Real Art Ways | Independent Cinema | Contemporary Art | Live Art

Community Film Screenings: In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Free Community Showings of Films from our Film Field Trip Program

You are invited to experience three documentary films that explore the Civil Rights Movement in ways that all ages can appreciate. Featuring a guided discussion with film facilitator Derek Hall.

Free Admission! All ages are welcome.

Come for one film or stay all day!

Programming

11 AM | Mighty Times: The Children’s March (40 min.)

The mostly unheard story of the youth of Birmingham, Alabama, who braved fire hoses police dogs and jail in 1963 to bring segregation to its knees.

12 PM | Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot (40 min.)

This film tells the story of a courageous group of students and teachers who, along with other activists, fought a nonviolent battle to win voting rights for African Americans in the South. Standing in their way: a century of Jim Crow, a resistant and segregationist state, and a federal government slow to fully embrace equality. By organizing and marching bravely in the face of intimidation, violence, arrest and even murder, these change-makers achieved one of the most significant victories of the civil rights era.

1 PM | Facilitated Discussion with Derek Hall

Hall will lead those present in a discussion about the two films.

2 PM | Soundtrack for a Revolution (80 min.)

A fresh and exhilarating take on one of the most important social movements in American history, Soundtrack for a Revolution explores the Civil Rights Movement, brought to life by the music that it inspired, and that inspired it. Sung by some of today.s greatest artists: John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, The Roots, & more.

3:30 PM | Guided Discussion led by Film Facilitator Derek Hall

Hall will lead those present in a discussion about Soundtrack for a Revolution.

Art-Making Activities Throughout the Event!

There will be a table with art activities open throughout the event! Great for all ages – drop in at any time!

Lunch

Bagged lunch will be available for purchase or bring your own lunch!

About Derek Hall:

Derek Hall is a dynamic anti-racist intergroup dialogue facilitator, public speaker, and activist committed to challenging beliefs and institutional culture rooted in systemic racism and other forms of oppression. Derek has worked in the diversity, equity, and inclusion field for over fifteen years, partnering with public and private school systems, for profit and non-profit organizations both locally and nationally.

His passion for decolonized education, human connection, and implementation of racial equity strategies has inspired sustainable change at the internal, interpersonal and institutional levels within the organizations he works with. In 2019, Derek transitioned into his current role as Racial Equity Consultant & Coach with Ramiz Hall Consulting LLC where, believing that “changed people change systems”, he uses his gifts of facilitation, storytelling and community building to increase the racial & social consciousness of individuals and organizations. For more information on Ramiz Hall Consulting LLC, please visit www.ramizhallconsulting.com.

Thousands of students view these films in Real Art Ways’ Film Field Trip Program.

Creative Cocktail Hour

Live music, art exhibitions, food and drinks, and you. Come as you are!

Creative Cocktail Hour is about the people. Everybody is welcome, conversations abound, people connect.

Live Music:

Habbina Habbina: The New York Trio led by guitarist Amit Peled, channel the rare repertoire of Mediterranean guitar with music by giants such as Aris San and Omar Khorshid. Retro-Mediterranean-hits are brought to life with renditions to songs by Umm Kulthum, Ahuva Ozeri, Farid Al-Atrache, Tzlilay Ha’Oud, TLC, Daklon, Britney Spears, Margol, Blondie, and many more.

The band is set to make every concert turn into a loud, unforgettable celebration of life. Their dedication to the lineage of Mediterranean music along with their unstoppable live energy, and one-of-a-kind sound is what makes Habbina Habbina one of the most interesting bands to come out of New York City today.

For more information, please visit their website and Instagram!

DJ Mr. Realistic

Art Exhibitions:

Kate Bae: Opening at Creative Cocktail Hour; an immersive installation that explores the artist’s Korean background, history, peace and hope.

Rashmi Talpade: Every Little Thing

Howard el-Yasin: Specific Matter

Food Truck

Rolling Roti

Hands-on Art Making Activities

& You!

Creative Cocktail Hour is about community and expression.

Buy your tickets online and skip the line at the door!

Improvisations Now

An experience of music imagined and created in real time. A journey with preconditions through waves of sonic discovery.

Check out the entire series here.

Wadada Leo Smith – Trumpet

Finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Ten Freedoms of Summers (Defining Moments in the History of the United States of America).

Was named Downbeat’s Composer of the Year in 2013.

Received the Doris Duke Artist award in 2016.

Received an honorary doctorate from CalArts.

Wadada Leo Smith (b. 1941) began his musical journey steeped in the musical traditions of the South. Smith received his formal musical education from his stepfather, composer/guitarist Alex “Little Bill” Wallace, one of the pioneers of electric guitar in Delta Blues. He was further educated through the U.S. Military band program at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (1963); Sherwood School of Music (1967-69); and Wesleyan University (1975-76). He has researched a variety of music cultures, including African, Japanese, Indonesian, European and American.

Smith defines his music as “Creative Music,” and his diverse discography reveals a recorded history of music centered in the idea of spiritual harmony and the unification of social and cultural issues of his world. He has created Ankhrasmation, a symbolic image-based language for performers or musicians. He started his research and designs in search of Ankhrasmation in 1965, and his first realization of this language was in 1967, when it was illustrated in the recording of The Bell (Anthony Braxton: ‘Three Compositions of New Jazz’).

Smith’s Ankhrasmation language scores have been exhibited in major American museums including The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago, which in October 2015 presented the first comprehensive exhibition of these language scores. In 2016, the Hammer Museum’s ‘Made in L.A.’ exhibition featured the scores and presented Smith with the Mohn Award for Career Achievement honoring “brilliance and resilience.” His scores have also been shown at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Michigan, the Kadist Art Foundation in San Francisco, The Museum of Rhythm Łódź, Poland and the Clemente Gallery in NYC.

