A Guide to Finer Living in Connecticut & Abroad September 2026
Vol 21 Issue 248 inkct.com
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SEPTEMBER 2026 Vol. 21 Issue 248
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Feature Stories
Departments
Springli Sage
Unlocks Medicare Mysteries
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Indelible Ink - Luxe, CT.............................................................24 What’s Greg Drinking? - Bumps / Field Recordings...........38 The Cheesemonger - Wisconsin.............................................50 September Events - Our INK To-Do List..............................52
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Berthold Nebel’s
Wrestlers at Lyme Academy
“But by taking the time away, getting myself off the treadmill, and just slowing down and learning, I felt I had so much more to give back. And maybe that was something that needed to happen for all of us.” - Lindsey Buckingham
Gray Jacobik
A Genre Nomad
Jeffery Lilly
Contributors
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Yellowstone
Longing to Belong
Laurencia Ciprus - editorial Sara Drought- Nebel - editorial Ellen Lessard - editorial Rona Mann - editorial
founder / publisher
Carolina Marquez-Sterling - design Gregory Post - editorial Deana Simmon - editorial Jan Tormay - editorial
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On the Cover: “Morning Walk” - Photo by Jeffery Lilly
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n last m month’s Indelible INK, I dredged u up a vivid m memory of scuba diving in the mu urk of Long g Island Sound, clinging to a pier iin full-blo own paralysis...trauma in a wetsuiit. A few ccalendar flips back, I jumped into the enrollment It w was dark depths deepths of Medicare enrollment. a close second in the terror department, w with no auxiliary oxygen, only a brown paper bag to hyperventilate into. This was definitely not in my wheelhouse.
enrollment and shiffting coverage, flying blind and solo. I have ueaky wheel, determined to nav vigate the always been the squ decades in the industry y,, I have a firm grasp system. After three d All of the moving parts can be asssembled for of the big picture. A nt, like putting together a puzzzle—one that each individual clien ft. Changes pe as the client client’ss needs also shifft shap keeps changing shape in the Medicare universe aren’t just annual; they arre ongoing nal, it is nearly these days. If you are not a detail-driven profession impossible to keep up as an individual consumer.
I got lucky y.. Thanks to a random encounter at a meet-and-greet witth insurance cognoscenti Springli Sage—now a cohort and colleaguee—I exhaled, signed on, calmly and confidently checking this enrro ollmeent nightmare offff my to-do list. Springli held my hand thrro ough this on ne over the course of a few bite-sized meetings, tailoring a plan that m made sense not just picking a plan offfff a Chinese menu of options. sense—not options She was determined that I trru uly understood Medicarree, making it far lesss terrifying and even morree fun than that scuba debacle.
ver? Q: Have you always been a creative problem solv
Flash forward. Dangling our feet in the lake for a leisurely chaat, he Springli reflected back on how a bohemian, creative grad of th out-of-the-box Hammonasset School built a three-decade careeer in insurance—a stereotypically dry field—with a singularly human approach.
y child until Yes. It is one of my best natural gifts. I was an only S: Ye age 17, but I also belonged to a huge crew of cousins and was one g an only of 22 grandchildren. I had the unique benefit of being child, h along with the warmth and commotion of a laarge extended child ped with vivid family periodically sweeping in. W Wee all came equipp imaginations and deep curiosity y,, influenced by the aartistic and inquisitive spirit that runs through every branch of o our family y.. That world made me good at tackling tasks, getting thingss done even in g a peacemakerr.. the middle of chaos or a crowd, caretaking, and being I was trruly multifaceted, using both sides of my brain n and carrying an endless passion for learning. Even as a child, I read d voraciously y,, grandmother’s swam in the ocean, got lost in nature, listened to my g fairy stories, and loved music, language, and the arts.
Q: as complicated Q Is I Medicare M di li d as most agents make k it? i? S: First offff, yes. The insurance system is incredibly complicated, and it is easy for one person to get caught in the confusion of
Attending Hammon nasset School in Madison was an important chapter. It recognizeed and nurtured my diverse interests and unusual approach to o problem solving, giving them room to come
1212 together and shine. Durring my senior yearr, a two-week pened a doorr.. Everything became class trip to Ecuador op possible, and that attitu ude has stayed with me ever y,, hum manity y,, and sense of service since. My creativity became assets I still usee every day in insurance. Q: What a fascinating childhood, Springli. What came after Hammonassset? S: My mother was an accademic—a professor of Latin American Studies—and d I followed her lead by pursuing an academic path. My long-range goal was a PhD in y,, and ideally a life English, with studies in n anthropology y professo p orr.. as a university Q: Ahh. The research aand problem-solving strengths. S: Exactly y.. But there werre curves in the road and shifts in direction. In college, I realized there was a glut of English posts in higher education for majors and not enough p y shifted focus toward a master’s every candidate. I briefly y,, but after several degree in Marriage and Family Therapy semesters, I ultimately realized my calling was to adapt those talents to responsiibly guide retirees through the labyrinth of Medicare. That detour into a masteer’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy provideed me with invaluable tools for with stepping into this major life chapterr,, and I break the enrollment process into multiple meetings when needed needed. I am now building my own team of agents and training them to implement this approach. Q: It’’ss really a consultative approach versus typical insurance sales.
my career. After severaal years of study y, I decided to ndustry y,, and my counseling stay in the insurance in skills continue to servee me as a compassionate and Concern for the emotional understanding agent. C well-being of my clients prompted me to create my ment process, one that builds own Medicare enrollm trust and gives me a full picture of each client’s needs. I factor in the stress and overwhelm that can come
S: Absolutely y.. My first exposure to the insurance industry was in the fall of 1997, on a temp assignment at an insurance agency with one of the major carrriers. I knew absolutely nothing ng the problem solverr,, I sensed that about insurance, but bein eventually all of the piecees of the Medicare puzzle would fit together and make sense.. The picture came into foccus. After working there for a while, clicked; itt h l everything h l k d and d once I understood d d how h worked, I was furious. No one who had trained me everr
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The former Hammonasset H School , Courtesy Alu umni Page Contributors for The Hammon nasset School Connecticut, now serving as a the town’s police station.
explained why someone needed coverage, o or that there orks well, were actual choices and options. When it wo there is a flow to insurance. It covers the majjor things, Wi th Medicare, the worst the worst of the what ifs. Wi what-if is whether someone can clear a seerious health hurdle after 66 and still afford and enjoy a quality of life. I cannot in good conscience let onee major p hard work episode devastate a lifetime of a client’s h and earnings. y,, you take your career as a Medicaree professional Q: Clearly to a much deeper level. What prompted you to o go out on your own? S: I became certified for Medicare in 2013 an nd, over time, w me to realized that working for myself would allow avoid the soul-killing drama of pressure and d fear tactics. ggressive I had multiple superiors tell me I was not ag enough in my practices. I wouldn’t give in. I knew there had to be a better way y.. After 29 years in the iindustry y,, I am proud to say I am still here, working for myself, and my clients and I can sleep well at night. ver the years Q: I know from conversations we’ve had ov that your dedication to clients goes far beyo ond a oncea-year chat during the enrollment window w.. Can you share a few success stories? S: It is a sacred d trrust when people reach out in n need. W Wiithout divulging perssonal details, several client experiiences come
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Q: These wins must feeel validating, knowing you helped people navigatte the system at some of the worst moments in theiir lives. Are there clients who presented differently? need the information p S: As we discussed earlieerr,, I have a strro ong creative bent. Over the years, I have beeen especially successful with people in the creative artss—artists, writers, musicians, g iding g them through enrollment. actors,, and dancers—gui Many are unfamiliar with h the business world and find the prro ocess completely d daunting. I translate the linear details of Medicarree into rreelatable language. Not every y-one marrcches to the same drru ummerr.. Wherreever clients are, I try to meet them ther erree, in their own language. Q: In closing, what is the he most important take-away for readers? S: Start early doing your our research and don’t wait until the last minute to enroll. The more time you take in advance, the more informed a consumer you’ll be—and you’ll be able to check that scary to-do off your list!
immediately to mind. There was a lovely woman who was finally facing the fact that she had become gravely ill and reached out through a referral. She was single, g , and in dire need of coverage g and care. I frightened, was able to gently guide her through securing a plan and connect her with additional programs for supplemental assistance. Another time, I received a call from a couple very early in the morning–well before my phones shifted over. Her husband was undergoing treatment and had taken a turn for the worse. It was an emergency y,, and she needed to call an ambulance. Fortunately y,, I picked up the phone, checked her coverage, secured approval from the carrierr,, and helped get the ambulance arranged in time. A larger challenge involved an older couple. In May y,, her husband had a recurrence of cancer and his wife reached out to me. She had been caught in the system, calling the insurance company for days and getting nowhere. The first round of chemotherapy treatments was not being covered, and one dosage alone ran into the thousands of dollars dollars. I set up a conference call with the carrier and stayed wiith her and the service agent until the issue was resollved.
