Have you ever watched the proceedings of either the Talbot County District or Circuit Courts in Easton? You can and should. For many of us, what we know about the court system is based on watching Perry Mason or Judge Judy. It is confusing, adversarial, and uses terms that are obtuse and dense. The good news is the court system has evolved over the years and continues to become much more “user friendly.” Mediation is one program that has moved Maryland Courts, and Talbot County, in that direction. 

In Talbot County, there are two courts for dispute resolution, the District and the Circuit Courts. Both are located in Easton. Most of us experience the court system through the District Court. Cases include traffic violations, landlord-tenant disputes, and claims up to $30,000.  There are no jury trials in District Court. Cases are argued before a judge and the judge makes the ruling. In 2020 the Talbot County District Court had 9,124 cases filed, of which 1,695 were civil cases.

The Talbot County Circuit Court handles more serious criminal cases, major civil cases, including divorce, custody, and child support. Cases generally involve juries, but sometimes are heard only by a judge. There were 1,231 cases filed in Talbot Circuit Court in 2020.

Going to court over a dispute is a right we all have.  It is why the court system exists. However, that choice can be lengthy and expensive. During the COVID outbreak the Talbot County Courts where basically closed adding months to get a trial date. Mediation can greatly reduce the time to get to resolution, and at much less cost to the parties in the dispute.

In recent years both courts have embraced mediation for this reason. The administrative process in each court is somewhat different. Currently the Talbot District Court has one Alternative Dispute Resolution program. This is a pre-trial screening program. When a case is filed you have the option to request mediation.  Cases are also reviewed by the District Court ADR Office and, if determined appropriate for mediation, the parties are contacted and offered that option.  If settlement is not reached, the parties will appear in court and the judge will decide the outcome. In the District Court mediation there is no fee. 

The Talbot County Circuit Court has a similar pre-trail screening program. What is different, however, is that based on the screening the Circuit Court can order parties to attend mediation with an assigned mediator. Under certain circumstances you can request not to mediate. The cost for mediation in Talbot Circuit Court is $200 per hour, split between parties. 

By offering mediation the court is giving the parties a very powerful and flexible option.  “We trust you to sort out this dispute on terms to which you both agree, and on terms that can be much more flexible than the court can offer.”  The Court is giving you an opportunity to control the outcome, not a judge or jury.  There is not much to lose in agreeing to mediation.

To learn more about the Maryland Court system go to here.

Steve Forrer, former dean and vice chancellor of University of Maryland Global Campus, is currently a mediator for the Maryland District and Circuit Courts. Questions can be submitted at www.doncastermediation.com/contact for Steve to answer in this column. He also accepts private mediations.

 

 

Editor’s Note. With the current January 6 Congressional hearings reminding our readers of the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, the Spy is reposting of an article from 2018 on artist Jessica Destefano’s remarkable chess set with handmade chess pieces of all the major characters which is still on display at the Trippe Gallery in Easton. 

It is typically the experience for those who visit The Trippe Gallery in Easton to find a remarkable showcase of some of the best artists and photographers in the Mid-Atlantic region. But occasionally, Nanny Trippe, the owner, takes a slight diversion from that pattern and shows off a little bit of the more eclectic and fun side of the art world.

That is indeed the case with Trippe’s decision to display Jessica Destefano’s remarkable bronze chess set of the primary Watergate figures from the Nixon era. Included are thirty bronze sculpted pieces standing four inches high and weighing over a pound each.

This timing of this artwork might be seen by many as somewhat clairvoyant given that Washington and the rest of America are now watching as a new legal chess game takes form between President Donald Trump and Special counsel Robert S. Mueller thirty-five years after a break in at the Watergate complex took place.

The Spy captured a few images to share, but we encourage all to drop by the Trippe to get a firsthand look.

This video is approximately one minute in length. For more information about the Trippe Gallery please go here

Artist, poet, and feminist Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944) was born in Rochester, New York. Her mother Rosetta Walter was from a wealthy German-Jewish family. Rosetta and the girls moved back to Stuttgart, Germany, after Florine’s father abandoned them. Florine attended a girl’s boarding school where her artistic interests were supported with private lessons. Stettheimer educated herself in art history by visiting museums and galleries in the several countries where the family traveled: Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. When the family returned to New York in 1892, Stettheimer enrolled in the Art Students League and graduated in 1896. 