Smith has performed and/or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Cecil Taylor, Steve McCall, Anthony Davis, Carla Bley, Don Cherry, Jeanne Lee, Tadao Sawai, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ed Blackwell, Kazuko Shiraishi, Han Bennink, Marion Brown, Charlie Haden, Malachi Favors Magoustous, Jack DeJohnette, Vijay Iyer, Ikue Mori, Min Xiao Fen, Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Frank Lowe, among many others.

Smith is a member of the historic and legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He is also a member of ASCAP.

Visit his website here.

Read his artist statement here.

Joe Morris – Guitar

“Joe Morris is the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” –DownBeat Magazine

“One of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.” – Wire Magazine

Morris was born in New Haven Connecticut in 1955. He began playing guitar at the age of 14 first playing rock music, progressing to blues, then to jazz, free jazz and free improvisation. He released his first record Wraparound (riti) in 1983. He has composed over 200 original pieces of music. Morris has performed and/or recorded with many of the most important contemporary artists in improvised music including, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Tomeka Reid, Fay Victor, Tim Berne, William Parker, Sylvie Courvoisier, Agusti Fernandez, Peter Evans, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri, Dewey Redman, Fred Hopkins, Sunny Murray, Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Marshall Allen, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and many others.

Morris is featured as leader, co-leader, or sideman on more than 200 commercially released recordings on the labels ECM, ESPdisk, Clean Feed, Hat Hut, Aum Fidelity, Avant, OkkaDisk, Not Two, Soul Note, Leo, No Business, Rogue Art, Relative Pitch, Incus, RareNoise, Fundacja Sluchaj, and his own labels Riti and Glacial Erratic. Morris has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe as well as in Brazil, Korea and Japan.

He has lectured and conducted workshops on his own music and on improvisation in the US, Canada, and Europe including at Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Bard College, University of Alberta, and University of Guelph. He was the recipient of the 2016 Killam Visiting Scholar Award at University of Calgary. He has been on the faculty at Tufts University, Southern Connecticut State University, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and New School. Since 2000, he has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory. Morris is the author of the book, Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music (Riti Publishing 2012).

Creative Cocktail Hour: Holiday Maker’s Market

A monthly gathering of people young and old, city, suburb and country, black, white, brown, gay, straight, trans, polkadotted and spotted.

Everybody is welcome. Conversations abound, people connect.
Come with friends, come by yourself. Hangout and talk about art, music and more. Creative Cocktail Hour is a great way to meet new people!

Three exhibitions

Art-making activities

Food Truck: The Rolling Roti

Featuring a Holiday Maker’s Market this month. Shop locally at Creative Cocktail Hour!

Riverwood Poetry Series

The Series takes place in-person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2022 through May 2023. Each night begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally- or nationally-known poets, followed by an open mic – one poem, one page.

The authors’ book will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks will be available for purchase.

Free of charge. Ample parking available at Real Art Ways. Audience mask wearing is encouraged, but not required.

January’s Poets:

Rayon Lennon

Rayon Lennon was born in rural Jamaica. He moved to New Haven County, Connecticut when he was 13. His work has been published widely in various literary magazines, including, The Mainstreet Rag, Step Away Magazine, Folio, The Connecticut River Review, The African American Review, Noctua Review, New Haven Review, Indianapolis Review, The Connecticut Review, Callaloo, The Columbia Journal, and Rattle. He has won numerous poetry contests including the 2017 Rattle Poetry Prize. His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His first book of poems, Barrel Children, was released in March, 2016, by Main Street Rag Publishing Company. Barrel Children was a finalist for the 2017 Connecticut Book Award for Best Poetry Book.

Josh Brown

Josh Brown, known as AnUrbanNerd, is a rap and spoken word artist as well as a visual artist with a background in education and engineering. He served as the current New London Poet Laureate. He has been writing and performing for more than 15 years. Josh spent years suppressing his gift trying to avoid being a stereotypical Black man who raps. He learned, however, that “our gifts are not our own,” and now he gives his gift back whenever he can. He has published several poems through Magik Press and has written and distributed two music EP’s. He currently works as the SCHOLA2RS House Director, teaching and mentoring young Black men at the University of Connecticut Storrs Campus.

About Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all of them free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.”

Improvisations Now

An experience of music imagined and created in real time. A journey with preconditions through waves of sonic discovery.

Check out the entire series here.

Matana Roberts – Alto Saxophone

Named Rising Star in both Alto Saxophone and Clarinet. – Downbeat Magazine

Receiver of a Doris Duke Impact Award in both 2014 & 2016.

Matana Roberts (b. 1975) is an American sound experimentalist, visual artist, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, composer and improviser based in New York City. They have previously been an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

The works in their multichapter Coin Coin project have received wide acclaim: Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couler Libres named in multiple JazzTimes critics lists; Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile was called “stunning” by both the Chicago Reader & SPIN; and Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee was named among Rolling Stones’s best Avant Albums of 2015. Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis has garnered their greatest accolades, and was included in Pitchfork’s Best Experimental Albums, Bandcamp’s Best Jazz Albums, and the top ten of NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll in 2019.

Melanie Dyer – Viola

“An outstanding modern violist.” – The Strad

Melanie Dyer is a violist who moves across free jazz, jazz, orchestral, and experimental music. She has studied with William Lincer, Lee Yeingst, John Jake Kella and Naomi Fellows. Recently she performed and recorded with William Parker, Henry Grimes, Tomeka Reid, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, New Muse 4tet, Women with an Axe to Grind, and other luminous musicians in the United States, Europe, and South Africa. She founded WeFreeStrings, a string/rhythm collective rooted in creative improvisation, and plays viola in Gwen Laster’s New Muse 4tet.

