
Riding along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail on a summer day, cyclists will soon experience the thrill of riding over the clear blue waters as they ride from the center of Millerton in the direction of Copake. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle
One of the things I love best about this area is that there are few limits to where you can ride your bike.
I have been on a bike for more than a decade, and I’ve ridden everywhere from the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, Conn., to all around Block Island, R.I., and along sections of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.
I seized any excuse to take my bike out on the ride, whether I was picking up milk downtown (balancing the gallon precariously on my handlebars), checking out a book from the library or riding to my former cashier job at the Sharon Farm Market.
When I was growing up in Sharon, my brother and I would ride our bikes down to the Sharon Pharmacy every fall to check out the Halloween costumes on display.
As I got older, my mom started taking me out on the Rail Trail to explore the trails.
Come winter, spring, summer or fall, you could find us riding down the trail, over ice patches and fallen leaves and past bodies of water and local wildlife.
We would start at Coleman Station in North East, N.Y., at the Sharon border, and ride to the center of Millerton. We’d later challenge ourselves with a ride from Coleman Station to the Wassaic Metro-North Train Station, sometimes stopping on the way back for an ice cream at Fudgy’s.
When the town of Amenia, N.Y., completed its long-awaited Trail to the Train project last fall, we immediately set our sights on the trail extension leading to the hamlet of Wassaic.
The newest section of the trail extending from Millerton to Copake has become a new favorite, one that I tend to ride in the early morning at least once a week.
After learning the hard way to always be alert, I no longer listen to music while I ride. I’ve come to prefer the break from technology and the chance it gives me to enjoy the sounds I catch on my ride.
A magic carpet ride of sights, sounds
No matter how many rides I’ve been on, the first mile tends to be the hardest as my legs slowly adjust to pedaling myself forward, but once I’m off, it’s a sensation akin to flying.
It never fails to astound me how the local area — the same one I’ve lived and worked in for most of my life — bursts with life, sound, color and scents when summer arrives.
Sometimes I’ll catch a whiff of honeysuckle or the smell of the lilac trees. I often hear the train whistle as it rides out of Wassaic.
I’ve seen everything on the trail from swans, turtles, geese and goslings to seasoned cyclists, dog walkers, teen skaters and even a man walking his LaMancha goat.
I’ve watched the communities I’ve grown to love demonstrate town spirit in unlikely places, from turning one of the pine trees on the Amenia section into an impromptu Christmas tree, to decorating rocks and placing them along the trail markers for Boston Corners and the train station.
She got back in the saddle again
But, again, I’m someone who learned from experience, that there are clear rules to keep in mind when exploring the trails.
For example, when you approach a crosswalk, it’s crucial for cyclists to disembark and walk to the other side before getting back on the bike again. I should know: I was in a biking accident in July 2015, just three days after my 21st birthday. I was biking ahead of my mom on the Rail Trail heading to Amenia when I got to the crosswalk. The last thing I remember was getting ready to pedal to the other side when I was hit by a car coming down the road, the impact shattering my hip socket and fracturing my tibia.
Two surgeries and months of physical therapy later, I was back at home and then back at college for my last year. It would be months before I’d be back on the bike again.
Finding the balance (again)
As luck would have it, there was a poster sale on my college campus the semester I went back to finish my degree. Among them was a simple black-and-white poster featuring a picture of a bike similar to the one I ride today. Above the bike, written half in print and half in cursive, was a quote from Albert Einstein: “Life is like riding a bicycle: to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
I initially bought the poster as a reminder of the moment when my life went off balance; I’ve kept it as a reminder of how I keep my balance.
Safety is essential
Take it from someone who learned the hard way: Don’t take these rules for granted. The trails are there for you to use, but they don’t give you free reign over the road.
Respect the trails and your fellow cyclists, and always be aware of what’s happening around you; all it takes is a moment to change your day.
