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'Where ART Thou?' Northeast Connecticut

Northeast Connecticut is known for its spaciousness and rural landscapes. It’s one of the reasons handweaver Peggy Church believes the area is attractive to artists: " It's conducive to creation.” We meet Peggy later in the show at her home in the historic district of Chaplin.

John Murphy, WILI AM radio host of “On the Homefront” during filming for CT Public’s original series “Where ART Thou?” Season 3 in Willimantic, Conn. on April 26, 2024.
Dave Wurtzel
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Connecticut Public Video Still
John Murphy, WILI AM radio host of “On the Homefront” during filming for CT Public’s original series “Where ART Thou?” Season 3 in Willimantic, Conn. on April 26, 2024.

First, Ray heads to the radio station WILI-AM in Willimantic to talk with John Murphy. John has spent the last decade hosting the weekly broadcast of “On the Homefront,” a show focused on celebrating the artists, events, and cultural treasures of the Northeast corner.

While in the “Thread City” Ray heads down the road to The Mill Museum to talk with Jamie Eaves, the museum’s Senior Curator and the Windham Town Historian, about how the American Thread Company dominated the area and the textile industry for decades starting in the late 1800s. The museum is also home to a monthly spinning bee hosted by featured artist Peggy Church.

The Mill Museum, also called Windham Textile and History Museum, with equipment from the American Thread Company factory on display.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public Video Still
The Mill Museum, also called Windham Textile and History Museum, with equipment from the American Thread Company factory on display.

You’ll also meet functional wood sculptor John Starinovich. John invited Ray to his home studio in Willington to show us his one-of-a-kind mirror sculptures using tree holes and other natural elements. Woodworking was always a passion of John’s but 20 years ago, during a mountain biking excursion, the idea of working with downed tree holes to create art was born. Ever since John’s been exploring his connection to wood and the beauty and creativity the natural world has to offer us.

Handweaver Peggy Church talks with Ray about how a fortuitous discovery of a spinning wheel in the attic at her in-law's farmhouse turned into a four-decade journey of learning and teaching spinning and handweaving.

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