WAG April 2019

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

The great American entertainer JIM DRATFIELD Pets as portraits

SOPHIE GAMAND

Puts a new face on Pit Bulls

CAROLE HAARMANN ACUNTO AND AVRIL GRAHAM'S 'Eye' on luxury

VEUVE CLICQUOT

The Champagne of Greenwich Polo Club

ANIMAL MAGNETISM Old Salem Farm Museum of the Dog Bruce Museum Bronx Zoo

THE LUXURIOUS LIFE Opens our pages

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Real estate agents affiliated with Compass are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Compass. Equal Housing Opportunity. Compass is a licensed real estate broker located at 90 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Fl. NY, NY 10011. All information furnished regarding property for sale or rent or regarding financing is from sources deemed reliable, but Compass makes no warranty or representation as to the accuracy thereof. All property information is presented subject to errors, omissions, price changes, changed property conditions, and withdrawal of the property from the market, without notice. To reach the Compass main office call 212.913.9058.

FEATURES APR I L 201 9

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Horse and rider in history Casting a discerning ‘Eye’ on luxury

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Stylin’ by Olivia

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The Holy Grail of birds

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Annie Leibovitz for pets

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Horse opera A perch onto prehistory

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Pit Bull beauty

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Urban oasis

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On pins and needles

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The high-heeled cowgirl

Walking Rockefeller’s carriage trails

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Oink! Giving the pig its due

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Every dog has its day

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Saddle up

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The art of money

‘Hell,’ yes

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A chukker or two with a rising polo star

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Caffeine fix

The Champagne of polo

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COVER STORY

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN — PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS

THIS PAGE:

Aden. Photograph by Sophie Gamand.

E VERY OBJ ECT HAS A STORY

worth telling, worth find ing.

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FEATURES H I G H LI G HTS

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WAY The good life in Old Greenwich

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WEAR Style from the saddle to the streets

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WEAR Nailing it

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WEAR Dragon bejeweled

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WHAT’S COLLECTIBLE The jeweled menagerie

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WARES Decorating with pets in mind

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WHAT’S NEW AGAIN Creature feature

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WANDERS Travels with the pet set

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WANDERS Following your passions in Cambridge

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WANDERS Big Apple beauty and bites

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Spring awakening

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WONDERFUL DINING Twisty Tex-Mex

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WINE & DINE California dreamin'

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WELL A win by a nose

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WELL Never let ’em see you sweat

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WELL Looking for advice? Ask yourself first

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PET OF THE MONTH Where’s Lacey?

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PET PORTRAITS Dream dog

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WHEN & WHERE Upcoming events

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WATCH We’re out and about

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WIT What animal would you like to come back as?

OUTSIDE COVER: White Andalusian. From Part 1 of “Equus: Story of the Horse” on PBS' “Nature.” Photograph by aAron Munson / © Handful of Films.

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

The great American entertainer JIM DRATFIELD Pets as portraits

SOPHIE GAMAND

Puts a new face on Pit Bulls

CAROLE HAARMANN ACUNTO AND AVRIL GRAHAM'S 'Eye' on luxury

VEUVE CLICQUOT

The Champagne of Greenwich Polo Club

ANIMAL MAGNETISM Old Salem Farm Museum of the Dog Bruce Museum Bronx Zoo

THE LUXURIOUS LIFE Opens our pages

FRIENDS

INSIDE COVER: Michael Feinstein.

Photograph by Gilles Toucas.

See story on page 72.

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Creekside Farm

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nspired by the warmth of an english country house, this lovely 4br, 4.2 bath home displays architectural integrity & old world craftsmanship. built in 2004, the house abounds w/understated elegance & custom appointments. Upon entering, the details of this home includes 10’ceilings, oak flooring, custom cabinetry, 5 fplcs, picture windows & french doors. Among the refined spaces is the pine paneled entrance hall, & the classically proportioned Lr & dr, each offering sweeping views of the hunt country beyond. included in this unique property is the opportunity to own a turnkey equestrian property adjacent to the nS open Land. The house presides over 12 acres, contiguous to 150 acres of conservation land. miles of riding & walking trails. creekside farm has a 6 stall barn & a 2 stall shed barn. 2 storage and tractor sheds. chicken coop. The facility incl.3 large fields, 4 paddocks, 2 medical paddocks, & a 100’ x 200’ outdoor ring.

Price: $3,750,000

Katonah

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xpanded and renovated entirely in 2005, this 3/4 bedroom colonial is located in the estate area of katonah. Sited on 7.5 private acres of level lawns, meadows and woodlands. Adjacent to 333 acres of nature sanctuary with 5 miles of walking trails. A gunite pool and terrace are incorporated in this setting. The house’s interior is detailed with custom millwork, cabinetry, hardwood floors,& a radiant heated mbth w/fplc. 1st floor mbr/flplc, fdr w/bay window, and a sunny Lr w/fplc. The 2005 addition includes the eik w/top of the line appliances and the great room with vaulted ceilings, window wrapped dining area, & french doors to the large screened in porch. A den lined w/book cases & a mosaic tile surround fireplace, could second as a 4th br. Across the hall is a full bth.

2 brs on 2nd level each w/ensuite bathrooms. 2 miles from downtown Katonah, train, and highways. mLS#4904493 Price: $2,695,000

Pawling

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herry hill farm is a picturesque horse farm on almost 17 acres of open land on the top of historic Quaker hill with incomparable distant views. The compound includes a custom built 4 br, 5bth contemporary with a state of the art kitchen, jacuzzi room, a heated inground pool, and a one br cottage. The equestrian facility includes a six 12’x12’ stall barn with heated wash stall, Nelson waterers, heated tackroom, two stall extra large run-in shed, 7 big grass paddocks, 3 medical paddocks, a 120’x220’ outdoor riding ring with sand and rubber footing and your own personal grand Prix jumping field. An equipment shed. This stunning property is a true working horse farm as well as a gentleman’s estate! mLS#:4905220 Price: $1,499,000

o n t h e g r e e n , b e d f o r d, n e w yo r k • 9 1 4 . 2 3 4 . 3 6 4 2 • v i n w h i t. c o m

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EDITORIAL Bob Rozycki MANAGING EDITOR bobr@westfairinc.com

Georgette Gouveia EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ggouveia@westfairinc.com Mary Shustack SENIOR WRITER/EDITOR

ART Sebastián Flores ART DIRECTOR sflores@westfairinc.com

Kelsie Mania ART DIRECTOR kmania@westfairinc.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

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Anthony Carboni, Sebastián Flores, John Rizzo, Bob Rozycki

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jena A. Butterfield, Ryan Deffenbaugh, Aleesia Forni, Gina Gouveia, Phil Hall, Debbi K. Kickham, Meghan McSharry, Laura Joseph Mogil, Doug Paulding, Jennifer Pitman, Giovanni Roselli, Bob Rozycki, Gregg Shapiro, Barbara Barton Sloane, Jeremy Wayne, Cami Weinstein, Katie Banser-Whittle

PRINT/DIGITAL SALES Anne Jordan Duffy ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/SALES anne@westfairinc.com Lisa Cash, Barbara Hanlon, Neale Muccio, Marcia Pflug ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

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MARKETING/EVENTS Tracey Vitale EVENTS COORDINATOR tvitale@westfairinc.com

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CIRCULATION Marcia Rudy CIRCULATION SALES marcia@westfairinc.com

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WHAT IS WAG?

Billy Losapio ADVISER

Irene Corsaro ADVISER

Some readers think WAG stands for “Westchester and Greenwich.”

We certainly cover both. But mostly, a WAG is a wit and that’s how we think of ourselves, serving up piquant stories and photos to set your own tongues wagging.

HEADQUARTERS A division of Westfair Communications Inc., 701 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604 Telephone: 914-694-3600 | Facsimile: 914-694-3699 Website: wagmag.com | Email: ggouveia@westfairinc.com

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All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff. No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $24 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call 914-694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Anne Jordan at 914694-3600, ext. 3032 or email anne@westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 1931-6364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO, dee@westfairinc.com

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WAGGERS

TH E TALENT B EH I N D O U R PAG E S

JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

ROBIN COSTELLO

RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

ALEESIA FORNI

GINA GOUVEIA

GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

PHIL HALL

DEBBI K. KICKHAM

MEGHAN MCSHARRY

DOUG PAULDING

JENNIFER PITMAN

JOHN RIZZO

GIOVANNI ROSELLI

MARY SHUSTACK

BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

JEREMY WAYNE

CAMI WEINSTEIN

KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

COVER STORY: GREGG SHAPIRO, PAGE 72

NEW WAGGER Although deeply connected to our area through beloved family and friends, MARIAH BAUMANN SHAMMEL hails from Washington, Germany, Minnesota and finally Montana where she graduated from Montana State University with a bachelor’s degree in animal science and business. She has written about her life on a working ranch for various publications. She and Lyle, her favorite farmer, farm and ranch in Hilger, Montana, with their four children and many animals. For more of Mariah’s adventures, follow her blog at kleenexchronicles.wordpress.com.

JENNIFER SCHMEER is a documentarian, global travel writer and former TV producer from West Monroe, Louisiana. After a short stint in Hollywood as an actress, Jennifer has gone on to a successful career as a writer with articles in national and international publications. Her documentaries include “The Earnie Miles Story,” about the northeastern Louisiana gospel music legend, and the Maui surfing feature “My Time With Morey.” She loves spending time traveling the world with her family.

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EDITOR’S LETTER G EO RG E T TE GO U VEIA

This year, our annual animals issue has a couple of firsts. It’s the first time we’re featuring a puppy in Pet Portraits. (One, two, three — aw.) Cagney, a Border Collie mix pup — yes, she has a sister named Lacey — wriggled her way into our hearts as I’m sure she will snuggle up in yours.

A bigger first, however, is our double cover. The outside one features a stunning image of a horse from “Equus: Story of the Horse,” which aired recently on PBS’ “Nature.” It’s fitting that the horse should grace our cover. We began our animal theme with a May horse issue in 2011. Back then, we didn’t know a paddock from a pasture, as I like to say. (How far we’ve come since then, turning out regular features on the Spring Horse Shows at Old Salem Farm in North Salem and Greenwich Polo Club, as you’ll see in this issue, along with Jena’s piece on the Bronx Equestrian Center and a peek at a new luxury lifestyle show from polo enthusiasts Carole Haarmann Acunto and Avril Graham.)

When we interviewed “Nature” executive producer, Irvington’s Fred Kaufman, in 2012, we told him that though we admired the series, we couldn’t watch it, because we found the dog-eat-dog circle of life thing too upsetting. Interviewing him seven years later for this issue, we told him we can’t get enough of “Nature.” As Michael Corleone says in “The Godfather 3,” “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Our inside cover features Michael Feinstein, the standard bearer for the Great American Songbook.

But the entertainer — who’ll perform this month at Ridgefield Playhouse — is also a vegan with a spiritual connection to animals. He quotes Mahatma Gandhi who says, “The way we treat animals is a reflection of who we are as a culture.” And the way we are as a culture is complex. We care for animals, as in Jena’s story on Emily Harrison, a Katonah veterinarian and animal acupuncturist who makes house calls. We’ve turned our zoos into great conservation centers (Jena again, on The Bronx Zoo.) We anthropomorphize and memorialize animals in the arts (as in Mary’s articles on the Year of the Pig exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the return of the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog to Manhattan).

And yet, we use animals. We eat them. They serve us, not vice versa. Guest columnist Mariah Baumann Shammel, “the High-Heeled Cowgirl,” does a marvelous job of describing the painstaking care that goes into raising cattle on a Montana ranch. And yet all I could think of is, these animals are going to end up on the dinner table.

Our complicated relationship with animals is the poignant undertone in two our stories. Laura’s piece on Carmel photographer Jim Dratfield, the Annie Leibovitz of pets, will have you laughing over the lengths 14

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My patron saint, George, slays a dragon and saves a distressed damsel in Raphael’s “St. George and the Dragon” (circa 1506), oil on panel.

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. For more on dragons, see Page 88.

we go to get Fido and Fluffy to pose for us, then weeping over the tale of the pet owner seeking to immortalize his disfigured rescue. Gina has the story of another animal photographer, Brooklyn’s Sophie Gamand, who depicts rescued Pit Bulls, an oft-misunderstood breed, in a gentler light, festooned with flowers. There is such evil and yet such good in nature — human nature.

You don’t have to tell Wonderful Dining columnist Aleesia that there’s more to the Pit Bull than the violence it has been embroiled in. She’s the adoring mom of Champ, a rescue Pit Bull, who was there to precede her down the aisle when she married in March. (See Page 126.)

It’s been a momentous time for us, what with Aleesia marrying and Phil getting five awards from the Connecticut Press Club, including a first place for his November piece on rock’n’roll brothers Steve and Nick Balkun and a second place for his book on a film about Bigfoot, which we excerpted last October. He is our rare bird, with an unusual approach to everything, so it’s fitting that he should report this month on the ivory-billed woodpecker,

which may or may not be extinct.

We began with two and so we must close the circle with two lasts — the last pieces by feature writer Ryan Deffenbaugh and Wit columnist Jack Leshi, who are moving on to new chapters. Each is such a good guy and team player that he didn’t want to leave without one more contribution. So herein Jack’s last Wit and Ryan’s report on the Rockefeller State Park Preserve’s carriage trails.

Animals remind us that, in the words of Ecclesiastes, “To everything there is a season.”

Everything, and everyone, in his own time.

A 2018 Folio Women in Media Award Winner, Georgette Gouveia is the author of the “The Penalty for Holding” (Less Than Three Press), a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist, and “Water Music” (Greenleaf Book Group). They’re part of her series of novels, “The Games Men Play,” also the name of the sports/culture blog she writes at thegamesmenplay.com. Readers may find her novel “Seamless Sky” and “Daimon: A Novel of Alexander the Great” on wattpad.com.

HORSE AND RIDER IN HISTORY

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

The painting depicts Russian Czar Ivan the Terrible leaving Moscow for a monastery — and abdication — on Dec. 3, 1564 as a ruse to force the hapless nobles to give him absolute power, which they would live to regret. With free rein, Ivan instituted the Oprichnina, both a stronghold and a period (1565-72) in which none were safe from the oprichniki, the czar’s secret police.

But the story behind Mikhail N. Panin’s “Secret Departure of Ivan the Terrible Before the Oprichina (sic)” (1911) — also one of flight and oppression — is just as intriguing as the tale the painting offers.

For years the 7½-by 8½-foot oil on canvas held pride of place in a gallery space that Gabby and David Tracy created in their Ridgefield home, the painting having been left behind in David’s first Ridgefield house in 1987. Looking to enhance their retirement, the cou-

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ple put it up for sale in 2017, only to get a tremendous shock from The Potomack Co. auction house in Alexandria, Virginia: The work was stolen by the Nazis in 1941 from what is now the Dnepropetrovsk Art Museum in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where Panin eventually settled. That provenance particular resonance for Gabby, a Holocaust survivor whose father, Samuel Weiss, died in a concentration camp.

How the work made its way with a former Swiss border guard to Ridgefield — where he lived until 1962, leaving the painting behind for the new homeowners just as they did for David — remains a mystery. Today, it’s in the hands of the U.S. government, which is seeking to return it to Ukraine, with the Tracys’ blessing.

But in the Russian nesting doll of narratives that is art

Jacques-Louis David’s “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” (1801), oil on canvas, crystallizes the neoclassical ideal of Napoleon as Alexandrian conqueror. Château de 17 APRIL 2019 Malmaison, WAGMAG.COM Rueil-Malmaison.

Mikhail N. Panin’s “Secret Departure of Ivan the Terrible Before the Oprichina (sic)” (1911), a Nazi-looted work, unwittingly graced a Ridgefield home for many years.

history, “Secret Departure of Ivan the Terrible” is not merely a Nazi-looted work. It is also part of a genre — the man on horseback — that sweeps us from the ancient world to our own time. It has become a symbol of the controversy over Confederate monuments as well as a metaphor for dystopia.

“The horse and rider have long been a sign of majesty and power,” says Livia Straus, co-founder (with husband Marc) of the Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art in Peekskill, where Djordje Ozbalt’s dystopian equestrian painting “Great Liberator” (2011) is on view through April 21. “The horse and rider being so identified with each other, it’s as if they are one.”

Though rulers on horseback figure into ancient Middle Eastern art and the famed Chinese Terracotta Army shows cavalrymen beside their mounts, the man on horseback takes off with the ancient Greeks. As discussed in the recent “Equus: Story of the Horse” on PBS’ “Nature” (Page 108), the ultimate man on horseback was the mythical centaur, halfman, half-horse. Perhaps the most famed of these was Chiron, whose nurturing tutelage of the warrior Achilles as a child — the boy often tenderly on the centaur’s back — is a subject found throughout the history of Western art.

It was Achilles’ purported descendant, Alexander the Great, who would inspire a host of equestrian depictions, from Edinburgh to Thessaloniki — thanks to his bond with the equally legendary Bucephalus, a big black stallion whom Alexander tamed as a boy

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IN MODERN TIMES, ARTISTS HAVE UPENDED THE COMMANDING QUALITY OF THE MAN ON HORSEBACK. IN CERTAIN MOMENTS, HE IS CONTEMPLATIVE... IN OTHER MOMENTS, HE IS DEFEATED. by turning the bucking animal away from the sun so he could no longer see his shadow.

Alexander astride the rearing Bucephalus, sword in hand — as seen in a 1st century B.C. bronze statuette, a Roman copy of a work by his sculptor, Lysippos, that was found in the ruins of Pompeii in 1761 — would be a template for Jacques-Louis David’s 1801 oil on canvas, “Napoleon Crossing the Alps.” Similarly, the 2nd century bronze of the Roman Emperor Marcus

Aurelius aboard his steed on the Capitoline Hill in Rome — right arm outstretched, the horse’s front right leg raised to canter — would become a prototype of heroic Renaissance equestrian sculptures.

In the U.S., the epic man on horseback has often been a prominent figure from the young nation’s early history, as in Anna Hyatt Huntington’s dramatic statue of Revolutionary War Gen. Israel Putnam in Redding’s Putnam Memorial Park. (Sometimes it has even been an epic woman on horseback as in Huntington’s “Sybil Ludington” (1960) at Carmel’s Lake Gleneida and the Danbury Public Library, honoring the Paul Revere of Putnam and Fairfield counties.)

Even though Putnam is shown making his daring 1779 escape from the British on horseback — down a staircase representing 100 Greenwich steps — the emphasis is on ultimate victory. And to the victor go not only the spoils but the equestrian monuments. It is among the bones of contention in the debate over the Confederate monuments, which critics say celebrate the vanquished as well as the cause of slavery, in which there is nothing heroic.

In modern times, artists have upended the commanding quality of the man on horseback. In certain moments, he is contemplative. (See Huntington’s “Young Abe Lincoln” (1961), which finds the future president lost in a book as his horse moseys along outside the Bethel Public Library.)

In other moments, he is defeated. Perhaps nowhere has this been captured more poignantly than in “End of the Trail” (1918), a bronze by James Earl Fraser, who lived in Westport. An Indian, exhausted, sits slumped over his horse, his legs dangling. The downward curve of his body mirrors the slope of the equally exhausted horse’s head, serving as a counterpoint to all those ascendant Alexandrian figures. It is the end of the trail not only for him and the animal that has served him so faithfully, but for a way of life.

Back at Hudson Valley MoCA, Ozbolt’s “Great Liberator,” an acrylic on canvas, upends the man on horseback quite literally, mocking the romance of the conquering hero by standing the equestrian figure on its head amid a city in twilight.

It’s a reference to the personal history of the Serbian artist, who has seen regimes come and go, says Livia Straus, Hudson Valley MoCA’s director emerita.

But the work also speaks to something larger — “the ebb and flow of power,” says Effie Phillips-Staley, the museum’s executive director.

“A monument implies permanence,” she adds.

“This is about the precarious state of power.”

Yet rider and horse endure. In the critically acclaimed new film “The Mustang,” Matthias Schoenaerts stars as a violent Nevada inmate given a chance to break and train an equally angry mustang and reconnect with the human race after a long stint in solitary. (It’s based on the Wild Horse Inmate Program found in several Western states.)

Brutal and brutalized, man and horse must find a way together to transcend in a crucible of humility, redemption and love.

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CASTING A DISCERNING ‘EYE’ ON LUXURY

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

It was kismet at Greenwich Polo Club last August. In one box sat Avril Graham, the gracious executive fashion and beauty editor of Harper’s Bazaar, whom WAG first profiled in September 2015 and has continued to follow ever since. In another sat Steve Acunto, the urbane founder of CINN, a private group of insurance, media and publishing companies. One thing led to another and Acunto said to Graham, “You should meet my wife.”

She is Carole Haarmann Acunto, the sharp-minded theatrical, musical and film producer, who is also partner in and executive vice president of CINN. The two women soon discovered they had a great deal in common, beginning with polo. Why polo?

“I’m British,” Graham says. “Enough said.”

“And I’m American,” adds Acunto, who rides, “and I love horses.”

They are talking with WAG over cappuccino in

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the sunroom of the Acuntos’ home, an elegant Georgian Colonial in Greenwich that reflects the couple’s passion for music and art. Sitting opposite us, you think that the two women — both blond and attractive — could be siblings. And indeed, Graham says, “We’re like sisters from another mother.”

And like sisters, they are, she adds, “yin-yang.”

“Avril has star quality,” Acunto says. “She has that phenomenal ability to communicate with people.”

That may be because unlike others in the fashion and beauty business, Graham is nonjudgmental.

She’s genuinely interested in what you have to offer. She listens and educates. And she in turn says of Acunto, “She is a phenomenal businesswoman.

To have anything that succeeds, you want to have

Carole Haarmann Acunto and Avril Graham, co-principals of Platinum Eye Productions, whose luxury lifestyles series “Platinum Eye” is set to debut in November.

Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

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the creative and the business side. One doesn’t appear without the other.”

Which may be why we have such a good feeling about their new venture, “Platinum Eye,” a forthcoming luxury lifestyles TV series that they describe as “your invitation to curated luxury.”

Those who have thrilled to the return of the opulent ’80s — as evinced in the CW’s over-thetop remake of “Dynasty,” perhaps the ultimate armoire and sex nighttime soap — might have visions of the equally guilty pleasure “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” dancing in their heads.

Disavow yourselves of that Robin Leach-ian idea.

As a regular commentator on network and cable TV about subjects ranging from Oscar fashions to the death of couture giant Karl Lagerfeld, Graham had noted that luxury is not a subject well-served by the medium. Acunto had drawn the same conclusion. Their response has been to create a 10-part series of half-hour programs — set to begin running in November — that will transcend the traditional take on culture. The series’ “eye” might peer behind-the-scenes of a heretofore off-limits world, as in backstage at La Scala in Milan, opera’s holy of holies.

Or it might take an unusual vantage point.

On her iPad, Acunto, the series’ principal producer, shows us an eight-minute snippet of an installment on Puerto Rico, which explores how luxe tourism has reemerged on an island devastated by Hurricane Maria. There the “Platinum Eye” team heads to Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Dorado, which has undergone a painstaking restoration. Graham talks with chef-humanitarian José Andrés, a real hero of the disaster-relief effort, who with his World Central Kitchen nonprofit served up 2 million meals alone in the first month after the 2017 hurricane.

There are spots on richly patterned creations by local fashion designers; the island’s rum industry — “Platinum Eye” gets its own label; cocktails served up by sexy, young bartenders; and some R & R in the form of a massage back at Dorado Beach. The interviews are shot “live to camera,” Graham says. While there is some scripting and certainly editing involved, the questions are not handed out in advance. This gives the series an immediate, intimate feel.

Another episode will take viewers behind the scenes at the Oscars in a way that will have them salivating. “Platinum Eye” pores over the room where designers, jewelers and oth-

er accessory purveyors hope to entice Oscar attendees to don their creations. “It’s a candy store for women,” Graham says. Guys and gals won’t want to miss the “Eye” vrooming around the Grand Prix course in Monaco. The Formula One race is one leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, along with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in a principality that is crusted with luxe hotels, stars, superyachts and nightspots — all within 1 square mile, about the size of Bronxville.

This month Acunto and Graham are off to Highclere Castle, which played “Downton Abbey” in the series phenom, to have a “Downton Abbey”-style dinner with the castle’s proprietors — the eighth Earl and Countess Carnarvon, WAG’s February cover subjects — for another episode.

And the “Platinum Eye” team will celebrate its venture where it all began — with a party at Greenwich Polo Club on June 30.

The series is not, however, merely for those who appear on the red carpet or jet off to Monte Carlo. Rather, Acunto says, it is also for the aspirational — those who hope to savor in some way the best life has to offer.

For more, visit platinumeye.net.

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BY OLIVIA

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

We first encountered style goddess Olivia Palermo in flowing contrasting florals on the arm of now husband Johannes Huebl at the 2013 Sentebale Royal Salute Cup at Greenwich Polo Club, featuring Prince Harry and Nacho Figueras.

Since then, Palermo — a New York City native who attended St. Luke’s School in New Canaan before going off to the American University of Paris and The New School in Manhattan — has become even more regarded as a “street style pioneer,” says shades company Westward\Leaning, “known for her classic yet modern fashion sensibility.” Indeed while others wear sunglasses as an accent — or merely to shield their eyes — Palermo has been known, according to Westward\Leaning’s website, to use its Malcolm in the Middle line of shades as inspiration for an ensem-

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ble, pairing Malcolm 06 Rose Gradient frames with a red coat of lipstick.

