On Exhibit in the Jamie Gagarin Gallery: May 25 - July 10

"Impermanence" - Mixed Media

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“My work is driven by experimentation, essential for my growth as an artist. I explore shape, texture, and color using various media, finding inspiration in unexpected materials like rusted metal or beach debris. I create interesting textures with coal, tissue paper, eggshells, and more, utilizing quick-drying acrylics and latex paints for spontaneity. My style blends conceptualism, minimalism, and abstract expressionism, reflecting impermanence and the beauty of contrasts. The seemingly chaotic final result embodies my mind transitioning to calm, capturing fleeting moments before they take shape, free from expectations and regrets.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST: 

Erika Larskaya is an abstract artist who specializes in acrylics and mixed media. Originally hailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, she made the journey to New York City in the late 1980s at the age of 21, eager to learn English and build a new life for herself. After studying design at the American Business and Fashion Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, she briefly pursued a career as an interior designer. However, her true passion lay in being at home with her children and dedicating time to painting. She began exhibiting her work in 2008. While she has received formal training and appreciates traditional foundational skills like figure drawing, her love for experimentation and pushing artistic boundaries has led her to develop a unique methodology and technique that allows her to express the emotions that are felt but not easily seen. Inspired by other female artists who have overcome adversity and societal challenges, she creates her art from her studio in northwestern Connecticut.

For more information about Erika, visit her website at https://www.erikalarskaya.art/

Presented by Steven Parlato

In conjunction with an exhibition of his 16-piece collage series, “They Are Not Disposable,” artist/author and college professor Steven Parlato will offer a program (including audience Q&A) discussing his process and inspiration in creating the series, which depicts 16 Black Americans whose lives were stolen due to racial violence. Part tribute, part call to action, the presentation, featuring Parlato’s poetry honoring those lost, will offer an opportunity for community conversation. If time allows, attendees will be encouraged to write their own poem inspired by an issue--for example, social justice, or the climate crisis--of particular personal relevance. 

Lunch is included.

Date: Friday, July 4

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Location: The Litchfield History Museum

Cost: Free for Members, $10 for non-Members

Registration Requested

Celebrate Independence Day with our popular Heroes of the Revolution Walking Tour on Friday, July 4 at 10:00 a.m. Discover Litchfield's Revolutionary history and how Litchfield's residents young and old contributed to the founding of the nation.

The walk will begin at the Litchfield Historical Society (7 South Street) and lasts approximately 1 hour. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a bottle of water. Walking tours are free for members and $10 for non-members.

Walking Tours are sponsored by Berkshire Alarm

Date: Saturday, May 31

Time: 1:00 p.m.

Location: The Litchfield History Museum

Cost: Free for Members, $10 for non-Members

Registration Requested

Explore Litchfield’s town center through the words, sketches, paintings, and photographs of artists. See how they saw Litchfield and expressed it through their artistic work on our Artists of Litchfield Walking Tour on Saturday, May 31 at 1 p.m.

The walk will begin at the Litchfield Historical Society (7 South Street) and lasts approximately 1 hour. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a bottle of water. Walking tours are free for members and $10 for non-members.

Walking Tours are sponsored by Berkshire Alarm

Join local historical costuming enthusiast Abigail Yanaway to...

• Ask questions about 18th century sewing Access resources related to 18th century sewing
• Get help with your own 18th century projects
• Meet other people interested in historical sewing
• Join other historical sewing enthusiasts to work on projects together

From Graffiti to Museum Galleries: The Art & Advocacy of Keith

Haring

This is a great Pride Month program! Keith Haring's vibrant and iconic art captured the spirit of 1980s New York City, blending pop art, graffiti, and social activism. What made his bold, energetic figures and symbols so universally appealing? Haring's work, characterized by its simplicity

and accessibility, addressed pressing issues including AIDS awareness. From

subway stations to museums, Haring's art continues to inspire and provoke thought decades after his untimely death.

FREE / Donations Welcome

* Pre-registration is advised

Bonus! Evening Glow Performance

Gustavo Miranda ~ Concert Pianist

"Prelude to Summer Solstice"

Reception with refreshments following performance.

All are welcome to join us for relaxing and reflective music to close the day.

* Pre-registration required for reception

Date: Friday, June 6

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Location: The Litchfield History Museum

Cost: Free for Members, $10 for non-Members

Registration Requested

Join us Friday, June 6 at 4:00 p.m. to learn how the town has marked moments of celebration and commemoration. This tour is being held in conjunction with the Litchfield Historical Society’s newest exhibit, Litchfield Remembers: The American Bicentennial & Beyond. We suggest arriving early to see the exhibit!

The walk will begin at the Litchfield Historical Society (7 South Street) and lasts approximately 1 hour. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a bottle of water. Walking tours are free for members and $10 for non-members.

