John Noelke beams among the aged walls of upper floors. Works of art made by the passing of time
| by
Krystina Coffey
John Noelke is a lanky southerner, a peripatetic philosopher who found his love, now his bride, in northwest Connecticut and then found his heart and imagination bridled by the land. He knows a thing or two about bootstrapping his way to success. After all, he runs a quirky bookstore, sitting invitingly at the base of Main Street in Torrington. Fine leather editions adorn the well-worn shelves, sharing space with well-read volumes. Old leather shoes attest to history’s ghosts that remain boxed and unworn. And, in a nod to his heritage, fine leather saddles are also, almost incongruously but proudly, on sale and on display.
Stepping into Howard’s Bookstore is an experience in and of itself. From the shelves of gently used books sorted into categories like Thrilly, Polarizing, Old, and Not So Old, to the shop’s ‘60’s era lighting installations, rows of refurbished saddles for sale (he rides horses), dozens of classic shoes lining shelves (the shop used to be a shoe store), and flowing troves of artistic installations (because art means everything, of course), one’s eyes are nearly overwhelmed by warm, inviting, and compelling sensibilities.
Seeing is one thing but, to understand the depth of underlying intent requires getting to know the people at the forefront of Howard’s evolution.
Noelke, the shop’s owner and operator, has been an artist since his early days growing up on a family ranch in the small town of Mertzon, Texas, where sun-dappled days were informed by the books which crossed his path.
Howard’s first floor brimming with editions, instruments, and installations invites all to explore
Worlds Collide
“When I read Huck Finn, I built a raft. I thought this is what is supposed to inform your life, the direction you're going to go,” the tall Torrington cowboy mused. “So we went down the river and built a freaking raft and camped on it and all that… And then I read On the Road and I just took off to Cleveland. My friend was a punker and we went to his punk show. And then, about one or two in the morning, we took off to New York to see our other buddy, and we just went on this whirlwind extravaganza. Just a giant road trip… And that's the power of the words.”
He’s lived the artist’s life of mercurial security, impulsive adventure, and curated expression. A life he pours into the layout of his store, its mission, and every interaction he shares with those who cross its threshold. One grounded in sense of self, our ties to history, and how it anchors us in community.
“My hometown was 507 [residents] and my family was ten of those. The thing about a small town like that is, it sounds like a cliche, but everyone knows everybody… The sense of place is an integral thing.”
While his earlier years saw the Tufts MFA graduate ping-ponging around the country looking for purpose, once he married Lisa Candels, an Avon native, Noelke settled into the fabric of Northwest Connecticut life, first establishing his 16-acre farm in Barkhamstead, and then with his gallery in the heart of Torrington. It was there Noelke met Rana Justice, an avid community organizer who quickly assumed the role of music director, first for the Noelke Gallery, and later for Howard’s Bookstore.
The confluence of exhibitions and DIY music shows bred a partnership of respect and mutual love for art, but a lack of consistent public engagement left Noelke wanting more.
“Americans, we don’t wake up in the morning, typically, and go,‘‘Oh. We’ve gotta go to the gallery.’”
With frustration mounting, Noelke began searching for a new path ahead and found, to pleasant surprise, his answer was truly right around the corner.
“You're paying rent, you're paying rent, paying rent, and you're not getting any equity or anything like that. And you're just spilling blood. So it's like either call it, or change directions. And then suddenly I'm like, wow, this building [that I’m sitting in] is right here.”
The Magic Castle
After purchasing the old Meara Building, at 25 Main St., Torrington, Noelke found a daunting –– yet almost mystical – labyrinth of artifacts from the store’s bygone era as an iconic shoe shop, which sold its wares until 1997. Another floor was once home to the now long-defunct WLCR radio station. Incredibly, there was even a duckpin bowling alley on the building’s third floor.
In that maze, he found roots to his new home which Noelke protects and celebrates to this day.
Original duckpins from the 20th century bowling alley still stand in Howard’s third floor
“When I came here, the Howard’s brand — you know people wanted to buy the sign, they wanted to buy the lights, they wanted to buy the [abandoned] shoes. I’m like, ‘No.’ You know, this place means too much to the locals… It was like a Broadway stage set that the actors left… And then slowly, the actors have come back.”
