MILLERTON — Musical harmony was restored in the village of Millerton this summer as Jonathan Grusauskas (best known as Jonny G, the creator and visionary behind The Music Cellar, located right off the Harlem Valley Rail Trail) succeeded in raising the funds needed to purchase The Music Cellar building this past August.
Located at 14 Main St., the raspberry-colored building along the trail has been a hub for musical instruction and exploration in the community for the last five years.
Before moving into that space, The Music Cellar was previously located in the space where the T-Shirt Farm used to be located at 64 South Center St.; it’s since moved around the corner to 14 Main St., along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.
From Toddler Jam and Story Hour to Mom’s Morning Out and private music lessons, The Music Cellar offers residents of all ages from around the Tri-state region the chance to explore their passion for music and unlock endless musical possibilities.
Though The Music Cellar managed to weather the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact by switching from in-person to virtual programming, Jonny G acknowledged last spring how the pandemic has cut into their business.
Another impact of COVID-19 was the increase in value in the local real estate market, especially in the Harlem Valley and areas like Millerton, Pine Plains and across the border in neighboring Salisbury and Kent, Conn., which led to the building being placed on the market. Responding quickly to his landlord’s announcement that she wanted to sell the building, Jonny G decided he wanted to buy the hot piece of property. He set up a GoFundMe page this past March to raise the necessary funds with the community’s help as he didn’t have the money for a down payment all by himself.
Thanks to an overwhelming amount of support and generosity, The Music Cellar was able to raise the funds needed to put down the down payment on the building. Jonny G said the studio met its goal by August, raising $18,000.
When The Millerton News previously reported on The Music Cellar’s fundraising campaign this past spring, the total fundraising goal was $25,000. With $18,000 raised through the GoFundMe page, Jonny G attributed the remaining $17,000 to generous support from his family and donors, with the rest coming from his personal savings.
Extending his gratitude to all those who contributed to the fundraiser and allowed The Music Cellar to secure its home base of 10 years, Jonny G said, “In a world where school budgets so often suffer, and the arts are considered extracurricular luxuries rather than the integral piece of humanity that they are, it gives me hope to see so many coming together to show their support and valuation of music education. It makes me proud to live in a community that sees the importance of music and creativity.”
Elsewhere in the community, local residents and long-time supporters of the studio were equally delighted to see The Music Cellar reach its goal.
“[My husband] Greg and I were thrilled to see the outpouring of support from the community,” said Brooke Lehman, co-director of The Watershed Center in Millerton, who rallied the community to contribute to the GoFundMe page, “and we weren’t surprised because Jonny and the rest of the crew at The Music Cellar have been such a gift to the community for so many years. It’s really heartwarming to see so many people showing up and giving back.”
If things had gone differently and The Music Cellar had disappeared from the village, Lehman said the community would have lost the heart of its cultural programming.
“My hope is that The Music Cellar serves as a nucleus for other forms of creative endeavors to anchor themselves in Millerton in the future,” she said. “For Millerton, really having a building or a cultural institution devoted to music right in the heart of town — right on the Rail Trail — serves us as a community well into the future.”
“They are an important part of what makes this community so vibrant and fun,” said NorthEast-Millerton Library Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson. “It really shows you how much they mean to Millerton and to our local creative community, that they were able to rally behind them like this.”
Jonny G often volunteers to sing and perform at the library, and is a regular part of its programming for children of all ages there.
“The Music Cellar has provided some of our youngest library patrons — infants, toddlers and preschoolers — with the ability to connect with music during their early childhood years, which are some of the most pivotal years in socio-emotional learning and development,” said NorthEast-Millerton Library Youth Services Coordinator Kristin McClune. “The impact of that is not insignificant, and knowing that they will continue to be a resource in our community brings me a lot of joy for their organization and for Millerton as a whole.”
Jonny G and those who work at The Music Cellar have also volunteered with the North East Community Center (NECC) in Millerton frequently over the years. They've also made it a point to participate in other community events, always contributing to the vibe of the village and promoting Millerton in the most musical of ways.
This article has been corrected to note The Music Cellar's address as 14 Main St., along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.
Helping to foster a love of music at an early age, Jonny G, center, led a group of local toddlers in drumming to their own beat at the Toddler Jam session on Wednesday morning, Oct. 27. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle
“Once Upon a Time in America” features ten portraits by artist Katro Storm.
Part of what became a capstone project for Wolgemuth, she left behind a comprehensive guide to help future student interns manage the gallery effectively. “Everything from who we should contact, the steps to take for everything, our donors,” Wilbur said. “It’s really extensive and it’s been a huge help.”
Art teacher Lilly Rand Barnett first met Storm a few years ago through his ICEHOUSE Project Space exhibition in Sharon, “Will It Grow in Sharon?” in which he planted cotton and tobacco as part of an exploration of ancestral heritage.
