Who gets nude in the countryside?

A detail from Lorgnette by Bruno Leydet
Photo by Alexander Wilburn
This is the second part of a two-part series about nudity and censorship in the countryside art world.
Last week I discussed the regulations of Big Tech and online censorship as it intersects with the art world — internationally, in New York City, and even up here in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner and The Berkshires, where gallery owners create their own art world for more rural communities. While digital algorithms can control what art is deemed "permissible" for public viewing on social media platforms, those same conversations — what art is appropriate for what audience — continue to happen among actual humans.
At the 2022 Spring/Break art fair on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Connecticut gallery owner Andrew Craven showed a series of acrylic full-frontal male nude portraits by painter Bruno Leydet, but was unsure if he would show the same selection of Leydet’s portfolio outside of the city. So I asked some of the major voices of the area’s art world: knowing the audience in the countryside, would you show art that depicted full nudity?
Craven Contemporary
Andrew Craven opened his contemporary gallery in Lakeville, Conn., in 2018 before moving to its current home in the walkable art hub that is Kent Barns in Kent, Conn. Craven has shown works by Alex Katz as well as more ultramodern artists like Linder, Erwin Olaf, Elad Lassry, and Ruben Natal-San Miguel.
“The audience at Spring/Break was across the board,” Craven told me. “The gay men stop and look, the women stop and look… for the straight men it can be a mixed reaction, some can appreciate the art even though it’s a male nude, but for others, I think it makes them uncomfortable. But I wouldn’t suggest any of Bruno’s work to be sexually explicit. He uses pastel palettes and patterned backgrounds, so even though they have nudity, they become much more playful. The body has existed in art for a long time, but generally there’s been more comfort around seeing the female nude, particularly a fully nude female versus a fully nude male.” He added, “What I haven’t done and would not do is show work that was sexually explicit because I don’t think that would be right for the community, which has the sensibility of having families with young children. I think explicit work in Kent is hard. It would be one thing to have a disclaimer or a warning, which I don’t think I would do anyway, but I have glass windows that I don’t want to paper up.”
KMR Arts
Kathy McCarver Root is a photography dealer with a gallery in Washington Depot, Conn., who has showcased prints by modern legends including Leo Fuchs, Mark Selinger and Sally Mann.
“I wouldn’t have a problem showing work that’s a bit more provocative if that’s the right word,” Root said to me. “I think that good art, great art, worthy art is work that gives you pause, and if there is a purpose for that type of subject matter — not gratuitous, I’m not really interested in having sensational works on the wall just for that reason — but if there’s a purpose and a concept behind them then I would totally stand by that.”
Five Points Arts
The Five Points Gallery in downtown Torrington, Conn., is a nonprofit launched in 2013, and now includes The Art Center, an educational facility on the former University of Connecticut Torrington campus. Its gallery shows are often curated around a political or social theme, including climate change or Indigenous people.
“We’ve certainly had nude images in the gallery, but it wasn’t for the sake of having nude images, the work would have to do with a contemporary issue,” Five Points Founder and Executive Director Judith McElhone told me. “The one thing I will say about nudes and that kind of material is that we’re located near a children’s museum and we have windows all down Water Street and Main Street, so we would not hang the work easily visible from the street.”
The Wassaic Project
Like Five Points, The Wassaic Project is an nonprofit educational space. A young, artist-run collective in Amenia, N.Y., it hosts multidisciplinary artist residency programs.
“I would certainly consider the inclusion of a piece that was sexually explicit,” said Jeff Barnett-Winsby, a member of Wassaic Projects executive director team, which also includes Eve Biddle, and Barnett-Winsby’s wife, Bowie Zunino. “If we have something that is potentially of a sensitive nature we do a nice warning, or put it in a space that can allow people or parents the choice if they want to engage with it. I would say in general we’re not engaged with particularly controversial material, but we do show some things that are topical and can be challenging to some degree.”
James Barron Art
James Barron is a modern and contemporary art dealer who opened his gallery in Kent Barns in 2013, with exhibitions that have included Jayne County, Ralph Gibson, and Beverly Pepper. He has sold work by Cy Twombly, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Alice Neel.
“I really objected to what happened in [Museum of Fine Arts] Boston with the Philip Guston show. I thought, really? You’ve got to have like five disclaimers, like 'You can exit the exhibition if you like through this direction?’” Barron told me over phone call from Italy. “I’ve never had a problem showing work up here, but my gallery isn’t quite like the other galleries, like say, Andrew Craven, where if you peer in through the window you can see everything.” Barron’s less visible gallery is currently by-appointment viewing. “But the censorship in America is something I really object to. Look, I’m old enough to remember what happened to Robert Mapplethorpe in the early ’90s. I’m not saying his pictures appear tame today, but I think we’re all so accustomed to them now we don’t look at them in the same way. At the time I remember [American conservative leader] Jesse Helms and all these horrible people saying, ‘We’re going to get rid of all the money for the NEA [National Endowment for the Arts].”
Carol Corey
Fine Art
Carol Corey opened her gallery in The Kent Barns when she relocated from New York City in 2020 and has showcased work by artists that include German abstract painter Matthias Meyer and The New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.
“I don’t really represent any artists that work like that, so I suppose the answer is no. I just don’t have any work like that,” Corey told me. “What I have found when I moved up here, I had an expectation of what would appeal to an audience here, but it’s much broader, and many preconceived notions have been dashed. It’s a sophisticated audience.”
Standard Space
Brooklynite photographer Theo Coulombe opened Standard Space in Sharon, Conn., in 2017 featuring emerging artists, many heralding from Brooklyn as well.