To llearn morre about Medicarree enrroollment, contact: Sprringli Sage Insurance Solutions, 129 T Toolland Stage Rd., Ste. 2, Tolland, lll d CT 06084. 06084 Web: sageinsurance.net. Email: springli@sageinsurance.net. We Phone: 860.375.6016.
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Prrofile & Photographs By Sara Drought Nebel
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Art carries culture forward. What an artist leaves behind sparks an ongoing dialogue with generations yet to arrive. When students, scholars, and the public engage with a work, it lives on—teaching, challenging, and inspiring in ways its crreeator might never have imagined.
inally! The sequel to Berthold Nebel Clay & Stone. In the May 2025 issue of Ink magazine, I wrote about this artist and how his work came to be. The story about this particc-ular piece, W Wrrestlers, is quite amazing. First, I would like to refresh your memory y,, or if you are reading about this for the first time, provide some of the backstory about the creation and journey of this sculpture. Berthold Nebel was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1889, and his family moved to the United States a year later. He began drawing as a child and, at just 14, was employed at a terra cotta firm in Perth Amboy y,, New Jersey. Lucia (Berthold’s daughter) told me that his motherr,, Marie, was French and named all of their children after authors. His fatherr,, Emil, was German-Swiss. They named their son after him. It is evident that Berthold’s parents were very supportive of their young son’s artistic talent and encouraged him from a very early age.
Nebel studied at the National Academy of Design, the Mechaanics Institute, and Cooper Union to honee his drawing skills and immerse himself in n the art of molding and sculpture. Eventuaally y,, he attended the Art Students League o of New Y Yo ork, where he met and was menttored by renowned sculptor and designer o of the Buffalo Nickel, James Earl Fraser.
In 1912-13, Fraser encouraged him to enteer the Prix de Rome competition. The theme was “Good Government”. Nebel sculpted a grroup of three members of a family - a seated w woman, a child, and a man standing. Unfortun nately y,, we can find no image of this sculpturre, so we have to imagine it. An innocent, simplle yet powerful idea that a core family repr re reeseented the best form of government.
Fraser would become one of the most influential people in Neb bel’s life.
In 1914, when Nebel won the Prix de R Rome and began his Fellowship at the Amerrican Academy y in Rome,, WWI was beginn g ning. g The world was entering one of the deadliest conflicts in history y.. A pandemic and genocide added to the alrreeady horrific casualties that would rreesult from this warr..
He was already a very successful sculptorr,, making ornamental works for buildings and mansions in New Y Yo ork. His style was Renaissance, Romantic, and classical.
21 Of course, in the beginning, it was w not known how long it would last and how terrible it would d be. Berthold was only in his 20s when he arrived at the Acadeemy y.. While there, he met Auguste Rodin, who was in his 70s and,, as it turned out, almost at the end of his life. Rodin was producing g some of his most infamous works at this time. If there were any y,, we can only iimagine what conversations Rodin and Nebel might have had. A world war was raging. One artist beginning, another coming to an a end. When it came time to execute his h thesis during this consequential time, he decided to employ a difffer ff reent, unrefined technique to sculpt Wrreestlers - two men in a deadloccked position of powerr.. It is natural to think that Rodin’s influence was prreesent. It is unknown if he ever saw Wrreestlers in completion. Rodin w was a visiting artist from the Spanish Academy y,, and we don’t know ho ow long he was there. He died in 1917, just as Berthold’s thesis sculpture would have been rreealized. Berthold also met his future wife w around this time. She was a model at the Academy from th he “Land of Madonnas,” the artists called it, Anticoli Corrado, outtside of Rome. Though other artists were interested in the beautiful Maria Lucantoni, Berthold won her heart and affffection. They marriied in 1917 and had their son, Emil Corrado, a year laterr,, on Octobeer 18th, 1918, in Rome. During the time of W Wrrestlers conception, I’m sure he was influenced by his futu ure wife too. In the years to come, she would beccome his confidant, his partnerr,, his model (Mariettta is one of his most romantic sculptures. Adventu ure, one of his last, depicts him and his bride on n a horse, “starting over”, riding hopefully into the future), mother to his 2 children, and the matriarch in their resulting large, active, close-knit family y.. She was a strong woman, physically and intellectually y,, who protected his necessary work hours. Maria supported his career and artistry right up until his death in 1964. Wrestlers was finished, his Fellowship concluded, Wr he and Maria were married, WWI finally ended (Berthold had worked as a supply officer in the Red Cross during the war), and their son Emil was an infant. Berthold brought his young family and Wrrestlers in clay back to New Y W Yo ork on a boat. When he showed his sculpture to McKim, Meade & White Architectural Firm in NYC, they thought he had lost his mind. They did not know what to make of it - this Rodin-inspired, rough-hewn, unpolished duel. A blunt expression of aggression. Muscles bulging, gnarled faces, curled toes, fierce blank eyes. Each exerting every last bit of life in them to conquer the otherr.. Frozen in conflict. Un n-finished. A no-win Medusa stare.
22 Berthold moved his family (and W Wrrestlers) again to establish his studio in Pittsburgh, PA P A, to teach at Carnegie T Teech, now Carn neeg giie Mellon University y,, and went back to his classical style. Their daughter Lucia Maria was born therree on Berthold’s birthday y,, April 19th, 1923. Wiith Fraser’s help, he acquired a Patrro W on. Arrccher Huntington commissioned monumental doors for the Geographic Society y,, the Museum of the American Indian, and a large rg marble sculpturree, Nereid re (the sea nymph - a rreeclining female figure on a muscular lion), to be featured in the middle of a pond in his Brookgreen G dens Gar d sculptur l e garden d in i South S h Carolina. In addition to these big projects, he was commissioned to sculpt medals, Generals, and prestigious portrait busts. To have the space to crreeate these large-scale To works, he moved his family to Westport, We CT T,, right down the street from his mentorr,, James Earl Fraserr.. They bought a farmhouse with an orcharrd d and lots of land and built a large stone studio behind it. Maria had said that she wanted to invest in real estate, land, instead of investing in the stock market. After the stock market crash of 1929, they were glad they did. Berthold went right to work as soon as the studio was completed. W Wrrestlers was prominently displayed under the skylights that poured northern blue light into the large main room. Maria began her garden, guarded Berthold’s studio time, presided over the house and family y,, and got acquainted with the town. W Weestport became their home. Huntington’s patronage made it all possible. Berthold’s hard work and prolific creativity produced several monumental works during the next 10 years. When I think about the symbolism of Wrrestlers, the Family sculpture, Nereid, W Madonna and Child, Adventure, and the medals he conceived - The Miners, Unity or Oblivion, and the time periods from which they came, a very strong and deep philosophy emerges. A philosophy that grew from his sensitivity and ancestry y.. His experiences and concern for the future of mankind. All of these sculptures are life-affirming, profound, mythical, and
metaphoric. The themes of the foundation of humanity-family, y, conflict, warr,, hope, youth, and romance are all constant throughout his lifetime of work.
Long Island. Payment for this purchase was used to cast the sculpture that has graced the studio and presided over the family ever since.
Wrestlers seems to symbolize all of it in Wr its rustic, rebellious style. The struggle of man, vulnerability, y, clash of powerr,, conflict within a family y.. Governing. Democracy versus dictatorship. W Waar/greed/violence versus compassion/cooperation/diplomacy y.. Destruction versus construction. Unity or Oblivion.
