
Alec Linden
“The little bit of rain we got overnight won’t put a dent in this,” said Kent Fire Marshall Timothy Limbos about the light showers that fell on the Northwest Corner on the night of Oct. 29.
Historically dry conditions persist across much of the Northeast, prompting officials in many municipalities to prohibit outdoor fires of any kind. As of Nov. 5, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection lists all counties in the state as facing “extreme” fire danger, while New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation classifies the southern part of the state as under “high” fire risk, with northern and western regions under “moderate” and “low” designations.
In his 20 years as public information officer for Norfolk, Jon Barbagallo has never seen fire conditions as perilous as those that have developed this fall. “Fires happen every year in Connecticut, we just don’t see them to the extent that we see them now,” Barbagallo said.
On Oct. 25, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont declared a State of Emergency due to the critical fire conditions as the dry weather continues.
The National Weather Service predicts little to no rain over the next week for the region alongside unseasonably warm temperatures.
“It may stay this way for a while,” said Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway, who is also a volunteer firefighter. “The woods are much more volatile with the leaves on the ground,” he said, indicating that the recently fallen foliage has added another fuel source to the tinder-dry forest floor.
On Oct. 30, Ridgway issued a burn ban for the town of Cornwall, joining many other municipalities in the region that have placed similar restrictions. All Litchfield County towns except Hartland have declared burn bans as of Nov. 1 according to an NBC Connecticut Report, and the environmental protection department has imposed a burn ban on all state parks, forests, and wildlife management areas. In New York, the towns of Hillsdale, North East, Pine Plains, Amenia, Stanford, and Washington have also enacted emergency burn bans, barring all outdoor fire activity and nulling burn permits while the order is in place.
North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan said in a public communication on Nov. 1 that “the town of North East, along with all the other towns around us, has issued an order prohibiting outdoor burning,” which will remain in effect until further notice.
In her Oct. 25 announcement, Stanford Town Supervisor Wendy Burton urged residents to keep their neighbors and first responders in mind as the unusual weather conditions continue. “Let’s protect our community and firefighters,” she said in the notice.
Legislators and fire officials were careful to drive in the message before holiday excitement distracted residents from the danger. “Please do not have any campfires during the Halloween festivities,” Limbos said.
A red flag warning was issued again for all of Connecticut and the lower Hudson Valley on Friday, Nov. 1, following an Oct. 26 red flag warning for all of southern New England. The warnings are short-notice alerts meant to notify fire officials that conditions are highly conducive to wildfire ignition and rapid spread, and are rare in the Northeast.
As of Nov. 3, the environmental protection department identifies two active fires in Connecticut, the fire burning on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin known as the Hawthorne fire, and a smaller blaze in Lebanon which is managed. The organization is also monitoring 95 fires across all regions of the state.
“It’s really good that this region has mutual aid,” Ridgway said.
Barbagallo is a testament to the collaborative nature of Connecticut’s response force, having been part of the Incident Command Post at the Hawthorne Fire since the Post was activated on Oct. 22.
Barbagallo said he was helping plan the wake and funeral for Wethersfield firefighter Robert Sharkevich Sr., who died while combating the Hawthorne Fire on Oct. 22, when he got a call that a car accident had ignited two brush fires on Route 44 in Norfolk. “I left the meeting that evening to go to Norfolk when I heard how big they were getting,” he said.
The Route 44 fires, which were caused by downed electrical wires, were extinguished after two hours, but their rapid growth left an impression on Barbagallo: “It really shows how dry the conditions are across the state.”
A swath stretching across the entire northern border of Connecticut, as well as a corner of Fairfield County, is currently experiencing “moderate drought” (D1) conditions, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System, a subsidiary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The area comprises 13.8% of the state’s land area and includes approximately 400,000 residents. The rest of the state is categorized as “abnormally dry” (D0) by the drought information system, alongside most of southern New York.
A small area surrounding the tri-state border in New York is also experiencing moderate drought.
NIDIS predicts that drought will persist in areas already experiencing D1 conditions in the region through November, and that drought conditions will continue to develop in D0 zones.
Until substantial rainfall arrives, Barbagallo asks residents to “be respectful of the guidance from the state and the local fire department.”
“We’re going to be the ones who have to put [the fires] out,” he said.
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.”