Joe Morris – Bass

“Joe Morris is the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” –DownBeat Magazine

“One of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.” – Wire Magazine

Morris was born in New Haven Connecticut in 1955. He began playing guitar at the age of 14 first playing rock music, progressing to blues, then to jazz, free jazz and free improvisation. He released his first record Wraparound (riti) in 1983. He has composed over 200 original pieces of music. Morris has performed and/or recorded with many of the most important contemporary artists in improvised music including, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Tomeka Reid, Fay Victor, Tim Berne, William Parker, Sylvie Courvoisier, Agusti Fernandez, Peter Evans, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri, Dewey Redman, Fred Hopkins, Sunny Murray, Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Marshall Allen, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and many others.

Morris is featured as leader, co-leader, or sideman on more than 200 commercially released recordings on the labels ECM, ESPdisk, Clean Feed, Hat Hut, Aum Fidelity, Avant, OkkaDisk, Not Two, Soul Note, Leo, No Business, Rogue Art, Relative Pitch, Incus, RareNoise, Fundacja Sluchaj, and his own labels Riti and Glacial Erratic. Morris has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe as well as in Brazil, Korea and Japan.

He has lectured and conducted workshops on his own music and on improvisation in the US, Canada, and Europe including at Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Bard College, University of Alberta, and University of Guelph. He was the recipient of the 2016 Killam Visiting Scholar Award at University of Calgary. He has been on the faculty at Tufts University, Southern Connecticut State University, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and New School. Since 2000, he has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory. Morris is the author of the book, Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music (Riti Publishing 2012).

Riverwood Poetry Series

The Series takes place in-person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2022 through May 2023. Each night begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally- or nationally-known poets, followed by an open mic – one poem, one page.

The authors’ book will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks will be available for purchase.

Free of charge. Ample parking available at Real Art Ways. Audience mask wearing is encouraged, but not required.

Terry Blackhawk

Twice named Michigan’s Creative Writing Teacher of the year, Terry Blachawk is founding director (1995-2015) of Detroit’s InsideOut Literary Arts Project and recipient of the John Ciardi Prise (for Escape Artist), the Pablo Neruda Prize, a Kresge Arts in Detroit literary fellowship and grants from the NEH and Michigan Council for the Arts. Kirkus Reviews named her fifth full-length collection One Less River a Top 2019 Indie Poetry title. In 2016 she moved from Michigan to Connecticut to live near her son Yale historian Ned Blackhawk and grandchildren.

About Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all of them free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.”

Improvisations Now – Sunday, Dec. 11 2:30

An experience of music imagined and created in real time. A journey with preconditions through waves of sonic discovery.

Check out the entire series here.

Angelica Sanchez – Piano

“In her piano playing as well as her compositions, Angelica Sanchez seeks out the lyrical heartbeat within any avant-garde storm…” – The New York Times

“Sanchez’s provocative writing – full of evocative harmonies and open-ended forms showcases her flair for counterpoint and marks her as a formidable talent…” – JazzTimes Magazine

Pianist/Composer/Educator Angelica Sanchez moved to New York from Arizona in 1994. Sanchez leads numerous groups, the most recent being her Nonet which features Chris Speed, Michael Attias, Thomas Heberer, Kenny Warren, Ben Goldberg, John Hebert, Omar Tamez, and Sam Ospavot.

Her music has been recognized in national and international publications including Jazz Times, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune amongst others. She was also the 2008 recipient of a French/American Chamber Music America grant, the 2011 Rockefeller Brothers Pocantico artist residency and the 2021 Civitella Fellowship, Italy.

Sanchez’s debut solo CD “A Little House” was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and her recording “Wires & Moss” featuring her Quintet was chosen as one of best Releases of 2012 in “The New York City Jazz Record (formerly AllAboutJazz-New York).” Her recording “Twine Forest” a duo with Wadada Leo Smith received Honorable Mention as one of the best releases of 2013 in “The New York City Jazz Record.” Her latest trio project “Float The Edge” features Michael Formanek and Tyshawn Sorey and has garnered wide critical acclaim. Her new piano duo”How to Turn the Moon,” with Marilyn Crispell was voted as one of the top 50 best recordings in 2020, NPR critics poll.

Angelica Sanchez has a Masters Degree in Arranging from William Paterson University. She is currently on faculty at The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and Princeton University.

Hery Paz – Tenor, Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet

“Paz’s melodic lines are made with art, his lyricism does not fit anything you anticipate listening to, having the ability to surprise.” – Jazz Trail

“Excellent…Interesting…Paz’s playing is rich in varied stylistic elements and endowed with a truly remarkable expressiveness.” – All About Jazz

“Hery is an excellent jazz saxophonist and a great example of crossing over artistic borders. His work inspires on several levels: imagination, discipline, intriguing and full of energy…in other words, pure beauty.” – Dave Liebman, American Saxophonist

Hery Paz is a saxophonist and visual artist from Cuba. He has won the acclaim and respect of legendary jazz musicians such as Fred Hersch. Who called him “… a revelation, a musician of extraordinary strength”. At the heart of his artistic vision we find a resolute dedication to expand his cultural philosophy, crystalizing an amalgam of expressions between improvisation, visual arts and contemporary composition. His solos are imbued with a depth of purpose, a sense of patience and a willingness to venture into the unknown.