That W Wrrestlers was created at an academy y,, as his thesis was of great consideration to the family of Berthold Nebel when it was concluded that Berthold’s studio in W Weestport would have to be sold. In turn, the larger-than-life bronze, W Wrrestlers, would have to be moved to a new forever home. The family wanted it to be displayed in a public place so that future generations of students, descendants, and anyone could view it in person. When the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts approached and expressed interest in acquiring it, the family knew it belonged here. At a foundational Academy y,, with young people honing their artistic expressions and highly accomplished and
Berthold died on April 4, 1964. Maria lived on, helping to raise 7 grandchildren, and died in the arms of her son Emil when she was in her eighties. The only other bronze of W Wrrestlers that exists is privately owned and resides on
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in ntternational artists/academiics at the helm, honoring and mentoring the tradition of exccellence in fine art. Sculptor Elisabeth Gordon Chandler founded the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in 1976 19776 at the time of our country country’ss bicentennial. She built the sculpture studio at Lyme Art Association, where the Academy began. Now in its 50th year, after going through ebbs and flows, as everything does, it is thriving under its current stewardship. Wrestlers was removed from Berthold’s W Wr Weestport studio and brought to its new home at the Academy on June 7th. Though it was a very emotional departure, the family is excited and honored that it will reside in historic Old Lyme, Connecticut, at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. Placed at the time of the 50th anniversary of the Academy and the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. It will reside with an important collection that is being built for artists, students, and the public to view w,, discuss, and contemplate into the future. The journey of Wrestlers is complete. The str uggle of man continues.
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E x h ibitio n in R e vi e w by Lau renci a Cip r u s / p h ot os cou r t e s y of MMoA
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Mystic Museum of Art (MMoA) — Luxe CT: A Masterclass in Style Right now, there is a stellar splash of meticulous curation at Mystic Museum of Art, where fashion and history collaborate in a brilliantly layered meditation on luxury, craftsmanship, and place. I lucked into an invite to the exhibition preview party and returned twice: some rooms keep their best secrets for later. This is Alana H. Ryder’s first major curatorial statement since taking the helm as executive director on December 1, 2025. It reads as an elegant declaration of intent: expansive, finely edited, and generous with dazzling spirit. This ambitious saga of industry and fashion is brought to life both through collection pieces and the generosity of garments on loan from design legends Christian Siriano and Peter Som, alongside next-generation statements from Xarea Lockhart and Toriana Sauro. On view June 26 through October 11, 2026, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., the show is approachable without surrendering complexity: expert, buoyant, and quietly exacting. The curatorial team—Alana Ryder in concert with Director of Exhibitions Amelia Onofrio and Director of Operations Cara Lopilato—is impossibly precise and elegantly theatrical, especially given the narrow window in which the installation came together from idea to execution. Historic artworks, artifacts, and ephemera are placed in direct conversation with the clothing, giving the garments context without upstaging them. Beadwork, embroidery, quilts, velvet, archival
documents, and objects of lived use create a century-spanning timeline, allowing each contemporary silhouette to read not as an isolated statement but as part of a longer visual language. Each return visit reveals another detail, another connection, another small jolt of recognition. The running commentary is clear: fashion presented as a marker of time and place, a witness to change, and, at its best, a catalyst. Luxury is not reduced to price tag or proximity to power. It becomes a charge in the material: velvet changing its mind under the light, embroidery behaving like controlled obsession, beadwork with the nerve of jewelry and the gravity of archive, quilts that understand pattern better than half the clothes on a contemporary rack. The glamour is not soft-focus. It has grain, pile, pressure, fingerprints, flow, and floating line. Mystic Museum of Art’s airy yet intimate scale turns out to be a virtue. In a grander institution, this material might have been swallowed by spectacle: mannequins under theatrical lights, designer names doing all the talking. Here, the objects can breathe. The museum’s riverfront setting and its deep ties to southeastern Connecticut give the installation a sense of address. This is not luxury in the abstract. It is luxury with weather, shoreline, industry, ancestry, and place stitched into its seams. The show’s institutional collaborations deepen that sense of place. By drawing on generous partners including Historic Stonington, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, and Mystic Seaport Museum, the exhibition avoids the tidy fairy tale of a linear fashion story. Instead, it moves through overlapping histories: Indigenous artistry, maritime exchange, industrial production, domestic skill, and contemporary design. That range matters. It prevents the story from beginning, too conveniently, with mills and machines, and reminds us that adornment, technique, and material intelligence long predate the factory floor.
Brackman Dress / Portrait
The best objects pull you in close. An antique scrap of bead-
Toriana Sauro, The Dress No One Should Wear
work catches the light: first as color, then as the impossible devotion to a timeless craft. The embroidery holds its own quiet drama. The quilts feel graphic and grounded, not quaint. And velvet— velvet, of course—keeps changing with the light: soft one moment, almost liquid the next. But the show is most seductive when it lets those seams show. Labor is the hidden structure of luxury, and this installation is strongest when it refuses to disguise it. Behind every polished surface is a chain of hands: named and unnamed makers, workers, communities whose craftsmanship became emblems of taste, industries that converted dexterity into capital. The show does not lecture to make that point. It lets beauty remain complicated and ethereal. Glamour, after all, is always more intriguing when it owns up to the costs. The contemporary designers give the room its flashbulb heat. Siriano’s range is on full display: the unapologetic “VOTE” dress, the mirror dress worn by Halle Berry at the 2025 Oscars, a Janelle Monáe Met Gala look with a nod to Picasso and African masks, and an impossibly intricate beaded wedding dress made as a gift of love for a friend. Peter Som answers with his impeccable brand of refined precision: a cornflower-blue organdy dress that reads like a white cap against the Mystic River, contrasted with a minimalist document print that quietly echoes a reproduced
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memory of a mill town without turning nostalgic. A garment placed beside an archival fragment can suddenly read as both fashion and evidence. The message is not accessory to the look; it is the look. If the exhibition courts any danger, it is the danger of abundance. Precolonial artistry, inVenus Reels, Hair Bow, Mashantucket Pequot Museum dustrial history, immiscrap of archival wallpaper nearby. Xarea Lock- grant labor, craft practice, regional hart and Toriana Sauro sharpen the present manufacturing, and contemporary fashion tense, pulling the historical material out of rev- are not small subjects, and the installation erence and into attitude. is determined to touch them all. At moments, a visitor may want a sharper Sauro’s own words give that immediate energy through-line, a more ruthless edit, a a more intimate charge.“They made the process clearer sense of how one gorgeous object a breeze...Alana Ryder and her staff were so gen- leads to the next. But abundance is also uinely caring about my contribution to the show. part of the point. Textile history is not a It means so much that Mystic Museum of Art is clean hem; it is a layered garment. supporting up-and-coming artists. My absolute favorite piece that I contributed is the ivory pants That layered quality saves the exhibition and corset top, which began as a design experi- from the scented trap of nostalgia. This is ment for a last-minute goth club night at New- not a sentimental little bow tied around Connectington’s Angry Hair Salon. I hold this piece icut’s manufacturing past. It is a tougher, glossier especially close.” proposition: that making is never innocent, that taste has a labor force, that polish is often built on Lockhart echoes that sense of arrival with her someone else’s precision. At its most sophistiown impressions.“Alana is so kind and believed cated, the show places fine art, fashion, craft, and social history in tension and lets them smolder. A surface is never just a surface. It is an argument with a shine on it.