Walking Tours are sponsored by Berkshire Alarm

Join local historical costuming enthusiast Abigail Yanaway to...

• Ask questions about 18th century sewing Access resources related to 18th century sewing
• Get help with your own 18th century projects
• Meet other people interested in historical sewing
• Join other historical sewing enthusiasts to work on projects together

Join local historical costuming enthusiast Abigail Yanaway to learn how to make a true 18th century cap. Beware - you may not know this but the mobcap you think of is probably NOT correct for 1776. Come learn and be ready for 2026!

The workshop is in Classroom 9. Do let Abigail know you are coming so she can have enough materials - or even better, bring your own.

"Opera" on our Theater Screen

Doors Open: 5:30

Join fellow opera lovers to view and discuss Falstaff

Running time is approx. 3 hrs and there will be one short interval when coffee will be available.

FREE, Donations Welcome

* Pre-registration encouraged

Join local historical costuming enthusiast Abigail Yanaway to...

• Ask questions about 18th century sewing Access resources related to 18th century sewing
• Get help with your own 18th century projects
• Meet other people interested in historical sewing
• Join other historical sewing enthusiasts to work on projects together

Presented by Robert Piazza

Rekindle your creative fire! Poets of all levels, from beginner to advanced, come together to read, write, and recite. During this weekend intensive, we will explore three new strategies for poetry: motion, shift, & contrast. Seeking inspiration in the poetry of Rilke, Machado, Longfellow, Dickinson, and others, we’ll view their work as springboards or launchpads into our own creativity. Join us for a weekend workshop in which we experiment with applying these strategies to our own writing. Bring pencils & notebooks. Poems will be provided. Enjoy opportunities to nurture your inner Muse! 

All meals are included: Dinner on Friday through Lunch on Saturday

Presented by Maureen O’Brien

This daylong program will explore guided journaling as a path toward deepening our relationship with God. Themed prompts, built upon focused reflections from the Psalms, the Miracles of Jesus, insights from saints, and other spiritual writings, will inspire retreatants to respond with writing full of truth and beauty. Whether familiar with journaling, or just emerging, this program will provide support and space to fill pages and find, within them, the Beloved. All seekers welcome! 

Lunch is included.

Join local historical costuming enthusiast Abigail Yanaway to...

• Ask questions about 18th century sewing Access resources related to 18th century sewing
• Get help with your own 18th century projects
• Meet other people interested in historical sewing
• Join other historical sewing enthusiasts to work on projects together

Litchfield Historical Society Summer Camps 2025

Litchfield Historical Society Summer Camps 2025

Litchfield Historical Society Summer Camps 2025

Join local historical costuming enthusiast Abigail Yanaway to...

• Ask questions about 18th century sewing Access resources related to 18th century sewing
• Get help with your own 18th century projects
• Meet other people interested in historical sewing
• Join other historical sewing enthusiasts to work on projects together

Presented by Sandy Carlson

Whoever we are and wherever we come from, we are children of the Earth and inheritors of her creative, healing energy. By being ourselves and being in nature, we can realize deeper levels of creativity. While enjoying the natural beauty surrounding Wisdom House, we'll consider some nature poetry and then explore the creative process for ourselves as we write and share our poems.

Lunch is included.

Band Camp with Region 20 music teachers

Band Camp with Region 20 music teachers

Band Camp with Region 20 music teachers

Band Camp with Region 20 music teachers

Band Camp with Region 20 music teachers

Presented by Rt. Rev. Br. Mark D’Alessio

Mary Oliver is a favorite of poetry lovers of all ages for her lyrical, intimate, and sensitive poems, many of which use nature as a lens for exploring a wide spiritual spectrum of human emotions, from love and joy to sorrow and despair. The best Mary Oliver poems remind us to pause and take a breath, revel in our surroundings, and encourage us not to take anything for granted. 

Join us this August for our annual Mary Oliver Retreat Day, led by Br. Mark, one of Wisdom House’s most popular facilitators. Through reflection, discussion, and contemplative practice, we’ll explore the ways in which Oliver’s poetry teaches us to see the world with greater simplicity, and deeper wonder and gratitude. Together, we’ll support each other awaken to life’s everyday miracles and embrace poetry as a spiritual practice. 

Whether you’re familiar with her poetry or encountering her work for the first time, we hope that this year’s theme. The Beauty of the World, will move you with some of her best poems, including her own favorites — and perhaps inspire you to write some poems of your own. 

Though, sadly, Mary Oliver passed away in 2019, her poems serve as a poignant reminder to be present in every moment, whether it be a joyous occasion or a quiet, somber one. Join Br, Mark for an in-person retreat day poetry, reflection, and spiritual discovery as we, too, can learn what it means to be "saved by the beauty of the world.”

Guests are welcome to come overnight Friday, August 22 through Saturday, August 23. See the room options using the registration button below.

Lunch is included. Opportunities to stay overnight are also available.