What To Do at the SM&NC
Featured Events & Programs
Exhibition Opening
Thursday, December 2, 4-7 pm
Join us for our Opening Reception to meet and greet Jacques. Shop our Market’s variety of handmade work by local artisans. Hand-signed commemorative exhibition posters will be available for purchase — a beautiful holiday gift!
SM&NC Holiday Market
Thursday, December 2 • 4-7 pm
In conjunction with the exhibition opening of The Artistry of Jacques Pépin with the artist himself!
Come start (or finish!) your holiday shopping at our Holiday Market, featuring the hand-crafted work of local artisans.
Goods include Candles, Soaps, Body Scrubs, Skincare Products, Jewelry, Ceramics, Cutting Boards and Decorative Woodworks, Essential Oils, Fine Art Photography, Illustrations, Honey and Tea.
Winter Farm Strolls
Fridays, December 3 & 10 • Saturdays, November 27 & December 4 &11
6 – 7 pm Raindates: December 17 & 18
Join us for a chance to say good night to our animals as we stroll the farm at night! We’ll share a reading of our Good Night, Heckscher Farm book and then visit a number of barns and pastures to see how the animals settle in for the evening.
We’ll then head to Cheshire Barn to warm up with some hot cider and get materials for families to take home to create a holiday craft. Recommended for ages 6 and up.
The Artistry of Jacques Pépin
November 19, 2021 -- January 30, 2022
While Jacques Pépin is revered worldwide for his cooking, his artwork is less-known but equally compelling, intuitive, and creatively expressed.
Pépin began painting over 50 years ago, starting with hand-illustrated menus created to celebrate the joy of mealtime gatherings for friends and family. Since then, he has expanded to capturing animals (particularly roosters and chickens), farm scenes and rural landscapes in a charming, pastoral style with a vivid palette.
Jacques Pépin’s colorful, spirited paintings are intrinsically tied to his identity as a chef. Food plays a central role in his artwork, as both inspiration and subject matter. Pépin has said, “I don’t know whether my painting has helped my cuisine, or whether my cooking has helped my painting, and I don’t know if one borrows from the other. All I know is that, certainly for me, cooking and painting can live in harmony together. Both are different expressions of who I am, and both enhance my life considerably.”
Pépin explores his subject matter through a variety of media – watercolor, oil, and acrylic works on paper and canvas highlighted in this exhibition reveal his masterful use of color and his expert handling of the paintbrush. Whether he is depicting a jovial barnyard chicken or a verdant Connecticut landscape, Pépin’s artwork conveys a charming sensibility.
