ARTigrasA Costume Party Where You Come As You ART!The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is hosting the first costume party of its kind in our region; ARTigras - Come As You ART! on Saturday, September 12th at 7 pm in the grand ballroom of The Elks Club in Torrington, CT. ARTigras is on track to be a spectacular costume party where attendees are encouraged to join the parade of guests and hosts dressed as famous artists, historical figures or works of art. Tickets are $75 per person for general admission (NCAC member discounts, VIP tickets, “Art Critic” tickets and group rates are also available). All proceeds for this fundraiser will benefit the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council’s programs and services that are provided to those in its 25-town service area and surroundings. ARTigras is sponsored in part by 22Mainstreet Finds + Design, Millerton, NY and Litchfield Bancorp.There will be live music, a dance floor, a wealth of hors d’oeuvres created by Chef James Dean and a signature ARTigras cocktail featured at the bar. A limited number of “Art Critic” tickets are being sold for those who wish to judge the costume contest during the evening. A silent auction of exclusive arts experiences will be offered, along with a special evening door prize. There will be some fun and crazy extras to top off the evening, but the organizers are keeping those details under wraps for now.“We are excited and hopeful that people will be inspired to come up with some crazy, fun, creative costumes. Costume parties are a great way to express your alter ego or pretend to be someone or something altogether different to break up the tedium of everyday life. Planning is half the fun, especially if you do it with friends and get their ideas for making you ‘more of a Picasso’ or ‘more like Mark Twain’, etc.,” explained Carie Hodel, the ARTigras event co-chair and Council board member. The Warner Theater’s Costume Shop, which has a large and varied supply of costumes, is offering a special discount on rentals to ARTigras ticket holders. For those who are not comfortable with the costume concept, a mask station table will be handy for that quick “alter ego fix”, should guests feel the need.“The staff is already working on ideas for our own costumes (no, we won’t tell), and we can’t wait to hit the dance floor!” said Amy Wynn, executive director of the Arts Council. “We are also thrilled to be holding this event at such an historic building in Torrington that is celebrating its 100th year.”The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is a non-profit devoted to promoting the arts and cultural resources of northwestern Connecticut. The Arts Council considers arts and culture to be integral contributors to the quality of life in the region. The Arts Council focuses on assisting artists and cultural organizations in their efforts to thrive, informing the public and providing access to the arts across the region.The 25-town region served by the Arts Council includes Barkhamsted, Bethlehem, Burlington, Colebrook, Cornwall, Falls Village, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, New Milford, Norfolk, North Canaan, Plymouth, Salisbury/Lakeville, Sharon, Roxbury, Thomaston, Torrington, Warren, Washington, and Winchester/Winsted.For more information and to purchase tickets to ARTigras go to www.ARTigrasParty.org or contact the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council at (860) 618-0075 or info@artsnwct.org.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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