by | Jul 7, 2023 9:17 am | Comments (0)
Chuck Roth, a.k.a. watergh0st, held the late-night audience in suspense as his hands flew across the fretboard of his electric guitar. The music Roth made fell somewhere else, part of and yet separate from rock, jazz, folk. The genre it might belong to didn’t matter. It mattered only that the music connected.
by | Jul 7, 2023 8:00 am | Comments (0)
They found "cocaine" at the White House! (I told "Little Hunter" not to leave his things lying around.
by | Jul 6, 2023 9:10 am | Comments (5)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Original printing of the Declaration of Independence.
Eleanor Polak Photos
Exhibit on Frederick Douglass, William Grimes, and the Declaration of Sentiments at the Beinecke.
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds one of 26 known surviving copies of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence. The document, printed by John Dunlap in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, has a single typographical error, an indication that the founders issued it in a hurry to declare independence from England.
On Wednesday, a few dozen New Haveners got to hear the words of that revolutionary broadside read aloud — along with that of Frederick Douglass’s 1852 oration “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” — as part of an annual primary-source-focused tradition to celebrate the 247th anniversary of Independence Day.
Continue reading ‘Beinecke Readings Examine Freedom From All Angles’
by | Jul 5, 2023 8:42 am | Comments (0)
SHAN Wallace
New Haven Block Party.
SHAN Wallace’s New Haven Block Party captures the essence of its title and then some. It conveys something of the way the past and present can collide on some of Dixwell’s streets, how the shadows of what used to be there can feel as present as what’s there now. But it honors what’s there now, too: the people, the places, the energy that make up the neighborhood as we experience it today. True to the season, it feels like a hot summer day, when windows are open and radios are loud, and people are ready to talk to each other on stoops and street corners in ways the colder months won’t allow.
by | Jul 3, 2023 8:53 am | Comments (2)
Allan Appel photo
Artist Frank Bruckmann with John Jessen's portrait.
More than 100 library folks, family members, city and state officials, and admirers from a broad and diverse swath of New Haven gathered for an artistic remembrance of the life, spirit, and humanitarian example of the late former City Librarian John Jessen.
Continue reading ‘Beloved City Librarian's Portrait Unveiled’
by | Jul 3, 2023 8:49 am | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photos
Celine Who at Seeing Sounds.
Celine Who let out a melisma of notes that floated through the air of the skate park in Edgewood Park. They commingled with the voices of vendors and of friends chatting, the scents of arepas and vegan Caribbean food. On the other side of the skate park, Eastine Akuni pumped out music from a second stage to a crowd brought to their feet on the lawn in the shade. It was early in the day for the second year of Seeing Sounds, the music and art festival organized by Trey Moore. Already a few hundred had arrived, and many more were coming.
by | Jul 3, 2023 8:39 am | Comments (0)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Peter Stampfel at Never Ending Books.
“Oh, you have no idea what’s gonna happen to you tonight,” said folk legend Peter Stampfel, climbing onto the small stage in the side room of Never Ending Books, at 810 State St. He pulled his chair closer to the mic, plugged in his electric ukulele, and opened a plastic water bottle and a bag of cherries. Supplies in place, Stampfel prepared to bring his audience into a new realm of music: hopeful, nihilistic, at once pushing boundaries and revisiting tradition, and all perfumed with the earthy scent of marijuana.
by | Jun 30, 2023 8:00 am | Comments (0)
by | Jun 29, 2023 8:45 am | Comments (1)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Natalie and Randall Beach at RJ Julia.
“My book wouldn’t exist without my dad, so doing a reading with him is only fair, only fitting,” said Natalie Beach. She read from her memoir-in-essays, Adult Drama, Thursday night at RJ Julia bookstore in Madison. Her father, Randall Beach, joined her, reading from his collection of profiles, Connecticut Characters: Profiles of Rascals and Renegades. The father-daughter duo presented their work to a crowd of dedicated New Haveners in an event that celebrated community, culture, and family — both born and made.
Continue reading ‘Authors Embrace The Drama Of New Haven Characters’
by | Jun 28, 2023 11:00 am | Comments (1)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Kristie Entwistle leads a group in seated dance at Fellowship Place.
Six members of the Artship Artists’ Cooperative at Fellowship Place, an agency that provides therapeutic support and rehabilitation services for adults living with mental illness, sat in a circle of chairs in front of a butterfly mural. Each person had a large container in front of them and a pair of drumsticks in their hands. As the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” played on the loudspeakers, dance instructor Kristie Entwistle led the group in seated dance filled with hand-clapping, swaying, and beats on the drums.
Continue reading ‘Seated Dance Class Finds Healing Through Art’
by | Jun 28, 2023 8:51 am | Comments (1)
Yige Tong's
Confluence.