So it’s no surprise that Palermo — founding chief creative officer of Olivia Palermo Group in Manhattan — launched a collaboration with the independent West Coast sunglass company, known for its high-quality unisex versatility, last month.

Westward\Leaning x Olivia Palermo — featuring four styles, each of which comes in different iterations — enables you to see the world through rose-colored glasses, or virtually any other hue.

The Bristol 04 plays on the popular cat-eye style in a hammered polished rose gold metal frame and rose silver mirrored lenses. (It’s named for Le Bristol Hotel in Paris, a favorite of Palermo’s.) Mayfair 02 — after the posh London neighborhood — is nautical but nice,

Olivia Palermo at the 2013 Sentebale Royal Salute Cup at Greenwich Polo Club, which featured Prince Harry and Nacho Figueras. Photograph

by Bob Rozycki.

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“KARL LAGERFELD STYLED BY OLIVIA PALERMO” WILL LAUNCH AT KARL LAGERFELD STORES, ONLINE AND VIA SELECT WHOLESALE PARTNERS IN JUNE.

Courtesy Karl Lagerfeld x Olivia Palermo.

with a polished navy acetate frame with white acetate accents and navy gradient lenses. Moore 01 — named for the Tribeca street — offers a classic frame of black acetate with standard gray lenses.

Seaspray 03 crystallizes Palm Beach memories in bronzed lavender gradient mirrored lenses

framed in polished translucent sand acetate.

But Westward\Leaning isn’t Palermo’s only collaborative coup. On Feb. 13, Karl Lagerfeld’s company announced that it was teaming with Palermo on styling pieces for its Fall 2019 women’s collection as well as co-creating five bespoke designs. Five days later, the fashion giant was dead, having transformed Fendi and Chanel, “Sex and the City”-fying the latter’s signature bouclé suits. Lagerfeld left behind a Birman cat named Choupette, who has her own maids, diamonds and Instagram account; a string of controversial witticism on everything from work (a big fan) to curvy models (not so much); and an example of self-reinvention. “KARL LAGERFELD Styled By Olivia Palermo” will launch at KARL LAGERFELD stores, online and via select wholesale partners in June.

“Being able to collaborate with the visionary and iconic KARL LAGERFELD is truly incredible,” Palermo — herself with 5.8 million Instagram followers — said in a statement. “I am so proud to bring our shared vision to life on this project and infuse my own eclectic perspective to KARL’s Fall 2019 collection.”

For more, visit oliviapalermo.com, karl.com and westwardleaning.com.

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HOLY GRAIL OF BIRDS

BY PHIL HALL

In April 1944, a female specimen of the ivory-billed woodpecker was sighted amid the ruins of a decimated old-growth forest in Louisiana. For many ornithologists, this marked the last confirmed identification of a species that was driven to extinction.

Or was it? In the 75 years since that sighting, a contentious zoological debate has percolated over whether the ivory-billed woodpecker is extinct or extant.

Some ornithologists and wildlife researchers have insisted they have seen the bird, yet doubters in the scientific and academic worlds argue the lack of conclusive photographic proof has muddied the discussion of the species’ survival.

An unusually large woodpecker — it measures 20 inches with a 30-inch wingspan — the species once inhabited a range across the southern United States

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from North Carolina to Texas, reaching as far north as Illinois. Native Americans in the pre-European era hunted the birds for their distinctive ivory-colored beaks, which were worn as symbols of strength in battle. The great avian artist John James Audubon was enraptured by the bird, writing in the early 19th century: “I have always imagined that in the plumage of the beautiful ivory-billed woodpecker, there is something very closely allied to the style of coloring of the great (Anthony van Dyck). The broad extent of its dark glossy body and tail, the large and well-defined white markings and the brilliant yellow of its eye, have never failed to remind me of some of the boldest and noblest productions of that inimitable artist’s pencil.”

The post-Civil War era saw the ivory-billed woodpecker population go into a rapid decline, as logging

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A male ivory-billed woodpecker on display at the Natural History Museum in London. Photograph 29 WAGMAG.COM

by Josh More.

companies destroyed the old-growth forests that served as their habitat while excessive hunting erased the birds from the air. By the early 1920s, ornithologists declared the bird to be extinct.

However, two nesting woodpeckers were found in Florida in 1924, but a bird-collecting taxidermist fatally shot them. In 1932, another ivory-billed woodpecker was identified after being shot along Louisiana’s Tensas River. Three years later, an expedition from Cornell University and the American Museum of Natural History explored the old-growth forest known as the Singer Tract — named for the property’s owner, the Singer Sewing Co. — and discovered a population of approximately 20 birds, including a nest. This expedition captured the only confirmed film and audio recordings of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the wild.

Efforts to find the bird outside of the Singer Tract were unsuccessful and a campaign was created to preserve the habitat. But the Singer Sewing Co. leased its tract to a lumber company, and pleas from conservationists and Louisiana officials to spare the forest were in vain. The aggressive destruction of the Singer Tract wiped out the only known location for the species.

Yet it seemed the ivory-billed woodpecker did not slip quietly into extinction. Ornithologist and biologist John V. Dennis learned of a sighting in northwestern Florida in 1950, and during his investigation he heard what he believed was the bird’s unique “hant hant” call. Dennis responded to a reported sighting at the Big Thicket area of east Texas in December 1966 and stated he saw the elusive bird for himself. He returned in 1968 and made audio recordings of what he identified as the woodpecker’s call. But the ornithologist community mostly dismissed Dennis’ claims as erroneous and argued the quality of his field recordings were inferior and inconclusive.

In 1971, George Lowery, an ornithologist at Louisiana State University, was given two snapshots taken by a hunter — later identified as Fielding Lewis, Louisiana’s commissioner of boxing — in the state’s Atchafalaya Swamp that appeared to show the ivory-billed woodpecker perched in a tree. Lowery presented the photographs during the annual meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union, but most conference attendees viewed the photographs as a hoax created by mounting a stuffed specimen in a tree.

Fast-forward to 2004 and the ivory-billed woodpecker was back in the news when Tim Gallagher, the editor-in-chief of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Living Bird magazine, claimed to have sighted the bird during an expedition in Arkansas when he was researching his book “The Grail Bird.”

“My sighting with Bobby Harrison (associate professor at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala-

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bama) in February 2004 gave me a great deal of hope for the species, because their habitat had been at its worst point in the 1950s, after much of the swamp forest across the South had been clear-cut,” Gallagher recalls. “Now the habitat has improved greatly. The fact that we saw one in the 21st century showed that at least a few ivory-bills had made it through that bottleneck and were still breeding.”

Also in pursuit of the ivory-billed woodpecker was Michael D. Collins, a mathematician and acoustics researcher with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory who embarked on a self-financed eight-year odyssey that produced three videos — two shot on Louisiana’s Pearl River in 2006 and 2008 and another shot in 2007 within Florida’s Choctawhatchee River swamp — showing what he claimed was the supposedly extinct bird. But the imagery in Collins’ videos was blurry and distant, and many ornithologists would not accept his presentations as irrefutable evidence. Some experts suggested Collins repeatedly mistook the similar-looking pileated woodpecker for the elusive ivory-bill, and no ornithology journal would publish his research. In 2017, he published his findings in the open-access journal Heliyon, and he is now working on a book based on his field work.

“These birds are difficult to find and almost impossible to photograph,” Collins laments. “A lot of ornithologists think the bird can be tracked like any other species. The editor of an ornithologist journal said, ‘People get great photos of rare birds all of the time.’ Ornithologists insisting on sticking to a pretty picture, but no one ever obtained a clear photo without knowing the location of a nest.”

Another person in search of the ivory-billed woodpecker is Mark Michaels, a Yorktown Heightsbased writer and researcher working on behalf of Project Coyote, a conservation nonprofit. “I believe that I have seen it, but I am more confident that I’ve heard it,” he says. “It sounds like a tin trumpet or clarinet mouthpiece tooting a single note sound.”

Project Coyote is currently working with National Aviary and the Kitzes Lab at the University of Pittsburgh on acoustic monitoring studies in the southern swampland where the bird has been spotted. Gallagher acknowledges that an audio recording could be easier to obtain than a photograph or a video.

“Swamps are a difficult environment for photography,” he says. “You’re usually paddling along in a canoe, trying to weave your way through a tangle of little channels and other obstacles while looking out for cottonmouths and other dangers. If you leave a camcorder running, you pretty much have to set it in wide-angle mode to capture birds flying past on videotape, but then the image is tiny. Of course, if someone can locate a reliable ivory-billed woodpecker

roost hole — or even better, a nest — the problem would be solved. Just put a camcorder on a tripod, point it at the hole and leave it running. Or set up a game camera that triggers automatically when something comes into the frame. In our Arkansas searches, we didn’t have a nest or even a roost site for the bird we were seeing, which made finding it very difficult. It was probably a lone bird dispersing up the bayou from somewhere else, perhaps a long way away.”

Just how many ivory-billed woodpeckers might be in the wild is difficult to determine — Collins estimates the population could be around 100, while Michaels believes “the population is increasing gradually over the last 20 to 30 years as its habitat is improving.” But Gallagher believed it was impossible to guess on the survival rate.

“They obviously must be extremely rare or there would be more sightings,” he says.

You might think that capturing live specimens for captive breeding could help save the species, yet Jennifer H. Mattei, professor in the biology department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, warned that would be unlikely.

“It would be a mistake at this point,” she says.

“Although the endangered California condor was brought back because of captive breeding at San Diego Zoo, these birds are very difficult to breed in captivity.”

Adding to the confusion is another ivory-billed woodpecker based in Cuba, which also popped up after being declared extinct. Whether this is a subspecies of the American bird or a completely different species is uncertain due to the extreme rarity of the Cuban bird.

“The last accepted sighting of a Cuban ivory-bill took place in 1987,” Gallagher says. “I took part in a 2016 expedition in the mountains above Guantanamo in eastern Cuba where the birds were last seen. By the end of it, I did not feel hopeful about the Cuban birds.”

Today, the official status of the ivory-billed woodpecker remains cloudy. The American Birding Association lists the ivory-billed woodpecker as “definitely or probably extinct” but the International Union for Conservation of Nature changed its original listing of “extinct” to “critically endangered.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service places the ivory-billed woodpecker as one of 28 endangered species currently under active review.

“It’s an incredibly strange history of controversy and disputes,” observes Michaels.

Adds Collins, “This is arguably the most elusive bird in the world. There is no other bird like that.”

And, Gallagher concludes, “that’s not surprising when you consider that collectors targeted these birds aggressively in the late 19th century. Only the shyest, spookiest ones survived and passed their genes on to the next generation.”

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ANNIE LEIBOVITZ FOR PETS

BY LAURA JOSEPH MOGIL

If you’re looking for the perfect photograph to capture the spirit of your beloved pet, the person to turn to is Jim Dratfield, owner of Petography. For the past 26 years, Dratfield has attracted an elite clientele, including Jennifer Aniston, Elton John, Billy Joel and not-so-famous animal lovers, all of whom share a common passion for their pets.

Dratfield, a Carmel resident whose work is often featured at horse shows at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, travels across the country, taking fine art photos of pets, often with their owners. “The most rewarding part of the job for me,” he says, “is when a client tells me that I’ve captured their animal’s soul.

“A person can take a good photograph, but to really capture the personality of a pet — as the owner sees it — is a real challenge. I like to do it with both humor and poignancy.”

Though Dratfield says he’s always loved photography, it was not his first career. Growing up in a theatrical family in Princeton, New Jersey, he started acting at the age of 6 and left college to pursue his dreams of being on film and stage. After a successful run in the

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Broadway revival of “The Man Who Came to Dinner” (1980), in which he prophetically played the role of the son who oddly enough runs off to become a photographer, Dratfield moved to Los Angeles. He soon landed the recurring role of Bud Keiser, an obnoxious paramedic, in the critically acclaimed NBC series “St. Elsewhere.”

His photography career dates from 1993 and was inspired at a time when he was creating a promotional mailing to send out to casting directors. “I was playing around with my camera and sending out pictures that I had shot of me and my dog, an Akita named Kuma.”

“I looked at the photos and began to wonder if there was a market for fine art pet photography. At that time, I didn’t really see anyone doing that and so I started playing around with the medium,” he says.

As luck would have it, one of the restaurants Dratfield was waiting tables at in New York City let him mount his pet photos on the walls. He sold his first photo there and also met a literary agent who helped him get his first book published in 1995. Called “The

Photographs courtesy Jim Dratfield’s Petography.

Quotable Canine,” it was released by Doubleday and featured a compendium of sepia-toned dog portraits and classic quotes. The book was included in the holiday best bets lists of a number of publications, including Good Housekeeping, People, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and others.

The companion book, “The Quotable Feline,” was released by Alfred A. Knopf for the 1996-97 holiday season and received an equal amount of accolades. To date, Dratfield has published 12 books, the latest being “The Love of a Lab,” which first came out in hardback in 2016 and is now available in paperback.

Dratfield’s fine art pet photographs are in high demand theses days. He is often called upon to photograph everything from dogs, cats and horses to rabbits, hedgehogs, monkeys and cockatiels. He says the most unusual shoot he’s ever done was a Solomon Islands skink, a lizard to which he nearly lost a finger.

The scariest job was for a woman in Florida who owned an animal sanctuary. “She had two cheetahs and there was no partition between me and them. I got some nice photographs and thankfully nothing bad happened. But three weeks later, I was watching the national news and found out the owner had been attacked by those very cheetahs and received 35 puncture wounds,” Dratfield says.

The funniest shoot he ever did was for Henry Kissinger. “He wasn’t present when I started the shoot, but his wife (Nancy) and mother were there.

I was photographing their black lab, Amelia, in the backyard and all of a sudden the door swings wide open and out walks Henry Kissinger with no shirt on and his pants falling down,” he says.

“So there was a half-naked Henry Kissinger making animal noises to his dog while his mother was standing over his shoulder. It was quite the sight, and I wish I had videotape of that.”

Dratfield also photographed actress Laura Dern’s dog, a Rottweiler named Cory, who was sick with cancer. “Laura didn’t know if she wanted to do the shoot, but she said to come by and we would see how her dog was feeling. The day I came to her house the dog was looking great and Laura was hoping that the cancer was in remission. The dog was happy and I got some wonderful shots.” While he didn’t hear back from her right away, Dern later called Dratfield after Cory died to say how grateful she was that he had captured her dog’s personality and memorialized him.

Dratfield photographed Barbara Walter’s dog, a Javanese named Cha Cha, after she narrated a profile of him for ABC’s “20/20.” When he heard that she loved his photos, he wrote Walters a note and offered to photograph her dog for free. “Not only did she insist on paying for it, but she brought some

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might not jump off right away and you might get that extra second to get that perfect photograph of them.

“I like to photograph animals in their own homes — both inside and outdoors — because that’s where they’re most comfortable. I think that it’s more interesting and personal for the client if I can capture environmental aspects of their home and incorporate it in the photo shoot. I also encourage the owners to be in some of the shots with their animals because the bond is so strong.”

In addition to his commissioned photography and books, Dratfield sells greeting cards, posters and calendars. He also exhibits his work at art galleries across the country. Locally, he has shown at the Oak & Oil gallery in Katonah and the Garrison Art Center.

In addition, 40 of his equine photos are currently on display at the West Street Grill in Litchfield.

In addition to the American Gold Cup at Old Salem farm, Dratfield shows his work and autographs books at The Hampton Classic in Bridgehampton.

He’ll once again be at the Spring Horse Shows at Old Salem Farm in May. (See related story on Page 44.)

When he’s not photographing other people’s animals, Dratfield enjoys spending time with his own pets, a black Lab named Sawyer, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon named Maeve and a rescue cat name Nico, who also serve as muses for this John Singer Sargent of pets.

For more, visit petography.com.

of Cha Cha’s photos to ‘The View’ and talked about me on the show,” Dratfield says.

He notes that while he photographs many celebrities and their pets, his clientele is diverse. “To me, it’s just about the love of your pet — if you love your pet, then I’m the guy to photograph him or her for you.”

Dratfield says the shoot that moved him the most was for an Arizona resident who had saved an abused dog whose previous owner had thrown sulfuric acid on him. “They had taken fur from one part of this dog’s body and sutured it onto his head.

When you first saw him it was horrifying and sad, but the new owner had given the dog so much love that the dog was just so happy. It proved to me that beauty is really more than fur deep when it comes to animals.”

When asked what he does to get that perfect photo of a pet, Dratfield says, “A lot of it is patience. I wait it out.” He adds, “When people ask how long a photo shoot is going to be, I say I respect animals for being animals and don’t ask them to be models. So I work at their speed. Sometimes I have to sit there for half an hour just to get the animal acclimated, but eventually I get the photo.

“It often comes down to finding that certain sound, word, treat or toy that an animal will respond to. There’s always something that works, but every animal is different,” Dratfield adds. “Another thing that’s good is to put an animal up on a chair. They

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WALKING ROCKEFELLER’S CARRIAGE TRAILS

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

he 65 miles of carriage trails along Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Pocantico Hills wind through meadows, across streams and up hills with views of the Hudson River. George Gumina — founder of the Friends of Rockefeller State Park Preserve and a son-in-law of former Vice President and New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller, John D. Jr.’s second son — calls it Westchester’s Central Park, though Rockefeller park’s 1,600 acres are double the size of the Manhattan park.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of the group Gumina founded more than two decades ago, the carriage trails will soon be recognized on the state and national Historic Register of Places. The 16-footwide, crushed stone pathways that guide park visitors were officially nominated in December to join the New York Register of Historic Places, which typically fast tracks a property for a place on the national register.

The park’s trails, visited by 350,000 people each year, were designed by John D. Rockefeller Sr. and Jr. over a 40-year stretch from 1910 into the 1950s. The Rockefellers arrived in Westchester in the late 19th century, when John D. Sr. used part of his Standard Oil fortune to buy land on the Hudson River in Pocantico Hills, which became the family home, Kykuit, now a historic landmark. The Rockefellers gradually acquired more than 3,000 acres for their estate.

Much of that land has since been donated to the state park, including a recent addition of 346 acres, earlier this year, from the estate of David Rockefeller, the billionaire banker and philanthropist who was John D. Jr.’s youngest child.

The carriage trail network traverses the park, distinct for its series of stone arch bridges. The same style of bridges guides hikers, cyclists and horseback riders in Acadia National Park in coastal Maine, which was also designed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and carries a state and federal historic designation.

“These roads are to me, and to many, a state landmark,” Gumina says of the Pocantico trail, adding that the landscaping and bridges make the trails “a work of art.”

“And this has been open to the public since day

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Located in the Swan Lake area, David’s Loop — named for David Rockefeller Sr. — Is a winding forested trail past wetlands with ferns. Photograph by Jessika Creedon for Friends of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.

one for everyone to enjoy,” he says.

Still, it’s not easy for an actual trail network to become registered as a historic place, a title more often reserved for buildings and neighborhoods.

The Friends of Rockefeller led a lobbying effort to register the trails that included support from Westchester County Executive George Latimer and Congresswoman Nita Lowey.

Rose Harvey, commissioner of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said Rockefeller’s historic designation “honors the conservation ethic and philanthropy that made the Rockefeller family among America’s greatest benefactors of public parkland.”

The designation — officially the Rockefeller Po-

cantico Hills Estate Historic District — covers the entirety of the Rockefeller estate, including Kykuit and the Playhouse.

The Friends organization helps raise funds to assist the state in maintaining the roads. The next big lift for the group is fundraising for maintenance on Brothers’ Path, a popular route for visitors that circles the preserve’s Swan Lake.

Gumina drives a carriage with horses throughout the park and describes Swan Lake as a personal favorite.

“It is also easy access, handicap accessible,” Gumina says. “It’s this beautiful part where you can look out on this beautiful lake.”

For more, visit friendsrock.org.

BRENDA

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OINK!

GIVING THE PIG ITS DUE

BY MARY SHUSTACK

e interrupt this issue — you know, WAG’s annual tribute to the animal kingdom traditionally celebrates the horses and the hounds, the cats and the birds — to turn the spotlight on a most unexpected subject.

It’s the pig.

We’re not talking about any random creature wandering around the barnyard, though.

Instead, we’re taking a most artistic approach, spending time on a recent afternoon with Zhixin Jason Sun, the Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as he walks us through “Celebrating the Year of the Pig.” The compact-yet-thoughtful exhibition, which continues through July 28 at the institution’s Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan, explores this animal’s essential role in Chinese life as reflected through depictions of pigs created by Chinese artists within the last 2,000 years.

From the start, Sun agrees that it is certainly an unusual show.

“Pigs are rarely given the chance to present themselves, so we have to do them justice,” he says with a laugh.

The traditional East Asian lunar calendar features a repeating 12-year cycle with each year corresponding to one of the animals of the zodiac, from tiger to dog, rabbit to rooster.

“My father’s generation, if you tell them which year you were born, they can immediately tell you” the corresponding animal, Sun says. People, it’s said, also reflect the characteristics of “their” birth-year animal.

The current lunar year — which kicked off in February — celebrates the pig, an animal that remains vital (as a food source) and symbolic in Chinese life.

As far back as the third century B.C., the Chinese calendar began an association with this cycle.

“As time went by, the system became more sophisticated,” Sun says, with further associations made to constellations and deities.

For this show, Sun has gathered a selection of pigthemed Chinese works from the museum’s permanent collection.

“Of course, we chose the best ones to show.”

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“Zodiac Figure: Pig,” China, Qing dynasty (1644—1911).

Porcelain, in the biscuit and with turquoise and aubergine glazes, H. 6 in. (15.2 cm). Gift of Birgit and Peter Morse, in memory of Betty and Sydney Morse, 1992. 1992.100.10.

Photographs courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As he walks us through, we hear about how pigs were among the earliest domesticated animals in China and first depicted in art some 5,000 years ago.

In a nod to their stature, he says, they were one of the principal animals offered in sacrifice. Sun also touches on techniques used in creating the works in porcelain, earthenware and jade and their original uses.

During the Han dynasty, Sun explains, the dead were buried with small jade pigs placed in their hands to symbolize wealth. Sometimes, they were also buried with architectural models of pigsties, such as the earthenware example here, from the Eastern Han dynasty.

“When a person dies, it doesn’t end there,” he notes, before adding with another laugh, “They wanted to go with enough money. There are expenses in the other world.”

Sun uses some pieces to discuss the artistic process, such as the particularly animated pig figure with well-preserved colored glazes.

“It looks almost like a comic character. He could be telling a story,” he says.

Steps away sits the exhibition's showpiece, a gathering of 18th-century jade figures. “Twelve Animals of the Chinese Zodiac” is displayed in a deliberate fashion, Sun says.

“Mr. Pig is sitting right in the center because he’s

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the featured person for this year.”

He shares that in China, it is jade — “not gold, not silver” — that is most revered for both its rarity and the level of skill needed to work with it.

“It’s not number one. It’s number one one one one.”

In this collection, there are no duplicates. It was not made in a cookie-cutter fashion but rather handcrafted by skilled artists.

“Each one of these has a character,” he says of the diminutive pieces, part of a set made for an emperor and one of three known in the world.

The other two, he says, are in the Imperial palace in Beijing: “That’s why we know they were made for the emperor.”

Sun further points out an aesthetic note, that the figurines possess “a mild luster.”

“Things that are very shiny would not be desirable,” he says. A prized work is “not something that jars your eyes.”

As we admire the exhibit’s centerpiece, Sun says the show is part of a tradition at The Met. “This lunar new year does give us this special occasion to present things in a more prominent way,” Sun says, a yearly animal-themed “teaser” to the extensive permanent holdings.

Sun says that the celebration of the pig can do

Zhixin Jason Sun is the Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

more than that, though. Recognizing the animal’s intelligence and easygoing manner can also inspire those of us living in today’s fast-paced world.

“I think the pigs can teach us something about this life,” he says. “The pig says ‘Relax. You’ll get there.’”

Advice we can all use.

For more, visit metmuseum.org.

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EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY

BY MARY SHUSTACK

in a tiny shop that sports quite a selection of stuffed-animal dogs, dog-related books, dog-themed apparel and accessories — you get the idea.

Even the introduction to this tribute to all things canine starts before you enter the museum. A glance over the main, 40th Street entrance brings a video screen — complete with scampering dogs — into view, while large windows showcase the introductory galleries of this museum housed in the same soaring building as the AKC headquarters.

As we walked into the light-filled space on a recent afternoon, a young visitor rushed ahead of her family into the gift shop, turning to her father and practically shrieking “Ooh, Daddy, look,” first pointing at the stuffed animals then to her own dog-themed sweatshirt.

Clearly, there’s an enthusiasm for this new venture, as executive director Alan Fausel would momentarily reinforce, telling us the response since the opening, some 16 days before our visit, was “off the charts.”

Park Avenue’s gone to the dogs — but not in the traditional sense of that phrase. Instead, we’re referring to the recent arrival of the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, which has opened its Manhattan doors within an easy walk from Grand Central Terminal.

In honor of this issue, WAG headed down to check out this homage to man’s best friend — relocated from St. Louis — and found an impressively crafted destination encompassing three stories of gallery space, plus library and gift shop.

All is designed to captivate, entertain — and educate — most any dog lover around, an easy task considering the wealth of dog-themed oil paintings and brass sculptures, porcelain figurines and historic memorabilia such as silver trophies. Interactive displays, information stations, research opportunities and a virtual-reality element that simulates training a dog supplement it all. And, of course, you can take it with you, rounding out your visit

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The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog has opened in midtown Manhattan, offering three floors of gallery space filled with dog-themed art, collectibles and historic artifacts. David Woo/ American Kennel Club photograph.

