A New Deal for the Arts: The Federal Art Project Era 1933-1943 opens at the New Canaan Historical Society on Friday, January 11 with a reception from 5-7pm. This exhibit includes large scale works by Justin Gruelle, George Avison, Liacita Gregg, Clifton Meek, Ralph Nelson and Ernest Albert, Jr., as well as documents, works on paper, posters, and historical information. Also included are photographs of numerous important murals that have been lost or destroyed. During the Depression of the 1930s, New Canaan experienced general, widespread unemployment, and the Town accepted relief from various governmental agencies set up under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Funds for artists came from both the Public Works Art Project and the Works Progress Administration.
Back for a return engagement at The New Canaan Historical Society, the professional singer and actor Dr. Richard Weidlich will perform holiday classics and lead the group in song. Stephanie Johnson will accompany on keyboard. Dr. Weidlich has performed in opera, operetta and musical theater, as well as with symphonies and chamber ensembles. He is a professor at Sacred Heart University, teaching music classes and individual voice lessons. He has performed with the Summer Theatre of New Canaan as Sir Lancelot in Camelot, Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man, Max in The Sound of Music and the King in Cinderella.
Reigniting an effort that dates back to this spring, New Canaan’s highest elected official said this week that the town is seeking to acquire a vacant antique home on Valley Road by eminent domain. The town, with a funding commitment from a local nonprofit organization, had offered to acquire the four-acre parcel at 1124 Valley Road, including a prominent red-painted house, for $1.2 million. But the property’s owner, Norwalk’s First Taxing District, rejected that offer. After applying for a demolition permit and then withdrawing it, the Taxing District later rejected the town’s offer to purchase just the house with .8 acres carved out around it, for $250,000—a figure New Canaan had arrived at following an appraisal of the property. Now, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said, “We intend to proceed with our plan to acquire the property by our power of eminent domain.”
“They don’t need the property for water company purposes, they disrespect the house which is over 200 years old and various groups—the Historical Society, the Preservation Alliance—various town bodies want to see that house preserved and that neighborhood preserved,” Moynihan told members of local press during a media briefing Wednesday in his office at Town Hall.
The New Canaan Historical Society is proud to present its first day – and night – at the movies. On Wednesday, November 14th, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House will be shown at 11 am, 2 pm and 6 pm in the Lindstrom Room. This 1948 romantic comedy centers on a couple who decide they are finally ready to build the perfect suburban home. It stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas and runs an hour and thirty-four minutes. Popcorn and candy will be served.
The New Canaan Historical Society is pleased to announce the addition of seven new Board members: Lawrence Caldwell, co-founder of New Canaan Investments, Inc., currently serves on the Board of Trustees and as Chairman of the Investment and Finance Committee of Historic Deerfield, and on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Leventhal Map Center; Claire Foster, a former Vice President of Marketing for a global advertising agency and past President of The Newcomers Club of New Canaan; Amy Freyre, a history major who worked in publishing in New York and currently serves on the Board of Staying Put; Alice Mahoney, Director of Mbro Capital, an investment and property management company, President of B Kind Foundation, and a former Board member of Reach Prep and the Blossom Hill Foundation; Robert Mallozzi III, former First Selectman and Chairman of the Board of Finance for the Town of New Canaan, Senior Vice President of Bankwell and an active community volunteer; Laura Pla, past board member of the Newcomers Club, Young Women’s League, First Presbyterian Nursery School, West Elementary School and the New Canaan High School, currently works at The Glass House in the education, development and special events departments and leads architectural tours at Grace Farms; and Brock Saxe, Sr., owner and manager of restaurants for over thirty years, was Chairman of the Bank of New Canaan, past board member of St. Joseph’s Hospital and the New Canaan Land Trust, as well as chaired the 1977 YMCA building committee and has been active at The New Canaan Winter Club and St. Aloysius Church. “The Historical Society is lucky to have this infusion of talent and energy into the board,” said President Mark Markiewicz. “We are all eager to work together.”
The New Canaan Historical Society, 13 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan, CT 06840.
