Community Calendar

Global artists have sent in their wildest images, film, music and poems for Personaland's online art show

Personaland is an artist-driven global village transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge time zones and cultural boundaries. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Since its 2018 launch, Personaland, in its global reach, has showcased over 800 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, and poets from 68 countries in 32 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions, many with videos of artist profiles.  https://www.personaland.com

The Merwinsville Hotel is excited to be continuing the Glass Orb Scavenger Hunt thanks to a generous donation from the New Milford Commission on the Arts.

There are 25 area historic sites and organizations that are participating with the Hotel. Each site is hiding four numbered and dated one-of-a-kind glass orbs (three clear and one colored) either inside or outside on their property. Participants can search for and keep any glass orb that they find, but please limit one orb per person/family so everyone has a chance! Be sure to register your orb on the Merwinsville Hotel website where you can also upload a photo. Share your find on social media and don't forget to tag the organization where you found it!

The blown glass orbs that are numbered, dated for 2025, and stamped with “MHR 50”. In addition to the clear glass orbs, there are 25 colored orbs for 2025. Reminder: Because each organization's hours vary, be sure to check their websites before you head out on your hunt.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS BY TOWN:

Bantam:

Bantam Cinema

Brookfield:

Brookfield Craft Center

Danbury:

Danbury Museum & Historical Society; Danbury Railway Museum

Gaylordsville - Celebrating its 300th Anniversary!

Browns Forge; Little Red Schoolhouse; Merwinsville Hotel Restoration, Inc.; The Washington Oak Park (DAR Roger Sherman Chapter)

Kent:

Connecticut Antique Machinery Association; Eric Sloane Museum; Kent Historical Society

Litchfield:

Litchfield Historical Society

New Fairfield:

New Fairfield Historical Society (at the Little Red Schoolhouse); Preserve New Fairfield

New Milford:

Gallery 25 & Creative Arts Studio; Harrybrooke Park; Merryall Center for the Arts; New Milford Historical Society; Pratt Nature Center; The Silo @ Hunt Hill Farm Trust; TheatreWorks; Village Center for the Arts

Sherman:

Sherman Historical Society

Washington:

Gunn Historical Museum

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Support our food, beverage and retail businesses. Get your Taste of Burlington card stamped at at least 12 of the following businesses between June 21, 2025 and September 1, 2025 for a chance to win gift certificates.

The B. Hive www.thebhiveburlington.com

Burlington Spirit Shoppe www.burlingtonspirit.com

Charming Thai Restaurant www.charming-thai.com

China Garden (860) 675-6666

Daily Mart (860) 675-7243

Delta Pizza www.delta-pizza.com

Enclave Grille www.enclavegrille.com

Greenhouse Tavern www.greenhousecafeandtavern.com

Happy Hippie Homestead www.facebook.com/people/Happy-Hippie-Homestead/61564351782316/

Hogan's Cider Mill www.hoganscidermill.com

I Know A Guy Deli www.iknowaguyfoodsllc.com

Kyle's Doghouse (860) 729-6146

Lamothe's Sugar House www.lamothesugarhouse.com

Larson's Garden Center www.larsonsgardencenter.com

Little Axe Market www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569260639474#

Little Laurel's Cookie Co. www.littlelaurels.com

The Nevermind Shop www.nevermindshop.com

Sabrina's Restaurant & successor www.sabrinasrestaurantct.com

The Swimming Pool Store www.theswimmingpoolstore.com

Tonn's Marketplace www.tonnsmarketplace.com

Thank you to our sponsors: Torrington Savings Bank, M&T Bank and the Burlington CT Police Union

Submissions now open! ASAP!’s 15th annual Celebration of Young Photographers invites students in grades 6-12 to submit their photographs for a chance to participate in a juried art exhibition. A panel of professional photographers selects 60 photos for a public exhibition, recognizing the top four photographers for their outstanding and thoughtful work based on the yearly theme.

Submissions: now - September 26, 2025

Theme: Transformation

Exhibition: Hartford Art School's Silpe Gallery. Sunday, November 2, 2025, 2:00-3:30 pm

Submissions and guidelines: visit asapct.org

School’s OUT! Summer Camp @ the Mattatuck Museum

Join in on summer fun at the Mattatuck Museum through our School’s OUT! Summer Adventures Camp. This year we are hosting 6 weeks of summer camp — with new themes and experiences each week. During these week-long camps children will be immersed in the Museum’s galleries while learning about history and developing their art skills with unique materials and techniques.

Camp hours – 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM; FREE Before and After Care from 8 AM – 9 AM and 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Support provided by American Savings Foundation and Post University.

Summer camp payment and registrations are being accepted on a rolling basis, however, the refund policy (no refunds after May 21) remains in effect, even if registering or paying past that date. The registration form MUST be completed prior to the first day the child will be participating in camp.

WEEKS:

June 30-July 3: Marvelous Me!

July 7-11: Mini MIXMASTER

July 14-18: Georgia’s Garden

July 21-25: Melodic Masterpieces

July 28-August 1: Capes and Canvases: A Superhero Spectacular

August 4-8: Theater Arts Camp with Grumbling Gryphons

Scholarships Available through United Way’s Greater Waterbury Campership Fund.

Campers with a Kids Adventure Pass will receive 50% discount on weekly rate.

Join us at Rumsey Hall School for ASAP! Summer Camp 2025! Our camps are a unique opportunity for children in grades 1-6 and 7-10 to build friendships, get creative, and discover new interests. Visit our website to see the full list of camp activities and sign up!

Registration for Robot Rush Accelerator: Design, Build, Compete! is open! A one-week summer camp for students in grades 6-8.

 Explore Robotics This Summer!

Join the Robot Rush Accelerator for a week of building circuits, programming robots, and designing automated devices! Perfect for middle school students interested in STEM and technology.

August 4th - 8th | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

215 Hogan Drive, Torrington, CT, EdAdvance’s Kitching Regional Learning Center

$450 | Financial aid available

Register now: https://cca.edadvance.org/summer-camp

Summer Camp will be running for 9 weeks for the summer 2025 season!

• June 23, 2025- August 22, 2025
• 9:00a - 4:00p
• $200 per week or 10% for all 9 weeks ($1620)
• Ages 5-12
• Located at Pleasant View Park (Durand Street) & Elise Besse Pool

Get ready for an unforgettable summer of adventure, creativity, and exploration at our themed summer camp! Each week, campers dive into a new, exciting theme, engaging in activities that spark their imagination, build new skills, and encourage teamwork. Our dedicated staff create a supportive and inclusive environment where every camper feels welcome and motivated to try new things. Each week is packed with themed games, creative arts and crafts, outdoor activities, and memorable experiences that will have campers eagerly looking forward to each new day!