And for those of you who didn’t grow up on “Mick Harte Was Here” — Barbara Park’s coming-of-age story about a young girl who loses her brother in a bike accident — don’t disregard the helmet.
Enjoy the thrill of the ride; but don’t get so caught up in it that you forget to be cautious.
Dancers from Pilobolus will perform at the NWCT Arts Council spring fundraiser on April 26 in Washington Depot, Conn.
On Saturday, April 26, the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council will host a special evening, Arts Connected, their spring fundraiser celebrating the power of creativity and community. Held at the Bryan Memorial Town Hall in Washington Depot from 5 to 8 p.m., this event brings together artists, performers, and neighbors for a magical night filled with inspiration, connection and joy.
Award-winning designer and arts advocate Diane von Furstenberg and her granddaughter Antonia Steinberg are honorary co-chairs of the event. Their shared love of the arts informs the spirit of the evening.
Antonia Steinberg, above, President of Bucks Rock Camp in New Milford that she first attended as a camper when she was ten years old. Antonia is co-chair, with her grandmother Diane Von Furstenberg of the NWCT Arts Council fundraiser.Provided
“As someone whose life was profoundly shaped by the arts — as a child at Buck’s Rock and now as President of its Board — I’ve seen firsthand the transformative power of the arts; how creative spaces can empower young people, build community, and nurture well-rounded problem solvers. That’s why I’m so honored to co-host the Northwest CT Arts Council Gala. Their work in supporting artists and cultural organizations across Connecticut is essential,” said Steinberg.
Von Furstenberg’s influence in fashion and culture, and Steinberg’s leadership at Buck’s Rock reflect the intergenerational impact of the arts,” said NWCT Arts Council board president Sunday Fisher. “Their participation underscores the power of creative expression as a defining force in our community.” Steinberg is the president of Buck’s Rock Camp, a non-profit performing and creative arts camp in New Milford that she first attended as a 10-year-old camper.
Diane Von Furstenberg, co-chair of NWCT Arts Council fundraiser.Provided
Steph Burr, executive director at NWCT Arts Council, added, “Events like Arts Connected are at the heart of what we do — bringing people together, lifting up artists, and reminding us of the essential role creativity plays in our lives. The Council works year-round to ensure the arts not only survive but thrive across our region.”
NWCT Arts Council is a nonprofit that serves as advocates for the arts. Through regranting efforts, public art support, legislative advocacy, and their regional events calendar, they work to ensure the arts are accessible and celebrated in every corner of their 25-town service area.
Burr continued, “The arts in Northwest Connecticut are vibrant, evolving, and deeply rooted in community. There’s a quiet but powerful creative pulse running through these hills — one that reflects the resilience, diversity, and passion of the people who call this region home. Over the past few years, artists and cultural organizations have navigated challenges with heart and determination, despite ongoing funding volatility. Through our advocacy and collaborative programming, we ensure the arts remain essential and accessible in our community.”
Highlights of the April 26 fundraiser include performances by Pilobolus, Sherman Chamber Ensemble, Ysanne Marshall & the Lotus Blues, hand pan musician Jeremy Driscoll, and a curated art exhibition, NW25 Gallery, featuring local artists. Sponsors Litchfield Distillery, Kent Falls Brewing Company, and Executive Cuisine catering will provide the food and drink.
Ticket prices are $125, open to guests 21 and older, available online at givebutter.com/artsconnected.For more information or to ask about sponsorship opportunities, email Katherine Pelletier at katherine@artsnwct.org or visit givebutter.com/artsconnectedsponsorship.
Arts Connected is made possible thanks to the generous support of sponsors; Antonia Steinberg is sponsoring all the artists for the event and Valiant Energy and Torrington Savings Bank are presenting the event.Additional sponsors include William Raveis Lifestyle Realty, Litchfield Magazine, Housatonic Heritage, Art Bank 7, Harney & Sons Teas, Aquarion Water, The Lost Fox Inn, George Home, NKYV Rituals, and Litchfield Distillery.