Paz is an integral element of the creative music scene in New York City where he has worked with artists such as, Fred Hersch, Dave Liebman, Thomas Morgan, George Garzone, Francisco Mela, Kris Davis, Ralph Alessi, Ethan Iverson, Miguel Zenón, Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver and Joe Morris… As a painter Hery is a published cover artist for IRAZÚ RECORDS, RED PIANO RECORD and PYROCLASTIC RECORDS (Kris Davis/Craig Taborn “Octopus”). In addition he was the commissioned artist for the 4th Season of the prestigious NEWVELLE RECORDS label, involving artist like Tim Berne, Dave Liebman, Hank Roberts, Kenny Werner and Bill Frisell.

EDUCATION: MA degree from the New England Conservatory (Boston) and active professor for the New England Conservatory Jazz Lab and the University of Maine Jazz Camp in Farmington.

Juan Pablo Carletti – Drums

“A tuneful drummer…Carletti creates a strong platform and the next entry in his discography should be eagerly awaited.” – All About Jazz

“Strongly melodic, near minimalist.” – New York Jazz City Records

Juan Pablo Carletti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He grew up in a musical environment in which his father played percussion, and was instantly drawn to the drums. As he performed with a variety of bands, he focused mainly on improvised music and playing mainstream jazz. He began working with his own projects, and created a small label dedicated to new music. In 2005, Juan traveled to New York City and played with the David Haney Group at Cornelia Street Cafe. This trip was a pivotal turning point in his life, as he met influential musicians such as Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, Mark Helias, Nasheet Waits and Tom Rainey.

One year later, he officially moved to America to continue his musical journey. Juan approaches playing in unique ways, influenced by different styles of music, especially the music created in the avant-garde scene in New York City in the last decades. Using mallets, hands, different sticks and extended techniques on drums, Juan illustrates how drums can be a rhythmic instrument as well as a palette of sounds. His teaching experiences have played a key role in transforming his rhythmic visions. Juan played with Tony Malaby, Andrew Cyrille, Daniel Levin, Mat Maneri, Chris Hoffman, Angelica Sanchez, Kris Davis, Michael Attias ,Rob Brown, Roman Filiu, Roman Diaz, Aruan Ortiz and William Parker. He is part of the Rob Brown Quartet (record to be released) Duo with Daniel Levin, their debut record its on Out Now Records (January 2015).

Kenneth Jimenez – Bass

“Jimenez has a compelling artistic vision.” – All About Jazz

Originally from Costa Rica, Kenneth Jimenez is a bass player and composer currently based in New York City. He’s performed with artists Francisco Mela, Michael Attias, Tom Rainey, Satoshi Takeishi, Angelica Sanchez, Gerald Cleaver, Ingrid Laubrock, Stephen Scott, Brian Lynch, Gary Campbell, Roxana Amed, Martin Bejerano, Jose Luis de la Paz and Emilio Solla. He was a part of the 2017 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, under the direction of renowned pianist Jason Moran. He has performed at important venues nationally and internationally. Some of those include the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, The Jazz Gallery, Bar Lunatico, Bar Next Door and Barbes in New York City, the Olympia Theater in Miami and the National Theatre in San Jose, Costa Rica, among others.

Currently he leads two projects, “Sonnet to Silence” feat. Hery Paz, Angelica Sanchez & Gerald Cleaver, and “Sublunary Minds” feat Jim Gasior & John Yarling. The latter released its debut album in 2019, under the avant-garde independent record label Irazu Records.

He co-leads “Triangulate the landscape”, a trio project comprised of drummer Francisco Mela, guitarist Drew Wesely and Kenneth on bass. Their debut album is scheduled to be released in Spring 2020. He also has two more releases scheduled for the second half of 2020; a duo project with Finnish singer Josefiina Vannesluoma and a collaborative trio project with saxophonist Hery Paz and drummer Rodolfo Zuniga.

Joe Morris – Guitar

“Joe Morris is the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” –DownBeat Magazine

“One of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.” – Wire Magazine

Morris was born in New Haven Connecticut in 1955. He began playing guitar at the age of 14 first playing rock music, progressing to blues, then to jazz, free jazz and free improvisation. He released his first record Wraparound (riti) in 1983. He has composed over 200 original pieces of music. Morris has performed and/or recorded with many of the most important contemporary artists in improvised music including, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Tomeka Reid, Fay Victor, Tim Berne, William Parker, Sylvie Courvoisier, Agusti Fernandez, Peter Evans, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri, Dewey Redman, Fred Hopkins, Sunny Murray, Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Marshall Allen, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and many others.

Morris is featured as leader, co-leader, or sideman on more than 200 commercially released recordings on the labels ECM, ESPdisk, Clean Feed, Hat Hut, Aum Fidelity, Avant, OkkaDisk, Not Two, Soul Note, Leo, No Business, Rogue Art, Relative Pitch, Incus, RareNoise, Fundacja Sluchaj, and his own labels Riti and Glacial Erratic. Morris has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe as well as in Brazil, Korea and Japan.

He has lectured and conducted workshops on his own music and on improvisation in the US, Canada, and Europe including at Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Bard College, University of Alberta, and University of Guelph. He was the recipient of the 2016 Killam Visiting Scholar Award at University of Calgary. He has been on the faculty at Tufts University, Southern Connecticut State University, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and New School. Since 2000, he has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory. Morris is the author of the book, Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music (Riti Publishing 2012).

Eastern White Pine: The Tree Rooted in American History

Eastern White Pine: The Tree Rooted in American History, a New England Forests documentary film, will be presented at Real Art Ways on Saturday, December 10th, 2022

Four hundred years ago, the first English Colonies were established in what would be known as New England and Virginia. What prompted this to occur?

The one-hour documentary uses vintage images, new footage, and aerial views to the four-century story of the eastern white pine’s critical contribution to America’s founding and history. You may be surprised to learn how significant a role the tree played in this country’s formation. The white pine’s importance to wildlife and people is related to three experts in their respective fields: famed Minnesota bear biologist Lynn Rogers; Trinity College neuroscientist Professor Susan Masino; and nationally known old-growth forest expert Bob Leverett.

