Farm & Flora Collective: The green-industry business owned by three women features a garden center with four greenhouses and gardens growing with a purpose. The collective will be conducting training programs in cooperation with the neighboring Maher Center which supports people with development disabilities. Workshops, events, more are in the works. 910 Aquidneck Avenue, Middletown.
Flicks and Fare on Washington Square: Live like a local in Newport’s off-season by savoring cuisine from three distinctive neighborhood eateries tucked in the early 18th century hub of American culture. Learn about Newport's only historic art house theatre and offerings, then settle in for the most recent first run movie or documentary film. $79 includes food, beverages and movie. Saturdays at 2pm-6:30pm, through March.
Guided Goat Hikes at Simmons Farm: Spend an afternoon on a two-hour hike led by Farmer Karla and her crew of adventurous, fun-loving goats. Each participant will get their own goat to walk on a leash. There will be stops along the way to let the goats nibble. Conclude the afternoon with a warm cup of hot chocolate made with delicious milk from the farm! Through the end of March (possibly continuing).
Acclaimed furniture maker Jeff Soderbergh has opened a new year-round studio in Portsmouth. It is the second showroom for Jeff, who opened a seasonal gallery in Wellfleet, Mass., in 2011. It features 3,500 square feet of studio space for the company’s production of custom sustainable furnishings as well as 1500 square feet of showroom space. The showroom will also feature works by five other Rhode Island artists.
“Tiffany Glass: Painting with Color and Light” is the winter exhibit at Rosecliff and will be on display at the mansion through March 1. The exhibit features colorful glass artwork and objects by the renowned Louis C. Tiffany (Louis was the son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded Tiffany & Co. in 1837) who is best known for his stained glass windows and lampshades in vibrant colors and richly varied patterns, textures and opacities. The exhibit is composed of five windows, 19 lamps and more than 100 pieces of opalescent flat glass and glass “jewels.”
Beau Tyler & the Sly Dog Co.: Style for good-hearted people and good-hearted pets! This new retailer on Lower Thames Street includes apparel, hats, collars, accessories and fun items.
Man Cave: A dude-friendly place! Men’s Crazy briefs, ties, superhero accessories, beard and hair care products and bachelor party gift items! This is where woman will come to shop for that special man, and men will come to treat themselves!
Winter 2020 Scoop: Looking Ahead
Feb. 20, 6pm Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic
Lecture presented by Connie Choi, Associate Curator for the Permanent Collection, The Studio Museum in Harlem.
Kehinde Wiley, the official portraitist of President Barack Obama, draws on the tradition of classical painting masters such as Titian, Van Dyck, Ingres and David to create portraits and stained glass works that are drenched in color and abounding in adornment. His subjects are young black and mixed-race people; the result is a collision where art history and popular culture come face to face.
In a year celebrating women, The Preservation Society of Newport County is organizing an exhibition to shine a bright light on four of their own. Becoming Vanderbilt will be on view in the galleries at Rosecliff and will draw upon holdings in the Preservation Society’s collections as well as key loans from other institutions and private collections. The Vanderbilts have long been known for their dominance of 19th-century American industry. While the men amassed staggering fortunes during the Gilded Age, their wives and daughters turned their talents and formidable influence to causes outside the expected domestic realm. From Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt’s philanthropy to her daughter Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s work as an artist and museum founder, to Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s advocacy on behalf of women’s suffrage to her daughter Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan’s benevolence, the exhibit, featuring personal effects, clothing and memorabilia, honors the legacy of these extraordinary women. Exhibit on display March 28 – Nov. 1.
The Newport Winter Festival returns Feb. 14 – 23 with more than 100 events. Highlights include Beach Polo on Feb. 22 and 23, the 25th annual Chili Cook-Off, the Mac & Cheese Smackdown, Princess Party, concerts and comedy, drink contests and more.
Tickets are on sale for the 2020 U.S. Senior Open which will be played at Newport Country Club June 24 to 28. Ed Cooley, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Providence College and Rodney Harrison, two-time Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots honorary chairmen for the championship. This will be the fifth USGA championship to be held at Newport Country Club, a total that includes the first-ever U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open Championships in 1895. Newport also hosted the 100th U.S. Amateur in 1995, the second of three consecutive victories in that championship by Tiger Woods, and the 2006 U.S. Women's Open, the last of Annika Sorenstam's three victories in that championship. Here’s our quick guide.
Andy Warhol: Big Shot - July 18 – Oct. 18
This exhibition coming to the Newport At Museum focuses on Andy Warhol’s photographic work, specifically his Polaroids. Using a Polaroid Big Shot and an SX-70 cameras, Warhol made thousands of instant photographs. He used them in many ways: to document his art and aid in his drawing for ads, take snapshots of friends and celebrities, make self-portraits, and create portraits that would become studies for silkscreen prints and paintings. Polaroids also served as a starting a point for his commercial work, such as album covers and advertisements. Still many other snapshots were simply part of Warhol’s quotidian visual diary—like sketches of the people who passed through his daily life. This is the artist’s third exhibition at the Newport Art Museum. He attended Newport Art Museum opening receptions for his first two exhibitions.
Newport Ferry Service’s new 140-passenger excursion boat, Coastal Queen, is nearing completion and will be ready for private charter reservations in spring 2020. The upper deck features a hard top and side curtains, the glass-enclosed lower deck is where the bar, snack bar and head is located. This boat is fully ADA accessible and will be ideal for event and meeting planners looking to take a group out on the water.
