MILLERTON — Over two dozen businesses throughout Millerton opened their doors on Saturday, Oct. 22, and Sunday, Oct. 23, to celebrate the third annual Fall for Art festival.Over 60 artists displayed their paintings, sketches, photographs and sculptures during the town’s largest annual art appreciation fest billed as the “village celebration of creativity.”Hundreds of people filled the streets and the stores to explore the town and get a head start on holiday shopping while participating in the Fall for Art Treasure Hunt and enjoying quirky surprises like the live alpacas in the window of Copper Star Alpaca.“It’s such a positive energy for the businesses,” said Rhonda Cook, the gallery manager of Eckert Fine Art. She said that at times, her gallery was so packed that it was difficult to see the art hanging on the walls.Cook said the Fall for Art festival gives Millerton exposure and builds the town’s reputation as a hip, creative hotspot.Barbara Crocco, owner of Copper Star Alpaca, agreed. “It made people see that [Millerton] is an upcoming town with a lot of things to do,” she said. “Anything we can do to draw more people in is a positive.”Kent Hunter, owner of Hunter Bee, said that everyone benefited from the event — the town, the businesses and the attendees; when the whole town is promoted, the success reaches everyone.Hunter said that the event is a great destination activity that encourages people to bring their friends and families, which introduces more people to the town’s charm. “People are always impressed once they get here.”He noted that the event’s draw is evident in the loyal attendees who have come every year and the new people to hear about the event through word-of-mouth.“We’re pleased to be part of the event,” he said. “We believe in nurturing talent.”The strong support was not lost on the artists, who all expressed their gratitude toward the businesses and other supporters.“Helping the local art community is a fabulous thing,” said Avery Danziger, an artist whose work was featured at the 14th Colony Artists gallery on Main Street.“It’s a kick for me. I enjoy it. It’s a pleasure to hang out with other artists,” he said.Danziger also said that the overall community gets a lot out of attending the event. “It benefits all of us to be exposed to as much art as possible.”Fall for Art will continue again next year, hopefully bringing as many art appreciators and holiday shoppers as this year.
Latest News
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided
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.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