Lily Al-Nemri, founder and owner, and artistic director and painter Rudy Vavra at Tyte medispa and gallery in Millbrook.
The painter Rudy Vavra once created floor collages in Texas. You could, in theory, lie on them. Now, years later and much farther north, his work graces the walls of a medispa in Millbrook, New York where he also serves as the artistic director. You can still lie down, just not on the art. Instead, you might be undergoing an EmFace non-surgical facelift while surrounded by twenty-two of Vavra’s paintings.
The space, Tyte Medispa in Millbrook, is equal parts gallery and treatment center, the brainchild of Lily Al-Nemri, a medical aesthetician and now gallery owner. She also owns the nail salon, Bryte, down the street on Franklin Avenue. A few years ago, feeling she was outgrowing that space, she looked to expand and, just a few blocks away, found this rather sprawling maze of rooms with the gallery that now inhabits the grand central ballroom. “This used to be a gym,” she said. “It was way more than I was looking for, but I went for it.”
Vavra, a self-professed “painter’s painter,” has spent decades layering pigment in his barn-turned-studio in Milan, New York. “I find paintings as much as I make them,” he mused. “Some happen quickly, others are slow.” Of this latest collection, he said, “Some people call them busy. I think they’re slow.” His marks accumulate with a kind of devotional persistence, like petals left at a shrine. “A while ago, I saw a photographic image of a shrine,” Vavra said. “I don’t know if it was a Buddhist shrine or what, but there were colors on the ground all around it, and I realized they were the stains of flowers left in the worship. That’s very similar to the way I paint.”
The collection of paintings on view at Tyte — some as large as a shrine — are meditations on color, inviting the viewer to slow down. Or speed up. Whether viewers are activated or soothed by the images is neither Vavra’s intention nor within his control. Still, he said that watching people interact with the work has been a real treat. “Now that I have my paintings here, I get to see them all together,” he said. “It’s only when they’re all together that I see how they talk to each other. It’s interesting to see people come in and go to have a treatment and come out. It’s a very interesting connection.”
And what is the connection? What could be a disjointed pairing — aesthetics and aesthetic medicine — has become, improbably, a perfectly logical continuum. “They’re related in a sense,” Vavra said.
Aly Morrissey
Al-Nemri, a former radiologist who taught for over a decade at Westchester Community College, is no stranger to layering, precision, or the quiet rigor of care. Her incredible menu of services — Botox, body contouring, pelvic floor therapies — are the cutting edge of the industry. Of Vavra, Al-Nemri said, “I fell in love with his work, and we just hit it off.” It’s a kind of kismet that seems to hover over the place. Pilates mat classes take place twice a week in the main gallery space and both Al-Nemri and Vavra have loved watching clients pause, eyes caught by a stripe of cerulean or a vibrating cluster of brushstrokes. “Something will catch their eye,” said Vavra. “They’re looking for something in it.”
So, this gallery-meets-spa (or is it the other way around?) has plans. Vavra will be curating six shows a year. Laurie Adams’s photographs will be hung in June, a group show of local artists will share the space in July and August, and a Fall show will feature twenty women artists, which Vavra is eager to anchor with a piece by Judy Pfaff. “There’s nothing like this on this side of the county,” he said of the light drenched space. “It’s been a bit sleepier here. We want to wake it up.”
He means it kindly; sleep certainly has its place. But here in Millbrook, amid the low drone of machines designed to rejuvenate, something unexpected has emerged. Perhaps that’s what both Al-Nemri and Vavra are really after — not the quick fix or the final image, but the suspended moment, the long look. A face seen anew. A painting revealed slowly, in silence.
As for Vavra’s curatorial process? “I just unpack the paintings, lean them against the wall, and look,” he said. “Eighty percent of the time, they’re already where they’re supposed to be.”