in my work. Being recognized in a museum is that moment of feeling seen as an artist. My favorite pieces are the black lace dress with the floral choker hand dyed with marigolds, marking a wonderful point in my life, and the purple dress, which is very special. I had the yardage of velvet set aside for several years, and the moment the subject of velvet came up, I knew exactly where that fabric was waiting and what I would create.” Elsewhere, the installation understands the power of a pointed object. The strongest pieces do not simply illustrate the theme; they activate it. A dress can become a billboard, a dare, a weapon, a wink. A swath of velvet can carry the
The timing feels exact. In the wake of ongoing Met Gala conversations and controversies, fashion exhibitions have become museum catnip, but too many flatten clothing into backdrop, content, selfie bait. This show reaches higher for something more Christian Siriano / Calder compelling: the slow reveal. It asks viewers to notice construction, provenance, material, and meaning without draining the pleasure from the room. This is glamour with receipts, yes—but also glamour with a pulse, a shadow, and a very good mirror. For Connecticut audiences, the exhibition may feel like a wardrobe door opening onto a more surprising version of the state. Connecticut is often narrated through maritime romance, colonial restraint, insurance capital, prep, and polish. Here, the state gains a handworked, high-style, sometimes unruly textile identity that cuts across Indigenous, coastal, immigrant, domestic, industrial, and contemporary worlds. The local
Xarea Lockhart, Bloom Dress, sketch, swatch
is not provincial. It is the point of entry into everything larger: class, taste, commerce, self-invention, and the politics of who gets called fashionable. The installation makes its argument in the placement. Historic textiles sit close enough to contemporary silhouettes to create a spark; labels give makers, materials, and communities the weight they deserve. Nothing feels stranded. The objects are lit, sequenced, and allowed to answer one another, so the room itself becomes part of the criticism. A great fashion exhibition understands that placement is never neutral. Here, every pairing has consequence. There are ongoing events and workshops beginning in September, which feels fitting: the show is built to keep unfolding. What lingers is the attitude—polish with an address, elegance with a past. MMoA’s exhibition feels assured because it understands style as more than surface. It is an innate sensibility: Siriano’s mirrored confidence, Som’s refined ease, Lockhart’s velvet intuition, Sauro’s intimate edge. Style leaves a trace long after the body has moved on. It is what survives the light—and endures in the shadow. In Mystic, the fabric becomes the archive, the argument, and the afterglow. I’ll be back again for one more tour.
Christian Siriano /Pol Bury
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he word that com mes to mind upon encou untering the work of o Gray Jacobik is th his: abundance. Having painted for f decades, the number of painttings Gray has created is impressiv ve. But abundance comes also in n the variety of painting genres shee has produced and the plethora of media and techniques she has applied. She long ago masterred realism, painting still lifes an nd landscapes, and she challeng ges herself with various approach hes to abstract painting. Gray has a reserved mannerr,, a manner that belies the energy y,, passion, and depth behind herr eyes. An accomplished painter and poet, her work exhibits an integratio on of the aesthetic and the intellectual, intellectu ual, an integration that mirrors herr own nature. She attributes her artistic stic abundance to “a restless spirit,” t,” but clearly she also has an inquisitive tive mind. “I like the old-fashioned word ’sensibility’,” she explains. “It means an ability to appreciate and respond pond to complex emotional and aesthetic h ti influences with sensitivity y.. Art is what keeps us vibrant in whatever form art takes, from the most abstract form, music, to the most concrete form, architecture. But ‘complex’ is the definition I like best. W Wee’re all subjected to overwhelming pattern stimulation, and we might say art is ubiquitous, but unless the work itself embodies ‘complexity’, the perceiver ’s sensibility isn’t going to deepen, expand, become scintillate. “In addition to painting, “abundance” applies to Gray’s practice as a poet. She has written and published nine collections of poems, has won several national poetry awards, and after earning a Ph.D. in 19th and 20th Century British and American Literature, taught poetry as literature and as craft at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Some of her poems have been recorded for the Library of Congress, and her books have been digitized for posterity by the New Y Yo ork Public Library and the Un niiversity of Massachusetts Press. Her most recent book, Eleanorr,, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in
Azaleas In A Blue V Vaase
Winds Howling at All Hours
32 poetry and for a National Book A Aw ward in poetry y.. Also, she wrote first-person lyric poems and narrative poems, dramatic monologues in verse, and essay poems that incorporate facts in sustained meditations on a particular subject. She’s even published a memoirr,, Little Boy Blue, but chose the unusual form of dramatic poems in a series. Much of her work led to a collection: The Banquet: New and Selected Poems (Poet’s Choice Press), which received the prestigious Wiilliam Meredith Poetry A W Aw ward. As with each of her books, the cover art is one of her paintings. p g Often, at readings g or openings, p g she is asked about the relationship between poetry and visual art. “What strikes me most strongly about the difffference,” she says, “is that poems are noisy: cadence, rhythm, vowels and consonants popping and chiming, words rhyming and echoing— all of it a kind of sonic dance—whereas paintings are silent. Poems have a ‘voice’ either when read out loud or sounded in the mind. The ‘saying’ of a painting is a silent visual apprehension. Not that there aren’t some analogies between these two, both unfold in time, for example, but in poems sound can’t be separated from meaning. Both practices in my experience are meditative.”V Viiewers are often intrigued by the multifariousness of her work. “I’ve cycled through styles and materials recurr-sively y,,” she explains, “working realistically y,, then abstractly y, then back again. y, again Currently I’m working in acrylic and, as a foundation,embedded textured papers, such as rice paperr,, acrylic collage paper and skins, and etched modeling paste. Then I build up layers using paint, inks, markers, graphite, and oil pastels. I use brushes, brayers, squeegees, stencils, and pin-striping brru ushes, a rotary sanderr,, moving back and forth between additive and subtractive applications.” This summerr,, one of Gray’s abstracted landscapes won a best painting award in a juried exhibition for the Essex Art Association. So how does a painter arrive at such an array of painting styles? Although Gray spent many years painting realistically y,, her interest in abstract painting is not a recent development. She found inspiration and encouragement as a teen on Long Island studying with students of Hans Hofmann. She studied drawing and painting at the University of Maryland and other schools in the 1970s and frequented art museums
Siberians
and galleries in Manhaattan. “It was the abstract expressionists of the late 40s and 50s,” she said, “and latterr,, the color field painters, whose work sspoke to me as an adolescent and still doees. es I remember the first time I saw a Franzz Kline’s large black swashes on a white ground, o and Robert Motherwell’s equally eenigmatic shapes. I loved Barnett Newmaan’s zip paintings; Mark Rothko’s divided d, vibrating blocks; and Jackson Pollock’s aall-over and everywhere-at-once drips an nd loops. In later years, I discovered Hellen Frankenthalerr,, Joan Mitchell, Sam Gilllian, Cy Twombly Tw y,, and d Frank F k Bowling.” B li ” Her paintings exist in tthese sub-genres: realistic still life and lan ndscape, abstract
geometrics, abstracted landscape, and d expressive abstracts. In addition to mediums such as pastel, oil, acrylic an nd gouache, she works in encaustic. Of her experience of painting still lifes, Gray says, “My paintings tell of vases,cups, bowls, flowers cut fresh from the garden, books, fruit, etc.“ Then with her philosophic bent of mind, she adds, “A still life speaks of a particular moment of individual existence and of the home atmosphere that gave texture to that existence.” Furthermore, she says, “I’ve discovered my own meaning for the still life: painting one makes me feel very calm and peaceful. One needs to be still within herself to engage in such long looking
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Out of T Tiime & Into Something Else
The Calligrraphy of Spring, Expressionist Abstract
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In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
and careful rendering.” These are ideass that would be comfortable in a study of Buddhism.
comprised of fundamental, interchangeable, yett variable units, which nonetheless cohere.”
