SWAN Day CT, a day for women artists, will stream on Facebook Live
The 14th annual SWAN Day CT (Support Women Artists Now) will be held today from the Free Center in Middletown. The event is virtual and can be seen on Facebook Live.
Jennifer Hill of Farmington, a singer-songwriter who goes by the name Murderous Chanteuse, founded SWAN Day CT in 2007. It is the state’s branch of a worldwide annual event celebrating women artists.
Hill said artists from outside Connecticut will join local talents to present SWAN Day CT, whose theme this year is “Love Yourself.” This was necessary, she said, to keep entertainment coming on the stream without violating social distancing at the Middletown venue where the performers will perform.
“We can’t have everyone in the building at once. So it’ll be one performer in, one performer out. We will go from the performer on stage to someone who isn’t in the building,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do a swap with other SWAN groups and we’ve learned a lot with streaming.”
Connecticut performers include musicians Hill and Lisa Lawrence; dancers Linalynn Schmelzer of River Valley Dance Project and Madelynn Brown; burlesque performers Vivienne LaFlamme, Mistress Leona Star and Harley Foxx; and live painter Kerry Kennedy.
Also, domestic-violence awareness advocate Sarah Gallardo will give three presentations.
Out-of-state musicians joining in are Sunny Gable of Colorado, Gracie Day of Massachusetts, Nina Martinez and Shellen Lubin of New York City and Lydiah Dola of Kenya.
Hill said the event is free but each performer will have a donation link posted when they perform. She said during the coronavirus pandemic, the women, like many live performers, suffered a loss of income.
“It’s been hard. A lot of us were told that we could get help as far as unemployment, but never got through that tangle,” she said. “There’s a lot of trying to play catch-up. … All of the money will go to people who are struggling right now.”
Last year’s SWAN Day CT event was changed to a virtual series of events at the last minute, as the coronavirus lockdown began just a fewdays before the live event was supposed to happen.
“Love Yourself ” can be seen today at facebook.com/ swandayct/ from 3 to about 7:30 p.m. Those who want to donate in advance of the event can visit fundraising. fracturedatlas.org/supportwomen-artists-now-swanday-ct or our to the PayPal ladyblue0916@gmail.com.
In addition, vaccines are expected to provide some level of protection, even if they aren’t quite as effective against a particular variant.
Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, emphasized that anyone who is concerned about the strains should get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“What’s common about almost everybody who’s being hospitalized right now is that they were not vaccinated,” Geballe said at a Thursday press briefing.
“So if [the variants are] a topic you’re concerned about, my recommendation is go get vaccinated.”
moderate, as has been the case this year, the range floods,’’ state police say on their web site.
“Repeated flooding and mold led to condemnation and demolition of our classroom building on the property.”
Police added, “The Simsbury property, 12.5 acres, is too small to provide more of the training opportunities that troopers should have to keep pace with the threats that they increasingly face in the field, including eastern Connecticut, varying widely from accidental opioid overdoses and an influx in rural drug trafficking routes to domestic violence situations where the partner is at imminent risk of harm and active shooter scenarios.”