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Crowds went undeterred by scattered showers during the final day of Millerton’s Fine Art Festival on Sunday, Sept. 6.
Photo by Nathan Miller
Falls Village, Connecticut, resident and abstract photographer Tom T. Hall was selling prints of his photographs near the Rail Trail last weekend. He said the festival was the third he had brought his work to since committing to his abstract fine art photographic practice.
“I started doing this abstract photography seriously about five years ago,” Hall said. “This year we just started coming out to some festivals and trying it out.”
Hall started out in photography working on Wall Street, producing photo and video shoots for clients in the finance industry. He left that work shortly after the covid-19 pandemic began, moved up to Falls Village and shifted into fine art work.
Hall said he draws inspiration from abstract and modernist artists of the 20th century — Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock to name a few. He aims to use the camera and light like a paint brush to create abstract images. The resulting photographs are stunning fields of bizarre colors and textures that resemble abstract expressionist paintings, but not everything he creates is completely non-representational.
Another fascination is liminal spaces, and how even non-abstract images can create unsettling and inexplicable feelings in a viewer when devoid of context. Images that make sense at face value — such as two paintings on a patterned wall or a small, vacant shed overlooking a corn field — can cause dread or confusion if composed in photographs that intentionally obscure important details or information.
“It’s like, ‘what am I looking at?’” Hall said. “It makes your feelings abstract, even though you see what it is. It makes you feel a little off.”
Madeline Hartwell, left, visits Tom Hall’s vendor tent along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail during The Voice of Art’s Fine Art Festival in Millerton.Photo by Nathan Miller
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Stilt walkers Cynthia Rauschert and Timothy J. Walsh wave vintage cars into downtown Falls Village during the Historic Festival Parade on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Photo by Madi Long
Cooper owns a restored historic Mobil gas station in Millerton, where he hosts his own car shows. He said the tri-state area is home to countless collectors who cherish their vintage automobiles.
“There are cars tucked away in garages and barns around here that people don’t realize,” Cooper said. “Within walking distance of my shop here, I could probably take you to 10 or 12 places that have cars inside.”
The cars departed Lime Rock Park at about 5 p.m. for the roughly 40-minute drive, traveling through Lakeville and Salisbury before ending in Falls Village, where about 750 people filled Main Street to welcome them.
Along the route through Salisbury, spectators gathered outside the White Hart Inn and at Noble Horizons, a senior living community, where residents lined the roadway.
In Falls Village, spectators began filling Main Street well before the cars arrived. Many brought chairs from home, and the shaded spaces beside Town Hall filled early.
The crowd drew spectators from across Dutchess and Litchfield counties and beyond, including visitors from Cornwall, Farmington, and New Marlborough, Massachusetts, as well as Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, and Blue Ridge, Georgia. Most had attended at least one previous parade, and many had been to several.
Motorsports figures were also among those gathered, including Sam Posey, who grew up in Sharon before racing in Formula One, IndyCar, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Also attending was Skip Barber, a former Formula One driver and three-time Sports Car Club of America national champion who owned the track for nearly four decades before its sale to a group of investors in 2021.
Colin Chambers, a parade organizer recognizable by his trademark colorful madras pants, moved around downtown troubleshooting last-minute details. Chambers said this year’s procession included 39 race cars and 96 sports cars.
He said the parade began in 2010, the same year he purchased the Falls Village Inn. Other Northwest Corner towns had signature annual events that drew crowds, including Salisbury’s Fall Festival, and Falls Village wanted one too.
“We wanted one for Falls Village,” Chambers said.
Barber said the track was looking for a suitable location for a parade gathering that year. Organizers first considered Salisbury but concluded there was not enough parking.
“Then Colin called up and said Falls Village could do it,” Barber said.
Once the cars were parked, spectators moved into the street to examine them, speak with their owners, and compare favorites. The gathering offered a slower, more intimate view of the machines that would soon be competing at Lime Rock Park.
Barber said no one at the track anticipated in 2010 that the Falls Village gathering would grow into such a popular tradition.
Standing near Railroad and Main streets as the village filled with cars and spectators, he surveyed the scene.
“This is really cool,” Barber said. “There are a lot of really nice cars.”
Patrick L. Sullivan, Alec Linden, Madi Long and Christian Murray contributed to this report.
Photo by Christine Bates
Rob Cooper stands next to the flying Pegasus at his restored Mobil Station on Route 44 in Millerton.
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