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At that point, the tally of museum visitors had already doubled the last year’s total at its former location. The New York unveiling was timed to coincide with February’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, giving the new venture a built-in audience for its opening days. The move to New York was actually a return to the museum’s roots, as it first opened here in 1982 and operated for some four years on Madison Avenue before moving to the suburbs of the Missouri city for a run that ended in 2017.

The move back East, it seems, was a smart one and something making Fausel proud.

“We’ve done a really first-rate job,” he said, but it goes beyond the surroundings. “What’s important is we really have one of the best collections of dog paintings in the world.”

And Fausel should know, since the former art-museum curator is also a veteran of the appraisal/auction world. For nearly 20 years, he conducted the annual “Dogs in Art” sale for London-based Bonhams and has served as an appraiser on the PBS hit “Antiques Roadshow” since its debut.

Fausel walked us through the museum, pausing to share points of interest. He touched on the tale of a beloved (and brave) Yorkshire Terrier with ties to World War II and pointed out a quirky photograph featuring those classic Weimaraners by William Wegman. He paused to explain the poignant back-

story of Maud Earl’s “Silent Sorrow,” a 1910 painting of King Edward VII of England’s beloved Wire Fox Terrier, and also discussed the origins of one of the museum’s most unexpected displays, the skeleton of a 19th-century dog that holds court within the popular library space.

The staircase linking the floors, adjacent to elevators, is flanked by a soaring vitrine filled with dog figurines — many realistic, others downright hilarious in costume and pose.

“I remember looking over this mezzanine saying this can rival any European gallery of objects,” Fausel noted of the popular attraction. “Ceramics and bronzes have always been part of the dog world, the dog-collecting world.”

The space also overlooks the AKC-TV studio, guarded by an oversize dog figure fashioned out of wire hovering above. Another eye-catching element is the pair of what appear to be life-size Harlequin Great Danes from the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory.

Throughout, there are many points of entry, as Fausel noted, “We have things from the serious to the playful.”

The first formal exhibition, “For the Love of All Things Dog,” continues through June 30 and will give way to future explorations.

“This is an opportunity to really do some creative things,” he said.

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Fausel himself is a longtime dog owner, with his family now owning a Welsh Springer Spaniel after losing its 14-year-old English Springer Spaniel.

But it’s perhaps another English Springer Spaniel that museum visitors may connect with.

In what seemed to sum up the heart of the museum are the words of Barbara Bush, the late first lady of the United States. There’s a hand-signed letter, sent on stationery from The White House, framed and displayed alongside a painting of Millie, her and President George H.W. Bush’s beloved English Springer Spaniel. It was sent to commemorate the museum’s opening in St. Louis. Though written nearly 30 years ago, her words still resonate: “Dogs have enriched our civilization, and woven themselves into our hearts and families through the ages, and I am delighted to see them acknowledged in this way. Dogs help us with law enforcement and help the blind to see; some protect us, others entertain us, and they all return the love they are given tenfold… Animals, especially dogs, have a way of bringing out the warmth and humor in most people, and I am so glad they have always been a part of my family.”

The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog is open Tuesdays through Sundays at 101 Park Ave. in Manhattan. For more, visit museumofthedog.org.

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SADDLE UP

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA Christian Coyle with wife Chelsea Dwinell, marketing and sales manager for Old Salem Farm, after taking third prize in the Grand Prix of Old Salem Farm’s Summer Jumper Classic last year. Photograph by Sarah Latterner.

hen Christian Coyle uses the phrase “back home,” he’s not talking about Old Salem Farm in North Salem, where he’s been an equestrian trainer for about a year, but about Ireland, where he was born and raised and first began to make a name for himself as a rider.

Growing up in County Derry, he learned from an uncle who rode but also picked it up himself, riding his pony at home.

“It grew from that, to be honest,” he says. Seven years ago, he came to the United States after operating his own training business “just for a change. I competed at home. I never competed in America.”

After three months, he went home for a visa and returned for good.

Continuing to represent Ireland, he “has jumped into the ribbons in grand prix events throughout North America,” says Chelsea Dwinell, placing in every grand prix and welcome class he entered last summer, including a sixth place finish in the Fairfield County Hunt Club’s $30,000 Grand Prix; two second place finishes in the $10,000 Vineyard Vines Welcome Stake at Vermont Summer Festival; sixth, third and second place finishes in the Vermont festival’s

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$30,000 Grand Prix; first in the $10,000 Sussex Welcome Stake as the Sussex County Fair in New Jersey; and third in the $15,000 Old Salem Farm Summer Jumper Classic.

Dwinell ought to know. She is not only marketing and sales manager at Old Salem but Coyle’s wife, the mother of their baby, Daisy, a charmer who at 4 months already knows how to rock a pink party dress and has had her first pony ride. Is she to the saddle born? Only time will tell. For now, Coyle is sticking to training the 10-year-old to 60-something sets. Equestrian sports transcend age and gender, because the emphasis is on the horse and rider becoming one, Coyle says, pointing to 72-year-old Olympic show jumping silver medalist Ian Millar, who holds the record for most Olympic appearances by anyone in any sport (10). Coyle prepares his two- and four-legged clients for hunter, jumper and equitation events.

Though hunter and jumper both involve navigating obstacles, hunter emphasizes the artistry of rider and horse while jumper focuses on pure athleticism in timed trials that require speed and clean execution.

Equitation is all about the form of the rider.

The three disciplines will be on display — along with an array of amateur and professional riders of all ages — in the Spring Horse Shows, which return with Welcome Day May 5 and then continue

May 7 through 12 and May 14 through 19. (A fourth discipline — dressage, in which the horse performs a series of memorized movements with minimal commands — takes center stage, along with jumping, in the Adequan/FEI North American Youth Championships at the farm July 30 through Aug. 4.)

Whatever the discipline, the horse matters.

Show jumping primarily uses Dutch Warmbloods, an elegant middle-weight breed whose jumping skills originated with their battlefield agility, according to the PBS miniseries “Equus: Story of a Horse.” Coyle maintains a group of geldings and mares at Old Salem — which travels to Wellington, Florida, the American equestrian capital, in the winter — as well as in Ireland.

“Stallions are not as popular here,” he says. “They can be boisterous. But it depends on the horse.

Some mares are boisterous.”

Another difference between “back home” and here, he says, is that Irish riders are a little more rough-hewn. Here, Coyle emphasizes the need for horse and rider to hone their craft.

“You can’t over-prepare or you’ll burn out,” says the trainer, who sees his clients roughly four times a week. “But as with anything, the more you can practice, the better you can become.”

For more, visit oldsalemfarm.net.

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Each year, Greenwich Polo Club seems to get bigger — and better — and 2019 is shaping up to be no exception.

There’s a new tournament — the United States Polo Association International Cup, which is scheduled to begin July 7 with an event for 1,000 invitees, then continues July 14 and 21. It joins the second annual Shreve, Crump & Low Cup (June 9 and 16), sponsored by the Greenwich Avenue jeweler; the Monty Waterbury Cup (June 23 and 30); and the East Coast Open (Aug. 25 and Sept. 1 and 8), with eight teams galloping to be the best throughout the season. These include Team Audi, which scored a big win in the finals of the Open last year. (Audi will be hosting an event on the last day of competition, Sept. 8.)

There is one thing that threads — or rather flows —

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through all these tournaments and that is Veuve Clicquot Champagne. Indeed, it is the nectar of the club and, perhaps the gods, with a cork from one of its bottles providing the sought-after centerpiece for a treasure hunt during the stomping of the divots at halftime. (Usually it’s found by some enterprising child with his/her dog also in the hunt. The mini Sherlock Holmes receives a junior-size polo ball and mallet; the parents, the Champagne.)

This year the Champagne brand is upping its event presence at Greenwich Polo with a cabana for influencers on opening day, June 9, and later on, a white party (so named for the attire) and a ticketed event.

The successful Veuve Clicquot After Polo returns with live music, DJs, the Pony Bar by The Cup Bearer and asados (traditional Argentine barbecues) by master asador Pablo Calandroni.

Portrait of Madame Clicquot, left, and her greatgranddaughter Anne de Mortemart-Rochechouart, future Duchesse d'Uzès, with the Château de Boursault in the background (1860-62). Collection of Château de Brissac.

Veuve Clicquot was founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, who hailed from a French family of bankers and merchants. In 1805, the company was taken over by the former Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, the 27-year-old widow of Philippe’s son, François, who would give it its distinctive name — “veuve” meaning “widow.” She would also become one of the first and most innovative businesswomen in modern times, creating the first recorded vintage Champagne as well as the riddling table, still in use, to clarify wine; breaking with tradition to sell her vintages to Russia; and foregoing elderberry wine for her Bouzy

reds in making her Rosé Champagne. To honor her and the company’s 200th anniversary in 1972, the brand — which is now owned by Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton — created its vintage cuvée La Grande Dame and its Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award.

As you sip your Veuve Clicquot at Greenwich Polo, you can enjoy pop-ups by Stick & Ball, the San Francisco-based, polo-inspired luxury apparel brand; Greenwich-based Suzani international designs; Maria Mendelsohn Equestrian Properties; the island of Barbados; and Michelle Farmer, a Greenwich boutique featuring Palm

Beach-style resort wear that will be making its Greenwich Polo debut.

Luxe watchmaker Hublot will once again be on hand for the Shreve, Crump & Low Cup. Parisian bank Société Generale returns for the final of the East Coast Open with a VIP event. And Cottages & Gardens magazine is back to co-host the Players' Lounge — featuring more Veuve Clicquot.

The gates at the Greenwich Polo Club field, 1 Hurlingham Drive, open at 1 p.m. with matches from 3 to 5 p.m. For tickets and other information, call 203-561-1639 or visit greenwichpoloclub.com.

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Two geldings horsing around in an outdoor paddock at the Bronx Equestrian Center.

HORSE OPERA STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD hen German tenor Jonas Kaufmann took to the stage of The Metropolitan Opera House recently for his role as Dick Johnson in Giacomo Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West,” he looked every bit the confident, gun-slinging bandit that the part requires.

It was an important moment for Kaufmann.

His return to The Met last October was widely anticipated. Multiple withdrawals from other pro-

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ductions had contributed to a 4½-year absence.

So, audience members were on the edge of their seats, waiting for a first glimpse of the opera star.

To complicate matters, Kaufmann had to make his entrance atop a live horse.

Luckily, after a few preliminary trips to the Bronx, he was more than equipped to take the reins, so to speak.

At the Bronx Equestrian Center Inc. in Pelham Bay Park, instructor Kiara “Kiki” Esperanza was given the task to ready him. Over several lessons, Esperanza worked with Kaufmann and his co-star — the soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek — to mount, dismount

and achieve the posture and confidence it would take to pull it all off.

“Posture is a big thing in riding,” Esperanza says.

“And another big part was getting (the actors) on and off the horse.”

The Bronx Equestrian Center is on Shore Road, leading to City Island and is one of the borough’s few horse stables. Indeed, it’s the “only place, apart from Brooklyn, that offers trail rides” near Manhattan, Esperanza says. That proximity means the equestrian center is on the radar of New York City’s entertainment industry.

“They weren’t my first actors,” Esperanza says.

But they were especially dedicated, even braving inclement weather. “They didn’t want to cancel,” she adds. “They still rode in the rain and got soaked.”

Puccini’s opera about the American West was adapted from a play by David Belasco — the theatrical impresario perhaps best-known for adapting the short story “Madame Butterfly” into a play that

became another Puccini opera — and takes place in a Californian miners’ camp during the mid-1800s. The opera may have premiered more than half a century before the spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s but one could argue that it’s a precursor to the cinematic subgenre introduced by Sergio Leone.

And what’s a western without horses?

In the Bronx, the actors trained on two veteran mares — Westbroek on the gentle Rebecca and Kaufmann on the oft-used Mystic.

“They did good,” Esperanza says of the actors.

“They even trotted around the (outdoor) arena on their own.” The urban/natural hybrid location didn’t seem to matter. “Mystic is really tolerant,” she says.

“Loud noises don’t bother her.”

Lately, Mystic has been a busy girl. Her white coat and mane make her a candidate for circus-related acting roles. Though she’s not one to brag, she had a part in recent film “The Greatest Showman,” starring Hugh Jackman.

In the film, Mystic can be seen wearing a jaunty feather. “They wanted her to canter and circle but it didn’t work because they had no barrier,” Esperanza says of the movie set. “She can’t run in an invisible circle.”

Though the film may look great on her résumé, stardom hasn’t gone to Mystic’s head.

She recently made an appearance leading the

staring and Mavis and Blue, who like to argue from their two stalls opposite each other. There’s a pony named Madonna, because her tall hoofs look like high heels. And then there’s Tyson, a former police horse who used to be named Maximus until he bit off another horse’s ear. Nearby was Fluffy, the black long-haired rabbit, who kept escaping her stall.

Esperanza was preparing a mare, Moonshine, to meet with her prospective new owner. Moonshine (so named for the two vertical white stripes that cut through her dark body and part of her mane) is a recent transplant to New York from Wyoming. Esperanza was running her through a few jumps and examining her new shoes before the important meeting.

The Bronx Equestrian Center provides all custom horse services, has more than 40 stalls for boarding and works with instructors that teach both Western and English riding styles for all levels.

Though nature abounds in this quirky neighborhood that sits on the Long Island Sound, its urban setting is undeniable. Turkeys, deer and coyote run wild and the spring bird migration is something to behold. But look in the distance over the cityscape to the Throgs Neck Bridge and two distinct cultures blur. If you strain enough, you might think you hear the orchestra cue up at Lincoln Center over the clip-clopping sound of hooves.

For more, visit nychorse.com.

Bronx Equestrian Center crew at the Eastchester St. Patrick’s Day parade.

In the actual production of “La Fanciulla del West” at The Met, however, the horses are sourced from All Tame Animals, an animal talent agency that provides talent for stage, film, advertising and special events. The talent pool is varied. There are lions hired for still work, cockroaches for TV and elephants for Hindu weddings. All Tame is also the sole provider of animals for The Met stage. Owner Nancy Novograd has continued to supply the equine cast members for The Met after Claremont Riding Academy (her late husband Paul’s family business) closed in 2007. Claremont was the last public riding stable in Manhattan. She’s known Marcy Brennen, the vice president and face of the Bronx Equestrian Center, for a long time, so it was natural for The Met stars to train at a place that’s about more than horses.

On a recent morning at the center, as two geldings in an outdoor paddock reared up on hind legs — they were just horsing around — a cat snoozing on the doorstep and a 9-monthold rooster named Finn bobbed just inside. We were greeted by Onyx, a sweetheart of a Pitbull who shadowed us as we checked on some of her friends. On this particular day, the center had 15 trail horses and about 13 boarding horses.

There was the curious Hidalgo, who wouldn’t stop

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The "Sharks!" exhibit at the Bruce Museum will feature jaws and teeth from numerous species, living and extinct, as well as life-size models of a great white, hammerhead and this black tip sharks, on loan from the Mystic Aquarium. Photograph by Paul Mutino.

A PERCH ONTO PREHISTORY

BY GINA GOUVEIA ecently, the identification of two extinct bird species — fossils dating from 52 million years ago — revealed telling information about the evolution of perching birds, the most species-rich bird group we know today. They are the feathered friends we typically find in our backyards, like finches and sparrows, and they are distant relatives of the early archaic perching bird group Passeriformes.

Indeed, so important were the findings of this study that they were published in the journal Current Biology in February. Learning of the fossil discovery and subsequent naming prompted a visit to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich during which I met with Daniel Ksepka (November 2015 WAG), a co-author of the paper. Among his fossils and the treasure trove of artifacts and specimens in the storage facility beneath the museum, this affable paleontologist offered me an introduction to his specialty.

Ksepka has a formidable pedigree that includes a bachelor of science degree from Rutgers University, a master of science and doctorate from Columbia University and a stint at the American Museum of Natural History. As a child, he had an early and brief interest in trains, until he became fascinated with dinosaurs. He credits that fascina50

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tion with starting his journey to paleontology.

Though he has conducted research and taught, Ksepka said, “I always wanted a museum home.” The Bruce, where he is curator of science, has been his home since 2014.

Ksepka’s research has always centered on the evolution of birds — our modern link to dinosaurs.

For years, he has collaborated with Lance Grande, a curatorial scientist in the Integrative Research Center of The Field Museum in Chicago — his co-author on the perching bird fossil paper — on countless examinations of the findings from Fossil Lake. This is a fossil-dense body of water, Ksepka said, that encompassed a 60-mile span at its peak and, as part of the Green River Lake System, covered parts of present-day Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.

While it is more common to find fossil fish in this lake — as featured in a past Bruce Museum exhibit, “The Secrets of Fossil Lake” — the fossil bird finding in Wyoming, in its perfect intact form, was indeed something special, Ksepka said. Seeing the specimen, I found it impossible, even as a novice observer, not to notice every detail of this long extinct species.

As reported in the announcement from the Bruce Museum, the two extinct species of perching bird that have been identified are Eofringillirostrum boudreauxi, from Wyoming, and Eofringillirostrum parvulum, discovered in Germany.

Ksepka clarified the naming: “The species name boudreauxi is in honor of Terry Boudreaux, who

donated the fossil to The Field Museum. It belongs to The Field, but it has been on loan to me for study at the Bruce. “Only a tiny fraction of animals is preserved in the fossil record.”

The reason that specimens from this particular lake could remain intact has to do with the optimum conditions for discovery in its depths, he says. “When you get to the bottom, the water is oxygen-free, so no one scavenges there.”

Without predators, a fallen bird would remain unscathed at the bottom of the lake’s plate and, over this vast period of time, would become fossilized.

What these recently discovered species highlighted was the differentiation in these birds from 52 million years ago to modern times. Their beak formations revealed much about how the species evolved as one that would have sipped nectar, cracked seeds and sought out bugs.

The foot formation in the fossil presented a huge distinction, Ksepka said. The ancient form most likely nested within a tree’s cavity, unlike their modern-day counterparts, which have a variety of nesting strategies. “In the fossil, the first and fourth toes faced backwards and the second and third face forwards, whereas in modern perching birds only the first toe faces backwards.”

Studies such as this one, Ksepka’s 49th scientific paper, “provide us with a historical record of how things changed over time and how ecosystems responded to change.”

NOT JUST FOR THE BIRDS The Bruce Museum is about to undergo an extensive expansion, more than doubling its exhibit space. The new, permanent science gallery will have 2,800 square feet for exhibitions when it opens in January of 2020, compared with its current 500 square feet – demonstrating that the Bruce is as much a science museum as it is an art institution. Certainly, its permanent collections and the presence of paleontologist Daniel Ksepka speak to this, as does the year-round Seaside Center in Greenwich Point Park, educating visitors on the ecology of the Long Island Sound the first Sunday of every month.

And while sharks are not often sighted on the sound, they’ll be prowling the Bruce in “Shark!”, opening April 20 and featuring life-size models in an exhibit that will also address the role of climate change on the 470 species of sharks.

“To look at a shark is to see over 400 million years of evolutionary success,” says paleontologist Kate Dzikiewicz, Bruce Museum science curatorial associate and curator of the exhibition. “That said, most species of sharks are longlived, they mature late and they produce relatively few ‘pups,’ which makes them especially vulnerable to overexploitation and population decline.

“Sharks are also apex predators, which means declining shark populations affect the entire ocean ecosystem,” adds Dzikiewicz, who also serves as manager of the Bruce Museum Seaside Center. “Overfishing, bycatch capture (the incidental capture of nontarget species) and habitat degradation are all having a profound effect on this keystone and charismatic group.”

“Shark!” runs through Sept. 1. For more, visit brucemuseum.org.

– Georgette Gouveia

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APRIL 2019

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PIT BULL BEAUTY

BY GINA GOUVEIA

hen you don’t have a voice of your own, it helps to have an advocate, especially if you happen to be a Pit Bull — one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized dog breeds.

Lucky for them to have found a formidable champion in Sophie Gamand, an artist — selftaught in photography — and animal advocate who is doing her part to shift perceptions and counter the stigmatization that has long plagued this breed.

Gamand left a career in law and her family behind in France, but brought her fiancé and her dreams to find her artistic outlet in a new place — Brooklyn. What began as a passion project led to the creation of a movement that helps present shelter dogs in the most flattering “light.” In her work, the light source used was crowns of flowers she sourced and crafted by hand to adorn her subjects, who receive additional “powers” from wearing her creations, for they not only enhance the dogs’ features, but also boost their chances of becoming adopted.

In her words, “a little beautification softens the edges and allows the beauty of their expressions, their soulful eyes, to shine love in the eyes of the viewer.”

In Gamand’s case, it wasn’t about just taking the perfect dog photo, it was about telling the animals’ stories and presenting these often sad or neglected pups in the most positive light. “I feel like I’m a free electron in the scene,” Gamand says. “I’ve taken a part that’s up close and personal. The economics are not the driving force. My mission is to be a voice for the animals and the people around them.”

Gamand conceived the idea for her “Pit Bull Flower Power” series in the summer of 2014. She was kicking around ideas for a while — the process causing her sleepless nights when the notion of a crown of flowers popped into her head. Of the process, she says, “The idea just came to me and then I thought, what a dumb idea — being just inches away from the faces (of these dogs). Plus, I had never used a glue gun.”

Turns out that Gamand had been attacked by a large dog — not a pit bull — when she was around 13,

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she says. Still, undeterred, she persevered. “I created a special project that would force me to get to know them — portray them in a way that had never been done before. The reaction on social media was enormous.”

Throughout the project, Gamand created more than 800 custom flower crowns. No crown was reused and each was tailored to a specific animal. Talking about the first attempt, she says, “I sat one day with a bunch of flowers and made maybe 20 to 25 crowns, packed a suitcase and went off to the shelter.” Her first subject was a mature dog who had been at Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Brooklyn for months. “Her name was Baby,” Gamand says.

“I didn’t know how to make a dog sit when I started, but in that moment I realized I was the one who was going to have to do it. My hands were sweating.

We were both in the same space. The look on Baby’s face told me, ‘I don’t know you, but I want to trust you.’ She was sitting there (with her crown on her head), but she didn’t move. We really connected. Two shots and I had the portrait.”

Once the “Pit Bull Flower Power” series took off, she realized she needed to take it on the road — and in print. For her self-published book of the same name as the series, she worked with 30 different organizations around the country, taking some 500 photographs over a period of about four years.

To what sounds like her surprise, she has managed to make a living from her work, one that affords her the ability to fly to areas where shelters are underrepresented and often in dire straits and, almost always, as elsewhere, overrun with the beleaguered Pit Bull.

She has mounted one-woman exhibitions and produced artful canvases, calendars and accessories from which she either generates revenue to support her solo efforts, or from which profits are generated to benefit rescue groups, particularly in hard-hit areas. She says that the one event that was particularly ambitious occurred in a vast space in Brooklyn when she launched her book, which is available through her website, in the fall of 2018.

She had exacting quality standards and specifications for the book — that it be a hardbound, 9 by 12-inch, full color book with thick paper. Gamand

raised funds on Kickstarter for the book and, once she had completed taking all the photographs, began a 9-month intensive period, choosing the final 280 images and writing the animals’ stories.

“I could not use all the images in the book, so the editing process was really, really hard. I didn’t want the stories to be repetitive, so no two stories in the book are alike. I didn’t realize how impactful it would be. I had to dive into these stories, talking to rescuers and adopters.”

Each of the featured animals had an accompanying status at the time of publication — available for adoption, adopted, deceased or euthanized before adoption. Happily, many successful unions between the shelter dogs and humans occurred as a result of her series and the book. Gamand’s skill in coaxing these creatures to tolerate their “makeovers” causes such wonder, to me, as I’m sure it does to her loyal fan base around the globe.

Through her depiction of the animals, and via her robust platform on Instagram, she has amassed more than 240,000 followers.

“I am all about supporting the work of the nonprofits, but I have a foot in the business world,” Gamand says. “I wanted to build a career using social media and live in that realm, but I don't sell ads. I keep the platform very educative and I’ve been fortunate to protect my mission and not sell out.”

Her book, like much of her other merchandise, is unique, tasteful, creative and smart, much like the artist herself. This superpower, who meekly set out to use her camera to settle into her new city, says that many of her subjects become adopted, others do not, but, collectively, they have been afforded a special opportunity for exposure and promotion.

In the realm of pet rescue, there’s a tendency to sensationalize the often harrowing and tragic stories that accompany this breed. That's not what Gamand is about. Through her work, she depicts the empathy and love she has developed for a breed that represents the highest demographic of shelter dogs throughout the United States and around the world, with significant concentrations in urban and rural areas alike.

Gamand has been adept at controlling the message and she speaks about the enormity of the responsibility. “I have a holistic approach to rescue in that I care as much about the humans (involved in these cases) as much as I do about the rescues. Everything for me was always about justice — having a voice, finding a voice and reaching the perfect moment in my life where I feel parallel to that mission — to increase responsibility toward companion animals and humanity's relation to them.”

For more, visit sophiegamand.com.

Sunshine. Photograph by Sophie Gamand.

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URBAN OASIS

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

elcome to the jungle — or jungles.

First, there’s the urban one where a kind of cultural kaleidoscope plays out amid yellow cab-laden traffic and the prewar buildings of the West Bronx. Then there’s the one just beyond the bronze gates tinged with a green patina and the tiered Italian fountain.

