artists next door 4
mounting frustration 6
mlk day 8
arts everywhere 12
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January | February 2017
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Artists Next Door Hank Hoffman Interviews Documentarian Brenden Toller
staff
board of directors
Martha Murray interim executive director
Eileen O’Donnell president Rick Wies vice president Daisy Abreu second vice president
Debbie Hesse director of artistic services & programs Megan Manton director of development Winter Marshall executive administrative assistant
Ken Spitzbard treasurer Wojtek Borowski secretary
directors
Amanda May Aruani editor, the arts paper design consultant Jennifer Gelband communications manager
Susan Cahan Robert B. Dannies Jr. James Gregg Todd Jokl Mark Kaduboski Jocelyn Maminta Josh Mamis Greg Marazita Rachel Mele Elizabeth Meyer-Gadon Frank Mitchell John Pancoast Mark Potocsny David Silverstone Dexter Singleton Richard S. Stahl, MD
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Mounting Frustration Susan E. Cahan’s Book Delves into Racism in NYC Art Museums
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MLK Day The Peabody’s Annual Event Will Include Poetry Slam
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Arts Everywhere Read About Arts in CT, a Non-Profit in Milford
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The Arts Council of Greater New Haven promotes, advocates, and fosters opportunities for artists, arts organizations, and audiences. Because the arts matter. The Arts Paper is published by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, and is available by direct mail through membership with the Arts Council. For membership information call (203) 772-2788. To advertise in The Arts Paper, call the Arts Council at (203) 772-2788. Arts Council of Greater New Haven 70 Audubon Street, 2nd Floor New Haven, CT 06510 Phone: (203) 772.2788 Fax: (203) 772.2262 info@newhavenarts.org www.newhavenarts.org
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The Arts Paper january | february 2017
Letter from the Editor Welcome to a fresh new year of Arts Papers! We start out with a double issue, covering January and February happenings in Greater New Haven. In January, be sure not to miss the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities that will take place at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and the New Haven Museum. One of the events will be a poetry slam competition, drawing talent from far and wide. Read Lucy Gellman’s story about its history on pages 8 & 9. Mark your calendars for February 14th, and not just for a dinner with your sweetheart. Yale University Art Gallery will be hosting “An Evening for Art Lovers,” which will celebrate several shows at once: Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light (which I wrote a feature on, see pages 10 & 11), Small-Great Objects: Anni and Josef Albers in the Americas, and Let Us March On: Lee Friedlander and the Prayer and Pilgrimage for Freedom, as well as the reinstallation of the African Permanent Collection Gallery. If that isn’t enough to keep you out of the elements, pick up a copy of Associate Dean and Dean of the Arts in Yale College Susan E. Cahan’s Mounting Frustration: The Art Museum in the Age of Black Power. It’s an incredibly well-researched look into racial bias in New York City museums from the late 1960s to early 1970s. Read more about it on pages 6 & 7.
More indoor activities include watching the newly released to DVD Danny Says by local filmmaker Brendan Toller. (It comes out January 31). The documentary tells the behind-the-scenes stories of Danny Fields, who was the first manager of the Ramones, as well as a photographer, publicist, and writer. For this issue’s Arts Everywhere feature we take you to Milford, where Barbara Alexander has set up Arts in CT, a multi-faceted non-profit that you’ll have to read about to grasp its full scope. See page 12. Check out page 18 for event photos of the 2016 Arts Awards. A great time was had by all! And last, but not least, peruse our back page for new Arts Council exhibition information and a new program, in which we will present workshops for artists and organizations, addressing real-life issues for those working in the arts in our area. Details forthcoming on newhavenarts.org. I hope you enjoy everything we’ve put together for this issue, and please take the time to recycle it when you’re finished! Sincerely,
On the Cover
Thomas Wilfred, Unit #50, Elliptical Prelude and Chalice, from the First Table Model Clavilux (Luminar) series, 1928. Metal, fabric, glass, and electrical and lighting elements, on a maple table. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., Gift of Thomas C. Wilfred. Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light will be exhibited at the Yale University Art Gallery from February 17 to July 23, 2017. Read the story on pages 10 & 11.
Amanda May Aruani, editor, The Arts Paper
Enlightened Princesses caroline, augusta, charlotte, and the shaping of the modern world
In the Next Issue …
Marc Maron brings his Too Real Tour to College Street Music Hall on March 10. In the next issue, Guest Editor Daisy Abreu will sound off on how Maron’s WTF podcast had influenced the interviewing process and its impact on the art of conversation.
Corrections: Julie Andrews’ name was misspelled as “Julia” on page 5 of the R.J. Julia Booksellers piece in our December issue. It was also printed on page 10 of our Decembergift guide that there was a 60% off special on the first day of the CAW Celebration of American Crafts. This was not the case. We regret the errors.
