Join us on June 7th for FREE ADMISSION as historic trades are demonstrated throughout the day. Shop handmade items from local artisans while learning about their specific crafts and trades. Explore our newly renovated galleries and beautiful museum grounds.

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.

Compared to the work of David Sedaris, Claudia Shear and Augustin Burroughs, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING is a uniquely crafted autobiographical tour-de-force in which Bill Bowers shares funny, heartbreaking, and unbelievable true stories from his career as an actor and mime, and his life-long exploration of the role silence plays in all our lives.

​

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING takes you on a scenic tour of Bill's life thus far; from his childhood in the wilds of Montana, to outrageous jobs as a performer across the country, to the whirlwind of Broadway and studying with the legendary Marcel Marceau.

The evening will also include a special guest delivering An Address to the FL Legislature, Doug Wright's poignant 10-minute play.

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.

Bring a couple of songs, a story, a few poems, or your tight 8 minutes of standup to the Merryall Center's Open Mic. Signups start at 6:30 for our 7:00 open mic. Two songs or 8 minutes.

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Spend an evening with Lisa Stephen Friday: Author, Composer, and New York Voices commissioned artist with Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. 

As a child of the 80’s, Lisa’s artistic aesthetic is highly influenced by the early days of MTV and the post punk era of pop music. Lisa’s songwriting career is now in its third decade, with her most notable work coming in the early 2000’s as the front woman and songwriter for the NYC based rock-n-roll band Lisa Jackson and Girl Friday. After a 10 year hiatus from writing and performing, Lisa returned to NYC and the Joe’s Pub Stage to showcase her one woman musical TRANS AM and the concert version of the new musical Doll/Girl , which she has co-created with Joseph Ritsch. Lisa is also a 2025 recipient of an artist grant through the New York State Council on the Arts, in support of TRANS AM.

Co-Sponsor Theodore W. Hine will be hosting a pre-show Wine and Cheese reception starting at 6:00 PM. All ticket holders are welcome to enjoy the idyllic setting of Merryall Arts Center with a glass of cheer overlooking the West Aspetuck.

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

Embellished Notifications by British textile designer and fiber artist Kate Lewis offers an analog interpretation of the messages and notifications we receive digitally from various apps, brands and the outside world in general.

Conceived as an “antidote to the news” this series of work aims to capture the good feelings and happiness these digital messages offer, carrying those emotions and momentary dopamine triggers into the future.

“I thought about the relationship our phones have with brands, how we receive information digitally and which brands and phrases exactly gave me that hit of dopamine,” Kate says. “These notifications have become integral to our modern lives, with food deliveries, take out, online dating, transport...”

With a nod to traditional cross-stitch samplers, these colorful and slightly subversive hand made works aim to lift your spirits, and will look great in your kitchen.

For more information about the opening and exhibit email hithere@peggymercury.com or send us a DM on Instagram

@itspeggymercury

For more information about Kate Lewis:

@katelewisstudio

katelewisstudio.com

From touring with Gordon Lightfoot, headlining major US festivals, receiving Folk Alliance International "Album of the Year," releasing NINE BECOMES ONE (2023) to being named Folk Alliance International Artist-in- Resident, Joe is on fire. He's played with Suzanne Vega, Dar Williams, David Francey, John McCutcheon, John Gorka, Judy Collins and 100's more. His songs are being made into award winning films.

Special Guest Opener - John John Brown.

Bell Ringing Weekend

July 5th 10:00am - 4:00 pm

Join us as we ring in the 4th of July weekend at the Eric Sloane Museum. Learn about an American tradition of bell ringing which is as old as the country itself while visiting our large collection of early American art. Museum hours will be from 10:00-4:00 . The museum grounds also offer a perfect place to enjoy an afternoon picnic in the Housatonic River Valley.

We look forward to ringing in Independence Day weekend with you!

Blacksmithing Workshop

July19th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Join us as we explore blacksmithing techniques and methods through a hands-on workshop at the Eric Sloane Museum. Have you ever wondered how hand forged metal objects are created? This hands-on class will be taught by blacksmithing expert, Ian McCarthy. Students will learn the basics of hand forging and design layout all while using traditional tools and methods to create a one of a kind finished product. Pre-Registration is required. Register Today

"The whole is greater than the sum of the parts". So it is with Deni Bonet & Chris Flynn. As individual artists, they have more than made their mark in music. As a duo, they have created something extra, engaging and extremely entertaining. Bonet's voice and violin, and Flynn's guitar and voice, have echoed through the United Nations, Lincoln Center and Mountain Stage. They have shared stages with REM, Cyndi Lauper, Richard Thompson, Warren Zevon, Sarah McLachlan, Alan Toussaint, and many others. Special Guest Concert Opener - Bruce T. Carroll

Laurel Canyon, California has long been synonymous with some of the greatest songwriters of the late 1960s and early 70s. Among the artists living there and inspiring each other were Joni Mitchell, Carol King, Mamas and the Papas, Jackson Brown, Linda Ronstadt, Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. You’ll be treated to performances by Rob Brereton, Nick Patrone, Noelle Chave, Emily DeMasi, Missy Alexander, Bill Petkanas, George Mallas, and Susanna Marker. Feel free to don your love beads for this special evening of music and nostalgia.

