Architect Peter Wormser tonight accepts the 2017 Historic District Comission preservation award on behalf of the Wakeman Town Farm. (See WestportNow Oct. 21, 2017) (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio

The conversations today focused on the power of art and how it intersects with social change.

Westport graphic artist Miggs Burroughs (l) talks to Mark Yurkiw, an astrophysicist turned “artrepreneur.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The fifth annual, Westport Arts Advisory Committee (WAAC) TEA Talk — the acronym stands for thinkers, educators and artists — featured three, 20-minute conversations with professionals who use art to propel social causes. And their discussions kept attendees rapt in the nearly filled auditorium at Town Hall.

The first talk showcased Westport graphic artist Miggs Burroughs talking to Mark Yurkiw, an astrophysicist turned “artrepreneur,” as his calls it.

“Art is about problem solving to me,” Yurkiw said. “It’s much more relevant as I get older.”

More than 100 Westporters came out of the rain today to attend the TEA (Thinkers, Educatiors, Artistis) Talk, Art and Social Change, presented by he Westport Arts Advisory Committee (WAAC) at Town Hall. Panelists Miggs Burroughs, Mark Yurkiw, Carole Schweid, Michael Barker, John Dodig, and Haris Durrani discussed how social change can be affected through art, theatre and literature. The impact of art through history was presented by Town Curator Kathie Bennewitz; musical examples were performed by Charlie Widmer and Frederic Chiu; and Frannie, Jeff and Alan Southworth. Haris Durrani was presented with WAAC’s Horizon Award, given each year to a young artist on the “Horizon” of a promising career. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Homeowner Marc Lotti today describes his restoration of the 1760 David Judah house on Kings Highway North to the participants in the Westport Historical Society walking tour of the historic Old Hill neighborhood. WHS past president Ed Gerber led the excursion, the Society’s third walking tour of the season. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The barn at 190 Cross Highway is among eight recipients of the Westport Historic District Commission (HDC) 2017 Preservation Awards to be presented in a Town Hall ceremony on Monday at 7 p.m. The HDC said the award will be presented to owners Wendy Van Wie and Mark Yurkiw. The HDC said, “The historic barn was built by Benjamin Meeker, the second of five generations of the Meeker family to own the property. When the current owners bought the barn and adjacent dwelling house in 2003, the property was in foreclosure, abandoned, and the barn deteriorated over time. The current owners rehabilitated the barn and increased the likelihood of it being preserved.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The commercial complex at 159 Post Road East, known as Bedford Square, is among eight recipients of the Westport Historic District Commission (HDC) 2017 Preservation Awards to be presented in a Town Hall ceremony on Monday at 7 p.m. The award will be presented to representatives of Bedford Square Associates, LLC. The HDC said, “This Tudor revival edifice has anchored the central crossroads of downtown Westport and helped define the center of town by virtue of its prominent location. With hard, creative work and collaboration with town agencies, the team of Bedford Square Associates, LLC designed and built a mixed use complex that renovated and adaptively repurposed the Bedford Building while adding significantly more space with new construction that respects the character and scale of the original building and the streetscape of the Westport Center Village District.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The house at 37 Evergreen Ave. is among eight recipients of the Westport Historic District Commission (HDC) 2017 Preservation Awards to be presented in a Town Hall ceremony on Monday at 7 p.m. The Helen Muller Preservation Award is being presented to owners Martha Constable and Bruce McGuirk in recognition of the sensitive renovation to the Colonial Revival House c. 1938 located in the Evergreen Avenue Historic District. “Throughout the design process, the owners worked collaboratively with the HDC to insure that the work would be appropriate for the historic district,” the HDC said. “They are to be applauded for their stewardship of a cultural resource that contributes significantly to the character and streetscape of one of Westport’s local historic districts.”  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A TEA Talk, the acronym which stands for thinkers, educators and artists, is set for Sunday at Town Hall at 2 p.m.

Participants in Sunday’s event pose for a group photo. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Co-sponsored by the Westport Arts Advisory Committee (WAAC) and the Westport Library, the event will feature 20-minute conversations with two individuals in each category, according to Nancy Diamond, WAAC co-chairwoman.

The participants scheduled to discuss socially relevant issues are: Miggs Burroughs, artist and graphic designer, and physicist Mark Yurkiw; John Dodig, former Staples High School principal, and author Haris A. Durrani; and Carole Schweid, actor and director, and Michael Barker, managing director of the Westport Country Playhouse.

The event is free and open to the public.

The house at 6 Clover Lane is among eight recipients of the Westport Historic District Commission (HDC) 2017 Preservation Awards to be presented in a Town Hall ceremony on Monday at 7 p.m. The HDC said the award will be presented to architect George White and owners LJ and Lawrence Wilks. The HDC said, “Although the house was built in 1966, it provides us with a view of the traditional houses that are associated with historic Westport. LJ & Lawrence are the third owners of the house and have taken special care to preserve the exterior of the house to represent the typical New England saltbox style house.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By Susan Granger

Conceived by 74-year-old Westport attorney Michael Koskoff and his screenwriter son Jacob, “Marshall” is a courtroom drama set in Fairfield County, focusing on a rape case in 1941, when Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) was a crusading civil rights lawyer for the NAACP.

After a Greenwich socialite, Mrs. Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), accuses her African-American chauffeur, Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), of raping her and pushing her off a bridge, he’s arrested, and frightened white people across the country began firing their domestic workers.

At age 32, Thurgood Marshall already had a formidable reputation, traveling around the South defending African-Americans in redneck towns, and he’d already argued before the Supreme Court.

Arriving in Bridgeport, Marshall quickly realizes that Spell’s ‘confession’ was coerced. And Judge Colin Foster (James Cromwell) sides with prosecutor Loren Willis (Dan Stevens), ruling that, while Marshall may sit at the defense table as co-counsel, he can’t speak because he’s from out-of-state.