The family traveled to Europe frequently, and Stettheimer saw three theatrical performances that greatly influenced her art: Strauss’s Salome, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, and Debussy’s L’Apers-midi d’un Faun. The dance of the seven veils in Salome caused Stettheimer to remark, “she looked wonderful…bust absurd…” About Aristophanes, Stettheimer complained, “The play was written by a man who was completely anti-feminist…I concluded that they should have all the roles taken by men and the performance only for men—the way it was written, no woman could enjoy it.” Although Nijinsky as the Faun caused riots, Stettheimer wrote, “I saw something beautiful last evening…Nijinsky the Faun was marvelous—He is the most wonderful male dancer I have seen…” These performances left a lasting impression on Stettheimer who painted “Self-Portrait with Palette, Painter with Faun’’ (1915) (60” x72”). 

 Returning to New York before World War I, the Stettheimer women, mother Rosalie, Ettie, Carrie, and Florine took up residence in a luxury apartment in Manhattan. They would live together for the rest of their lives. The influence of the art, the opera, and the freer Parisienne life-style came with them to New York. Stettheimer decided to leave behind traditional academic art in order to create her own style. She celebrated the vibrant life in New York City as she saw it. It was the era of the Harlem Renaissance, Jazz, Dada, and Surrealism.  Among her many good friends were Marcel Duchamp, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cecil Beaton, Virgil Thomson, Carl Van Vechten, Charles Demuth, and Gertrude Stein.

The Stettheimers held Salons (gatherings) that were attended by mavins (connoisseurs) of the arts. “Soiree” (1917-1919) (28” x 30”) depicts the critic Leo Stein, wearing a gray suit and sitting in the center on the red rug. Talking with him is playwright Avery Hopwood, wearing a yellow suit. Also included are the Hindu poet Sankar, in black. One of Stettheimer’s sisters, in green, sits with her mother Rosalie. At the right, another of Stettheimer’s sisters, in a white dress, sits on the sofa and holds a bouquet of flowers. Last on the sofa, dressed in yellow, with her elongated feet resting on a yellow cushion, and wearing a black choker necklace, is Juliette Gleize, wife of artist Albert Gleizes. She stares in amazement at a painting on the back wall. Two men at the lower left observe a new Stettheimer painting on the easel. She preferred to exhibit her new work at her Salons.  

Stettheimer’s presence is represented by the painting “A Model (Nude Self-Portrait)” (1915-16) (48’’ x 68’’), prominently hung on the back wall of her studio. Historians credit this nude self-portrait as the first ever full-scale work of its kind by a woman artist. She looks directly at the viewer with a knowing smile. Stettheimer held salons from 1915 until the end of her life. They were a cultural highlight in New York, where guests of all races, religions, and sexual preferences were included.

A feminist before the term was coined, Stettheimer remained a staunch supporter of women’s rights for her entire life. She had affairs but never married, never thinking that a man was needed. In her poems, first published by her sister Ettie in Crystal Flowers (1949), she wrote, “Occasionally a human being saw my light, rushed in, got singed, got scared, rushed out, called fire. Or it happened that he tried to subdue it. Or it happened he tried to extinguish it…Out of courtesy, I turn on a soft, pink light, which is found modest, even charming. It is a protection against wear and tears. And when I am rid of The Always-to-be-Stranger, I turn on my light and become myself.”

Stettheimer’s unique style of painting presented colorful figures, mostly family and friends, on flattened white backgrounds. Between the years 1917 and 1919, she developed fully her stylized figures and captured the essence of each personality. On first viewing, Stettheimer’s paintings are full of fun, and slightly cartoonish, but they also include subtle references to the social issues of that time. “Lake Placid” (1919) (40” x 50”) (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is a scene of apparent gaiety and pleasure among friends. Lake Placid was a restricted community, especially to Jews and Catholics. Private cottages such as the one owned by Stettheimer’s cousin on Moose Island were open. However, they and their diverse guests were not admitted to the inns, restaurants, and other public establishments of Lake Placid.

The painting contains a full cast of characters. At the lower left, mother Rosalie, dressed in black, stands on the balcony of the large cottage. Wearing a purple robe and a yellow hat, Florine sneaks down the stairs. Sister Carrie swims toward the raft on which sit two images of sister Ettie, one dressed in red and the other in black with a yellow parasol. On the diving board is the Marques de Buenavista, a Peruvian diplomat. Lying on the raft in the flowered dress is Marie Sterner, a staff member of the Knoelder Gallery. Resting his elbows on the raft is Polish sculptor Elie Nadelman. Swimming toward the raft is a third image of Ettie in a red swimsuit. Beside her is Rabbi Stephen Wise, a leader of the liberal wing of Reform Judaism. Maurice Sterne, an artist from Latvia, paddles the canoe. With him in the canoe is Elizabeth Duncan, sister of Isadora, and a modern dance teacher. In the motor boat is Edwin Seligman, a professor and president of the Lake Placid Shore Owner’s Association. The boats and swimwear are the latest models. The passenger and mail boat “Doris” steams by in the distance.