Wooden Spoon Carving Workshop

August 9th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Join us as we explore hand carving techniques and methods through a hands-on workshop at the Eric Sloane Museum. Have you ever wondered how hand carved spoons and bowls are created? This hands-on class will be taught by woodworking expert, Rick Liegl. Students will learn the basics of wood selection and design layout all while using traditional tools and methods to create a hand carved finished product. Pre-Registration is required. Registration Information

The Rough & Tumble are a folk/Americana duo, consisting of Mallory Graham & Scott Tyler. Forming in 2011, they spent 8 years full time in a 16ft camper with two big dogs, playing roughly 150 shows a year. At home at festivals, listening rooms, and house concerts across the country, their commanding stage presence, engaging performances and affecting songwriting won them official showcases at Folk Alliance International, NERFA, SERFA and the Independent Music Awards Americana Song of the Year for their song “The Hardest Part".

In 2023 they received recognition for their work in New England as recipients of Club Passim's Iguana Music Fund. Only This Far, the band's most notable work, was released in 2023 and has been described as "quality songs, well written, well played, well sung and arranged, and a pleasure from start to end." In November 2024, The Rough & Tumble released Hymns For My Atheist Sister and Her Friends To Sing Along To, a collection of deeply personal, unifying and uplifting, humanist gospel songs. 

Bring a couple of songs, a story, a few poems, or your tight 8 minutes of standup to the Merryall Center's Open Mic.

Signups start at 6:30 for our 7:00 open mic. Two songs

or 8 minutes.

Affectionately known as SOOP, Seat Of Our Pants has ascended to the forefront of the Connecticut roots music scene with award winning, heartfelt, and clever songs that put a smile on your face, a tear in your eye, and get you thinking about the world around you. From sellout shows at The Buttonwood Tree, to the grand stage at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, to Podunk Bluegrass Festival, and many of the premiere listening rooms around the state, SOOP never disappoints their audiences. The unique mix of instruments, and impeccable intricate harmonies, distinguish Connecticut’s one-of-a-kind SOOP. Their cornucopia of folk instruments and rock-infused songwriting are a contagiously fun experience. 

Born at the Sherman Song Swap nearly 20 years ago, The Red Dirt Girls (RDG) are all about harmonies. Inspired by the classic trio work of Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Dolly Parton, as well as Red Molly and the Wailin’ Jennys, these neighbors got together for the sheer joy of singing. Susy Marker and Missy Alexander trade off on the lead vocals and high harmonies. They are the songwriters of the group, crafting lyrics that are sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, and often both. Pat Walker is the chief arranger, with a perfect ear, a passion for the unexpected, and a smoky bass line. Best described as Americana (a blend of country & folk), their repertoire is an eclectic mix of original music and unexpected covers. Whether singing around the kitchen table or on local stages, this trio of friends aspires to share the magic that a perfect chord creates. 

Inspired by the big band swing era, musical theater and early American folk music, with an upright bass, violin, an occasional accordion and any other willing participant recruited along the way, that's the amazing - Caravan of Thieves. This is the night, not to be missed.

Do you know the stories of how your ancestors came to America? What about the ones left behind? NOTES TO THE MOTHERLAND is a spellbinding psychological thriller that unearths the hidden experiences of Paul Rajeckas’ family during WWII, turning one son’s search for his immigrant past into a gripping theatrical journey.

Playing a multitude of characters in this riveting one-man show, Kent-resident, Paul Rajeckas, blends physical theater with a darkly incisive portrait of the 21st-century immigrant experience. This transformative performance brings the audience center stage into a powerful exploration of identity, history, and the secrets that shape us—an unmissable experience for anyone seeking to understand who we are and how we got here.

Funding for this performance provided by Dow Integrative Institute

Laurie MacAllister co-founded the beloved Americana trio Red Molly, which released seven acclaimed albums and toured both the U.S. and internationally, including appearances at MerleFest, Cayamo, and Boston Symphony Hall. jingle for a national TV commercial.

In 2024 Laurie MacAllister embarked on an exciting new chapter, launching a solo career with a sold-out performance at the legendary Club Passim.

Michael Ford's compositional and improvisational style draws on many influences, but it is rooted in a classical music aesthetic that stems from a life dedicated to the piano.

Ford describe his music as having hints of impressionism, progressive rock, jazz and Americana. He loves a good melody and enjoys rhythmic explorations. His music ranges from sadness to jubilant.