In this neighborhood, the cacophony fades from the boogie-down sounds of car horns and rumbling subway cars to … was that a sea lion? And more.

Beyond the gates, lapis-colored, free-ranging peacocks are the loiterers in this part of the borough.

They hang out in alleyways, perch on fences and join the waves of foot traffic without any sense of rush.

Their regal tails trail behind on the impressive glaciated terrain, dragging on paths that snake by rocky outcrops of Fordham gneiss, geological features that have been integrated into open-air environments where the likes of grizzly bears spend their days.

The juxtaposition of these two seemingly disparate places in New York City is head-spinning and adds to a biblically scaled magic.

This is the world-renowned Bronx Zoo — the biggest urban zoo in the country covering 265 wooded acres that house some 8,000 animals representing more than 700 species. More than 2 million visitors walk through its gates annually.

The zoo is part of an integrated system that includes the Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens zoos plus the New York Aquarium. All are managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which also operates field conservation programs in 60 countries and all five of the world’s oceans.

The WCS (formerly the New York Zoological Society) was founded in 1895 in part to create a zoological park in response to the destruction of large swaths of the American wilderness. In 1896, the Smithsonian Institution’s chief taxidermist, William Temple Hornaday, was chosen to become the first director of The Bronx Zoo, known formally as the New York Zoological Park, when it opened in 1899.

Hornaday was a leader in conservation at a time when taxidermy served as a major tool in that effort.

It was an age when the extinction of a dwindling species was widely viewed as inevitable. Preserving an animal through taxidermy was a way to immortalize it for generations to come.

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But Hornaday became galvanized when he noticed the nation’s bison population decreasing at an alarming rate, recklessly wiped out by hunters in the American West. His approach toward conservation expanded to include more proactive efforts.

Hornaday founded the American Bison Society along with President Theodore Roosevelt who, as Boone and Crocket Club president, helped sponsor the New York zoological enterprise. By breeding the bison in New York then sending them out west, Hornaday helped bring the animals back from the brink of extinction. It was the first major wildlife conservation success in the history of the world.

Still today, the Bronx Zoo’s driving purpose is conservation and its beginnings helped pioneer the character of the modern zoo. Gone are the days of a zoo’s depiction as sad animals behind iron bars.

In the Bronx, the mangrove swamp and beaches of Jungle World are home to northern whitecheeked gibbons, tree kangaroos and Malayan tapirs. Replicated habitats are open fronted, separated from visitors by streams, cliffs or ravines.

In the Congo, critically endangered Western Lowland gorillas lounge amid a 6½-acre habitat that mimics their natural living conditions. Snow leopards traverse the rocky terrain of the Himalayan Highlands area and lions roam the zoo’s African Plains on an island separated by a moat from the savanna where antelopes and zebras safely graze.

The zoo’s location plus its clever incorporation of ancient rock and the bucolic Bronx River are terrain specific to New York. And support from iconic New York figures with names like Astor and Rockefeller add to the zoo’s fame as a symbol of the metropolis.

Clockwise from top left: Pygmy slow loris; Gaur, or Indian bison; and Western Lowland gorillas. Photographs courtesy Julie Maher.

John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie all contributed startup capital.

The landmarked Rockefeller Fountain, composed of carved sea creatures, was brought from Como, Italy where it was bought in 1902 by William Rockefeller and eventually placed amid the Italian gardens of Astor Court, named for benefactor Brooke Astor. She became a trustee of the WCS in 1969 and her support led to the development of important exhibits like World of Darkness and Wild Asia.

The landmarked Art Deco Rainey Memorial

Gate at the zoo’s entrance was designed by American sculptor Paul Manship, and features full-size sculpted bronze animals. Manship is also credited for designing the modern rendition of New York City’s official seal.

The two Beaux Arts pavilions that flank Astor Court were designed by architectural firm Heins & LaFarge, which was responsible for original design plans for The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and the architecture for the first precursor to the New York Subway System, the Interborough

Rapid Transit Co. Other Beaux Arts buildings house the zoo’s administration offices and the reptile house, which is the oldest building used for its original purpose.

Over the years, the zoo has presented spectacular and even controversial displays. It housed the now extinct Tasmanian tiger (the thylacine), the last of which died in 1919.

A spectacular glacial erratic from the last Ice Age called The Rocking Stone still rests outside the World of Darkness.

Its biggest controversy came in 1906 when a man named Ota Benga, a Congo pygmy native, was exhibited both at the Monkey House and on the general grounds before opposition ultimately led to his release to an orphanage.

The Bronx Zoo holds an indelible place in our nation’s history. Since its inception, the park’s successes and failures have reflected our society’s own. It’s been a leading force in the protection of our planet’s wildlife. Its world-class habitats have helped alter our perception of what a zoo could be and its mere existence in such an urban setting provides egalitarian access to our planet’s many diverse species and fosters an appreciation of nature in the midst of a thriving populace.

In 2020, WCS will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding as the New York Zoological society.

An Animal Planet docu-series, “The Zoo,” just began airing its third season of a behind-thescenes look at the animals and staff from all five WCS parks. Their stories provide a window into how important these places are to the conservation of all life — including our own. We are interdependent, after all.

Need proof? Get yourself to the Bronx and watch lions and tigers and bears walk by.

For more visit bronxzoo.com and wcs.org.

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“The sheep is an aged rescued pet ewe with severe arthritis in her forelimbs,” Dr. Emily Harrison says. “She was perfectly content to be needled and hooked up to my electroacupuncture unit.”

ON PINS AND NEEDLES

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD rancesca was getting old.

But after her weekly in-home wellness sessions, she seemed rejuvenated. The treatments were relaxing. Sometimes, she would even fall asleep during her appointment.

Her energy flow — or qi (pronounced CHEE) — was more balanced thanks to the acupuncture she’d been receiving. The whisker-thin needles, placed at blockage points along her body’s meridian lines, didn’t seem to bother her and helped support and stimulate her immune system as she aged.

To chronicle these restorative visits, lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart wrote about Francesca — her beloved French Bulldog — in a blog post featuring her veterinarian, Dr. Emily Harrison.

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Harrison, a Katonah resident, is owner of Visiting Veterinary Services, a full-service practice that visits animals in the comfort of their own home environment. She specializes in Chinese medicine and herbal therapy in her treatment of dogs, cats, horses and farm animals.

There’s the Standard Poodle with a thunderstorm phobia. “He’s my superstar in terms of behavioral responses,” she says. He used to need her for every single storm and now she sees him once a month “for a tune-up.”

Then there’s the horse with sore shoulders that resulted from pulling a cart. He loved every minute of his visit with Harrison. “He would have stood there forever with (the needles) in if I didn’t cut him off,” she says. “Horses can be real acupuncture junkies.”

She visited a handsome black-and-white cat named Basil Taylor twice a month during the last year of his life. Basil had spinal and hind-end arthritis. Each session, as Harrison gently worked on him, “he purred through the entire process.”

More often, however, cats like to play a different role during her treatments. “Cats love watching me do this to dogs,” she says. “Or they walk through my supplies and knock needles out (of position).”

(Our cat-parent readers are nodding understandably.)

Sometimes Harrison’s methods are a solution for those who have exhausted everything Western medicine has to offer. She’s helped dogs with a herniated disc avoid back surgery. She’s provided cancer support and helped stop seizures.

Mostly, though, Harrison sees her dog patients for age-related problems. About 70 percent of her dog clients have hip arthritis, some so severe they’ve stopped going up stairs or getting into the car.

She says it’s so gratifying when she gets a call from a client saying: “You won’t believe this, but I found the dog upstairs.”

Her horse patients, instead, are usually in the active athletic part of their career and her therapies offer performance enhancement. Some of her clients are high-level jumpers and acupuncture is a legal way to enhance their performance.

Though these therapies dominate Harrison’s practice, she also integrates a classical Western approach when the situation dictates.

Recently, she was called to examine a 200-pound goat that wasn’t able to stand up. She discovered he was lame in the left front leg. “For him, I put my

Western hat on,” she says.

With small ruminants (goats and sheep) and camelids (llamas and alpacas), the use of herbal therapy is utilized less often. Their digestive system is different. “They need six times the dose. It’s cost prohibitive.”

At each acupuncture session, Harrison first performs a Chinese physical exam called bian zheng. During the exam, she checks things like tongue color and back temperature. This helps her decide which points on the animal need manipulating on any given day.

Depending on the job, Harrison arrives to her patients with tools like a battery-powered, electroacupuncture machine or digital radiology and ultrasonography equipment.

Her decision to veer toward acupuncture in her practice derived from her own experience with it when other therapies failed.

Several years into her career, after receiving degrees from Brown University (in biology) and Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Harrison was thrown from a horse.

“No matter what I did, my post-concussion headaches refused to go away,” she says.

Eventually she tried acupuncture. After only eight sessions over the course of a month, her headaches disappeared. It was then she decided to add traditional Chinese veterinary medicine to her arsenal and went on to study at the world-class Chi Institute in Reddick, Florida.

“I’ve had my own business for six years,” she says. “And I’ve never had to advertise.” All of Harrison’s business has come from referrals.

She travels between stables, farms and private homes throughout Westchester and Putnam counties as well as parts of Greenwich. “I’m a party of one and I like it that way. I never have two days that are the same.”

Harrison adds that coaxing animals into accepting the needles without sedation is easier than many owners expect. “They all notice (it’s happening).”

“But it’s very common for people to be absolutely convinced their dog won’t let me do it. And 99 percent of the time they’re wrong.”

On average, more horses enjoy the therapy than don’t. “And some horses actively enjoy it,” she says. The smaller the dog, the harder it is to needle and they also like to be on their owner’s laps. But if the late Francesca is any indication, Harrison usually makes it work to great success.

When needed, she’ll use Elizabethan collars so the dog can’t whip his head around and bite, and owners can still feed them. “I see a 7-pound Chihuahua who always wears her party hat.”

Living in northern Westchester, Harrison’s work naturally takes her through the bucolic, tony areas that attract the likes of Stewart.

“I do have a decent celebrity clientele,” Harrison acknowledges. She becomes close to the families she works with and confidentiality is a given.

I see (these families) intensely until their dog passes,” she says. “I get attached to the animal and attached to the people.” When her work is done, separation is hard. “I get a call from families saying, ‘I miss you. You want to come for dinner?’”

She wouldn’t have it any other way. “I wanted to be a vet my entire life,” says Harrison. She traces the moment back to when she was a 20-yearold girl in pigtails, growing up in Chappaqua when she dressed up for her father’s 40th birthday party as a vet.

Back then, acupuncture wasn’t on her radar. But now, “I’ll do it on any quadruped that won’t kill me first,” she jokes. “I never say acupuncture is not worth trying.”

For more, visit visitingvetservices.com.

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APRIL 2019

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THE

HIGH-HEELED COWGIRL

BY MARIAH BAUMANN SHAMMEL

heeled old life with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation and my current existence end. It has been only 10 years since I lived my days on the go, filling my schedule with meetings here and conferences there, constantly traveling from one place to another, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I always wonder what I did with all the time on my hands back then, back before I married Favorite Farmer (husband Lyle).

Between coordinating our four kids, the crops, animals and the day-to-day operations of our family ranch in the middle of nowhere (Hilger, Montana), it often feels like we run a three-ring circus. Our days start early, end late and sometimes don’t seem to end at all. Whether we’re running the combine late into the

When I recently jumped on the Marie Kondo bandwagon and did my best to tidy up the house by getting rid of everything that didn’t “spark joy,” I was surprised at how easy it was to pick out the things I really had no use for. Until I caught a glimpse of all the high heels neatly lined up along the back wall of our closet, in every color of the rainbow.

My heart did a little flutter and as I went through the pairs one by one, I couldn’t help but think back to a time when the designer pumps and stilettos were a part of my everyday outfit instead of the boots I currently find myself pulling on every time I head out the door.

I still roll out of bed every morning at 6 a.m. but that’s about where the similarities between my well-

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Cattle on the Shammel family ranch in Hilger, Montana.

Photographs courtesy Mariah Baumann Shammel.

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night, trying to get that last field of barley in the bin before the rains hit or getting up at the crack of dawn to get the tractors ready for baling up the hay, there’s never a dull moment. No matter how tiring it all seems, nothing compares to the chaos of calving.

With more than 300 cows to tend to and all of them having babies within a six-week period of time, calving is our most labor-intensive time of year, no pun intended. We go out at all hours of the day and night to check for newly born calves and cows who may be having issues giving birth and are always there to step in and help if a calf is being born backward or a cow is having a hard time delivering twins.

We pretty much live with the cows this time of year and that means we’re constantly outside, no matter the temperature. This year’s temperatures have been below zero more often than not and the same was true last year. When it’s this cold out, we’re continuously scanning the herd, looking for the smallest signs that a cow may be going into labor so we can get her into the barn as soon as she’s spotted. At below zero temps, a newly born calf can freeze in a matter of seconds and the likelihood of getting some type of respiratory sickness or other malady skyrockets. We check on our bovine beauties at least every hour in these frigid temps.

The (formerly) high-heeled cowgirl herself, Mariah Baumann Shammel. Photograph by Mariah Heitzman.

Needless to say, the combined number of hours our heads are actually on a pillow this time of year could be counted on one hand.

With four kids constantly in tow between the ages of 5 months and 7, the words “calm” and “quiet” aren’t generally used to describe the tornado that constantly surrounds me. I assume the cows, in all their laboring glory, would rather not be subject to all the racket and commotion my tagalongs bring, so I spend way more time outside, tending to the already born calves and their moms and let Favorite Farmer and his parents handle the goingson inside the calving barn. Every day the kids and

I walk through the pastures, making sure the cows have healed sufficiently and that their new bundles of joys are healthy, happy and stay that way. When needed, we step in and try to fix the situation but if everything is OK, we step back and watch the calves play tag with each other, then move on to the next item on our chore list.

The life of a rancher is hard for most people to imagine and if someone had told me 10 years ago that I would someday be able to offer a firsthand look at what it’s like to live in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by miles and miles of fields and cows, I wouldn’t have believed it myself. Now that I’m here, though, I wouldn’t want it any other way and I revel in the position I’m in. Not only do I get to work side by side with my family every day, I also get to show people the ins and outs of the most vital industry in the world — agriculture. There’s nothing glamorous about our way of life but there’s a person and a story behind the steak on your plate and the sweater on your back and I’m lucky enough to be one of the few who gets to tell it.

I ended up getting rid of most of my high heels, except the ones my 5-year-old daughter laid claim to for her dress-up box, which is fine by me. Who knew boots could look so good?

For more visit kleenexchronicles.wordpress. com.

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THE ART OF MONEY STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

man art gallery, are the co-curators of the exhibition. (WAG readers might remember Bland from stories about his work as deputy director of the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers.)

The idea of doing an exhibit on and about money took root about two years ago during a meeting with the directors of the 20-odd art galleries that comprise the City University of New York system.

“Lisa said she was planning to do a show about money. And I said, ‘Well I’m planning on doing a show about money,’” Bland says of the overlap. “So we decided to join forces and do a joint project. We were thrilled to be able to do that. There are about a half-dozen

It’s in our pocket. It’s in our purse. It jangles. It rolls. It crunches new. It folds quietly old. It seems to be always on our minds. And at the Lehman College Art Gallery in the Bronx it’s on full display, whether flying high as a kite or welded and chased into a toolbox or intricately cut from buffalo head nickels.

Money — both domestic and foreign currency — is the subject of the exhibit, “Mediums of Exchange.” It is a two-part exhibition that first opened at the Borough of Manhattan Community College at the end of January and continues at Lehman College. Lisa Panzera, director of the Shirley Fiterman Art Center at BMCC, and Bartholomew F. Bland, executive director of the Leh-

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"Stampede" by Stacey Lee Webber.

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artists in both exhibitions.”

WAG was lucky enough to land the effervescent art director for a private tour of the work that fills the space that is made up of two wings, The Robert Lehman Gallery and The Edith Altschul Lehman Gallery. Bland is the kind of guy who will lift your spirits on a cold, gray, late winter’s day with his unjaundiced eye on the artists’ interpretations of money as odd or unusual as an individual may think.

“There’s a pointed critique of capitalism here,” he says, “C.K. Wilde certainly does that with ‘Indulgence.’”

Wilde used various shades of pinkish currency to create a nursing sow and her young, a nod to the capitalist pig. But in his comment of his artwork, Wilde acknowledges the irony of making fun of the capitalist system while trying to earn a buck.

He states in part: “I must confront my complicity to suffering in the world in order to maintain this esoteric practice of making art. I am a maker of luxury items for the art market … (But) offer my labors in solidarity to those who are still suffering.”

On another wall, buffalo are set free from their nickel-bound relief and made three-dimensional under the careful cutting of Stacey Lee Webber.

Titled “Stampede,” the animals walk along a golden

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Bartholomew F. Bland, executive director of the Lehman College Art Gallery.

path replete with trees that appear to be The Charter Oak from the Connecticut quarter of the state series of 1999.

Bland appears to be happy with what he has accomplished, from obtaining the artworks to personally placing them in the galleries. He enjoyed juxtaposing Melanie Baker’s charcoal “Robber Barons” series (Carnegie, Diamond Jim and Rockefeller) with Queen Elizabeth II, Golda Meir and Catherine the Great by Houben R.T. (Tcherkelov) on an adjoining wall.

As for the robber barons, “their eyes, the window to the soul, are not shown,” Bland says, allowing the viewer to take in the men by their postures and clothes alone.

Next to the robber barons, perhaps acting as a period, a punctuation of sorts, is Eugenio Moreno’s “La Metamorfosis.” It is a cockroach, laser cut from a credit card, caught in the white light while scurrying up a wall. “It’s the sinister allure of credit,” Bland says.

Bland’s choices all tell unique stories. Stop by before May 4 and see which story most entices you.

The Lehman Art Gallery is in the Fine Art Building of Lehman College at 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West in the Bronx. For more information, lehmangallery.org.

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‘HELL,’ YES

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

Since the late 1990s, singer/songwriter Erin McKeown has been making a name for herself as a distinguished performer with a rich and pure distinctive vocal style.

McKeown expanded her creative horizons with the stage musical “Miss You Like Hell,” a collaboration with Quiara Alegría Hudes, for which she wrote the music and lyrics. As you can hear on “Miss You Like Hell: Original Cast Recording” (Ghostlight), the play is about the reunion of Beatriz (Daphne Rubin-Vega), an undocumented immigrant who is facing the prospect of deportation, with her teenage daughter, Olivia (Gizel Jiménez), and the ensuing eye-opening road trip on which the pair embark. We recently spoke with McKeown about her work and the show, which will be presented at The Play Group Theatre in White Plains from April 7 through 14.

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Erin, you collaborated with Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes on “Miss You Like Hell,” which premiered at the LaJolla Playhouse in LaJolla, California, in 2016, followed by an off-Broadway production in 2018. How did that collaboration come to be?

“It came in a really cool way, actually. One of those things that’s kind of an unpredictable sum of all the relationships you’ve had before. I made a record called ‘Hundreds of Lions’ in 2009. Quiara had written a play around the same time called ‘26 Miles.’ A couple of years later, she decided she wanted to make that straight play into a musical. She asked friends of hers for names of some female singer/songwriters to

whom she should be listening. Her best friend from growing up went to college with me (at Brown University), though I didn’t know her personally. I was known on campus for making music. This friend of hers put my name on a list and gave it to Quiara.

“At the time, ‘Hundreds of Lions’ was new. She heard that record and thought that’s what she wanted the musical to sound like. She wrote me an email through the catchall email on my website, which is generally filled with spam, but her email came through. It said, ‘From one Brown grad to another, I have this play that I want to turn into a musical. By the way, I have a Tony (Award) and I’m a serious writer.’ That’s how it happened! I’d never gotten an email like that in my life. I answered it and she came to see my show in New York the next day. We had lunch and she gave me the script of the play and I just said, ‘Yes.’ I had no idea that it would be a seven-year process.”

immigration piece of it. I can only say that that happened because it was important to us, not because something was happening in the news. Then it became news and was growing in waves.

“I think it cuts both ways, to be totally honest, with this show. I don’t necessarily think it’s a blessing to be putting this show out at the same time as we have this person in the White House putting out the kind of rhetoric he puts out. In one way, it’s super important that we are here, telling the kind of story that we’re telling, in some way pushing against that tide.

In other ways, in my personal opinion, there’s also a type of fatigue or desire to look away because what we’re seeing in the news is so difficult. Many people look to entertainment for some escape and we’re not offering that. We’re offering people a chance to look more closely at something that’s difficult, to open their hearts to something that’s difficult. I don’t think everyone wants to do that.”

Do you see it as being on par with the protest music of the 1960s?

“Absolutely. I see it something that we had to make and there’s no way that we would not make it, regardless of what’s happening in the political landscape. We were compelled and we made the show we wanted to make and it says the things we wanted it to say. In that way, it’s inevitable and we are compelled by it. When we look back at these Trump years and we ask ourselves, ‘What did we do to help?’ I will proudly say we made this show.”

Erin McKeown. Photograph by Jo Chattman.

The timely subject matter couldn’t have arrived on stage at a more opportune moment.

Can you please say something about that?

“For folks that are undocumented and for people who care about our immigration system, this is something that’s been going on for a long time. For a group of people, me included, it’s been very important for a long time. It’s been said before, and it’s always important for me to say when addressing this topic, Obama was not that great on immigration. He deported more people than any previous administrations. For various reasons there wasn’t any legislation that was able to move forward. He’s not Trump.”

He doesn’t get a pass either.

“That’s correct. This is an issue that I care about and am interested in and obviously Quiara cared about it.

That’s the thing we added to this story in 2011. There’s no citizenship issue in the play. The mom in the play is Puerto Rican and therefore an American citizen.

When we turned it into a musical, we introduced the

What are the challenges and rewards of writing songs for others, especially characters in a play, to sing, and how do you think that having written for the stage will affect your songwriting for your own recordings and performance?

“The challenges for me were mostly in the length of the project and the amount of revisions. Music is on such a shorter cycle and there’s a kind of elasticity and looseness and nightly reinvention. Theater is a different animal. I’ve never revised anything as much as I revised and continued to chip away at this project. It was a personal thing. The reward is that I think we were able to make something that is extremely rich and has a ton of depth that comes from spending that much time on something. It was a great lesson.

“Everything I make after this musical will certainly be impacted by that. I have learned to sit with something longer. I have learned to give more time and space to something. I can still write a quick song, if I have to. But I’ve really seen the benefits of this kind of marination and slow edits. I also loved writing for other characters, which wasn’t too far a stretch from the things I’ve been making for years.

Even though I may use an I or me pronoun, I’ve been writing about other things and perspectives within my work. I enjoyed the distance of getting to physically sit between 10 and 100 feet from my music. To have it come out of someone else’s body and feel the reflection of that, rather than having to produce it myself, was inspiring and enlivening.

“If my goal is to help connect people, I have an opportunity to connect more people if I don’t have to be personally involved. That’s the thing about which I feel most excited about this phase of the show. I don’t have to be there for it and people can carry this show and this message like little seedpods that get to disperse. There’s a lot of openness and flexibility for the people performing this music and plenty of room for a performer to make each of these songs their own. That’s always a style I’ve been interested in. Not only do I not have to be there, but there’s room for any of these individual performers doing this show to bring their self to it.”

I’m so glad you mentioned that because I was wondering what was it like to have Daphne Rubin-Vega, who made her Broadway debut as Mimi in “Rent,” singing your songs?

“Oh, goodness. That has been one of the hugest gifts for me. I could talk about her for 100 years and not be finished with the depth of her artistry and her intelligence and the things that she brings and does as a musician that I’ve never heard anyone else do. She is a legend, but maybe to a smaller group of people than she should be. She’s a transformational performer and it’s been a joy to collaborate with her in the way that we have. A production of this show is going to be running in Boston. It’s the first time that someone other than Daphne has played Beatriz. She has been with us from our very first workshop and through every workshop, production and rehearsal.

Beatriz is a creation of Daphne and me and Quiara.

She’s right in there with that. Maybe it’s basic of me to say this, but I wish more people knew about her.

She deserves that.”

Do you foresee writing more for the stage?

“Yes, in February, I actually had a workshop reading of a new musical for which I wrote book, lyrics and music. I’m already on my way with a new musical project.”

Is there a new Erin McKeown album in the works?

“Yes, there is. Given what I learned from ‘Miss You Like Hell,’ I’m going to let it take the time it’s going to take. I started working on it and I know what it’s about.

I’m super-excited about it and it’s personal. In some ways I have worried in the past that people wouldn’t be as interested if I just kept writing about myself, that somehow I needed to be doing stuff in service of other people’s stories. I have been able to do that with this musical and it’s been great. But my roots are excavating my own biography and my own self to make music, so I’m working on a project that returns to those roots.”

“Miss You Like Hell” runs April 7 through 14 at The Play Group Theatre, 1 N. Broadway in White Plains. For tickets and more, call 914-946-4433 or visit playgroup.org. And for Gregg’s full interview with Erin McKeown, visit wagmag.com.

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PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

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Michael Feinstein. Photograph

by Randee St. Nicholas.

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Beginning with his professional association with Ira Gershwin more than 40 years ago and continuing through his 33-year recording career and Emmy-nominated PBS series, Michael Feinstein has been the torchbearer and ambassador for the Great American Songbook.

