MADISON — A program that assists low-income families in repairing and renovating their homes will be piloted next year by Habitat for Humanity of Dane County. The program called, A Brush with Kindness, includes low cost exterior projects such as painting, weatherizing, landscaping, minor repairs and clean up around their property.
“Our goal with this program is to serve additional low to moderate income families new to Habitat for Humanity of Dane County,” said Valerie Johnson, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County. “Our plan is to pilot the program in the spring of 2014 with details on applying for the full program distributed next fall.”
 
To qualify residents mush own their home, meet income requirements and demonstrate an ability to repay for the cost of the materials through a no interest loan. A Brush with Kindness uses volunteer labor and donated materials to keep the cost low for families.
A Brush with Kindness is one of several new ideas that are part of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County’s 2013-16 Organizational Strategic Plan, released today.
The local Habitat affiliate also plans to implement a new program called Almost Home for current and prospective homeowners on employment, credit and financial education. The idea is to help low to moderate income families who are currently renting put themselves into position to become homeowners.
 Another new venture in 2013-14 is a land banking campaign for Habitat for Humanity of Dane County. Land acquired during the campaign would be used to build Habitat home in the future.
Habitat for Humanity of Dane County is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and completed its 200th home earlier this year. By the end of this year, Habitat will have completed its 216th home in Dane County.
 

CLEARWATER — As the summer season of scrutinizing the city’s budget begins, City Council members have weighed in on a different type of green: parks.

Should the city continue along its decade-old path of lots of small neighborhood parks, or, like Largo has with Largo Central Park, focus on creating signature regional parks?

Clearwater has 109 parks, including mini-parks with a few benches and some shade. That’s a lot to maintain and might not be the best bang for the buck, especially considering manpower and budget reductions over the past several years, said Kevin Dunbar, the city’s parks and recreation director.

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“Go to some of our neighborhood parks — you’ll find them empty,” Dunbar said.

But some of the city’s larger recreational facilities — the Long Center, for instance — have their own challenges, said Bill Jonson, a council member who said he wants to maintain neighborhood parks that are within an easy walk for families across the city.

When he takes his young granddaughter to Long’s huge playground, Jonson said, “It’s kind of overwhelming.”

Park culture has changed over the years, said Felicia Leonard, the department’s administrative support manager. Small parks with a swing and a jungle gym are increasingly shunned for destination parks such as the Long Center. People are more willing to drive their kids to a park that will keep them busy for an extended period of time, she said.

At issue is the city’s 2002 Parks and Recreation master plan. The department has a roughly $21 million budget and 207 employees. Halfway through the 20-year plan, Dunbar said, the city should take a look at which direction it wants to go.

Mayor George Cretekos wants to make Crest Lake Park a destination. Some things should be done right away: improving the entrance and sprucing up the grass and lighting, he said.

But residents are in for a surprise if Crest Lake becomes a busy regional park, said Vice Mayor Paul Gibson.

“It’s not going to be a quiet neighborhood park. Once this genie is out of the bottle . . . they’ll have to live with it,” Gibson said.

Other ideas bounced around during the council’s work session Friday included a bike-share program, community gardens and other “trending” cultural attractions that might draw more young urban professionals to the city — a consistently high item on the council’s wish list.

The Parks and Recreation department plans a six-month outreach to city residents through community forums, mailings, online feedback and a stakeholder committee to find out what type of park system would be the best fit.

Administrators hope the results will be ready by the end of the year, Leonard said.

Charlie Frago can be reached at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4159. You can follow him on Twitter @CharlieFrago. To write a letter to the editor, visit the website tampabay.com/letters.

James Young

Last January I wrote about the possible effects of Peak Oil and Climate Change on landscaping. The effects will extend well beyond landscaping, of course. However, what better place to start doing something about these problems than the landscape just outside our door?

There’s a name for these efforts to adapt to this new world of diminishing energy and unpredictable climate. It’s called “Transition

The Transition Movement

Illustration by the one of the primary originators of the Transition Movement, Rob Hopkins. Learn more at Transition Culture.org.

Transition started in Great Britain but has spread around the world. It’s an approach to handling the coming challenges we all face using a philosophy that leads us in a positive and empowering direction. The hallmarks of the process are self-determination combined with local action teams and a worldwide network.

Transition is not centered on trying to change other’s behavior. The idea is not to dictate to an unreceptive audience how we must respond to these coming problems. Nor does it seek direct political sway in the halls of power.

