A bridge built by Art

by Vivian F. ZoëAmerican Poet Laureate William Morris Meredith, Jr. had strong Connecticut ties. Though born in New York City and educated at Princeton, Meredith made his home for sixty years in Uncasville, along the shores of the Thames River. Born in 1919, he taught at Connecticut College and died in New London in 2007.

Meredith served and was decorated with two Air Medals in the United States Navy Air Corps. He was first published while still an undergraduate student, issuing Love Letter from an Impossible Land, which was selected by Archibald Macleish for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition.

Meredith was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the National Book Award for Poetry and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, despite a devastating stroke that curtailed his capacities. He was awarded numerous fellowships and honors, including Ford and Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, the Carl Sandburg Award and an honorary Doctorate by Connecticut College. Meredith served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position which became Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. In 1983, Meredith suffered a stroke which immobilized him

Stepping Out by Bridge of Light exhibiting artist Debi Pendell, acrylic, collage, & mixed media on canvas.

The Muse

Summer, 2015

The quarterly newsletter of the

Slater Memorial Museum

(Continued on page 6)

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The Muse is published up to four times yearly for the members of the Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum. The museum is located at 108 Crescent Street, Norwich, CT 06360. It is part of Norwich Free Academy, 305 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360. Museum main telephone number: (860) 887-2506. Visit us on the web at www.slatermuseum.org.Museum Director – Vivian F. ZoëNewsletter editor – Geoff SerraContributing authors: Vivian Zoë, Leigh Thomas

Photographers: Leigh Thomas, Vivian Zoë, Barry Wilson

The president of the Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum: Patricia Flahive

Norwich Free Academy Board of Trustees:Diana L. Boisclair Jeremy D. Booty Allyn L. Brown, IIIGlenn T. CarberryKeith G. FontaineLee-Ann Gomes, TreasurerThomas M. Griffin, SecretaryThomas HammondDeVol JoynerTheodore N. Phillips, ChairTodd C. PostlerSarette Williams, Vice Chair

Norwich Free Academy does not discriminate in its educational programs, services or employment on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, color, handicapping condition, age, marital status or sexual orientation. This is in accordance with Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and other civil rights or discrimination issues; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991.

A MessAge FroM the directorAh! Summer at last! Our Spring season was a whirl wind of successful programs including the triumphant unveiling of the monumental portrait of NFA founder Russell Hubbard and the celebration of Giovanni Luchini (Cico). Scholarly presentations and warm family gatherings accompanied the latter which shed much-deserved light on the man who actually installed our cast collection and many others. Summer will be buzzing with activity in preparation for the Fall exhibition John Meyer of Norwich: An American Original. Our new class of interpreters graduated recently and, together

with their veteran colleagues, is ready to lead tours for adults and children. We are so grateful for these and all of our dedicated volunteers without whom we could not accomplish nearly even half of programs and research.

uPcoMiNg eXhibitioNs, ProgrAMs ANd eVeNts

sunday, June 211:00-3:00 pm

saturday, Aug. 17:00 pm

thursday, Aug. 271:00-3:00 pm

sunday, sept. 201:00-3:00 pm

oPeNiNg recePtioN: Bridge of Light: Artistic Illumination from the Balkans. A major retrospective exhibition of art will feature Bul-garian and American artists who have crossed the bridge between the two countries first established by poet William Meredith. Free and open to the public.

FilM screeNiNg: Marathon, the real-life love story based on the life of Pulitzer Prize-win-ning Poet William Meredith and his companion Richard Harteis. To be presented at the Donald Oat Theater, 60 - 64 Broadway, Norwich.

AWArd PreseNtAtioN: William Meredith Award for Poetry and Reading will be given post-humously to Andrew Oerke. Reception to follow.

oPeNiNg recePtioN: John Meyer of Nor-wich: An American Original. Reception is free and open to the public.

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slAter luMiNAries hoNored

iN MeMoriuM: JosePh guAltieri

Early this year, our community lost a legend. Joseph Gualtieri was a graduate of the Norwich Free Academy and the Chicago Art Institute. Over the course of a 56-year career as a Norwich Free Academy art teacher and then director of the Slater Mu-seum, Gualtieri leveraged his love of art into a vibrant scene and helped bring the work of Ellis Ruley to the public eye. His greatest passion in life was art. He was a very prolific artist.