Weekly Themes:

• Circus: Step right up to the greatest show at camp! Learn juggling, create clown costumes, and try your hand at acrobatics as we explore the wonders of the circus world.
• Holiday: Celebrate holidays from around the world in a week of festive fun! From Halloween to New Year's, each day is a different celebration with themed crafts, games, and treats.
• Under the Sea: Dive deep into ocean adventures! Explore marine life, create ocean-themed art, and embark on underwater-themed challenges.
• Superheroes: Unleash your superpowers! Design your own superhero persona, participate in "hero training," and work together to solve camp "missions."
• Around the World: Take a journey across the globe as we explore different cultures, languages, and traditions through games, food, and creative projects.
• Sports: Get your game face on! Try out various sports, build team spirit, and compete in friendly matches while learning the value of teamwork and sportsmanship.
• Outer Space: Blast off into space for a week of cosmic exploration! Learn about planets, create space crafts, and go on an epic space-themed scavenger hunt.
• Flora and Fauna: Discover the beauty of nature! Learn about plants and animals, explore local ecosystems, and create nature-inspired art.
• Challengers: Push your limits and test your skills! Compete in exciting team challenges, obstacle courses, and problem-solving activities designed to build confidence and collaboration.

 Each week campers will have the opportunity to enjoy our Besse Pool on Mondays and Wednesdays, so don't forget your swimsuit!

Register HERE

Monday, Aug 4 - Friday Aug. 8

Pokémon Engineering using LEGO® Materials

Calling all Pokémon trainers! With the Pokémon Championship approaching, join our enthusiastic Play-

Well Instructors as we build and catch our favorite Pokémon, rescue Pikachu from Team Rocket, take a

ride on the S.S. Anne to uncover rare and mystic Pokémon, and battle to see who will hold the title of

Pokémon Master. Come along on our journey to catch 'em all!

* Online Registration Required

The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present a joint art exhibition, “Now Dark, Now Glittering,” featuring the works of Chris Barnard and Jeff Joyce. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 1.

An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Barnard was born in New York City and received his BA from Yale and his MFA from The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Deeply informed by the pandemic and his parents’ decline, his need to engage with the natural world and create beauty led to many nature-based paintings, echoing his love for gardening. 

Joyce’s work is a meditation on nature. The pieces in this show, selected from a time span of nearly 20 years, are engaged with the landscape. They aim to demonstrate how cultural history mediates and defines the ways we perceive nature.

This show will remain on view through Sunday, August 24. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.

Advanced topics in robotics and design for older students in grades 7-12 and those who have completed intermediate levels. Financial assistance available. Register at https://roboticsandbeyond.org/summer-stem-camp/.

Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater, an award-winning educational theater, now celebrating 45 years, will engage children in a weeklong theater arts camp -August 4-8th for children ages 6 and older at Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury. Campers will work with Grumbling Gryphons actors, musicians and artists in a fun week-long exciting theater camp centered around the story of Anansi, the Trickster Spider from the Ashanti people of Ghana in West Africa. Children will engage in acting, singing, dancing, and arts and crafts activities including mask making.

The camp will give children the opportunity to become part of a professional children’s theater, make new friends and learn more about Anansi and his adventures as they take on the roles of the animals in the jungle including bees, lions, monkeys, crocodiles and more!

 In this infamous tale, Anansi manages to trick the various animals of the jungle and retrieve the stolen stories from Nyame- the greedy sky god of the Ashanti people.

 At the culmination of a week of arts and drama, children will perform

Anansi- the Trickster Spider: A West African Folktale  on Friday, August 8th at 2 pm for parents and the general public. Live music will be provided by award winning keyboardist Brian Bender from Shutesbury, MA

Grumbling Gryphons will make masks with artist and actress Natalie Resto of Apples N’ Oranges Studio to wear and enhance their participation in the performance. This play is participatory and engages the general public in a lively, interactive performance where the audience will become part of the production!  

Grumbling Gryphons is renowned for its fantastic masks and captivating costumes, made by Ellen Moon of Cornwall, CT., and for its innovative interaction with children. Grumbling Gryphons has been performing in schools, museums, libraries and festivals throughout the United States since 1980. In 2003 they won the Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award. They are now celebrating their 45th year of providing educational and participatory theater throughout New England and beyond!

7/14 Super Hero Day

7/21 Music and Movement, Interactive Hoop Dancing with special guest Judi Jones

7/28 Suprise Day

8/4 Circus Days with Matica Arts

Join your friends on the playground for a fun, filled morning. Free Play, Activity Stations, Group Activities and Story Time.

Remember to bring water, a hat, sunscreen and a snack.

This program is suitable for children from birth to kindergarten age.

Quinoco Energy Services proudly sponsors this program.

Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn

exhibition dates:  August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com

Stories told in light and silence

Poetry will make me violent

Violets outside our yard…

Why does the world have to be so hard?

Encompassing the hidden truths

 Of things unseen in what we view.

-       LMH

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.

Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”

Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.

Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.

Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.

Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.

From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.

Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.

Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”

In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.

Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.

Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.

Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.  

Mondays in August: 4, 11,18 at 10:30 am

For ages 4 - 8 & their caregivers

Parents and caregivers are children’s first and most important teachers. Ensuring that your child learns to read to their highest potential is one of the greatest gifts that you can give them. Using Letters are Characters and Letters are Builders trademarked play-based methods, we will laugh and play our way to literacy and deep reading and empower you to be a confident and competent literacy guide for your child!

Visit our website or call to register.

This program is funded by the generous support of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation. 

August 15, 2024 – August 17, 2025

Celebrating the year-long loan of three Georgia O’Keeffe paintings, this exhibition unites the Mattatuck Museum’s collection with O’Keeffe’s life and work through common themes. The first pairing, Flowers and Landscapes, showcases artists who tackled similar subject matter to O’Keeffe and participated in emerging art movements, yet also occupied marginalized spaces in society. These unique spotlight exhibitions celebrate the year-long loan of three Georgia O’Keeffe paintings and will unite the Mattatuck Museum’s collection with O’Keeffe’s life and work through common themes, creating a unique dialogue between her work and other celebrated artists. Each unique pairing will be curated and narrated by a different member of the Museum’s curatorial department and offer a distinctive perspective on the Mattatuck Collection in relation to the works and story of Georgia O’Keeffe.

Beginning in June, the Mattatuck Museum will be open on Mondays! As The Monday Museum, we’re thrilled to offer our visitors a cultural destination at the start of the week—whether you’re looking to kick off your Monday with a movie, join a tour, or enjoy a quiet moment with art.

"Finding the Light": an exhibit of oil paintings by Chandra Rogers.

Chandra Rogers is a contemporary painter residing in Litchfield County with her husband and two daughters. Primarily self-taught, Chandra began consistently painting in 2012 after signing up for a local oil painting class, which led to a deluge of personal development through various classes and workshops and a lifelong passion for art. Her diverse subjects have included animals, portraiture, still lifes, landscapes, abstracts and commissioned pieces primarily in oil paint, pastels, and charcoal. Her current work is inspired by the study of light, color, mark-making, and a spirited painterly brushstroke, and has been described as capturing the soul of her subjects.

