Conversational Italian, 13-sessions, is not a beginner class. It will be held on Fridays, April 25 to August 1, 9:15 to 11:15 a.m., with no class on May 30 or July 4. It is designed for those with a knowledge of basic Italian grammar and good vocabulary.  The required text is Conversational Italian: In 20 Lessons (Cortina Method) by Michael Cagno,  available online at abebooks.com.  

Live, In-Person & on Zoom:

Mark Scarbrough returns to OWL this Spring; leading us through 8 weeks of some of his favorite Flannery O’Connor works.

Flannery O'Connor is considered one of America's greatest fiction writers and her writing often reflects her Catholic faith, and frequently examined questions of morality and ethics. When she died in August of 1964, The New York Times called her “one of the nation’s most promising writers.” 

O’Connor is now as canonical as Faulkner and Welty. More than a great writer, she’s a cultural figure: a funny lady in a straw hat, puttering among peacocks, on crutches she likened to “flying buttresses.”

Discussion Schedule:

March 14: A Good Man is Hard to Find; A Circle of Fire; and Good Country People

March 21: The Artificial N----r and The Displaced Person

March 28: Wise Blood: chapters 1 - 7

April 4: Wise Blood: chapters 8 - 14

April 18: The Violent Bear It Away: chapters 1 - 5

April 25: The Violent Bear It Away: chapters 6 - 12

May 2: Greenleaf; The Enduring Chill; and The Comforts of Home

May 9: Everything That Rises Must Converge; The Lame Shall Enter First; and Revelation

MARK SCARBROUGH is a former English Professor and author who teaches seminars on Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner and Toni Morrison. He also hosts three literary podcasts.

The library will have copies of Flannery O'Connor's works to borrow and titles are also available to download as e-books or e-audios to OWL library card holders.

Registration required for in-person attendance.

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is honored to present an exhibition featuring hand-painted cyanotypes by Julia Whitney Barnes and drawings by Sarah Morejohn.

Julia Whitney Barnes is well known for her innovations in Cyanotype (camera-less photographic printing process) paintings. Whitney Barnes’ multi-step process includes harvesting flora (flowers and weeds being equally important) and combining several species into a single composition on photo sensitive cotton paper. After exposing the work to UV light, the resulting blue and white image is carefully hand-painted in many layers of watercolor, gouache, and ink, reanimating the vitality to the ghost of the objects. The artist is most interested in creating work that feels both beautiful and mysterious. Her artwork symbolizes resilience and are the records of the historical moment in which they were made, the process, and the artist’s will and interest in reasserting the presence of the image.

Whitney Barnes recently completed permanent public installations in The Botanist’s Mural, Vassar College/Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, Brooklyn Botanical: PS 253 (glass commission), Public Art in Public Schools/Percent for Art, Brooklyn, NY, Planting Utopia (interior installation), Albany International Airport, Albany, NY, Planting Utopia (interior and exterior installation), Shaker Heritage Society, Albany, NY. The artist has received the following honors and awards; Maker-Creator Research Fellowship, Winterthur Museum, Library & Garden (2024-25), Individual Artist Grant, (partnering with Shaker Heritage Society), New York State Council on the Arts (2018), Individual Artist Commission, NY State Decentralization Grant, Arts Mid-Hudson, Poughkeepsie, NY (2015), Gowanus Public Arts Initiative Grant (ArtsGowanus, The Old Stone House & District 39), Brooklyn, NY, Residency with Site-Specific Installation & Fellowship, Fjellerup I Bund I Grund, Fjellerup, Denmark, to name a few. Her work has been featured in Architectural Record, Times Union, The B Magazine, The Jealous Curator, Create Magazine, American Art Collector Magazine and many other publications and podcasts. Julia Whitney Barnes earned her BFA Fine Arts, Painting, Parsons the New School for Design, New York, NY and her MFA Fine Arts, Painting & Combined Media, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY. The artist lives and works in NY.

Sarah Morejohn’s fascination with non-linear patterns in nature drives her work. Through drawing, she considers how the relationship to nature is mediated both by objective understanding and subjective imagining of it. Considering the symbolic connections between nature, the body, and climate change Morejohn draws partial six-fold symmetries. By building a drawing line by line, sharp angles soften and wiggle, cell-like shapes minnow along while branches and flowers become a part of the flotsam disconnected from the earth. Figurative snow crystals become interlaced with one another and their environment, jumbling towards their own future transformations. Morejohn’s drawing process is intuitive and organic, artifacts of the process, drips, spills, flaws and mistakes are embraced. By collaging the imperfect pieces of her drawings together the work becomes a metaphor for the ever-changing uncertainties of life.

Sarah Morejohn’s work in in the collections of Heustis Hall, 1% for Art Oregon Arts Commission, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Echo Laboratory, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, Ursell Laboratory, Physics Department, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Project Art & Medical Museum, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City, IA. She was awarded residencies at Jentel Artist Residency, Banner, WY and Playa Art and Science Residency, Summer Lake, OR. Morejohn earned her BFA in Painting and Drawing, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. The artist lives and works in CA.

Please contact Lani Ming Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

Join us for Cris Caivano's program where she will blend her joy of dance, movement, research and teaching with the practice of Qigong.

This program is made possible by a generous grant from the Northwest CT Community Foundation Khurshed Bhumgara Fund.