A talented pianist and singer who has interpreted songs from multiple periods, Feinstein has also made a name for himself as a bandleader, working with symphony orchestras as well as more intimate musical groups. Additionally, his work as an archivist, preserving the legacy of the Great American Songbook and sharing his passion for it, has brought him acclaim from an even wider audience. A consummate entertainer, Feinstein spends a lot of time on the road performing in venues of varying sizes. Recently, we spoke with him about his passion for music, his memories of the late Caramoor artistic adviser André Previn, his upcoming performances in our area and his devotion to animals: Throughout your performing and recording careers, Michael, you have had a long history of collaboration, having teamed up with a vast array of artists including Cheyenne Jackson, Jimmy Webb, Barbara Cook, Jerry Herman and George Shearing, to mention a few. What is it about you that makes you so good at playing well with others?

“My mother certainly wouldn’t have said that I played well with others when I was growing up because I was a solitary kid.

But when it comes to music, I love the inspiration that comes from working with another artist who may have a different point of view about a particular song or a particular style of music. So, at its best it blossoms into something where the whole is greater than the parts.”

A few days before this interview took place, the music world suffered a tragic loss with the passing of pianist, composer, conductor, arranger André Previn, who served as Caramoor’s artistic adviser from 1991 to 1996 and with whom you collaborated on your 2013 album “Change of Heart: The Songs of André Previn.” Would you please say a few words about Previn?

“André was one of my heroes. He was exquisitely gifted. His musical scope was unlike any I ever knew, and I knew Leonard Bernstein and Jule Styne and Jerry Herman and many extraordinary people. But André was a man who was so prodigious in his assimilation of music that he did everything. I’m not saying he had more talent than Leonard Bernstein, because Bernstein was larger than life and iconic. And yet, André to me is certainly equal to Bernstein, even though the perception of him is not the same. His embrace of classical music and jazz and popular song and film scoring and writing so many different kinds of music.

Even a month shy of his 90th birthday, he was still fully inspired, writing music that belied his years.”

What a legacy.

“It’s extraordinary! I wish that he was more acknowledged in his time because he’s deserving of it. It was a joy to record with him because I wanted to record his songs, his popular songs.

His first response to me when I first asked him about it was, ‘Are there enough?’ Certainly, there were. The only sad part is by that time he already had crippling arthritis and he didn’t play as well as he wanted to. If we had done the album only a year earlier,

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his playing would have been very different.

That’s life. When I sang the vocals, I had to match his playing, which sometimes was lacking in some of the power he used to possess, so it turned out differently. But it was a snapshot of that moment in his life.”

“Change of Heart” and your 2014 holiday album are your most recent studio recordings. Is there any chance that a new Michael Feinstein album is in the works?

“Yes, I’m working on a project now that will be coming out in the fall that’s related to the Gershwins, the songs of George and Ira Gershwin. However, it’s a completely different, new and unusual take on the work that I think will be very surprising to people, and it is another collaboration. I’m actively working on it now and I’m being coy purposefully to wait to announce it, but it’s something that I think is among my best work. I think it’s a culmination of all that’s come before in my career that will give me a different means of interpreting this music at this point.”

I’m glad you mentioned the Gershwins because your devotion to the Great American Songbook comes through in a variety of ways — from your numerous recordings to your acclaimed PBS series and NPR series, “Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook,” from your book “The Gershwins and Me” to the founding of The Great American Songbook Foundation. With all the work you’ve done for the cause, do you have any other projects planned?

“There are always projects in the works. The way that I’m built is that I constantly force myself to do things that scare me. I want to do as much as I can in this lifetime and I feel like I’ve wasted too much time because of fear or things that got in the way when I was younger. I want to do what I can to keep the music alive and also to keep creative expression fresh. I’m always working on different projects. I’m working on writing more music and I’m going to do another book soon.

“I’m particularly interested in music and healing, as a transformational tool because we need all the help we can get these days. Music is a physical vibration. We are made of vibrations.

Therefore, music can be one of the most powerful therapeutic and healing tools that is available to us. People don’t understand nor harness the proper power of what it can offer.”

In addition to your roles as a performer and musical archivist and educator, you are also well known as an impresario, operating venues bearing your name, such as Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco and Feinstein’s/54 Below in Manhattan. What does that aspect of your work mean to you?

“I always had the fantasy of having a nightclub. The very makeup of a club is my favorite place in which to make music and to listen to music. I find that going to huge venues is something that, while most people appreciate it, I find a little intimidating. To create these clubs is a personal fulfillment. There is not a lot of money in it. There’s an old joke, ‘How do you own a nightclub and have a million dollars? Start with two million.’”

But it must be rewarding on some level to see these venues operating.

“Very much so. I love being able to bring all sorts of artists,

Michael Feinstein.

Photograph by Joe Martinez.

seasoned and fresh, to the different venues, especially in New York where we have so much talent in Manhattan (and) so many Broadway performers, some of whom have never done a nightclub turn. They are accustomed to inhabiting a character. Some are fantastic and embrace it. Others are absolutely terrified to not be in character. To watch the blooming and blossoming of the different talent is extraordinarily exciting.”

You mentioned the challenge of larger venues. You are embarking on a tour in which the concert venues vary in size. What can people expect from this upcoming tour?

“I’m doing different types of shows in different places.

In Florida, I conduct a symphony orchestra, as I do in Pasadena. Some shows I do with big band, others with combo.

The show I’ll be doing in Ridgefield is with a fantastic jazz trio led by Tedd Firth at the piano who is one of the most gifted people with whom I’ve ever worked. This will be a freewheeling show in that working with a trio gives us the opportunity to improvise things or play off the audience.

My shows are always interactive with the audience. What happens with the show is determined by the response of the audience, the energy.

“When an artist walks onstage, they feel the audience, they feel a certain sense of what the show’s going to be like.

Not only from the first applause when you walk onstage, but also from the venue itself and the hearts and souls of the audience. That affects the entire energy and attitude of what happens onstage. Every place I go is exciting and new. It is the immediacy of live performing that is fulfilling and exciting, and there’s something scary about it at the same time. I think people are so inured to technology and things that are canned that the live experience is a means of connecting that is essential for me.”

Finally, you sang the song “Not Much of a Dog” on your 1992 children’s album “Pure Imagination.” Did you have a dog or other kind of pet when you were growing up, and do you currently have a dog or other kind of pets?

“My parents wouldn’t allow me and my two siblings to have pets, saying that we wouldn’t take care of them. It was upsetting for all three of us kids. We did have parakeets and I loved those birds. I love all animals deeply. When I moved out on my own, I got two cats named Bing Clawsby and Rosemary Crooney. They were my beloved treasures.

I’ve always had animals in my life. I’ve been a vegan for 17 years because I don’t want to eat animals. I have a very deep connection with them. At one point, I, with my husband Terrence, had two dogs, two Shih Tzus.

“When I travel a little less, I hope to have dogs again. Animals are very important in this world. My heart aches over the treatment of animals by our society because, to paraphrase (Mahatma) Gandhi, ‘The way we treat animals is a reflection of who we are as a culture.’ Animals are probably on my mind second to music more than anything else.”

Michael Feinstein performs at The Appel Room in Manhattan on April 10 and 11 and at the Ridgefield Playhouse on April 17. For more, visit michaelfeinstein.com.

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luxurious master suite, three double bedrooms and two bathrooms. The third floor hosts a bedroom, a full bathroom and open space. The sixth bedroom is in the fully finished lower level with a full bath and space for a gym and media/playrooms.

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A CHUKKER OR TWO WITH A RISING POLO STAR

BY JENNIFER SCHMEER

Last year, I had the pleasure of taking a lesson amid the verdant backcountry expanse that is the Greenwich Polo Club. Among the players I met there was Argentina's Joaquin Panelo, member of the White Birch Team — the club’s home team — as well as Team Audi, and a six-goaler (out of a possible 10). Joaquin is lean and tan with a certain swagger.

When he’s on the field, you can feel the heat rising and not just from the exertions of thundering riders and Thoroughbreds.

For our lesson, Joaquin shared the history of the sport, with its roots in the ancient Persian cavalry, its rules and techniques. My southpaw heart sank a little when I learned that it’s a disadvantage to hold the mallet in your left hand. (Polo’s a bit like driving on the right side of the road.) But the great Mariano Aguerre — a 10 goaler who appeared on the April 2015 cover of WAG — is a lefty. So there’s hope for this Southern belle yet.

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After a challenging day of trying to hit a small white ball with a mallet from a galloping horse, I sat down with Joaquin to learn more about the rare breed that is the polo player:

Who was biggest inspiration growing up?

“First, I would have to say my father, Esteban Panelo. Then as I was growing up, I started watching Adolfo Cambiaso, who is one of the best polo players today and has been for the last 20 years or more. Then I started getting into more highgoal polo and started watching some of other players, horsemen, trying to learn from them like Mariano Aguerre. He is one of my inspirations. Every day, I learn something from him, from his horses to the way he does things with the horses. I am lucky I get to work

2018 East Coast Open MVP Joaquin Panelo of Team Audi, with Mariano Gonzalez of Team Iconica in hot pursuit. Photograph by Marcelo Bianchi.

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with him and see him and play with him. I consider myself a lucky guy.”

What do you love most about the game?

“I think the most incredible thing about this game is the horses … what the horses can do when they are trained and when their fitness is 100 percent. It is unbelievable. How loyal they are. How they follow our commands. They can run full speed and they can turn and stop. Their ability for the sport, it’s crazy. Such loyal animals.

What is life like as a polo player?

“We basically live for the horses. Every day for us is wake up early, go to the barn and spend time with the horses. We ride them or play or practice, train them or whatever they need to do for that specific day. So, there is not a lot of free time, but whenever we have some free time we try to work on ourselves. We go to the gym or try to do something for ourselves. Horses must be trained every day if they are playing and competing, so they really can’t take the day off. It’s not like people who work in the office and have the weekends off.”

What are your goals for your life?

“My only goal ever since I started doing this as a professional and knowing that this is my life … is

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to be the best I can be. So if that means … being the best in the world, then I am going to go for it. But if I can’t do that, my life goes more towards the horses as a trainer, or just working for horses or coaching a team — that could be an option. But my goal right now is to just be the best I can be and hope I am on a good path. I try to get 10 goals and be the best player in the world as my goals.”

Where do you consider home?

“That is kind of a tough question since I am not home a lot, but my home is Argentina and it will always be. That is where I grew up and that is where my family lives…I feel home when I go to Palm Beach and spend a lot of time in Wellington. But my home is Argentina.”

Three words to describe yourself?

“Myself? Well, I might need a couple of seconds to figure that out. (laughs) I am passionate. Very passionate for sure. I feel I am a professional. I know exactly what I want in regards to my goals and my polo career. Very professional. I am also a very quiet guy. I don’t go out a lot and I don’t party. I don’t drink alcohol. Mostly pretty quiet guy. I do go sleep early if I am playing the next day. Try to eat healthy. I love eating. (laughs) Try to concentrate and not doing stuff that won’t help my career. I am dedicated.”

What is a typical year for you regarding polo and travel?

“The year for polo for me starts in Wellington-Palm Beach, January through April. …Then I go home to Argentina a couple of weeks. It is hard because then in the summer polo starts. I will go to California or Greenwich. …I have been in California for the past two summers. …Then for the fall, I am pretty sure I will be doing Texas for the next couple of years then go back home to Argentina. So that would be my tour. “ What is life like for you in Argentina?

“Well, I live in the country…about an hour and half from Buenos Aires … where we have all of our horses. We have a barn and a polo field. Whenever I go home, I spend time with my family. We have the beach, but it is about five hours from our place. We have mountains and the desert. There is hunting, fishing, skiing. We have pretty much everything in Argentina.”

Best advice ever received about polo?

“That if I am going to do this, I have to go all in. I must give my life to the horses and to the sport. I do whatever it takes to do the best job.”

For more, visit greenwichpoloclub.com or call 203-561-1639.

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WEAR

STYLE FROM THE SADDLE TO THE STREETS

BY MEGHAN MCSHARRY

arah Rowen, a native of Toledo, Ohio, was living in New York City when she realized how difficult it was to find unusual styles. Even in Manhattan, with clothing stores on every block, Sarah found that these stores carried the same designers and few standout pieces. To solve this problem, she created her own boutique, Fab Finds by Sarah, in 2007.

In her own words, Sarah describes her boutique as “a compilation of brands that I think are unique and fabulous.” After moving to Florida in 2011 and being introduced to the equestrian world, she quickly grew a client base made up of horse riders, who influence many of her style picks for the shop.

And for her life. For much of the year, she packs up her boutique and travels with the equestrian circuit. From November through April, Fab Finds by Sarah is stationed in Wellington, Florida, but for the rest of the year, her boutique has pop-up stores at some of the top horse shows in the country, including at Old Salem Farm in North Salem. Due to the travel, Fab Finds by Sarah doesn’t have a brick-andmortar shop but maintains a website from which customers can order pieces.

The constant traveling is good for business, though. During her cross-country trips, Rowen says she consistently finds new lines and pieces that you might not see everywhere.

“I always try to find fashion that suits the equestrian lifestyle — chic, classic style with a little bit of an edge,” she says, “fabrics and fashion that is comfortable and easy to pack for the on-the-go, jet set lifestyle.”

You don’t have to be a rider to find something you’ll love, though. Fab Finds by Sarah offers the clothing from high-end brands like 360 Cashmere, AG Adriano Goldschmied, J Brand, Zadig & Voltaire and more, including shoes by Golden Goose and other trending brands, and accessories.

Sarah recently launched her own luxury jewelry brand, also for sale at her boutique, which includes

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A selection of the fashions available at Fab Finds by Sarah. Photographs by Nicole Salazar/For The Love of All Things Fabulous.

beautiful, often equine-inspired pieces perfect for a day on horseback or out on the town.

“The pieces that I’m drawn to are a casual chic vibe with a bit of a rock ’n’ roll edge to them,” Sarah says. “Animal prints are everywhere. I think everyone should have something in leopard print. My favorite way to pop it in is on a shoe or a clutch.”

Whether you’re in the market for your perfectfitting denim, go-to sneakers or a horseshoeinspired pendant, there is something for everyone at Fab Finds by Sarah. Items can be ordered from the boutique’s social media pages or website.

And, be sure to catch Sarah setting up shop at the American Gold Cup at Old Salem Farm from Sept.

11 through 15.

For more, visit fabfindsbysarah.com.

Sarah Rowen

Proprietor, Bobby Epstein of the legendary Muscoot Tavern in Katonah, invites you to experience his newest restaurant—

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WEAR

NAILING IT

BY MEGHAN MCSHARRY

ntering To and From is like stepping into a high-end day spa, with bright lighting and a sleek modern décor. The product display is minimal and a chic, deep-blue velvet couch welcomes guests to sit and wait for their service.

On a recent visit to the salon, To and From co-owner Jeanne Bloom greeted me while having her nails painted.

“I’d shake your hand, but…” she said, gesturing to her nails. As someone who has repeatedly dinged manicures moments after they’re finished, I laughed.

Her co-owner and partner, Henri Helander, finished up with a client before introducing himself. I asked Henri how he and Jeanne had met, and he said, “When did we fall in love, you mean?”

Right away, you could see how close they were. They really make the perfect pair.

Henri and Jeanne met in fashion school before becoming roommates in Manhattan for two years. Henri, a Pennsylvania native, would visit Jeanne at her family’s home in Connecticut.

After spending a few post-college years working on their individual careers, the two decided to come together yet again for a new business venture — To and From.

They opened their business in downtown Darien in October 2017. The salon — which offers beautiful manicures and pedicures, nail art and more — uses clean products for everything from polishes to skincare.

“There really is a growing market of mothers concerned with clean health,” explained Henri, noting that local moms (and others of all ages) are moving toward eating clean and using clean household and beauty products for the safety of themselves and their children. And these clean products are safer to use on pregnant women and people with cancer or autoimmune diseases.

Henri stressed that when selecting products, they “find the best alternative that works in the safest way.” Customers can choose polishes from the likes of brands such as LVX, Deborah Lippmann, Jin Soon, Habit and Kure Bazaar — many of which are exclusive products not typically available in salons. These products are

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Henri Helander and Jeanne Bloom, the minds behind To and From.

Photographs courtesy To and From.

Jeanne’s leopard-patterned tips are a subtle way to incorporate animal print into your look.

considered higher-end and are up to 10- or 12free, meaning they have eliminated a number of harmful chemicals from the formulas.

To and From chooses to omit the soaking of the nails during the manicure process. Henri explained that much of the bacteria found in nail salons comes from the water. Additionally, pedicures at To and From use large bowls rather than salon baths you would typically put your feet in. These baths are almost impossible to completely sanitize, which can cause infection for the client, he said.

Not only does To and From have the health of the customer in mind, but also that of their employees. Jeanne and Henri repeatedly stressed the importance of providing employees with a safe work environment, fair wages and fair hours. Because the products are clean, employees don’t have to worry about breathing in toxic fumes during their shifts.

The business goes the extra mile by paying for To and From employees to become licensed nail technicians. Connecticut is the only state in the country that doesn’t require nail technicians to be licensed and, while legislators are working to change this, it’s important to choose a nail salon that is up to health standards — employees included.

The manicure experience itself was relaxing.

My nail technician was gentle with my nails and cuticles, being sure not to nip too much at my cuticles (which can introduce bacteria) and trimmed and filed my nails just enough. She took her time painting on a trendy color-blocked pattern. I was shocked at how steady her hand was, even when using a tiny detail brush. The salon offers a menu of chic yet minimalistic nail art options, which is something that is surprisingly hard to find outside of a major city.

Once again, To and From fills that void in the Fairfield County market.

Jeanne, who may as well be a hand model, chose to showcase two animal-inspired nail art options for our animal-themed issue. A zebra pattern was painted on her left hand, while the right featured muted gray nails with leopardprint tips. Animal print has been trending lately, and this is an ultra-classy (and subtle) way to work it into your everyday style.

For more, visit toandfromnails.com.

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WEAR

A.

B.

D.

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DRAGON BEJEWELED

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

ichelle Ong — founder of Carnet, the boutique jewelry house based in Hong Kong — uses few animal motifs in her intricately crafted work. But what she does use is spectacular.

The “Dancing Dragon” brooch, which she first created in 1999, undulates across two pages in Vivienne Becker’s forthcoming “Carnet by Michelle Ong” (June 11, Thames & Hudson, $95, 272 pages), its emerald and ruby scales set off in platinum, 18-karat white gold and silver; its diamantine eyes blazing. In another iteration from 2008, the dragon whips up its ruby and emerald tail, ready to pounce.

Despite its symbolic origins in the alligators that live in the Yangtze and other Chinese rivers, the dragon is not a fearsome creature in China. Rather he is “fiercely benign” — a protector, a securer of the harvest, a cosmic spirit

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Dragons – such as this colorful creature in China’s Fengdu Ghost City of shrines, temples and monasteries dedicated to the afterlife – are the inspirations for some of the most spectacular jewelry in the forthcoming book “Carnet by Michelle Ong.”

and a symbol of imperial power.

As Ong tells Becker, “The oriental dragon is very different from the Western dragon; it is an auspicious, benevolent creature, with many different incarnations that leave me a great deal of room for imaginative interpretation.”

While Ong is steeped in the materials and associations of her culture — see her magnificent jadeite “Celestial Dragon” brooch (2001), unfurled across two pages amid swirls of diamond and pink and blue sapphire clouds — she is also a lover of such Western movements as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Art Nouveau (1890-1910) made great use of the dragonfly, so-called because it was thought that the devil turned St. George’s horse into a giant flying insect after he slew the demonic dragon.

Ong’s dragonfly brooches soar on jadeite and/or diamond wings from their perch in her imagination.

For more, visit thamesandhudsonusa.com.

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WHAT'S COLLECTIBLE

THE JEWELED MENAGERIE

BY JENNIFER PITMAN order to render them with the greatest realism and hen you think of Buccellati — the Italian jewthen built in silver by sections. The fur is created eler and silversmith — what from sheets of silver, portions of which were comes to mind are boldly shredded into hundreds of strands to resemcolored gemstones set ble fur, then soldered piece by piece to creagainst textured gold ate the animal’s coat. The process is known that resembles lace, linas “lavorazione a pelo” or “hair-like worken and other precious manship.” The fur can be fashioned to fabrics. But the firm is mimic the coarse bristles of a wild equally well-known for boar or the “soft” fur of a chick, yet its silverwork, especially its realistic “fur”the strands are uniformly sharp (and clad animal sculptures. Like a Hermès have been known to draw blood bag, the distinctive appearance when handled). Over time, the of these animals immediately silver fur oxidizes and the works telegraphs Buccellati as their take on beautiful, darker patina. maker.

A feathering technique is used The animals were the to create Buccellati’s avian creabrainchild of Mario Buctures, which can range in size cellati (1891-1965), nickfrom a chickadee to a life-sized named the “Prince of pelican or flamingo. Some of the Goldsmiths.” Buccellati most compelling sculptures debegan his apprenticeship pict wild animals — a snarling at age 12 with the Italian wolf, a roaring bear. While many of jeweler Beltrami & Besnati. In the animals are strictly sculptural, 1919, he opened his first jewelry some have been fashioned into store in Milan and then expanded wine coolers. to Rome and Florence. In 1951, Another rich vein of inspiBuccellati expanded his busiration is the aquatic world. ness to the United States, opening Buccellati has produced stores in New York City and latstill-life baskets of fish, siler Palm Beach. He had five sons, ver-coated shells, nautilusmost of whom became involved es, and octopuses as well in the business after his death. But as shell-form bowls and it was son Gianmaria (1929-2015), extravagant tableaux of who was the great creative force and battling sea creatures. One led the firm to its worldwide expansion. of Buccellati's most iconic maThe company’s works have been the rine pieces is a fluted bowl set subject of exhibitions at the Smithsowith 10 seahorse feet. nian Institution (2000) and the Moscow Buccellati animals are still in production Kremlin Museums (2008). Today, the Giand are available through the firm, and locally through anmaria Buccellati Foundation holds works Buccellati Furry Speak No Evil, R&M Woodrow Jewelers in Rye and Betteridge in Greenwich. and drawings by both Mario and Gianmaria $2,850. Courtesy Buccellati.

There is also an active market at auction, where some of the Buccellati. Buccellati’s animals are also the subject of their own permaearlier or more unusual animals can bring record amounts. nent exhibition at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama.

Recently, a tortoise tureen designed by Gianmaria BuccellaSilver has always been a significant part of the firm’s production and ti brought $45,000, a 5-foot high flamingo realized nearly $90,000 and a Buccellati drew inspiration from Italy’s rich cultural heritage, be it classical, marine-themed centerpiece basket designed by Mario Buccellati brought Renaissance or baroque. This can be seen in the reproductions of Etruscan $200,000. silver treasures, the fruit-form centerpiece baskets inspired by Old Master still For lovers of animals and fine craftsmanship, however, they are all simply lifes and the marine-form silver inspired by baroque fountains. Also typical of priceless. the firm’s works are myriad fruit, flower and leaf-form silver vessels, vases enJennifer Pitman writes about the jewelry, fine art and modern design she graved with textured surfaces and inset with hardstones, and boxes engraved encounters as Rago Arts and Auction’s senior account manager for Westwith architectural views or religious imagery. chester and Connecticut. For more, contact her at jenny@ragoarts.com or But it is the animals — from timid dogs to ferocious wild boars — that 917 745 2730. garner the greatest attention. Buccellati animals were first made in clay, in 90

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WARES

“Consider your pet's fur color when decorating,” Cami Weinstein writes. This gray feline blends right in with her surroundings.

DECORATING WITH PETS IN MIND

BY CAMI WEINSTEIN

ets bring us tremendous joy, unconditional love and are often an endless source of entertainment. They create a sense of family: Having had pets while our children were growing up, I could see how they taught them to care and nurture something other than themselves. Pets need attention, exercise, food and love, teaching children the importance of responsibility. Incorporating pets into our homes, however, takes some thought, so here are some pointers to keep both pets and pet owners happy.

Pet dander is a problem for people with allergies. A pet that is hypoallergenic should be a consideration for anyone with allergies. Adding an air filter to your home, vacuuming and wiping down surfaces often are all ways to keep your home and pet healthier. I would purchase carpets and rugs with a low profile because they will be

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easier to keep clean.

For upholstered pieces, there are many different styles of indoor-outdoor fabrics to use that can easily stand up to both children and pets. They are easy to clean and durable and are now available in so many different patterns and design styles. Look for heavy-duty fabrics with a tight weave. Some of the larger loose weaves look great but don’t wear well. Claws and nails can easily get caught in wider weaves and either injure your pet or destroy your upholstered piece. Often both happen. If you have cats, try leaving scratching posts out to divert them from your furnishings. Dogs, particularly puppies, love to chew. Chewing on your furniture should not be one of their choices. Give them plenty of chew toys to enjoy. There are also some commercial products that can be sprayed onto furniture to keep dogs from gnawing on it.

Consider your pet's fur color when decorating. I know this sounds crazy but why purchase a white sofa if your pet is dark brown or black? You will forever be trying to get every pet hair up. Consider a charcoal gray or navy sofa instead. This doesn’t mean you should forgo cleaning, but it will make your upkeep a little easier — not to mention preserving your sanity — since those stray hairs are not so highly visible.

Pets like to have their own designated areas that they learn are their own special places to sleep and feel safe. There are so many wonderful dog beds and crates to keep them contained. The design styles are limitless and can easily be found to match your décor. Also, there are many custom

options that can be created to keep pet areas fashionably decorated.