Throughout her career, Stettheimer maintained her unique style and subject matter: New York City and the nearby vacation spots enjoyed by her friends and family. However, her social consciousness caused her to include subtle commentary on the intolerance she observed within her own upper class. “Asbury Park South” (1920) (56” x 66”) depicts the fun that could be had at the beaches, boardwalk, and casinos of the very popular summer resort. Initially white and black people enjoyed the park, but increasingly white people began to resent bathing with the black people at the beach. The beach was segregated from 1893 until 1915. 

Stettheimer was a stickler for accuracy, and she carefully researched details for her paintings. Her research and close observation is evident in the varied colors used to represent African-American’s skin in “Asbury Park South.”   At the lower right, mother Rosalie wears her usual black dress, and she enjoys a ride in a fantastic swan cart with red cushions and canopy. She is pushed along the golden boardwalk by a strikingly tall African-American man. An African-American child in a purple swim suit happily waves two American flags. A well-dressed African-American mother and daughter walk across the boardwalk, over the shadow cast by a Ferris wheel. Three stylish young African-American women stroll in front of a poster announcing the Fourth of July concert by Enrico Caruso. 

At the center of activity on the boardwalk are Marcel Duchamp, in a pink suit, with the actress Fania Marinoff. To their left are the posts of a pavilion.  As if dancing, an African-American couple glide up the steps of the pavilion toward an elegantly posed woman who looks up at the red, white, and blue decorations on the balcony. On the balcony two women converse while Carl Van Vechten, arms crossed, surveys the scene. Van Vechten, writer and photographer, was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance, and husband of Fania Marinoff. On the boardwalk platform at the right, Stettheimer looks on from under her green parasol as a svelte figure in an orange dress stretches at the bar. Two figures dressed in summer white sit on a bench with their backs to the viewer. At the end of the bench, a fashionable woman, in purple, converses with a man in a white suit and boater hat leaning against the railing.

On the beach, several large beach umbrellas supply shade for those who want it. Others enjoy the warm sun and play in the sand. A swimmer emerges from the water, and a trapeze artist swings out over the water. The bright orange ball of the Sun completes the scene and forms the top of a triangular composition of orange elements that lead the viewer through the painting. 

Stettheimer thought this was one her best paintings and submitted it to several exhibitions. It is one of the earliest 20th Century paintings by a white artist that depicts African-Americans and Caucasians together. The Museum of Modern Art included “Asbury Park South” in the first exhibition of American art ever presented in Europe (1938). The only other American woman artist represented was Georgia O’Keeffe. 

During her life-time, Stettheimer allowed her work to be shown in over 40 prestigious museums in New York and Paris. She died of cancer in 1944. Her close friend Marcel Duchamp curated a retrospective of her work for the Museum of Modern Art in 1946. It was the first retrospective of the work of a woman artist at MOMA. The retrospective traveled to the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum and the Arts Club of Chicago. In an article for Harper’s Bazaar in 1947, Carl Van Vechten wrote about Stettheimer: [She] “was both the historian and the critic of her period and she goes a long way toward telling us how some of New York lived in those strange years after the First World War, telling us in brilliant colors and assured designs, telling us in painting that has few rivals in her day or ours.” Stettheimer was a painter and poet, an ardent feminist, and a critic of the social world of New York.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

   

 

   

 

I always welcome a chance to visit Oxford and this is only the second time I have featured a house that is not in the Historic District.  Shortly before I reached the outskirts of Oxford, I turned left down a road that meandered past fields that soon blended into wooded areas until I reached the driveway for this house. The 2.76-acre site is tucked into a private setting surrounded by woods along Boone Creek. The house has undergone a major renovation since its construction in 1970 and the previous owner added the guest house. The story and a half main house has a linear plan parallel to the water and the front elevation consists of a center wing with two side wings that step down to the garage wing at the left and the primary suite on the right. One half of the center wing has a gable roof for the second-floor bedrooms and bath and the other half is offset to create space for a front porch with bluestone paving that extends into the front yard.

The gable roof wing façade is articulated with shake siding to contrast with the remainder of the house’s lap siding and the slate blue siding and white trim stand out against the wooded setting. On the other side of the driveway is a large pool surrounded by a wide expanse of bluestone for one to comfortably stretch out on a chaise after a dip in the pool. At one end of the pool is a one-story two-bedroom guest house with a pergola over the three sets of the guest house’s French doors.