Gray’s G ’ work k in i abstracts b t t has h been b a winding i d di journey y,, since she finds it ‘easier ’ to paint realism than abstracts (the opposite of what most people would assume), so her works in abstraction have themselves been various. Her geometric abstracts emerged out of two interests: a fascination with classical Islamic patterns and an imaginative representation of the structure of language, particularly syntax. As she explains, “I was trying to find a way to combine painting and poetry without actually using words.” The surface of her geometrics is devoid of texture and traces of paint handling except for the slight ridges caused by the removed tape. She paints on wood with acrylic gouache which provides a unified matte finish that makes the colors particularly intense. “My geometric abstract paintings are an exten n-sion of the tradition advanced in the 1960s and 70s, variously known as hard-edge abstraction or color field painting,” she explains. Moving again into the philosophical, she says, “I think of each pattern as a block reminiscent of a batik ttjjap or a syntactical unit such as a subject and its predicate. Thus the vocabulary of these works are
An artist A ti t ffriend i d off G Gray’s ’ once ttold ld h her she h thought the project of the Abstract Expressionists had not yet been completed. Whether this is a dubious claim or not, Gray decided to explore that possibility because she said that the process itself feels enlivening and abounds in the sensation of being lost-in-the-making. “A A dozen times over the years, I’ve returned to painting completely non-objective, or expressive abstracts because the making is both deeply challenging and pleasurr-able,” she explains. “I’ve painted abstracts in oil, acrylic, encaustic, gouache, and mixed media, in various sizes and formats. I’ve never felt as though I was ‘making progress’, but I do enjoy seeing several of them on my own walls. They sing to me and reveal themselves over time, and, I choose to assume, to others.” In recent years Gray has painted several abstract landscapes, a practice that combines elements of realism with expressive abstraction, often marked by an horizon line, or the suggestion of hills, a lake, riverr,, clouds or some other natural element. “Most of the time,” she explains, “the parts of the
35 painting that sugg gest recognizable shapes emerge out of the hodgepodge of m marks, and then I enhance what begins as a mere suggestion.”” About a dozen years ago, Gray began working in encaustic, a challenging and so ometimes sculptural form of painting with highly-pigmented d beeswax combined with damar resin. “One paints ‘hot’— in a molten state that quickly cools,” she explains, adding. “Used at lleast as far back as the ancient Egyptians, encaustic puts in p play thermal energy, y, gravity y,, wind energy (in the form of a h heat gun blowing the molten wax), and must be manipulated by y fusing layers. It can include carving or embedding naturaal substances such as leaves, seedpods, hairr,, or glass g beads. It’ss a medium that is both tactile and plastic and constantly moving g between a liquid and a solid state.” “The most transfo ormative experience I ever had encoun n-tering art, being reeduced to tears by art, was when I visited the Cy T Tw wombly G Gallery in Houston, “ she adds.“T Tw wombly showed me what I now aspire to create: surfaces with so mucch h discreet detail that it is possible to feel lost in them, to Pure Joy Magical November Light, Realistic Landscape
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Shell, Porcelain, Pew wterr,, Glass -Still Life
look forever and not see all there is to ssee, paintings so complex and varied they shift every time one looks. But if I were to name one guiding aspirration I express t myself to lf often, ft it’s it’ to t create t works k that th t are b beautiful tif l and interesting in equal measure. It’s relatively easy to create ‘beautiful’ or ‘interesting’ but almost impossible to achieve both together in a harmonious way y..” One powerful personal quality that Gray has is humility. Despite decades of successful work, she is always excited to learn and explore the approaches of others. “I take classes almost constantly; for years in person, now virtually y.. I love to acquire a new skill, to look at other artists’ work, visit galleries and museums, to be out in the world thinking about art and in conversation with other artists. And I chase down new materials and new ways to use them. I’m a sucker for tools. As with many artists of my generation, technology y,, especially digitalization, has changed the way I work and the way I market my paintings.” She, like all artists, is often asked for her advice for developing painters: “I have three things to say. y. Firstly y,, learn to think in terms of the fundamental elements
of art: line, shape, texture, space, colorr,, value. If one can look at one’s work and can see the relationships e between these (I like to think of it as ‘the dance of elements”), l t ”) they th will ill have h a measure off contr t oll th thatt will otherwise evade them. Secondly y,, what has empowered me most is reading and thinking about the ideas expressed in philosophy (particularly Martin Heidegger), the philosophy of art and art criticism. Many thinkers have considered deeply and broadly the fundamental questions such as, ‘what is beauty?’ ‘what is the purpose of art?’ ‘what should a work of art do?’ Of course, one starts by doing, by just jumping in and letting the work lead you, but it’s hard to get very far without also thinking about the larger questions. Some artists don’t analyze, they just do, which leads them to repeating themselves painting after painting, year after year. The third thing: study art history y.. The latter is so easy these days with the truly incredible resources available to us because of artists’ tutorials, documentaries, and podcasts on the internet. Given the intense nature of her thinking, it makes sense to ask what primarily keeps her motivated to paint. Surprisingly y,, she responds, “Because painting is so much fun!”
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Cities W Weeeping Into A V Viiolet Sky
Graay Jacobik shows her work regularly arly along thee Connecticut shoreline. She has a one-woman shoow through the month of September ber which will alloow visitors to enjoy the stunningg variety of herr work at Artevistica Gallery located ated at 191 Miiddlesex Turnpike Tu in Chester, r, CT T.. The hours are Saturdays and Sundays, noon too 4pm and by appointment with Gray. Contactt her via her webbsite: grayjacobikartist.com. Graay lives in Deep River with her wife and their dogs. Turqquoise Cratered Lake -- Abstraction Landscape Tu
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What is Greg Drinking? “Bumps” by Field Recordings - Local Knowledge, Traditional Techniques What defines your late summer-to-fall transition? Is it the (sometimes aggressively early) debut of the fall flavors in your coffee houses and breweries? Maybe you look forward to the Saturday and Sunday sounds of college and professional football being played from the living room. For a lot of parents and grandparents, the dulcet tones of school buses picking up littles and bringing them back to school might bring on the relief of a little extra serotonin. There is a literary reference for an item that invokes such a visceral reaction: a Proustian madeleine. Hailing from Marcel Proust’s famed In Search of Lost Time, this is a physical trigger that drags you back from your current state to an earlier point of significance in your life. For the character in the book, it was a cake dipped in tea that activates a reflex, yet we all have certain core memories that we have amassed during our lives. When it comes to wine and specifically my journey into it, Sauvignon Blanc exists as my first true love in bottled form. For this reason, I hope to inspire you to either circle back or more formally cement your devotion to a noble grape varietal by showcasing Bumps by Field Recordings. Sauvignon Blanc is the wine that got me to stop talking and start listening. It was the first wine presented to me in an elevated status before I met the lower-shelf versions that so often haunt happy hours in carafes and cafes around the globe. For most young people who are dabbling in adult drinks for the first time, you are getting the worst that category has to offer; yet the universe had a different plan for Sauvignon Blanc. I was blessed with a few aunts (looking back, they would have been around the age I am now when I was first given permission to raise a glass with the people who raised me) who had traveled and knew their way around a wine shop. Their offering was from Marlborough, New Zealand. The acidity had me awestruck. The herbaceousness hurled me back to every leaf of basil and oregano I had ever watched my grandmother toss into a sauce. It was crisp and zesty and served with a chill that stood in stark
contrast to the humidity that was heavy in the air. Sauvignon Blanc had made a first impression for the ages. For many fans of ‘Sauvy-B ’, if it isn’t from New Zealand, it isn’t getting purchased. Although I love myself a little French Loire Valley Sancerre, I wanted to showcase a really great example of the expansiveness of this grape. Bumps is produced in the Santa Maria Valley AVA, specifically at the Le Bon Climat vineyard. The wine checks every box for the health-focused sipper: it is sustainably grown, vegan certified, uses native yeast, contains barely any sulfites, and nothing in the additive category. The wine is steel-aged for a good stretch before a portion is pulled into neutral oak, for a chance to let oxygen soften it up and give it some texture without adding flavors that interfere. It is a wine that is dignified yet still worthy of a 'daily sipper’ designation. Tropical at the top, meandering into minerality that keeps it together. The nose is a citrus coalition of lemon and lime that neither underperforms nor overpowers. It would create perfection with the caviar the vineyard owners like to chase sips of this Sauvy with, hence the name, but would be just as nice with goat cheese and chips. This wine is bright green and energetic, so basically my spirit: captured under a cork! When I first tried this wine, at Cove Ledge package store in Stonington Borough, it emerged as one of my Proustian madeleines. I was standing at a family cookout under the shade of a long-since-fallen apple tree. The tide was high and had spilled into the front yard. The elders were getting ready to kick off a contentious round of cribbage under the gazebo, and heat surged forth from the lit tree limbs collected and stacked in the firepit. It was a simpler time, with the laughter of greatly missed relatives entwined within the first sips of cool and citrusy wine rolling over my taste buds. It had been a long time since a wine had jogged that memory, and thanks to the careful curation of winemaker Andrew Jones of Field Recordings, I am ever so grateful that it did.