Chandra is a member of the Washington Art Association and Kent Art Association and her work has been displayed in various juried and solo shows throughout Connecticut, receiving numerous awards, most notably the Barbara Goodspeed Award, Award for Graphics, and multiple Awards of Excellence at the Kent Art Association, Honorable Mention at the Washington Art Association, and most recently Best in Show at Gallery 25 in New Milford, CT. Susan Grisell, a judge at a recent juried show, stated “Chandra’s draftsmanship and attention to detail are evident in her expressive portraits of people and animals.”

Chandra’s current show is a collection of primarily recent works reflecting her love for experimentation and trying new techniques, from traditional glazing techniques to achieve a photorealistic effect, to loose abstracts with a focus on gestural brushstrokes and mark making. Subjects include a collection of sunsets, still lifes, florals, abstracts, landscapes, portraiture, and animal paintings.

Designed to hone your artmaking, expand your creative problem-solving skills and build a strong portfolio, this fully funded program offers comprehensive workshops in Ceramics, Printmaking, Alternative Photography, and Painting & Drawing. Each workshop meets one afternoon per week for six weeks. Attendees can register for any individual or all four workshops.

Instructors: Jill Van Slooten, Caleb Portfolio, Kimberly Jo & Christine Mitchell

Mondays - Thursdays, July 7 through August 14, 2025

1:00 - 4:30 PM

Ages: 13 - 17

Members & Non-Members: FREE

MORE INFO & REGISTER

Monday, Aug 4 - Friday Aug 8, 2025

* Online Registration Required

LEGO® Master, I choose you!! In the race to be crowned the Ultimate Pokémon Champion, we need your

help! Learn to build your favorite Pokémon, level up by teaching them special moves, evolve them into

more powerful versions, and come face to face with the current champion in an epic battle for the title.

Learn from our Play-Well Pokémon Masters so you can make it to the top!

Pre-registration required.

Chess players of all ages are invited to join our Monday night Chess Club. Sharpen your skills and make new friends while you enjoy a friendly game. Players should already be familiar with the basics of how to play. Registration is helpful, but not required.

The 2025 season of free concerts in the Park, produced by the Fine Arts Connection of Thomaston, Inc., continues on Monday, August 4th at 7 pm with a concert by The Tradesmen. The concerts are returning to the renovated Seth Thomas Park on South Main St. in Thomaston. Each concert begins at 7 pm and concludes at 8:30 pm. The Fine Arts Connection of Thomaston's concert series is indebted to the Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation for core funding.

The Tradesmen, a 4-piece rock, blues, oldies, and country band, performs a deep catalog of well-known material and classics. The band promises a program of favorite covers and crowd-pleasers that will get you clapping and wanting to dance! The group first appeared on the Thomaston stage in 2023 to great acclaim.

Alcohol is not permitted in the Park by Town ordinance. Bring your lawn chair, your friends, and your love of music to Seth Thomas Park on Monday, August 4th!! All ages welcome, and the Park is handicap-accessible. In the event of inclement weather, the concert will move to the Thomaston High School, 185 Branch Road. Visit the FACT website for further information or weather alerts concerning concert

relocation: www.thomastonfinearts.com.

Global artists have sent in their wildest images, film, music and poems for Personaland's online art show

Personaland is an artist-driven global village transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge time zones and cultural boundaries. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Since its 2018 launch, Personaland, in its global reach, has showcased over 800 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, and poets from 68 countries in 32 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions, many with videos of artist profiles.  https://www.personaland.com

The Merwinsville Hotel is excited to be continuing the Glass Orb Scavenger Hunt thanks to a generous donation from the New Milford Commission on the Arts.

There are 25 area historic sites and organizations that are participating with the Hotel. Each site is hiding four numbered and dated one-of-a-kind glass orbs (three clear and one colored) either inside or outside on their property. Participants can search for and keep any glass orb that they find, but please limit one orb per person/family so everyone has a chance! Be sure to register your orb on the Merwinsville Hotel website where you can also upload a photo. Share your find on social media and don't forget to tag the organization where you found it!

The blown glass orbs that are numbered, dated for 2025, and stamped with “MHR 50”. In addition to the clear glass orbs, there are 25 colored orbs for 2025. Reminder: Because each organization's hours vary, be sure to check their websites before you head out on your hunt.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS BY TOWN:

Bantam:

Bantam Cinema

Brookfield:

Brookfield Craft Center

Danbury:

Danbury Museum & Historical Society; Danbury Railway Museum

Gaylordsville - Celebrating its 300th Anniversary!

Browns Forge; Little Red Schoolhouse; Merwinsville Hotel Restoration, Inc.; The Washington Oak Park (DAR Roger Sherman Chapter)

Kent:

Connecticut Antique Machinery Association; Eric Sloane Museum; Kent Historical Society

Litchfield:

Litchfield Historical Society

New Fairfield:

New Fairfield Historical Society (at the Little Red Schoolhouse); Preserve New Fairfield

New Milford:

Gallery 25 & Creative Arts Studio; Harrybrooke Park; Merryall Center for the Arts; New Milford Historical Society; Pratt Nature Center; The Silo @ Hunt Hill Farm Trust; TheatreWorks; Village Center for the Arts

Sherman:

Sherman Historical Society

Washington:

Gunn Historical Museum

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Support our food, beverage and retail businesses. Get your Taste of Burlington card stamped at at least 12 of the following businesses between June 21, 2025 and September 1, 2025 for a chance to win gift certificates.

The B. Hive www.thebhiveburlington.com

Burlington Spirit Shoppe www.burlingtonspirit.com

Charming Thai Restaurant www.charming-thai.com

China Garden (860) 675-6666

Daily Mart (860) 675-7243

Delta Pizza www.delta-pizza.com

Enclave Grille www.enclavegrille.com

Greenhouse Tavern www.greenhousecafeandtavern.com

Happy Hippie Homestead www.facebook.com/people/Happy-Hippie-Homestead/61564351782316/

Hogan's Cider Mill www.hoganscidermill.com

I Know A Guy Deli www.iknowaguyfoodsllc.com

Kyle's Doghouse (860) 729-6146

Lamothe's Sugar House www.lamothesugarhouse.com

Larson's Garden Center www.larsonsgardencenter.com

Little Axe Market www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569260639474#

Little Laurel's Cookie Co. www.littlelaurels.com

The Nevermind Shop www.nevermindshop.com

Sabrina's Restaurant & successor www.sabrinasrestaurantct.com

The Swimming Pool Store www.theswimmingpoolstore.com

Tonn's Marketplace www.tonnsmarketplace.com

Thank you to our sponsors: Torrington Savings Bank, M&T Bank and the Burlington CT Police Union

Submissions now open! ASAP!’s 15th annual Celebration of Young Photographers invites students in grades 6-12 to submit their photographs for a chance to participate in a juried art exhibition. A panel of professional photographers selects 60 photos for a public exhibition, recognizing the top four photographers for their outstanding and thoughtful work based on the yearly theme.

