New Canaan, Connecticut is arguably one of the most storied locations in America, home to many great artists, intellectuals, architects, and business magnates. Nestled in the southwestern corner of the state, it always served as bridge between New York City to southwest and bucolic farmland and countryside to the northeast. New Canaan’s abundance of nature proved to be a vital aspect to the town’s residents; interesting, this town is a hub for birds migrating between Mexico and Canada.
Over two years of ethnographic and ecological studies, it became clear that the town had lost dimensions of its character that many viewed as vital to its existence. Where they once had “dances in the street,” the streets were now quiet. Where in restaurants one previously expected to see a “lunch pail next to a brief case,” the numerous eating establishments now only catered to the affluent. New Canaan once had one of the highest proportions of Italian immigrants in the country, where masons crafted supreme construction and shoemakers made quality shoes. It is all gone, as well as the close-knit, diverse community people loved. As one long-time resident said, “They chose to make it antiseptic.”
Rubicon Seven works very holistically to understand how to regenerate the health of regions. We are always pushing to create extremely low-energy, sustainable development. But in New Canaan we started to examine a new topic: What are sustainable relationships, both to nature and humans? With the New Canaan Art House – which is part of a long-term development plan to regenerate the internal fabric of the community – we introduced sustainable relationships as a core theme. As our framework for development, we turned to the work of Karl Marx, where we created place on based on different notions of happiness.
The “Art House” will go through the next round of development in the next year. We invite all to participate who care about life and art, and the art of life. Please visit the Art House website for more information.
I want to thank Janet Lindstrom of The New Canaan Historical Society for all her support on this project. She is a brilliant, warm soul who gracefully bridges the past and the present. She taught us so much, and we are grateful.