Looking for America, For Love, for Innocence

Looking for America,  For Love, for Innocence
Heat, beach, summer, freedom all glow from the canvas in Sophie Treppendahl’s “Swimming in the Yuba,” featured in the Kenise Barns Fine Art gallery show in Kent, Conn., called “We’ve all gone to look for America.” Courtesy of Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Kent, Conn.

Kenise Barns, director of Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent, Conn., describes the inspiration for a show at her gallery until May 1: “The exhibition title is taken from the well-loved Simon and Garfunkel ballad recounting a bus trip across America, and the hours spent looking out the window as the landscapes slide by. The song and the exhibition share a sentiment of longing and searching for meaning. In the wake of the past year, I think we are yearning for the America that we remember in our mind’s eye. “‘Michigan seems like a dream to me now…’.”

The show title is “We’ve all gone to look for America,” a line from the almost operatic 1968 song “America,” which captures a time that was more innocent, when a young couple could take off for a trip across the country in a Greyhound bus, sharing love, cigarettes, jokes and insecurities. None of it would (really) be possible today; the jokes they share and the people they see might not even make sense to a modern generation who don’t know what gabardine is and perhaps don’t realize that bow ties are not meant to be clipped on.

Paintings in the show by Sophie Treppendahl in particular capture the feeling of being in the sun at the beach, in sneakers. No masks. Also in the show is work by David Konigsberg, Thomas Sarrantonio and Francis Sills.

The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., and by appointment. To learn more, go to www.kbfa.com.

Latest News

Joseph Robert Meehan

SALISBURY — Joseph Robert Meehan the 2nd,photographer, college professor and nearly 50 year resident of Salisbury, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizon on June 17, 2025. He was 83.

He was the son of Joseph Meehan the 1st and his mother, Anna Burawa of Levittown, New York, and sister Joanne, of Montgomery, New York.

Keep ReadingShow less
Florence Olive Zutter Murphy

STANFORDVILLE, New York — It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Florence Olive Zutter Murphy, who went home to be with the Lord on June 16, 2025, at the age of 99.

She was born in Sharon, Connecticut on Nov. 20, 1925, and was a long time resident of the Dutchess County area.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chore Service hosts annual garden party fundraiser

Chore Service hosted 250 supporters at it’s annual Garden Party fundraiser.

Bob Ellwood

On Saturday, June 21, Mort Klaus, longtime Sharon resident, hosted 250 enthusiastic supporters of Northwest Corner’s beloved nonprofit, Chore Service at his stunning 175-acre property. Chore Service provides essential non-medical support to help older adults and those with disabilities maintain their independence and quality of life in their own homes.

Jane MacLaren, Executive Director, and Dolores Perotti, Board President, personally welcomed arriving attendees. The well-stocked bar and enticing hors d’oeuvres table were popular destinations as the crowd waited for the afternoon’s presentations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bach and beyond
The Berkshire Bach Society (BBS) of Stockbridge will present a concert by cellist Dane Johansen on June 28 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Provided

The mission statement of the Berkshire Bach Society (BBS) reads: “Our mission is to preserve the cultural legacy of Baroque music for current and future audiences — local, national, and international — by presenting the music of J.S. Bach, his Baroque predecessors, contemporaries, and followers performed by world-class musicians.”

Its mission will once again be fulfilled by presenting a concert featuring Dane Johansen on June 28 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 29 Main Street, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Keep ReadingShow less