Noelke details a few of his favorite encounters with those tied to the bones of Howard’s.
“A guy came in. He goes,‘I’m 31 times 3. I set the pins up there. That was my first job.’ And he went up there and just kinda looked out the window at his life.”
“This one woman came in and I go, ‘Do you have a story about getting shoes here?’ [She looked up.] ‘No! I don’t have a story! My daddy carried me kicking and screaming down those stairs and I had to wear shoes with special braces on them!’”
Noelke laughs.
“That’s a pretty good story.”
“Then one guy came in with his wife. They both worked here, they met here when they were sixteen or seventeen. And he wrote, in the basement, all his girlfriends’ names and scratched them out as they broke up. And the last one standing was his wife… And they went down there and found it. And she was like, ‘I did it!’ And they were just puppies in love again.”
Noelke smiles wide, filled with excitement over how holding onto these parts of his new home has connected himself with the community.
“What these types of places once were is a receptacle for your story,” he reflected. “Someone has to hold your story.”
John Noelke stands amid back room shelves open for browsing, affectionately deemed the catacombs
A Holy Trinity Church
Noelke has since poured four years of life and sweat into Howard’s to make it exactly that; a receptacle for stories, written and otherwise. A temple, inviting all to come in and participate in what Noelke considers a living work of art.
Noelke explains that everything from the layout of the store and its floors above to the performing artists brought in, are inspired by three core figures. One is Isabella Stewart Gardner, the famous 20th century patron of the arts and founder of a Boston-area museum by the same name, which she opened to the public and artists of all mediums. “I think they’ve changed it a lot, but there’s just something about her spirit. I kind of look to her and that building.”
Another is American writer William Faulkner, who wrote Noelke’s favorite line, “There is no was.” “The past doesn’t ever go away. And every day that comes true. At the same time, Rana and I, we go forward. It’s the tension between the mix of the past and present – that’s that rich experience. That thing of past and present abutting one another and not crushing each other out. I just love it.”
Completing his triptych is American landscape architect and journalist Frederick Law Olmsted, who Noelke looked to while carving a winding path of tomes through Howard’s back rooms and upper floors.
“He felt the human psyche was based upon wanting to see what's over the hill and what's around the bend… And you see people do that with the books when they look around… A mom and daughter came in. They were homeschooling. And they went upstairs and they just, I don't know, they found their mother load. And they're like, ‘We found gold!’ They [really] felt like they found it. We discover gold. That sense of discovery. Wow, man, it's everything.”
Sound Of Music
Those same senses of discovery and love for art in all its forms propels Rana Justice, Howard’s music director, who extends her efforts into the rest of her life where she serves on the Torrington Collective, an organization dedicated to preserving and developing Torrington’s art scenes.
Rana Justice, Music Director of Howard’s adds light melodies to the afternoon as patrons peruse
“It’s all just wonderful CT people trying to keep the scene alive and get artists paid,” says Justice. “We partner with the Torrington Collective, Underground Experience, CT Sets, and Sophia Dejesus Sabella… We’re a huge community center here. There’re a lot of helping hands that make it work.”
A couple of regulars pop in toting a bag of wooden chess pieces and they approach a nearby table, which until now sported a plastic set available for all to play. Justice gasps excitedly as they discard the disposable plastic, supplanting them permanently with the carved wood. “Speaking of community, look at this! Replacing these plastic pieces with beautiful felt, wood ones!”
Another Brick In The Wall
Noelke believes that maintaining the store’s policy of open engagement, support for independent artists, and embracing a space’s imperfection as beauty is what preserves the culture of Torrington’s downtown in the face of corporate commerce.
“The reality of brick and mortar right now… I am competing head to head with Amazon. I’m competing head to head with Walmart, all of ‘em… And also, my musicians, when they come in – phenomenal. They can’t get radio play. It’s really hard. I hear classic rock when I go to the hardware store. I hear These Boots Are Made for Walkin’... But the musicians come in here and just kill it.”
Eclectic sections to catch the eye line shelves with shoes from Howard’s past incarnation
Justice adds, “We try to save a little money after every single show and we store it away. We only use it to buy equipment or pay musicians when there is a low turnout because of either bad weather, cancellations, or not enough exposure.”
Noelke underscores his point on imperfection with a stroll through Howard’s multiple floors.
