New Canaan Library is pleased to welcome Paula Hornbostel, Director and a Trustee of the Lachaise Foundation, as guest lecturer for this year’s annual Stoddard Art Lecture. Ms. Hornbostel will speak about Gaston Lachaise, one of the 20th Century’s most daring and celebrated sculptors. The Stoddard Lecture will be held on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. in the Adrian Lamb Room, preceded by a light reception at 6 p.m. Please register to attend, online at newcanaanlibrary.org. ‘The man through whose touch a few cubic inches become colossal.’ Born and raised in Paris, Gaston Lachaise immigrated to America on the heels of a beautiful American woman 10 years his senior. Lachaise devoted his life to Isabel, putting her on a pedestal, as the renowned sculptor and artist Louise Bourgeois noted, both literally and figuratively.
As part of the “Glass House Presents at New Canaan Library” series, the Library and The Glass House welcome architecture critic Sam Lubell and architectural photographer Darren Bradley for a conversation about their recently published book, Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guide: East Coast USA (2018).The event will be held in the Library’s Adrian Lamb Room on Monday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a light reception at 6 p.m. Please register online at newcanaanlibrary.org. Lubell and Bradley traveled up and down the east coast — from the Canadian border to the southern tip of Florida — to create a compendium to the best Modernist buildings and hidden gems built by some of the most notable architects of the 20th century. The guide includes work by the leading architects of the time, including Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Louis Kahn, Eero Saarinen, Philip Johnson, Paul Rudolph, and Richard Meier, and features familiar and unfamiliar architectural destinations, from the beach houses of Fire Island in New York to private homes in Connecticut and Sarasota, Florida.
New Canaan Library is pleased to once again host a presentation by the Yale Science Diplomats. On Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m. the Diplomats will introduce their Science in the News program, with the talk titled Flesh, Blood and Bone: Unraveling the Mysteries of Evolution. Please register online at newcanaanlibrary.org. As the human life span increases, our need to build and maintain a healthy body increases in importance. In April’s Science in the News talk, three Yale scientists will discuss the ongoing efforts towards making our bodies healthier, stronger, and more resilient.
April is Jazz Appreciation month, and New Canaan Library invites all to celebrate with a performance by musician, composer, and educator Michael-Louis Smith. The event takes place on Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m. in the Adrian Lamb Rooms. Please register to attend, online at newcanaanlibrary.org. The afternoon will feature music from the classic organ trio repertoire and highlight the work of iconic jazz musicians such as Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, Grant Green, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Wes Montgomery and others. The trio is composed of Michael-Louis Smith on the guitar, Jared Gold on the organ, and Dave Berger on drums.
Guitarist Michael-Louis Smith is a top-tier bandleader and recording artist, and has toured nationally at major venues such as LA’s Troubadour Club, NYC’s legendary Apollo Theater, and Vermont’s Discover Jazz Festival. Michael’s ensembles Left Ear Trio and MLS Quintet showcase his genre-bending medley of jazz, funk, and afrobeat.
With sponsorship from New Canaan Land Trust and Planet New Canaan, the Library presents an informative talk on how native trees, shrubs and other plants can help bring one’s yard to life. The talk will be presented by Patrick Comins, executive director of the Connecticut Audubon Society. The event takes place on Thursday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Adrian Lamb Room. Please register online at newcanaanlibrary.org. Birds, butterflies and other wildlife can flourish in the right surroundings; adding native plants to one’s landscape design can bring a yard to life.