Around Town

S.T.A.R.’s ‘Juneteenth’ Celebration Set for Next Wednesday, June 19 [Q&A]

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New Canaan nonprofit organization Stand Together Against Racism, or S.T.A.R., will hold its annual Juneteenth celebration next week. Free and held on Wednesday, June 19 at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, Juneteenth marks the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. We put some questions to S.T.A.R. Founder and CEO Fatou Niang ahead of the festivities. Here’s our exchange. ***
New Canaanite: STAR.’s Juneteenth celebration at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society started out as a large gathering and it grew again in its second year.

Around Town

S.T.A.R.’s Second Annual Social Justice Student Art Showcase Coming Oct. 28 [Q&A]

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New Canaan-founded nonprofit organization Stand Together Against Racism or “S.T.A.R.” is preparing to launch its second annual Social Justice Student Art Showcase, “Through Your Looking Glass.” 

Presented in partnership with The Glass House and Carriage Barn Arts Center, the showcase “seeks to recognize the role of art, design and/or architecture in advancing social justice through the lens of inclusion, equity and diversity,” according to the organization. Students in all grades from all towns in Fairfield County are invited to create and submit art that reflects the social justice topics that matter most to them today. 

All art will be featured at a free, public opening reception at the Carriage Barn from 12 to 2 p.m. Oct. 28 and will remain in view through Nov. 11. We reached out to S.T.A.R. Vice Chair Susan Borst ahead of the showcase.

Around Town

Soul-Fête: An Immersive Dinner Party 

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We thought we knew about every kind of dinner you can have: dinner from scratch, dinner with friends, early, late, expense account, room service, over the sink, a dinner presented with a flourish from under a sterling silver cloche, or one pried from the viselike jaws of a steaming takeout box. And yet, one vibrant, generous group is bringing the town together for an elevated, illuminating take on what dinner can be. With their customary knack for creating connection, Stand Together Against Racism (S.T.A.R) is reimagining dinner as an immersive cultural celebration. Soul-Fête, which will explore the culinary journey from Africa to America, will welcome you to the Carriage Barn from 7 to 9 p.m. on March 2, wrapping up Black History Month in an unforgettable way. Music will be provided by local band The Misfits, and chef Damon Sawyer of Bridgeport’s 29 Markle Ct.

Around Town

‘Through Your Looking Glass’ Exhibition Opens at New Canaan Museum & Historical Society

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Jose “Joey” Diaz, a Norwalk resident and ninth-grader at the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering in Stamford, originally planned to portray a hand reaching out in his submission for an art exhibition that opened this weekend at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society. But “I kind of messed it up,” Diaz said Saturday from a second-floor gallery at the Oenoke Ridge nonprofit organization, standing near his acrylics-and-markers work titled “We All Bleed Red.”

“And I turned it into something else, which was a fist,” Diaz said. “I did a lot of blood on the knuckles and everywhere. It kind of shows how much people suffer, from police brutality, hate crimes. All of that.

Around Town

Q&A: Sunday’s Juneteenth Celebration with S.T.A.R.

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Stand Together Against Racism, or S.T.A.R., is hosting a Juneteenth celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society lawn. The event is sponsored by the Historical Society as well as Bankwell, New Canaan Library and NewCanaanite.com. We put some questions to S.T.A.R. founder and town resident Fatou Niang ahead of the celebration. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: What prompted your organization, S.T.A.R., to plan for a Juneteenth event this year?