He was happiest as the director of the Slater Memorial Mu-seum and teaching art students at Norwich Free Academy. He is a nationally renowned artist. His paintings are in permanent collections at several museums, galleries and private collec-tions all across America. a version of this article appeared in the norwich Bulletin

On May 1, the Slater Museum unveiled the newly con-served painting of Russell Hubbard before an enthusiastic crowd at the Friends of Slater Museum Annual Meeting. The painting is now in the new Founders’ Gallery, which also features the portraits of John Putnam Gulliver and William and Harriet Peck Williams.

The conservators of the painting, Joe Matteis and his team, were on hand to explain how the laborious restoration pro-cess unfolded. Master framer and gilder William (Billy) Meyers, provided commentary about how the massive replica frame was created in much the same way as the

Then, on May 17, the Luchinis descended on Norwich for the Craft of Casting event which honored ancestor Giovanni “Cico” Luchini, the man responsible for installing the Slater Museum’s inaugural collection of plaster casts.

Volunteer Mary Edgar presented the findings of her research about Cico, while Museum Director Vivian Zoë and Professor Alan Wallach provided historical context about the founding of cast collections, both at the Slater and at many other 19th cen-tury American Museums. The afternoon concluded with cast conservator Bob Shure explaining the cast-making process. The Luchini family gather in

the SMM Cast Gallery

Friends of Slater Museum admire the portrait of Russell Hubbard in the new Founders’ Gallery.

Joseph Gualtieri (in suit and tie) instructsstudents in the Slater Museum garret, c. 1950

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Mr. & Mrs. Arthur LiverantMr. & Mrs. Bob Reed

PATRONS

Mr. & Mrs. Allyn Brown, IIIJessica ClassonDr. & Mrs. Robert CrootofMr. & Mrs. David CruthersMr. & Mrs. Richard DesRochesDr. & Mrs. Wayne F. DiederichDr. & Mrs. Malcolm Edgar Jr.Lorna & Michael J. GallagherMrs. Laurent GenardMr. & Mrs. Laurent T. Genard, Jr.Joan & Michael GordonKatherine & Richard HaffeyMr.& Mrs. Michael LahanJoy S. LearyDeborah J. LeeJames R. Marshall IIISheila McPharlin & Walter PiersonElizabeth PiteEvelyn & John PutmanMr. & Mrs. James SawyerLottie B. ScottMr. & Mrs. Martin ShapiroKathleen StaufferRichard G. TreadwayMargaret and David Venator

George P. Ververis, Jr.Clement Watson

CONTRibuTORS

Douglass BjornMr. & Mrs. Paul BrulotteOlive J. BuddingtonAnn F. CarrollDr. & Mrs. Larry ColettiGerald A. DaigleFaith Damon DavisonMr. & Mrs. Michael DriscollMr. & Mrs. Paul R. DuevelTeresa GeerDr. & Mrs. Leonard GreeneBeverly KowalMelody & Donald LearyDr. & Mrs. Douglas S. LeeGail & Bob RehmJohn M. Rogers Jr.Charles F. RossollElizabeth D. SagerDenise B. SchmidtAnne SharpeSandra & Denis SoucyMarie & Nick SpellmanRuth SusslerBrian WagnerMr. & Mrs. Burriss G Wilson