Transition asks each of us who are willing, to envision how to live our lives better, period. Given our personal desires and the background of constant change that engulfs us, our answers won’t all be the same but they will be channeled in the same direction. The needs and constraints of our time will necessarily lead us in the right direction. And when good ideas arise, they will spread through the network and beyond.

Transition is a set of guidelines that allow us to envision a better future based on resilient ways of living and by finding roots in our local culture. Transition teaches us that resilience is the goal we should shoot for, not dependency on ways of living that will essentially disappear in the near future. The need for resilience is the backdrop that will tend to channel us all in the same direction.

Resilience is a much under appreciated characteristic. We usually only need it during times of great change. However, who can predict when sudden change will come upon us? Those who question the status quo are generally ignored until radical change comes upon so forcefully that it is undeniable. For example, the housing crisis was predicted by a handful of people, like Dean Baker. They were all ignored and the lack of resilience in our financial system was revealed to the world.

Another example of resilience (or lack thereof): Hurricane Sandy came ashore and over 8 million people lost power. A city the size of New York just about came to a standstill. Take away the easy energy and the modern city falls apart. This is not a city of resilience; this is a city utterly dependent on an increasingly scarce and clearly limited resource; fossil fuels. Lucky for New Yorkers there is still plenty of easy energy left to rebuild. How long will that last? And what about the next time it happens?

Transition gives individuals and small groups a way to affect their own futures, without dependence on government or big business to do it for them or get in the way. It asks the question: What can we do today to bring a better vision of the future into our immediate reality? Let’s look to where we need to go instead of focusing with dread on the oh-so-many negative things coming our way. And we certainly have a plethora of negativity to distract us these days.

With each of us dreaming a new world and forming small local groups dedicated to shared visions of resilience and sustainability that we want to live in, in roles that we want to play, we can finally move forward with enthusiasm.

My description of Transition does not do it justice. Follow the links here to get to the source:

http://www.transitionnetwork.org/

http://transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins

In the spirit of Transition then, I have been envisioning my response and my dreams for the future of my particular family unit.

For a start, I decided to plant an orchard. I’ve always wanted to be better at orcharding. What better place than just outside my door, right? And I love a garden that you can eat. It’s not lost on me that our supermarket food supply will begin to stress and strain from the impacts of Peak Oil and Climate Change in the coming years. This orchard will develop resilience against that. Regardless of the added resilience provided by a hyper-local food supply, it’s the fun of it all that draws me in.

The next article, “An Orchard in the Front Yard,” will follow shortly.

– By James Young

James Young is the owner of Blue Wheelbarrow Landscaping in Edmonds.

 

Beltzhoover Civic continues work to renovate Venson Park

July 2, 2013 | Vol. 73 No. 49

Calling all Beltzhoover area historians and enthusiasts—your neighborhood needs your help!

The Beltzhoover Civic Association (BCA) recently received $16,000 in competitive, reinvestment grants for the professional redesign of Louis A. Venson Community Park. But, before they can break ground, the design team needs help, and that help can come from only one source—members of the Beltzhoover community

“This is your neighborhood… What would you like to take shape here? When you look out your window, what would you like to see?”

These were some of the questions posed by Sara Thompson of Pashek Associates, the design firm assigned to revitalize the parklet with monies from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s Pittsburgh Neighborhood Renaissance and Love Your Block programs.

Joined by experts from Design Center, Ms. Thompson visited Beulah Baptist Church Monday, June 17 for a special meeting of the BCA, where she presented a comprehensive overview of forthcoming project plans and solicited community feedback and involvement.

The meeting was the first of a few that will take place over the next two months, each aimed at garnering public comment as per how the bulk of the public monies should be spent.

According to Ms. Thompson, the research, field work and drafting of the redesign will absorb $6,800 of the $15,000 awarded through the Renaissance fund. The remaining $7,700 from that fund is reserved for the brick and mortar of the project, which will be bolstered by a $1,000 Love Your Block grant (in the form of a Home Depot gift card to be spent on building/landscaping supplies and materials).

Ms. Thompson said she is confident these grants will allow the team to meet its broad goals for the parklet, which are to incorporate neighborhood history; integrate sustainable practices; accommodate multiple purposes and programs; increase safety; offer educational opportunities; and, catalyze community reinvestment elsewhere in Beltzhoover.

