Nuestra América: Stories of 30 Inspiring Latinas/Latinos Who Have Shaped the United States
2025-10-02 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual event
NUESTRA AMERICA – STORIES OF 30 INSPIRING LATINAS/LATINOS WHO HAVE SHAPED THE UNITED STATES: The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is promoting this virtual event that the Danbury Library is sponsoring.
Join in conversation with Smithsonian professionals Adrián Aldaba and Emily Key as they discuss Nuestra América and highlight inspiring stories of Latinos throughout history, as well as their incredible contributions to the cultural, social, and political character of the United States.
The stories in Nuestra América cover each figure’s cultural background and childhood, and their accomplishments or contributions to American history. A glossary of terms and discussion question-filled reading guide, created by the National Museum of the American Latino, encourages further research and exploration. The museum has featured twenty-three of these stories in its exhibition ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States, the first exhibition to feature U.S. Latino history at the national level.
Featuring beautifully illustrated portraits by Gloria Félix, this is a book that children (and adults) will page through and learn from again and again. A must have for every school and home library to help students understand the American story!
This virtual event is from 2 to 3 p.m. Register at https://libraryc.org/danburylibrary/94806/register

Visiting Artist Lecture - Todd Bartel, Interdisciplinary Artist
2025-10-13 11:00 - 12:00 | VPAC Room 144, 43 Lake Ave. Extension, Danbury, CT
WCSU MFA VISITING ARTIST LECTURE WITH TODD BARTEL, INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST
Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2025, 11 a.m.
Visual & Performing Arts Center, Room 144, WCSU, Westside campus
Free & Open to the Public, Limited Seating Available
RSVP to reserve a seat at www.eventbrite.com/e/visiting-artist-lecture-todd-bartel-interdisciplinary-artist-tickets-1592013036849
Todd Bartel is a collage-based artist. His works are assembled forms of painting, drawing and sculpture that examine the roles of landscape and nature in contemporary culture. He received a B.F.A. in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 1985 and also studied in Rome through RISD’s European Honors Program. He received his M.F.A. in Painting from Carnegie Mellon University in 1993.
Bartel was a 1990 recipient of the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship (U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.). In 2000, he was awarded a Connecticut Council on the Arts Fellowship Grant in support of the continuation of his related drawing series entitled, “Garden Studies” and “Terra Reverentia”. His work has been exhibited at Palo Alto Art Center, Brockton Art Museum, and Katonah Museum of Art, among others.
A passionate teacher, Bartel has taught at Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Manhattanville College, and Vermont College. He has been a guest critic at Rhode Island School of Design and has lectured at Alfred University, Chatham College, and The New England Teaching Conference. Currently, Bartel teaches drawing, painting, sculpture, installation art, and conceptual art at the Cambridge School of Weston in Massachusetts. He is the founder of IS (Installation Space), a proposal-based installation gallery, as well as the founder and Gallery Director of the Cambridge School’s Thompson Gallery, a teaching gallery dedicated to thematic inquiry.

The Devil in New England: Witch Belief and Witch Trials in the 17th Century
2025-10-15 18:30 - 19:30 | Torrington Historical Society, 192 Main St., Torrington, CT
THE DEVIL IN NEW ENGLAND – WITCH BELIEF AND WITCH TRIALS IN THE 17TH CENTURY: WCSU Professor of History Dr. Leslie Lindenauer will present this talk from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Torrington Historical Society, 192 Main St. in Torrington.
When most people think about historic American witch trials, it is Salem Massachusetts that comes to mind. With good reason; in 1692-3, the Massachusetts courts sentenced 19 people to hang and tortured a 20th to death. Others died in Jail. But dozens and perhaps hundreds of people were tried for witchcraft in New England beginning over four decades before the Salem witch trials. Many of those trials occurred in Connecticut. At least sixteen people in Connecticut and Massachusetts were executed for the crime of witchcraft, most of them women. This program will explore those trials and consider the ways that popular culture has represented that dark history.
For tickets and information, visit https://torringtonhistoricalsociety.org/event/though-shalt-not-suffer-a-witch-to-live-witch-trials-in-early-new-england

Visiting Artist Lecture - Phoebe Jane Hart, Interdisciplinary Artist
2025-10-27 11:00 - 12:00 | VPAC Room 144, 43 Lake Ave. Extension, Danbury, CT
WCSU MFA VISITING ARTIST LECTURE WITH PHOEBE JANE HART, INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST
Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 11 a.m.
Visual & Performing Arts Center, Room 144, WCSU, Westside campus
Free & Open to the Public, Limited Seating Available
RSVP to reserve a seat at www.eventbrite.com/e/visiting-artist-lecture-pheobe-jane-hart-interdisciplinary-artist-tickets-1595508812809
Phoebe Jane Hart is a filmmaker, fabricator, and stop-motion animator based in NYC. She is an alumna of WCSU, graduating Summa Cum Laude in the Kathwari Honors Program with a B.A. degree in Studio Art. Since 2018, she has created work across a range of mediums, exploring the awkward, tender, and often absurd dimensions of human psychology and relationships through dark humor and surreal, hand-crafted visuals.
Hart’s short film “Bug Diner” received the Jury Award for Animation at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It also received a Special Jury Award at SXSW and premiered internationally on MUBI in 2025. Her first short film, “JamieSonShine,” is an experimental mixed-media documentary exploring her relationship with her brother following his diagnosis of schizophrenia. It screened at Slamdance 2022 and won Director’s Choice at the Thomas Edison Film Festival.
Hart earned her M.F.A. in Experimental Animation from CalArts in 2023. She was awarded a post-graduate Teaching Fellowship for her proposed course Compositing in Claymation, which she taught at CalArts in 2024. She continues to create both personal films and freelance work for studios, including Little Monster Films, BentoBox, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, and Bix Pix Entertainment. She takes puppets very, very seriously.
