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Stairwell Gallery: Hunter Brown’s Egypt
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Using a Leica M-9P digital rangefinder camera, this world traveler captures the color and customs of all the places he visits. His previous exhibit in the Stairwell Gallery was after his trip to India. The images in this show are from a three week tour which included Cairo and scenes from the southern part of the country taken during a boat trip along the Nile. Hunter writes of his work, "I try not to be a ‘postcard’ photographer, though I admit the temptation frequently arises. I see Egypt — anywhere for that matter — in terms of its people. I will leave the monuments to others."
Hunter began to learn his way around cameras using a Brownie when he was a child. He was born and raised in Connecticut and attended Suffield Academy and it was in high school that he learned how to develop his own film.
Graduating from Union College with a degree in International Relations, he served with the U.S. State Department’s Agency for International Development in Viet Nam from 1966 to 1969. It was in Viet Nam with his Minolta SLR that his creativity found new focus. The atmosphere, surroundings and people were natural inspiration. Having access to a photo lab in Saigon, his artistic eye matured and he found that while his images were all encompassing, he gravitated to photographing humanity.
Mr. Brown has received many awards, is a member of the Camera Club of New York and has his own darkroom at home. After working many years in the U.S. and abroad for a major New York bank and more recently with the Paley Center for Media in New York, he resides with his wife in Washington Depot, Connecticut.
Museum Exhibit "Coming to America: Washington's Swedish Immigrants"
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Artistic director Chris Zaima, designer Sandy Booth, and artist Keith Templeton, along with a team of other volunteers, have created a visual masterpiece. Local history will come alive as visitors step back in time and explore the lives of Washington's Swedish immigrants and their role in the community. Fascinating artifacts and photographs are on display from the Museum's collection, on loan from descendants, as well as local dealers Dawn Hill Antiques and Eleish Van Breems Antiques. The exhibit and associated programs are funded in part by a grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation, and will be up until January 12, 2014. The museum is open Thursday - Sunday from noon to 4:00 p.m.
The Story of Poetry in Spanish — Group Discussions with Professor John Turner
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Join us for a series of discussions exploring the development of the poetic tradition in Spanish through the reading of English translations (alongside the original texts) of works from the Middle Ages to the present in Spain and Latin America. Copies of the readings will be available each week. Please register in advance to ensure adequate materials.
Bowdoin Professor Emeritus John Turner will be leading the weekly discussion Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. beginning April 23 and ending May 28. John recently led two successful discussion series at the Gunn Library, "Visions of Modern Latin America in short fiction" and reading Don Quixote.
Mr.Turner began teaching at Bowdoin in 1971. He received his undergraduate degree at St. Andrews University in Scotland, his M.A. from Indiana University and his Ph.D. from Harvard. His major field of research was Golden Age Spanish poetry and his thesis dealt with the figure of Icarus as an emblem of the courtly lover in Golden Age poetry. During his early years at Bowdoin, he taught and published primarily in the area of modern Latin American literature, prose and poetry, with a particular interest in Julio Cortázar. His recent interest is in the continuity of the Hispanic tradition through the centuries and between the continents. Professor Turner retired from full-time teaching in 2011.
Library Luminaries
Our 18th annual Library Luminaries will be held on Saturday, June 1. This popular event raises a significant amount of money for the Library and Museum. A cocktail party at the Gunn Library begins the evening. We are once again very grateful to all the celebrated luminaries, generous dinner hosts and sparkling guests who are participating this year. Register now or for more information, please contact Wendy Rhodes by calling 860-868-7586 or emailing gunndevelopment@biblio.org.Gunn Readers Book Club
New members are always welcome! Join us on the second Tuesday of each month. Our next meeting is Tuesday, May 14 at 12:00 noon. Please call the Library to find out the next book.
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Photographer Rich Pomerantz — Cuba Through a Modern Lens
Thursday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Wykeham RoomIn the course of nine months last year, local photographer Rich Pomerantz traveled to Cuba twice. First he and his wife Celia went as part of a group and then returned a second time leading a group of photographers. Based in Havana, they met local residents, artists, officials and entrepreneurs. Some played a part in the recent history of the island, others struggled to survive, and others hoped for a better life under the recently relaxed economic rules. Rich and Celia were invited into private homes and saw both the tourist sites and also the back streets not meant for tourists, all the while making photographs of the people and places they encountered.
Join Rich for a tour through modern Cuba, with its hopes, dreams, decay and new ideas illustrated with a slide show of his photographs. Meet the people he met, hear their stories, and learn what life is like in the island nation we share so much with, yet which has been closed off to us for so long.
e-Readers at the Gunn!
Six Nook e-book reading devices have been added to our junior library collection, featuring titles for children and independent readers. Three are black and white models, with illuminated screens yet no glare in sunlight, and three are full-color tablets, perfect for younger picture book readers as well as movie-watchers with a Netflix account.Four Amazon Kindle e-book reading devices continue to circulate from our adult circulation desk. Residents 18 years or older with a current library card may borrow an e-reader, and a Borrower's Term of Agreement must be signed. The e-reader program is made possible by a generous donation from the Shea family.
Museum Passes
Looking for a fun day trip? Museum passes are free to check out for for a three-day loan to Gunn patrons.New Britain Museum of American Art — Free admssion for four people. (One adult must accompany children under 16). Pass is valid for general admission only. Additional fees may apply to special exhibitions, events and programs. Library pass cannot be used for Docent-led tours.
Wadsworth Atheneum — the ARTpass offers free general admission for up to two adults and two children (ages 6-17).
The Junior Library has more passes.
Explore the Connecticut Room
Looking for your ancestors? Want to learn more about your house? Is there something here in Washington that you've always wondered about? To explore the resources available in both the Connecticut Room and the Museum, please call 868-7756 for an appointment.
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