It Was a New Century Reflections on Modern America December 23, 2016–June 4, 2017 YA L E U N I V E R S I T Y A R T GA L L E RY
Opens February 2, 2017 Free and open to the public | 877 BRIT ART | britishart.yale.edu Johan Joseph Zoffany, Queen Charlotte (detail), 1771, oil on canvas, Royal Collection Trust, UK, © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016
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Free and open to the public | artgallery.yale.edu 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut | 203.432.0600 @yaleartgallery
Image: Childe Hassam, Avenue of the Allies (detail), 1918. Oil on canvas. Private collection
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artists next door
Danny Says on the Big Screen filmmaker brendan toller profiles punk catalyst danny fields hank hoffman
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or filmmaker Brendan Toller, documentary is “a new form of writing for the 21st century.” At the age of 30, Toller has already completed two feature length docs. The most recent, Danny Says, was picked up this year for worldwide theatrical release by Magnolia Pictures after an impressive and acclaimed run on the festival circuit. Danny Says documents the life and times of music manager, photographer, publicist, and writer Danny Fields. The first manager of the Ramones— he recognized that the band had made a breakthrough innovation in rock ‘n’ roll—Fields was also a pivotal behindthe-scenes figure of the 1960s counterculture. Danny Says was the first offering of the inaugural Art House Theater Day this past September. Toller said Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine sparked his curiosity “about what documentary could do and what it could tell.” “Human interest stories are right in front of our eyes and ears and there is no shortage of them,” Toller said. “The ones I’m attracted to are peculiar, fringe, that you have to dig for and are telling of our times.” Stories related to music are also compelling for Toller. When not working a film, he is “listening to records, playing music or reading about it.” Toller says Fields—who he met while working on his first film, I Need That Record!, about independent record stores— made for a stirring documentary subject. “Here’s a guy nobody knows about, but he’s got his fingerprints on most of the influential bands of the latter half of the 20th century that helped shape popular music,” Toller said in an interview. Fields’ influence continues to reverberate, particularly in his prescient promotion of punk bands the Ramones and the Stooges. Brendan Toller. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Theatrical one-sheet for Danny Says, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
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A dropout from Harvard Law School in 1960 when he was 19, Fields moved to New York City. An openly gay man in an era when that was still uncommon, he became immersed in the Warhol Factory milieu and the burgeoning rock scenes. As managing editor of teen fanzine Datebook in 1966, Fields’ republished a British interview with John Lennon in which the Beatle opined that the Fab Four were “more popular than Jesus.” The comments set off a furor that sparked record burnings and death threats and contributed to the group’s decision to quit touring. A couple of years later, Fields was the “company freak” at Elektra Records, charged with publicizing acts like The Doors and Judy Collins and ferreting out unknown groups. In that capacity, he
signed the MC5 and the Stooges, two Detroit bands now acknowledged as progenitors of the punk sound and attitude. “These people were freaks. There were no bidding wars for these artists,” Toller said of Fields’ discoveries. “Now they are revered as among the most influential people in pop music.” It wasn’t just Fields’ centrality to cultural earthquakes that attracted Toller. Fields’ immense archive of photographs, audiocassettes and ephemera—which he recently has been turning over to Yale’s Beinecke Library—was a treasure trove for documentarian Toller. Over the seven years it took to make, Toller got to know this material intimately. “All the pages at Yale Beinecke have my fingerprints on them from scanning and reading them over. If there
were any question of the context, I could always ask Danny,” Toller noted. Among the gems that made it to film is a cassette recording of Lou Reed waxing enthusiastic the first time Fields plays him a recording by the Ramones. Just as important, Fields is a gifted raconteur. Music celebrity anecdotes? Fields has a million of them, which he delivers with wit and engaging self-deprecation. “Danny’s stories are really perceptive, fun, troublemaking, off the cuff,” Toller said. Toller praised Fields’ generosity and intelligence and noted that, “He has a real sense of instilling confidence in somebody he likes. It’s fun to hang out with him.” Along with the innumerable hours spent documenting Fields’ recollections,
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Toller also interviewed some 60 other friends and colleagues. Key to this, Toller said, is putting subjects at ease. It’s important to “shut up” and listen, engage with the subject, be respectful, on time, and articulate.
“Here’s a guy nobody knows about, but he’s got his fingerprints on most of the influential bands of the latter half of the 20th century” -Brendan Toller on Danny Fields Toller prefers to shoot his subjects with minimal equipment, a minimal crew and natural lighting. “I’ve seen other crews breaking down. When I interviewed Judy Collins, there was a crew with a huge backdrop, ten
people and lights. She was just so relieved when we were set up in ten minutes” with only a camera and tripod, recalled Toller. “People feel more relaxed. You get honest answers.” Along with the interviews, Toller had a wealth of archival footage to work with. He described the process of wrestling it into a coherent narrative as “literally like mapping. You have to know what is there for every single artist. It’s particularly difficult because there were so many artists involved in the film.” Obtaining the rights for much of the material was one of the biggest challenges. “Thank God for ‘fair use,’” Toller said, referring to the legal doctrine that allows for limited use of copyrighted material under specific circumstances without obtaining permission from or making payment to the copyright holder. While Fields’ anecdotes are well paced, Toller wanted to avoid the visual trap of overreliance on talking heads. He enlisted several animators to illustrate a number of Fields’ stories, a choice that gives the film a formal kick. “It illuminates these stories. When you hear someone telling a story… you’re already doing it in your mind anyway,” said Toller. “This goes a step further.” When Toller finished I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store in 2008, he
Danny Fields, center, with the Ramones. Photo © Arturo Vega/Danny Fields Archive, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
entered it into more than 50 film festivals, trying to get his foot in the industry door. With Danny Says, Toller screened it at 20-30 festivals, the key one being South By Southwest in Austin in March 2015. Variety pegged it one of the Top 13 Breakout films of the festival and their critic posted a glowing review that was
released during the film’s premiere. “It was hugely important,” recalled Toller. “We would not have had the year of accolades and the major push from so many outlets, programmers and festivals if not for that grand premiere at South by Southwest.” Danny Says will be released on DVD January 31, 2017. n
Intimate and Enduring
Photography
Judy Sirota Rosenthal info@sirotarosenthal.com www.sirotarosenthal.com www.sirotarosenthalart.com 203-281-5854
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The Arts Paper january | february 2017
Mounting Frustration the movement for racial justice in museums lucile bruce
