This story has been updated.
AMENIA — Frigid temperatures caused two water main breaks in Amenia on Tuesday, Jan. 27 — one on Depot Hill Road and a second, more serious rupture beneath Lake Amenia Road — forcing crews to work through the day and into the night to restore service.
The Depot Hill Road leak was reported by resident David Intrieri at about 8:45 a.m. and was patched with a collar seal by midafternoon. Crews then shifted to the Lake Amenia Road break, where a section of pipe had to be removed and fully replaced.
C. Gallagher Contracting of Brewster, New York, provided excavation and pipe repair services for both breaks, with assistance from Pat Cusano of North Salem, New York.
Crew members with VRI Environmental Services and C. Gallagher Contracting assess the flow rate of the damaged pipe under Lake Amenia Road in Amenia on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m.Photo by Nathan Miller
The Depot Hill Road repair was completed around 2:30 p.m., but work at Lake Amenia Road was delayed when crews were unable to immediately locate a key valve. According to crew members, the first valve was not found until about 7:30 p.m.
Flow from the pipe had still not slowed by 8:30 p.m., even after one valve was shut. Representatives from VRI Environmental Services — Amenia’s contracted water system operator — located additional valves and fire hydrants to further reduce pressure shortly before 9 p.m.
A white plastic pipe replaces the damaged section of water main beneath Lake Amenia Road in Amenia on Tuesday, Jan. 27.Photo by Nathan Miller
The pipe replacement was completed by 9:30 p.m., and water service was restored to affected customers, crew members said.
Imprecisely marked valves on the town’s water system map contributed to the delays, according to crew members. Water Committee Chair Bill Flood said VRI only recently assumed management of Amenia’s water system and is still becoming familiar with the district’s layout. Large snowbanks also obscured valves and other infrastructure, Cusano said.
A collar seal covers a crack in a water main pipe near 54 Depot Hill Road in Amenia.Photo by Nathan Miller
VRI representatives said another water main leak occurred in Millerton but was minor and repaired on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
The breaks were attributed to extreme cold, which can cause ground movement and added stress on aging pipes — some up to 30 years old — in Amenia.
“There’ll be more tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day,” Cusano said. “It’s just that time of year.”
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Stephanie Haboush Plunkett
“The field of illustration is very close to my heart,” she said. Inspired by that example, she studied illustration at Pratt Institute and began her career as an illustrator before shifting toward museum work. An internship at the Brooklyn Museum proved pivotal. “It was inspiring to see the children come alive in front of art,” she recalled.
In addition to her curatorial work, Plunkett is the author of two children’s books, “Kongi and Potgi: A Cinderella Story from China” and “Sir Whong and the Golden Pig,” and has written or co-authored numerous books on illustration, including “Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School” and “Leo Lionni: Storyteller, Illustrator, Designer.” She earned an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and built a museum career that included positions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Heckscher Museum of Art before joining the Norman Rockwell Museum, where she has worked for 31 years.
But elevating illustration has meant challenging decades of critical skepticism.
“The goal has been to shine a light on this important American art form and to elevate public awareness of its artistic and cultural importance,”Plunkett said.
As a popular and widely circulated art, illustration is sometimes thought of as inferior to fine art, such as painting and sculpture. Plunkett considered why. She theorized that the 1913 New York Armory Show, the International Exhibition of Modern Art, with works by artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Duchamp, initially contributed to this evaluation. In the 1930s and ’40s, abstract expressionism became the art of the nation, and the rift widened further.
“Norman Rockwell became the antihero for many art critics of the time,” said Plunkett. “Illustration was viewed as too commercial and sentimental because of its emphasis on visual storytelling.”
Plunkett calls illustration “art with a job to do.” She explained, “Illustrators are adept at solving visual problems for their clients while expressing their own aesthetic and artistic vision.”
Visitors consider Norman Rockwell’s paintings on Civil Rights for Look Magazine, “New Kids in the Neighborhood” (1967) and “The Problem We All Live With” (1963.) L. Tomaino
She noted that the line between the fine and applied arts “is much more porous now, with many artists working across platforms and styles.” She cited late-20th-century illustrators like Marshall Arisman, Barbara Nessim, Robert Cunningham, Bernie Fuchs and Mark English as illustrators who forged unique approaches to working and seeing.
Plunkett commented that people want to see the original illustrations. “Generally, Rockwell exhibitions bring high attendance. Currently, our traveling exhibition, ‘Norman Rockwell: From Camera to Canvas,’ is at the New Britain Museum of American Art, but we’ve traveled Rockwell and illustration to 45 states and several countries, including Japan, France, Italy and Germany.”
Nowadays, illustrators take on subjects that are important to them. “The children’s book industry is committed to sharing the richness and diversity of people and cultures with young readers.” Plunkett cited the late illustrator Jerry Pinkney’s commitment to this goal. As a boy, Pinkney found no books portraying children like him, and “his life’s mission as an artist was to present inspiring, positive images of children of color.”
The Norman Rockwell Museum and Rockwell Center seeds were sown when “Rockwell placed the first 199 artworks in the care and collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum upon its founding in 1969, some of which he personally acquired for the fledgling collection,” said Plunkett. “The museum’s current Rockwell holdings include 865 original artworks, the artist’s Stockbridge studio and an archive of 400,000 photographs, letters, props and first uses of the artist’s work. We also hold about 25,000 illustrations by other artists, from the historical to the contemporary.”
“We call ourselves the home for American illustration. We have a real commitment to illustrators and what they’ve accomplished,” said Plunkett.
The Norman Rockwell Museum is located at 9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit
nrm.org
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