Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Trade Secrets returns to Lakeville May 18

Trade Secrets returns to Lakeville May 18
Anne Day

The renowned gardening event Trade Secrets is returning for its 24th edition on May 18 and 19, 2024. Trade Secrets is the primary fundraiser for Project SAGE, a non-profit domestic violence agency serving Northwest Connecticut and the surrounding communities in New York and Massachusetts.

On May 18, attendees will have the opportunity to explore six exceptional gardens curated to inspire both novice gardeners and seasoned enthusiasts alike. From Bunny Williams and John Rosselli’s stunning landscapes to the picturesque Millbrook gardens, discover a wealth of ideas and creativity to elevate your green space. Then, on May 19, Lime Rock Park in Lakeville will transform into a haven for plant lovers and garden aficionados. Explore over 40 vendors showcasing the finest garden antiques and rare plants, all while supporting Project SAGE’s mission to end domestic violence and abuse.

“Trade Secrets is not just a garden event; it’s a blooming celebration of community, resilience, and the enduring spirit of Project SAGE. I am inspired by the transformative impact of Trade Secrets on our mission. Over the past 23 years, the funds generated by this horticultural extravaganza have helped many, rippling through our community, fostering awareness, advocacy, and empowerment. Together, through Trade Secrets, we nurture gardens and the strength to cultivate safe, thriving communities free from domestic violence and abuse,” said Kelly Rybczyk, Interim Executive Director at Project SAGE.

Visit TradesecretsCT.com or call (860) 364-1080 for more information.

Latest News

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jennifer Terzian’s sanctuary for contemporary art
Jennifer Terzian, founder of Jennifer Terzian Gallery in Litchfield.
Provided
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.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Peter Cusack is finding the eternal in North Canaan
Peter Cusack in his studio.
Provided

“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.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cowboy Junkies celebrate 40 years at the Mahaiwe

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

Heather Pollock

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

The band is celebrating its long career with a triple-vinyl retrospective album called “Open to Beauty,” featuring a selection of songs from 2000 onward, including material from its most recent release, “Such Ferocious Beauty.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Selbach finds the extraordinary in everyday life
“R46 Interior” (2026). Solid cherry and acrylic, 21” x 26.75” x 0.75”
Provided

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.