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he United States is a nation built on an ideology of race, and American cultural institutions have never been immune to the problem. When it comes to governance, decision-making, program choices, and allocation of resources, our major cultural institutions are still predominantly white and have not achieved racial equity. How does racism show up in arts organizations? Who struggles for equity, and against what obstacles? Why does it matter? In Mounting Frustration: The Art Museum in the Age of Black Power, Susan E. Cahan offers a tool of vital importance to help us unpack this complicated subject: history. Cahan’s book chronicles a specific piece of cultural history—art museums in New York City from the late 1960s to early 1970s. During this era of widespread protest, black visual artists sought equal representation in the major museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. In addition, the Studio Museum of Harlem, subject of the book’s first chapter, opened in 1968, ushering in a new wave of “culturally grounded museums.” “These are museums that were founded to affirm art that reflects a fuller spectrum of American cultures and to be homes for artists who were not welcome at the major museums,” Cahan explains. Today, culturally grounded museums exist across the country—El Museo Del Barrio, the Museum of Chinese in America, and the California African American Museum are a few examples. Many were founded in the 1970s, spurred on by funding made available through the National Endowment for the Arts. Such museums, Cahan says, are the greatest legacy of the period described in her book. Today we have a parallel structure of museums in the U.S., a dichotomy in which major museums have no specific cultural orientations, while other museums are rooted in one specific cultural orientation. “I believe these culturally grounded museums are essential,” Cahan continues, “because the major museums have not, even to this day, integrated the broad spectrum of artists within the United States. Our picture of American art is very skewed.” For artists who confronted New York’s major museums in the struggle for integration, exclusion from the established art world on the basis of race was overt. “Deeply entrenched stereotypes contaminated not only the museum field but also much art criticism at the time,” writes Cahan. “Many critics had difficulty seeing artwork by African American artists as conveying anything other
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than a social group agenda.” Cahan, Associate Dean and Dean of the Arts in Yale College (and a member of The Arts Council board of directors), spent over a decade writing the book. She based her work on meticulous archival research at each of the major museums, as well as personal archives at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; the Archives of American Art; and interviews with several of the people involved. Dramatic events unfolded as artists and activists pushed for change at the museums featured in her book. Tensions existed within the Harlem community about what the Studio Museum of Harlem should be, and for whom. The original founders envisioned a multi-racial museum, while a group of black nationalists countered that if the museum involved any people who did not live in Harlem, it would be a culturally imperialist enterprise. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the controversial exhibit Harlem on My Mind (1969) was denounced by artists for including only documentary materials (photographs and historical documents) and no works of art. Despite its objective
to be inclusive and community-based, the show backfired with both African American artists and conservative museum patrons. At the Whitney in 1971, Contemporary Black Artists in America featured works by African American artists exclusively. It was a curatorial disaster. When the Whitney refused to hire a specialist in African American art, relying instead on a staff curator with little knowledge of the subject, 24 artists withdrew from the exhibit in protest. The curator privileged abstract art over figurative or representational work, infuriating both groups of artists in the process—the abstract artists objected to the show’s “race-based” frame; the representational artists were angered by how the show devalued and de-politicized their work. “The Whitney Museum,” Cahan writes, “used aesthetic concepts to do the work of discrimination.” Following these highly public controversies, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) entered a period of introspection between 1970-72 by hosting various experimental projects designed to explore questions of politics, art, community, and the role of the museum. The
museum’s new director John Hightower, working with artists Faith Ringgold, Tom Lloyd, and Raphael Montañez Ortiz, led the effort—then was fired abruptly after a committee of trustees ruled that the artists’ accusations of the museum’s ethnocentrism were “unfounded.” “John Hightower is an example of a man who took real personal responsibility, and exercised real agency, in trying to change MoMA,” notes Cahan. “He will always be one of my heroes.” “Very often,” she adds, “people who try to do things differently do fail. They lose their jobs. They get marginalized. It’s tragic, and it happens. And it doesn’t mean they didn’t have an impact.” Taken together, the histories detailed in Mounting Frustration reveal patterns across museum institutions, demonstrating that some form of racial ideology was at work. “The practice of racism is very diffuse,” Cahan explains. “What I try to do in the book is to document, through my archival research, the reappearance over time of certain excuses or reactions or rationalizations, and to allow the reader to draw his or her own conclusion about what was going on.”
“I think the important thing is to be curious about the world we all share, to imagine the broad universe of art that exists in the world, and not to constrain one’s self with what’s fashionable, or what’s being validated in the marketplace, or what’s familiar.” -Susan E. Cahan
Susan E. Cahan. Photo by Andrew Schmit.
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“I don’t think people consciously act in a racist manner,” she adds. “I think it’s incumbent upon historians and cultural critics to help us see what’s going on in our culture.” Yet Cahan is optimistic about the potential for people to change things. While divisive structural patterns do exist in institutions, those structures, she says, are not deterministic. “As individuals, we all have a responsibility to participate in ways that are consistent with our values and our ethics,” she explains. We can, in other words, act differently and in creative ways to disrupt existing patterns. In the museum world, the responsibility often, but not exclusively, falls to curators. “They have incredible privilege and influence over what passes from the private world of the studio into the public realm—and into museum institutions that are intended to exist forever,” Cahan says. “They’re the translators, the interpreters, the visionaries.” Trustees, likewise, play a different role and have a different kind of power to challenge the status quo. But within the period Cahan studied, it was the artists who were truly pushing for change. “The museums responded to limited degrees with some accommodations,” she says. However, “were it not for the artists, they probably wouldn’t have done anything.” Today, the landscape has changed in some specifics, but the fundamental layout—of “major” museums and “culturally grounded” museums—still exists. With it has come increased
knowledge and research about a great variety of artistic cultures, histories, and traditions, and new generations of artists whose work reflects a commitment to being both culturally grounded and fiercely independent. “I think the important thing is to be curious about the world we all share, to imagine the broad universe of art that exists in the world,” says Cahan, “and not to constrain one’s self with what’s fashionable, or what’s being validated in the marketplace, or what’s familiar.” Beyond the confines of one’s own cultural group there exists a larger, ongoing conversation in the art community about how our experiences and perspectives are both different and similar. It’s taking place across many public and private realms including studios, museums, galleries, and schools. That conversation grows richer as we learn about the history of our country, its artists, and the imperfect, ever-evolving cultural institutions within it. As Susan Cahan writes in the book’s introduction, “By digging deep into this history of advances and regressions during this troubling and electrifying era, this book aims to frame our understanding of the present.” n Mounting Frustration: The Art Museum in the Age of Black Power was published by Duke University Press in 2016. For more information, or to purchase the book, visit dukeupress.edu/ Mounting-Frustration.