The front door of the main house opens into a foyer with a delightful wallpaper ceiling of light blue circles on a white background that is perfectly scaled for the ceiling area and the blue picks up the color of the front door. The “T” shaped hall passes by a guest bedroom with another wallpaper accent of rows of sailboats gliding along a blue background behind a padded headboard of red/white/blue vertical rows. I love these touches of whimsy and I soon learned the imaginative interiors were the work of Dwelling and Design’s Fiona Weeks. 

The vista from the front door frames the open plan breakfast-kitchen-family-dining/office area that wraps around one rear corner of the house. The spacious breakfast banquette is surrounded by a wallpaper accent wall with rows of prancing horses behind the white wood table with a mix of light blue cushioned seating and very dark blue leather Italian chairs. A pair of sliding doors and full height sidelights offer direct access to the rear deck with its retractable awning. The galley kitchen with a center island can accommodate a family of cooks and the wide picture window over the sink flanked by single operable windows offer broad views of the water. The white palette of the cabinets and solid surface countertops along with the stainless steel appliances create a sleek look. To tie the open plan together, the kitchen window valances match the drapery design in the breakfast and family area of vertical rows of large spheres bouncing on a white background. 

The family area seating is grouped around the side wall’s fireplace and built-in millwork and another set of sliding doors with full height sidelights access the deck for a continuous flow for indoor-outdoor entertaining. Part of the deck is protected by the overhang of the gable roof wing that projects beyond the rear wall of the house. The colorful splash of the pink tufted ottoman and the blue sofa with pink accent pillows in the family room is balanced with the white side chairs. Next to the family seating area is a space currently used as a combo dining area/office. The deep roof overhang at the garage provides cover for the side exterior door that provides quick access to the garage’s exterior door for unloading the car.

I returned to the foyer to tour the primary suite with the bedroom that spans the full depth of this wing with both a sleeping area at the front and a pair of sliding doors with full sidelights to steps to grade to access to the rear deck at the breakfast-kitchen family areas. I admired the Mies van der Rohe lounge chair in cowhide for relaxing to enjoy the water views and the interior design touches of the rose red padded headboard and two rows of pink chain links down the white duvet. The best touch of whimsy is the wallpaper pattern in the dressing room and bathroom of oversized rabbits that reminded me of Bemelmans’s art. Fiona Weeks of Dwelling & Design confirmed the pattern was designed by another artist, Hunt Slonem. 

The second floor bedrooms share both the hall bath at the top of the stairs and the cozy ceiling geometry of the sloped ceilings created by the roof’s framing. If I were lucky enough to be a guest, I would claim the spacious two-bedroom one bath guest house for an extended visit. The open plan living-dining-kitchen has “L” shaped kitchen cabinets around the dining table and chairs and a seating area opposite the pair of sliding doors with full sidelights to access a deck at the side wall. Another pair of French doors next to the corner fireplace in the sitting area leads to the pergola next to the pool. The other pairs of French doors are in the primary bedroom and another bedroom with twin beds for guests. 

Beautifully renovated and well maintained house, great layout for easy flow among the main rooms, delightful interior design, two first floor bedrooms including the primary ensuite, open plan breakfast-kitchen-family area with  sunset views, spacious waterside deck, private pier, floating dock and protected shoreline plus a spacious one-story guest house, all creating a private oasis yet minutes to Oxford’s shops and restaurants.  

For more information about this property, contact Barb Watkins with Benson and Mangold at 410-822-1415 (o), 410-310-2021 (c), or barb.c.watkins@gmail.com. For more photographs and pricing, visit www.easternshorehomes.com,   “Equal Housing Opportunity.”

Photography by Janelle Stroop, Thru the Lens Photography, 845-744-2758, Janelle@Thruthelensphotos.com

Interior Design by Fiona Weeks of Dwelling and Design, (410) 822-2211, 

https://dwellinganddesign.com/.

Spy House of the Week is an ongoing series that selects a different home each week. The Spy’s Habitat editor Jennifer Martella makes these selections based exclusively on her experience as a architect.

Jennifer Martella has pursued her dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. Her award winning work has ranged from revitalization projects to a collaboration with the Maya Lin Studio for the Children’s Defense Fund’s corporate retreat in her home state of Tennessee.

 

Happy May Mystery Monday! Well, April showers certainly brought May flowers! What native shrub is blooming now in the forest?

Last week we highlighted the black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)! Black chokeberry is a native shrub that grows well in full sun and produces tasty and nutritious berries that are high in antioxidants. The foliage turns red in the fall for extra seasonal interest.

Adkins Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy and Adkins Arboretum. For more information go here.

