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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260717T150000
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UID:35244-1784300400-1784307600@cornwallct.org
SUMMARY:Woldemar Neufeld’s “Bridges Across the Housatonic” - CCT Gallery/Office
DESCRIPTION:Revisiting Woldemar Neufeld’s “Bridges Across the Housatonic” Bicentennial Art\, 50 Years Later\nWild & Scenic gallery exhibition to open on July 17 in West Cornwall \n50 years after their completion\, selections from the late artist Woldemar Neufeld’s ambitious Bicentennial project\, “Bridges Across the Housatonic\,” will be exhibited in West Cornwall\, Connecticut\, for a limited time this summer with a gallery opening on July 17\, 2026. The exhibition showcases original Neufeld watercolor and ink paintings and sketches\, including several that have never been exhibited before\, plus Neufeld’s original reference photos taken in the 1970s and a modern-day look at historic bridge locations fifty years later along the 41-mile Wild & Scenic stretch of the Housatonic River in northwest Connecticut. The Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) owns this collection and co-sponsors the exhibition with the Housatonic River Commission (HRC) and the Cornwall Conservation Trust (CCT). The opening reception will take place on July 17 at 3 p.m. in the gallery at the HRC and CCT offices at 7 Railroad Street in West Cornwall\, Connecticut. \nWoldemar Neufeld (1909-2002) established his reputation in the mid-20th century as a talented block print maker\, sculptor and painter in oils and watercolors. A trained draftsman as well as painter\, his subjects included scenes from Waterloo\, Ontario\, where his family arrived as Ukrainian immigrants in the early 1920s; the architecture of lower Manhattan; and the villages and rural landscapes of Connecticut’s Housatonic River valley\, where he made his home. Some of his impressive body of work has been collected by institutions as varied as The Metropolitan Museum of Art\, the Library of Congress\, the New Britain Museum of American Art and Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. \nIn 1974\, to celebrate America’s 200th birthday\, Neufeld set out to capture every bridge that he and his wife could locate crossing the 149-mile Housatonic River\, from its source in the Berkshires to Long Island Sound. They ultimately located 65 automobile bridges and two pedestrian bridges\, which he rendered in watercolor and ink paintings and sketches over a three-year period\, often more than once and as both smaller color sketches and full-sized paintings. They are a snapshot of human-nature interactions\, as farmers\, fishermen and recreators go about their daily lives along the river. 50 years later\, this art is a time capsule\, helping to pull decades of infrastructure and environmental change into focus. HVA owns the greater part of the Neufeld’s Housatonic Bridges collection\, a gift from the artist and his son Laurence\, who also donated Neufeld’s research notes on each bridge\, location photographs and snapshots of nearly every painting in the series. This gallery will be the first public showing of this artwork since 2004. \n“Neufeld was a realistic and sensitive portrayer of the connections between the built environment and the natural world\,” says Tim Abbott\, HVA’s Executive Director. “He understood that even mundane structures with a functional purpose like highway bridges had a form and elegance that not only help convey us over the river but become part of how we experience the landscape.”\nThe display in West Cornwall will feature 10 bridges along the federally designated Wild & Scenic stretch of the Housatonic River\, only some of which still exist today as they appear in their paintings. There have been notable changes in some of the locations that Neufeld depicted\, with others seemingly untouched by the passage of time. Viewers may be prompted to reflect on their own history of interactions with the river at a time when preserving our natural resources and access to open spaces is more important than ever. \nHRC and HVA were instrumental in the 2023 designation of 41 miles of the Housatonic River in northwest Connecticut as Wild & Scenic by National Park Service’s Wild & Scenic Rivers Program. Today\, HVA\, HRC and CCT work together to maintain the scenic and historical aspects of the river\, along with the water quality\, vegetation\, wildlife and recreational value that helped the river receive its designation. Neufeld’s paintings serve as a reminder of the region’s history as a natural resource and provide hope for a future of sustained human and nature interactions. \nThe public is invited to join HVA\, HRC and CCT for an opening reception on July 17\, from 3 – 5 p.m. Attendees can RSVP online at hvatoday.org. The gallery will be open to visitors on select days throughout the summer. \nThe only conservation organization dedicated to the entire tri-state Housatonic River watershed\, the Housatonic Valley Association is both a watershed organization and accredited land trust that acts to protect the natural character and environmental health of the region from the Berkshires to Long Island Sound. Learn more at hvatoday.org. \nThe Housatonic River Commission is a collaborative regional conservation board composed of representatives from the seven towns bordering the Wild & Scenic stretch of the Housatonic River\, from the Massachusetts state line to Boardman Bridge in New Milford. HRC was established following recognition by the National Park Service in the 1970s of this river segment’s outstanding scenic\, recreational and ecological value. Learn more at housatonicrivercommission.org. \nThe Cornwall Conservation Trust is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving and managing open space forest\, wetlands\, meadows and farmland in Cornwall and adjacent towns to promote scenic values\, forest health\, water quality\, farming\, public recreation\, biodiversity and resilience to climate change. Learn more at cornwallconservationtrust.org.
URL:https://cornwallct.org/event/woldemar-neufelds-bridges-across-the-housatonic-cct-gallery-office/
LOCATION:Cornwall Conservation Trust\, 7 Railroad Square\, West Cornwall\, Connecticut\, 06796
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cornwallct.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/bridges-1.jpg
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