Join the Arts Council! The Arts Council of Greater New Haven is dedicated to enhancing, developing, and promoting opportunities for artists, arts organizations, and audiences throughout the Greater New Haven area. Join us today! newhavenarts.org/membership The Arts Paper Read our feature articles and download the latest edition. issuu.com/artscouncil9 #ARTNHV Blog The Arts Council’s blog, which covers all things art in Greater New Haven. artNHV.com Arts Council on Facebook Get the inside scoop on what’s happening in the arts now! facebook.com/artscouncilofgreaternewhaven Creative Directory Looking for something? Find local creative businesses and artists with our comprehensive arts-related directory. You should be listed here! newhavenarts.org/directory E-newsletter Your weekly source for arts happening in Greater New Haven delivered right to your inbox. Sign up at: newhavenarts.org
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In Them, Zannette Lives On lucy gellman
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idway through the 2016 Zannette Lewis poetry slam, Tarishi “M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T.” Shuler stepped up to the mic, took a deep breath, and looked forward into a packed room, where attendees filed in and were now standing at the back. A fluorescent overhead flickered and came back to life with a whispery buzz. M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T. took it as a sign to start. “Welcome to the woods,” he said, flashing an uneasy grin as he lifted his hands, “Where fairytales come true.” From somewhere in the middle of the room, emcee, Last Poet protégé, and spoken word legend Ngoma Hill snapped to attention. The 20th annual Zannette Lewis Environmental and Social Justice Community Poetry Slam at New Haven’s Peabody Museum was well underway, and M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T. was about to give the other poets a serious run for their money.
That is, literal cash—along with the spiritual glory that accompanies winning a poetry slam. Founded by the late Zannette Lewis to honor and perpetuate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the event takes the surprisingly regimented framework of a poetry slam—three rounds of several three-minute poems, each judged by people in the audience with scorecards ranging from 1 to 10, with one winner standing at the end— and adds one more rule: poets must be “spitting” on environmental or social justice themes, or they can save their work for other venues. From the time it was founded over 20 years ago, the slam has grown to comprise national and international performers, and now carries a cash prize of around $700, with smaller sums for the second and third place winners. This year, the 21st annual, the competition is set for the afternoon of January 16 at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History at 170 Whitney Avenue in New Haven. The poetry slam’s beginnings, like
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the magnanimous woman after whom it is named, were humble, and powerful largely because of the people and ideas behind them. They were Hill and Lewis, for whom social justice, artistic expression and the black community were thickly, exquisitely intertwined. Living in Newark, New Jersey after his service in the Vietnam War, Ngoma Hill was discovering the Black Arts Movement as it evolved, working with legendary founder Amiri Baraka to spin words into social action. With Baraka as his spiritual and intellectual guide, Hill honed something he had begun to do overseas in Vietnam—writing, performing, and protesting as a way to bring attention to vast social divisions and systemic oppression across the country, and across the world. “People have different reasons for performing and for writing,” he said in an interview with The Arts Paper. “I decided I wanted to use my [writing] skills to raise social and political consciousness for my people. That was my entry into
that world.” Back in New Haven, Zannette Lewis was taking a different path to social justice. During the day, she used her position as the New Haven Coordinator of the Connecticut Department of Higher Education’s GEAR UP Project to “increase the number of low income students prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education,” according to the department. In her free time— what precious little of it there was—she collaborated with The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Peabody Museum, and the then-nascent International Festival of Arts & Ideas to lift up and highlight artists, especially artists of color, in the community. When her world collided with Hill’s in the 1990s, it felt like fate. “She was a people person, but she was also a visionary,” Hill recalled. “Very warm, jovial, but also serious-minded. She was incredibly dedicated to the projects she worked on and became, through her work, instrumental in help-
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ing artists.” “Zannette was a quiet activist,” added Michelle Turner, one of the founders of WYBC’s “Electric Drum” broadcast, who remembered Lewis toiling over an annual Kwanzaa celebration until it was perfect. “She wasn’t someone who beat you over the head with it, but she let you know where she was coming from and she was always involved. She was good people. She always tried to look out for you ... and she was always making sure that black art lived and thrived in New Haven.” Under her quiet and strong leadership, it did. Lewis and Hill were just getting to know each other when she suggested adding the spoken word component to the annual MLK Day festivities at the Peabody Museum, still in their fetal stages, and engineered to bring in the New Haven community in new ways. A graduate of Howard University with a love for genuine spoken word—“Def Jam before it was Def Jam,” as Connecticut poet Sharmont “Influence” Little remembered it—she suggested a poetry slam instead of an essay contest, to pull people in with hard-hitting stories. Hill, who was by then performing at New Haven’s now defunct Daily Caffe, jumped on board as the emcee. That was 20 years ago, when Lewis was still attending the slams and maintaining, only half-jokingly, that Connecticut poets couldn’t quite cut it on a national stage, and they might not even make it to hers. At the age of 63 in 2009, she died, leaving the slam to continue in her honor. For Hill, there was only one option: to do her legacy right. He set out to do what he’d always done, scouring slams and poetry readings across the country for a handful of poets who could cut their teeth on social and environmental justice, and do it well. “I only invite poets that are going to offer [socially relevant] criticism and give people info that they may not have had, put things into perspective to make the world a better place,” he said. “People are looking for what to vote for, what not to vote for, what to contribute to, what to believe. What the poetry does is give people information that they can work from. That’s why we do it.” There’s a lot of inequity, a lot of violence,” he added. “What you need to do is pay attention and try to put some definition, some meaning by raising the consciousness of people who aren’t really paying attention.” That mindset led him to find poets like Sharmont “Influence” Little, a 40-yearold New Havener who grew up in the city’s Farnam Courts Housing Complex until he was 13 or 14, when his father’s job took him to Hartford. By the time Influence returned to New Haven, he had seen Connecticut’s imbalance of wealth with his own eyes—and was using his poetry to work through it. A member of the nationally recognized Blackout Arts Collective, he met Hill while performing
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at venues like Sandra’s Next Generation (then still close to Yale) and starting up his own non-profit, the Universal Arts Movement, to teach slam poetry in the community. Last year, between coaching youth poets at ESUMS Magnet School and working as a nurse, he managed to snag second place at the slam. “I have a mantra,” he said of performing at the MLK Day event. “I say to myself and to the audience: I promise you I will not waste the three minutes of your life that you’ve given to me. There are kids [at the slam] who don’t usually get to see that caliber of poets, and they actually get to see conscious literary thought put into action.” That’s also true for M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T., who spent last year’s slam waging wordy battles until he had risen to first place. Before that performance, he said, Hill had found him performing in smaller venues and the Peabody’s pre-slam open mics, where he had been writing on topics like global warming, human trafficking, and genocide in the Congo after a chance meeting with Lamont Hiebert, the founder of Love 146 (an international human rights organization working to end child trafficking and exploitation), who had opened his eyes to inequalities that ran deep—and felt close to home, where he’d watched physical abuse and domestic violence unfold into his childhood. “Martin Luther King said a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and that’s the majority of my work,” he said. “Once your eyes are open, one atrocity is the stepping stone to other atrocities.” That kind of approach was exactly what Hill was looking for. “As artists, we can touch people, move them, and make them feel alive,” he said. “People want to know that they’re not alone. No matter how dark it may seem, there’s always that light at the end of the tunnel. I want to make sure they see it.” n
The 21st annual Zannette Lewis Environmental and Social Justice Poetry Slam is taking place as part of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History’s twoday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration January 15 and 16, 2017. In addition to the slam, there will be storytelling, ceremonial drumming, a teen summit, a high school art contest, and a food drive. Details are forthcoming on the museum’s website; visit peabody.yale.edu/events/ dr-king-s-legacy-environmental-andsocial-justice-community-poetry-open-mic to find out more.