Dogs in particular like to be near their human family, so make sure your dog’s bed is near all of the family action. The kitchen and family room offer the chance for them to be involved in your daily life. Our dog loved to be curled up in the middle of everyone on the sofa and tucked under a throw. Unfortunately she was never a dog-bed type. We went through countless throws since she liked to be cuddled up in them and would often bite the edges of them as she tried to burrow. She was convinced she was human.

Entertaining can also be a feat with a pet. Often pets like to pilfer snacks and food right off the table. To avoid them doing that, keep food on the back of counters and away from far-reaching paws. Keep your pets’ food area in a designated place of your home. Keeping dog and cat food bowls on placemats makes for easy cleanup. I have also seen dog food bins created in mud room cabinetry and pull-out dog drawers complete with food and water bowls for easy compact storage once your pet is finished eating. This idea works amazingly well in tight kitchen spaces.

Walk your pets often to prevent accidents.

Both of you will be much happier. Pets really just want to please their owners and feel awful and embarrassed when they have accidents.

Living with pets can help your well-being and keeping them stylishly included in your life is an added bonus.

For more, visit camidesigns.com.

WHAT'S NEW AGAIN

CREATURE FEATURE

This Victorian Snake Necklace will be auctioned at Skinner Inc. May 21.

BY KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

hether it’s called zoomorphic personal ornamentation or critter glitter, animals of all kinds have been a recurring motif in jewelry history.

Their natural beauty and unique traits have inspired countless pieces, from the scarab beetles of ancient Egypt to David Webb’s zebras and frogs.

The perennial fascination with animal themes is also because certain mammals, birds, reptiles and even insects are regarded as symbolic of virtues or desirable characteristics — “brave as a lion,” “wise as an owl,” “busy as a bee.”

In the ancient world, the Greeks, Persians and Romans followed the Egyptians in prizing jewelry with animal motifs. One particularly popular Greek bracelet design featured snake and animal heads. Ancient Persian gold jewelry incorporated birds and lions, sometimes set with turquoise and other colored stones.

Jewelry incorporating animal motifs and materials from throughout the known world was widely worn by both men and women of Rome.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, its colorful jewelry — set with glass as well as amethysts, pearls and emeralds — fell from fashion. But the Celts and Merovingians of northern Europe created their own jewelry designs, notable especially for bold stylized animal motifs. Financier-collector J.P. Morgan (1837-1913) was a connoisseur of jewelry from the incorrectly titled Dark Ages, and his collection gleams today in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Animal forms continued to appear in jewelry, again becoming particularly dominant in the Victorian period. It was a great age of exploration and scientific discovery and also a great period of interest in symbolism in the arts.

One motif that has appeared repeatedly is the snake, an emblem of renewal and everlasting love. Prince Albert gave Queen Victoria an engagement ring in the form of a snake, which

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he is said to have designed himself. It set a fashion that resulted in serpent rings, bracelets and necklaces that adorned many fashionable women in the 19th century.

The Art Nouveau and Edwardian movements emphasized free-flowing lines and themes from nature, with a special fascination for insects such as dragonflies and butterflies. The great designers René Lalique and George Fouquet created extraordinary fantasies that combined the best of design and workmanship with materials that included not only the traditional precious gems but colorful and unusual materials such as

enamel, opals and baroque pearls.

Tremblants were another important manifestation of animal-themed jewelry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These ornaments, often in the shape of insects or birds glittering with small diamonds, were ingeniously mounted on tiny springs. Worn as brooches or placed in a lady’s high-piled coiffure, tremblants or tremblers seemed like living creatures that had decided to grace the ballroom or evening reception momentarily.

Inexorably, fashion changes. That’s what fashion does. But fashions in jewelry continued to employ animal themes.

Starting in 1914, panthers became a signature motif for Cartier. The exotic beasts were part of a general craze for all things African, in both the fine and applied arts.

Cartier first employed a stylized panther pelt in an onyx and diamond pattern on a wristwatch, then used a more realistic animal to adorn a vanity case. The fully three-dimensional Cartier panther first appeared in 1948 in a brooch designed for the Duchess of Windsor. The gorgeous cat had many offspring that continue to adorn the Panthère de Cartier collection of watches, rings, bracelets and more.

Fine jewelers of the 20th and 21st centuries have continued to reinvigorate animal themes.

Among the most eagerly sought-after examples are Bulgari’s Serpenti watches, bracelets and necklaces and Boucheron’s hummingbirds, foxes and hedgehogs.

In its long history, New York’s iconic Tiffany & Co. has produced a great many examples of jewelry with animal motifs, ranging from realistic to whimsical. Among the most desirable are the whimsical creations of Donald Claflin, a Tiffany designer between 1965 and 1977.

Claflin created a menagerie of playful pins, often based on animals from children’s literature. His witty birds, basilisks, walruses and his sailor-suited mouse Stuart Little, are superb continuations of the long lineage of animal-themed jewelry that continues to delight and adorn women today.

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TRAVELS WITH THE PET SET

BY JEREMY WAYNE

n the course of my extensive travels over the years, I’ve met a variety of passport-carrying pooches. Among the better-behaved ones I remember is Lydia, a delightful Dachshund staying at The Twelve Apostles in Cape Town. Then there was Achilles, a Saluki, at The Westbury in Dublin and a very dainty Fox Terrier named Betsey Trotwood lV, on a “Wagging Tail Escape” at the Knob Hill Inn in Sun Valley, Idaho. As they like to say at Knob Hill, staying at home is ruff for your best pal, so bring your fourlegged friends along.

Of Garibaldi, the Schnauzer, vacationing with his overindulgent parents at a grand hotel in one of the smarter resorts in Liguria, Italy, I will say nothing. I appreciate that not all pets have inherent good manners, even as I congratulate myself, rather smugly, that mine always have. Take Eric, our beloved golden English Cocker Spaniel, now alas in canine Valhalla. Trained to lie on his back, swaddled in a scarf and pillow-case, staying still as a statue in my wife’s arms, we occasionally tried to smuggle him into hotels in Spain and England, (which in those days could be resolutely dog-unfriendly,) disguised as a sleeping infant. “Lady,” said the much put-upon reception manager of The Westin Palace Hotel, Madrid to my wife on one memorable occasion, “if that’s a baby you’re holding, then I am the Holy Roman Emperor.”

These days, hotels tend to be less uptight. Traveling with pets has been simplified by the airlines and since happy owners make contented guests, many luxury hotels have extended the art of hospitality to serve the needs of our furry friends.

If you’re headed for some late-season skiing in Colorado and don’t want to leave your hound at home, think about staying at the famous Little Nell in Aspen, where two complimentary ski passes are offered for each day you stay. Here, epicurean dog treats await, along with a Puppy Jet Lag Kit to help young Rex (or Regina) get used to the high altitude. You’ll pay $125 registration plus $25 a night for the amenity.

At the Mediterranean-inspired Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa, set in 45 acres of lush gardens and olive groves in rolling country an hour north of San Diego, there’s a $200 flat fee for dogs, regardless of size or length of stay. A custom-made dog bed and in-room dining menu are a part of the allure.

With its perfect sidewalks, inviting palm trees and great window shopping at the low, four-legged level, Beverly Hills is a veritable pet paradise and, as you might expect, lots of top hotels are pet-friendly here. At the

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Neck and neck in the race for breakfast at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, Kenya. Courtesy The Safari Collection.

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A well-read dog at The Jefferson, Washington, D.C. Courtesy The Jefferson.

sparkly new Waldorf Astoria, checking in with your dog is something of a bargain, adding a mere $150 to your bill regardless of the length of your stay.

But be warned: This being Southern California, where they’re all extremely weight-conscious, dogs must check in at under 25 pounds.

I saw so many dogs during my recent stay at the wonderful Belmond Charleston Place — featured in this magazine and without doubt one of the loveliest places to stay in Charleston, South Carolina — that I wondered if I had run into some sort of canine convention. I subsequently discovered that owners pay $150 per pet per stay, for up to two pets, but that pooches may not be left unattended in the guest rooms. Perhaps that explains all the dog socializing in the lobby.

Need some sunshine? The Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club in North Miami Beach — which used to play host to Noël Coward, oodles of Kennedys and the Rat Pack — has now been gloriously revived under the Four Seasons banner.

Right on the ocean, the hotel boasts the only

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branch of the glamorous Le Sirenuse restaurant from Positano, where Italian chefs and whitejacketed waiters cater to your every (gastronomic) whim, as well as Thomas Keller’s only Florida restaurant. Doggies — and I use the term advisedly — stay free, so long as they weigh less than 15 pounds, which is even more size-ist than Beverly Hills. On an up note, it’s a good reason for smaller dogs who are on the cusp to slim down.

At the charming XV Beacon in Boston, pets get a personalized plate of peanut butter treats upon arrival and doggie-bed turndown service each night, while for walkies, there’s neighboring Boston Common. A $25 pet donation per stay is suggested, 100 percent of which goes to various animal charities. Bravo, XV Beacon.

In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, your choice would have to be The Jefferson, the landmark 1920s Beaux Arts hotel, where up to two dogs of any size are permitted, for a modest fee of $50 per pet. It may be dog eat dog these days on Capitol Hill, but in The Jefferson’s lobby — such a social

place — it’s more like dog meet dog. And when it comes to taking a stroll, the concierge will fill you in on the “Famous Dogs in American History” walking tour. Seriously.

The prize for the most pet-friendly accommodations, however, must go to Kimpton Hotels. Not only do they welcome dogs, they retain a (canine) director of pet relations at many of their properties. Pets are greeted by name on arrival and a list of local pet-friendly restaurants is shared. Best of all, there is no extra charge for dogs — no deposit, no limit on number and no size constraints: if your pet fits through the door, say the friendly people at Kimpton, then your pet is welcome.

Traveling internationally with your dog brings its challenges, but if you do get to Europe with your loved one, let me recommend The Milestone Hotel & Residences in London’s Kensington district, where pets can expect a tailor-made welcome hamper, along with special menus and turndown treats. In the French capital, the grande dame hotel, Le Meurice, has always been pet-friendly. Salvador Dalí stayed here in the 1960s with his pet ocelot, Babou. And there’s no booking fee, not even for ocelots apparently. That would be far too vulgar for the elegant Meurice.

Lastly, if you’re traveling overseas and missing animal companionship, why not stay in a hotel where animals are, so to speak, already part of the furniture. Rosewood London, apart from welcoming pets with its Pampered Pets Program, has an in-house retriever, Pearl, who loves being petted by guests. Pearl is quite a star in the neighborhood and even has her own Instagram account (@pearl_rosewoodlondon). Over in Paris, a seductive white Burmese, Fa-raon, is the resident cat at Hotel Bristol, often found stretched out on the concierge desk. (Evian water and a monogrammed rug are among the many perks for actual pet guests at the Bristol.)

If you fancy something more exotic, iguanas cruise hotel properties all over Mexico and the Caribbean, but nowhere do they seem quite so chill and laidback as at the jaw-droppingly lovely Tranquility Bay Beachfront Resort in the Florida Keys. You can chirp along with 11 kinds of exotic birds at the Hilton Aruba Resort and there are vervet monkeys to cozy up to at the newly-opened Belle Mont Farm, in Basseterre, on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.

Best of all though in the on-property pet department may be the giraffes that make themselves at home (at least from the neck up) in the dining room at Giraffe Manor, a luxury boutique hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Not the best table manners, perhaps, but let’s face it — with eyelashes that long, you can get away with anything.

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Boston skyline.

FOLLOWING YOUR PASSIONS IN CAMBRIDGE

BY BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”

—Julia Child age words from the illustrious late Cantabrigian. And in the fine city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, there’s oh so much to be passionate about. In this place you may be engrossed in changing the world, but it’s all in a day’s work. Here one can rub tweedy elbows with challenging scholars, have a slice of the best pizza of your life or join an African drumming class. No matter the neighborhood, Cambridge’s scene teems with eclectic energy. After all, when you have nearly four centuries of history — not to mention the glorious Charles River to wake up to each day — well, every moment in this city is worthy of joy, contagious, probing, playful joy.

Visiting recently with my friend Lisa, a longtime Cantabrigian, I learned that one of her great pleasures in living in Cambridge is the palpable sense of the past. You have but to scratch the surface, she said, to find a story waiting to be sniffed out.

On her daily constitutional, she typically passes a large brownstone dog statue that sits watch in a private garden on Ash Street near Harvard Square.

Pawing into the provenance of this statue, a neighborhood landmark, Lisa found that the statue, one of a pair, has sat on this lawn since it was brought there from the Sands Marble Works more than a 104

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century ago. Apart from this discovery, the path ultimately proved as cold as the stone the statue is made of. An artistic enigma, is it a forgotten work of some well-known sculptor? Is it a copy of a late Italian piece — like those Molossian dogs that guard the entrance to the Uffizi in Florence? Tiring of sniffing around tangential trails, Lisa finally had to pull hard on her own leash and command herself to just “leave it.” Ah, Cambridge….

No visit to Cambridge would be complete without taking The Hahvahd Tour. On a sparkling, morning (the best time to experience Harvard), I met my guide and a small group to embark on a 70-minute student-led walking tour of the university, one of this country’s top colleges, founded in 1636. Jason, our guide and a current student, offered unique perspectives on college life at this famed institution where 44 current and former faculty members are Nobel laureates.

The oldest section of the university is the 25acre Harvard Yard. There were the brick façades of the dorms, libraries and classrooms, and Jason pointed out Old Yard, including Harvard’s oldest standing buildings — Massachusetts Hall, Sever Hall, the Widener Library and the Harvard Lampoon — as well as the statue of John Harvard, the English-born clergyman whose love of learning and bequest led to the establishment of the school. This statue is probably the most touched object at the school. Its left foot, shiny from human contact, is subjected to almost incessant rubbing by tourists believing that doing so brings good luck. I struck the classic pose, placing my hand on old John’s shoe, and an obliging fellow tourist took my photo. I mean, how could I not?

One of my great passions is anything Bauhaus, so I made sure that before departing Harvard, Lisa and I visited the Harvard Art Museums, which hold one of the largest collections relating to the Bauhaus, an influential 20th-century school of art and design. We saw provocative paintings by Lyonel Feininger and Jean Arp, as well as important Marcel Breuer contributions to the world of furniture design, such as his iconic Cesca chair. Do not miss this on your Harvard visit.

While in Cambridge, I stayed at the Royal Sonesta, an AAA Four Diamond property. From my room I enjoyed views of the spectacular Boston skyline and a glistening Charles River. Most memorable, though, was my dinner at Dante, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant.

Two very doable side-trips from Cambridge that I took advantage of — first, skimming over the Charles River to Boston, cruising the harbor on Classic Harbor Line’s yacht Northern Lights, and then kicking back at pretty Les Zygomates, a Paris-inspired wine bar and bistro, dining on French fare with good, live jazz purring in the background.

Another quick jaunt from Cambridge that took less than an hour — Groton, Massachusetts, and my destination, The Groton Inn. The property has 60 tastefully kitted-out rooms, world-class service and, last but certainly not least, the celebrated Forge & Vine restaurant.

The Groton bills itself as “America’s oldest inn.”

Dating from 1678 and overlooking picturesque Gibbett Hill, the original structure burned to the ground in 2011 and was happily reopened seven years later. It has been meticulously and thoughtfully reimagined, drawing inspiration from classic New England architecture and the area’s rich colonial past.

Once checked in, I wandered the tiny town and explored a few boutiques, including one of the prettiest, Indigo of Groton, a clothing and home decor store obsessed with beautiful design. I loved its wide selection of housewares, decorative pieces and clothing both from local vendors and sourced from around the world. A fun shop to be sure.

Then on to Groton’s Old Burying Ground, a site slightly more somber, but historic and handsome.

It is the town's first formal burying ground and has 340 grave markers dating from 1721 to 1909. After taking images of this haunting place — and feeling all the while a bit like an interloper on hallowed ground — I said goodbye to Groton and headed home — once again to re-enter the madding 21st century. I will, though, safeguard my New England memories for all time.

For more, visit cambridgeusa.org.

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WANDERS

BIG APPLE BEAUTY AND BITES

BY DEBBI K. KICKHAM

veryone knows that New York City is home to some of the world’s most prestigious doctors, hair stylists and beauty providers. So I went to the Big Apple to take a bite out of some of the world’s best — in the nicest possible way.

First stop — The Lash Loft. I entered with a few flutters but emerged with about 90 new mink lashes in each eye. My cat’s eye results were purr-fect! It only required an hour of time — I was amazed — but upon finishing, my peepers were truly pristine and everyone I met afterwards commented on what beautiful lashes I have. I can’t recommend The Lash Loft enough. If you can’t get to New York, I totally also recommend that you try — no, make that invest — in Rodan & Fields Lash Boost, as it can also give you lashes that are out-to-there. I’ve tried a wealth of lash serums and Lash Boost, by far, is a great contender for creating lashes that literally, bump into your brows.

Next stop: The Drawing Room. This is the upper-crust salon where models as well as A-list celebrities come to be styled. My hair had been ruined by a local hairdresser, who turned it brassy and bland instead of light and bright. I told Mirko, my stylist, that I wanted my hair to be the color of sunshine — and wow, did he deliver. (Even now, eight weeks later, my roots naturally show, but with no “skunk stripe.”) Mirko, from Italy, also suggested a few excellent products for my processed blond hair. Rikoko Prism is a terrific violet-colored leavein conditioner from the Seychelles — and my strands soaked up every single spritz when I got back home to Boston. Mirko definitely knows what he is doing, as he told me, “About 85 percent of my clients here are blond.” Another goodie: Cool Blonde by Label M, which is the official hair brand of London Fashion Week. My tresses are stressed, and these Label M products added just the pizazz to make my hair look like silk. They utilize blueberries and purple carrots as ingredients to invigorate blond tones. (And they’re sulfate-free.)

My hair was cut by Adriano, who also hails from Italy, and he gave me a la-dolce-vita chic style with layers that made my locks look thicker.

I also visited the posh Park Avenue skin salon of Dr. Howard Sobel, one of New York’s — and 106

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Debbi K. Kickham

the country’s — top dermatologists. I have been a fan of Sobel ever since my days as an editor at Robb Report, as he offers the latest-and-greatest professional products and services to keep you glowing. Name something fabulous in the world of dermatology, and Sobel offers it at his medical practice and serene day spa. Botox? (Check).

Belotero to augment your lips? (Check). Clear and brilliant laser for complexion perfection? (Check.

I had all three.) Sobel has pioneered the union of dermatology and cosmetic surgery to offer lasting, natural-looking, and visible results. His clients include high-profile models, actresses and hedgefund managers — as well as mere mortals. But as he told me with a laugh, “I never kiss-and-tell, which is why my high-profile patients return to me for many years.”

Lastly, I visit one of New York’s leading boardcertified plastic surgeons, Matthew Schulman, for a little wonderment for my waist — TruSculpt.

It’s all I can do to stay a size 4, and that means sit-ups every night. But I still had a little pouch of fat in my midsection, despite countless crunches.

TruSculpt iD, an upgraded version of TruSculpt 3D, is an FDA-approved treatment burning away up to 24 percent of fat cells in a single 15-minute, pain-free, fully awake, no-downtime session. I had six paddles placed around the stomach and waist.

“Set it and forget it,” Schulman said. “It’s like an annoying hot stone massage.” It wasn’t even that.

The treatment was slightly warm, and what I really felt was excitement at the prospect of better fitting into my bikinis. After just one treatment, results are seen gradually in 30 to 60 days, after the fat is totally excreted through your urine. “The process irreversibly kills fat cells. They’re gone,” Schulman said. Now, nine weeks later, I can honestly say my tummy is tighter, more muscles are showing, and I was more confident in wearing my two-piece in Jamaica last week. Or visit Schulman for one of his famous Brazilian Butt Lifts. They’re his most popular medical treatment. Bottoms up.

I felt like a princess, so, naturally, I went to the Broadway musical that focuses on a real princess, the tragic Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia. We loved the intimate Broadhurst Theatre (and we

were thrilled we weren’t seated in Siberia), just as we were enthralled by the story of a woman who may or may not be the last of Czar Nicholas II and the Czarina Alexandra’s four daughters. (Together with their parents and younger brother, Alexei, they were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918.) In this telling, the amnesiac Anya (played by Molly Rushing, in a delightful performance) identifies herself to her grandmother and convinces her that she is indeed Anastasia.

Afterward, we walked a block over to Osteria al Doge, where we dined on delicious antipasti, salmon and chocolate-hazelnut cake. Our hotel concierge had highly recommended the intimate Doge, and it was a little bit of Venice — La Serenissima — in the heart of Manhattan.

Other great meals? We dined at Tony’s Di Napoli, and we can't give it enough rave reviews.

This is an authentic Italian trattoria, with a convivial atmosphere, matched by top-notch food. (Believe me, one portion is enough for the entire family).

Whereas the chicken parmigiana is the best seller, we totally recommend the ravioli Bolognese or the shrimp marinara. Delight yourself with a frozen Bellini, or an old-school martini, and save room for dessert. The tiramisu is mile-high and the sorbets are served in their natural fruit shells. Like all of Italy, this charmer of a restaurant is meant to be totally embraced.

Another highlight — Clement Restaurant at The Peninsula Hotel. The palatial property is within walking distance of Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue shopping, historic museums and great Broadway shows. Its signature restaurant, Clement, on the second floor, was a stunner whose cuisine matched the ambience.

We dined on luscious local-harvest pumpkin soup, followed by a scrumptious kale-quinoa salad in a sesame vinaigrette. We feasted on Scottish salmon with a side order of glazed brussels sprouts, and thrilled to hazelnut and chocolate cake with tonka bean, cinnamon ice cream and espresso sauce.

When you’re in New York City, the Peninsula is as good as it gets.

Last but not least, we visited a classic steakhouse — The Porter House — in Columbus Circle. This bustling upscale eatery won us over — it was love at first bite — with the raisin-pecan bread. When we weren’t gawking at actor Bruce Willis seated nearby, we enjoyed salmon and filet mignon and even the mere baked potato was perfection. The sides were also simply spectacular — roasted brussels sprouts, and especially the honey-thyme carrots. The bar program is an elevated take on classic cocktails, offering tableside single-malt scotch and cognac services that exemplify the restaurant’s world-class showmanship and craftsmanship.

I have to say — my every bite of the Big Apple was one to savor.

See Debbi’s complete New York tour at wagmag.com. And for more on Debbi, visit gorgeousglobetrotter.com and marketingauthor.com.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

SPRING AWAKENING

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

red Kaufman has a killer instinct — in the nicest possible way.

“I always root for the predator,” says the 28-year executive producer of PBS’ riveting “Nature” series, whom we first profiled in our October 2012 issue. Recently, Kaufman has been observing hawks not far from his home in Irvington no doubt making what Oscar Hammerstein would describe as “lazy circles in the sky.”

“The hawks feed on rodents, which means there’s a supply,” Kaufman says. “When you see a hawk, it’s a good day. It’s a sign the ecosystem is healthy.”

It’s an awakening ecosystem that viewers will encounter on the “Nature: American Spring LIVE,” which the Emmy- and Peabody-awardwinning series will air April 29 through May 1. In this three-part finale to the series’ 37th season, anchor Juju Chang, biologist Thor Hanson and entomologist Phil Torres will explore the cycles of birth and rebirth, the patterns of migration and the connections between plants and animals in pretaped and live events that will take viewers from urban areas to the wilderness, from jagged mountains to lush coastlines.

Normally, it takes the “Nature” filmmakers two to three years to create a program. Now the team will be doing the equivalent of a documentary in three live hours. If Kaufman sounds a bit nervous, it’s understandable: Anything can happen on live TV. But, he notes, “Spring is arguably the most beautiful season.” And “American Spring” is but another indication of how the series has evolved over the years with greater technical

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innovations. Having done this job for so long, Kaufman says, he has reached the point at which he understands how animals behave. It then becomes about “new ways of accessing information” — going where the animal can and you can’t.

This has involved cameras dressed up as animals, cameras on animals and cameras in remote locations such as the jungles of Ecuador. In the fascinating “Spy in the Wild” miniseries (2017), real critters could interact with animatronic spy cameras — or not.

“I think the animals could tell fairly quickly that these were not a threat and just ignored them,” Kaufman says, giving us literally a hippopotamus’- or an orangutan’s-eye view. A sequel next year will take the spying one step further, Kaufman promises.

As for the animals with cameras, he says the filmmakers do everything they can to ensure that the animals they’re following aren’t harmed by the devices and can slip out of them if they wish.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is that the crews remain observers of what can be poignant and painful scenes — for the animals’ safety and that of their own. It’s not all elegance and majesty as in the recent two-part “Equus: Story of the Horse.” We remember the “Great Zebra Exodus,” in which a stallion, sensing that one foal was not his own, picked it up by the throat and thrashed it to death as its mother struggled in vain to protect it.

Nature — as with human nature — can be cruel. And it can be compassionate, as in an episode in which a flamingo remained faithfully beside its partner, fatally mired in mud.

“I completely understand that there are scenes

Fred Kaufman, executive producer of “Nature.” Courtesy PBS “Nature.”

Helen Macdonald with Lupin in “H is for Hawks,” an installment of PBS’ “Nature.”

Photograph by George Woodcock. © Mike Birkhead Associates.

that are hard to take,” Kaufman says. But there is a way to present them, he says. A kill that lasts five to 10 seconds on film may actually take 15 minutes. “There are things we don’t show.”

