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hunt country calendar September 11 – December 30 “Transfiguring,” an exhibition featuring three local artists who reshape the human form across three mediums: photography by Karen Keating, painting by Lida Matheson Stifel and sculpture by Lilla Ohrstrom at the Charles Sumner School Museum, 1201 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 202-442-6060.
September 20 Circle of Life: An Evening of Song & Imagery at Coachman Farms. The Plains, honoring Archbishop Desmond Tutu and featuring Lebo M, Broadway performers and dancers, Harry Belafonte and Paul Simon’s musicians, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Alumni Chorus and celebrity emcee Michael Bacon to benefit Ubuntu Education Fund. For information 540-364-6062.
September 20 America’s Polo Cup will be hosting a match on the on Washington’s National Mall to benefit the Journey For the Cure. Advance ticket sales only. Contact: RSVP@ AmericasPoloCup.com.
Virginia polo players in action. (Photo by Crowell Hadden)
Lilla’s philosophy is not just to let her studio be another retail gallery space. “I’m less interested in selling and more interested in encouraging artistic expression as a means of growth, healing and community gathering,” she says. “Things have been selling, which is rewarding, but it is not the mission.”
was “Safari Club” for Verdun Adventure Bound; last year it was “Cape Town in the Country” for the U.S.-South Africa Wine Foundation. The African theme can be seen throughout the magnificent residence at the top of the hill in a “cottage” once built for his late parents. Jay and Sandi have brought together an eclectic mix of major wildlife art with crafts, travel mementos and décor to create an environment certainly unique in Middleburg and likely anywhere. It’s like a museum and filled to the rafters. This year’s charity gala in mid-September is a benefit for the Ubuntu Education Fund for families in poor South Africa townships. (The evening will be dedicated to Ubuntu’s patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whose health Sandi and Jay hope will permit him to attend.) Grammy winner, Lebo M, best known as the “voice and spirit” of The Lion King, will perform against a breathtaking backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounded by all things African.
THE PLAINS OF AFRICA Jay Fetner is another talented artist who lives near The Plains. In the past twenty or so years he has traveled to Africa for business and to photograph wild animals. His 1987 book, The African Safari: The Ultimate Wildlife and Photographic Adventure was published by St. Martin’s Press. He is currently working on a second edition and preparing a screenplay and production for a film treatment that he has written on the fight against AIDS in Africa. Jay and Sandi Young, an events planner, live at Coachman Farm. In the past few years they’ve teamed up on several African-inspired charity events there. In 2003, they hosted “Out ON THE FIELDS IN UPPERVILLE of Africa” for Loudon Healthcare. In 2005, it Jay also is an avid polo player with his
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September 27 Virginia International Polo Club 8-goal finals at Llangollen Farm in Upperville. Spectators are admitted free. For more information call 540-592-7474, or go to www.vipoloclub.com.
October 4– 5 Virginia Fall Races, Glenwood Park, Middleburg, www.vafallraces.com.
aptly named team, Golden Zebra, and fellow players Gonzalo Fucci, Diego Ferreira and Bill Gunn. They are among the regulars in Upperville at Maureen Brennan’s Virginia International Polo headquartered at Llangollen, the magnificent estate once owned by John Hay “Jock” Whitney, heir to one of America’s greatest fortunes and a member of one of the country’s top polo families. With a bit of luck and practice, the Golden Zebras might be among the teams for the season finale at the end of September … as another summer of bliss in the country slowly concludes. Before you know it, we’ll be pulling out the tweeds for the Middleburg races. Readers wishing to contact Vicky Moon can email: columns@washingtonlife.com.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| S e p te m b e R
2008
| washingtonlife.com