The 2022 Summer Season at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is underway - I hope you take the opportunity to attend one of their events if you're in the area.
Caramoor, which is not far from my Bedford, New York farm, is an 80-acre former estate where Lucie and Walter Rosen built an Italianate-style villa and gardens to entertain their friends from around the world. In 1946, the Rosens opened their property as a performing arts center, which now hosts summer concert series, historic house tours, educational programs, and other outdoor affairs and performances. Earlier this month, I attended Caramoor's special Opening Night Gala to celebrate its 77th season of events. The evening included cocktails, dinner, and a spectacular performance by The Knights and Yo-Yo Ma.
Enjoy these photos, and please visit the website at caramoor.org to see what events are being offered in the coming weeks.
On the expansive Caramoor grounds, guests are welcomed by this commissioned sound art sculpture, in”C”, created by Trimpin. Born Gerhard Trimpin, Trimpin is a kinetic sculptor, sound artist, and musician. His work integrates sculpture and sound across a variety of media. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
The Rosens built the estate and Tuscan-style villa gradually during the 1930s, importing many architectural and decorative items from Europe. The estate became a center for the arts and music following the World War II death of the Rosen’s son. The couple donated the property in their son’s memory, and it quickly became an established summer festival venue. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
During the Summer Season, guests can sit on Friends Field to watch various outdoor musical performances. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
At the Opening Night Gala, we all gathered for dinner under the large tent. Dinner was prepared by Great Performances. It included burrata, spring peas and greens with favas, edamame, and lemon vinaigrette along with a vegetable mosaic of chioggia beets, carrots, radishes, and chickpea mousse. The second course was grilled beef filet with tarragon roasted baby carrots, green peas, and king oyster mushrooms. And for dessert – lemon curd and light lemon mousse with blueberry and mint petit fours. (Photo by Julie Ades Richter)
Caramoor President and CEO Ed Lewis III took to the podium and welcomed all the guests to the Opening Night Gala.
Comments were also given by Vice-Chairman, Peter Kend.
Featured wines on this evening included 2016 The Napa Valley Reserve Kend Family Reserve and a 2021 Babich Black Label Sauvignon Blanc.
(Photo by Gabe Palacio)
Opening Night at Caramoor, Katonah’s wonderful music festival, is always a festive affair. The audience was packed and very enthusiastic about the performances and the music. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
This is Caramoor Chairman of the Board Jim Attwood. Jim has served on the Board of Trustees for more than 15 years. He is a personable and knowledgeable music aficionado who loves Caramoor.
On this night, attendees celebrated the transformative philanthropy of Leslie Williams and Jim Attwood. They have done so much to support Caramoor over the years.
Here, Ed introduces evening’s performance from The Knights and Yo-Yo Ma.
This is the inside of the Venetian pavilion. The Theater is set around Greek and Roman marble columns topped by Venetian arches and protected by a billowy tent. It’s always brilliantly lit and the acoustics excellent. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
This is violinist and composer, Colin Jacobsen. He is a touring member of Yo-Yo Ma’s famed musical ensemble and an artistic director for The Knights.
And here is renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. Yo-Yo graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University and attended Columbia University and has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He has recorded more than 90 albums and received 19 Grammy Awards.
Yo-Yo’s primary performance instrument is a 1733 Montagnana cello. Yo-Yo is well known for his smooth, rich tone and virtuosity.
Yo-Yo and Colin along with the entire ensemble played so beautifully together. Included in their musical program – Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, Scott Joplin’s The Maple Leaf Rag and The Chrysanthemum, and Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
It was a a great show and a wonderful evening. Colin and Yo-Yo enjoyed performing as much as we enjoyed watching.
Upcoming performances at Caramoor include J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano with Bradley Moore on the piano on July 7th. (Photo courtesy of Caramoor)
Another event features The Chevalier: A Concert Theater Work About Joseph Bologne Written and Directed by Bill Barclay which is on July 10th. (Photo courtesy of Caramoor)
And this weekend to celebrate Independence Day on July 2nd, is Pops & Patriots
Westchester Symphonic Winds – Curt Ebersole, conductor, Christine Taylor Price, soprano, and Thomas West, baritone. Please see the Caramoor website for a full calendar of upcoming events and tickets. (Photo by Gabe Palacio)
Guess what? American Made is back! I'm so thrilled to share with you the relaunch of "Martha Stewart American Made" on our new commerce and content website, Martha.com - you're all going to love these entrepreneurs and their products.