Gregory Post is a sommelier and manager at Saltwater Farm Vineyard, affiliated with Kingdom of the Hawk Vineyard.
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By Carolina Márquez-Sterling
Maynard Dixon, Cloud Wo orld, Maynard Dixon, Oil paint on canvas; 34 × 62 in. 1925. Denver Art Museum
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46 am miss-placed. After countless recommendations, I finally Af s surrendered and watched Yellowstone. It took me a few weeks, and though the characters are hardly role models—I will not defend their f l faults—their rugged loyalty to the land and their generations of guardianship stopped me in my tracks. Since the series ended, a quiet melancholy has settled over me. It is not the story I miss, but the feeling it stirred—a fleeting sense of belonging to something greater. Now w,, there is a hollow space inside me. A quiet loss that refuses to let go. Not of a place, exactly y,, although the cinematography is awe-inspiring. It’s more about a way of being g with others. A world where roles felt certain— not just between men and women, but among all people. Where your place was unmistakable. I find myself yearning for something I cannot quite know how to name: the ability to be fully myself— independent, capable—and To o be able still be cared forr.. T to fall apart without fearing that my hard-won strength will be stripped away y.. I am a daughter of Cuban exiles. Born here in 1960, it took some time for me to realize the great fortune that came out of such misfortune. T To o fully adopt this country y,, I devoted much of my childhood to the cowboy aura. W Weesterns were so alive with the fierce independence and courage of men and women. I wanted to be one of them. Subsequently y,, I devoured the American W Weest on a small black-and-white TV V,, perched on a metal cart with rabbit ears, at 4 Merril T Teerrace, Plymouth, NH. My father would gesture toward Barbara Stanwyck
“Strandgade, Sunshine” Vilhelm Hammershøi,, 1906.
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“Open and Closed” Andrew Wyeth, W Waatercolor on Paperr,, 1964
on The Big V Vaallleyy,, telling me she was a remarkable actress recalling how he had watched her in many films back in Cuba. Later on, my younger y sister and I would put on our pajamas, make a batch b of chocolate chip cookies, and watch Bonanza and Gunsmoke G . I believe one Halloween we both dressed like Miss M Kitty Russell in love with the handsome Marshall Mattt Dillon. W Wee also pretended Hoss was mine and Little Joe was hers. Little Joe was more handsome, but
Hoss had a biig heart, and I sensed that he let people be who they were, as if his size kept him from feeling threatened. I saw myself iin him—the middle of three boys, strong in —and I wanted to be a part of that world, to his own way— belong to a pllace where strength and care could coexist. I don’t know iff I understood what I was doing, but it seemed me. important to m My coming of age evolved in the shadow of the boomer watched the older kids in my neighborhood generation. I w doing things I never did, moving in a world that didn’t
include me. I n noticed the distance between what I was experiencing aand what others seemed to inhabit, wondering g where I fit. Exile, I realize now w,, was not new to me. Watching the modern cowboys of Y Wa Yeellowstone was, at first, disappointing. I craved the raw energy, y, the dangerr,, the lack of convenience—the kind of scene where people trudge
across endless land, the sky shrinking as the camera pulls Yet I also missed the back against an unforgiving backdrop. Ye camaraderie born of that isolation, the kind a person had to surrender to. Howeverr,, as I watched Ye Yellowstone and found myself drawn in again—not to the violence, not even to the drama, but to the care. There was a scene that hit me hardest: Beth had just lost her fatherr.. After twenty-four hours, she waited, tense but composed, until she heard the crrunch of tires on the drive. She knew it was Rip. She ran, and the moment he
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A Porch in Maine, Fairfield Porter, 1966
reached herr,, he held her as she collapsed to the ground in tears. That scene struck me more than I expected. I wanted that—the ability to collapse, p to let someone hold me without needing to keep myself together. Four years ago, I watched my father wither away y.. I fell asleep by his side as he made his final curtain call. I was the one to call my motherr,, my sisterr,, my nephew w,, and most importantly y,, my husband. When I finally saw my husband after those days, I felt safe—but still, I couldn’t release the “llanto,” the boundless grief and exhaustion I carried inside. Wa W atching Beth surrender into Rip’s arms, I understood something I hadn’t been able to name before: a longing for a world where you can be fully yourself—autonomous, strong, alive— and still be cared forr.. A space where y p and still belong. g Not control. Not you can fall apart dominance. Not even understood. Just strength held with restraint, care given without erasing you, recognition without judgment.
After the Ball, Ramon Casas,,1895
49 As a visual artist, I am wired to observe. I search for y.. details, read gestures, always hunting for the hidden story To do this, I must step back—watching life unfold from To a distance, attentive but untouched. This habit seeps into everything. Maybe that is why I remain composed, even when my body wants to unravel. What unsettled me most was not the story itself, but the recognition of something familiar I had often missed. Not the grand gestures, but the quiet, nearly invisible ways people make space for each other. A hand reaching for a doorr,, someone stepping in unprompted, a silent nod to another’s burden. These moments slip by unnoticed, yet without them, something vital begins to vanish. Belonging can feel dangerous, as if you must lose who you are. I don’t know where this comes from, but I have a sneaky suspicion it is the exact opposite. If you can let yourself unravel and unmask your whole self in vulnerability and still have someone care, the belonging feels natural... not performative. I don’t know if I ever truly had this. Perhaps I glimpsed it in childhood play y,, in fleeting moments of love, in the quiet presence of someone who saw me clearly y.. And yet, seeing it reflected back to me through myth and television stirred a grief I ld no llonger iignore — a could melancholy for a world both real and imagined, and for the space to finally let myself fall into it. I wasn’t missing the show w.. I was mourning the idea of a world where strength doesn’t disqualify you from being held, and where falling apart doesn’t mean losing your place.
Sunshine in the Drawing Room II, V Viilhelm Haammershøi, 1903
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The
Cheesemonger Deana Simmon, The Cheese Shop of Centerbrook
From Pasture to Plate Exploring Wisconsin – Where dairy runs deep. When you think of Wisconsin, chances are you picture rolling green pastures, red barns and cows dotting the countryside, but Wisconsin is so much more. It has turned its diary heritage into art. The state is synonymous with great American cheese and there are so many award-winning dairy farms and cheeses across this great state. So, we’re hitting the road to discover the traditions that make Wisconsin a true cheese lover’s destination.
The early days In the mid 1800’s, Wisconsin produced one sixth of the nation’s wheat. Yes, that’s right – wheat! It was the states dominating cash crop. But that success wouldn’t last. Exhausted soil, the devastating chinch bug decimating crops and competition from Iowa and Minnesota driving prices down, Wisconsin wheat farmers knew they needed to change course. Noticing the success of dairy farming in Upstate New York where the climate, of long, cold winters, and short cool summers, was better suited for dairy cows, William Dempster Hoard, the 16th Governor of Wisconsin started The Wisconsin Dairymen’s Association and led an effort to convince farmers of Wisconsin to switch to dairying. Later the Dairymen’s Association provided marketing and education on new dairy methods through its publications and in 1885 the Hoard Dairy became the nation’s leading dairy magazine. During this time many New Yorkers moved to Wisconsin, bringing with them their knowledge of dairy farming on a commercial scale. Immigrants from Germany, Switzerland and Italy also settled in Wisconsin with their cheese making skills and began producing cheeses such as Limberger, Alpine Style Swiss and Pecorino. As the dairy industry began to grow, the University of Wisconsin began to research and lend their support. Stephen Babcock, a chemist and professor at the University of Wisconsin invented the Babcock test, the first test to measure butterfat content in milk. It enabled high-quality butter and cheese to be made consistently. Today Wisconsin produces 3.5 billion pounds of cheese, ranking it 4th in the world for cheese production and over 600 varieties, including artisanal cheeses from Daries such as Carr Valley, Schuman and Satori. Chalet Cheese Co. founded in 1885 by five dairy farmers is known for its unique flavored cheese all produced in the artisanal way and with a Swiss style heritage including their world-famous Limburger, which is still made today. For those of you not familiar with Limburger – it’s a soft ripened cheese with a mild flavor and an infamous aroma created by a smear-ripening process with bacteria. It’s an acquired taste for sure. Wisconsin is a state proud of their heritage and their cheese making traditions. The state’s tourism organization, Travel Wisconsin, promotes cheese-focused road trips that highlight cheesemakers and cheese shops throughout the state and Driftless Wisconsin wine & cheese trail in southwestern Wisconsin has an established trail combining cheesemakers, wineries and other scenic countryside destinations. So, if you ever find yourself wandering through Wisconsin, take the scenic route, stop for a squeaky curd or two and discover why Wisconsin is America’s Dairyland. Did you know? Wisconsin is the largest producer of Whey Protein! Whey is a byproduct of cheese making and by all intents and purposes considered a waste product. By turning this whey into powder, Wisconsin cheese makers are not only reducing waste they are providing all those protein powders for your morning shakes!
