Architecture Lecture
The Essex Library’s popular series of Centerbrook Architects’ Lectures continues on Friday, January 8th at 7 p.m. with a talk by Professor Chuck Benson on “The Art and Architecture of C.F.A. Voysey and Sir Edwin Lutyens”, at Essex Town Hall.

This lecture focuses on the works of two of the most beloved architects and designers from the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries—the end of the Arts and Crafts movement in Great Britain. The holistic approach to residential design of these two extraordinary artists has in part defined our enchantment with the English Country Cottage.

Professor Chuck Benson has been teaching Art and Architectural History for over twenty-five years, and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He has lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, MOMA, The Whitney Museum, The Getty in Los Angeles, and The Art Institute in Chicago, as well as the Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston. Dr. Benson currently serves as the Director of Colorado Operations, and Head of Design for a Group that specializes in the architecture and engineering of Satellite Operations Centers and Mission Control Stations.

Please call the Essex Library for information and reservations, at 860-767-1560. The Essex Town Hall is at 29 West Avenue in Essex Village.

Opera at the Library
Essex Library’s “Opera at the Library” series continues with a magnificent Met double bill; Puccini’s Il Tabarro, starring Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas, and Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, featuring Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Pons, and Teresa Stratas. Come enjoy these classic performances, filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera House, and featuring some of opera’s most beloved singers at their best, Friday, January 8th at 2 P.M. The program is free and open to the public. Please call the Essex Library at 860-767-1560 for information and reservations.

Savvy Shopper
Come meet the Hartford Courant’s own Savvy Shopper, Korky Vann, at the Essex Library Thursday, January 7th at 7 P.M.

She’ll share tips, tricks, and handouts, all served up with her trademark humor, to help you hold onto more of what you work so hard for. Korky will talk about some of her own less-inspired buys (a three-armed sweater, for instance) and tell stories about her experience of going a month without spending any money. If one of your resolutions was finding smart ways to save a buck, this is a great way to get started. It’s a wealth of information, and the program is free. Please call the Essex Library at 860-767-1560 to reserve a seat.