“I’ve at times here in Sharon questioned the content we were going to have in a show. Just before COVID, we had an artist here, Kristin Worrall, she’s a performance artist who does baking. She did a full-on exhibit where she baked apple strudels in front of a live audience,” Coulombe told me. “At one point she’s using an apple peeler, where the core of the apple has to be pushed onto this sharp three-pronged thing, and she’s pushing it in there, and her story becomes about the aspects of her life, about relationships, and there’s a lot of allusions to anal sex. I was very concerned about this when the matrons of Sharon came to the show. When the performance happened, these two older women — who will go nameless but are pretty up there in the Sharon community — they loved it. They heard these stories about being a woman, and dating, it’s part of the dialogue of the world. There I felt like there was a crossover between what happens in the city and what’s allowed to happen up here.” Coulombe added, “Some of my initial concerns stemmed from some instances that happened at The Sharon Playhouse back in 2017. They had a director there, Morgan Green, who does experimental theater in downtown Manhattan, a friend of mine. She was the director du jour at the Playhouse and I saw some incredibly negative responses the programming that she had going on. Literally, people would get up and walk out of the theater. It was very divisive and I heard people say ‘This is the worst year The Sharon Playhouse has ever had.’ But they were writing about it in The New York Times, and they had a full house because people wanted to know what the hell was going on. So it’s an interesting gamble to have sexually charged work in a gallery here or content that’s speaking to sexuality. Where some people say permissiveness, other people say freedom of expression.”
LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.
Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.
Survivors, in addition to her husband, George, include son, George R. DelPrete II, daughter, Jena DelPrete Allee, and son Stephen P. DelPrete. Grandchildren; Trey, Cassidy, and Meredith DelPrete, Jack, Will and Finn Allee, and Ali and Nicholas DelPrete.
A Funeral Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church, Lakeville, on Saturday, Oct. 4. May she Rest in Peace.
Ryan Funeral Home, 255 Main St., Lakeville, is in care of arrangements.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com
SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.
Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.
She was raised on her parents’ poultry farm (Odge’s Eggs, Inc.).
After graduating from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, she worked at Litchfield County National Bank and Colonial Bank.
She married the love of her life, John, on Aug. 16, 1969, and they lived on Sharon Mountain for more than 50 years.
Shirley enjoyed creating the annual family Christmas card, which was a coveted keepsake.She also enjoyed having lunch once a month with her best friends, Betty Kowalski, Kathy Ducillo, and Paula Weir.
In addition to John, she is survived by her three children and their families; Sarah Medeiros, her husband, Geoff, and their sons, Nick and Andrew, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Shelby Diorio, her husband, Mike, and their daughters, Addie, Lainey and Lyla, of East Canaan, Connecticut,Jeffrey Perotti, his wife, Melissa, and their daughters, Annie, Lucy and Winnie, of East Canaan. Shirley also leaves her two brothers, Edward Wilbur and his wife Joan, and David Wilbur; two nieces, three nephews, and several cousins.
At Shirley’s request, services will be private.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Sharon Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund, PO Box 283, Sharon, CT 06069.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.
Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.
Ronnie is survived by her daughter, Jaime Silvernale (Wm. MacDaniel, Sr.) of Millerton, her beloved grandson, Wm. MacDaniel, Jr.; two special nieces, Shannon and Rebecca and a special nephew Sean Hosier. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her brother, Bradley C. Hosier, Jr. and her dear friend Ruth Fullerton of Millerton.
Visitation was private. A celebration of Ronnie’s life will be held in the future. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence to the family or to plant a tree in Ronnie’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.
This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.
For those unfamiliar with Crescendo, the award-winning organization was founded in 2003 and brings lesser-known works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods — along with contemporary fusion pieces — to new life. Its performances often blend classical composition with nontraditional instrumentation for a refreshing new take on an established body of work.
Gevert, who is German, Chilean and American, is a conductor, keyboardist and musical scholar. As the multi-national, multi-lingual (German, Spanish and English) creative director, she is a veritable whirlwind of talent, professionalism and inspiration who conceives of new musical treats for her audiences. She also hires and nourishes local talent, sources internationally known vocal and instrumental professionals, and provides her audiences with well-researched program notes for each concert, packaged in lush, full-color programs that resemble illuminated manuscripts.
“It is the excitement about and dedication to the music, along with the prerequisite vocal and instrumental talent, that characterizes a Crescendo member,” said Gevert. “I don’t care about things like how old or young you are or where you’re from — it’s all about bringing these performers together to provide unforgettable musical experiences for its audiences.”
“Traditional audiences for classical music performances tend to skew older,” Gevert continued. “For that reason, I’ve embarked on an effort to reach younger listeners, and have done things like taken a Crescendo choral group to perform at Housatonic Regional High School. I’ve also launched an effort to recruit and train young singers in Baroque singing techniques so they can perform with our existing choral group.”
The upcoming 2025-26 season includes, among other performances, a solo recital and benefit concert on Nov. 22 by the international Baroque opera star and countertenor Nicholas Tamagna. The curated program will include works by Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi.
Two dazzling Christmas concerts follow: on Dec. 6 and 7, Crescendo presents J.S. Bach’s “Sweet Comfort” cantata and Mass in G minor, featuring the full chorus and soloists with a period instrument orchestra. On Dec. 21, the annual Holiday Concert will be presented: “A Tapestry of Traditions: Unraveling the History of Christmas Carols,” with the entire Crescendo vocal ensemble and Gevert on organ.
For the full schedule, concerts details and ticket information, visit: www.crescendomusic.org