Category Archives: Arts

Old Lyme BOF Allocates $6,250 to Lyme Academy to Assist “Reinvention” Process

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File photo of the Chandler Academic Center, which comprises part of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. The new management of the Academy is considering renting out the Chandler building as office space.

OLD LYME— Deemed an economic development driver for the town, the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts this week was allocated $6,250 by the Board of Finance to help fund a “strategic plan” to reinvent itself as it moves forward without an affiliate.

The school had asked for $15,000.

Finance board Chairman Andy Russell said the allocation, approved in a unanimous vote, was only possible after his board discovered that leftover funds previously designated to the academy from last year’s budget were never awarded. He said the town typically allocated $12,500 to the academy annually, but …

Read the full article titled, Old Lyme gives art academy $6,250 as it reinvents itself, written by Mary Biekert and published Sept. 19 on theday.com.

 

 

See America’s Favorite Comedy Whodunnit ‘Shear Madness’ at Ivoryton Playhouse Through Oct. 6

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Patrick Noonan (left) and Jordan Ahnquist play the lead male characters in ‘Shear Madness’ opening at the Ivoryton Playhouse, Sept. 18. Photo courtesy of Shear Madness.

IVORYTON – Shear Madness, one of the most popular comedy productions in the world, is opening in Ivoryton on Sept. 18. This iconic production was first produced in Boston in 1980 and has been delighting audiences ever since with its unique blend of madcap improvisation and spine-tickling mystery.

This unique comedy-whodunit takes place today in the Shear Madness hairstyling salon and is chock full of up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor. During the course of the action, a murder is committed and the audience gets to spot the clues, question the suspects, and solve the funniest mystery in the annals of crime. The outcome is never the same, which is why many audience members return again and again to the scene of the mayhem.

Voted “Best Comedy of the Year” seven times by the Boston Globe and recipient of the title “Best Play of the Year” by both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Enquirer, Shear Madness has also received the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America and has been inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame, the first play ever to receive that accolade.

Shear Madness is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running play in the history of the USA. The flagship Boston company has given birth to 50 productions in the U.S. and Shear Madness has been translated into 23 foreign languages, playing worldwide in a host of cities including Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Paris, Rejkavik, Rome, Tel Aviv, Melbourne, Johannesburg and Seoul. Over 12.5 million people worldwide have joined in the fun.

The production features veteran performers Jordan Ahnquist*, Patrick Noonan*, and Lisa McMillan* who have performed these roles many times – most recently in the off-Broadway production. They will be joined by Ivoryton Playhouse alum Bill Mootus* and Siobhan Fitzgerald* and Lev Harvey will be making his Playhouse debut.

The production is directed by Robert Lohrmann with set design by Daniel Nischan, lighting design by Marcus Abbott and costume design by Liz Saylor.

Shear Madness opens at the Ivoryton Playhouse on Sept. 18  and runs through Oct. 6. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $55 for adults; $50 for seniors; $25 for students and $20 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org 

 (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information. Discounted tickets after 6pm on Thursday evenings – get half price adult ticket (subject to availability). Six-Tix are only available at the Playhouse Box Office window and do not apply to special events.  Limit 4 Six Tix per person.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

*denotes member of Actors Equity

Lyme Academy Relaunches Itself with Fall Program of 33 Classes

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There will be opportunities to paint ‘en plein air’ for all ages in Lyme Academy’s Fall Program.

OLD LYME – Whether with brushstrokes or keystrokes as their instrument of choice, artists can learn and hone their craft at the renamed Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, which is reinventing itself with the launch of a full slate of courses for the upcoming fall semester. The first classes start Sept. 23.

In an effort to define itself anew while staying true to its core values, the academy will offer 33 courses covering traditional arts curriculum and new digital offerings – the best of art traditions and the newest innovations.

File photo of the Chandler Academic Center, which comprises part of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.

Lyme Academy of Fine Arts announced in July that its campus will remain open and a rebuilding initiative is underway in the wake of the school’s disaffiliation from the University of New Haven (UNH). The UNH decision to end its relationship with the academy was made public in August of 2018.

The incorporation of new intensive courses in digital art with a focus on the Adobe Creative Suite is part of efforts to modernize offerings in a world where many use digital programs in their careers and artistic endeavors.

Innovation classes will train students on Adobe programs including Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign and Premiere to offer those of all generations career advancement training in the Internet age.

These offerings will also include a Social Media for Creatives course taught by Maria Miranda, the Creative Director and Founder of marketing agency Miranda Creative, Inc., who is excited to join the staff as it works to train artists in all mediums including emerging digital ones.

“As principal and creative director of a brand management firm with a degree in fine arts, I have long understood that there is a relationship between the traditional arts and innovative arts,” Miranda said. “As a result, I could not be more excited or honored to be immersed in the best of both worlds in teaching at the Lyme Academy.”

Though art is always evolving and changing, particularly in a computer-driven world, the foundation of art and its teaching remains a guiding force for the academy, which is staying true to its roots by offering comprehensive courses in figurative and representational art.

Fall offerings include core curriculum courses such as Foundations in Drawing, Anatomical Drawing, Figure Drawing to Painting, Figure Sculpture, Printmaking, and weekly classes open to the public including Open Figure Drawing and Watercolor.