Submissions: now - September 26, 2025

Theme: Transformation

Exhibition: Hartford Art School's Silpe Gallery. Sunday, November 2, 2025, 2:00-3:30 pm

Submissions and guidelines: visit asapct.org

School’s OUT! Summer Camp @ the Mattatuck Museum

Join in on summer fun at the Mattatuck Museum through our School’s OUT! Summer Adventures Camp. This year we are hosting 6 weeks of summer camp — with new themes and experiences each week. During these week-long camps children will be immersed in the Museum’s galleries while learning about history and developing their art skills with unique materials and techniques.

Camp hours – 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM; FREE Before and After Care from 8 AM – 9 AM and 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Support provided by American Savings Foundation and Post University.

Summer camp payment and registrations are being accepted on a rolling basis, however, the refund policy (no refunds after May 21) remains in effect, even if registering or paying past that date. The registration form MUST be completed prior to the first day the child will be participating in camp.

WEEKS:

June 30-July 3: Marvelous Me!

July 7-11: Mini MIXMASTER

July 14-18: Georgia’s Garden

July 21-25: Melodic Masterpieces

July 28-August 1: Capes and Canvases: A Superhero Spectacular

August 4-8: Theater Arts Camp with Grumbling Gryphons

Scholarships Available through United Way’s Greater Waterbury Campership Fund.

Campers with a Kids Adventure Pass will receive 50% discount on weekly rate.

Join us at Rumsey Hall School for ASAP! Summer Camp 2025! Our camps are a unique opportunity for children in grades 1-6 and 7-10 to build friendships, get creative, and discover new interests. Visit our website to see the full list of camp activities and sign up!

New Milford Youth Agency presents Nature Unplugged. Promoting friendship, team building, kindness and self esteem. Activities include: kickoff at club getaway, various hiking trips, state park explorations, beach time, ice cream, etc

Kids entering 6th - 8th grades

$15 / week

Registration for Robot Rush Accelerator: Design, Build, Compete! is open! A one-week summer camp for students in grades 6-8.

 Explore Robotics This Summer!

Join the Robot Rush Accelerator for a week of building circuits, programming robots, and designing automated devices! Perfect for middle school students interested in STEM and technology.

August 4th - 8th | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

215 Hogan Drive, Torrington, CT, EdAdvance’s Kitching Regional Learning Center

$450 | Financial aid available

Register now: https://cca.edadvance.org/summer-camp

SUMMER TREE ID (Class / Walk) @ Deer Pond Farm

August 5, 9 to 11 a.m. 

$5 members, $10 non-members 

Join us for a lively summer stroll at Deer Pond Farm as we uncover the secrets of Connecticut’s native trees with two amazing guides: John Ehrenreich, author of Native Trees of Connecticut, and CT Audubon Naturalist Diane Nizlek. Learn to ID trees by their leaves, bark, and quirky traits—no botany degree required! Whether you're a nature nerd or just tree-curious, this walk promises plenty of 'aha' moments, forest fun, and a fresh way to see the green world around you. 

Register at https://www.ctaudubon.org/2025/06/summer-tree-id-class-walk/. 

This program meets at Deer Pond Farm, 57 Wakeman Hill Road, Sherman, CT 06784. 

Monday, Aug 4 - Friday Aug. 8

Pokémon Engineering using LEGO® Materials

Calling all Pokémon trainers! With the Pokémon Championship approaching, join our enthusiastic Play-

Well Instructors as we build and catch our favorite Pokémon, rescue Pikachu from Team Rocket, take a

ride on the S.S. Anne to uncover rare and mystic Pokémon, and battle to see who will hold the title of

Pokémon Master. Come along on our journey to catch 'em all!

* Online Registration Required

The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present a joint art exhibition, “Now Dark, Now Glittering,” featuring the works of Chris Barnard and Jeff Joyce. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 1.

An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Barnard was born in New York City and received his BA from Yale and his MFA from The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Deeply informed by the pandemic and his parents’ decline, his need to engage with the natural world and create beauty led to many nature-based paintings, echoing his love for gardening. 

Joyce’s work is a meditation on nature. The pieces in this show, selected from a time span of nearly 20 years, are engaged with the landscape. They aim to demonstrate how cultural history mediates and defines the ways we perceive nature.

This show will remain on view through Sunday, August 24. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.

Join us for a lively summer stroll at Deer Pond Farm as we uncover the secrets of Connecticut’s native trees with two amazing guides: John Ehrenreich, author of Native Trees of Connecticut, and CT Audubon Naturalist Diane Nizlek. Learn to ID trees by their leaves, bark, and quirky traits—no botany degree required! Whether you're a nature nerd or just tree-curious, this walk promises plenty of 'aha' moments, forest fun, and a fresh way to see the green world around you. 

Register at

https://www.ctaudubon.org/2025/06/summer-tree-id-class-walk/. 

This program meets at Deer Pond Farm, 57 Wakeman Hill Road, Sherman, CT 06784. 

$5 members; $10 non-members

Advanced topics in robotics and design for older students in grades 7-12 and those who have completed intermediate levels. Financial assistance available. Register at https://roboticsandbeyond.org/summer-stem-camp/.

Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater, an award-winning educational theater, now celebrating 45 years, will engage children in a weeklong theater arts camp -August 4-8th for children ages 6 and older at Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury. Campers will work with Grumbling Gryphons actors, musicians and artists in a fun week-long exciting theater camp centered around the story of Anansi, the Trickster Spider from the Ashanti people of Ghana in West Africa. Children will engage in acting, singing, dancing, and arts and crafts activities including mask making.

The camp will give children the opportunity to become part of a professional children’s theater, make new friends and learn more about Anansi and his adventures as they take on the roles of the animals in the jungle including bees, lions, monkeys, crocodiles and more!

 In this infamous tale, Anansi manages to trick the various animals of the jungle and retrieve the stolen stories from Nyame- the greedy sky god of the Ashanti people.

 At the culmination of a week of arts and drama, children will perform

Anansi- the Trickster Spider: A West African Folktale  on Friday, August 8th at 2 pm for parents and the general public. Live music will be provided by award winning keyboardist Brian Bender from Shutesbury, MA

Grumbling Gryphons will make masks with artist and actress Natalie Resto of Apples N’ Oranges Studio to wear and enhance their participation in the performance. This play is participatory and engages the general public in a lively, interactive performance where the audience will become part of the production!  

Grumbling Gryphons is renowned for its fantastic masks and captivating costumes, made by Ellen Moon of Cornwall, CT., and for its innovative interaction with children. Grumbling Gryphons has been performing in schools, museums, libraries and festivals throughout the United States since 1980. In 2003 they won the Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award. They are now celebrating their 45th year of providing educational and participatory theater throughout New England and beyond!

