This story was printed in two parts. The first part appeared in the issue of Nov. 24. CORNWALL — About two dozen people attended a revaluation workshop at Town Hall Saturday morning, Nov. 12. It was the second opportunity for Assessor Barbara Bigos to help people understand how their property is assigned a value to be taxed.One of Bigos’ self-assigned “homework” tasks is to send a survey to property buyers. It helps her get a handle on those anomalies that seem to be the norm right now. People are getting big bargains on properties that owners are desperate to sell. Recent sales have been mostly on unique second homes, where someone who can afford not to haggle and “must have” a piece of property will pay a high asking price.The surveys also offer a good picture of what makes a property desirable.Hilltops and bubbling brooksIn Cornwall, there are no real neighborhoods, so the perceived prestige (or lack of it) a neighborhood can confer on a house doesn’t really affect property values. But location plays an enormous part in property values here. A setting might be at the top of a hill, with privacy and astonishing views. One home could be at the edge of a busy road while the house next door might be set back behind a buffer of trees.The biggest influence on the value of most properties is the site factor. Each property is assigned a rating on a scale of one to 10. Factored in are desirable and undesirable traits. A good view can easily triple an assessment. But if getting to that view requires traveling up a treacherous driveway, the site value is diminished.The gray areas that come up are endless. Suppose a vacant lot is being assessed. A brook runs through it. Building a home on the lot will require avoiding wetlands and their buffer zone. The lot has less buildable area, lowering its value —even though having a brook might seem to be a huge selling point.But if the same piece of property already has a home on it (likely built before wetlands regulations were established by the state in 1970) then the assessment is quite different. Those wetlands are now a babbling brook that adds loads of charm to the property, and bumps up the value considerably.Bigos said it is very important for her to know if a property has a right-of-way or other easement over it. That can mean a big tax savings. On the other hand, property that is adjacent to conservation land will have a higher assessment. Using an overhead projector, Bigos did her best at the workshop to explain factors that ranged from fairly clear to completely baffling. Codes and abbreviations, for example. “BAS” refers to the main floor, not the basement; the basement is the “UBM.”For most homeowners, the easiest and probably most important thing to check on a field card — free copies are available in the assessor’s office — is the description on the back of the card.The number of bedrooms does not matter, but baths and half baths do. The style of the house also matters, because current market trends might be more favorable to contemporaries than cape-style buildings. Electric heat is less desirable and will bring down the value. Clapboard siding and wood roof shingles are more valuable.Simple drawings indicate building dimensions. The numbers are rounded off and determine the assessed square footage for each floor and any outbuildings. Those are easy and important numbers to check for accuracy.Homes are given a grade that has to do with quality of materials used and building details such as crown molding and granite countertops, and their condition. A question from the audience about crawl spaces led to a lot of information about how slabs, “nasty” old crawl spaces and basements, unfinished, semi-finished, finished or finished with a walkout, can make a big assessment difference.The starting point: acreageAssessing homes and the minimum lots prescribed by zoning starts with some solid numbers, called the site index, beginning with $84,000 for 1 acre and up to $117,500 for 5. Excess acreage is listed separately on the card. An acre is always valued at $10,000 to start, but a curve is used to decrease the price per acre for large properties, or where land is not developable.Under Connecticut law, properties are taxed at 70 percent of assessed value.Bigos said she welcomes discussion about any property, and is always glad to have a chance to educate people on how it all works, but she stressed that people should not compare their own property with other properties, and they should not try to bring in issues that are not relevant to the property itself.That said, there is another very important value indicator to consider. “If you don’t think your house will sell for the assessed value, that’s the time to question it. People who are not planning to sell don’t think about it, but it’s important to ask yourself, if I were to sell this house tomorrow, what would I ask for it?” Bigos said. “Maybe you don’t think the site index is correct. That’s an important discussion for us to have.”Audience members prompted a discussion about added value. Some saw it as being penalized for property upkeep. But there is no getting around the fact that a new roof or driveway increases value. “If you were to list your home, the first thing a realtor would put in the description would be ‘new roof,’” Bigos said.That said, “Cost does not equate with value.”In other words, what one pays for improvements does not equal the property value increase. It is usually less.“For instance, you may put $75,000 into an outdoor pool,” Bigos said, “but I may only assess it at $20,000 because you can’t use it for most of the year.”