But, he adds, he is more worried about selfcensorship than what the series depicts.

Sometimes what the series depicts is the damaging effect of the ultimate predator, man, encroaching on animal resources, contributing to climate change.

“Things are happening that are not supposed to, and the animals don’t get the message,” Kaufman says, as in “Silence of the Bees” (2011), about the destruction of the honeybee population that is vital to our food chain.

Yet nature remains remarkably resilient, he adds, as in the cases of the raptors — the peregrine falcons and eagles, among them — that made a comeback after the elimination of certain pesticides and a home amid New York’s soaring cityscape.

“Nature” will remain as adaptable as nature, he says.

“We challenge people to think differently about how to tell a story.”

For more, visit pbs.org/wnet/nature.

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WONDERFUL DINING

Evarito's in South Norwalk is the latest eatery from Christian Burns and his company, SKAL Restaurant Group.

TWISTY TEX-MEX STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY ALEESIA FORNI

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here’s no party without salsa.”

Chef Hugo Orozco says this as he places a colorful array of various salsas in front of us. There’s chile de arbol, salsa roja, morita salsa, salsa verde, creamy avocado, salsa borracha and mole negra. Each is unique, but all are perfect for piling atop the blue and white masa tortillas here at Evarito’s.

Opened last summer, Evarito’s marks the latest eatery from restaurateur Christian Burns and his company, SKAL Restaurant Group, a group that also owns Cask Republic in New Haven and Stamford and Ginger Man in

Greenwich. The name for his latest venture, Burns says, was inspired by a loving moniker his family has used for their son, Everett, since he was a child.

Inspired by Burns’ various trips over the years across Texas and Mexico, the South Norwalk newcomer at 16 Main St. stands out from the crowd with turquoise blue plush seating, a 30foot wooden bar and intricately-designed tiled walls. A rooftop bar is set to open just in time for Cinco de Mayo, offering views of both SoNo and the Long Island Sound.

“We want to make this different from your regular Mexican restaurant experience,” Orozco says. “We’re really trying to transport people as much as we can.”

Top: Corn and a roased shishito pepper garnished with cotija cheese and crickets; and bottom, from left, an avocado cream dessert, churros and chocolate flan; and Hudson Valley duck breast with a slice of roasted cauliflower and green beans

Our evening starts with a cactus salad, where a sliver of scrumptious grilled cactus joins an onion charred on one of the restaurant’s pair of wood-fired grills, and jicama root, garnished with a watermelon radish and cilantro cream.

There are plenty of seafood options, including a raw bar with oysters or clams on a half-shell, shrimp aguachile with cucumber and a fresh-catch ceviche.

A standout is corn-on-the-cob topped with cotija cheese and chili powder, paired with a roasted shishito pepper. We were feeling a bit adventurous, so we sampled one of the restaurant’s unique options — a garnish of crunchy crickets. Orozco says this Mexican delicacy has proved a polarizing offering,

with some guests cringing at the thought and others begging for more. For our part, while we enjoyed a small sample, it’s likely not something we’ll make a habit of ordering.

Closer to home and better suited to our taste, Hudson Valley-raised duck breast is cooked to perfection and tops an Oaxacan black mole in another of our favorite dishes of the night. The traditional quesadilla is given a new spin at Evarito’s, with cheese covering the outside of the corn tortilla, while the inside is filled with chorizo and a spicy enchilada sauce.

Juicy Mayan pork ribs pair with chicharrones (pork rinds) and a Xni-Pec salsa. Wood-grilled Pacific grouper is served alongside a vegetable empanada, fresh greens and mole verde.

Those hoping for tacos won’t be disappointed by the variety at Evarito’s, with options ranging from beef, chorizo and carnitas to cauliflower mole and lamb barbacoa.

For dessert, we nibble on crunchy churros with a rich chocolate sauce, bite-sized pieces of chocolate flan and chocolate cake.

The restaurant’s logo, the face of a cunning fox, can be spotted at various spots throughout the restaurant — the glass doors at the entrance, in a wooden wall-hanging near the bar. The fox’s face is both sleek and daring, much like Evarito’s itself.

“We’re not trying to cook like our mothers or grandmothers,” says Orozco. “We’re trying to do things in a different way.”

For more, visit evaritos.com.

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CAFFEINE FIX

BY MARY SHUSTACK

here’s no need to feel guilty about your caffeine habit.

That’s thanks to Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co., a Chicago-based company dedicated to the idea that “great coffee can fuel a greater purpose.”

To that end, 20 percent of the profits of its fair trade and organic specialty coffees and related products — think mugs and themed apparel — are used to fund animal rescue initiatives.

WAG recently chatted with Jordan Karcher, CEO and founder of Grounds & Hounds, about the company and its commitment to supporting no-kill rescue organizations across the country.

Karcher’s story is front and center on the Grounds & Hounds site: “In the spring of 2012, I unexpectedly stumbled upon a dog adoption operating on the side of Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, CA. I was in no way planning, or prepared to adopt a rescue animal when I left the house that morning, but when a malnourished, brown and white, Dalmatian crawled into my lap, it was clear that I would be welcoming a new member to my family. She immediately became the center of my life and I cannot imagine a day without her.”

Karcher, who grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania, told us that his love of dogs goes way back.

“I’ve had a dog in my house as far back as I can remember. We had a Dalmatian in our house when I was 2.”

That love stayed with Karcher, continuing when he was playing baseball in college. He studied international business at Florida International University in Miami.

After graduating, he moved to California and joined the wine industry, starting out in analytics.

“It was an amazing experience — 22 years old and living by wineries,” he says with a laugh.

His father was in the wine industry, so “I read Wine Spectator when I was 14,” Karcher says.

In time, it was his “strong interest in beverages that kind of parlayed into coffee.”

Karcher began “traveling around California exploring the coffee space,” and trying to find a way to bring his interests in rescue organizations and quality coffee together.

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Jordan Karcher, founder of Grounds & Hounds, and his own dog, Molly, the inspiration for the project.

Courtesy Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co.

“Grounds & Hounds was the byproduct of that query.”

But it was far from a smooth start.

“Oh, yeah, I was in graduate school so I had no income, so I used craigslist and ebay for early funding,” he says of selling off some of his possessions.

“It was very much a bootstrap operation.”

Those early days more than five years ago were also spent brewing coffee and sharing samples at weekend animal-rescue events, steps that in retrospect helped build a strong foundation for Grounds & Hounds.

“It was very important for me to have a very close pulse on my customer.”

Since then, he’s noted an evolution in customer demographics, though the thread of someone “who was really engaged with animal rescues” continues.

Today, he notes a large female customer base featuring many women who volunteer at animal-rescue organizations but customers do range from 25-year-old guys who love the accessories to “65- to 70-year-old women who love our pods.”

Karcher says coffee culture as a whole has “evolved,” with more consumers today wanting to support brands they believe in.

“We’re a socially conscious company, and people love that — and that’s why we exist.”

But, he says, the coffee — Grounds & Hounds blends are “all Fair Trade and organic” — has to be

good to sustain it all.

“Our coffee, we’ll put up (against) any other coffee, quality-wise.”

Karcher says Grounds & Hounds works most often with rescue organizations on the local and state level, mentioning regional affiliations with Best Friends New York and Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue.

Indeed, any organization, big or small, is encouraged to get involved.

“We actually just launched a brand new project this year,” he says of the Grounds Crew.

This initiative allows work at the grassroots level “in a turnkey way,” as local organizations can team up with Grounds & Hounds so that a portion of sales from their volunteers and supporters comes back to it.

That direct, tangible impact, Karcher says, is “our goal.”

As the company marks its fifth anniversary, Karcher says the focus will always remain on quality. But the related products are not afterthoughts.

“You’re not just getting some cheap T-shirt,” he says. “It’s always about making a difference and enjoying the product along the way.”

And that product is also expanding, as Karcher notes.

“If you don’t drink coffee, we now have a premium hot chocolate.”

For more, visit groundsandhoundscoffee.com.

NOW OPEN ON MONDAYS! Lunch & Dinner • Monday – Sunday

SUNDAY BRUNCH

Make your Easter reservation today!

WINE & DINE

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

BY DOUG PAULDING

here is never a shortage of surprises in the wine industry and I experienced a rather profound one recently. I received a media invite to meet some winemakers from Livermore Valley, California, over lunch at the wonderful Villanelle restaurant just south and west of Union Square in Manhattan.

Livermore Valley wine country, just east of San Francisco, could be called one of the birthplaces of the California and, by extension, American wine world. Robert Livermore planted the first wine grapes in the region in 1846. In 1883 Carl H. Wente and James Concannon founded the first wineries in the region and are both five generations in, producing great wines for the palate and the wallet.

At this luncheon were five winemakers and Chris Chandler, the executive director of the region. A few of these winemakers were from long ime wine families and a couple of them had other careers, a passion for wine and an idea that the time was ripe to morph into the industry. Karl Wente, Darcie Kent and Steven Kent Mirassou are from families with deep wine roots. And Rhonda Wood and Phil Long are newbies in the region and the industry, both exhibiting palpable excitement and energy in their lives and with their wines.

Karl Wente told me his family’s first vintage was in just after the Civil War and they have never missed a vintage of production since. Early on, the Wente family became known for Chardonnay and imported cuttings from Europe to establish their vineyards and today nearly 80 percent of all the Chardonnay vineyards in California trace their roots back to the Wente clone. They also brought in grape cuttings from Château Margaux in Bordeaux to establish Cabernet Sauvignon in Livermore. James Concannon also imported Cabernet into Livermore and today 80 percent the 80,000 acres planted to Cabernet can be traced to the Concannon clone. Obviously, the region was one of the birthplaces of the California wine industry and has had a profound effect on the entire wine industry. And 87 years before the now famous “Judgment of Paris” – a 1976 Parisian contest that

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Courtesy Darcie Kent.

established the excellence of California vintages — Charles Wetmore won the top prize at the International Paris Exposition with his Livermore dry white wine.

The Livermore Valley has some elevation, gravelly, well-drained soils and the perfect setting for the oceanic influence that creates long hang time for the grapes, imparting structure, flavor and nuance to the fruit and ultimately the wine. It is hot to the east of the region and, as the heat builds during the day, it draws in the cooler air from the Pacific, causing a rapid evening cooldown. These dramatic diurnal temperature swings help to create deep and layered wines.

I asked Karl Wente if global warming would ultimately hurt the region. “No, it won’t,” he said.

The hotter it gets, the more cool air gets drawn in from the ocean. It appears to naturally self-regulate the temperatures.”

So, how were the wines? Each of the producers there seemed to have his favorite pet grape. Phil Long poured a 2018 Pinot Blanc.

A previous vintage won the best white wine in Livermore. Phil has embraced the concept of creating unmanipulated wines and letting “the fruit do the talking.” His Longevity 2015 Grenache showed generous dark fruit with a subtle oak influence and big aromatics wafting out of the glass. Steven Kent Mirassou, of Steven Kent Winery, said he was “unabashed and passionate in his love of Livermore and the wines.” He poured his Lola, a wonderful white blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon vinified separately and then blended to his desires. Great fresh citrus notes with white flowers combined with a silky mouth-

feel made this a winner.

Artist Darcie Kent poured her 2017 Victories Rosé made from Malbec. Some of her wines’ proceeds are donated to charitable organizations.

Some of the proceeds of this Rosé help Axis Community Health in Pleasanton, and Livermore, California. This wine danced, with fresh strawberry flavors and a backbone of lemon citrus for balance – a lovely wine. Rhonda Wood, of Wood Family Vineyards, retired from a career as an airline pilot, to pursue a dream and a passion. She poured her well-crafted 2014 Para Mas Amigas Chardonnay, which showed good fresh grape flavors, balanced citrus with some pear and hints of stone fruits. Meanwhile, the 2016 Wente Charles Wetmore Cabernet Sauvigon showed big hearty red and black fruit, notably blackberry with some finely ground black pepper. Look for it.

The Livermore Valley has a few producers with thousands of acres of vines and many with 10 to 20 acres. There are 80 grape-growing families and 50 wine producers. The big boys (Wente) produce 400,000 cases of wine per year while there are many that contribute 100 to 500 boutiqu- style cases. But it is clear the entire region is in a collaborative path to excellence.

Sharing ideas, techniques and solving problems in person or over the phone is a regular thing.

Of the five producers at the table, only Wente Vineyard wines can be found in the New York metro market. But all of them have online sales available. You will be satisfied, I promise.

For more, visit wentevineyards.com, woodfamilyvineyard.com, stevenkent.com, darciekentvineyards.com and longevitywines.com.

See what’s on our horizon!

CHEER ON OUR SPECIAL PARTICIPANTS who will proudly demonstrate their equestrian skills this year at the 36th ANNUAL HORSE SHOW at Pegasus Farm.

SAVE THE DATE! June 7-8

NEW! THE EQUUS EFFECT VETERANS PROGRAM. The curriculum is designed to introduce natural horsemanship as a way to help vets gain the trust, respect and willingness to collaborate with whom they live and work.

THE 10th ANNUAL HAVILAND HOLLOW CHARITY CUP at NYC Polo Club. This event is guaranteed to be thrilling for all!

NEW! SAVE THE DATE!

SEPT 14

Our mission is to enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities and challenges through equineassisted activities and therapies.

Please visit our website for event details, volunteering opportunities and making a charitable gift.

pegasustr.org

Pegasus Therapeutic Riding | 310 Peach Lake Road, Brewster, NY | (845) 669-8235

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM | @WAGMAGAZINE APRIL 2019

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We are driven by our mission to improve the lives of kids and adults with disabilities through the therapeutic benefits of adaptive riding and horsemanship programs.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY JOINING OUR COMMUNITY Volunteer Sponsor a Horse Participate 556 Croton Lake Road Mt. Kisco, NY 10549

www.accessequestrian.org 914-234-9000

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serving communities throughout the tri-state region region for over 80 years Equestrian Projects: Design and installation of both commercial and private indoor and outdoor arenas, grass or dry paddocks, grand prix and derby fields, tracks, ring maintenance, dust control, and a variety of quality footing (visit fooingfirst.com for more details).

Recycling: We accept clean concrete, blacktop, rock, stumps, logs, brush, and leaves at our yard for recycling. Go green by keeping your recyclable construction debris out of landfills and by purchasing inexpensive, high quality, and approved recycled materials!

Construction Materials: Sand, gravel, Item #4, Portland cement, re-bar, wire mesh, concrete block, filter fabric, silt fence, drainage pipe & fittings, plastic drywells, precast boxes & basins, and much more! Delivered or picked up at our yard.

Winter Ice Control Products: Bulk & bagged rock salt, sand & salt mix, traction sand, bagged calcium chloride, bagged magnesium chloride and a variety of snow shovels & ice scrapers. Delivered or picked up at our yard.

Landscape Materials: Topsoil, compost, subsoil, clean dirt fill, hardwood mulch, Nutri-Peat®, flagstone, wallstone, boulders, steppers & garden path stones, Jonathan Green® grass seed, fertilizer, hand tools, and much more! Delivered or picked up at our yard.

260 Route 100 • Somers, New York 10589 • 914 232-3275 • LawtonAdams.com • lic WC2139-H89

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References upon request

Jim Dratfield’s Petography ®

The Fine Art of Photographing Pets and Pets with Their People www.petography.com 917-331-2040

APRIL 2019

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WELL

A WIN BY A NOSE

BY MEGHAN MCSHARRY

or as long as I can remember, I have been self-conscious about my nose. It started in high school — you know, those awkward years where you really start to care about your appearance, you play around with your personal “look” and your primary concern is getting a date for the prom.

Many people never noticed the bump on my nose. But to me, it was something that stuck out on my face, both literally and figuratively.

As I became a teenager, the bump grew more visible from the profile view and the bridge of my nose was crooked from the front, thanks to an unfortunate accident with a baseball during high school. I had been telling my mom since I was 15 or 16 that, one day, I would get a nose job.

Last year, I learned about something called a “liquid” or “nonsurgical” nose job, which uses fillers to change the appearance of your nose without any down time or major bruising, and at less than half the cost of a rhinoplasty surgery. As someone who’s never had surgery, I was excited to find out that there was another route to take. Just around the corner from my house, at Greenwich Medical Spa, I could have the procedure done and be in and out in minutes.

I first visited Shilpa Desai, a physician’s assistant at the medical spa, for a consultation a few weeks ago. She explained that I was the perfect candidate for the procedure and reassured me that it would be quick, virtually painless and effective in fixing the bump that had bothered me for so long. She would inject Restylane, a hyaluronic acid filler, above the bump on my nose to smooth out its appearance. I needed no more convincing. I scheduled my appointment for the injections for just a few days later.

When I arrived on the morning of the procedure, medical assistant Jennifer Madinabeitia brought me into a room to apply a topical numbing gel and take my photograph. Within minutes, my whole face was numb and I was ready for the needles.

Shilpa and Jennifer looked at my nose and mapped out where to place the injections using a white eyeliner pencil. When Shilpa put the first

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Before and after photos of the author. Photographs courtesy Greenwich Medical Spa.

needle in, I barely felt a thing other than the click of the syringe; the needle was that tiny. It really was painless, especially toward the top of my nose. The worst of the pain I felt was on the tip of my nose, where Shilpa injected a small amount of filler to help bring the tip upward.

Even so, I would hardly consider it pain. It was merely a pinch that made my eyes water, similar to getting a flu shot.

My mom, Holly, who tagged along for the ride, said that even after just the first injection, she

could already see a noticeable difference. By the time it was finished (after about 45 minutes to an hour) and I looked in the mirror, I was speechless — and still am. To be able to look in the mirror and feel happy about the way such a prominent feature on my face looked brought me a whole new kind of confidence.

The Restylane should last up to a year, although I wish it was permanent. Because the body naturally produces and breaks down hyaluronic acid on its own, it will break down filler as well. But because the injections went into my nose where there is less muscle movement than other places on the face, such as the lips, my “nose job” will last longer than typical lip fillers would.

The nonsurgical nose job is a great option for someone who may be hesitant to go under the knife. But you should consult with your physician first to determine what is best for you.

For more, visit greenwichmedicalspa.com.

WELL

NEVER LET ’EM SEE YOU SWEAT

BY CHRISTINA SMITLEY

fter years of providing successful leadership on the soccer field, the star athletes of Sweat Cosmetics — including an Olympian and two pros — tackled a stubborn offfield problem: They formed a company and launched their first product, a two-in-one foundation and sunscreen that could provide protection, look good and last through the game. With Sweat, these athletes took action to meet their lifestyle needs, and they correctly predicted that there were a lot more athletic

women like them — busy, active and looking for healthy beauty options.

Skincare products that do double duty — supporting skin health and boosting looks during a workout — shouldn’t come as a surprise. They’re the latest in the tsunami of athleisure goods that have flooded the market since 1998, when Canada’s Chip Wilson opened his first Lululemon store in Vancouver — and paparazzi photos began to feature celebs showing off their shapes in yoga pants.

There’s been a convergence of trends, including fitness- and fashion-focused millennials, as well as the desire to post photographs of our daily lives. Working out is no longer private or anonymous. And for some, being able to take steps to look good during their workout can provide key motivation.

But looking good while sweating poses a challenge for our skin. Traditionally, dermatologists have advised removing all makeup before exercise. Makeup can exacerbate the presence of sweat, oil and bacteria, causing clogged pores, which trigger acne.

Since 2015, when its SPF 30 mineral foundation was released, the Sweat crew has been joined by a

Just because you’re exercising doesn’t mean you can’t look good.

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Who’s Who of cosmetics, including Clinique, Tarte, e.l.f. and megaretailer Sephora, which specifically offers products under lineups that include “Workout Makeup” and “Gym Essentials.”

Fortunately, today we don’t have to choose between treating our skin well or looking good.

However, it’s important that we understand the fundamentals of how beauty products can enhance our workout.

Stressing the “less is more” adage, I prefer no makeup for workouts. But I do have tips for those still looking to incorporate cosmetic products into their trip to the gym: Let your pores breathe, too. The “breathe” mantra is also essential for our skin. Any product we use must be “noncomedogenic,” which means it is nonclogging. It should also be oil-free. And mineral ingredients in powder form, such as silica, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, can help subdue redness and absorb oil. To avoid breakouts, she suggests using less product, even the noncomedogenic ones.

Make the most of your sunscreen. Products like Sweat Cosmetic’s 2-in-1 sunscreen and foundation can be win-win. We need sunscreen. For those who want foundation coverage, adding in tint can be a value-add, if the company has focused on skin-supportive ingredients.

Target your application. Some of today’s activewear makeup isn’t new. It’s just been remarketed. Take eye enhancers like “sweatproof” mascaras, liners and brow products. Likewise, lip wear. This remarketing underscores the reality that these products, in particular, can be used during exercise without posing a problem for our skin.

She advises to be careful as eye makeup can prove to be irritating as it mixes with sweat.

Cleanse smart. Exercise is sweaty. Even with nonclogging beauty products, we need to cleanse to keep our pores happy. We should have a clean towel handy for sweat while we work out. And post-workout cleansing is a must: If we’re really on the go, the latest products include cleansing wipes.

Be gentle. Exercise can be good for our skin, releasing debris from below the surface and enhancing blood flow. But we also need to make sure that we treat our skin carefully. Sweat should be blotted gently, not wiped. Cleansers should be gentle — and no scrubbing allowed. Finally, moisturizing is a must.

The awareness of carefully choosing skin products, including cosmetics, will ultimately help keep our skin healthy both in and out of the gym.

Christina Smitley, a family nurse practitioner with Advanced Dermatology PC, is boardcertified through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. For more, visit advanceddermatologypc.com.

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• Monitoring progress and adjusting behaviors as needed.

• Building consistency and repeatable systems for making good choices.

• Helping bodies function and perform their best, approaching change holistically; looking at all sides of a problem.

Nationally certified and recognized fitness trainer and Precision Nutrition coach.

• Mention this WAG Magazine ad and receive 20% OFF the program. As a thank you, veterans receive 50% OFF. • Daily nutritional habits and reminders guide you through your transformation.

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• At the end of the program, if not completely satisfied, you will receive a full refund.

Visit www.GiovanniRoselli.com for more info or contact him directly at Gio@GiovanniRoselli.com.

WELL

LOOKING FOR ADVICE? ASK YOURSELF FIRST

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

— Albert Einstein

e often look to others for advice. This has been and will always be important for our lives, no matter what type of person you are.

Now, who you are asking advice from may be a whole other article for another day, but let’s hope we are going to people who are trustworthy, intelligent and have experience in what you are asking advice about.

TALK TO YOURSELF What I want to challenge you this month is to look within yourself and ask yourself some questions. You may be surprised what you will find out and ultimately reveal. As a certified Precision Nutrition coach, we often teach our clients to ask themselves the following questions: IN REGARD TO FOOD: • Are you eating the right amount for your goals?

• Does each meal have lean protein?

• Does each meal have at least one serving of vegetables and/or fruit, ideally colorful ones?

• Are you choosing “smart” carbohydrates that are high in fiber?

• Are you eating whole, relatively unprocessed foods? (Or are you relying a lot on shakes, bars, prepackaged stuff, etc.)

• Are you eating healthy fats? (avocado, almonds, eggs, olive oil, for example)

Giovanni Roselli.

Photograph by Melissa Hamburg.

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• Does everything you eat add value? Does it make your body better, stronger, and healthier? Does it nourish you? Does it give you good stuff like vitamins and minerals?

IN REGARD TO BEVERAGES: • Does it hydrate me?

• Does it replenish nutrients I’ve lost?

• Does it add value, health and/or recovery?

• After I drink this, will I feel physically good and satisfied?

• After I drink this, will I feel happy and proud about my choice?

If the answer to all of the above is yes, then go ahead and enjoy. If the answer is no, take a few moments to think about it.

• What trade-off are you willing to make? What’s your deal? Why? • Is there a better choice available? Why is it better?

BE HONEST Research shows that we do much better – and stay motivated – when we do the following: • Identify what is working and do more of that.

• Find our strengths and figure out how to make them work for us.

• Find people who are strong and successful in this area and learn from them.

It can be simplified into this: Accentuate your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Always aim for “excellent” as opposed to “perfect,” as this all or nothing mentality often doesn’t last or end well.

IS IT WORKING? The last question I want you to ask yourself may be the simplest of them all and most clichéd, however the most revealing: “How’s that working for you?”

Yep, that’s it.

You are on some type of plan. If it’s working well, great, keep doing what you are doing.

On the other hand, you’ve been doing something for a while; and the answer to “how’s that working for you?” is not that great. Well, guess what you should probably do? Either tweak what you are doing or try something else. If it hasn’t been working for you, then why would you continue to do it?

And here’s one final thought: If you ask yourself these questions and you aren’t sure of the answer, that’s OK. That’s where someone like me comes in. As always, I’ll be happy to help.

I appreciate all of the emails and comments every month from each one of my columns and I always respond to every single one.

So, how’d this column work for you?

Reach Giovanni on Twitter @GiovanniRoselli and at his website, GiovanniRoselli.com.

Your Moments Made

MEMORABLE The perfect setting creates a breathtaking landscape from ceremony to send off.

914.948.0958 • cvrich.com

PET OF THE MONTH

WHERE’S LACEY? ne, two, three, aw — puppies. Meet Cagney, a sweet 4 month old who was rescued from a highkill shelter where she and her sibling — whose name is Lacey, as in the hit 1980s woman-buddy cop series “Cagney & Lacey” — had been abandoned.

