Where Ideas Matter

Welcome

Welcome to The Salisbury Forum! We are a nonprofit organization based in the northwest corner of Connecticut whose mission is to host speaker forums that foster a deeper understanding of issues that affect our lives globally and locally.

Our forums cover a wide range of topics and are free to attend thanks to support from donors and our venue partners: The Salisbury School, Housatonic Valley Regional High School and The Hotchkiss School. You can view many of the recent programs at our Events Archive.

We welcome your ideas and comments and as a publicly supported organization, we appreciate your contributions. Please explore this website and join us soon at an upcoming Salisbury Forum program.

Our Upcoming
Events

Featured
Illusory Magic: A Brief History of the Craft Told in Moving Pictures and Spoken Word, with Strange Stories, Amusing Anecdotes, and Wondrous Sleight-of-Hand
Feb 6
Illusory Magic: A Brief History of the Craft Told in Moving Pictures and Spoken Word, with Strange Stories, Amusing Anecdotes, and Wondrous Sleight-of-Hand

Friday, February 6th at 7:30 PM at The Salisbury School

Click here to register

Jon Brunelle will present a brief history of the craft of illusory magic together with a sleight-of-hand demonstration, while taking a look at how magicians’ control of information and secrecy has
changed over time. Jon practiced sleight-of-hand magic professionally during the 1970s and ’80s, performing at Hollywood’s Magic Castle and winning First Prize in a national close-up magic competition held by the Society of American Magicians in 1978. During his later career, he presented satiric slideshow lectures in collaboration with New York’s electronic music and video artists. His solo show, Better Love Through Surveillance, had successful stagings in downtown New York theaters during the 2010s. Jon has been a full-time resident of Norfolk since 2020.

Historian and author Russell Shorto in Conversation with Peter Vermilyea and Rhonan Mokriski
Mar 27
Historian and author Russell Shorto in Conversation with Peter Vermilyea and Rhonan Mokriski

Friday, March 27, 7:30 PM, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School

 

Historian and author Russell Shorto will speak in conversation with Peter Vermilyea and Rhonan Mokriski to discuss Shorto’s Revolution Song: The Story of America's Founding in Six Remarkable Lives. Revolution Song is this year’s selection for Salisbury READS, an annual collaborative project that encourages the entire community to read a selected book together and engage in discussions and related programs. This program is presented in partnership with the Salisbury Association, the Troutbeck Symposium, and the Scoville Memorial Library, in connection with Salisbury Commemoration 250 and CT 250.


Russell Shorto is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at The New York Historical and senior scholar at the New Netherland Institute. He is the author of eight books of narrative history, including the national bestseller The Island at the Center of the World.


Peter Vermilyea, an award-winning history educator and author, teaches at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and for the University of Connecticut. His next book, Litchfield County in the Revolutionary War, will be published in the Spring of 2026.

Rhonan Mokriski, a co-founder of the Troutbeck Symposium, has been teaching at his alma mater, Salisbury School, since 1996. For his dedication and innovative approach to teaching, Mokriski was named the 2024 Gilder Lehrman Connecticut History Teacher of the Year.