FAMiLieS

Mr. & Mrs. Edward AberbachMr. & Mrs. Gary AdamsDuncan BaileyJoseph BatesEric BeitAtty. & Mrs. Ralph BergmanRandy S. BlackMr. & Mrs. Wil BlanchetteMr. & Mrs. Steven BokoffMr. Robert CalabroMr. & Mrs. Jonathan CampJoanna Case & Les OlinMr. & Mrs. Walter ChojnackiJames ClarkDrs. Stuart & Judith DeglinPatricia DiLauriaKeith E. DomijanRichard B. DumaineMr. & Mrs. James J. Dutton Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Richard EricksonDr. & Mrs. David G. FentonPat & John FlahivePriscilla & Kathryn ForschlerLeona FrankKristine A. Olsen & Cyrus D. GilmanDonald G. GunnRichard C. HamarEllen & Wayne HensonAttny. & Mrs. Michael E. JewellMr. & Mrs. Norman Jordan, Jr.Mrs. Andrea KaiserEvelyn KennedyMr. & Mrs. Wayne LachapelleLoren Lichtenstein & Leon FerberChristine Strick & Kenneth MahlerMr. & Mrs. Ray NollmanJason Pannone & Michelle KnieriemMr. Kathy PoolerElaine ProkeschSandra & James QuartoEdmund RubachaIlona & Craig SaundersMr. & Mrs. Gary R. SchnipMr. & Mrs. Benjamin ShiresBetty & Robert SlaterKaren & Andrew StocktonDiana Corazzelli & Joseph StrazzoChristine Strick & Kenneth MahlerBarbara SumnerMr. & Mrs. Walter TurnquistMr & Mrs. Jeffrey A. VasingtonNatali WallMarianna Wilcox & Bertrand BellDr. D’Andrea & Mrs. Winter

iNDiViDuALS

Suzy BoadaMr. & Mrs. Jeremy BootyKathy BurleyBarbara Cordell

LiFe MeMbeRS

Dr. Sultan AhamedNina BarclayHazel Judy BrownValerie K. Foran CarterMrs. Leo ChristmasHarriet M. CutlerMr. & Mrs. Charles M. GilmanMrs. Joseph GualtieriMr. & Mrs. Wally LambMr. & Mrs. Sheldon LevineMr. Edwin O. Lomerson IIIStanley M. LucasMr. & Mrs. David H. MeiklemJonathan S. RickardJean StencelCeline SullivanHarry SwatsburgElizabeth A. TheveDr. Patricia C. ThevenetDr. & Mrs. Anthony Tramontozzi

beNeFACTORS

Sheri Slater

SuSTAiNeRS

William J. AbellCarol L. AmedeoGeri-Anne Benning

Friends of Slater MuseumCurrent Members

June, 2015Friends of the Slater Museum help to support and keep alive

one of the most valuable and rare treasures in the region. Thanks to the generosity of the Friends, the Slater can

continue to produce exciting new exhibits, conserve and protect the objects entrusted to its care and work to acquire

art and artifacts that promote its core mission.

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Burl DawsonDavid DelBiondoSadie Davidson DeVoreCristina DominijanniMichael FanelliThomas M. Foley, Jr.Lester FryeDeborah A. GriffithG. GrippoMary-Anne HallAstrid T. HanzalekPaul JohnsonBrian W. KorsuJean M. LaFreniereCarole S. McCarthyEleanor L. MillerPatricia MillerMary MiskiewiczJack MontmeatEileen NagelClara NarteyMichael O’KeefeGary PalmerMark PatnodeJacqueline PhillipsReverend John E. PostKenneth PrzybyszLouise M. QuartoDiana RogersPatricia ShippeeMr. & Mrs. Steven SlosbergStephen SottileTora SterregaardRobert SullivanRoger TremblayBeth TroegerKathy A. WalburnMelinda WellsNeil T. Whitehead

SeNiORS

Carol A. AdamsAvis Akers CherichettiMargaret M AldrichChris AndersonPatricia AndersonValerie AndrewsKathleen ArnoldLindsay ArominBruce A. Ashline

Priscilla & David BaillieBernard B. BartickTimothy BatesJean M. BeckerRoger BeersDan E. BlackstoneKenneth BujnowskiBarbara Burdo-CaronColette ButterickMr. & Mrs. Alton P. ButtonElizabeth CarterHelen M. ChampeVincent E. ChrzanowskiCarol A. CieslukowskiThomas E. Clements Jr.Sandy M Cobb, Mr. & Mrs. James ColemanGloria ConnorCarol B. ConnorDavid A CorsiniEllen CowanAlbina Z. CzapskiMarguerite & James DaigleMrs. Deborah DickeyFrances J. DonnellyMr. & Mrs. Edward J. DonovanKathleen DriscollNancy E. DubinLois F. EldridgeEthel EnglerMr. & Mrs. John FellsMarcia & Jack FixFlorence S. FrankStan GabyPaula & Matthew GoldmanRichard J. GrayeckAlbert GualtieriJoan HeffernanLuciana HeinemanCareen JenningsBernadette M. KalinowskiChristine KarpinskiMerrill Park KeeleyKatherine KennyMarcia KilpatrickAssunta KozelMr. & Mrs. KrodelMary Greene LaForgeRev. Ronald LakeLinda Lancz