This will be a multi-sensory program, where attendees will experience white pines via their senses of light, smell, and even taste!

Program details:

1:00pm: Enjoy a walk that includes large pine trees in Hartford. Meet at the parking lot accessed from 457 Tower Ave Hartford.

2:30pm: Real Art Ways will host a multisensory reception with pine-influenced snacks, pine needle tea, eastern white pine oil diffuser and pine trees.

3:00pm: Film showing in the theater with the filmmaker.

4:00pm: Post-film Q&A and continued reception.

**Inclement weather cancels the walk, the film and reception will still be held as scheduled.

Free admission provided by the Connecticut Valley Garden Club.

Reception sponsored by Trinity College.

Creative Cocktail Hour: Reunion

Join us for the 20th anniversary of Creative Cocktail Hour on November 17, 2022 6-10pm.

Celebrating 20 years of community and expression!

Creative Cocktail Hour is about the people. Everybody is welcome, conversations abound, people connect.

Music:

QWANQWA is a supergroup of musicians from the baddest ensembles of Addis Ababa. Brought together by a shared passion for the power of Ethiopian music, this group shines an experimentalism based in the virtuosity of rooted traditions. With swirling masinko (one-stringed fiddle), wah-wah-violin, bass krar boom, and the unstoppable rhythm of heavy kebero (goat-skin drum) beats, powerful traditional lead African diva vocals, QWANQWA keeps the people wrapped in celebratory attention. After making a splash at world renowned festivals Roskilde and WOMEX, and after 3 European tours under their belt, this world traveling ensemble is hitting the road for a MacArthur Foundation backed Debut US tour in 2022.

QWANQWA draws inspiration from East Africa regions of Ethiopia and beyond. Delving deep into regional beats and moods, the repertoire ranges from a trance-like song of the Eritrean tribe of Blen to a Somalian rock number to Mahmoud Ahmed sing-a-longs. The music is characterized by tight arrangements and extended experimental moments. The live show ranges from intimate to wild, from whispery conversations to full blown rock show, and it is hard to believe these psychedelic sounds are coming from traditional harp and violin. It is driving, powerful, and different than anything else coming out of Ethiopia at this current Golden Age of Ethiopian music.

To learn more about QWANQWA, click here.

DJ Mr. Realistic

Art Exhibitions from:

Howard el-Yasin

Joe Bun Keo

Rashmi Talpade

Danny Giles

Food Truck

Hands-on Art Making Activities

& You!

Buy your tickets online!

Artist Talk: Joe Bun Keo

Wednesday, October 26, 6:00 PM. Free admission, no RSVP required.

You’re invited to a conversation between artist Joe Bun Keo and Khmer artist-scholar Sokunthary Svay. Bun Keo will discuss the process behind bitter melons / bitter pills, an exhibition that focuses on sentimental, cultural and utilitarian values within the discussion of materiality and identity. Joe Bun Keo is one of six recipients of the 2021 Real Art Awards, which supports emerging artists in New England, New York, and New Jersey.

Joe Bun Keo (b. 1987) is a Khmer (Cambodian) – American artist living and working in Connecticut. His work “unpacks intergenerational trauma through the scope of ‘neomaterialism’ and the concept of ‘power objects.’”

Sokunthary Svay was born in a refugee camp inThailand shortly after her parents fled Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. They were sponsored to come to the United States and resettled in the Bronx where she grew up. A founding member of the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association (CALAA), she has received fellowships from the American Opera Project, Poets House, Willow Books, and CUNY, as well as commissions from Washington National Opera, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the Chautauqua Institution, and ISSUE Project Room. In addition to publishing a poetry collection, Apsara in New York (Willow Books, 2017), Svay has had her writing anthologized and performed by actors and singers. Svay’s first opera, Woman of Letters, set by composer Liliya Ugay, received its world premiere at the Kennedy Center in January 2020 as part of the American Opera Initiative. A recent recipient of the OPERA America IDEA grant, her second opera with Ugay, Chhlong Tonle, received its premiere in March 2022. She is a Ph.D. candidate in English at the CUNY Graduate Center and a Lecturer at CCNY.

Riverwood Poetry Series

The Series takes place in-person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2022 through May 2023. Each night begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally- or nationally-known poets, followed by an open mic – one poem, one page.

The authors’ books will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks will be available for purchase.

Free of charge. Ample parking available at Real Art Ways. Audience mask wearing is encouraged, but not required.

James Finnegan

James Finnegan, past Poet Laureate of West Hartford, has published poems in Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, as well as in the anthologies: Good Poems: American Places edited by Garrison Keillor; Laureates of Connecticut; Shadows of Unfinished Things; Imagining Vesalius; Waking Up to the Earth; and Walkers in the City. For a decade he served as president of the Friends & Enemies of Wallace Stevens (stevenspoetry.org). He posts aphoristic ars poetica on the blog ursprache.

Joan Kwon Glass

Joan Kwon Glass is the mixed-race, Korean American author of NIGHT SWIM (Diode Editions, 2022) & three chapbooks. She serves as Editor-in-Chief for Harbor Review, as a Brooklyn Poets Mentor, is a proud Smith College graduate & has been a public school educator for 20 years. Joan serves on the faculty of Hudson Valley Writers Center & the Fine Arts Work Center of Provincetown, her work has won or been finalist for several prizes & her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize & Sundress Anthology Best of the Net. Joan’s poems have been published or are forthcoming in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Prairie Schooner, Asian American Writer’s Workshop (The Margins), RHINO, Rattle, Dialogist & elsewhere. She lives in Connecticut with her family.