Located at the corner of Chalfont and Gearing streets, the parklet sits on a celebrated site and is named after a local legend; yet neither of these facts is honored by the park’s current state. All that’s there now is a lone tree, with more than a century’s worth of local history buried beneath grass, greenery and debris.

Come fall 2013, residents can expect to see significant change. The redesign is scheduled to take root in September, bringing beauty and function to an area in need of both. Ms. Thompson said she hopes to unearth some of the local history, and use it to paint a picture of the neighborhood’s past and pave the way for its future.

The parklet itself was named in honor of Dr. Louis A. Venson, beloved former principal at Beltzhoover Elementary School. Considered a visionary by his peers, Dr. Venson encouraged students to take pride in themselves and their work, and helped steer hundreds of families through the hardships of integration and economic decline in the area.

Under his tenure, students’ reading and math scores were raised above national averages, reaching levels of achievement still among the highest in the history of the Pittsburgh Public School system. He promoted art and music in the school, and was known for carrying with him a musical triangle, which he’d sound to alert students when he was walking the halls.

To acknowledge Dr. Venson’s vision and accomplishments, Ms. Thompson suggested putting up a statue, plaque or other artistic tribute. She showed images of children’s outdoor play/learning centers, including one centered around a large triangle.

“I never had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Venson,” Ms. Thompson stated, “but many of you did… And, I need you to tell me how you’d like him to be honored.”

Ms. Thompson also asked residents how they’d like to honor the history of the mini-park’s location.

Commonly referred to as “the old 49 turnaround,” because it’s where the number 49 streetcar used to turn around, the lot is known for its transit history. The city’s archives are full of photos of the area in its former glory, from pictures of horses and buggies snapped in the late-1800s to photos of young professionals in more contemporary times.

The trolley rails and cobblestone road are still visible beneath the grass. With pruning, they could be showcased, Ms. Thompson noted.

Shifting from the past to the present, and looking to function rather than form, Ms. Thompson next discussed potential uses for the park, and amenities that could be incorporated to those ends.

For instance, she said a gazebo or pergola could serve as a meeting/event venue, and would be a nice backdrop to prom and wedding party photos. A fountain or walk-through labyrinth could create a sense of tranquility, giving visitors a meditation spot.

Lighting could be used both to emphasize the park’s features and to increase safety, she said.

“What would work well in this park?” Ms. Thompson inquired before asking those in attendance to break up into small workshop groups.

Each workshop group was given a schematic of the park, cut-outs of amenities and a rainbow of markers, and was tasked to cut and paste their visions for the park. Ms. Thompson went around from table to table to discuss ideas, as did LaVerne Peakes of Design Center and Ashley Holloway from the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning.

In addition to basic ground repair and landscaping recommendations, the residents’ workshop suggestions included signage in homage to Dr. Venson; refurbishing the cobblestone loop and illuminating it with solar-powered lamp posts; and, benches encircling a serenity fountain.

One resident suggested refurbishing the loop and erecting replica bus signs along the path, each displaying hallmarks of transit history and/or tributes to Dr. Venson.

Following the workshop session, the groups openly discussed their visions, which Ms. Thompson said she will take under consideration and further develop before the next public meeting on this matter.

Though the date of that meeting is yet to be determined, Ms. Thompson asked residents to spread the word about another important date—June 29.

KUANTAN: Thousands of visitors flocked to the Sultan Ahmad Shah International Convention Centre here to do their mid-year shopping on the last day of the Perfect Livin’ 13 Home Lifestyle Exhibition on Sunday.

The exhibition, which was held for the third consecutive year, garnered huge support from visitors from all walks of life since its opening day on Friday.

In addition, the first 1,000 early birds were given an exclusive limited edition Perfect Livin’ aluminium drinking bottle and a trendy sling bag without having to make any purchase.

For those who made purchases in preparation for the coming festive celebrations, they were rewarded during the lucky draws segments with attractive prizes such as IPad Mini, luxurious mattresses, recliner chairs and landscaping vouchers worth over RM100,000.

The exhibition saw more than 400 booths dealing in home renovation, refurbishment and innovation needs, interior designing, flooring, wall coverings, wardrobes, gates, grilles and customised designs and finishes.

Visitor Wee Shu Hong, 70, was delighted with the array of furniture on display, stating that she had been looking for new furniture for some time.