Sara LathropV. Jane LegerKathleen LepakAgnes & John LubyErna LueringJanet MacKayKatherine MannJ. Roger MarienElaine McCarthyJosephine MerrillDr. & Mrs. Chris MorrenDiane A. NormanFrank T. NovackNancy OatesSara O’HearnNan OrmenoAnne Bingham Pierson, M.D.Rev. Dr. Wayne D. PokornyJames H. RankinIlene ReinerPatricia A. RiderW. Wynn RileyCarin RoaldsetJim RoedigerJill RoedigerEdward J. RogalskiMr. & Mrs. Martin RutchikVirginia SalzerAnne ScheibnerMichele SinkezMr. & Mrs. Jack SmileyJane SmithVerna Jean SouterMariea SpencerElaine SteinhilberMarilyn R. StillmanWilma SullivanJoseph L. TorchiaJanice L. TreckerMichelle Gill TyczRichard WarrellMari Ann Weiss & Roger NilandTekla WirhunMr. & Mrs. Nathan WolfmanJohn A. Wolkowski

STuDeNTS

Titus E AbadSheena EmmaCasey HardingSean KaneMaureen C. MartinJennifer Sims

SLATeR MuSeuM ANNuAL FuND DONORS

AL Studio LLC Frederick Barrett, Jr. Abby Agranovitch BraggCommunity Foundation of Eastern ConnecticutEnergy Initiatives Group, LLCElise Meyer FeuersteinMr. & Mrs. Edward HassenkampDoris Freeman Jeppesen, RNDoreen JohnsonGrant J. KokoszkaFrancis LucasJoan E. Macneill Anne Pisarko MahalawichCathy Ulikowski MeiklemMr. & Mrs. Andres J. MolinaNorthborough Area Community ChorusAnne Schell Novak Frances Morton NugentMr. & Mrs. Jeffrey S. PardeeCatherine RovtarMr. and Mrs. Brand SiskSheri SlaterPaula TedescoThomas TheveMr. & Mrs. Anthony J. VolpeMaritie P. WellbrockMr. & Mrs. Burriss G. WilsonMr. & Mrs. H. Peter Wind, Jr.

Please note: We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this list. If we inadvertently omitted your name, we apologize.

Please let us know by calling 860-425-5563.

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(Continued from page 1)

international artist exchange programs, particularly with the Republic of Bulgaria where, in 1979, Meredith was made a citizen by presidential decree for his work there.

Beginning in 2002 when renowned Bulgarian poet, writer and diplomat Lyubomir Levchev and the Bulgarian-American Creative Society established an artists’ exchange program, participants from the U. S. and Bulgaria have resided temporarily in a host country. Americans have been hosted in the village of Polkovnik Serafimovo in the Rhodope Mountains in the Republic of Bulgaria and Bulgarians in New London. Polkovnik Serafimovo is home to the

for two years and affected his ability to produce language. Although his teaching career was ended by the stroke, through therapy, he regained many of his language skills. In 2007, the Governor of Connecticut conferred upon Meredith a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Meredith’s home, named Riverrun, where he planted and enjoyed rare species of trees, was made a State of Connecticut Historic Landmark in 2007. After his death, a group of friends and colleagues created the William Meredith Foundation housed there to remember and honor a great American spirit. Artist residencies are now available at what has become the William Meredith Center for the Arts at Riverrun. Meredith, a legendary host, brought Robert Frost, Muriel Rukeyser, Richard Wilbur and Robert Penn Warren to Riverrun and to the local community. William encouraged emerging local artists of all media from Norwich to Westerly to New Haven.

The William Meredith Center sponsors educational and cultural programs and fosters an appreciation for the work of local and regional artists. The exhibition to open June 21 (through August 28) in the Slater Museum’s Converse Gallery is a partnership with the Foundation. The Foundation strives to develop

Left to right: Oil portrait of William Meredith by Dora Boneva, 1981; Photograph of Meredith courtesy of Richard Harteis; William Meredith and Richard Harteis, 1993, by Robert Giard

Polkovnik Serafimovo, Bulgaria

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As a direct result of the program, exhibitions have been mounted in the U.S. from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and in Bulgaria from Sofia to Moscow. In addition, numerous original publications and translations by Bulgarian and American writers have been inspired and supported by the program.