“And the plants did grow,” said Barnett. She asked Storm if her students could use them, and the resulting work became a project for that year’s Troutbeck Symposium, the annual student-led event in Amenia that uncovers little-known or under-told histories of marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC histories.
Last spring, Rand emailed to ask if Storm would consider a solo show at HVRHS. He agreed.
And just a few weeks ago, he arrived — paints, brushes and canvases in tow.
“When Katro came to start hanging everything, he took up a mini art residency in Ms. Rand’s room,” Wilbur said. “All her students were able to see his process and talk to him. It was great working with him.”
Perhaps more unexpected was his openness. “He really trusted us as curators and visionaries,” Wilbur said. “He said, ‘Do with it what you will.’”
Artist Katro StormNatalia Zukerman
Storm’s artistic training began at New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts. His talent earned him a full scholarship to the Arts Institute of Boston, then Boston’s Museum School, where he painted seven oversized portraits of influential Black figures — in seven days — for his final project. Those works became the backbone of his early exhibitions, including at Howard University’s National Council for the Arts.
Storm has created several community murals like the 2009 READ Mural featuring local heroes, and several literacy and wellness murals at the Stetson Branch Library in New Haven. Today, he teaches and works, he said, “wherever I set up shop. Sometimes I go outside. Sometimes I’m on top of roofs. Wherever it is, I get the job done.”
His deep ties to education made a high school gallery an especially meaningful stop. “No one really knew who these people were except maybe John Lennon,” Storm said of the portraits in the show. “It’s really important for them to know James Baldwin and Shirley Chisholm. And now they do.”
The exhibition includes a wide list of subjects: James Baldwin, Shirley Chisholm, Redd Foxx, Jasper Johns, Marilyn Manson, William F. Buckley, Harold Hunter, John Lennon, as well as two deeply personal works — a portrait of Tracy Sherrod (“She’s a friend of mine… She had an interesting hairdo”) and a tribute to his late friend Nes Rivera. “Most of the time I choose my subjects because there are things I want to see,” Storm said.
Storm’s paintings, which he describes as “full frontal figuratism,” rely on drips, tonal shifts, and what feels like emerging depth. His process moves quickly. “It depends on how fast it needs to get done,” he said. “Sometimes I like to take the long way up the mountain. Instead of doing an outline, I just start coloring, blocking things off with light and dark until it starts to take shape.”
He’s currently in a black-and-white phase. “Right now, I’m inspired by black and white, the way I can really get contrast and depth.”
Work happens on multiple canvases at once. “Sometimes I’ll have five paintings going on at one time because I go through different moods, and then there’s the way the light hits,” he said. “It’s kind of like cooking. You’ve got a couple things going at once, a couple things cooking, and you just try to reach that deadline.”
For Wilbur, who has studied studio arts “ever since I was really young” and recently applied early decision to Vassar, the experience has been transformative. For Storm — an artist who built an early career painting seven portraits in seven days and has turned New York’s subway corridors into a makeshift museum — it has been another chance to merge artmaking with education, and to pass a torch to a new generation of curators.
Le Petit Ranch offers animal-assisted therapy and learning programs for children and seniors in Sheffield.
Le Petit Ranch operates out of two small structures next to the family’s home: a one-room schoolhouse for animal-assisted learning sessions and a compact stable for the three miniature horses, Mini Mac, Rocket and Miso. Other partner animals include two rescued Spanish greyhounds, Yayi and Ronya; four guinea pigs and a flock of chickens.
Borreda offers programs at the Scoville Library in Salisbury, at Salisbury Central School and surrounding towns to support those who benefit from non-traditional learning environments.
“Animal-assisted education partners with animals to support learning in math, reading, writing, language and physical education,” she said. One activity, equimotricité, has children lead miniature horses through obstacle courses to build autonomy, confidence and motor skills.
Child working with a miniature horse at Le Petit RanchMarjorie Borreda
She also brings her greyhounds into schools for a “min vet clinic,” a workshop that turns lessons on dog biology and measuring skills into hands-on, movement-based learning. A separate dog-bite prevention workshop teaches children how to read canine body language and respond calmly.
Parents and teachers report strong results. More than 90% of parents observed greater empathy, reduced anxiety, increased self-confidence and improved communication and cooperation in their children, and every parent said animal-assisted education made school more enjoyable — with many calling it “the highlight of their week.”
Weekly small-group sessions with seniors at Le Petit Ranch stimulates cognitive function and improves motor skills.Marjorie Borreda
Le Petit Ranch also serves seniors, including nursing home residents experiencing depression, social withdrawal or reduced physical activity. Weekly small-group sessions with animals can stimulate cognitive function and improve motor skills, balance and mobility.
Families can visit Le Petit Ranch for animal- assisted afterschool sessions, Frech immersion or family walks. She also offers programs for schools, libraries, community centers, churches, senior centers and nursing homes.
For more information, email info@lepetitranch.com, visit lepetitranch.com, follow @le.petit.ranch on Instagram or call 413-200-8081.