Images on right: poets from past spoken word competitions perform in front of live audiences during the Peabody’s annual MLK Jr. celebration’s poetry slam. Image courtesy of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
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Thomas Wilfred, Lumia Suite, Op. 158, 1963–64. Projectors, reflector unit, electrical and lighting elements, and projection screen. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund, 582.1964. Photo Credit: Yale University Art Gallery.
amanda may aruani n 1983, Thomas C. Wilfred donated three of his father Thomas’ groundbreaking avant-gard light sculptures to the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG). They sat in boxes for the next twenty-five years. It wasn’t until 2008 that the gallery truly knew what they had. It was then that curatorial fellow Keely Orgeman was asked to accompany a collector, A.J. Epstein, to open the boxes. “At that point, it didn’t seem we knew anything about these sculptures,” Orgeman, who is now the YUAG Alice and Allan Kaplan Assistant Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, remembers. “They hadn’t been out of storage … Over the course of three days [Epstein] convinced me and Carol [Snow, YUAG Objects Conservator] they were unlike anything we’d seen before. We were instantly intrigued by them, and it quickly grew into an idea for an exhibition.” The Exhibition At first, the gallery on Chapel Street thought it would be a small exhibition, showing the three objects along with some of Thomas Wilfred’s papers, which were donated to the Manuscripts and Archives Collections at Yale, also in 1983. Gradually, it has grown into the first comprehensive presentation of the Dan-
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ish-born, American artist’s work in about forty-five years. (The last was in 1971 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.—which has since been absorbed by the National Gallery of Art). The exhibition, Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light, will be on view at the Yale University Art Gallery from February 17 to July 23, 2017, after which it will journey to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., where it will be on display from October 6, 2017 to January 7, 2018. This will be the first collaboration between YUAG and the Smithsonian, who they initially approached as a possible partnering museum because of their fairly rare ability to address maintenance issues as they come up during the exhibition. (Orgeman says that issues will inevitably arise because Wilfred’s sophisticated light art machines still have original parts from the early 1900s). The exhibition is divided into Wilfred’s early, middle, and late career and includes loans from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jocelyn Museum of Art in Omaha, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Lumia, which is what Wilfred named the art form when he began in the 1920s, will showcase 15 of the 30-or-so works that Wilfred made during his five-decade
long career, including his magnum opus, Lumia Suite, Opus 158, which was commissioned by the MoMA in 1963 and was on almost continuous view there until 1980 when it was dismantled and stored in boxes. After what Orgeman calls “a long series of conversations and negotiations” with the MoMA, the boxes were delivered to YUAG in January of 2015. It was then that the major conservation work began. The gallery’s Objects Conservator, Carol Snow, wasn’t a specialist in time-based media, Orgeman said, but has become one as a result of this project. She also mentioned the help of Jason DeBlock, a YUAG Collections Manager, who “happens to be a genius with working with mechanics.” “He’s our guru, our go-to guy with all things mechanical,” Orgeman said. Luckily, Wilfred himself created a “very technical” manual on how to care for the complicated sculptures a few years before his death in 1968. Each work has dozens of moving parts, with invented light, projection, and reflection elements. According to Orgeman, it didn’t take long to physically reconstruct the fragile machines, but calibrating the parts so that the movements would be in proper sequence was a challenge. YUAG has also engaged a lightbulb artisan from Eugene, Oregon to make hand-blown bulbs to most closely replicate those that Wilfred used.
“The shape of the filament in the bulb factors into the composition. Also the light temperature, which is very specific,” Orgeman explained. A batch of the historically-accurate bulbs will be delivered to the MoMA as part of their loan agreement for Lumia Suite, Opus 158. The Lumia Works With all the pieces in place, the kinetic, time-based sculptures come alive. In
Thomas Wilfred, Unit #86, from the Clavilux Junior (First Home Clavilux Model) series, 1930. Metal, glass, electrical and lighting elements, and an illustration-board screen in an oak-veneer cabinet. Carol and Eugene Epstein Collection. Photo Credit: Yale University Art Gallery.
