Reflections of Main Street in Torrington  in framed artwork by Marilyn Greenberg at Five Points Feb 2016

In the afternoon my daughter asked to go downtown and as the air was a cheerful breeze instead of the harsh wintry mix that occurred earlier in the week, we decided to walk.

We passed the Historical Society which was hosting an exhibit on Venture Smith, something I’m looking forward to viewing but as the kids had edible treats on their mind, we continued toward the center of the city. Ushers and attendants were busy at the doors to the Warner Theatre as the marquee proudly announced that The Jungle Book was being performed.  We noted through the windows that a full dance class was happily learning movements in studio 1 at the Torrington School of Ballet at the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory. We continued walking and made our way past our friend Max’s Franklin Print Company to Cafe 38, the former S & S Sweet Treats but with the same wonderful Tina at the helm. Inside I said hello to Dawn Hill of Dawn Hill Designs who was visiting there as well. Cafe 38 is more than an icecream establishment now but there’s still icecream on the menu so the children selected cups of playdough flavored treats while I ordered a J. Timothy Quirk sundae (which is just vanilla icecream).

To our surprise and delight, artist Karen Rossi popped in so once we had finished our icecreams we visited Karen Rossi’s studio! My daughter loves the fanciful flight series Karen creates so we discussed taking a workshop in it.  If luck is with us we’ll be creating some art tomorrow from 1pm to 4pm in the heart of downtown Torrington at Karen Rossi’s.

art by Wayne Herpich at Five Points Gallery

Art by Pat Carrigan at the Five Points Gallery

There were no programs going on in the mid afternoon at Performance Hub but I saw their new stage (which looks fantastic) as we waited for the light and while we waited we waved to photographer Sheila Ivain, of HitDatAft, then crossed Water Street to the Five Points Gallery. Greeted warmly, we enjoyed the visit seeing the art, especially Wayne Herpich’ work (though all were appreciated including the exhibit curated by Power Booth).

artist talk coming to Noelke Gallery 3/12/2016

art at John Noelke Gallery

Next to the Five Points was the Noelke Gallery and as luck would have it, John Noelke himself was there. The kids stood on the “soap box” art (they’re allowed-that’s part of the art) and John told me about the upcoming book talk that will occur there on 3/12/2016 (lunchtime-more details will follow) with Francis V Moulder the author of “Exiting the Extraordinary” about “the process of returning to the ordinary world after extraordinary experiences” such as returning from war, prison, surving collective environmental disasters, slavery and more.

With our journey concluded we said goodbye, returned over Water Street and even had the opportunity to wave to our friends at First Act Bakery (we’ll get our Sunday pastries tomorrow) as we made our way back.

Torrington is an amazing community with opportunities to express one’s ideas creatively whether through music (Performance Hub), theater (Warner), dance (Nutmeg Ballet), visual art (Karen Rossi Studios), fiber art (In Sheep’s Clothing), viewing art (Five Points, Noelke Gallery), viewing/purcashing handcrafted jewlery (like Dawn Hill Designs and Kelly’s Crystals) or learning about history (Torrington Historical Society and Torrington Historical Preservation Trust).  I’m so happy we explored on a Saturday when the weather for a brief time was a harbinger of great days and nights to come this Spring!