This short-legged Border Collie/Collie pup is a first for WAG as the SPCA doesn’t usually bring us babies. But we’re so glad the organization did as Cagney wriggled into our hearts the moment she wriggled into our White Plains office — much to the chagrin of Willie, the naughtiest of publisher Dee DelBello’s three West Highland terriers. Usually, Willie likes a younger woman. But he was mighty jealous to see Cagney getting all the attention, not to mention one of his toys.

And why not? She proved to be an adorable fluff ball of happiness — wiggly, playful and just eager for TLC. Cagney would be great for a family and should do well with other animals.

You hear that, Willie?

To meet Cagney — and Lacey — visit the SPCA of Westchester at 590 N. State Road in Briarcliff Manor.

Founded in 1883, the SPCA is a no-kill shelter and is not affiliated with the ASPCA. The SPCA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays.

To learn more, call 914- 941-2896 or visit spca914.org.

Photographs by Sebastián Flores.

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Champ and Aleesia.

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urrounded by friends and family, WAG’s own Wonderful Dining columnist Aleesia Forni tied the knot with her longtime love, John Visgak, in their home state of Ohio on March 9. Held at the historic Hyatt Arcade in downtown Cleveland, the wedding was filled with love, laughter and lots of peanut butter and banana cake. Their nuptials featured blush and burgundy florals, gold accents and one very special guest — their beloved pup, Champ, who walked down the aisle just ahead of Aleesia.

We now pronounce them husband, wife and Champ.

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PET PORTRAITS

DREAM DOG

BY ROBIN COSTELLO

h, Frankie, you're such a heartthrob.

What woman can resist a handsome, welldressed guy (well, Cocker Spaniel), one who wears a necktie? Certainly, not Debra Forrest of Mahopac.

The minute she and her husband, Raymond, laid eyes on Frankie, it was love at first sight.

This sweet pup with big soulful eyes was one of a litter rescued from a highkill shelter. He has finally found his loving fur-ever home with Debra and Raymond.

Easing his way into his new life, Frankie used to play with his brother (his litter mate) at the neighborhood doggy daycare.

So poised and well-mannered, Frankie stands by the front door and rings a bell when he needs to go out to the yard to do his business. When he comes back in the house, he politely wipes his paws on the mat.

Oh Frankie, you're a dream.

Photograph courtesy Debra Forrest.

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14TH ANNUAL

Honoring: Susan Fox President and CEO of White Plains Hospital May 8, 2019 Tappan Hill Mansion, Tarrytown, NY Featuring Emcee: Janice Dean Meteorologist for Fox & Friends

7.75 x 4.75

To register or donate, visit womenonthemovenyc.org.

The Schoolhouse Theater & Art Center Henri Matisse.

The great man had nearly died.

Before Monique inspired his masterpiece, there was the cancer.

“Night Nurse needed” read his note.

“Must be young and pretty…”

Directed by Bram Lewis

TIX: SchoolhouseTheater.org

(914) 277-8477 |3 Owens Rd, Croton Falls, NY |SchoolhouseTheater@gmail.com APRIL 2019

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WHEN & WHERE

Through April 13

Hudson Stage Company presents “Proof,” David Auburn’s award-winning play about authenticity, madness and love. Times vary, Whippoorwill Hall Theatre, North Castle Library, 19 Whippoorwill Road East, Armonk; 914-271-2811. hudsonstage.com.

Through December 15

Hudson River Museum’s “A Century of Lunar Photography & Beyond” celebrates the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the moon with photographs from NASA, the Hastings Historical Society, the Lick Observatory Archive and private collections. This show also complements the museum’s “The Color of the Moon: Lunar Painting in American Art” exhibition, which is currently on view. Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays, 511 Warburton Ave., Yonkers; 914-963-4550. hrm.org.

April 3

“Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church” is a new film that combines historical footage of Hendrix’s July 4, 1970, concert in Atlanta with a documentary tracing his journey to the festival amid the dark shadow of civil rights unrest, the toll of the Vietnam War and a burgeoning festival culture that drew young people together across the country.

7:30 p.m., Avon Theatre Film Center, 272 Bedford St., Stamford; 203-967-3660. avontheatre.org.

April 4 through 7

Sacred Heart University’s Theatre Arts program presents “Hair,” celebrating 1960s counterculture in all its barefooted, long-haired, bell-bottomed, beaded and fringed glory.

8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts, 5151 Park Ave., Fairfield; 203-371-7908. edgertoncenter.org/theatre_arts.php.

April 4 through 27

Westchester Collaborative Theater presents a production of Rick Apicella’s “The Legend,” directed by Joe Albert Lima. The play follows the journey of William Rodriguez, a young boxer who has not spoken since he was brutally bullied as a child. When his mother dies, he decides to embark on a journey into the rabbit hole of professional prizefighting with the help of his trainer and next-door neighbor, only to find that their vulnerabilities are used against them at every turn. Times vary, 23 Water St., Ossining; 914-263-4953. wctheater.org.

April 6

“Music for Youth” presents Yves Dharamraj during a special Free Young Persons’ Concert at the Pequot Library. Dharamraj has earned a worldwide reputation as a cellist who blends an immaculate command of the instrument with deep musical understanding in his fresh, elegant interpretations. 2 p.m., 720 Pequot Ave., Southport; 203-259-0346. pequotlibrary.org.

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Leyla Sarah McCalla will perform April 13 at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah. Courtesy Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.

The Gallery at Still River Editions presents an opening reception for “Rusted Relics,” an exhibition of color photographs by Lisa Berger of Newtown and Tara Tomaselli of Bethel. Reception at 2 p.m., Exhibition continues through May 31. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 128 E. Liberty St., Danbury; 203-7911474. stillrivereditions.com.

April 7

The New York Philharmonic String Quartet made its debut in March 2017 with four multiple prize-winning principal musicians from the orchestra. With a repertoire that includes Mendelssohn and Beethoven, the quartet has continued to delight classical music lovers. 3 p.m., Fairfield University, Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road; 203-254-4010. quickcenter.fairfield.edu.

In “Angelina Ballerina the Musical,” Angelina and her friends are all aflutter as a special guest is visiting Camembert Academy. The girls perform hip-hop, modern dance, the Irish jig and, of course, ballet, excited to show off their skills to their visitor. 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court; 203-227-4177. westportplayhouse.org.

New Rochelle Public Library presents “Read 650,” a literary forum for true personal stories, each limited to 650 words, read aloud by the writer before an audience.

During this event, a group of writers will share their stories about public libraries. A reception will follow the program.

3 to 6 p.m., 1 Library Plaza; 914-632-7878. nrpl.org .

The Sanctuary Series presents “The Sonicals Piano Duo,” featuring Joel A. Martin and George Lopez. The duo infuses solo classical piano music with jazz improvisation to create its signature sound. 4 p.m., South Salem Presbyterian Church, 111 Spring St.; 914-763-5402. thesanctuaryseries.org.

April 8

Celebrate Connecticut with author, architectural historian and deputy director of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Christopher Wigren. He will speak about his new book, “Connecticut Architecture: Stories of 100 Places.” 6 p.m., Norwalk Historical Society, Town House at Mill Hill Historic Park, 2 E. Wall St.; 203-212-6894. culturalalliancefc.org/event/chris-wigren/.

April 11

“Codex” is a 20-minute film, written and directed by Micah Bloom, an artist and professor at Minot State University in North Dakota, which was covered with waterlogged books and other debris following a 2011 flood. Bloom documented the books as they were slowly absorbed into the landscape, then collected and moved them to a laboratory where he tagged and preserved them. The reverence with which he treats these castaside volumes speaks to the feelings we have about books. Post-screening discussion about the film, books, and book art. 7 p.m., Ridgefield Library, 472 Main St.; 203403-5285. ridgefieldlibrary.org.

April 13

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn are regarded by many as the “king and queen of banjo.” A 15-time Grammy winner, Fleck has been nominated in more categories than any other instrumentalist in Grammy history. They will appear at 8 p.m., Fairfield University, Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road; 203-254-4010. quickcenter. fairfield.edu.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts presents a performance by musician Leyla Sarah McCalla. This classically trained cellist is influenced by traditional Creole, Cajun and Haitian music, as well as by American jazz and folk. 8 p.m., 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah; 914-2321252, caramoor.org. .

World class entertainment in the Bronx

Star Dust

Star Dust

Noche CALIENTE

Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 8PM

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 8PM

Tickets: VIP $75, $45, $40, $25 | Children up to 12, $10 any seat

Tickets: VIP $100, $65, $55, $50

The International hit rock ballet, “Star Dust, A David Bowie Tribute,” commissioned by Detroit’s own Music Hall makes its Lehman Center debut to dazzle audiences with its spellbinding glamour!

Frankie Negron Roberto Blades Brenda K’ Starr

The Diva and El Rey Saturday, April 13 2019 at 8PM

The historic reunion of

Sophy & Fausto Rey Tickets: VIP $125, $75, $65, $50

55th Anniversary

with special guests

Victoria Sanabria El Trio Ideal Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 8PM Johnny Olivo and Herencia De Plena Tickets: VIP $100, $85, $75, $65

INVINCIBLE

Saturday, May 25 2019 at 8PM A Glorious Tribute to Michael Jackson

Tickets: VIP $75, $45, $40, $25 Children up to 12, $10 any seat

Box Office 718.960.8833 Online tickets and full schedule www.LehmanCenter.org Kids up to 12, $10 all seats VIP Reception & Prime Seating

Program subject to change Box Office fees will apply

ArtsWestchester presents “Performing Families: An Evening of Music and Conversation,” with four family bands performing and discussing the meaning of music, kinship and tradition. The event will feature Grupo Atl-Tlachinolli, Jomion & The Uklos, South Indian classical dancers Nalini and Maya Rau Murthy, and a mother-daughter Korean music-dance trio Heejung, Zena and Jaylyn Han. 7 p.m., 31 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains; 914-428-4220, artsw.org.

April 14

Music from Copland House presents “Crumbling Walls: Picasso’s Musical Canvas,” a concert spotlighting Pablo Picasso’s seminal influence upon generations of composers. Inspired by Picasso’s paintings, drawings and stage designs, the program will feature new works and classical pieces by Viet Cuong, Robert Sirota, Igor Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla. 3 p.m., 455 Byram Lake Road, Mount Kisco; 914-788-4659, coplandhouse.org.

April 26 to May 12

White Plains Performing Arts Center presents “The Bodyguard,” a musical based on the 1992 Oscar-nominated film that starred Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston as a former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard and the superstar client he falls in love with. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, 11 City Place; 914-328-1600. wppac.com.

April 27

For the 24th year, Redding’s Mark Twain Library throws The Frog Frolic — A Children's Country Fair. Last year more than a 1,000 people came to enjoy the games, crafts, entertainment and food. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Redding Community Center, 37 Lonetown Road; 203-938-2545. marktwainlibrary.org.

The Symphony of Westchester presents an all-Mozart concert featuring pianist Alon Goldstein, who will perform Piano Concerto No. 17, K. 453 in G major. Also, on the program are “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” K. 525 in G major and Symphony No. 29, K. 201 in A major. 8 p.m., Christopher J. Murphy Auditorium, 715 North Ave., New Rochelle; 914-654-4926. thesymphonyofwestchester.org.

April 28

Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County will host its annual fundraiser at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts, featuring the Ailey II Dance Company.

Proceeds will benefit Neighborhood Studios’ arts education programs, with special emphasis on sending Bridgeport children to summer camp. 5:30 p.m., 1073 N. Benson Road; 203-254-4010. quickcenter.fairfield.edu.

April 28 and 29

The Chamber Players of The Greenwich Symphony present Uncommon Voices, a concert of works by Elgar, Vaughan-Williams, Rossini, Jongen and Françaix. 4 p.m. Sunday, Round Hill Community Church, 395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich; and at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Greenwich Arts Council, 299 Greenwich Ave.; 203-637-4725. chamberplayersofthegso.squarespace.com.

Presented by ArtsWestchester (artswestchester.org) and the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (culturalalliancefc.org/FCbuzz-events).

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WORLD CLASS. RIGHT HERE!

RED MOLLY | THU, APR 25

FLOR DEL TOLOACHE | FRI, APR 26

ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET | FRI, MAY 3

PAULA COLE | FRI, MAY 10

OLETA ADAMS | SAT, MAY 18

CAB CALLOWAY ORCHESTRA | FRI, MAY 31

JOHN PIZZARELLI | SAT, APR 27

MARTIN SEXTON | FRI, MAY 17

BROADWAY STAR NORM LEWIS | SAT, JUN 1

WESTCHESTER’S HOME FOR MUSIC, COMEDY, DANCE, FILM, FAMILY AND MORE! FOR TICKETS AND INFO: EMELIN.ORG | 914.698.0098 153 LIBRARY LANE, MAMARONECK, NY APRIL 2019

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SALUTING VOLUNTEERISM The Lower Hudson Valley’s largest volunteer connector agency, Volunteer New York!, celebrated its 69th birthday as an organization in February.

More than 60 business leaders and associates from companies that support Volunteer New York! throughout the year gathered for the festive networking reception, which was hosted at TD Bank of Rye. Photographs by Paul Schneiderman.

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Jody and Markham Rollins III Laura Picone and Lindsay Salandra Marjorie Lang and Mike Grossman David Ritacco and Joe Ali Lisa Pine and Deborah Silverman Grant Mitchell, MD and Joanne Taylor Ugo Chiulli and Michael Lang Daniela Gioffre and Alisa H. Kesten Michael Di Sante and Darren Higgins Tom and Ally Gallin Erica Eisner and Dawn Kirby Jeanette Gisbert and Linda Rey Ianarelli Michael Spencer, John Heidenreich and Eric Tommasi 14. Robert Raniolo and Tim Plunkett

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“i must have flowers, always and always.”

- Claude Monet

www.BlossomFlower.com 914.304.5376 877.458.1709

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A WINNING HAND

The Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College recently celebrated the opening of its newest exhibition, “Nina Chanel Abney: Royal Flush.” On hand at the reception were Yale and Lori Paprins, who donated more than $40,000 for the purchase of Eric Aho’s painting “Approach,” which is now in the museum’s permanent collection. On view through June 30, the show is making its last stop of a national tour at the museum. Photographs by Tim Grajek.

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Yale I. Paprin, Eric Aho and Lori Paprin Paul Zukowsky, Marilyn Price and Ava Zukowsky Allison Zuckerman and Marc Wehby Helene Posner, Nina Chanel Abney and Tracy Fitzpatrick Laura Blank and Mitchell Schlanksy Jonathan and Ann DuBois Courtney Rockett and Lucy Hernandez Bonnie Klugman

COLLECTIVE THINKING

Purchase College launched The Center for Engagement on March 6 in a refurbished, historic house on campus. The Center will bring together organizations whose projects inspire community involvement, encourage open dialogue and affect social change. The opening included remarks

by Purchase College Provost Barry Pearson; Christopher Robbins, director of the college’s School of Art + Design and co-founder of Ghana Think Tank; Katherine Vockins, Rehabilitation Through Art (RTA) founder and executive director; and Eric Gottesman, Purchase College assistant professor of Art + Design and co-founder of For Freedoms. Photograph by Bryant Alexander.

9. Barry Pearson, Christopher Robbins, Katherine Vockins and Eric Gottesman

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Floral Event Series Presented by:

Into the Wild: Sustainable Flower Arranging Bring home a beautiful, sustainable arrangement created by YOU! Enjoy evenings of conservation discussion over wine, appetizers and floral design sessions at Westmoreland Sanctuary.

Thursday, May 30 FORAGED ARRANGEMENTS – 7pm

Wednesday, June 19 SUMMER BOUQUET – 7pm

Thursday, September 26 FALL WREATHS – 7pm

Tuesday, November 5 FALL TABLESCAPES – 7pm

Thursday, December 3 HOLIDAY WREATHS & ARRANGEMENTS – 7pm Workshop Location: Westmoreland Sanctuary 260 Chestnut Ridge Road Mt. Kisco, NY To register, please visit www.westmorelandsanctuary.org.

Thank you to our sponsors:

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ALL IN THE FAMILY Westfair Communications, parent company of WAG magazine, honored more than 20 businesses March 5 at its annual Family Owned Business Awards. The event, which was held at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains, saluted Stew Leonard Jr. of the eponymous supermarket group, The Schwerdtle Stamp Co., Henry B. Whitaker Inc. Garage Doors, Angels on Call Homecare, City Line Florist, Steps Home Care, the Law Offices of Kevin H. Cohen, Maple Craft Foods, Brewmation Inc., Connecticut Dermatology Group, Hudson Realty Inc., Janus Associates, John M. Glover Insurance Agency, Montano Wood Care Corp., New England Total Energy, Raymond Opticians, Statewide Abstract Corp., Viking Construction Inc., William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance and Zyloware Eyewear.Liz Salguero, founding president of Wilton nonprofit Circle of Care, delivered the opening remarks, while Scott Mitchell, vice president of sales at the Westport-based Mitchell Stores, offered the keynote. Official sponsors and supporters included Angels on Call, Barnum Financial Group, The Bristal Assisted Living, Blossom Flower Shops, Buzz Creators, GS&S Awnings, The Kensington, Montano Wood Care, Rakow Commercial Realty Group, Raymond Opticians, Steps Home Care, Stew Leonard’s, Val’s Putnam Wines & Liquors and Zyloware Eyewear. Photographs by Sebastián Flores.

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Mary Ellen Paris Dean Brown Arone, David and Paul Ackert Brenda Moynihan Rajni Menon Chris Kampitsis and Ben Soccodato Shari Soloway and Kevin Cohen Christopher Fernandes, Rich Battista, Alyson Battista, Mary Kolkmann, Raymond Kolkmann, Christina Kolkmann, Raymond Kolkmann Jr. and Christa Fernandes Peder Baukol, Jennifer Baukol, Lisa Wade and Shan Wade Alex Wooldridge, Kathleen Murphy and Laura Munn Ronald Gatto Jr., Jonathan Cover, Cassara Cover and Faye Gatto Scott Mitchell, Marcia Pflug and David Richman Mitchel Usavich and Virginia Ranch Hazel Anchia, Willy Montano and Maribel Mateo Jackie Janiec, Janna Neal, Christopher Shyer, Benitha Mintz and Al Winnick Blake Leonard, Stew Leonard Jr. and Britt Tavello Melitsanopoulos Eric Dalton, Pamela Fitzpatrick, Robert Dalton and Chelsea Merola Chris Kniffin, Adam Fisher, Patricia Fisher and Lyle Liberman Maria Weaver, Kevin Weaver and Brandon Weaver From left: Shan Wade, Anthony Gaglio Jr., Jennifer Baukol, Kathy (Schwerdtle) Saint, Raymond Kolkman, Ryan Raveis, Stew Leonard Jr., Christopher Shyer, Shari Soloway, Kevin Cohen, Dave Ackert (kneeling in front), Kevin Weaver, Cassara Cover, Steven A. Kolenik III, MD, Willy Montano, Patricia Fisher, Nicole Palazzo and Ken Meccia.

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RESONATING WITH THE PUBLIC Recently, the exhibit “res*o*nance, the power to evoke enduring images, memories and emotions” was unveiled at the BIZ G87 gallery in Larchmont.

More than 200 people attended the opening to view art created by three new local artists — Sally Maca, Maureen Meehan and Sandra Wong Geroux.

The show features paintings, including landscapes, and photographic portraits, through April 19.

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Kristin Patrick Alex Alimanestianu and Alan McDowell Mary McMillan and Ellen McEvily Kyle de Lasa, Trish Miller and Ellen Martin Sandra Wong Geroux, Maureen Meehan and Sally Maca 6. Will Bermingham and Alvin Clayton 7. Ximena Francella and Sarah MacKay

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HEALING CHILDREN The community showed its support for Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla — and the seriously ill and injured children under its care — once again by donating more than $300,000 to the hospital during the 100.7 WHUD Radiothon “For the Kids.”

Thanks to the outpouring of support of 100.7 WHUD listeners throughout the Hudson Valley and contributions from community partners, donations from this year’s fundraiser will help continue the life-changing and lifesaving care offered by the hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, to children from the region and beyond.

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HONORING REV. PHILLIPS The Rev. Jeannette J. Phillips, one of Hudson River Health Care’s Founding Mothers, was honored by the New York Legislature recently in Albany.

Assemblywoman Sandra Galef sponsored a resolution in the Assembly and Sens. Jen Metzger and Peter Harckham sponsored a proclamation in the Senate to recognize Phillips’ achievements in improving access to quality health care services in underserved communities across the Hudson Valley. Her life’s work has helped grow a single health center in Peekskill into the largest network of community health centers in New York, providing care to more than 225,000 people. The legislators also spoke on the floors of their respective houses to honor Phillips’ service.

9. Jen Metzger and Jeannette J. Phillips

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NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH Recently, Touro Dental Health, the 81-chair dental practice of Touro College of Dental Medicine in Valhalla, hosted its second annual “Give Kids A Smile!” (GKAS) event in partnership with the Ninth District Dental Association. TCDM students faculty, and volunteer dentists from the community came together to provide free dental screenings, cleanings, fluoride and orthodontics consultations, as well as oral health education to nearly 50 children from across the region.

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1-5. Students and faculty of Touro College of Dental Medicine, along with volunteer dentists from the community, impress on youngsters good dental hygiene.

THE BIG 100 The Bristal at Armonk, an assisted and independent living community, recently held a party for two residents celebrating a special milestone — their 100th birthdays. Diana Lamberti, whose 100th birthday was Feb. 8, and Henriette Bard, whose 100th birthday was Feb. 28, were joined by their families, friends and fellow residents.

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6. Suzanne Reuter, Henriette Bard, Diana Lamberti and Maytha Ramirez

CELEBRATING (THE) CHANGE “Menopause The Musical,” which recently completed its run at Westchester Broadway Theater in Elmsford, is an exploration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived “The Change.” The musical comedy is set in a department store, where four women meet while shopping for a black lace bra at a lingerie sale. These women form a sisterhood and a bond with the entire audience as they rejoice in celebrating that menopause is no longer “The Silent Passage.”. Photographs by John Vecchiolla.

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‘HEART’-WARMING

Girls’ Night Out, an evening fundraiser for the Westchester Medical Center Health Network Heart & Vascular Institute, featured tributes to heart disease survivors and their supporters, raised awareness of women’s heart health and offered hope that advances in cardiology will save more lives in the future. At one point, physicians were reunited with their patients onstage after the audience watched a video that featured their personal stories and the expert care that saved their lives. The event, which drew more than 350 people to the Doral Arrowwood Hotel and Conference Center in Rye Brook, was emceed by WCBS-TV anchor Mary Calvi.

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8. Fawaz Al-Mufti,MD, Troy Pinkney, Greg Lanier,MD, Yvonne Megenis, Becky Beauvais, Orianna Beauvais, Khanh Nguyen,MD, Irene Ronda, Jason Jacobson,MD, and Chhaya Aggarwal-Gupta,MD. APRIL 2019

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WE WONDER:

WHAT ANIMAL WOU LD YOU LIKE TO COME BACK AS?

Helen Ashcroft

Peter Blake teacher Bronx resident

Ben Brandt

musician Greenwich resident

Rebecca Calhoun computer engineer Scarsdale resident

chef New York City resident

“Well, I always said my spirit animal was an owl. I love that they are a symbol of wisdom, and flying creatures have always represented freedom to me.”

“It would be great to come back as any animal to experience the world through their eyes. I just hope it isn’t a rodent or pest. I feel like those poor creatures have a rough lot in life.”

“I’d love to be reincarnated as a dog. Maybe that’s not the most noble animal, but I like the idea of coming back and still getting to be part of a family. The rubs on the belly and free snacks wouldn’t hurt either.”

“This is a little strange, but my husband has always referred to me as ‘mousy.’ I don’t know exactly what that means, but if I were to return as a mouse, I think we’d both get a kick out of it.”

“I’d like to come back as an animal that I can’t possibly understand with my current perspective. I feel like I can currently imagine what it’s like to be a dog or something like that, but I would be fascinated to find out what it’s like to be an insect or an octopus. I mean, something completely foreign to my experience.”

Kristen Fink

Joan Marquez mother Larchmont resident

John McFee

analyst Lewisboro resident

Alison Rice

yoga instructor Greenwich resident

Alan Tuddle

dental hygienist White Plains resident

“I think I’d really enjoy coming back to life as a bird.

The idea of flying around and seeing everything from that view seems just incredible.”

“I’m not so sure I’d like to come back as an animal.

This answer might be a little out there, but I feel that being reincarnated as maybe a tree or a bacterium would be an enlightening experience. Obviously, those aren’t sentient beings, but as an experiment I think that would be fascinating.”

“I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be a dolphin.

Supposedly, they rival humans when it comes to intelligence. Having a certain level of awareness and ambition, but as an animal, would be fascinating.”

“I don’t even have to think about this one! Hands down, I’d come back as a squirrel. I’ve always loved them and find them endlessly interesting. They’re adorable and they’re always on the move (which I can definitely relate to). That seems like it would be a lot of fun.”

“Being a skunk seems great.

I researched them a lot when I was a kid for some reason, so I know a lot about them.

Having the knowledge would probably make the transition easier. They’re small, but other animals are all scared of the scent they produce, so you wouldn’t be easy prey. Plus, they’re one of the only animals that can do a handstand. I can’t even do one now.”

human resources officer Bronxville resident

realtor Fairfield resident

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*Asked throughout central and northern Westchester County at various businesses.

Brian Dolan