“Level Up at Your Library” Summer Reading Program for all ages, Morris Public Library, June 24 -August 20, 2025.

We are excited to offer a fun and engaging Summer Reading Program “Level Up at Your Library,” June 24 – August 20, 2025.

Each reading level has their own “Level Up at Your Library” Activity Card to participate in the program. Youngsters (PreK and under) will enjoy reading with their families and engage in fun activities. Students (Grades K-Grade 5) will count the number of their new reading adventures by writing them down in their cards. Teens (Grades 6-12) and adults will explore new and special book selections, which they can easily find at their Library.

Submit your completed cards (could be more than one!) to enter for a chance to win a Level Up at Your Library Prize.

Find weekly coloring projects for children and adults throughout the program – complete yours and share it for our library display!

No registration is required – obtain your card at the kickoff, at the library or download it from the website https://morrispubliclibrary.net (all levels!).

The Morris Public Library offers Story and Music Time for participants ages 9 mo. - 5 y.o every Tuesday at 10 am.

Please call to ask if a spot is available: 860-567-7440.

Sing songs, read a story, do a craft!

The David M. Hunt Library is pleased to announce COLLAGE REDUX!, a vibrant exhibition showcasing the innovative work of artist Ingrid Freidenbergs. The show will run throughout the month of July, with a special artist reception on Saturday, July 12, from 5 to 7 PM and an artist’s talk on Thursday July 24 at 5:30PM.

Freidenbergs’ exhibition is packed with both collages and box constructions that run riot with the intricate layering of found images and objects, textures, and colors – red is prominent in the artist’s visual language. Her approach transforms disparate elements into compelling therapeutic visual storytelling.

Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn

exhibition dates:  August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com

Stories told in light and silence

Poetry will make me violent

Violets outside our yard…

Why does the world have to be so hard?

Encompassing the hidden truths

 Of things unseen in what we view.

-       LMH

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.

Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”

Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.

Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.

Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.

Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.

From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.

Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.

Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”

In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.

Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.

Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.

Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.  

Join us for Story Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 for new books, free play, and fun crafts!

Music and Rhyme for Children from Birth to 3s! A program for babies and their caretakers that incorporates music, rhythm, stories, and nursery rhymes to spur language development, body awareness, pre-reading skills, self-confidence, and cooperation. Gathering at 10:15, the program begins at 10:30.

Registration appreciated, drop-ins welcome!

On Tuesday, August 5th at 11 am the David M. Hunt Library will host a discussion of the short story  "Everything in This Country Must" by Colum McCann with Dathalinn O’Dea.  Copies of the story are available online or at the library. O’Dea, who lives in Falls Village, is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Marist College with a specialty in modern Irish literature. Copies of the story are available at the library, or it can be found online at https://www.irishamerica.com/2021/09/everything-in-this-country-must/.

It’s a special Makerspace Open Hours session just for kids and families! Watch the 3D printer in action, build with Legos, play with robots, try one of our Monthly Makes kits, or bring your imaginative ideas to life using any of the supplies from the craft wall! On August 5, we’ll also be demonstrating the embroidery machine and creating customized fabric bookmarks.

Ages 5+ with a caregiver.

All participants must have a signed GML Makerspace waiver on file. Please arrive a few minutes early to complete this paperwork if this is your first Makerspace program.

Registration is required: https://www.gunnlibrary.org/calendar/kids-crafternoon-in-the-makerspace/

Designed to hone your artmaking, expand your creative problem-solving skills and build a strong portfolio, this fully funded program offers comprehensive workshops in Ceramics, Printmaking, Alternative Photography, and Painting & Drawing. Each workshop meets one afternoon per week for six weeks. Attendees can register for any individual or all four workshops.

Instructors: Jill Van Slooten, Caleb Portfolio, Kimberly Jo & Christine Mitchell

Mondays - Thursdays, July 7 through August 14, 2025

1:00 - 4:30 PM

Ages: 13 - 17

Members & Non-Members: FREE

MORE INFO & REGISTER

Monday, Aug 4 - Friday Aug 8, 2025

* Online Registration Required

LEGO® Master, I choose you!! In the race to be crowned the Ultimate Pokémon Champion, we need your

help! Learn to build your favorite Pokémon, level up by teaching them special moves, evolve them into

more powerful versions, and come face to face with the current champion in an epic battle for the title.

Learn from our Play-Well Pokémon Masters so you can make it to the top!

Pre-registration required.

Opening Reception. Friday, July 25 6-8 PM

7 Water ST, Torrington, CT

Jonathan Doster is back! Join “Mr. D” for fun summer evenings of chess. Jonathan will teach, guide, and talk strategy with players of all skill levels. Adults and children over the age of 6 are welcome; please note this is not a drop off program for children under 12. Please register.

Join us at Honeybee Books and Tea for our weekly Open Mic Night!

With a full technical assortment of equipment, we are more than happy to welcome:

• Musicians
• Poets
• Stand-up Comedy
• Reading Excerpts
• Dance
• Puppetry
• Whatever Makes You Buzz

We ask that attendees arrive promptly at 6:00 pm to respect performers. For more information, check out our website or stop by in-store.

An interactive STEM program with Pizza for all!

Tuesday, August 5 : 6-8 pm

For children of all ages and their grown-ups

Registration is required. Visit our website or give us a call.

This summer, Tuesday evenings at OWL are all about families--take the stress out of planning dinner and an activity and instead have some complimentary pizza and then play! This program is for children of all ages and their grown-ups. 

This August, young detectives are invited to sharpen their sleuthing skills at the Gunn Junior Library’s Summer Reading Book Club, featuring the mystery Opal Watson, Private Eye. Designed for readers entering 4th through 6th grade, this three-week literary adventure promises page-turning fun, spirited discussion, and plenty of pizza. The program aims to encourage a life-long joy of reading, critical thinking and building community.

Part mystery, part comedy, Opal Watson, Private Eye follows a pint-sized investigator with a nose for clues and a knack for finding trouble in all the right places.

Registration is required. When you RSVP for the first meeting, you will automatically be registered for the whole series.

Bring your dinner to the Library as we watch Onward (PG, 2020). We will be meeting in the Junior Room. Children of all ages are welcome to participate. Registration appreciated, please call or email (kmljuniorroom@biblio.org) the Junior Room to register, or register online.

Calling all young scientists! Join us for three weeks of educational, hands-on STEM programs led by Isla Beckstrom. Designed for students entering grades 3–5, each session features interactive experiments and collaborative challenges.

Isla Beckstrom is a current senior at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington. She enjoys reading, hiking, and sharing her passion for STEM.

Program Schedule:

● July 29: Bridge Building

● August 5: Chemical Reactions

● August 19: Sound Science

All supplies provided. Space is limited—registration required. Please register for each session you’d like to attend.

