Eight Milford students at Housatonic Community College were honored at HCC’s recent Awards Night ceremony honoring the “Best of the Best” of the Class of 2012.

Student Gayatree Hazarika topped the field of Milford students, winning three awards. Hazarika walked away with the Housatonic Foundation Scholar award, the Outstanding Community College Accounting Student (Connecticut Society of CPA’s Educational Trust Fund) award, and the Certificate of Achievement in Business Administration: Accounting award.

Other award recipients include:

·         Daniel J. Bourque, Who's Who Among Students in American Junior College.

·         Thomas J. Carissimi, Academic Accomplishment in Business Administration: General.

·         Justin C. Dauscher, Housatonic Foundation Scholar.

·         Bethani Hart, Ralph Fabrizio Scholarship: Outstanding Achievement in in Behavioral

Sciences, and Outstanding Achievement in Behavioral Sciences.

·         Marissa E. Segreto, Outstanding Academic Achievement in Human Services.

·         Brian J. Shoop, Academic Achievement in Business Administration: Customer

Service/Marketing.

·         Jason K. Van Fleet, Excellence in the Liberal Arts & Sciences: Pre-Environmental Science Program.

Housatonic Community College provides an affordable and accessible education through two-year degrees, transfer preparation, and certificate programs, as well as a wide variety of continuing education and personal/professional enrichment seminars and workshops.  In addition, HCC offers employee and occupational training for businesses, municipalities, government agencies, and professional associations to help develop the educated and skilled workforce required to meet regional business and industry needs.  HCC is nationally recognized as an “Achieving the Dream” institution.  To learn more, visit the college’s website at: www.hcc.commnet.edu.

HCC is located at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in downtown Bridgeport, less than 150 yards off I-95 (Exit 27) and Rte. 8 (Exit 1), a block from the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Free parking is available in the Housatonic garage.

BRIDGEPORT — Save the Sound will hold a beach cleanup at the Gathering of the Vibes music festival this weekend at Seaside Park.The cleanup is part of the official Vibes program and will start at 9 a.m. Friday.
Volunteers will meet at the Save the Sound tent, in the nonprofit village and will then work along the park’s shore with trash bags and gloves, collecting litter from the festival and debris that has washed up on shore from the Sound.Coastal cleanups make the shore safer for humans and remove environmentally damaging materials such as cigarette filters, which leach toxins into the water, and plastic bags, which marine animals sometimes mistake for food.
More information about the coastal cleanup program can be found at www.ctenvironment.org/beach-cleanups.cfm.

BRIDGEPORT — The 15th annual Gathering of the Vibes Festival, the largest music, arts and camping festival in the Northeast, returns to Seaside Park, on the shores of Long Island Sound, July 29-Aug. 1.
The lineup of artists includes a two-set, headlining performance by Further, featuring the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Bob Weir on July 29. The band includes Jeff Chimenti on keys, John Kadlecik on lead guitar and Joe Russo on drums.
For information, go to http://www.gatheringofthevibes.com/Home
Weekend camping passes are on sale for $197.50; VIP passes are $420. Friday and Saturday single-day tickets are $65 a day in advance; Sunday tickets are $50.
For tickets, go to www.GatheringoftheVibes.com or call Vibes at 203-908-3030.

Exhibit asks artists to 'breathe new life' into still lifes

BRIDGEPORT ‑ Flower (Re)Power, an annual open-juried competition with guest Curator Terri C. Smith will be held at the Housatonic Museum of Art June 17 through July 23.

The competition, "designed to breathe new life into the flower as an artistic symbol or subject, provides an opportunity for emerging and under-recognized artists to have their work seen by a notable curator working in the field and to exhibit their work in a significant venue," organizers said in a statement.

“Still life paintings of flowers are often predictable and decorative,” Museum Director Robbin Zella said in the statement. “Flower (Re)Power is asking artists to breathe new life into the genre.”

"Contemporary artists such as Charles Ray, Andy Warhol, Peter Coffin, Polly Apfelbaum, and Christopher Wool have managed to break free of familiar formulas and create new aesthetics and approaches to the flower.”

With about 15 years of curatorial experience, freelance Curator Terri C. Smith has created more than 70 exhibitions and a variety of related programming for museums and other not-for-profit arts institutions, the statement said.

The "shows usually involved working with contemporary artists, but also included permanent collection exhibitions and art historical projects," the statement said.

The exhibit, free and open to the public, will be on display in the Burt Chernow Galleries in Lafayette Hall at Housatonic Community College.

The opening reception will be held 5 to 7 p.m. June 17 in the galleries. For more information visit http://www.housatonicmuseum.org/.

Housatonic Community College is located at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in downtown Bridgeport.

Free parking is available in the HCC garage.

The galleries are open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Thursdays until 7 p.m. The museum is closed all state and national holidays.

Editor's note: The information in this post was wholly provided by HCC