During the two-month long exhibit, the Meredith Foundation will launch the 2015 William Meredith Award for Poetry given posthumously to Andrew Oerke, a poet who published in Bulgaria and traveled the country extensively with his wife and fellow writer, Anitra Thorhaug. As with other Meredith Awards, the publication of Oreke’s book, THE WALL is made possible in part by the generous support of John and Lorraine Hracyk. Lorraine is an alumna of Norwich Free Academy (Class of ’67) and their cousin, Kristie Leonard is Director of the Edwin H. Land Library at NFA, yet another dimension to the “family affair” nature of this exhibition.

Describing the project, Harteis has said, “The first point of light for this bridge ignited in the late 1970’s when William Meredith took a sabbatical from his 35-year teaching career at Connecticut College to take up his post at the Library of Congress. In Washington, an ardent cultural attaché from the Bulgarian Embassy, Krassin Himmirski lobbied on behalf of Bulgarian artists and the renaissance that was occurring in his country at the time. Meredith was impressed with the poetry and invited five poets to visit the US and read their work at different venues around the country such as Berkeley and the Iowa Writer’s workshop.

Lyubomir Levchev was among the visitors and the two men struck up a friendship that lasted a lifetime.

The Bulgarians were grateful for this window into American life and the prospect of English language publication. At the time, Levchev was a highly regarded national poet, serving as head of the Writer’s Union and as the unofficial minister of culture. And like the actual Minister of Culture, Ludmilla Zhivkova to whom he

Meadows in the Mountains music festival every June and is a ski resort in winter. Bulgaria is one of the smallest countries of the European Union, but its democratic political system was established in 1991, before the EU.

Entitled Bridge of Light: Artistic Illumination from the Balkans, the exhibition will feature work by American and Bulgarian artists. Named by poet Richard Harteis, to honor his life partner, William Meredith, the exhibition will include paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings created as a result of the exchange program by artists who have “walked the bridge” between the two nations.

The exhibition is further made possible by New London’s Griffis Art Foundation which, together with the Orpheus Foundation in Bulgaria, invites and sponsors painters, poets and cultural ambassadors to be immersed in the art, ideas, culture and spirit of a new community. As Hugh Kenneth Hill, former United States Ambassador in Sophia, Republic of Bulgaria said, “They take away the beauty of this special place on their canvases and the deeper impressions that are left in their senses and in their souls, and they also leave a part of themselves behind.”

Andrew Oerke, winner of the 2015 William Meredith Award for Poetry

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introduced Meredith, Lyubomir Levchev encouraged glasnost through international writers meetings and the celebration of Bulgaria’s 1400-year history as a nation.

Bridge of Light enables us to take stock of the important work that has been created over the years and serves as a fitting tribute to our beloved famous local son, William Meredith and the many friends who have crossed the bridge he first established between our two countries both coming and go-ing. After his death in 2007 friends came together to establish a foundation to continue his legacy through educational and artistic programs such as this exhibition.”

As First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a letter joining Connecticut College in a celebration of William’s 80th birthday, “The arts have always been a unifying force in our world, bringing people together across vast cultural, social, economic and geographical divisions. Through his work, William Meredith both enhances and strengthens the American spirit. As you honor Mr. Meredith, you celebrate the timeless power of poetry and poets as our American memory, our purveyors of insight and culture, and express the very heart of what connects us, plagues us, and makes us fully human.”

Harteis tells of the history and genesis of the exchange, stating, “Meredith was routinely invited to these conferences as were John Cheever, Erskin Caldwell, Kurt Vonnegut, Maxine Kumin, and John Balaban among others. Bulgaria was firmly in the Russian camp under the dictatorship of Todor Zhivkov, but for better or worse, the American delegation defended democratic values against Cuban, Iranian, and Serbian rhetoric in heated and open discourse.

