Mary Beth Lawlor, publisher/editor-in-chief of Litchfield Magazine, and supporter of Plein Air Litchfield, left,and Michele Murelli, Director of Plein Air Litchfield and Art Tripping, right.
For six days this autumn, Litchfield will welcome 33 acclaimed painters for the second year of Plein Air Litchfield (PAL), an arts festival produced by Art Tripping, a Litchfield nonprofit.
The public is invited to watch the artists at work while enjoying the beauty of early fall. The new Belden House & Mews hotel at 31 North St. in Litchfield will host PAL this year.
From Sept. 30 through Oct. 5, artists chosen from 100 entries around the country — representing diverse origins as far flung as Punjab, Berlin, and Peru — will set up their easels and spend the week recording the landscape, farms, historic buildings, and even restaurant interiors throughout the town. Artists such as Thomas Adkins, Yili Haruni, Katushka Millones, and Zufar Bikbov will participate.
“The French term plein air means ‘out of doors,’ referring to the practice of painting entire finished pictures in the open air. The plein air approach was pioneered by John Constable in Britain in the early 19th century,” according to The Tate Gallery in London.
Thursday, Oct. 2, is “Paint the Historic District Day,” when artists make paintings of early buildings.
Norfolk artist Sam Guindon will give a painting demonstration in the meadow by Tapping Reeve Law School at 82 South St. at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Nicole Carpenter, curator of the Litchfield Historical Society, will present “Landscape Visions: Artistic Depictions of Litchfield,” exploring the role artists play in documenting regional history, at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Oliver Wolcott Library at 160 South St. The talk is free, and all are welcome.
The public is also invited to the historic firehouse at Belden House at 6 p.m. for a free art show of the works created that day.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, Judge of Awards Eric Forstmann, a Litchfield County artist, will announce the winners at the Gala Art Show and Sale in the historic Firehouse property of Belden House & Mews, where all displayed artwork will be available for purchase.
Finally, on Sunday morning, Oct. 5,from 9 a.m. to noon, everyone is invited to a three-hour fun “Quick Paint” event. Open to artists of all levels, with additional prizes, the event will be held in the Tapping Reeve Meadow at 82 South St. Registration is from 8 to 9 a.m.
Art Tripping was founded in 2018 by Michele Murelli, whose mission is to create community art events and show how art enhances quality of life. Murelli and her team of volunteers have organized Plein Air Litchfield, 2025.
Visit the PAL website, www.pleinairlitchfield.com for information and to purchase tickets to the Gala Art Show and Sale.
Housatonic Valley Regional High School girls and boys varsity soccer continued to rack up wins last week. The girls’ record advanced to 10-3 after back-to-back wins, first with a score of 5-0 against Terryville High School on Oct. 6 and then 5-3 against Thomaston High School on Oct. 9. The boys’ record moved to 8-3-1 with a 2-0 win against Terryville on Oct. 7 and then won 7-0 against Thomaston on Oct 9. With just a few regular season games remaining, both squads will qualify for the Berkshire League playoffs and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S postseason tournament.
Simon Markow
Sydney St. Clair and Paige Saunders race to the ball.
KENT — Cool weather blessed the Oct. 8 meeting of Kent School and Kingswood-Oxford School girls soccer teams.
The evenly matched squads promised a tough match-up. The first half ended scoreless despite Oxford putting endless pressure on Kent’s defense.
The second half showed both teams equally aggressive, and Oxford’s Mackensie Kahill scored early in the period.
With eight minutes left in game time, Kent’s Lorenza Phail scored a tying goal.
With time running out, Naomi Diffenderfer scored Oxford’s winning goal and took home a 2-1 victory.
SHARON — An arts development that has brought some contention to town hall during the past few months was approved with conditions at the Wednesday, Oct. 8 meeting before ten minutes had passed, kicking off a notably busy agenda for the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The proposal, which calls for an office space and events center on Low Road in Sharon’s commercial district, met some opposition from neighbors during the public hearing, which began in July and closed in September. Opponents were primarily concerned about impacts to Lovers Lane, which runs along the backside of the property, such as increased traffic and light pollution among other disruptions to the half-paved, narrow roadway.
The applicant, Low Road Sharon, is the nonprofit planning to create an artist colony on property in town belonging to painter Jasper Johns, 95, after he dies.
Low Road Sharon parried criticism of the project by assuring that impacts to the road will be minimal. Since the hearing began, the applicant has removed lighting fixtures adjacent to Lovers Lane, shortened a proposed walkway meant to connect Low Road to Lovers Lane so that it ends midway across the property and affirmed that the downtown facility will remain separate to functions on other properties owned by the property to keep traffic low.
Conditions imposed by the Commission at the Oct. 8 meeting were primarily aimed at protecting Lovers Lane property owners. P&Z stipulated that the walkway must end at a concrete pad overlooking a brook at the property’s edge, and that any event advertisements instruct guests not to use Lovers Lane to access the property. Parking for the facility will be accessed from North Main Street and Low Road.
Additional conditions solidify the applicant’s proposal: 1 Low Road will be the address for both proposed new structures; 15 Low Road remain a single-family residence; and 29 Low Road will provide additional parking for the facility. The proposed south building is planned to contain offices for Low Road Sharon staff, while the north building will be a multi-use structure that will provide a downtown venue for arts-related programming, such as performances, readings and exhibits. Low Road Sharon has promised these events will be open and free to the public.
P&Z’s decision was tabled from the Commission’s September meeting to allow the town’s attorney time to review a dispute over a possible right-of-way easement existing between the applicant’s property and a neighboring plot where Thomas and Margaret Youngberg live.
Low Road Sharon has questioned the existence of the easement and claimed it shouldn’t have an impact on the project even if it is present on the property. The Youngbergs, on the other hand, are adamant that the easement does exist, and have sought answers on how the development will impact it.
At the Oct. 8 meeting, Attorney Steven Byrne’s verdict was presented: that P&Z does not have the authority to judge the legitimacy of an easement. Byrne affirmed any dispute over the easement will have to be settled in court outside of P&Z deliberations.
Conley Rollins, representing Low Road Sharon, stated his gratification with P&Z’s decision and said he hopes construction will begin early in 2026.
“We are grateful to the P&Z and Inland Wetlands Commissions, and to the neighbors and other residents who provided input during the public approval process,” he said.
Housatonic Valley FFA students prepare for the upcoming convention with teacher David Moran.
FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley FFA students are gearing up to head to the 98th annual National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.
This year, students are preparing to take on the landscape, horse judging, creed speaking and extemporaneous competitions.
Creed speaking involves memorizing and reciting all five paragraphs of the FFA Creed (by E.M. Tiffany).
Contestants are judged on how well and uniquely the creed is presented, and the judges question the speaker on aspects of the creed.
For extemporaneous speaking, the student is given a topic relating to agriculture and has 30 minutes to prepare before answering questions from the judges.
Riley Mahaffey will be taking on her third year of public speaking at the national level.
The landscape team consists of Madeline Collingwood, Michael Gawel, Hayden Bell and Byron Bell. The competition will include plant identification, a written exam, landscape practicums and a team event.
The equine judging team consists of Madison Melino, Darwin Wolfe, Hannah Johnson and Kellie Eisermann. The competitions will include a general knowledge test, judging horses in halter classes and under saddle, oral questions and a team event to wrap it all up.
Zayre Trail is advancing to the national level to represent the Housatonic Valley FFA chapter as the creed speaker.
Kellie Eisermann is the FFA Reporter this year She is a junior and lives in Lakeville and plans to go into the family business, Four Seasons Pool Service in Millerton.
