Saint Michael Church

The Church of Saint Michael on Wooster Square is the first Italian-American parish in Connecticut.  The congregation formed in response to the influx of Italian immigrants to New Haven.  For decades it was administered by an order of Scalabrinians.  

Today it is home to more than 500 families.  It hosts the societies that make up the Southern Italian Religious Societies.

Pointing the Way to the Future

“Indicando la via al futuro” is a sculpture by Marc-Anthony Massaro in New Haven's Wooster Park.  The sculpture was commissioned by the Wooster Square Monument Project in 2021 to celebrate the legacy of Italian immigrants who had left their homeland to make a new life in the United States.

The Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven is home to a vibrant community of Italian Americans,  It is also home to several nationally known pizza restaurants like Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally's Apizza and Modern Apizza.  

The statue honoring immigrants is a good one, and immigrants have made great contributions to America, which are not recognized under the country's current Administration.  But I am a bit miffed that this statue replaces a previous statue of Christopher Columbus, removed a few years ago in what I consider a burst of self-righteous stupidity after a public clamor by people measuring past deeds by standards they invented in the current day.

Hotel Marcel

  This is Hotel Marcel, a completely renovated hotel in the "brutalist" style of architecture.  Brutalism is usually scorned these days, but Hotel Marcel is an attractive building that stands out.  It shares a parking lot with IKEA in New Haven, Connecticut.

The hotel was designed by prominent architect Marcel Breuer.  It was formerly the headquarters of tire manufacturer Pirelli.  In its recent renovations, it was extensively retrofitted with solar panels hidden away on the roof.  Hotel Marcel is now "net zero," with the solar panels providing all of the hotel's electricity.

Baldanza at the Schoolhouse

 

A former one-room schoolhouse near the Cannondale railroad station in Wilton is now the site of a very fine restaurant.  I went there last night for dinner.  Every table was filled.  As soon as one group of diners departed, the table was cleaned and reset and another group was seated.  I'll be back.

Tanglewood

 I am back in Connecticut after an interesting couple of weeks in Alaska.  

On Sunday we went to Lenox, Massachusetts, for an afternoon concert at Tanglewood, headlining revered folk singer, Judy Collins, on her farewell tour.

The opening performer was Amanda Shires.  Rosanne Cash followed with a good set, including Woody Guthrie's "Deportee" and Cash's own "Seven Year Ache."

Mary Chapin Carpenter and her band were crowd favorites.  Her set included a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin."  "Passionate Kisses" is one of Carpenter's biggest hits, and the crowd loved it.  She then honored Dolly Parton with "Coat of Many Colors."  Consistent with the day's emphasis on feminism, Carpenter also sang her own anthem, "He Thinks He'll Keep Her."   

There had been long breaks between sets, as it took quite a while to set up each artist's instruments and sound systems.  The show began at 2:30, long before Judy Collins appeared after 5 o'clock when dark clouds threatening rain were in the sky.

Judy Collins announced that she is 87 years old!  She opened with Joni Mitchel's "Both Sides Now," a lively song that was one of Collins' early hits.  She then invited Rosanne Cash to join her for a song Collins had recently written and then Mary Chapin Carpenter for another new Collins song.

By 6 o'clock, after a show that had so far consumed three-and-a-half hours, Judy Collins had not yet sung "Chelsea Morning," "Send in the Clowns" or "Amazing Grace."  Regrettably, with darkening skies, a drive of several hours in front of me, and a Tesla that would need a stop for charging, we had to leave before Judy Collins' set was over.  

Travel

The trip from which I have been showing photographs since August 18 was a Viking Ocean Cruise, Alaska & the Inside Passage, Vancouver, British Columbia to Seward, Alaska.

We began the cruise in Vancouver, where we boarded the Viking Orion at its berth at Canada Place.

Today participants in City Daily Photo will show photos that illustrate the September theme of "Travel." 

 Click here to see other photographers' interpretations of the "Travel" theme.

Seward Murals

 In 2011 two artists painted whales on the side of this building Seward, Alaska, as an experiment.  The mural was very popular, but it did not do well in the hostile Alaskan environment.

In 2019 the building was renovated.  The owner hired J. Leslie to paint whales again.  His mural "Return of the Whales" looks fresh seven years later.

The Ranting Raven Gallery is across the street.  It sells "unique gifts, original art, [and] local wares."  Three raven-related murals from 2014 are on the side of the gallery.

In the beginning, the world was all water.  Raven flew over and fell in love with Salmon Woman.  He asked her to marry him and she agreed, but only if raven creates land.  With the help of other sea creatures, raven obtains sand from the sea bottom and drops it to create land and islands.  Salmon Woman can now come ashore to dry her hair in the wind.

The world was dark because an evil Chief has hidden the sun, moon and stars in a box.  The raven discovers this and, disguised as the Chief's grandson, tricks him into opening the box.  Now the sun is released to light the world and the moon and stars light the night sly.

The Fog Woman story teaches respect for what you have.  Raven is greedy and takes this for granted and loses her, but not before she creates Salmon for the world.  Jennifer Headtke is the lead artist with a long list of contributing artists.

Across an alley from The Ranting Raven Gallery is an older 1999 mural, "Snapshots of the Past."  A photograph of William H. Seward is in the center of the left side.  Seward was the U.S. Secretary of State who bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia for $7.2 million, or about two cents per acre.

Linked to Monday Murals.