“I have been waiting for this exhibition to survey for new furniture at bargain prices,” she said.

Another visitor Yuhani Yusof, 31, and her husband, Mazri Mahmud, 35, had their eyes set on water filters.

However, Yuhani said some products were slightly more expensive, probably due to rising cost of
raw materials and transportation charges.

M. Subatra, 44, said she did some research on prices and quality of products before visiting the exhibition.

“I am looking for kitchen hoods and they have quite a few good brands here which are not found in outlets around Kuantan,” she said, adding that she would make comparisons before deciding.

Meanwhile, I.Star Ideas Factory Sdn Bhd business development director Jason Yap said the three-day exhibition had met its target in terms of visitors turnout.

Yap said based on feedback from more than 150 exhibitors, most were satisfied with the event and had pledged to continue their support in the coming years.

“We are very happy to have successfully created a brand. People know about our exhibition, so most of them waited to shop here for their household needs.

“The convenience of having many market leading brands in one place is what attracts visitors to this exhibition,” he said.

The 2/3 acre West College Courtyard is in full bloom this summer thanks to the efforts of Wesleyan’s WILD Wes organization (Working for Intelligent Landscape Design). Last summer, the organization planted hundreds of perennials, fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and ground cover; and this year, campus sees their efforts bloom to fruition. (Photos by Olivia Drake)

(Yael Chanoff ’11 contributed to this story)

Behind Wesleyan’s historic College Row is a picture of New England college charm. But in the green expanses of lawn, where most see tradition and classic beauty, a group of Wesleyan students saw an environmental affront.

Blue bachelor buttons in bloom.

For the past three years, a student group known as WILD Wes (Working for Intelligent Landscape Design), has attempted an alternative approach to landscaping. With Wesleyan’s support, WILD Wes has embarked on a bold experiment: ditch the lawn and replace it with a sustainable landscape, based on the principles of permaculture.

Permaculture design is meant to mimic natural patterns, such that the systems thrive permanently on their own, with low human maintenance. Wesleyan Head of Grounds Dave Hall believes the site has the potential to reach this level. “I’m hoping that it becomes labor-neutral,” he says. “There’s the possibility of some handwork, but no machinery.”

The courtyard is a challenging site. Years of erosion have swept away the topsoil, leaving the ground rocky and compact. Several large beech trees had to be removed due to an epidemic of beech bark disease, essentially leaving the area devoid of any plant life other than the ailing lawn.

For two years, students worked tirelessly on clearing, grooming, composting, mulching, trenching, and planting perennials, fruit trees, herbs and ground cover on the 2/3 acre sloping plot of land near the University’s West College student resident halls. But this summer, the unsightly dirt-heap has bloomed to life and the campus community is seeing the project bloom to fruition.

This week, red poppies, blue bachelor buttons, swamp milkweed, almost-ripe blueberry bushes and clover dot the landscape. On a woodchip path, courtyard visitors can stroll past the wildflower and fruit gardens, and even into a rain garden — a haven for butterflies and bees.

Nothing in the garden goes to waste. In 2012, WILD Wes students constructed their own “compost throne” out of repurposed wooden pallets. They also haul invasive weeds and other spent greens to the university’s composting site off campus, where material is broken down in several earth bins.

For Wesleyan 2011 alumnus Miles Bukiet, co-founder of WILD Wes, “It’s a victory for permaculture and it’s a victory for Wesleyan. What this project represents is a coming of age of the permaculture movement.”

The concepts of permaculture originated when farmers at the turn of the 20th century espoused the value of “permanent agriculture” to save the land from the industrial forest-field-plow-desert pattern that produced quick results but left land barren. The movement picked up in the 1970s, and acquired a cultural dimension with alternative commune-style living, “eco-villages,” and private residents experimenting in their own backyards. Now, permaculture has entered the mainstream, and WILD Wes has a hand in this new stage of the movement.

Their determination was on display in December 2011, when WILD Wes held its first annual Design Charrette, a symposium that brought together professional permaculture designers, faculty and staff from Wesleyan, and students from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to brainstorm ideas for sustainable landscaping on campus. The next semester, spring 2011, Bukiet and WILD Wes co-founder Sam Silver ’11 taught a student forum, the Sustainable Landscape Design Studio, in which they developed practical plans for WestCo. They also won a $50,000 grant from the Green Fund, Wesleyan’s student-run resource for environmental initiatives on campus.