Global artists have sent in their wildest images, film, music and poems for Personaland's online art show

Personaland is an artist-driven global village transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge time zones and cultural boundaries. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Since its 2018 launch, Personaland, in its global reach, has showcased over 800 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, and poets from 68 countries in 32 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions, many with videos of artist profiles.  https://www.personaland.com

The Merwinsville Hotel is excited to be continuing the Glass Orb Scavenger Hunt thanks to a generous donation from the New Milford Commission on the Arts.

There are 25 area historic sites and organizations that are participating with the Hotel. Each site is hiding four numbered and dated one-of-a-kind glass orbs (three clear and one colored) either inside or outside on their property. Participants can search for and keep any glass orb that they find, but please limit one orb per person/family so everyone has a chance! Be sure to register your orb on the Merwinsville Hotel website where you can also upload a photo. Share your find on social media and don't forget to tag the organization where you found it!

The blown glass orbs that are numbered, dated for 2025, and stamped with “MHR 50”. In addition to the clear glass orbs, there are 25 colored orbs for 2025. Reminder: Because each organization's hours vary, be sure to check their websites before you head out on your hunt.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS BY TOWN:

Bantam:

Bantam Cinema

Brookfield:

Brookfield Craft Center

Danbury:

Danbury Museum & Historical Society; Danbury Railway Museum

Gaylordsville - Celebrating its 300th Anniversary!

Browns Forge; Little Red Schoolhouse; Merwinsville Hotel Restoration, Inc.; The Washington Oak Park (DAR Roger Sherman Chapter)

Kent:

Connecticut Antique Machinery Association; Eric Sloane Museum; Kent Historical Society

Litchfield:

Litchfield Historical Society

New Fairfield:

New Fairfield Historical Society (at the Little Red Schoolhouse); Preserve New Fairfield

New Milford:

Gallery 25 & Creative Arts Studio; Harrybrooke Park; Merryall Center for the Arts; New Milford Historical Society; Pratt Nature Center; The Silo @ Hunt Hill Farm Trust; TheatreWorks; Village Center for the Arts

Sherman:

Sherman Historical Society

Washington:

Gunn Historical Museum

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Support our food, beverage and retail businesses. Get your Taste of Burlington card stamped at at least 12 of the following businesses between June 21, 2025 and September 1, 2025 for a chance to win gift certificates.

The B. Hive www.thebhiveburlington.com

Burlington Spirit Shoppe www.burlingtonspirit.com

Charming Thai Restaurant www.charming-thai.com

China Garden (860) 675-6666

Daily Mart (860) 675-7243

Delta Pizza www.delta-pizza.com

Enclave Grille www.enclavegrille.com

Greenhouse Tavern www.greenhousecafeandtavern.com

Happy Hippie Homestead www.facebook.com/people/Happy-Hippie-Homestead/61564351782316/

Hogan's Cider Mill www.hoganscidermill.com

I Know A Guy Deli www.iknowaguyfoodsllc.com

Kyle's Doghouse (860) 729-6146

Lamothe's Sugar House www.lamothesugarhouse.com

Larson's Garden Center www.larsonsgardencenter.com

Little Axe Market www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569260639474#

Little Laurel's Cookie Co. www.littlelaurels.com

The Nevermind Shop www.nevermindshop.com

Sabrina's Restaurant & successor www.sabrinasrestaurantct.com

The Swimming Pool Store www.theswimmingpoolstore.com

Tonn's Marketplace www.tonnsmarketplace.com

Thank you to our sponsors: Torrington Savings Bank, M&T Bank and the Burlington CT Police Union

Submissions now open! ASAP!’s 15th annual Celebration of Young Photographers invites students in grades 6-12 to submit their photographs for a chance to participate in a juried art exhibition. A panel of professional photographers selects 60 photos for a public exhibition, recognizing the top four photographers for their outstanding and thoughtful work based on the yearly theme.

Submissions: now - September 26, 2025

Theme: Transformation

Exhibition: Hartford Art School's Silpe Gallery. Sunday, November 2, 2025, 2:00-3:30 pm

Submissions and guidelines: visit asapct.org

School’s OUT! Summer Camp @ the Mattatuck Museum

Join in on summer fun at the Mattatuck Museum through our School’s OUT! Summer Adventures Camp. This year we are hosting 6 weeks of summer camp — with new themes and experiences each week. During these week-long camps children will be immersed in the Museum’s galleries while learning about history and developing their art skills with unique materials and techniques.

Camp hours – 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM; FREE Before and After Care from 8 AM – 9 AM and 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Support provided by American Savings Foundation and Post University.

Summer camp payment and registrations are being accepted on a rolling basis, however, the refund policy (no refunds after May 21) remains in effect, even if registering or paying past that date. The registration form MUST be completed prior to the first day the child will be participating in camp.

WEEKS:

June 30-July 3: Marvelous Me!

July 7-11: Mini MIXMASTER

July 14-18: Georgia’s Garden

July 21-25: Melodic Masterpieces

July 28-August 1: Capes and Canvases: A Superhero Spectacular

August 4-8: Theater Arts Camp with Grumbling Gryphons

Scholarships Available through United Way’s Greater Waterbury Campership Fund.

Campers with a Kids Adventure Pass will receive 50% discount on weekly rate.

Join us at Rumsey Hall School for ASAP! Summer Camp 2025! Our camps are a unique opportunity for children in grades 1-6 and 7-10 to build friendships, get creative, and discover new interests. Visit our website to see the full list of camp activities and sign up!

New Milford Youth Agency presents Nature Unplugged. Promoting friendship, team building, kindness and self esteem. Activities include: kickoff at club getaway, various hiking trips, state park explorations, beach time, ice cream, etc

Kids entering 6th - 8th grades

$15 / week

Registration for Robot Rush Accelerator: Design, Build, Compete! is open! A one-week summer camp for students in grades 6-8.

 Explore Robotics This Summer!

Join the Robot Rush Accelerator for a week of building circuits, programming robots, and designing automated devices! Perfect for middle school students interested in STEM and technology.

August 4th - 8th | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

215 Hogan Drive, Torrington, CT, EdAdvance’s Kitching Regional Learning Center

$450 | Financial aid available

Register now: https://cca.edadvance.org/summer-camp

Monday, Aug 4 - Friday Aug. 8

Pokémon Engineering using LEGO® Materials

Calling all Pokémon trainers! With the Pokémon Championship approaching, join our enthusiastic Play-

Well Instructors as we build and catch our favorite Pokémon, rescue Pikachu from Team Rocket, take a

ride on the S.S. Anne to uncover rare and mystic Pokémon, and battle to see who will hold the title of

Pokémon Master. Come along on our journey to catch 'em all!

* Online Registration Required

The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present a joint art exhibition, “Now Dark, Now Glittering,” featuring the works of Chris Barnard and Jeff Joyce. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 1.

An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Barnard was born in New York City and received his BA from Yale and his MFA from The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Deeply informed by the pandemic and his parents’ decline, his need to engage with the natural world and create beauty led to many nature-based paintings, echoing his love for gardening. 

