'Where ART Thou?' Farmington Valley
On this episode of Where Art Thou? Ray and the crew visit the Farmington Valley. Their first stop is the Farmington Valley Arts Center (FVAC) to meet our guide, Carol Kaplan. Carol is a mixed-media artist and the executive director of FVAC, a thriving artist enclave that once was home to a dynamite and fuse factory.
Carol introduces Ray to FVAC resident studio artists and ceramic teachers Erika Novak and Drew Darley. The couple met in a pottery class at Central Connecticut State University and turned their passion for clay into a full-time business with Round Trip Clayworks. Drew Darley’s work is ethereal, with special attention to dramatic glazes. Erika’s pottery is firmly rooted in the arts and crafts style, with colors and patterns reminiscent of modernist artists like Sol LeWitt.
Then it’s off to nearby Collinsville. The tiny hamlet, part of the town of Canton, was home to the largest ax factory in the world, the Collins Company. The company was in business from 1826 until 1966. Ray gives us an exclusive look inside some of the abandoned factory buildings, where vestiges of its proud past can still be seen.
Our second artist visit helps us think about how food can also be art. Ray meets Pastry Chef Kim Hoàng Wood, owner of Simsbury’s le Bánh Patisserie. Kim has combined her passion for Vietnam, her home country, with her expertise in French pastries to create artful and delicious cakes, cookies, croissants, tarts, and other treats, including Vietnamese coffee. Chef Wood tells Ray about her journey to becoming a pastry chef in the French tradition, and how each treat is a work of art.
Season 3 Sponsors:
| 
| 
|