Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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To help promote the 2015 Books, Blues, and BBQ party to benefit the New Canaan Library, the event’s committee members are encouraging residents to post on the library’s Facebook page photos of themselves wearing a favorite cowboy hat. “Over the years, cowboy attire has become associated with this important fundraising event,” Holly Parmelee, committee co-chairperson, said in a press release. “It is common that party-goers come decked out in cowboy hats and boots. So we thought it would be fun to encourage community members to show their support for the library and the event by posting a photo of themselves wearing their favorite cowboy hat.” See the gallery above for some familiar faces around town that are already participating. ***

Some disturbing news here: We’re hearing that some residents of Spring Water Lane last Wednesday discovered ‘#WhiteLivesMatter’ flyers, in Zip-loc bags and weighed down with rocks, on top of their mailboxes.

Around Town

Va Va Vroom: Carriage Barn Arts Center Embraces, Celebrates Waveny Heritage in Upcoming Exhibition

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Since starting as co-directors of the Carriage Barn Arts Center 18 months ago, Eleanor Flatow and Arianne Kolb have noted how visitors to the Carriage Barn gallery react strongly when they learn of its original function at Waveny. Though locals tend to know well the grounds, mansion and individual outbuildings at the park, Kolb said, the way that those pieces fit together and tell the story of the Lapham family—the longtime owners of the property through the first half of the 20th Century, who kept horses, carriages and cars in the Barn—animates the familiar landscape and structures in new, profound ways. “When we explain what the space was used for, people have an ‘a-ha’ moment, where it makes sense in the bigger picture,” Kolb said. Starting next month, Carriage Barn Arts Center/New Canaan Society for the Arts will pay homage to that heritage in a new exhibition. “Va Va Vroom!

Around Town

Carriage Barn Arts Center Calls for Entries to ‘The Art of the Vehicle’

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The directors of a popular arts center located in the heart of Waveny are calling for entries for a new exhibition that’s designed to celebrate its historical 19th Century converted gallery by putting a spotlight on modes of transportation. “Va Va Vroom! The Art of the Vehicle Prospectus” will open April 19 at Carriage Barn Arts Center. The exhibition “celebrates the rich history of vehicles, cars, planes and trains set within the historic context of the Lapham Family, the original owners of the Waveny Estate,” said Eleanor Flatow, co-director of Carriage Barn Arts Center with fellow New Canaanite Arianne Kolb. “In addition to telling the story of vehicles at Waveny through old photographs and didactic material, the exhibit will feature approximately 90 pieces of art selected by our guest curator—art and automobile curatorial expert Marianne Brunson Frisch—along with vintage motorcycles and racing posters.”

The exhibition may coincide with a 2015 installment of Caffeine & Carburetors (approvals at Waveny pending).