The figure in Yige Tong’s Confluence connotes both safety and vulnerability. She may be at rest, sleeping comfortably. She may also be protecting herself, or recovering from hurt. The sense that both readings are in play is amplified by a closer look at the piece, where the viewer discovers that the background is made up of fragmented and interwoven images of the faces of small children and adults. Family members? Friends? Strangers? The pieces of the past surround her. Some may give comfort. Others remembrance of pain. A final part of the image lies in seeing what’s in the woman’s hand: a remote control for a camera. She has taken her own picture, put it up for others to see. The image of her body is meant to pass something along, deliver a message, maybe find connection.
by | Jun 28, 2023 8:00 am | Comments (0)
by | Jun 27, 2023 8:57 am | Comments (18)
Brian Slattery photo
The crowd at the Caribbean Heritage Festival during Arts & Ideas.
(Arts analysis) Another Arts & Ideas is now in the books.
And, at its best — to this local arts reporter and former festival usher who still remembers sprawling out on the Green as a kid to enjoy the annual summer tradition’s musical offerings — it celebrated New Haven in all of this city’s unique culture and talent.
by | Jun 26, 2023 9:14 am | Comments (1)
Mia Cortés Castro Photos
At Saturday's "PRIDE"-making party ...
Mia Cortés Castro Photo
... the finished art-project letters, and contributors.
East Rock neighbors decorated rainbow-colored cardstock letters spelling out the word “PRIDE” — and spoke about how that word means love, acceptance, authenticity, and support — at a LGBTQ+ community-celebrating event that doubled as a campaign stop for an aspiring first-time alder.
by | Jun 26, 2023 9:11 am | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photos
Mical Teja.
On Saturday evening the annual New Haven Caribbean Heritage Festival finished a day of festivities on the New Haven Green with a blazing concert of soul, reggae, and soca, courtesy of the festival and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
Continue reading ‘Caribbean Fest Closer Makes The Green Bounce’
by | Jun 26, 2023 9:05 am | Comments (2)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Vendors and cultural booths at the Caribbean Heritage Festival.
Colorful booths popped up on the New Haven Green as the city celebrated the Caribbean Heritage Festival this Saturday. Attendants ambled from vendor to vendor, snacking on jerk chicken and popsicles from the food trucks. Upbeat music filled the air and flags fluttered to the rhythm of the gentle breeze. Cultural pride suffused the scene.
Continue reading ‘Caribbean Heritage Festival Celebrates Culture And Community’
by | Jun 26, 2023 8:57 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Paxx Headroom performs at the Black Box.
Drag kings, fairy hair, tarot readings, visual art, and a vivacious vibe that pulsed with community: these and more filled the event room, art gallery, and gathering area now known as the Black Box this past Saturday night at Witch Bitch Thrift. The Whitney Avenue thrift store has created a space within its space that can be used for anything from a contemplative sanctuary to a meeting area for clubs, classes, open mics, and more.
Continue reading ‘Witch Bitch Thrift Opens Black Box To Community’
by | Jun 26, 2023 8:00 am | Comments (0)
by | Jun 23, 2023 5:03 pm | Comments (2)
Kian Ahmadi photo
Fran Calabrese stands by her "Amalfi" shirt tent
Dressed in a blue tee shirt with “Amalfi” printed across the chest, Fran Calabrese remembered walking hand in hand with her grandfather to a Wooster Square-hosted celebration of St. Andrew when she was just three years old.
Now 70, Calabrese returned on Thursday to that very same neighborhood Italian festa — which for her is about carrying on the traditions of Amalfi and honoring the miracle performed by New Haven’s patron saint.
by | Jun 23, 2023 4:01 pm | Comments (1)
Don Harvey and Michael Rooker as 1919 Sox players in John Sayles' 8 Men Out.
Sayles, before the screening: "I'm interested in how we get to be where we are."
If you try for, say, ten or even 20 years and can’t get that movie script financed, just turn the tale into a novel.
Continue reading ‘Sayles Pitches Persistence & History At Film "Treasure" Screening’
by | Jun 23, 2023 7:57 am | Comments (0)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Elm City Robots performs at Gather.
The interior of Gather, a coffee shop and community spot located at 952 State St., looked like a magical grotto. Low lighting shone over chalkboard-graffitied walls hung with vines. Amidst the vibrant scene, local bands Elm City Robots and Model Decoy prepared to play the third week of their Thursday night June residency.
by | Jun 23, 2023 7:30 am | Comments (1)
"Dictator!" "Absurd and irresponsible!"
by | Jun 22, 2023 9:00 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery photos
Old projectors and such, up for grabs ...
... at Artspace's sale on Wednesday.
The pumping music and impromptu skatepark set up at Orange and Crown gave the first signal that something was changing on that Ninth Square corner — as a recently closed visual arts gallery sold off frames, chairs, televisions, and other goods from its now ex-home.
by | Jun 22, 2023 8:46 am | Comments (0)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Absofunkinlutely performs at College Street Music Hall for May Music Day.
On Wednesday, Make Music New Haven sought to fill the air with something other than pollen: sound. In honor of Make Music Day, a worldwide celebration of music, the local branch organized 31 artists to perform at 17 different locations in the greater New Haven area.
Continue reading ‘Make Music Day Provides Soundtrack To College Street’
by | Jun 22, 2023 8:00 am | Comments (5)