Joyce’s work is a meditation on nature. The pieces in this show, selected from a time span of nearly 20 years, are engaged with the landscape. They aim to demonstrate how cultural history mediates and defines the ways we perceive nature.

This show will remain on view through Sunday, August 24. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.

Advanced topics in robotics and design for older students in grades 7-12 and those who have completed intermediate levels. Financial assistance available. Register at https://roboticsandbeyond.org/summer-stem-camp/.

Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater, an award-winning educational theater, now celebrating 45 years, will engage children in a weeklong theater arts camp -August 4-8th for children ages 6 and older at Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury. Campers will work with Grumbling Gryphons actors, musicians and artists in a fun week-long exciting theater camp centered around the story of Anansi, the Trickster Spider from the Ashanti people of Ghana in West Africa. Children will engage in acting, singing, dancing, and arts and crafts activities including mask making.

The camp will give children the opportunity to become part of a professional children’s theater, make new friends and learn more about Anansi and his adventures as they take on the roles of the animals in the jungle including bees, lions, monkeys, crocodiles and more!

 In this infamous tale, Anansi manages to trick the various animals of the jungle and retrieve the stolen stories from Nyame- the greedy sky god of the Ashanti people.

 At the culmination of a week of arts and drama, children will perform

Anansi- the Trickster Spider: A West African Folktale  on Friday, August 8th at 2 pm for parents and the general public. Live music will be provided by award winning keyboardist Brian Bender from Shutesbury, MA

Grumbling Gryphons will make masks with artist and actress Natalie Resto of Apples N’ Oranges Studio to wear and enhance their participation in the performance. This play is participatory and engages the general public in a lively, interactive performance where the audience will become part of the production!  

Grumbling Gryphons is renowned for its fantastic masks and captivating costumes, made by Ellen Moon of Cornwall, CT., and for its innovative interaction with children. Grumbling Gryphons has been performing in schools, museums, libraries and festivals throughout the United States since 1980. In 2003 they won the Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award. They are now celebrating their 45th year of providing educational and participatory theater throughout New England and beyond!

“Level Up at Your Library” Summer Reading Program for all ages, Morris Public Library, June 24 -August 20, 2025.

We are excited to offer a fun and engaging Summer Reading Program “Level Up at Your Library,” June 24 – August 20, 2025.

Each reading level has their own “Level Up at Your Library” Activity Card to participate in the program. Youngsters (PreK and under) will enjoy reading with their families and engage in fun activities. Students (Grades K-Grade 5) will count the number of their new reading adventures by writing them down in their cards. Teens (Grades 6-12) and adults will explore new and special book selections, which they can easily find at their Library.

Submit your completed cards (could be more than one!) to enter for a chance to win a Level Up at Your Library Prize.

Find weekly coloring projects for children and adults throughout the program – complete yours and share it for our library display!

No registration is required – obtain your card at the kickoff, at the library or download it from the website https://morrispubliclibrary.net (all levels!).

"Finding the Light": an exhibit of oil paintings by Chandra Rogers.

Chandra Rogers is a contemporary painter residing in Litchfield County with her husband and two daughters. Primarily self-taught, Chandra began consistently painting in 2012 after signing up for a local oil painting class, which led to a deluge of personal development through various classes and workshops and a lifelong passion for art. Her diverse subjects have included animals, portraiture, still lifes, landscapes, abstracts and commissioned pieces primarily in oil paint, pastels, and charcoal. Her current work is inspired by the study of light, color, mark-making, and a spirited painterly brushstroke, and has been described as capturing the soul of her subjects.

Chandra is a member of the Washington Art Association and Kent Art Association and her work has been displayed in various juried and solo shows throughout Connecticut, receiving numerous awards, most notably the Barbara Goodspeed Award, Award for Graphics, and multiple Awards of Excellence at the Kent Art Association, Honorable Mention at the Washington Art Association, and most recently Best in Show at Gallery 25 in New Milford, CT. Susan Grisell, a judge at a recent juried show, stated “Chandra’s draftsmanship and attention to detail are evident in her expressive portraits of people and animals.”

Chandra’s current show is a collection of primarily recent works reflecting her love for experimentation and trying new techniques, from traditional glazing techniques to achieve a photorealistic effect, to loose abstracts with a focus on gestural brushstrokes and mark making. Subjects include a collection of sunsets, still lifes, florals, abstracts, landscapes, portraiture, and animal paintings.

Shanks Waterfront Dining @ Clinton Marina & Shopping at Clinton Outlets

Enjoy lunch on your own at the marina while watching boats pass by under shaded canopies then we will head to the outlets to take advantage of Back To School sales.

* Pre-registration & pre-payment required.

Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn

exhibition dates:  August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com

Stories told in light and silence

Poetry will make me violent

Violets outside our yard…

Why does the world have to be so hard?

Encompassing the hidden truths

 Of things unseen in what we view.

-       LMH

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.

Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”

Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.

Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.

Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.

Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.

From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.

Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.

Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”

In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.

Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.

Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.

Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.  

Wednesday August 6 at 10:30 am

Perfect for 18 - 36 months, but fun for everyone!

Lots of rhymes, a sprinkling of songs, and one or two shared board books round out this library program that is perfect for little ones who need to get those wiggles out. Stay to PLAY! After the rhymes, stay for some unstructured play time with other kiddos.

Music and Rhyme for Children from Birth to 3s! A program for babies and their caretakers that incorporates music, rhythm, stories, and nursery rhymes to spur language development, body awareness, pre-reading skills, self-confidence, and cooperation. Gathering at 10:15 on the green behind the Visitor Center, the program begins at 10:30.

In case of inclement weather or other adverse conditions, this event will move inside to the Junior Room.

Registration appreciated, drop-ins welcome!

Join us for a delightful afternoon of good food and engaging conversations about local art and history!

Order ahead from Sweet Bella @ The MATT or bring your own lunch to enjoy.

First Wednesday of Every Month | 12–1 PM

Join musicologist Dr. Gil Harel as he discusses Mozart’s later years, including his relationship with fellow Freemasons, his mysterious illness, and the Requiem that he was composing when he died. Learn about the style of music that thrived during Mozart’s life and in Mozart’s hands, as well as his gifts that went far beyond melody.

Designed to hone your artmaking, expand your creative problem-solving skills and build a strong portfolio, this fully funded program offers comprehensive workshops in Ceramics, Printmaking, Alternative Photography, and Painting & Drawing. Each workshop meets one afternoon per week for six weeks. Attendees can register for any individual or all four workshops.

Instructors: Jill Van Slooten, Caleb Portfolio, Kimberly Jo & Christine Mitchell

Mondays - Thursdays, July 7 through August 14, 2025

1:00 - 4:30 PM

Ages: 13 - 17

Members & Non-Members: FREE

MORE INFO & REGISTER

The David M. Hunt Library is pleased to announce COLLAGE REDUX!, a vibrant exhibition showcasing the innovative work of artist Ingrid Freidenbergs. The show will run throughout the month of July, with a special artist reception on Saturday, July 12, from 5 to 7 PM and an artist’s talk on Thursday July 24 at 5:30PM.