‘You’re all being duped,’ Robert Penn Warren’s wife, Eleanor Clark proclaimed one spring at the Academy in New York – travel behind the iron curtain during the cold war wasn’t universally appreciated among fellow writers. But, William felt that if poets couldn’t have a dialog across political and cultural barriers, there seemed to be little hope for any understanding among peoples. At one point Bulgaria was engaged in a kind of ethnic cleansing whereby Muslims were forced to take Bulgarian names and were forbidden to dress in their native garb. William and I were able to speak out in support of human rights and artistic freedom for minorities and dissidents during our travels. In 1989, I carried a list of more than a hundred artists who had signed a letter to parliament ‘resigning’ from the culture to our Ambassador Sol Polansky.

‘Aren’t you afraid to be seen with us,’ I asked the poet Blaga Dimitrova who had given him the letter and who later became the first Vice President of Bulgaria after “the change.”

‘My husband has been interrogated for twelve hours now. They know where I live, they know what I think. We’ve had enough,’ and like the earlier political movement in Prague that spring, the courage of these artists eventually helped bring down the Communist government.

Bulgarian poet, writer and diplomat Lyubomir Levchev

Patterns of Nature: Rhodope Strata/Island Wa-ters by bridge of light exhibiting artist Anne seelbach, oil and charcoal on paper.

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Years later, in 1996, after my Fulbright year at the American University in Blagoevgrad, William and I were accorded citizenship by the Bulgarian Parliament and Bulgaria’s first democratically-elected president, Zhelu Zhelev. Sadly, the father of his country died the very day we announced the 2015 William Meredith Award for Poetry at the Bulgarian embassy on January 30.

During the early days of our travel to Bulgaria, we were introduced to the master painter, Stoimen Stoilov. When his studio mysteriously burned down, he was permitted to use an old factory which became a center of lithographers in Varna, the Atelier Vulcan. As official guests, we were invariably presented with gifts by the artists – a kind of barter used to pay the government rent, I gathered. But Stoimen and his remarkable sister and daughter, both fine artists in their own right became like family to me and William. Their

generosity knows no bounds, and the gift of their art has graced the walls at Meredith Center as well as numerous book covers, illustrations, and broadsides.

One important project relied on the Disabled American Veterans and Dominion Power who commissioned Stoimen Stoilov to create a series of etchings “illustrating” the poem by Meredith memorializing the loss of 128 lives in the sinking of the nuclear submarine, SS Thresher in 1963. The poem and etchings were sent to all surviving families of that disaster.

On November 29, 2014, this project expanded into a permanent memorial for City Hall in New London for the brave sailors, many of whom came from our community.

Another group of zany and talented artist friends whom we met in Blagoevgrad in the late 1990’s became known as ‘The River People.’ One hot summer afternoon after too much rakia, trout, and white wine, I suggested that we all go home and shape up for the dinner to which the President of the American University had invited us. I opened our door at 6:00 and Lydia Assenova, Boiko Dimitrov, Niki Marinov and Lucien Dimitrov staggered into the living room as though they had just survived a plane crash. Instead of going home to rest and shower, they had gone to the river, put their feet into the water and continued drinking. In 2000, I was very pleased to invite them, as well as Bulgaria’s Vice President Todor Kalvadjiev and his entourage to come to the US for an exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Museum and another later at the Alexy Von Schlippe Gallery at the University of Connecticut later on. Et la fête continue.

Dora Boneva, the wife of Lyubomir Levchev is a dignified and beautiful artist of a different sort. Dora paints

Etching by Stoimen Stoilov from ECHOES, the art folio book illustrating the poetry of William Meredith.

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portraits with astute psychological insight as well as impressionist landscapes of the highest quality. Classically trained as with artist friends such as Christo, she is an artist of great sophistication and world experience who speaks both French and English and has traveled widely. She seemed ideal to be selected as one of the first Bulgarian fellows at the Griffis Arts Center. She came to us on her own, and that summer William and I invited her to Block Island for a week of pleine air painting. The following year, Lyubomir was able to visit and became friends with Niles and Pamela Bond who translated a series of poems he wrote on New London. The community was quite taken with Lyubo, the ultimate diplomat and during this period he and Hughes Griffis began planning the exchange program for American artists to visit Bulgaria.