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an exhibition summary provided by the museum, they explain his work as “an assemblage of electric, mechanical, and reflective elements,” employing a technique “akin to painting with the rays of a light bulb.” “The light is reflected and refracted off moving structures and is projected onto screens of varying format and size—some resembling early television cabinets, others cinema-sized screens. The resulting brilliantly colored compositions, which unfold over time, changing in palette and pattern as forms emerge and are then transformed into new shapes, call to mind the aurora borealis as it shimmers and moves across the night sky,” YUAG continues. Wilfred’s beautiful, shifting abstractions with projected light made him a true pioneer and foundational figure in American art, mixing art and technology in a time that “technology” meant the Model T and the first commercially available radios. “Enchanting in their effects, lumia are all the more remarkable for their dates of creation,” the exhibition materials continue. “The earliest works of art in the exhibition, from the late 1920s and early 1930s, precede consumer television and video by several years. Wilfred’s later works demonstrate the breadth and depth he was able to achieve by expanding his idea in both complexity and scale.” In an interview with The Arts Paper, Orgeman explained that the works are meant to be experiential, and reveal only in a limited sense what is behind the screen. “Wilfred wanted to uphold the illusion of works—that you were traveling through space and time, sitting in the dark facing one of his screens,” Orgeman said. YUAG aims to keep with his original intent and will group smaller works, but have several freestanding walls and separate darkened spaces with seating in front of larger works, encouraging visitors to slow down more than they typically would in an exhibition. Some of the machines are so fragile and heat so quickly that they will need to be cycled on and off, running for only a few minutes every hour. That said, the timing schedule will be on each object label and all works should be able to be viewed during a single visit to the gallery. Wilfred’s Place in Art History One of Wilfred’s contemporaries was László Moholy-Nagy, who taught at the Bauhaus in Germany and who was just the subject of a major retrospective at the Guggenheim in New York. “He was taken more seriously than Wilfred,” Orgeman said. “He had the Bauhaus as a platform and was a very famous artist of that period.” In comparison, Wilfred was working in the United States, an immigrant who became a citizen in 1922—which was the first year he gave a recital on his light organ, the “clavilux.” “He was trying to forge his identity,” Orgeman continued. Although Wilfred and Moholy-Nagy were “almost exactly contemporaneous,” Wilfred is sometimes thought of as a tinkerer, according to Orgeman. Which is why one of the major goals of this exhibition is to establish him
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as a serious artist. Orgeman became convinced of his place in art history slowly, after the initial look at his work in 2008, a follow-up visit by A.J. Epstein in 2009, and after a trip to A.J.’s uncle, Eugene Epstein’s home in Los Angeles, where he has a “lumia gallery” in his basement. (The Epsteins are two of the major collectors of Wilfred’s work.) “We would spend half an hour with each work, talking about the composition and mechanical nuances of each. I was still mystified, but it was intriguing. I knew there was a lot there,” Orgeman said. “The more I researched his work, I began to see that he was considered a pioneer, an innovator, and was well respected by the avant-gard. Purportedly Jackson Pollack, while a student, would watch [Wilfred’s] lumia recitals... and Moholy-Nagy, who was also a prolific writer and theorist, mentioned him in his writings at the time.” As Orgeman began to steer away from the idea that he was a “quirky tinkerer,” she also uncovered the fact that he has influenced light artists like James Turrell, who wrote the forward to the catalog that will accompany the exhibition, and Joshua White, the head of the Joshua Light Show, which still today has a following. “Joshua White remembers having seen his two of Wilfred’s smaller light boxes at the MoMA in the 1950s … and went on to create these lights shows in the late 60s and 70s,” Orgeman said. Wilfred’s lumia works have truly been critical touchstones for later generations of artists. Orgeman also points out that it’s significant that Wilfred was included in the 1952 exhibition 15 Americans at the MoMA, which was “a major landmark moment in modern art in America.” Along with Turrell’s text, the catalog will also include an essay by Orgeman, discussing Wilfred’s history as a performer of lumia and an essay by Gregory Zinman, an assistant professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech, that looks at his legacy and influence on the broader light show culture. “Our particular approach is historical, placing him within an art historical and even scientific context,” Orgeman said of Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light. “We also look at images in cosmology that influenced him in his early career.”
Thomas Wilfred, Vertical Sequence, Op. 136, 1940. Metal, glass, electrical and lighting elements, and a frosted-glass screen in an oak cabinet. Carol and Eugene Epstein Collection. Photo Credit: Yale University Art Gallery.
Reception The opening reception for Lumia will be part of “An Evening for Art Lovers” on February 14 at YUAG. The celebration will show off the opening of three shows— Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light, Small-Great Objects: Anni and Josef Albers in the Americas, and Let Us March On: Lee Friedlander and the Prayer and Pilgrimage for Freedom, an exhibition of civil rightsera photographs by Lee Friedlander—as well as the reinstallation of the African Permanent Collection Gallery. Whether it’s at the opening reception, or on your own, make some time these cold winter months to marvel at Wilfred’s Lumia at YUAG. You’ll be transported. n Visit artgallery.yale.edu for more information.
Thomas Wilfred, Untitled, Op. 161, 1965. Metal, glass, electrical and lighting elements, and a frosted-glass screen in an oak cabinet. Carol and Eugene Epstein Collection. Photo Credit: Yale University Art Gallery.
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arts everywhere
Arts in CT
fostering a new generation of artists
amanda may aruani For this issue’s Arts Everywhere spotlight, we travel to Milford, where Arts in CT has set up shop at 64 Ridge Street. The nonprofit is a bit less than a year old and is helping artists get work all over the state. “We are almost an artist agency,” explained Barbara Alexander, the founder and director of Arts in CT. Their mission is threefold: to keep artists employed, to assist with arts integration in education, and to bring the community together. While they are a multi-faceted organization, the biggest thing Arts in CT does is connect teaching artists with jobs. According to Alexander, each artist is certified through Arts in CT according to national core standards, often with a cross-discipline like math, science, or reading. It’s free for artists to be listed on their directory, and any professional artist can join. If they don’t have teaching experience or don’t have a cross-discipline, Arts in CT can provide professional development training. Background checks are also mandatory because many end up teaching in schools. (Arts in CT also connects artists with adult students, day cares, boys and girls clubs, etc.). Through the Arts in CT directory, artists have taught anywhere between a day workshop to a whole school year. “What we do is allow the artists to be artists… We want them to create a lesson plan based on their profession,” Alexander said. “Some people only think of music, art, theatre, and dance. We are bigger than that,” she added. Some of the less obvious areas of art that Arts in CT has in their directory include: horticulture, culinary art, juggling, and puppetry. “Right now in Woodbridge, one of the schools is looking for a metalist,” Alexander offered as an example in her interview with The Arts Paper. “We want to put the artists in the forefront. Not just “regular” artists, but artists that can bring the community together, so
Barbara Alexander. Photo courtesy of Arts in CT.