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Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.
“I was always drawing as a child,” Justine recalled. Victor dreamed of illustrating magazine covers like those of the “Saturday Evening Post.”
Victor studied design and illustration at Rochester Institute of Technology, then received a fellowship to study painting and printmaking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne. He graduated in 1967. The following year, he received a grant from the Tiffany Foundation to study printmaking in Paris at Atelier 17, an experimental graphic arts workshop founded in 1927.
“What a great experience that was!” he recalled.
Returning home after the Paris uprisings of 1968, he discovered that the magazine covers he’d hoped to paint had largely given way to photography. His agent suggested trying record covers, which he pursued along with illustration and graphic design.
He also began teaching at Kean University in New Jersey.
“Kean had a wonderful graphic design and illustration department. I loved teaching Graphic Design, even though I never thought I would.”
He later taught at Syracuse University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
In the late 1980s, he decided to stop teaching and concentrate on his own art. He moved to Falls Village, to a house on the corner of Minor and Prospect Streets.
“I used to call the studio ‘Minor Prospects Atelier,’” he said.
He continued working in illustration and graphic design, creating book covers for stories by H.P. Lovecraft and other authors, along with magazine covers, logos, advertising and murals.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback
His local commissions include the green and gold Noble Horizons signage and wall murals for the Stockbridge Inn, the Spa at Norwich Inn, Orchards Hotel in Williamstown and the David M. Hunt Library’s children’s section.
Justine grew up in the Bronx and studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating, she took on whatever work she could find, including designing toys and novelty items for Russ Berrie. But her true calling was textile design.
She moved to Los Angeles to pursue that calling, where she learned silkscreen printing from 1960s design icon Corita Kent.
“I was in her program at Immaculate Heart College. All fabric design at that time was silk screen. My first job in textile design was in L.A., creating wallpaper for Bob Mitchell Design.”
Justine returned to New York City, where the advent of computers required her to learn new design techniques. She enrolled at Parsons School of Design, studying Photoshop, Illustrator, Lectra U4ia and Kaledo.
Around this time, she met Victor online and moved to Falls Village.
A recruiter found her a job in Arkansas at Dillard’s, a department store chain operating in 30 states and known for its exclusive designer collections.
“They had the best equipment I’d ever seen,” she said.
She became a senior computer-aided design designer there, designing fabric and preparing purchased designs for production.
The Vallas left Falls Village for Little Rock.
“It was a big move,” she said. “It was a different culture, but Little Rock was very progressive.”
The originally planned to stay in Arkansas for five years but ended up remaining for nearly 10.
Then Justine was hit by a car. She suffered injuries to her leg and head and required four years of rehabilitation.
“I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.”
The Vallas returned to Connecticut, this time settling in Salisbury, where they’ve lived since 2013.
After leaving Dillard’s, Justine had planned to sell her work through Printsource in New York City, an international showcase for surface and textile design. But after the accident, she no longer had the mobility or energy to travel back and forth to the city.
Instead, she began selling her work locally at craft shows, including clothing, hand-printed tea towels and floorcloths.
She is currently working on selling her collection of textile designs.
In December, Justine will have a show of her tea-themed watercolors at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.
Victor recently exhibited “The American West: A Pictural History” at the NorthEast-Millerton Library. The series, created in the early 1990s, was part of a commission from the Postal Commemorative Society for which he completed 100 paintings in two years.
He hopes to place the series in a museum and has created books from its images, complete with text. Over the years, he has designed many other books that are ready for publication, including “Looking In, Looking Out,” a cosmic view of the universe.
