SALISBURY — The historic Academy Building at the corner of Main and Academy streets in Salisbury village is getting an internal facelift, 1833-style.Interior designer and Salisbury resident Chris Brennan, who is overseeing the project, took a visitor last week to the second floor, which is being transformed into a modern work, storage and meeting place.In the center of the room will be two rows of storage cabinets facing in, with molding that mimics the original window molding downstairs.Opposite the storage cabinets will be two rows of modern filing cabinets facing out, and two workstations with computer hookups.A sorely needed bookcase is being added on the Main Street side of the room, and on the opposite side, where the judges’ bench used to be during the building’s tenure as a courthouse, will be a conference table.The work area atop the storage and file cabinets will be nice and wide, which will please Town Historian Katherine Chilcoat, according to Brennan.There will also be flat storage for maps and charts, another feature that addresses a long-standing need.The wooden storage cabinets were crafted by Jeff Crawford of Great Barrington, Mass.The second floor enjoys considerable natural light from all sides, and to complement that, schoolhouse lights — large opaque white bowls that provide bright but diffuse light — will be installed. Brennan said there was some discussion of restoring the wideboard flooring upstairs, which would involve removing the existing wood floor and assorted gunk. The decision was ultimately made to go with carpeting.“But there’s nothing done here that’s not reversible,” Brennan said.Downstairs the linoleum is slated for removal, and the wideboard flooring will be exposed. The existing work space will be reconfigured, and possibly more exhibition space created as a result.Brennan noted that the work is all privately funded.Era of Elegance talksBrennan and Salisbury School teacher and historian Geoff Rossano are kicking off the Era of Elegance series of lectures Saturday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m. with “Architectural Exteriors and Interiors, 1750-1860.” The lecture, which will be held in the Wardell Community Room, focuses on houses in Salisbury from the late 1700s to mid-1800s.Brennan said the talk will include examples of the Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and Gothic styles, both inside and out.The styles sometimes became intermingled. Brennan said she had just finished taking photographs of Holleywood’s interior, in particular the hallway as one enters.Alexander Hamilton Holley built the house (on the shores of Lake Wononscopomuc, just off the Millerton Road) in 1853 in the Italianate style, but when Holley became governor his wife, realizing the need for larger rooms for entertaining, made several changes. The house was recently purchased and is undergoing extensive restoration work, in part under Brennan’s direction (to see the work in progress, go online to www.bringingbackholleywood.com/restoration-diary.html).One result is the main hallway, which combines a mix of the Italianate, Greek Revival and Gothic styles.“People would pick and choose between different elements,” Brennan said. “It’s really fascinating.”The lecture is Saturday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m. in the Wardell Community Room of the Scoville Memorial Library, and is sponsored by the library and the Salisbury Association Historical Society.
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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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