p.m., and May 1 at 12:30 p.m.  Participating theaters include Buckland Hills 18 IMAX in Manchester, Branford 12 in Branford, and AMC Danbury 16 in Danbury. Tickets for Memphis are available at participating theater box offices and online atwww.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations, prices and additional information — including cast photos and other details —visit the NCM Fathom website. 

Wadsworth Fine Art & Flowers

How do you know it's spring time in Hartford? Aside from the abundance of blossoming trees, the city's Wadsworth Atheneum annually presents the Fine Art & Flowers show. Each year, the museum's Women's Committee pairs masterworks from the Atheneum's collection with 60 floral arrangers and table designers. The result? Floral creations as various and artful as the works that inspired them. Offered in conjunction with the show are a variety of garden- and flower-related special events – from flower arranging workshops and demonstrations to a Garden Club Day, and lectures on topics including Edible Landscapes and hosta varieties.

Fine Art & Flowers runs April 28 through May 1. The Wadsworth Atheneum is at 600 Main St., Hartford. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visitwww.wadsworthatheneum.org or call 860-278-2670.


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?