Month: October 2014

Seeking Holiday Arts and Crafts for our Gallery and New Vendors for our Gift Shop

MS
The Holiday Arts and Crafts Sale will kick off on November 14th and we are looking to increase the number and variety of gift items we can offer the public. We are particularly hoping to sell smaller decor and decorations for the Autumn and Winter seasons: small mantle pieces, table pieces, swags, runners, ornaments, candle surrounds, greeting cards, greeting card holders, and other items within the $5-$25 range.
We need to keep our prices affordable because of the economy, but also want to continue providing unique and artistic items thanks to the creativity of our members.
If you have a marketable handmade item to donate, or would like the opportunity to sell your work in our gift shop, please call the Arts Center at 860-295-9389. Leave a message for Riva Clark who will arrange to see your work.
If you want to create something special and need supplies, we have some craft supplies available for your use. These can be obtained by calling the Arts Center for a pick-up time, plus Bonnie Desaulnier will also be available at the Arts Center on Wednesday, November 5th from 1-4 pm for your convenience.
Also, if you know of any artists/crafters that have unique and professional work and who might be interested in helping us, please share this with them.
The Gift Shop Committee

President Joan C. Lester’s October 2014 Letter to the Membership

MS

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the beautiful “golden” month of October. Our grounds at 231 North Main Street are beautiful every month, but that beauty has been enhanced recently by the planting of a Kwauzan Cherry Tree, the gift of Dennis Hawrylko as a memorial to his wife, Ginny McCullough, who was a founding member of the Marlborough Arts Center. Ginny was one of that core group of artists and art lovers who believed Marlborough could be, and should be, a regional center for the arts and then went about making it happen. Volunteers all. Everyone who knew Ginny loved her and now her life will be remembered even by those who did not have that privilege. We are honored to have this memorial on our grounds and thank Dennis and family for their great generosity.

We have a beautiful building too, again thanks to those original volunteers. We also have great acoustics in the Charles W. Hall Gallery, as you know, and as our visiting artists and musicians all have learned. Our next “4th Friday @ the Arts Cafe” stars classical jazz pianist Steve Donovan, who is literally back by popular demand. He will be accompanied by Barbara Lewis, a teacher at Hartt School and a finalist in the Sarah Vaughn Voice Contest. Her lush voice will add so much to this evening, so do plan to attend: Friday, October 24, 7:30-9:00 p.m., with doors open at 7.

And, because of our beauty and accessibility, more and more individuals and groups are choosing to come to the Arts Center, such as the Marlborough Business Association holding their “Meet The Candidates” evening on October 16, open to the public beginning at 5:30 p.m. (at 5:00 p.m. for Marlborough residents and the candidates). Do think about contacting us for your parties or receptions too. Call (860) 295-9389, leave a message, and the appropriate Board Member will return your call with all the details about renting space at the Arts Center.

For those planning home Halloween parties, creating artistic costumes, or preparing with bags of sweets for the trick or treaters, it’s fun to think of the origins of this holiday evolving from centuries of religious observances. There have been millennia of harvest festivals, and some say Halloween began as a Celtic harvest fest. Perhaps. But we do know that November 1 has long been celebrated in the Catholic calendar as “All Saints Day” or “All Hallows Day”. That makes the last day of October 31st “All Hallows Eve”, eventually “Halloween”, with cultural observances including sweets and lights. Then again, do we really need an historic reason to raise our endorphins with fun and extra chocolates?!

But however you see the end of October, I hope you take time to ENJOY…                           Joan 

4th Friday @ the Arts Cafe on October 24th

MS

The Marlborough Arts Center’s “4th Friday @ the Arts Cafe” for October 2014 is on Friday, October 24 at the Arts Center, 231 North Main Street, Marlborough, at 7:30 p.m., starring Steve Donovan, a classically trained pianist and Berklee graduate who specializes in standards, classic jazz and pop. He has played top venues in New York and Los Angeles and, now living in Cromwell, is widely known in Connecticut. He played for a 4th Friday @ the Arts Cafe in 2013 and is back by popular demand again this year. Both as a soloist and with friends in his Steve Donovan Trio, he has given definition to the term listening music for celebrations in hotels such as the New York Hilton, Hotel Pierre, Helmsley Palace, Beverly Hills Hotel, Ritz Carlton, and restaurants including Spago and the Old Lyme Inn. For this concert, he will be joined by singer Barbara Lewis, a teacher at Hartt School of Music and a finalist in the present Sarah Vaughn Vocal Contest. Her lush voice will add another dimension to this evening of “jazzy music”, as Steve describes his gigs

He is widely sought as a musician/showman, and the Arts Center is pleased to offer again what promises to be a delightful evening of instrumental and vocal classics in the intimate setting of their beautiful Charles W. Hall Gallery in Marlborough where the acoustics are great and the interaction between musician and audience is very special.

Admission at the door is $8/individual, $15 for two. BYOWine. Other refreshments are available. Although the concert is from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m., the doors open at 7:00 so come early, get refreshments, visit the Gift Shop, peruse the art on exhibition, and settle in for an evening of great music you will recognize and enjoy.