Visit her website here.

Follow her on twitter here.

About Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all of them free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.”

Improvisations Now – Sunday, Nov. 13

An experience of music imagined and created in real time. A journey with preconditions through waves of sonic discovery.

Check out the entire series here.

Matthew Shipp – Piano

“Shipp is the connection between the past, present, and future for jazz heads of all ages.” – DOWNBEAT

Matthew Shipp (b. 1960) is an American pianist, composer, and bandleader. Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old.

Shipp was a longtime member of saxophonist David S. Ware’s quartet with bassist William Parker and alternating drummers. He has recorded or performed with many other musicians including Barbara Januszkiewicz who, since 2011, has been exploring new territory through an avant-garde film called The Composer with Matthew Shipp / Barb Januszkiewicz. He has also collaborated with Michael Bisio and Newman Taylor Baker in The Matthew Shipp Trio, described as, “A must for free-jazz fans.” by MarlBank.net.

On September 24, 2013, Thirsty Ear Records released a solo piano CD by Shipp called Piano Sutras. Will Layman, writing for PopMatters, described it as: “the kind of record we talk about and play for each other decades later… This is music that frames up a whole history: of an artist, of listeners, of the artists who formed the history of the art form, of the culture and time that allowed this art to flourish.”

Shipp attended the University of Delaware for one year, then the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with saxophonist/composer Joe Maneri. He has cited private lessons with Dennis Sandole (who also taught saxophonist John Coltrane) as being crucial to his development.

Anna Webber – Tenor Saxophone

“Visionary and captivating” – The Wall Street Journal

“Music that appeals to the rest of the body” – NPR Jazz Critics Poll

Anna Webber (b. 1984) is a flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. In May 2021 she released Idiom, a double album featuring both a trio and a large ensemble, and a follow-up to her critically-acclaimed release Clockwise. Her 2020 release, Both Are True (Greenleaf Music), co-led with saxophonist/composer Angela Morris, was named a top ten best release of 2020 by The New York Times. She was recently named a 2021 Berlin Prize Fellow and was voted the top “Rising Star” flutist in the 2020 Downbeat Critic’s Poll.

Webber is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow. She has additionally been awarded grants from the Copland Fund (2021 & 2019), the Shifting Foundation (2015), the New York Foundation for the Arts (2017), the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts and residencies from Exploring the Metropolis (2019), the MacDowell Colony (2017 & 2020), the Millay Colony for the Arts (2015), and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2014).

Originally from British Columbia, Webber studied music at McGill University in Montreal before moving to New York City in 2008. She holds master’s degrees from both Manhattan School of Music and the Jazz Institute Berlin.

Joe Morris – Bass

“Joe Morris is the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” –DownBeat Magazine

“One of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.” – Wire Magazine

Morris was born in New Haven Connecticut in 1955. He began playing guitar at the age of 14 first playing rock music, progressing to blues, then to jazz, free jazz and free improvisation. He released his first record Wraparound (riti) in 1983. He has composed over 200 original pieces of music. Morris has performed and/or recorded with many of the most important contemporary artists in improvised music including, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Tomeka Reid, Fay Victor, Tim Berne, William Parker, Sylvie Courvoisier, Agusti Fernandez, Peter Evans, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri, Dewey Redman, Fred Hopkins, Sunny Murray, Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Marshall Allen, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and many others.

Morris is featured as leader, co-leader, or sideman on more than 200 commercially released recordings on the labels ECM, ESPdisk, Clean Feed, Hat Hut, Aum Fidelity, Avant, OkkaDisk, Not Two, Soul Note, Leo, No Business, Rogue Art, Relative Pitch, Incus, RareNoise, Fundacja Sluchaj, and his own labels Riti and Glacial Erratic. Morris has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe as well as in Brazil, Korea and Japan.

He has lectured and conducted workshops on his own music and on improvisation in the US, Canada, and Europe including at Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Bard College, University of Alberta, and University of Guelph. He was the recipient of the 2016 Killam Visiting Scholar Award at University of Calgary. He has been on the faculty at Tufts University, Southern Connecticut State University, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and New School. Since 2000, he has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory. Morris is the author of the book, Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music (Riti Publishing 2012).

Really Wild Wednesdays: Eager Ecological Engineers

On November 30, 2022, Real Art Ways will screen “Beaver Pond Wildlife: Part 5 – Fall to Winter”, the final segment of the Really Wild Wednesdays: Eager Ecological Engineers program, which begins at 7pm. Admission is free.

The 5-part documentary film chronicles wild animal and plant life above and below water at typical northeast beaver ponds over a year’s time span.

In Part 5, we’ll see the dramatic change of colors from summer greens to autumn’s fiery reds and glowing golds, as the bounty of summer quickly wanes. All wildlife is now focused on the priority of surviving the coming winter. Some have migrated to warmer climes, or soon will be. Some are preparing to hibernate. Others are stockpiling as much food as they can to ensure they’ll have enough to get by until spring.

As always, there will be a Q&A session following the film.

Each evening will be hosted by filmmaker Ray Asselin and feature a reception from 6:30-7pm in the gallery and a short Q & A after the film. The film screening will start at 7pm. Donations are graciously accepted.

Thank you to Professor Susan A. Masino of Trinity College for organizing this series, which is part of the Frederick Law Olmsted 200th birthday celebration.

Space is limited. Registration is strongly encouraged.

Really Wild Wednesdays: Eager Ecological Engineers

The fourth film of a 5-part docuseries throughout 2022 on Beaver pond wildlife in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Eager Ecological Engineers – the Beavers – have many friends and neighbors above and below water. Beaver ponds have something new and exciting happening all year, and the showings are scheduled to provide a front row seat for each season in the pond.