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One of Our Most Commonly Asked Questions: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood at the counter helping a customer when I’m asked, “What’s your favorite?” My answer is always the same…. “It depends.” I can’t think of a cheese I don’t like, but sometimes choosing a cheese depends on my mood, or what I’m serving for dinner, or what kind of wine I’ll be drinking. After giving it a little more thought, I must admit some cheeses stand out more than others among the staff. I guess you could call them “our favorites,” and I thought it would be fun to share them with you. You never know, maybe you’ll find something new to call “your favorite.”
Staff Picks 1. I’m sure you’ve heard Stephanie say a million times she can’t sell you this cheese, she wants to make sure all the Piave Vecchio goes home with her. Piave is a cow’s milk cheese made in the Veneto region of northern Italy along the Piave River. This area of Italy is known for its rich dairy farming traditions and from where the cheese gets its name. Piave has a rich nutty flavor with a slightly grainy texture, often referred to as “crystals.” Aged between 12-18 months, and like a young Parmigiano, it’s most enjoyed with wine & fruit. It’s also great sprinkled on top of pasta or melted on pizza. Be sure to try it with honey, it’s amazing. 2. Emmental is on Paul’s list as one of his favorites. I say “one” because he’s also very fond of a soft ripening, bloomy rind cheese– as long as it’s in good condition at the time. Emmental is a cow’s milk cheese that originated in the Emmental region of Switzerland. It’s famous for its characteristic holes or “eyes.” Emmental must be aged for a minimum of 4 months, but most are aged longer – between 8-12 months. Emmental has a mild, nutty flavor with a hint of sweetness and a subtle fruitiness. As the cheese ages, it develops a more robust, deeper flavor. Emmental makes a great sandwich cheese or melted in gratins. It’s also one of the main cheeses in our fondue recipe. 3. France is home to over 1200 cheeses, and it just so happens that one of them is Elizabeth’s favorite - Époisses. Époisses is a soft, washed-rind cheese that originated in the Burgundy region of France. It’s made from cow’s milk and is known for its bold aroma and rich, creamy texture. The rind of Époisses is washed with a brine solution made with Marc de Bourgogne, a local brandy that contributes to its distinctive flavor and aroma of mushrooms and earthiness with a hint of spice. Époisses is only aged 4-6 weeks before it’s shipped worldwide, and as it continues to age, the flavors will begin to intensify creating a savory tasting experience. Époisses is great with a baguette, pickled onions, and your favorite red wine! 4. If you want to make Mac & Cheese, ask Nicole for her recipe. It’s one of the best I’ve come across in a long time, and believe me, I’ve tried many. So, I just assumed her favorite would have been one of the trio of cheeses she uses in her recipe. I was surprised to learn her favorite is BellaVitano -Merlot. BellaVitano is made in Wisconsin by Sartori Cheese, a company that was founded in 1939 when Italian immigrant, Paolo Sartori opened the company and brought his farmstead cheese recipes to the Wisconsin dairy industry. BellaViatano is made with cow’s milk and aged anywhere from 10-12 months. It’s rich, sweet, and creamy with a slightly crumbly texture. What sets BellaVitano apart from other cheeses is, during the aging process, the entire wheel is submerged in Merlot wine giving it a unique purple, wine-infused rind that adds depth to its flavor with notes of fruity plums and berries. BellaVitano-Merlot pairs well with - you guessed it - Merlot. But it’s a great sidekick to other fruity reds. Enjoy it on its own or make it the newest addition to your next charcuterie board. 5. Italy is known for great shoes and handbags and for Crucolo, Sue’s favorite. Crucolo is a type of cheese rather than a specific variety. It gets its name from a restaurant named Rifugio Crucolo. Made from cow’s milk in the northern region of Trentino, Curcolo has a smooth texture with a hint of pepper and a buttermilk sweetness. To me it has the flavor of a very, very young Provolone – there’s no scientific data to back this, it’s just what I taste. Aged for about three months, Crucolo is very versatile, its higher moisture content makes it a great melting cheese. It works well for pizza and burgers, and it’s one of the cheeses I use when making risotto. Try it with a Nebbiolo, a Pinot Noir, or with your favorite salumi. 6. If you ask anyone at the shop, they’ll all tell you the same thing… My favorite cheese is the Délices de Bourgogne. This has been my favorite since I really can’t remember. Délices de Bourgogone is a luxurious triple cream that originated in the Burgundy region of France. Made with cow’s milk, it has a bloomy rind and 75% butter fat giving it an incredibly rich, velvety texture and a tangy, buttery flavor. Added cream during the cheese-making process makes this cheese decadent. Spreadable at room temperature, it’s delicious served on a salted baguette with fruit and honey and a bottle of champagne.
~ Embrace the diversity, complexity, and sheer delight that cheese brings to your table. After all, in the world of cheese, there’s always another delicious discovery waiting to be made. ~ Unknown.
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Light Up the Night | New Haven CT T
450 Lighthouse Road
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Alabama Shakes | Bridgeport CT
Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater 500 Broad Street Bridgeport CT Grammy-winning rock band Alabama Shakes returns to the stage with its signature blend of blues, soul, rock, and roots music. Led by the he powerrh house vocals of Brittany Howard, the band rose to fame with hits including Hold On, Don’t W Waanna Fight, and Sound & Color. Fresh offff a highly anticipated reunion and new music, Alabama Shakes promises an unforgettable night of electrifying performances and timeless songs.
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65th Annual Mark Tw Twain Library Book Fair|Redding, CT
37 Lonetown Rd., Rd Redding CT Book lovers, collectors, and curious browsers will find plenty to discover at the 65th Annual Mark T Tw wain Library Book Fair in Redding. Featuring more than 60,000 books across 75 categories, this beloved Labor Day weekend tradition offers everything from literary classics to hidden treasures, with proceeds supporting the library’s mission and community programs. a For event details, hours, aand updates, kttwainlibrary. y.org/book-ffaair. Visit mark
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Brass CitiBrew Fest|Wa Waterbury CT
Library Park, 267 Grand Street Wa Waterbury y,, CT Raise a glass to two decades of the Brass City Brew Fest! Celebrrate the 20th anniversary with an afternoon of craft brews, deliciouss food live entertainment food, entertainment, and good company at Library Park in W Wa aterbury y.. This 21+ celebraa-tion promises a memorable fall experience for beer lovers and longtime festival fans alike.
Admission Ticke kets: $30 (must be 21+) Designated Driver Ticke kets: $10 (must be 21+)
Congenital heart families spend days, weeks, and sometimes months at their child’s bedside, sacrificing income, stability y,, and normal life while advocating for their child’s care. Join Light Up the Night this fall for an evening of food, cocktails,, auctions,, and inspiration as we raise vital support to help these faamiy.. lies through their journey Joeabatefoundation.org/Light
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Swan Lake | Bridgeport, CT
The Klein 910 Fairfield Av Avenue Bridgeport, CT 800 424-0160 x2 World Ballet Company presents Swan Lake Wo Experience one of ballet’s most beloved classics as the W Wo orld Ballet Company brings Swan Lake to life with an international cast of 50 dancers, lavish handsewn costumes, and breathtaking sets. Set to T Tcchaikovsky’s iconic score, this timeless tale of love, magic, and redemption promises an unforgettable evening of world-class dance. Doors Open @ 6PM Show Starts @ 7PM
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Afterparty Fundraiser | Ivoryton, CT C
103 Main St, Ivoryton, y CT Heart Behind the Art Gala — Ivoryton Playhouse Support the Ivoryton Play yhouse at an unforgettable evening celebrating the artists, staffff, volunteers, and everyone who brings professional theatre to life. The evening features cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, small plates, live and paddle auctions, desssert, live music, and dancing. For more information, visit www w. w. ivorytonplayhouse.org.