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An Arts in CT performance: Black History program with professional artist, Aly Tatchol, at James Morris Elementary School in Litchfield, Connecticut. Photo courtesy of Arts in CT.
that we can be an asset and a village to the children,” she said. Alexander is originally from Florida, and has been teaching for 23 years (over 15 in Connecticut schools). She is also is an actor/singer and has performed in 38 states, four countries, and can sing in six different languages. She has been a music teacher, started a tutoring association, opened Alexander Music Studio, Performing Arts in CT, and has been running the non-profit version, Arts in CT since March of 2016. She is the perfect example of a teaching artist that the organization is looking for. “I am an opera singer by trade. I studied with Dr. Gregory Hopkins, the artistic director of the Harlem Opera Theater, in New York City,” Alexander said. She also has ambitions to go on another world tour before her 50th birthday (in three years). (Arts in CT will keep operating with the oversight of a business manager.) If this sounds like a lot to juggle, just wait. You haven’t even heard of everything else Alexander has going. In addition to connecting artists with teaching jobs, Arts in CT is where to go if you would like a performance in your school or organization. They can come in and perform, or they can come in and produce a show with students from start to finish. Arts in CT also has in-house musical theater program, where they recently staged Shrek. Alexander has also organized a sidewalk
art event in New Haven and is the force behind New Haven Talent Fest, which took place in 2014, an event she wants to bring back (Alexander is currently looking for grants and people interested in sitting on a committee for this event). Arts in CT has also made charity a part of the organization from day one. Two examples from late last year include gathering names and collecting 365 donated Christmas presents for needy children and putting together gift baskets for foster care families from goods donated at their performances in Milford. Overall, Arts in CT’s goal is to get artists out in the community, especially with children. Doing so lets them see how art works and seeing it as a viable profession. In short, Arts in CT is fostering a new generation of artists. “We want to show them that we are artists, and you can do this too,” Alexander said. n Artists interested in being listed on the directory can visit their website, ArtsinCT.org or stop by the office at 64 Ridge St. in Milford to register 4-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday mornings, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Arts Everywhere is a new Arts Paper series that highlights events, organizations, and places that exist outside of New Haven, but within The Arts Council’s artistically-rich 15-town region.
Annie Jr., a past production of Arts in CT, featured Zoe Smith as Annie. Photo courtesy of Arts in CT.
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CALENDAR
Lake Street Dive will perform at College Street Music Hall, 238 College Street in New Haven, on Saturday, February 18 at 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m. Joey Dosik will open. Visit collegestreetmusichall.com for more info/tickets. Image courtesy of College Street Music Hall.
Classes & Workshops ANNIE SAILER s t u d i o s p a c e Erector Square, 319 Peck St., Building 2, 1st Floor, Studio D, New Haven. (347) 306-7660. anniesailerdancecompany.com Modern/Contemporary Dance Classes Adult, beginning, and intermediate level modern/ contemporary dance classes taught by Annie Sailer. Morning and evening classes. Adults of all ages welcome. The atmosphere is friendly, non-competitive, and professional. Go to: anniesailerdancecompany.com for details or contact Annie at: anniesailer@gmail.com. January 2-February 24. Mondays 6-7:30 p.m. (intermediate), Tuesdays 6-7:30 p.m. (beginning), Wednesdays 5:30-7 p.m. (intermediate), Fridays 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. (Community Class-beginning). Schedule subject to change. 10-class card: $150, single class: $18, Community Class: pay what you can ($5 minimum suggested). New student? First class free! Institute Library 847 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4045. Storysharing at the Institute Library The group gives its members an opportunity to share stories in a very informal atmosphere. The stories may be of any kind—traditional folk tales, myths, stories of personal experience, etc. The group is open to all levels of experience, so people with no formal
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experience of storytelling can try things out in a supportive atmosphere. January 19, 6-8 p.m. Free. eventbrite.com/e/storysharing-at-the-institutelibrary-2017-tickets-29697376653. The Poetry Institute On the third Thursday of each month, The Poetry Institute Poetry Series celebrates an eclectic mix of poetic voices. Free. Refreshments (participants are invited to bring something to share.) Open mic. Outstanding featured readers in a casual setting. Open to all members of the public. January 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free. eventbrite.com/e/poetry-institutetickets-29673151194. RSCDS at the Whitneyville Cultural Commons 1253 Whitney Avenue, Hamden. (203) 281-6591. rscdsnewhaven.org Scottish Country Dancing Enjoy dancing the social dances of Scotland. Come alone or with a friend. All dances taught. Wear soft-soled non-street shoes. Every Tuesday evening January 10-May 23, 7-9:30 p.m. $8 per evening. First night free. Suzanne Siegel Studio 2351 Boston Post Rd., Building 2, Suite 210, Guilford. (203) 215-1468. suzannesiegel.net New Drop-In Program Come & work on your art among a supportive and friendly group of artists in a quiet, large, and comfortable studio with good light and large tables. Enjoy an interactive process with questions answered, tools supplied, and plenty of suggestions for improving your process
with your materials. Email suzanne@suzannesiegel.net to sign up. Every Wednesday morning (9 a.m.-12 p.m.) through May 31. $30/week.
Dance January
13 Friday Entangling Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, Entangling will be performed by Lacina Coulibaly and Wendy Jehlen of Anikaya Dance Theater on the Main Stage of the Paul Mellon Arts Center. Entangling takes its inspiration from the physics of quantum entanglement and the
Everything you need to have a Creative Winter All Ages Art & Craft Supplies Cards & Games Novelties & Creative Gifts Journals & Notebooks Fine Writing Instruments Decorative Papers Amazing Custom Framing Ready-Made Frames 1144 Chapel St. New Haven 203.865.4855 Open 7 Days HullsNewHaven.com Much More than an Art Supply Store!
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long-distance effects of interpersonal energies. January 13, 7:30 p.m. 332 Christian Street, Wallingford. (203) 697-2398. choate.edu/boxoffice.