Each evening will be hosted by filmmaker Ray Asselin and feature a reception from 6:30-7pm in the gallery and a short Q & A after the film. The film screening will start at 7pm. Donations are graciously accepted.

Space is limited. Registration is strongly encouraged.

Creative Cocktail Hour

Live music, art exhibitions, food and drinks, and you. Come as you are.

Creative Cocktail Hour is about the people. Everybody is welcome, conversations abound, people connect.

Music:

Tipa Tipo (NYC/Lima) is a retro pop trio that fuses the spirit of 70s soft rock with latin rhythms and a modern analog production style. Their debut EP “El Chari” (with the single Voy Por Ella) is an homage to the electric pianos and lush arrangements of California yacht rock, but reimagined with Spanish lyrics and a feminist sensibility. The band is a wife-and husband collaboration between producers Adele Fournet (vocals, keys) and Felipe Wurst (vocals, guitars) who first met in 2010 in the Limeñan indie pop scene. They play live as a trio with Jordan Auber on drums, and the contagious disco energy of their live show has earned them a 2022 Wavy Award nomination for Best Live Performance. Their latest EP, “2 Al Azar,” came out in May and they are currently recording their first full-length album. Since their debut in 2021, Tipa Tipo has drawn attention from music journalists in Peru (Rock Achorao, Conciertos Perú) and Mexico (Milenio, Playlist Magazine, Reforma, IndieRocks!), and their songs have been featured on official Spotify playlists including Canción del Día, Dreamy, and Novedades Indie, as well as NPR’s Best New Latinx. They have played live in NYC at Elsewhere, The Sultan Room, Mercury Lounge, C’Mon Everybody, Trans Pecos and more.

To learn more about Tipa Tipo, click here.

Art Exhibitions

Food Truck: East West Grille

Hands-on Art Making Activities

& You!

Creative Cocktail Hour is about community and expression.

Buy your tickets online and skip the line at the door!

Riverwood Poetry Series

The Series takes place in-person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2022 through May 2023. Each night begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally- or nationally-known poets, followed by an open mic – one poem, one page.

The authors’ books will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Food and drinks will be available to purchase.

Free of charge. Ample parking available at Real Art Ways. Audience mask wearing is encouraged, but not required.

Edwina Trentham

Edwina Trentham was born and grew up in Bermuda. She is a Professor of Emerita of English at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, Connecticut, where she founded the poetry journal, Freshwater. She was also a Visiting Instructor in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University. She has been a fellow at Yaddo and has published her work in a number of periodicals, including the American Scholar, Nimrod, and Prairie Schooner. She also has work in six anthologies. A collection of her poetry, Stumbling into the Light, was published by Antrim House. She is a member of Connecticut River Poets and Poets for the Planet.

Visit her website here.

Michael “Chief” Peterson

Michael “Chief” Peterson marries social consciousness with mellow poetic verses. Born and raised in Connecticut, Chief not only speaks about social inequities and individual struggle, but he acts to change the cycle. He is currently a Dean of Students at his alma mater, New Britain High School, and is also a part-time Child Development Specialist.

Chief is the playwright of and actor in his own one-man show, I Wish Life Had Training Wheels. He is Poet Laureate of his hometown, New Britain, and was recently voted into his second term. He finished in 5th place during the National Poetry Slam and is currently among the top 5 ranked poets in the Southern Fried National Poetry Slam.

From the high school where he works to the stages where he performs, this poet on the rise is about turning his art into action and inspiring people to do the same.

Visit his website here.

About Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all of them free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.”

September Creative Cocktail Hour

Live music, art exhibitions, DJ, and you. Come as you are.

A monthly gathering of people young and old, city, suburb and country, black, white, brown, gay, straight, trans, polkadotted and spotted.

Everybody is welcome, conversations abound, people connect.

Come with friends, come by yourself, hangout. Creative Cocktail Hour is a great way to meet new people!

Music:

Thabisa: Thabisa is a bi-continental rising star, a South African native now residing in New Haven, CT. She is a dynamic singer/songwriter and performer. Her raspy and powerful voice with her dynamic band of musicians pull together sounds that seamlessly string together influences from the likes of Angelique Kidjo, Miriam Makeba, Eryka Badu, Janis Joplin, as well as her unique approach to storytelling. Thabisa’s charismatic, warm and emotionally intelligent performances give you an entire experience. Her upcoming EP Petrichor, will lead to her 3rd album which will feature a cross between soul, jazz and African traditional folk as a way to tell stories of her becoming. When not on the stage, this songstress is busy working on projects aimed at community enrichment. Thabisa is also theFounder of nonprofit Rich Arts Collective that aims to build bridges through cultural experiences & human connection using music, art, and performances.

The Dance Collective: The Dance Collective aims to empower women to have a voice and an equal opportunity in dance by providing choreographic and leadership opportunities. By sharing professional contemporary dance with new audiences and providing performances in diverse locations, they work to bridge the gap between the arts and our community. Their studio space in Hartford, CT provides creatives with a home to hone in on their movement vocabulary and we hold the belief that everyone can dance and everyone should.

DJ Mr. Realistic

Art Exhibitions – Two Exhibition Openings, Four Exhibitions Total

Food Truck: La Güera Mexican Grill & Pizza

Hands-on Art Making Activities

& You!

Creative Cocktail Hour is about community and expression.

Buy your tickets online and skip the line at the door!

Terry Jenoure & The Portal

On Sunday, October 30 at 2:30, Terry Jenoure & The Portal will perform at Real Art Ways!