Originally introduced in 2012, this American Made program recognizes and celebrates American makers who turn their passions and creative skills into thriving businesses. We help to support and promote these talented entrepreneurs by sharing their stories and products with you. To start, we're highlighting five companies - Nest Homeware, KHEM Studios, Mathilde, Stick Candles, and Mystic Knotwork.
Here are some photos and a glimpse into what these great small businesses are all about, enjoy. And be sure to catch me on QVC all day today with my newest holiday decorations! It's never too early to start thinking about the holidays!
Matt and Jill Beaudoin from Mystic, Connecticut are two of our original American Made entrepreneurs. Mystic Knotwork is among our most dedicated vendors. The company produces nautical knot decorations including doormats, key fobs, trivets, and the popular nautical sailor knot bracelets.
All the hand-made woven wares are made in Connecticut and inspired by the nautical family legacy of crewing cargo ships from Argentina to NYC and an ancestral preservation of knot work. Here are some of their colorful trivets.
This is a hand-woven doormat. Borrowing from the seafarer’s toolkit, their wares are constructed by hand of natural rope.
And this is their gray coaster, set of four – these are all hand-constructed out of a single strand of custom cotton rope in a classic sailor’s knot weave. These come in a variety of colors including white, green and navy blue.
Douglas Collum of Highlands, North Carolina heads the team at Stick Candles. If you enjoy using decorative candles, you’ll love using these. Painstakingly hand cast in pure beeswax, these small-batch candles are fashioned after actual tree cuttings and fallen limbs gathered for their distinctive character.
The candles come in sets of two beeswax taper-style candles. These candles have a burn time of at least 14-hours. They make great gifts, or buy them for yourself and save them for a special occasion.
They come in various colors. Can you guess this color? It’s “Martha green” of course.
And these maple Stick candles are in a rich honeysuckle brown.
The owner of Mathilde, Claudia Middendorf, hails from Pawtucket, Rhode Island where she and her dedicated team create heirloom-quality quilts, hand-sewn of fine European linen and American cotton.
Mathilde uses sustainable materials and a simple, yet durable design.
Claudia uses photos and swatches on her “mood board” to create the color combinations and styles.
Each covering is inspired by natural and architectural elements discovered locally and during travels to favorite destinations. And every quilt is made of linen, which is all-natural and stronger than cotton. And completely recyclable, too.
Erik Guzman and Kari Britta Lorenson are Makers from Stanfordville, New York. Their company is called KHEM Studios. KHEM Studios originated from a desire to find simple clean contemporary designs made with natural solid hardwoods.
KHEM Studios creates simple, yet beautiful homewares and serving boards made of kiln-dried, locally sourced maple, cherry, and walnut.
The pieces are lovingly sanded, oiled, and waxed to showcase the stunning character found in sustainably harvested hard woods. All their boards are durable and long lasting.
Here is a selection of KHEM Studios boards in dark walnut wood.
And whether you’re an experienced chef or a serious home cook, you’ll love
This is the cast iron braising pan with lid. It features a machined smooth and double seasoned cooking surface that imparts enhanced flavor and the perfect sear. The striking lid features a branch-sculpted brass D-ring designed for ergonomic comfort.
All the pieces made by Nest Homeware are suitable for stovetop and oven to table.
The pans and lids come in a variety of sizes – perfect for every kitchen. I hope you visit Martha.com and see more from our American Made Makers. Be sure to shop their products – you’ll love them as much as we do!
A striking exhibition marking the evolution of women artists over the course of 300-years is now on display at the Gothic Revival Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York.
Presented inside both the Lyndhurst mansion and in its exhibition gallery, this extraordinary "Women's Work" show features more than 125 works including approximately 50 contemporary pieces mainly created after 1970 by mostly American women artists from diverse backgrounds, placed in conversation next to historic antecedents from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Earlier this week, I shared images of the historic mansion itself - its many rooms and furnishings. Here are photos of a selection of items included in the exhibit, which is on view now through Monday, September 26th.
The “Women’s Work” exhibit was curated by Lyndhurst’s Executive Director Howard Zar, Nancy Carlisle of Historic New England, and Rebecca R. Hart, an independent contemporary art curator. The show displays historic examples of domestic handcrafted items alongside objects made by contemporary women artists who incorporated the same artistic traditions in their practices.
Many of the pieces are presented in this exhibition gallery on the Lyndhurst grounds. The groupings are intended to show the wide breadth of techniques used to create the pieces over time.
Here from left to right: “Tile Palette” by an unknown maker used by Jane Armstrong Tucker and Celia Thaxter/Haviland & Co., “Teacup and Saucer,” Jane Armstrong Tucker/Haviland & Co., “Plate,” Judy Chicago, “Virginia Wolf Test Plate #1 for The Dinner Party,” Emily Cole, “Monarda Cabinet Plate,” “Untitled (Strawberries),” and Emily Cole’s “Cream Pitcher.”