He walks to and fro to faded patches of walls laced with cracks or washed out like a watercolor from bygone years of leaky roofs, to a finger painted bird on the wall, treating them with reverence reserved for installations in a gallery.
“Look at all these cracks” he says with wonder. “If you don’t do gentrification -- clean, neat, cut it down, put a spring in, the rich folks’ll love it, escalate real estate. If you don’t do that, what do you do? You kind of battle over the aesthetic fate of things. Instead of building up on the artists, build it up for the artists.”
For Noelke and Justice, their constant efforts are rewarded in the form of visitors’ passion. “The people that come in and the educational, the intellectual firepower of this region is off the charts, and it's stunning,” Noelke rhapsodizes. “And people come in with just a smile on their face. And they shake books. They'll just get a book and [be] like, ‘Oh, this book, you got to read it!’”
Noelke shakes the book with both hands, pantomiming his customers’ excitement. “And they'll punch it like this and stuff like that. It's just there's almost something mystical about it… It happens every day. And then [some] people write books. They come in with a self-published book and they do book talks.”
Sure enough, within moments a mother and daughter enter Howard’s. The daughter darts back and forth between shelves and floors, jubilantly amassing a small pile of treasures. While Noelke rings them up, he strikes up a conversation about the girl’s love of books. And in a moment he embodies the nature of this space he’s created.
“Have you written a book?” he asks the daughter, unprompted.
“She has, actually,” her mother answers beaming with pride.
“That’s exciting! You should come do a reading,” Noelke says, watching the girl’s face.
“For real?” she beams, hardly believing it.
“Yeah,” Noelke responds with all sincerity.
Another bond is formed with Howard’s Bookstore. Another artist is invited to bring their story to be held.
John Noelke, owner and operator stands amid his favorite aspect of Howard’s, beauty in imperfection
Together, John Noelke and Rana Justice keep the doors to Howard’s Bookstore open seven days a week from 1pm-7pm. Offering events which also provide local vendors and artists the opportunity to promote and sell their work. Events like their 11th Open Mic Rap Night coming April 6th, Emo Revived on April 13th, and more. They invite all to come and bring their stories.
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A Northwest Connecticut cowboy saddles up for a life of letters and leather
John Noelke is a lanky southerner, a peripatetic philosopher who found his love, now his bride, in northwest Connecticut and then found his heart and imagination bridled by the land. He knows a thing or two about bootstrapping his way to success. After all, he runs a quirky bookstore, sitting invitingly at the base of Main Street in Torrington. Fine leather editions adorn the well-worn shelves, sharing space with well-read volumes. Old leather shoes attest to history’s ghosts that remain boxed and unworn. And, in a nod to his heritage, fine leather saddles are also, almost incongruously but proudly, on sale and on display.
Stepping into Howard’s Bookstore is an experience in and of itself. From the shelves of gently used books sorted into categories like Thrilly, Polarizing, Old, and Not So Old, to the shop’s ‘60’s era lighting installations, rows of refurbished saddles for sale (he rides horses), dozens of classic shoes lining shelves (the shop used to be a shoe store), and flowing troves of artistic installations (because art means everything, of course), one’s eyes are nearly overwhelmed by warm, inviting, and compelling sensibilities.
Seeing is one thing but, to understand the depth of underlying intent requires getting to know the people at the forefront of Howard’s evolution.
Noelke, the shop’s owner and operator, has been an artist since his early days growing up on a family ranch in the small town of Mertzon, Texas, where sun-dappled days were informed by the books which crossed his path.
Howard’s first floor brimming with editions, instruments, and installations invites all to explore
Worlds Collide
“When I read Huck Finn, I built a raft. I thought this is what is supposed to inform your life, the direction you're going to go,” the tall Torrington cowboy mused. “So we went down the river and built a freaking raft and camped on it and all that… And then I read On the Road and I just took off to Cleveland. My friend was a punker and we went to his punk show. And then, about one or two in the morning, we took off to New York to see our other buddy, and we just went on this whirlwind extravaganza. Just a giant road trip… And that's the power of the words.”
He’s lived the artist’s life of mercurial security, impulsive adventure, and curated expression. A life he pours into the layout of his store, its mission, and every interaction he shares with those who cross its threshold. One grounded in sense of self, our ties to history, and how it anchors us in community.