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Robbie Collomore Concerts| Chestter CT
The Chester Meeting House 4 Liberty Street, Chesterr,, CT 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM GRAMMY Y--nominated brass en n-semble The W Weesterlies brings its genre-defying blend of jazz, folk, and classical music to Collomore Concerts followed by a complimentary rreeception with the artists.
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Bloomfield Food Tr Truck Festival | Bloomfield CT
800 Bloomfield Av Ave. Bloomfield, CT 3–8 p.m. with free admission (food purchased separately). p y Savor a day of delicious discoveries at the Bloomfield Food T Trruck Festival, featuring a lineup of food trucks serving everything from street favorites and global flavors to sweet treats and specialty drinks. Enjoy live entertainment, local artisans, and a lively community atmosphere as Bloomfield celebrates food, friends, and summer fun.
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Fall Artisan Mark ketplace | Guilford, CT
Guilford Green Whitfield Sttreet, Guilford, CT 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Discover one-of-a-kind handmad de Artisan treasures at the 2nd Annual Fall A Marketplace in Guilford. Browse unique gifts, meet talented local artisans,, and upportenjoy a day of shopping while su ing small businesses and the creaativity of the community y.. y
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Magic g Rocks! With Leon Etienne | New L London T N d CT
Garde Arts Center 325 State Street New London CT Prepare to be amazed as illusion nist Leon MagEtienne brings his high-energy M ic Rocks! Show to the stage. Blen nding j d i ill i d winning jaw-dropping illusions, award-w i i sleight of hand, comedy y,, and au udience interaction, this family-friendly performance delivers an unforgettablee evening of wonder. Known as “Americaa’s Rock Illusionist,” Etienne has wowed audiences on America’ss Got T Taalent, Penn & T Teeller: Fool Us, and The To Tonight Show Starrring Jimmy Fallon.
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College Street Music Halll |New Haven
LCD Soundsystem and Vi Victoryland
Blending disco grooves with post-punk edge, LCD Soundsystem has become one of indie dance music’s most influential bands. ban nds. Led by James Murph hy y,, the group is known for hits h like “Daft Punk Is Pllaying at My House,” “New w Yo York, I Love Y Yo ou But Y Yo ou’rre Bringing Me Down,” and nce that balances “Drunk Girls.” Expeect an electrifying live performan infectious rrh hythms with w emotional depth.
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Rock Of The 80’s |Feat. China Crisis, Big Cou untry y,, The Vapors, The Icicle Va e Wo Works Reggae icon Ziggy Marley g blend brings his uplifting of roots reggae, rock, and contemporary worlld music to the stage. A m multiple Grammy A Aw ward wiinnerr,, Marley continues h his family’s musical legacy y with songs celebrating lo ove, unity y, and hange. d sociall ch h A $1 charitable add d-on from each ticket benefits the U.R.G.E. Foundation, foundeed by Ziggy and Orly Marley y,, supporting Jamaican families rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa.
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An Evening with John Cusack with a Screening of High Fidelity
Candlelight Con ncert | Bridgeport CT
Viivaldi’s Four Seasons & More V M — The Bijou Theatre 275 Fairfield Av Avenue, Bridgep port CT Experience classical music in a w whole new way as Candlelight Concerrts transform the historic Bijou Theeatre into an intimate setting illuminaated by the warm glow of candlelight. E Enjoy Vivaldi’s beloved Four Seasons and Vi other timeless works in this uniq que multi-sensory evening that blen nds music, atmosphere, and the beauty of live performance.
Doors open 45 minutes u befo fore the show. w. No entry once it starts.
Enjoy a special scrreeen ning of the beloved 2000 film Hiigh Fidelity nversation followed by a live con with actor John Cusaack. Best known for iconic film ms includ d-ing Say Anything, Beeing John Malkovich, Grosse Po ointe Blank, and High Fidelity y,, thee Golden Globe-nominated acttor will sharree behind-the-scen nes stories, career highlights, and d insights during an audience Q Q&A. College Strreet Music Haall is one of Connecticut’s prreemier live entertainment venues, hosting an eclectic lineup of concerts, comedyy, film screenings, and special events thrroughout the year. September featurrees another exciting schedule of performances. For a complete calendar of events and ticket information, visit the College Strreeet Music Hall website.
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Autumn Traditions: Connecticu ut’s Best Fall Fairs
Stonington Borough & Lighthouse L Museum m| Stonington CT 7 Wa Water Street, Stonington,, CT | 860 535 1440 Step back in time with a visit to o this charming coastal village filled with h historic homes, waterfront views, independentt shops, and maritime characterr.. Explore thee Stonington ong the harborr,, Lighthouse Museum, stroll alo and enjoy the beauty of one of Connecticut’s munities. most picturesque seaside comm
Park | Waterford Harkness Memorial State S 275 Great Neck Road Wa Wateerford, CT (860) 443-5725 Nothing says fall in New England quite like a local fairr. From carnival rides and classic fair food to live entertainmen nt, agricultural exhibits, and community traditions, Connecticut’s fairs offffer e something for every age. Whether you’re looking for a family outing orr a nostalgic autumn afterr-g to your seasonal plans. noon, these nearby favorites are worth adding
Discover the elegance of a byg gone era at Harkness Memorial Statte Park. Wander the gardens, explore tthe Wa grounds of Eolia, the former summer home of Edward and Mary Harkness, and take in sweeping views off Long Island Sound. Wi With its historicc mansion, formal gardens, and peacceful shoreline setting, it is a perfectt place to slow down and explore.
The PEZ Visitor Centter | Orange, CT 35 Prindle Hill Road Orange, CT 203-298-0201 Discover the sweet story beehind one of Connecticut’s most recognizable brands at the PEZ Visitor Centerr.. Explore more Vi than 4,000 square feet of PEZ history y,, including the world’s ollection of memorabilia, interactive largest PEZ dispenserr,, a vast co exhibits, and a behind-the-scenees look at how these iconic collectibles are made. A fun and nostalgic sstop for all ages. www w.pez.com
The Book Barn | Nian ntic CT 41 We West Main Street, Nianttic, CT 860 739 5751 A Bibliophile’s Bliss
Bluegrass Jam At The Museum m | East Haven The Shore Line Tr Trolley Museum, 17 Riveer St East Haven CT 1st Tu Tuesday Of Every Month In 2026 Experience the sounds of bluegrass surrounded by history at the Shore Line T Trrolley Museum’s Bluegrass Jam. Held the first Tu Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m., this welcoming gathering invites musicians and music lovers alike to enjoy an evening of traditional tunes among the museum’s historic trolleys. Admission is free, with donations encourraged to support the museum’s preservation and arts programs.
Lose yourself among hundredss of thousands of books at this beloved Niantic destinatiion. More than a book k-store, The Book Barn is a place to t wanderr,, explore, and discover unexpected treasures ttucked among cozy buildings, gardens, and quiet co orners. Bring curioss-ity—you never know what storry you might find. Additional Nearby L ti Locations: Weest Maiin Street, Niantic 860 739 0277 Chapter Three | 55 W Pennsylvania Av Downtown Book Barn | 65 P Avenue, Niantic 860 691-8078
Wadworth Mueseum of Art | Hartford, CT 600 Main Street Hartford, CT C 860 278-2670 The Wa Wadsworth Museum of Art A is a true Hartford gem—and the o oldest continuously operating publicc art museum in the United States. Housed in five distinctive buildings, itts collection spans 5,000 years of arrt, from Old Masters and American paaintings to modern and contemporary works. A cultural treasure hid ding in plain sight.
On display displ through September e te b 25, 5, 2026 On display displ through September e te b 25, 5, 2026
1926 OPENING G NIGHTREENACT C MEN M NT
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