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‘Giddy up’ for 18th Goshen Stampede

‘Giddy up’ for 18th Goshen Stampede

Step one of the Cowgirl Triathlon required competitors to lasso a calf.

Riley Klein

GOSHEN — Country-style competitions and confections filled the Fair Grounds for the 18th annual Goshen Stampede, June 7 to 9.

The three-day rodeo festival displayed a range of all-American contests including horseback riding, goat wrangling, barrel racing, monster trucks, quad racing, demolition derbies, live music, carnival rides, fried delicacies and of course, bull riding. Kids even got in the rodeo action with a sheep riding competition.

Step two of the Cowgirl Triathlon was barrel racing.Riley Kelin

Pointy boots, ten-gallon hats and handheld fried or frozen foods met the eye at every turn. Guests moved through walkways lined with enticing games and vibrant vendors, all leading to the main attractions.

The Cowgirl Triathlon, held Sunday, June 9, showcased unique skills on horseback. Competitors began by lassoing a calf, moved seamlessly into the barrel race, and concluded by dismounting to wrangle a goat.

“The richest cowgirl triathlon east of the Mississippi” paid out $705 to winner, Shyla O’Neil, who completed the three stages of the timed event with no errors in 30.28 seconds.

Deep fried delicacies and big hats at every turn.Riley Klein

Cars wrecked in the demolition derby were lined up in the straight track to become part of the monster truck event. Customized pick-up trucks with massive wheels roared down the straight as crash-hungry spectators looked on with excitement in the stands.

An orange truck named “Terrordactyl” was fixed with 10 seats in the bed, offering monster truck rides to guests. A nine-step ladder brought riders from the ground up to their seats.

Stanley McGrath, renowned onion ring maker, has been attending the fair since it began in 2006. He said “it’s the people” that keep him coming back.

Riley Klein

Litchfield County Axe House set up an axe-throwing booth just beside the rodeo ring. Owner Joseph Kucia said his company has been attending the Stampede for the past five years.

“Litchfield County is super nostalgic,” said Kucia, noting the connection people in the area feel to the weekend’s events. “They can kind of vibe off that... I think it’s a comfort.”

Three bullseyes won a free game of axe throwing.Riley Klein

Riley Klein
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The Millerton News - November 12, 2026

The Millerton News - November 12, 2026

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Original art, attainable prices

Original art, attainable prices

Kenise Barnes Fine Art presents “Cool & Collected ’26,” its annual exhibition celebrating the joy of collecting, featuring works priced under $2,000.

D.H. Callahan

There’s a corner of YouTube populated by real-time footage of high-dollar art sales from prestigious New York and London auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips. Hundreds of thousands of viewers routinely watch with rapt attention, popcorn and cocktails in hand, as recognizable pieces from art history make their way to the upper echelons of grossly unattainable hammer prices. Pieces can often start with opening bids of tens of thousands of dollars and work their way up to multiple millions. Bidding increments alone can grow to sums unattainable for the average American family in several lifetimes.

Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent, Connecticut, wants to help make fine art more accessible. The 2026 version of the gallery’s annual “Cool and Collected” exhibition is subtitled “The Gift Edit” and features dozens of works by fine artists at prices that are much more in reach than an art-world outsider might expect. More than 30 artists contributed pieces to the show. Almost all available works are priced under $2,000, with many below $500. The collection features paintings, drawings, collage and ceramics.

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Jennifer Terzian’s sanctuary for contemporary art

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Jennifer Terzian, founder of Jennifer Terzian Gallery in Litchfield.
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The gallery is really meant to create a very intimate relationship with the artist and the story behind their work.
—Jennifer Terzian

On a recent crisp, fall afternoon in Litchfield, Jennifer Terzian welcomed a steady stream of collectors, artists, and art-world insiders into her jewel box of an art space on South Street, just off the town’s manicured historic Green.

The occasion was an opening for Jenny Kemp, an artist noted for balancing fluidity and structure in her abstractions through repetition, variation, and gradual shifts in hue. Hers is exactly the kind of tactile, process-driven work Terzian champions at a subterranean space that feels less like a commercial art gallery and more like stumbling into an impeccably edited sanctuary of contemporary thought.

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Peter Cusack is finding the eternal in North Canaan

Peter Cusack is finding the eternal in North Canaan
Peter Cusack in his studio.
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“I think art is the thing that allows us to feel there’s something in the universe that loves us,” said painter Peter Cusack in his new studio, a mid-19th-century stone church on Main Street in North Canaan.

For Cusack, art has always been a way of reaching toward something beyond the physical world. That sensibility runs through “Eternal: New, Recent, and Near Distant Paintings,” his upcoming exhibition in the church, a setting that seems an improbably good fit.

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Cowboy Junkies celebrate 40 years at the Mahaiwe

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Cowboy Junkies celebrate 40 years together at the Mahaiwe Nov. 14

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Now celebrating 40 years, Cowboy Junkies will perform Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

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Mike Selbach finds the extraordinary in everyday life

Mike Selbach finds the extraordinary in everyday life
“R46 Interior” (2026). Solid cherry and acrylic, 21” x 26.75” x 0.75”
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Subway stations may seem unlikely places to encounter the divine, but amid the rumble of trains, the crush of commuters and the cavernous underground passageways, Salisbury artist Mike Selbach finds moments of unexpected beauty.

In “Subway Saints,” his solo exhibition opening Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Warren Family Gallery at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Selbach transforms ordinary commuters and familiar transit spaces into sacred moments.

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