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Would you like to be notified about upcoming programs? Send us an email with "Sign Me Up" in the subject line.Stairwell Gallery | Gunn Writers Series: Derek Ciccone | Gunn Writers Series: Colleen Plimpton | Contemporary Art Lecture | Gunn Readers Book Group | Gunn Writers Series: Christine M. Whitehead | Museum Exhibits | Free Passes | Search the Museum's Catalog | Connecticut Room | Junior Library Programs |
View Our Event Calendar!
Stairwell Gallery
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June 26 - August 7
The Stairwell Gallery will host a new show by animal portraitist, Melody Asbury. The exhibit will be up from June 26th to August 7th and may be viewed during normal library hours.
Melody's life as an artist has covered a wide range of subject matter. Melody, whose mother was an artist, studied at Ridgewood Art Institute. Her fascination with portraits expanded when she traveled west and created a series of portraits of American Indians. Later on she even became a courtroom sketch artist. When her son began his agricultural education at the Ellis Clark Regional Agri-Science and Technology program in Woodbury the artist began to study animals. Her work is so successful she was accepted as a signature member of the prestigious international Society of Animal Artists, as well as a signature member of the Connecticut Pastel Society.
Working in both oil and pastel, Melody's paintings capture personality, character and beauty no matter the species. She has won many awards through the years and her paintings are in private collections throughout the United States and abroad. Ms. Asbury currently teaches painting at Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College.
Coming August 14 to the Stairwell Gallery: "Sharon Curran’s Stairwell Stampede." Sharon’s exhibit will be up from August 14th to September 25th. She will be displaying her sculpture, mixed media and works on paper.
Gunn Writers Series: Derek Ciccone
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The storyline begins with "Billy Harper, at the end of the road, when he rents a cottage on the property of Chuck and Beth Whitcomb, in an upscale Connecticut town. His once idyllic life has been shattered, leaving him a penniless, out-of-work writer with a frozen heart. Carolyn Whitcomb, a precocious four year-old with a wit and wisdom beyond her years, has an infectious joy and a fearlessness that rubs off on Billy, reminding him what it is to live again, and his heart begins to thaw."
Mr. Ciccone grew up in Connecticut and attended Arizona State University, where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. He currently works as a Marketing Analyst for an advertising agency in Westport, Connecticut. To find out more about Derek Ciccone, visit his website at www.derekciccone.com.
Gunn Writers Series: Colleen Plimpton
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Garden writer, educator, lecturer and coach, Colleen Plimpton trained at the New York Botanical Garden, and has tended her sloping Connecticut acre for 18 years. She's appeared on Good Morning America and PBS; she pens the weekly gardening column for the Danbury News-Times; teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, and writes for publications such as GreenPrints, The Litchfield Review, People, Places & Plants, Connecticut Gardener and Toastmaster. Mentors in the Garden of Life was issued by Park East Press in May, 2010.
Colleen looks upon each day as a challenge and an opportunity to learn more about the wonderful world of nature. She and her husband, Jerry Shike, have raised 3 children, who now reside in China, Connecticut, and Florida. Visit her blog at colleenplimpton.blogspot.com or her website at www.colleenplimpton.com.
This program is free and open to the public. Registration is requested, but not required. Please call the library for further information at 860-868-7586.
Contemporary Art Lecture by Sima Familant
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Since 2002, Sima Familant has worked with a selective group of contemporary art collectors all over the US and UK, helping these clients build historically relevant collections with artworks from a diverse group of established, mid-career and emerging artists. Registration is requested, but not required. Please call the library for further information at 860-868-7586.
Gunn Readers Book Group
Gunn Readers will meet the 3rd Monday of each month at 12:00 noon in the Wykeham Room. Bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy lively discussion with friends about the selection of the month. For more information, call GML or stop in to sign up and reserve your copy of the latest selection.
- June 21st — Exuberance: The Passion for Life by Kay Redfield Jamison
- July 19th — The Women's Room: A Novel by Marilyn French
- August 23rd — What I Thought I Knew: A Memoir by Alice Eve Cohen
Gunn Writers Series: Christine M. Whitehead
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Whitehead's protagonist, Archer Loh seems to have the world on a string. A graduate of Smith College, with a law degree from Columbia, Archer has a great husband, a wonderful daughter, and a fulfilling career. Add to that a slot on the U.S. Equestrian Team and Archer can almost forget her mysterious past, her violent history. But nothing stays at equipoise forever. When Archer's daughter, Annie, is murdered, her life shatters and deadly skills, long dormant, emerge as highly relevant. As Archer embarks on her own path to salvation, she snips all ties with the past. Love is now an extravagance, no longer affordable for her. At her darkest ebb, Connor McCall, financial baron turned Wyoming rancher, stumbles into Archer's life and presses her to start reconnecting the dots. It's an edgy blend of La Femme Nikita, The Horse Whisperer, and something else. In Tell Me When It Hurts readers will discover that memories can sustain or sink you, all in the same night and all the same memories.
Christine Whitehead is a life-long resident of New England and a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She attended the University of Connecticut Law School and has practiced divorce law in Hartford, Connecticut for over twenty-five years. Tell Me When It Hurts is her first novel. For many scenes in the story, she drew upon some of her own legal experiences, some legal experiences of others, her connection to animals and her own search for serenity and attachment.
This program is free and open to the public. Registration is requested, but not required. Please call the library for further information at 860-868-7586.
Free Passes!
New Britain Museum of American Art — Free admssion for four people. (One adult must accompany children under 16). Pass is valid for general admission only. Additional fees may apply to special exhibitions, events and programs. Library pass cannot be used for Docent-led tours.Wadsworth Atheneum — the ARTpass offers free general admission for up to two adults and two children (ages 6-17).
Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk — Discount Card for $2.00 off combination (Aquarium and Daytime IMAX) admission for up to 6 people. Two passes available. The Junior Library has passes for:
- Earthplace, in Westport, CT. Free passes for a family of four to Natureplace and the live animal hall and native plant courtyard.
- Mystic Aquarium, in Mystic, CT. Discount admission for 2 adults and 2 children.
- The Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, CT. This pass will allow 2 adults and 4 children free admission to Connecticut's only zoo for one day. Limited to use by one family per day.
- Institute for American Indian Studies for a family of four, which covers general admission and provides a 10% discount in the gift shop.
- CT State Parks & Forests Day Pass valid Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2010. Covers parking costs and/or entrance fees at all parks and forests where there is an established charge.
Explore the Connecticut Room
Looking for your ancestors? Want to learn more about your house? Is there something here in Washington that you've always wondered about? Here's your chance to find out. To explore the resources available in both the Connecticut Room and the Museum, please call 868-7756 for an appointment.
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