SHAG, A New Festival In Conn. To Be A Center For Community and Cultural Exchanges
Farm and vineyard. Reconstructed barn. Outdoor sculpted amphitheater. Art silo. If you’re from anywhere in the Rural Intelligence region, you know this sounds like the perfect setting for a festival of some kind. Three years ago, the owners of all of this, Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, recognized it, too, and partnered with Pilobolus on its Five Senses Festival on those grounds. This year, the Washington, Conn. couple are hosting the Spring Hill Arts Gathering (aka SHAG) on their property July 29-Aug. 1 and Aug. 6-8 with a full and varied lineup of music and dance, food, and thought leaders. In short: activities to bring the community together after a year-plus of isolation.
Each day of the festival offers a variety of programs. A sampling: On July 30, Journalist Graydon Carter, a Litchfield County resident, will be interviewed by journalist Marcia DeSanctis; and Tony-nominated actress (“The Donna Summer Musical”) Ariana DeBose will perform a cabaret concert. July 31 is dedicated to Pride in the Hills, with a drag queen story hour (suitable for families); Shequida Hall, who has played a recurring drag character on the soap opera “One Life to Live” and starred in Off-Broadway shows; and a performance by singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins. August 1 celebrates jazz, with Etienne Charles + Creole Soul; dancer Vinson Fraley, Jr., and others. The following weekend is focused on movement and expression, with performances by Pilobolus and Connecticut Ballet to start; and music on August 7 with KT Tunstall and Brooklyn Raga Massive, among others
August 8 brings a Washington town party, free to the community.
“We wanted to make sure people weren’t feeling that the $45 day pass was keeping them from coming,” said Stephanie Ingrassia. There’ll be the “first annual” SHAG market of local makers, an old-time barn dance, several bands and other performances, and a tribute to town heroes.
Reconstructed barn. Photo courtesy SHAG
The decision to create SHAG came after Pilobolus felt ready to move on from its Five Senses Festival. After the pandemic, it was time for the dance company to bring its dancers together and create new works to go on tour, which had, of course, been put on hold. It was the opportunity for Ingrassia, a former art director on the board of the Brooklyn Museum (and, with her husband, an avid collector of art), to begin fulfilling a dream she’d had since they bought the property ten years ago.
They hired arts strategist Dana Gluck (“a rock start in the artists community,” according to Ingrassia) to come up with a lineup of artists that would appeal to all interests. Children’s programs are included, and kids under 12 are free. Food will be available from food trucks and the organizers are bringing in celebrity food chefs.
“We felt it was important to bring the community together after this past year,” Ingrassia said. “We’re a wine-tasting facility, so we’re able to draw on our mission to do that but also do this festival — and be more community focused. There aren’t a lot of ways to run into your neighbors here. We liked the idea of weekenders and full-times doing cool things together in a space.”
And there’s no lack of space at the site, with its 6,500 square feet of open entertainment areas, a multi-use barn built just last year from reclaimed siding and beams 150 years old; the amphitheater created by sculptor Mark Mennin with granite and stones sourced from Connecticut, and the historic grain silo, now an artistic grotto. Not to mention the fanciest restroom facilities you’ve ever seen in an old train car. SHAG may be new, but just about every installation and site had a previous life, including the farmland itself, dating to the 18th century.
SHAG is an ambitious venture, but it’s one step closer to what Ingrassia imagined when the couple became the property’s owners.
“I love creative construction projects,” she said. “Long term, I’d like to make the site an artist residency program. We have a lot of space to create a live/work situation for artists.”
Check the SHAG website for the full lineup and to purchase tickets.
Please Support Rural Intelligence
We want to continue delivering the entertaining, informative and upbeat stories in the inimitable Rural Intelligence style, despite a pandemic. But we need your support to keep us going. Please consider making a donation; even a small amount helps secure our future. Support us now.
(If you prefer, mail a check to: 45 Pine Grove Ave., Suite 303, Kingston, NY 12401.)
Support Now