In addition, the fall will bring portfolio prep weekends with instructional focus on building skills to develop a body of work. These will be:

  • Drawing: Art of the Cast Sept. 28 & 29 and Oct. 5 & 6
  • Sculpture: The Skull Oct. 19 & 20 and Oct. 26 & 27
  • Value Painting: Shades of Grey Nov. 2 & 3 and Nov. 9 & 10.

Stephen Shaheen, a former faculty member at Lyme Academy College, and Kellie Pereira, a BFA graduate of Lyme Academy College, will teach the stone carving class., which runs from Nov. 7-10.

Masterclass workshops with nationally known artists will be open to both novice and skilled artists and offered in:

  • Animal Sculpture
  • Encaustic
  • Stone Carving
  • Painting the Human Image
  • Large Scale Figure Painting
  • Painting En Plein Air & In-Studio: 4 Steps to Successful Painting
  • Digital Photography for Beginners
  • Photography: Insightful Portraiture
  • The Expressive Photograph and the Landscape.

Registration is open for all fall courses.

For more information or to enroll in a course, visit lymeacademy.org.

Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is located at 84 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Conn.

Billy Boyle is Back! Join Jim Benn’s Latest Book in Best-Selling Series is on Sale Now

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LYME — Lyme Public Library hosts local resident and best-selling author James R. Benn on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 2 p.m., when Benn will present “When Hell Struck Twelve: The 14th Billy Boyle Mystery.” This is the latest book in Benn’s series of popular Billy Boyle World War II mystery novels, which the New York Times Book Review has called “spirited wartime storytelling.”

Benn will be on hand to sign and sell copies of his book. This event is free and all are welcome.

In the 14th Billy Boyle mystery, US Army detective Billy Boyle and Lieutenant Kazimierz travel into the heart of Nazi-occupied Paris on a dangerous mission: ensure a traitor to the French Resistance unwittingly carries out a high-stakes deception campaign.

It is August, 1944, and US Army detective Billy Boyle is assigned to track down a French traitor, code-named Atlantik, who is delivering classified Allied plans to German leaders in occupied Paris. The Resistance is also hot on his trail and out for blood, after Atlantik’s previous betrayals led to the death of many of their members.

But the plans Atlantik carries were leaked on purpose, a ruse devised to obscure the Allied army’s real intentions to bypass Paris in a race to the German border.

Now Billy and Kaz are assigned to the Resistance with orders to not let them capture the traitor: the deception campaign is too important. Playing a delicate game, the chase must be close enough to spur the traitor on and visible enough to ensure the Germans trust Atlantik.

The outcome of the war may well depend on it …

James R. Benn

Critics have given extremely positive reviews of Benn’s latest book.

The Publisher’s Weekly said,“Stellar … The author makes the most of the tense and dramatic backdrop to this high-stakes whodunit. Benn has surpassed himself with this installment,” while BookPage noted, “I’ve read every book in James R. Benn‘s series, reviewed most of them, loved all of them, and this is the best one yet.”

Booklist wrote, “This consistently strong series has jumped to another level, with this volume clearly the hands-down best so far . . . Benn’s portrayal of the gallimaufry of competing Resistance groups, whose bullets, Billy learns, kill you just as dead as the Germans’ more powerful weaponry, adds a fascinating dimension to this exciting story of the sometimes-deadly chaos that accompanied the liberation of Paris.”

If you cannot attend on Saturday but would like to order a signed copy of the book, email Benn at jrb@jamesrbenn.com. Visit this link to order a copy online.

Gil Boro of Old Lyme’s ‘Knot Theory’ Exhibition on View at Lyman Allyn Through Oct. 27

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Sculptor Gil Boro in his studio in Old Lyme.

OLD LYME/NEW LONDON — The Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London will host an opening reception this evening from 5 to 7 p.m. for Gilbert Boro’s exhibition titled, Knot Theory: Sculptural Works by Gilbert Boro. All are welcome.

Boro, who lives and works in Old Lyme, is a sculptor, architect, educator, and international design consultant, whose sculptures focus on the interplay of space, place, and scale. His studio is located at 80-1 Lyme St., where his private residence is also found. Both are set within four and a half acres of beautifully landscaped grounds on which more than a 100 sculptures are on display. The majority of the sculptures are by Boro himself with the remainder being by guest artists. The Sculpture Grounds are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offer free admission.

‘Flat Bar Knot’ is one of the featured sculptures in ‘Knot Theory’ on view at the Lyman Allyn Museum.

Knot Theory is the latest exhibit in Lyman Allyn’s Near :: New contemporary series. As the name suggests, Knot Theory will highlight Boro’s  knot sculptures, exploring their intricate shapes and figures. The exhibition will be on view in Glassenberg Gallery through Oct. 27.

‘Bowline Knot’ by Gilbert Boro.

Knots have dual associations for Boro: their indispensable applications in sailing, which he learned as a teenager living on Long Island Sound and their symbolism of unity, which is seen in the synergy created from weaving different strands to form a strong bond. Boro’s knots simultaneously expose the inherent power and strength of their construction with the smoothness and elegance of their grace.

A sailboat cannot navigate challenging weather without a crew working in unison to ensure the knots and lines are correctly placed. It is this dual bond between strength and grace that creates a universal harmony — as in art and in life. Unlike the tautness of a sailor’s knot, the voids floating between Boro’s strands recognize that we still need space to expand and thrive while exploring our common bonds through sculpture.

The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, CT 06320.