“Jenoure is a force to be reckoned with.” – The Springfield Inquirer, Massachusetts

“She’s clearly a talent deserving more attention.”- The Hartford Courant

“Touches of chamber jazz, lively gypsy dances and earthy call-and-response…sung expressively by violinist Terry Jenoure.” – The Washington Post

Terry Jenoure composer, violinist & vocalist was born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican and Jamaican family. She began playing violin at age 8. After 12 years of Classical European studies, she became a protégé of the Free Jazz movement. For over 40 years, she and has since collaborated with such greats as Archie Shepp, Leroy Jenkins, Marion Brown, John Carter, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Andrew Cyrille, Henry Threadgill among many others. She studied voice with famed Edward Boatner (Sonny Stitt’s father), who also coached Josephine Baker and Dinah Washington. Her music has been recognized by Downbeat, The New York Times, Jazz Times, and has earned grants for composition and performance, including most recently from Massachusetts Cultural Council (2021), South Arts Jazz Road (2021) and NEFA (2022). Terry has masters and doctoral degrees in Education. She served as a university professor and arts manager for over 30 years.

Terry has assembled a sextet of longtime collaborators. The world-class lineup boasts impressive careers in genres across traditional jazz, free improvisation, and classical chamber music including Angelica Sanchez (piano), Wayne Smith (cello), Avery Sharpe (bass), Joe Fonda (bass), and Reggie Nicholson (drums). Over the past ten years, Jenoure’s performances have had a fascinating memoir focus. Merging story with innovation, in her new composition for Real Art Ways she continues the journey.

Angelica Sanchez moved to the east coast from Arizona. She has worked with Paul Motian, Richard Davis, Nicole Mitchell, Tim Berne, Wadada Leo Smith, Mario Pavone. Her solo CD A Little House was featured on NPR, while her recording Wires & Moss was chosen one of the best releases of 2012. Her trio “Float The Edge” features Michael Formanek & Tyshawn Sorey. She has earned awards from Chamber Music America and Rockefeller Brothers, and she currently serves on the Board of Trustees for New Music USA. Sanchez has a master’s degree in Jazz Arranging, was a lecturer at Princeton University, and is currently on faculty at Bard College.

Wayne Smith gave his recital debut at the Kennedy Center. As a soloist & chamber musician he has performed in the U.S., Italy, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Poland, & China, & has recorded & performed with the Moody Blues, Joe, Richard Smallwood, Anthony Krizan of the Spin Doctors, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He completed undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music & pursued graduate studies at the U. of Massachusetts. He serves on the faculty of Amherst College.

Avery Sharpe began his Jazz career performing with Archie Shepp & Art Blakey, then in 1980 began 20 years with McCoy Tyner, appearing on over 20 Tyner recordings. He has worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Yusef Lateef, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Billy Taylor among many others. In ‘89, he wrote the soundtrack for movie An Unremarkable Life, & has composed for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Stage production Raisin’ Cane with Jasmine Guy (“A Different World”) has toured since 2007 with his trio. He taught at Williams College, and has been the recipient of grants from NAACP, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Joe Fonda has worked with countless greats, including Lou Donaldson, Kenny Barron, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Bill Dixon, Randy Weston, Barry Altschul. He worked closely with Anthony Braxton from 1984 through ’99, and was a member of The Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum, directed by Leo Smith. Also a member of the American Tap Dance Orchestra, directed by tap dancer Brenda Bufalino, he has led ensembles and collaborated with others on international festivals in Holland, The Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Norway, Romania and the U.S. A grant recipient of Meet the Composer and the New England Foundation on the Arts, Joe Fonda has twelve recordings under his own name.

Reggie Nicholson hails from Chicago where he joined the iconic Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM) in 1979. In those early years he worked closely with Muhal Richard Abrams, Amina Claudine Myers, Anthony Braxton, Douglas Ewart, and Joseph Jarman. Since relocating to NYC in 1987, he has brought his high energy and thoughtful playing to performances with Ahmed Abdullah, Myra Melford, Billy Bang, Roy Campbell, Marty Ehrlich, Dewey Redman, Jon Hendricks, Amira Baraka, Fay Victor, Oliver Lake throughout Europe and Japan, and was nominated for a Cal-Arts Award.

This event was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' New Work New England program, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Rescue Plan, Seedlings Foundation, the Fund for the Arts at NEFA and individual donors. This grant is in honor of Dr. Larry Simpson, a NEFA board member from 2O06-2020, including six years as chair, and a champion of the arts.

August Creative Cocktail Hour

Live music, art exhibitions, DJ. Come as you are.

A monthly gathering of people young and old, city, suburb and country, black, white, brown, gay, straight, trans, polkadotted and spotted.

Everybody is welcoming, conversations abound, people connect.

Come with friends, come by yourself, hangout. Creative Cocktail Hour is a great way to meet new people!

Music:

Nikita

Coming from a rich musical background of Soul, Funk, RnB, and Rock, Nikita brings a vibe that is both sexy and psychedelic with an original sound they’ve dubbed “Purple Soul.” Passionate, energetic, and funky, their roots ensure that the Nikita family tree is ready to grow.

DJ Sonia Sol

Sonia Sol is a traveling performing artist, open format DJ, singer, and acrobatic dancer currently living / touring in Latin America as well as North America. Born & raised in Hartford, Sonia draws a lot of inspiration from her Jamaican roots incorporating island sounds throughout her show experience. Through her voice she uses an eclectic blend of Neo-Soul, Reggae, & R&B sounds. As an open format DJ she blends all sounds but loves House, Hip-Hop, Afrobeats, and more.

Art Exhibitions

Food Truck: Rolling Roti

Hands-on Art Making Activities

& You!

Creative Cocktail Hour is about community and expression.