The “Knit Wool Rug” in the foreground was made by Elvira Curtis Hulett when she was 88-years old living with Shakers in Massachusetts. It shows her attention to detail as well as the utilitarian functionality so often shown in Shaker pieces. Above it on the wall is a more contemporary work by Miriam Schapiro called “Golden Pinwheel” which was made using braided and knitted wool.
Hand stitching was the most time consuming of the skills learned by women in the 18th and 19th centuries. Aside from housework, sewing the family’s clothes and linens took up most of a woman’s daily tasks.
On the left is a quilt by renowned African American quilter, Mozell Stephens Benson in 1991. The center piece is Faith Ringgold’s “Feminist Series: Of My Two Handicaps #10.” Faith is known for popularizing the story quilt, a quilt with pictures and textures used primarily to tell a story. On the right is “Bars Quilt” made by Amish artist Elizabeth Yoder between 1870 and 1880.
This is a contemporary “Checkered Quilted Workwear Jacket” made of cotton and hand-tied yarn by Emily Bode – clothing made with modern fabrics and inspired by traditional practices.
This is called “Pantaloncini: Work No. 069” by Angela Ellsworth. These bloomers replicate those worn by 19th century women under their dresses. These garments became a symbol for women’s rights because they represented a lack of movement and the need for freedom. This piece is made using more than 50-thousand brightly colored dress pins and faux pearl corsage pins.
This is a scallop-shell-patterned needlepoint seat cushion – one of 12 made by First Lady Martha Washington around 1801, after the death of her husband, President George Washington.
In this installation, a wax figure by Sarah Gardner Gee made in the 1700s from wax, silk, linen, glass, shells, and wood, next to “Curupira,” by Shary Boyle in 2014. It shows a young women dressed in fancy clothing with fruit suggesting abundance and fertility displayed with a figure showing vulnerability and fear.
This “Dressing Gown” by an unknown maker was made between 1862 and 1864 out of wool, silk, taffeta, and cotton.
Many of the exhibit’s pieces are also displayed in various rooms of the mansion. They are loosely positioned in areas where they may have most naturally been used.
Here is a set of topsy turvy dolls in the child’s bed of the master bed chamber. The dolls are skirted figures that display a different face when turned upside-down. One made by an unknown woman in the 1860s on the left and two created by the artist Kiki Smith in 2002 – “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Owl and Pussycat.”
Contemporary artist Liza Lou created this piece in 2006. Look closely – it is made entirely with beads and aptly named the “Loo.”
Liza also made the popcorn box and popcorn in the back of this case, again all with beads. The beadwork of Northeastern Indigenous tribes has been known as an art of survival. The other pieces were likely done in the mid 19th century also using Indigenous beading techniques.
On this bed, another quilt created by one of the woman servants. Quilting was influenced by a need to provide proper cold weather bed coverings, but over time, also became a very artistic and expressive art form.
The tableau in the Lyndhurst Library features silhouette pieces by Idelle Weber, Kara Walker, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Silhouettes were very popular in the 19th century as a more affordable art form compared to painted portraits. These were often done as parlor activities in the home.
Kathleen Ryan, “Bad Lemon” or “Sour Blush,” made this in 2020 out of aventurine, smokey quartz, rhodonite, calcite, quartz, labradorite, green line jasper, kambaba jasper, pink opal, citrine, amethyst, rose quartz, agate, serpentine, pink lepidolite, malachite, mother of pearl, freshwater pearl, bone, glass, acrylic, and steel pins on coated polystyrene. She was known to carve larger than life fruits into Styrofoam and then cover them with semi-precious stones and glass beads. The rotted sections of the fruit show the national economic decline during that time.
An unknown woman artist created this “Beaded Fruit” piece in the mid-20th century using synthetic beads and straight pins. The beads likely came from a kit sold to female home hobbyists during the Depression.
This is called “Murmur.” Made of wax, silk, and wire in 2009 by artist Valerie Hammond. It combines flora, fauna, and the human body in various gestures.
After the Civil War, home decorating became more common. Victorians were great fans of nature and horticulture. Below is “Floral Wreath” by an unknown artist made with wool and silk in a gilt wood frame. On top is Portia Munson’s 2012 “Morning Glory Mandala” using pigmented ink on Hahnemuhle paper.
The “Women’s Work” exhibit continues through the summer – catch it if you can. And please visit Lyndhurst – the historic estate will inform, intrigue, and inspire you.
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