Freidenbergs’ exhibition is packed with both collages and box constructions that run riot with the intricate layering of found images and objects, textures, and colors – red is prominent in the artist’s visual language. Her approach transforms disparate elements into compelling therapeutic visual storytelling.

Monday, Aug 4 - Friday Aug 8, 2025

* Online Registration Required

LEGO® Master, I choose you!! In the race to be crowned the Ultimate Pokémon Champion, we need your

help! Learn to build your favorite Pokémon, level up by teaching them special moves, evolve them into

more powerful versions, and come face to face with the current champion in an epic battle for the title.

Learn from our Play-Well Pokémon Masters so you can make it to the top!

Pre-registration required.

Opening Reception. Friday, July 25 6-8 PM

7 Water ST, Torrington, CT

Debbi Johnson, Boston University certified Pro-Gen Graduate, will be leading our new Genealogy Club. The Club will meet once a month on the first Wednesday of the month. Debbi will open the Club with some basics, and then she and the group will assist with projects depending on topic and attendance. Registration requested.

Join us and the Kent Art Association as we screen The Price of Everything. With unprecedented access to pivotal artists and the white-hot market surrounding them, this film dives deep into the contemporary art world, holding a fun-house mirror up to our values and times.

Bring any food or drink you wish to have!

Global artists have sent in their wildest images, film, music and poems for Personaland's online art show

Personaland is an artist-driven global village transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge time zones and cultural boundaries. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.

Since its 2018 launch, Personaland, in its global reach, has showcased over 800 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, and poets from 68 countries in 32 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions, many with videos of artist profiles.  https://www.personaland.com

The Merwinsville Hotel is excited to be continuing the Glass Orb Scavenger Hunt thanks to a generous donation from the New Milford Commission on the Arts.

There are 25 area historic sites and organizations that are participating with the Hotel. Each site is hiding four numbered and dated one-of-a-kind glass orbs (three clear and one colored) either inside or outside on their property. Participants can search for and keep any glass orb that they find, but please limit one orb per person/family so everyone has a chance! Be sure to register your orb on the Merwinsville Hotel website where you can also upload a photo. Share your find on social media and don't forget to tag the organization where you found it!

The blown glass orbs that are numbered, dated for 2025, and stamped with “MHR 50”. In addition to the clear glass orbs, there are 25 colored orbs for 2025. Reminder: Because each organization's hours vary, be sure to check their websites before you head out on your hunt.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS BY TOWN:

Bantam:

Bantam Cinema

Brookfield:

Brookfield Craft Center

Danbury:

Danbury Museum & Historical Society; Danbury Railway Museum

Gaylordsville - Celebrating its 300th Anniversary!

Browns Forge; Little Red Schoolhouse; Merwinsville Hotel Restoration, Inc.; The Washington Oak Park (DAR Roger Sherman Chapter)

Kent:

Connecticut Antique Machinery Association; Eric Sloane Museum; Kent Historical Society

Litchfield:

Litchfield Historical Society

New Fairfield:

New Fairfield Historical Society (at the Little Red Schoolhouse); Preserve New Fairfield

New Milford:

Gallery 25 & Creative Arts Studio; Harrybrooke Park; Merryall Center for the Arts; New Milford Historical Society; Pratt Nature Center; The Silo @ Hunt Hill Farm Trust; TheatreWorks; Village Center for the Arts

Sherman:

Sherman Historical Society

Washington:

Gunn Historical Museum

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Support our food, beverage and retail businesses. Get your Taste of Burlington card stamped at at least 12 of the following businesses between June 21, 2025 and September 1, 2025 for a chance to win gift certificates.

The B. Hive www.thebhiveburlington.com

Burlington Spirit Shoppe www.burlingtonspirit.com

Charming Thai Restaurant www.charming-thai.com

China Garden (860) 675-6666

Daily Mart (860) 675-7243

Delta Pizza www.delta-pizza.com

Enclave Grille www.enclavegrille.com

Greenhouse Tavern www.greenhousecafeandtavern.com

Happy Hippie Homestead www.facebook.com/people/Happy-Hippie-Homestead/61564351782316/

Hogan's Cider Mill www.hoganscidermill.com

I Know A Guy Deli www.iknowaguyfoodsllc.com

Kyle's Doghouse (860) 729-6146

Lamothe's Sugar House www.lamothesugarhouse.com

Larson's Garden Center www.larsonsgardencenter.com

Little Axe Market www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569260639474#

Little Laurel's Cookie Co. www.littlelaurels.com

The Nevermind Shop www.nevermindshop.com

Sabrina's Restaurant & successor www.sabrinasrestaurantct.com

The Swimming Pool Store www.theswimmingpoolstore.com

Tonn's Marketplace www.tonnsmarketplace.com

Thank you to our sponsors: Torrington Savings Bank, M&T Bank and the Burlington CT Police Union

Submissions now open! ASAP!’s 15th annual Celebration of Young Photographers invites students in grades 6-12 to submit their photographs for a chance to participate in a juried art exhibition. A panel of professional photographers selects 60 photos for a public exhibition, recognizing the top four photographers for their outstanding and thoughtful work based on the yearly theme.

Submissions: now - September 26, 2025

Theme: Transformation

Exhibition: Hartford Art School's Silpe Gallery. Sunday, November 2, 2025, 2:00-3:30 pm

Submissions and guidelines: visit asapct.org

School’s OUT! Summer Camp @ the Mattatuck Museum

Join in on summer fun at the Mattatuck Museum through our School’s OUT! Summer Adventures Camp. This year we are hosting 6 weeks of summer camp — with new themes and experiences each week. During these week-long camps children will be immersed in the Museum’s galleries while learning about history and developing their art skills with unique materials and techniques.

Camp hours – 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM; FREE Before and After Care from 8 AM – 9 AM and 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Support provided by American Savings Foundation and Post University.

Summer camp payment and registrations are being accepted on a rolling basis, however, the refund policy (no refunds after May 21) remains in effect, even if registering or paying past that date. The registration form MUST be completed prior to the first day the child will be participating in camp.

WEEKS:

June 30-July 3: Marvelous Me!

July 7-11: Mini MIXMASTER

July 14-18: Georgia’s Garden

July 21-25: Melodic Masterpieces

July 28-August 1: Capes and Canvases: A Superhero Spectacular

August 4-8: Theater Arts Camp with Grumbling Gryphons

Scholarships Available through United Way’s Greater Waterbury Campership Fund.

Campers with a Kids Adventure Pass will receive 50% discount on weekly rate.

Join us at Rumsey Hall School for ASAP! Summer Camp 2025! Our camps are a unique opportunity for children in grades 1-6 and 7-10 to build friendships, get creative, and discover new interests. Visit our website to see the full list of camp activities and sign up!