Now that the West College Courtyard is blooming and self-sustaining, WILD Wes is moving on to a new project – overhauling a sloping hill near the Summerfields Dining Hall. The organization, currently led by Tennessee Mowrey ’14, Rina Kremer ’15, Nathaniel Elmer ’14 and Roxanne Capron ’14, is working on the project this summer.  They’ll replace a trampled path with stairs and planted terraces that following the principles of permaculture. The diverse terrace gardens will prevent soil erosion and attract helpful insects while yielding herbs, berries and vegetables.

Bill Nelligan, director of sustainability, has confidence in WILD Wes’ projects. “It’s a great sustainable model. We’ll continue to creating landscapes across campus that are not only self-sufficient and native but will provide an edible landscape as well.”

Below are photos of the courtyard on June 20. To view last summer’s courtyard photos see this link. To watch a video on WILD Wes see this link.

[Read more…]

Gary and Judy Koy have spent the better part of 40 years turning 4 acres of hayfield into landscaping that should be on the cover of a magazine.

They bought the land and built their home just to be one of the first in the area in the Town of Maine, just outside of Wausau.

Since then, they’ve planted hundreds of trees and countless flowers that bloom from spring to fall. Roses dominate the rest, because they’re Judy’s favorite.

And there is just enough other stuff like shrubs, birdbaths and lawn ornaments to keep it all interesting.

The Koys say it takes about 5-hours a week to maintain. Although Gary says he never really walks through his yard, he pulls weeds as he walks through it. And Judy spends a lot of time in the off season going through magazines to come up with ideas.

The yard also features a Shakespeare Garden and multi-layered water feature. Gary and some buddies from where he used to work needed two weekends to put it in. But Judy tells us it still didn’t go in fast enough because she couldn’t wait to plant around it. The name of the waterfall, “The Bridge Over the River Koy,” was inspired by the movie but is a tribute to first born grandson, River Koy.

A rose garden will also be named for granddaughter, Emily Rose.

As for what the future holds for the garden, it depends who you ask. Judy says maintaining what they already have keeps them busy enough. Gary says he’d like to put in a fire pit.

Their best tip for your Great Garden: Make it a work in progress. Don’t do it all at once.

A2 Journal Blog

Welcome to Inside the Newsroom at A2 Journal, a blog written by the newspaper’s staff at A2 Journal, a new, weekly, community newspaper covering Ann Arbor. We will include photo galleries, videos and links, and encourage readers to post their comments.

{ story.summary|safe|escape }

• Couple redecorating home

Cost-wise, renovations begin with defining clearly what you want to accomplish to ensure that you are covering all the important requirements.

The whole household should be involved in the planning process what is really needed and what would be “nice to have”? How will your needs change over the years?

Discuss your ideas in detail with your builder, who can offer sound advice on costs and approaches.

A licensed builder can help you discover the hidden assets of your home. For instance, homeowners sometimes assume that they need extra floor space, when maybe all that is needed is more effectively designed space.

By rearranging interior walls, eliminating separations and installing larger windows, the builder can often create the sense of spaciousness and light that you want.

Look under existing carpeting and sheet flooring old hardwood is often of high quality and can be refurbished.

If your old trim and doors are in good shape, they can be refurbished rather than replaced.

Likewise, you may be able to resurface your kitchen cupboards instead of installing new ones, or perhaps you can “recycle” hardware such as knobs and handles.

Do the work in stages to suit your budget. Phasing the work allows you to achieve the results that you really want without undue financial pressure. Your professional builder can help develop a master plan, with proper sequencing of tasks, timelines and expected costs.

Product substitution can extend your budget. You don’t want to compromise on the overall quality of your renovation. However, where performance is not affected, you can consider using less expensive alternatives. Your builder can advise you on how to get the best value for your money.

Water-conserving fixtures will save a considerable amount of money over time in areas with water metering.

Likewise, energy-efficient lighting, high-efficiency heating systems and electronic thermostats mean long-term savings. Licensed builders are up to date on the latest technologies and can provide you with the information you need to make wise decisions for the long term.

Do some of the work yourself. If you have the skills and the time, you can stretch your renovation dollars by taking on some of the work yourself.

Generally, builders recommend that you leave structural and mechanical renovations to the professionals, but many homeowners can competently do their own painting, landscaping or other finishing jobs.