“My hometown was 507 [residents] and my family was ten of those. The thing about a small town like that is, it sounds like a cliche, but everyone knows everybody… The sense of place is an integral thing.”
While his earlier years saw the Tufts MFA graduate ping-ponging around the country looking for purpose, once he married Lisa Candels, an Avon native, Noelke settled into the fabric of Northwest Connecticut life, first establishing his 16-acre farm in Barkhamstead, and then with his gallery in the heart of Torrington. It was there Noelke met Rana Justice, an avid community organizer who quickly assumed the role of music director, first for the Noelke Gallery, and later for Howard’s Bookstore.
The confluence of exhibitions and DIY music shows bred a partnership of respect and mutual love for art, but a lack of consistent public engagement left Noelke wanting more.
“Americans, we don’t wake up in the morning, typically, and go,‘‘Oh. We’ve gotta go to the gallery.’”
With frustration mounting, Noelke began searching for a new path ahead and found, to pleasant surprise, his answer was truly right around the corner.
“You're paying rent, you're paying rent, paying rent, and you're not getting any equity or anything like that. And you're just spilling blood. So it's like either call it, or change directions. And then suddenly I'm like, wow, this building [that I’m sitting in] is right here.”
The Magic Castle
After purchasing the old Meara Building, at 25 Main St., Torrington, Noelke found a daunting –– yet almost mystical – labyrinth of artifacts from the store’s bygone era as an iconic shoe shop, which sold its wares until 1997. Another floor was once home to the now long-defunct WLCR radio station. Incredibly, there was even a duckpin bowling alley on the building’s third floor.
In that maze, he found roots to his new home which Noelke protects and celebrates to this day.
Original duckpins from the 20th century bowling alley still stand in Howard’s third floor
“When I came here, the Howard’s brand — you know people wanted to buy the sign, they wanted to buy the lights, they wanted to buy the [abandoned] shoes. I’m like, ‘No.’ You know, this place means too much to the locals… It was like a Broadway stage set that the actors left… And then slowly, the actors have come back.”
Noelke details a few of his favorite encounters with those tied to the bones of Howard’s.
“A guy came in. He goes,‘I’m 31 times 3. I set the pins up there. That was my first job.’ And he went up there and just kinda looked out the window at his life.”
“This one woman came in and I go, ‘Do you have a story about getting shoes here?’ [She looked up.] ‘No! I don’t have a story! My daddy carried me kicking and screaming down those stairs and I had to wear shoes with special braces on them!’”
Noelke laughs.
“That’s a pretty good story.”
“Then one guy came in with his wife. They both worked here, they met here when they were sixteen or seventeen. And he wrote, in the basement, all his girlfriends’ names and scratched them out as they broke up. And the last one standing was his wife… And they went down there and found it. And she was like, ‘I did it!’ And they were just puppies in love again.”
Noelke smiles wide, filled with excitement over how holding onto these parts of his new home has connected himself with the community.
“What these types of places once were is a receptacle for your story,” he reflected. “Someone has to hold your story.”
John Noelke stands amid back room shelves open for browsing, affectionately deemed the catacombs
A Holy Trinity Church
Noelke has since poured four years of life and sweat into Howard’s to make it exactly that; a receptacle for stories, written and otherwise. A temple, inviting all to come in and participate in what Noelke considers a living work of art.
Noelke explains that everything from the layout of the store and its floors above to the performing artists brought in, are inspired by three core figures. One is Isabella Stewart Gardner, the famous 20th century patron of the arts and founder of a Boston-area museum by the same name, which she opened to the public and artists of all mediums. “I think they’ve changed it a lot, but there’s just something about her spirit. I kind of look to her and that building.”
Another is American writer William Faulkner, who wrote Noelke’s favorite line, “There is no was.” “The past doesn’t ever go away. And every day that comes true. At the same time, Rana and I, we go forward. It’s the tension between the mix of the past and present – that’s that rich experience. That thing of past and present abutting one another and not crushing each other out. I just love it.”
Completing his triptych is American landscape architect and journalist Frederick Law Olmsted, who Noelke looked to while carving a winding path of tomes through Howard’s back rooms and upper floors.