Yarn Bomb Drop-in Sessions are taking place at Five Points Gallery throughout the spring - free and open to the public of all ages, skills and techniques welcome!

MORE INFO HERE

Fridays (weekly):

1 - 2:30 PM

April 11, 18, 25

May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

This month, the Friday Afternoon Book Club invites readers to immerse themselves in the rich and unforgettable world of A Prayer for Owen Meany by bestselling author John Irving. Known for its emotional depth, sharp wit, and profound themes, the novel promises to spark meaningful conversation and reflection among book lovers.

Set in 1950s New Hampshire, the story follows the lifelong friendship between John Wheelwright and the remarkable Owen Meany—a boy with a strange voice and an unshakable belief that he is destined for a divine purpose. Through Owen’s extraordinary faith and the twists of fate that shape their lives, Irving explores powerful themes of religion, destiny, grief, and identity.

Book club members will explore questions like: What does it mean to believe in something greater than yourself? How does friendship shape our sense of self and purpose? And how can one small person leave an outsized impact on the world?

All are welcome—whether you're reading it for the first time or revisiting this unforgettable classic. Join us for a thoughtful and engaging discussion!

Registration required: https://www.gunnlibrary.org/calendar/gml-friday-book-club-a-prayer-for-owen-meany-by-john-irving/

Looking for something to do with your unpaired socks? Join us for a Lost Sock Party at the David M. Hunt Library on May 9th at 3:30pm on Lost Sock Memorial Day! We will gather together to give new purpose to our unpaired socks with multiple craft stations set up with new ways to repurpose your mismatched, lonely socks. Snacks and laughs aplenty.

This is a community group for anyone who has experienced a loss, is feeling grief, or grieving. Grief is a natural emotional and physical response to loss. Every person reacts differently and it may be expressed in many ways. This group is neither traditional therapy nor counseling, per se, but it is a safe supportive space where people can come together, speak about their loss, explore their emotions and thoughts, if it is the right time and place for them to do so. Held the second & fourth Friday of every month in the Library Reading Room. Free & Open to the Public

Join the Housatonic Valley Association for a Dine Out for a Cause fundraiser, hosted by Black Rabbit Bar & Grille in Lakeville, CT! A portion of the proceeds from this fun and delicious evening will support HVA's conservation work in the Housatonic Valley and beyond. 

The only conservation organization dedicated to the entire tri-state Housatonic Watershed, the Housatonic Valley Association acts to protect the natural character and environmental health of the region, from the Berkshires to Long Island Sound, through restoration projects, land protection, and educational programs. 

*BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!*

Learn dance fundamentals and the basic steps plus even more for several of the most popular Ballroom Dances. Each of the 3 evenings we will choose from among these – BACHATA, CHA CHA-SALSA, HUSTLE, JITTERBUG SWING, MERENGUE, WALTZ and WEST COAST SWING. We have instruction sheets to help you remember what you learn and a possible “field trip” to get some real world experience.

ALL AGES welcome and NO partner or previous dance experience necessary. Have fun dancing to impress at your next dance party !

Instructor: Jim Zaccaria has taught dance since 1985. He helped found the Philadelphia Swing Dance Society and Swing On ! to teach new dancers the joys of boogieing to the beat !

This three - week session begins on Friday, May 9 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm and meets at Community Hall at the Morris Town Hall.

Please CARRY IN smooth soled shoes for our lessons (Shoes that would allow you to pivot on the ball of your foot.). And wear comfortable clothes that are easy to move (and dance!) in.

SESSIONS:

Friday, May 9 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Friday, May 16 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Friday, May 23 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

COST FOR THE THREE WEEK SERIES:

Morris residents - $30 couple / $20 single

Non residents - $35 couple / $25 single

Please email us at Activities@morrisct.gov to register!

Friday, May 9th, at 7 PM, 2nd Home welcomes back Brian Mattiello. It's always a great night with Brian here, and this time will be no different. Great music, food, drinks, and fun. Come down and enjoy!

For reservations (encouraged but not required) call 860-238-4500 or email us at momanddad@2ndhomelounge.com

See our complete event list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/events/

Google Street View

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2nd Home Lounge

524 Main Street, Winsted

2ndhomelounge.com

Join our mailing list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/email-sign-up/

Paint and sip located above Toothpick on Water Street in Torrington!

BYOB! Painting new types of still life's every week.

All materials included in price

RSVP online

CCB will present "Paddington in Peru" at 8 p.m. Registration required.

https://MovieNight-Paddington.eventbrite.com

Examine the bold and direct capabilities of woodcut and monotype in combination. Learn to print multiple layers of transparent inks and observe how images develop with lush color relationships and luminous surfaces. Participants will develop skills in color ink mixing, registration, printing, and stencil making.

Layered Color Woodcut/Monotype

with Jim Lee

Saturdays, May 3, 10 & 17, 2025

9 AM – 5 PM

Members: $252 / Non-Members: $280

MORE INFO & REGISTER

In addition to our high-quality, organically grown produce, we offer a variety of certified organic garden seedlings for you to transplant into your own home garden in the spring. including a tempting selection of annual flowers. We grow heirloom, standard, cherry, plum, and patio tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer and winter squash, melons, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, roots, greens, a tempting selection of annual flowers, and a wide selection of culinary herbs.