Talk to your builder about the effect of do-it-yourself work on scheduling and the builders’ warranty, keeping in mind that you should try not to interfere in the way the builder intends to manage the project.

Ask an open-ended question and you’ll likely get a some surprising answers.

That’s what artist Saul Melman and bartender, homeowner and community activist Alex Kapteyn Lattner hoped for when they asked Evansville Arts District residents to finish the sentence: “One change I would make in my neighborhood is ____ .”

The question, posed on cards passed in at “Best of All Possible Worlds, a community event,” generated more than 150 written responses from area residents.

Many asked for more — more neighborliness, more block parties and more lights, trash cans and surveillance cameras. Others called for a grocery, more trees, more landscaping. And others asked for less — less trash, fewer abandoned buildings, potholes, mo-peds, cats, children and “cranky old people.”

Those and lots of other suggestions surfaced at the community event that took its title, its theme and its location from Melman’s acrylic representation of a door, the purchase award winner in last year’s inaugural Sculpt EVV competition.

When vandals destroyed it soon after it went up on the former homesite at 23 Jefferson, Melman responded with “1 Maple,” the Brooklyn, N.Y., artist’s entry in this year’s Sculpt EVV. The piece, a young red maple planted in the concrete outline of a larger tree, grows a dozen yards from where “Best of All Possible Worlds” once stood. The community event took place June 15.

Melman intended for the question, the responses and the community gathering at the site of his destroyed door as part of a continuing work of neighborhood art exploring the past, present and future for the site, the street and the neighborhood, he says.

The artist has returned to Brooklyn, where he works as an emergency room physician, but Lattner has continued with the project, following up with another meeting, last week, at 23 Jefferson.

Her idea is to follow up and push forward with some of the dreams, concerns and concrete suggestions provided by those who filled in the project’s open-ended question.

They were all over the place, but a few themes emerged. Many responses called for more neighborliness, or as one put it, “for more people to be nice to one another. Everyone! Everyday. Always.” “I would know everyone’s name!” wrote one person. Others wanted organized get-togethers, block parties and other community events.

A number wanted perceptions to change about their neighborhood. They called for “a better attitude to the Haynie’s Corner Arts District,” “pride in our city and openness to new ideas” and “to change my neighborhood/community’s perspective on itself.”

Many had concrete requests, for a grocery store with healthy food, neighborhood restaurants, a movie theater, playground equipment, sidewalks and “old fashioned streetlights that provide light but you can still see the stars.”

Lots of respondents called for more art, more art events and one wanted “good graffiti/murals like in Philly, PA.”

Some either misunderstood the question or offered sarcasm, asking for “more hookers and drug dealers” and for “rats, mice, Cats, stray dogs, raccoons, possums.” There was no questioning the concern of one writer with a shaky hand and less-than-perfect grammar, however. “Stop shooting,” read the card. “It bad.”

Lattner assumes the card came from a child who, like many, she said, may perceive the area to be more dangerous than it really is.

She hopes the entire exercise, from writing the notes to discussing them in outdoor forums to encouraging participation in neighborhood associations, can help the community act on their ideas.

“I want people to realize that, to an extent, they can control their own situation. I hope people find something to think about and ways to effect change and become more involved,” she said.

Melman echoed that notion. “I hope that people feel more empowered, as individuals and as a collective, and that people act to be the change they want to see in their community.”

A complete list of the responses is available in the online version of this story, at www.courier press.com.

festival looms

There’s still time to sign up for workshops in the New Harmony Music Festival music camp in New Harmony, Ind.

The festival, which will run from July 7 through 13, offers classes aimed at intermediate and advanced students in Irish and Scandinavian traditional music, musical improvisation and classical chamber music.

The weeklong event also will include free and paid concerts featuring this year’s faculty, who include Natalie Haas on cello, Arnaud Sussmann on classical violin, Patrick Ourceau on Irish fiddle, Martha Waldvogel-Warren on concert and Celtic harp, Eamon O’Leary on guitar and Irish vocals, Mazz Swift on violin and vocals, Paul Woodiel on Scandinavian fiddle and violin and festival founder Christopher Layer on Irish pipes and flutes.

The concert schedule includes free programs July 9 and 10, a community dance in the Rapp-Owen Granary on July 11, and ticketed concerts July 12 and 13.

For details, visit www.newharmonymusicfest.com or call 646-456-7762.