Jazz Alive, a charitable foundation based in Talbot County, kicks off its Friday Night Jazz Club series on March 25 with guitarist E. Shawn Qaissaunee and the Q Factor. A Berklee College of Music alumnus, E. Shawn Qaissaunee (kay-saw’-nee) was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Shawn, also known as “Q”, has released numerous recordings of his original music including Painting Pictures (2001), Tell A Story (2003), Passing Through (2005), Afghan Jazz Project (2007), and Comfort Me (2012). An accomplished guitarist and bassist, Shawn is in high demand as a performer and performs on two indigenous Afghan instruments, the 20-string rubab (roo-bob) and the dutar (doo-tar). 

Shawn was awarded a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation artist fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) in January of 2005, an artist residency at Caldera in Oregon in November 2005, and two more artist fellowships at VCCA in 2006 and 2013. A sampling of his performance credentials includes the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Jazz in the Valley Festival, True Blue Jazz Festival, Morning Dew Jazz Festival, and the Center City Jazz Festival. Joining the Q Factor are bassist Jason Fraticelli and drummer Adam Shumski.

The Friday Night Jazz Club, with an intimate setting of candlelit tables and a cash bar, takes place at Easton’s historic Waterfowl Building located at 40 S. Harrison St. Tickets are $28 and available at jazz-alive.org or at the door the day of the event. Students attend free with a Student ID.

Proceeds from ticket and concession sales support Jazz Alive’s mission of providing educational support in developing future artists and preserving this great art form through school and community programs.  

The Maryland Environmental Human Rights Amendment is a bill being heard this session in the Maryland General Assembly.  It is being sponsored by Delegate Wanika Fisher in the House and Senator Will Smith in the Senate.  Speaker Pro Tempore Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes is a co-sponsor.  

The amendment would provide:

(A) That each person, as a matter of basic human dignity, has a fundamental and inalienable right to a healthful, sustainable environment.

(B) That the State, as trustee, shall protect, conserve, manage and enhance Maryland’s natural and cultural resources, including its air, lands, waters, wildlife, and ecosystems, for the benefit and enjoyment of both present and future generations.

If the bill passes in both the House and the Senate with a 3/5 majority, it will go by referendum directly to Maryland voters in the November 2022 election.  Polling shows that at this time, 76% of Maryland voters are in favor of the amendment.  If passed, it will amend the Maryland Bill of Rights in our Maryland State Constitution.

Many people assume that we already have a right to a clean and healthy environment.  Sadly, that is not true in practice.  Although in 1973, the MGA enacted the Maryland Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) which states “Each person has a fundamental and inalienable right to a healthful environment,” it is now all but forgotten.  The Maryland Environmental Human Rights Amendment gives us the opportunity to restore the original intention of MEPA and hold  state agencies responsible for enforcing it.  (It does NOT give private citizens the right to sue neighbors or businesses.)

The need for the amendment is plain from the saga of the Valley Proteins rendering plant in Linkwood, Dorchester County.  Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth (DCPG) has been raising concerns about that plant since 2012.  The group knew from water sampling and testing that the Transquaking River was becoming polluted by the wastewater and sludge being dumped in the river and on the surrounding land by Valley Proteins, Inc.

The group held numerous meetings with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the company’s executives to no avail. The situation grew worse:  the surrounding air smelled wretched and, about three or four years ago, the group became alarmed that the pollution might be seeping into the regional aquifer, tainting their drinking water. The group reached out to Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes who did a legislative inquiry.  Still nothing.

The Maryland Department of the Environment continued to issue “zombie permits,” permits carried on for years beyond their expiration date without performing the required updates. Valley Proteins has been working under a permit that expired in 2006.

The last meeting with both MDE and Valley Proteins executives took place at the Linkwood Fire Hall on November 16, 2021.  MDE had finally proposed a new permit, after several local nonprofit organizations threatened legal action.

About 100 people were in attendance.  Some residents testified that their water tasted “funny.”  Others said that they frequently could not open their windows because the smell was so bad.  One man testified that his dog would not  go outside on bad days.  The owner of Higgins Mill Pond lost two much loved dogs who had seizures and died two hours after they were allowed to swim in the pond.

A month after the hearing, Matt Pluta of ShoreRivers sent MDE some drone photos of Valley Proteins illegally discharging polluted wastewater in the Transquaking River in Linkwood.  MDE closed the plant — for only two days!  The company was up and running again on Christmas Eve, apart from a temporary requirement that its wastewater be disposed of elsewhere.  

Clearly, any environmental rights we assume we have are not being enforced.  That is why we need a Maryland Environmental Human Rights Amendment.

Susan Olsen
Sierra Club of the Lower Eastern Shore
Cambridge