“He felt the human psyche was based upon wanting to see what's over the hill and what's around the bend… And you see people do that with the books when they look around… A mom and daughter came in. They were homeschooling. And they went upstairs and they just, I don't know, they found their mother load. And they're like, ‘We found gold!’ They [really] felt like they found it. We discover gold. That sense of discovery. Wow, man, it's everything.”
Sound Of Music
Those same senses of discovery and love for art in all its forms propels Rana Justice, Howard’s music director, who extends her efforts into the rest of her life where she serves on the Torrington Collective, an organization dedicated to preserving and developing Torrington’s art scenes.
Rana Justice, Music Director of Howard’s adds light melodies to the afternoon as patrons peruse
“It’s all just wonderful CT people trying to keep the scene alive and get artists paid,” says Justice. “We partner with the Torrington Collective, Underground Experience, CT Sets, and Sophia Dejesus Sabella… We’re a huge community center here. There’re a lot of helping hands that make it work.”
A couple of regulars pop in toting a bag of wooden chess pieces and they approach a nearby table, which until now sported a plastic set available for all to play. Justice gasps excitedly as they discard the disposable plastic, supplanting them permanently with the carved wood. “Speaking of community, look at this! Replacing these plastic pieces with beautiful felt, wood ones!”
Another Brick In The Wall
Noelke believes that maintaining the store’s policy of open engagement, support for independent artists, and embracing a space’s imperfection as beauty is what preserves the culture of Torrington’s downtown in the face of corporate commerce.
“The reality of brick and mortar right now… I am competing head to head with Amazon. I’m competing head to head with Walmart, all of ‘em… And also, my musicians, when they come in – phenomenal. They can’t get radio play. It’s really hard. I hear classic rock when I go to the hardware store. I hear These Boots Are Made for Walkin’... But the musicians come in here and just kill it.”
Eclectic sections to catch the eye line shelves with shoes from Howard’s past incarnation
Justice adds, “We try to save a little money after every single show and we store it away. We only use it to buy equipment or pay musicians when there is a low turnout because of either bad weather, cancellations, or not enough exposure.”
Noelke underscores his point on imperfection with a stroll through Howard’s multiple floors.
He walks to and fro to faded patches of walls laced with cracks or washed out like a watercolor from bygone years of leaky roofs, to a finger painted bird on the wall, treating them with reverence reserved for installations in a gallery.
“Look at all these cracks” he says with wonder. “If you don’t do gentrification -- clean, neat, cut it down, put a spring in, the rich folks’ll love it, escalate real estate. If you don’t do that, what do you do? You kind of battle over the aesthetic fate of things. Instead of building up on the artists, build it up for the artists.”
For Noelke and Justice, their constant efforts are rewarded in the form of visitors’ passion. “The people that come in and the educational, the intellectual firepower of this region is off the charts, and it's stunning,” Noelke rhapsodizes. “And people come in with just a smile on their face. And they shake books. They'll just get a book and [be] like, ‘Oh, this book, you got to read it!’”
Noelke shakes the book with both hands, pantomiming his customers’ excitement. “And they'll punch it like this and stuff like that. It's just there's almost something mystical about it… It happens every day. And then [some] people write books. They come in with a self-published book and they do book talks.”
Sure enough, within moments a mother and daughter enter Howard’s. The daughter darts back and forth between shelves and floors, jubilantly amassing a small pile of treasures. While Noelke rings them up, he strikes up a conversation about the girl’s love of books. And in a moment he embodies the nature of this space he’s created.
“Have you written a book?” he asks the daughter, unprompted.
“She has, actually,” her mother answers beaming with pride.
“That’s exciting! You should come do a reading,” Noelke says, watching the girl’s face.
“For real?” she beams, hardly believing it.
“Yeah,” Noelke responds with all sincerity.
Another bond is formed with Howard’s Bookstore. Another artist is invited to bring their story to be held.
John Noelke, owner and operator stands amid his favorite aspect of Howard’s, beauty in imperfection
Together, John Noelke and Rana Justice keep the doors to Howard’s Bookstore open seven days a week from 1pm-7pm. Offering events which also provide local vendors and artists the opportunity to promote and sell their work. Events like their 11th Open Mic Rap Night coming April 6th, Emo Revived on April 13th, and more. They invite all to come and bring their stories.
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