Art and entertainment in 2025

In 2025, the pages of Compass tracked the steady hum of creativity across the Northwest Corner. Here’s a look at some of the highlights that shaped the year.

ART

The Hotchkiss School marked 50 years of co-education with The Art of Joy Brown, a sweeping retrospective honoring the internationally celebrated sculptor. Opening Feb. 22 in the Tremaine Art Gallery, the exhibition traced Brown’s five-decade journey from her early pottery training in Japan to the large-scale bronze figures now installed around the world — and newly on the Hotchkiss campus.

Millbrook School hosted the first-ever Firefly student artist showcase in February, bringing together young artists and bird enthusiasts from schools across New York and Connecticut.

The David M. Hunt Library’s Art Wall continued to feature local artists, including Jon Kopita, who displayed a decade of his meticulous, repetitive hand-lettering exploring order and identity.

A collaboration between The Nutmeg Fudge Company, artist Gerald Incandela, and Saint John Paul the Great Academy resulted in a vibrant student-designed mural in Torrington.

Great Barrington marked a major milestone this year with the unveiling of a life-sized bronze sculpture of W.E.B. Du Bois in front of the Mason Public Library. Created by National Sculpture Society honoree Richard Blake, the piece anchors a redesigned public plaza.

The Wassaic Project received a $100,000 multi-year operating grant from Foundations for Community Health and Amy Wynn stepped down Oct. 31 as the first executive director of the American Mural Project (AMP) in Winsted.

Sculptor Richard Blake in his studio at work on his sculpture of W.E.B. Du Bois.Provided

BOOKS

We welcomed new freelance writers Laurie Fendrich and Olivia Prager who covered the region’s robust literary scene. Highlights included Ann Temkin at Cornwall Library; Ruth Franklin at Congregation Beth David; Elias Weiss Friedman (AKA “The Dogist”) at Troutbeck; Gwen Strauss at the White Hart Speaker Series; and the return of the Haystack Book Festival in Norfolk.Books & Blooms celebrated its tenth anniversary in June with a two-day celebration of gardens, art and the rural beauty of Cornwall.

FILM

The Triplex in Great Barrington hosted screenings, festivals and conversations throughout the year, from a Bob Dylan biopic talkback with Seth Rogovoy to student screenings of “Selma,” benefit events and the launch of the Queer Cinema Club. The Stissing Center expanded film programming with a new projector and a short-film festival featuring local artists and the Moviehouse in Millerton continued its incredible programming.

Legendary civil rights activist Dolores Huerta sat down with The Journal in October in advance of the screening of “Dolores” in Norfolk, the documentary by Peter Bratt and executive producer Carlos Santana that presents an unflinching portrait of a woman whose voice, body and will shaped the political terrain of the United States.

Morgan James performing at the new Indigo Room at the Mahaiwe.Christina Lane

MUSIC

From brass bands and local musicians at street fairs and green spaces to classical and chamber music series presented by organizations from Music Mountain to Tanglewood, music was a staple of the Compass calendar.

The Twelve Moons Coffeehouse in Falls Village continues its once-a-month series that consists of a robust open mic followed by a featured performer.

The American Mural Project’s live music and Happy Hour Piano Series was also a monthly anchor that featured a multitude of styles of music.

The Indigo Room, a new performance space connected to The Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, opened in the beautifully restored historic firehouse next door, offering a smaller space for intimate performances. The Mahaiwe continued to delight with programming that included greats like Old Crow Medicine Show, Paquito D’Rivera, Natalie Merchant, Roseanne Cash and many more.

Crescendo, the award-winning organization that brings works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods to new life, launched its 22nd season with performances at Saint James Place in Great Barrington and Trinity Church in Lakeville.

Rufus Wainwright performed a benefit concert for Out for Dutchess at The Stissing Center.The beloved Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield hosted its final Fall Gratitude Festival before closing its storied doors.

Martha Stewart at Trade Secrets.Christine Bates

COMMUNITY

Trade Secrets celebrated its 25th anniversary with record crowds. The annual event, benefiting Project SAGE, featured over 50 vendors and special attractions like a signing of Martha Stewart’s gardening book, following a day of local garden tours.

Scenic bike routes were explored in these pages and Kerri Lee Mayland’s offerings on design are a delightful new feature. Dee Salomon’s column “The Ungardener” continues to inform and delight and community events such as the Farm Fall Block Party at Rock Steady Farm in Millerton kept readers connected to local farm life.

THEATER

The Sharon Playhouse delivered a lively season of classic musicals, sharp comedies and community-centered work. Highlights included “Million Dollar Quartet,” a popular run of “Annie,” A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia” and a fall staging of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.” The Writers Playground Festival championed new short plays by local writers, while the YouthStage program mounted family favorites like “Once Upon a Mattress,” “Finding Nemo Jr.” and “101 Dalmatians Kids,” giving young performers steady opportunities onstage. The Playhouse also welcomed new managing director, Meghan Flanagan.

The Ancram Center for the Arts celebrated its 10th anniversary. Highlights included the “Real People Real Stories” series, the regional premiere of “Where the Mountain Meets the Sea,” and Plein Air Plays 3.0, which brought original short plays to surprise outdoor locations. The Center also advanced new work through its Play Lab Residency, featuring David Cale’s “Blue Cowboy” and “Framed,” a new musical by Ancram local Mary Murfitt with music by Murfitt and Pam Drews Phillips.

In May, Richard Maltby Jr.’s “About Time” opened at Goodspeed’s Terris Theatre. He spoke with us about the deeply personal revue, describing it as a meditation on aging, memory and the strange clarity of life’s “third act.”

The Stissing Center continued to expand its theatrical footprint in 2025, presenting a mix of classic drama, new work and intimate staged readings. Highlights included Theatre On the Road’s atmospheric “Dracula,” a summer run of the off-Broadway musical “Kafkaesque!,” and Tangent Theatre Company’s reading of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal.”

Highlights of theater at Hotchkiss in 2025 included a spring premiere of “R.I.P. Lunch,” an original play by alumna Mallory Jane Weiss, and a lively fall production of the musical “Pippin.” Housatonic Valley Regional High School also had a strong theater year in 2025, highlighted by a spring production of “Urinetown” that earned statewide recognition, summer performances through the Grumbling Gryphons Theater Arts Camp, and student apprenticeships at Sharon Playhouse. We also welcomed new writers Annette Stover and Richard Feiner who have beautifully expanded our theater coverage.