This international residency program is unique for the loving care Sharon Griffis affords the visitors. As director, she provides cultural activities, exhibitions, intimate, stylish receptions to introduce the guests to the community as well as housing in the beautiful Victorian complex which serves as the center for

her program. Board member Hughes Griffis commented once that he “just writes the checks,” but despite his modesty, he clearly takes an interest in the selection of the visiting artists and travels frequently to Bulgaria to meet with his Doppelgänger, Luybomir Levchev. There in the mountain village of Pokolvnik

Serafimavo in the Rhodope Mountains near the Greek border, the Orpheus Foundation welcomes American artists at Sharon House, a residence for exchange fellows from the American side of the Bridge of Light.”

Donna Martell, one of the invited artists to Bulgaria has written the following account of her painting of the Rhodope Mountains:

‘The photo, taken through the window of Lyubomir’s moving car, became a painting of my first sight of Polkovnik Serafimovo. I’m sure everyone who crossed our bridge into Bulgaria went this way and saw this view.’

First Sight, Polkovnik Serafimovo by Bridge of Light exhibiting artist Donna Martell, pastel

Serafimovo Landscapeby Bridge of Light exhibiting artist Mark Patnode, oil on linen

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Another artist, Mark Patnode has painted the famous Dyavolski most (Devil’s Bridge) as a figurative souvenir. Others have let the peace and serenity of the place inspire them in more abstract works.”

Mark Patnode is well-known at Slater. He has won awards in the Connecticut Artists’ Juried Exhibition and participated in invitational exhibitions. His luscious, painterly landscapes are recognized locally. Participating artist Debi Pendell was born in Connecticut and currently lives and works in the Eclipse Mill Artist Lofts in North Adams, MA. She holds a B.A from Central Connecticut State University and an M.A.L.S from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. A graduate of the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art, Brian Keith Stephens is also well-known to Slater regulars. His large format images of animals were featured in 2014’s The Animal Heart in Converse Gallery. A resident of Windsor, Connecticut, Cathy Doocy is a fine and commercial artist, involved with Hartford’s Artworks Gallery and is a docent at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Among the Bulgarian artists, the work of Stoimen Stoilov is possibly the best known in Southeastern Connecticut. It has been displayed at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, the Community Foundation of Southeastern Connecticut and Griffis Art Center. Stoilov was born in Varna, Bulgaria, but now resides in Vienna, Austria. His chimeric imagery bring fanciful creatures to life. Some fearsome, some almost sweet, they compel

the viewer into the picture.

The exhibition will include many large, dramatic works that promise to engage the viewer.

Harteis says that it is perhaps Meredith’s own poem reflecting on the ancient Bulgarian artists that best speaks to the mystery of creation this residency affords:

“Two Masks Unearthed in Bulgaria”: by William Meredith For Kolyo Sevov

When God was learning to draw the human face I think he may have made a few like these that now look up at us through museum glass a few miles north of where they slept for six thousand years, a necropolis near Varna. With golden staves and ornaments around them they lay among human bodies but had none. Gods themselves, or soldiers lost abroad— we don’t know who they are. the gold buttons which are their curious eyes, the old clay which is their wrinkled skin, seem to have been worked by the same free hand that drew adam for the Jews about that time. It is moving, that the eyes are still questioning and no sadder than they are, time being what it is— as though they saw nothing tragic in the faceslooking down through glass into theirs. only clay and gold, they seem to say, passing through one condition on its way to the next.

Return from the Field by Bridge of Light exhibiting artist Christopher Zhang, oil on canvas

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

BRIDGE OF LIGHT: aRTISTIC iLLUMINATION

FROM THE BALKANS

JUNE 21 - AUGUST 28, 2015OPENING RECEPTION: JUNE 21, 1 - 3 P.M.

Bridge of Light traces the important artistic con-nection first begun by William Meredith decades ago when he served as US Poet Laureate. The bridge became a major part of Meredith’s legacy as a teacher, poet and friend to artists. Bridge of Light includes an exhibition of 100 works of art by Bul-garian and American artists who have shared their talent over three decades. American artists repre-sented in the exhibition have all traveled, walking the bridge, to Bulgaria for extended residencies.

Ancient Theatre by Bridge of Light exhibiting artist Stoimen Stoilov, oil on canvas