Reflecting on his career, Victor said, “It’s about doing what you love”.
Justine agreed.
To see, purchase or commission work, contact Justine at justinevalla@gmail.com or Victor at victorvalla@comcast.net, or call 860-596-4282.
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Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.
Cornwall ceramicist Jane Herold explained that there’s quite a lot of enthusiasm for Clay Way among the region’s ceramic artists.
“We all need work space, which is hard to find or afford in urban areas. The wood-fire crowd needs lots of wood and outdoor space. This area is great because it’s rural enough for us, but has a wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive population of pottery [patrons].”
While many of the artists are returning from previous years, the loose collection of unofficial organizers likes to keep the event manageable for the public, limiting the number of artists and studios each year. A direct drive from the southernmost point at Ann Heywood’s studio in Wingdale to Herold’s big barn in Cornwall is under 40 minutes. But if you want to catch it all, plan for a full day’s worth of art exploration along some of the most beautiful roads in New England.
Starting at its northernmost point, Herold’s studio will host Matin Malikzada of Afghanistan, whose polished, modern interpretations of traditional forms are instantly recognizable. They’ll be joined by wood-fired ceramicists Steve Johnson, with his raw, organic forms, and Harry Levenstein, whose works relate closely to Johnson’s while making even more direct references to nature.
Herold herself creates work that is both beautiful and utilitarian. Her prolific output of objects is intended to be used by everyday people as part of their daily lives.
Moving south is Todd Piker of Cornwall Bridge Pottery. Piker has been making pots in his giant wood-fired kiln since 1971. The kiln looks more like an ancient blast furnace than something designed to transform clay into ceramics, but over the years, he’s mastered its intricacies and produces an impressive amount of fine work.
A ceramic vase by Kathleen Heidemann.Provided
Piker will host Sanah Peterson, who works at Cornwall Bridge Pottery and draws inspiration from both her time with Piker and her time traveling the globe as a child. They’ll be joined by Stephanie Haines, whose vibrant, eye-catching work features underglaze illustrations of birds, fruit and the bounty of nature.
Further along in Warren, Jessica Dubin’s pieces will be on display at the studio of Christine Owen. Both artists seem to appreciate the chaos and unpredictable nature of clay but find ways to refine it all using their own unique methods.
Heading east to Washington, Conn., Will Talbot’s creates intricate work while allowing for the unpredictable nature of clay to play a role. His studio will house Tom Knox and his wide variety of textures and forms, as well as New York City-based Alex Lebedev, who lets music and the nature of improvisation guide his work.
There will be two studios participating in South Kent. Alison Palmner, whose page on the Clay Way website states she “strives to achieve a lighthearted meld of human forms, animals and the vessel.” Her studio will host Ben Eberle, who trained under the guidance of legendary potter Toshiko Takaezu; James Guggina, whose intricate work can appear both deliberate and whimsical; and Paula Shalan, who blends rough, unrefined surfaces with polished precision in individual pieces.
Joy Brown’s delightful ceramic sculptures.Provided
Nearby is Joy Brown, whose work have become a staple of the area, with her figurative sculptures dotting the Northwest Corner. Brown’s studio will also feature Bonnie Levine, who taps into the beauty of chaos and destruction in her work, and Brendan Moore, whose more utilitarian forms are perfect for everyday use.
Finally, the tour crosses the border into Wingdale, New York, where the studios of Drew Montgomery, Ann Heywood and Amy Brenner will host Jackie Sedlock, Lynn Behrendt,and Kathleen Heidemann.
Brenner creates some of the most colorful and vibrant pieces on the tour, while Behrendt’s work is among the most studied and precise. Heywood creates carefully considered, intuitive forms, while Heidemann moves from simple minimalism to intricate textures. Montgomery and Sedlock both find new ways of playing with traditional forms, producing delightfully distinctive pieces.
To learn more about the artists and download a map of participating studios, visit clayway.net
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