Exhibitions City Gallery 994 State St., New Haven. (203) 782-2489. city-gallery.org Kaleidoscope: Four Artists; Four Different Worlds New work by Judy Atlas, Meg Bloom, Phyllis Crowley, and Nancy Eisenfeld. Featuring painting, photography, and sculpture. January 5-29. Opening reception: Saturday, January 7, 2-5 p.m. (Snow date: January 8, 2-5 p.m.). Artists talk: Sunday, January 29, 2-4 p.m. Free and open to the public. Institute Library 847 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4045. institutelibrary.org Out of the Fog: Five Photographers In the gallery upstairs: a selection of photography that challenges the expectations of veiled images, encouraging viewers to examine interpretations of what cannot be seen and what remains visible, based on our wit and senses. Photographs by Marion Belanger, Sean Kernan, Steven B. Smith, Marjorie Gillette Wolfe, and Stefan Znosko. On view through January 14th. Curated by Stephen Kobasa. Free. Mikhail Shevelkin: Paintings & Illustrations Mikhail Shevelkin is a working artist who has been living in New Haven for twenty-one years after emigrating from Russia, where it took him almost ten years to “break free” from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and achieve pure
abstraction. Shevelkin uses media and materials that best suit the particular idea in progress. January 26-March 15. Opening reception: January 26, 7 p.m. Looking Then Reading An exhibition of paintings by local artists, displayed in the nooks and crannies of the historic Institute Library. Opening reception: Thursday, January 26, 7-9 p.m. Runs: January 26-May 25. Free. Kehler Liddell Gallery 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. (203) 389-9555. kehlerliddellgallery.com January Exhibit Kehler Liddell Gallery’s first exhibit of 2017 features photographer Keith Johnson and runs January 12-February 12. An opening reception will be held on January 14. See website for hours and show details. Free. Solo Shows at Kehler Liddell From February 16 to March 19, the gallery will feature Studio Still Life by Frank Bruckmann and an exhibit of work by Edith Morrison. An opening reception for both solo shows will be held on Saturday, March 11, 3-6 p.m. See website for hours and show details. Free. Knights of Columbus Museum 1 State St., New Haven. (203) 865-0400. kofcmuseum.org Crèches of Germany: Tradition and Faith Germany is a country of picturesque landscapes and charming villages, but also of deeply-rooted ancestral culture. Christmas is a significant holiday in Christianity, and it is lived and celebrated in Germany with a solemnity that finds few parallels. On view through January 29. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission & parking. Fleeing Famine: Irish Immigration to North America From 1845 to 1860, more than 1.5 million
Irish immigrants sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to North America in the cramped quarters below the decks of the “coffin ships.” Through September 17. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission & parking. New Haven Museum 114 Whitney Ave., New Haven. (203) 562-4183. newhavenmuseum.org Road Trip! Remember the excitement of piling into the car and heading out on the open road with family or friends? Take a journey through the New Haven Museum’s new exhibition, Road Trip!, a celebration of the architecture, food, and fun found on the byways and back roads of America. The adventure will run through June 17, 2017. On view daily except Mondays and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays. $2-$4. Paul Mellon Arts Center Choate Rosemary Hall 332 Christian Street, Wallingford. (203) 697-2398. Joint exhibition by Terence Netter and Reggie Bradford Netter’s Zenscapes put us face to face with the horizon and calmly invites us to enter an ideal land beyond the horizon. Bradford’s work grapples with issues of gender and identity and often utilizes found objects, challenging the viewer’s perception. Layers of meaning rise to behold. January 9-February 26. Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-7 p.m. PEABODY2 1 Broadway, New Haven. (203) 432-5050. peabody.yale.edu/events Identity, Difference, and Understanding: Lessons from Oceania and SE Asia As part of its sesquicentennial celebration, the Yale Peabody Museum announces the opening of PEABODY2, a
satellite gallery. The objective of this exhibition is to suggest new ways of thinking about what ethnographic art has to tell us about distant peoples, times, and places. On view through April 30. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1-6 p.m. Free. Perspectives ... The Gallery at Whitney Center The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 200 Leeder Hill Drive, south entrance, Hamden. (203) 772-2788. newhavenarts.org/category/perspectives Nature Constructed A multimedia exhibition that examines the complex intersection between art, nature, and culture. Exhibiting artists: Leila Daw, Geoffrey Detrani, Joan Fitzsimmons, Fritz Horstman, Joseph Saccio, and Mark Williams. Debbie Hesse curated this exhibition for The Arts Council of Greater New Haven. On view: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. through January 13. Free. Narrative Abstracts Storytelling through visual elements. Curated by The Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s Director of Artistic Services and Programs, Debbie Hesse. On view: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. Exhibition and reception dates TBA on newhavenarts.org. Free. Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon Street, second floor, New Haven. (203) 7722788. newhavenarts.org/category/crosbygallery Lustre and Rust Curated by Kevin Daley, artist and curator of Ball & Socket Arts. On view: January 10-February 24, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Reception: Thursday, January 19, 5-7 p.m.
Lee Friedlander, Untitled, from the series Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, 1957, printed later. Gelatin silver print. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Maria and Lee Friedlander, HON. 2004. © Lee Friedlander, Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco. The photography exhibition Let Us March On: Lee Friedlander and the Prayer and Pilgrimage for Freedom will be on display at Yale University Art Gallery from January 13 to July 9, 2017. This exhibition presents photographer Lee Friedlander’s images of the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, a critical yet generally neglected moment in American civil rights history. In commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, the Gallery exhibits this set of images publicly for the first time. Image courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery.
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Hoeprich, clarinet. Music by Haydn, Beethoven, and Weber. January 15, 3 p.m. Tickets $25, seniors & Yale faculty/staff $20, students $10. Yale School of Music, Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, 15 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven. (203) 432-0822. music-tickets. yale.edu/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=15844.
18 Wednesday Horowitz Piano Series: Olga Kern Pianist Olga Kern performs works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Balakirev. January 18, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $21, students $11. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/ EventDetail.aspx?p=15858.
24 Tuesday Oneppo Chamber Music Series: Brentano String Quartet Pianist Jonathan Biss and violist Hsin-Yun Huang join the Brentano String Quartet for a program that includes selections from Bach’s The Art of the Fugue; Elgar’s Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84; a selection of Gesualdo’s madrigals; and Mozart’s String Quintet in E-flat major, K. 614. January 24, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $26, students $13. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/ EventDetail.aspx?p=15694.
27 Friday Yale Philharmonia with guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero Guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads the magnificent Yale Philharmonia. Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10. January 27, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $10, Yale faculty/staff $8, students $5, $3 surcharge for purchases at the door. Yale School of Music, Woolsey Hall, 500 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/ EventDetail.aspx?p=15848.
29 Sunday Decades Rewind: A Tribute to an Era This fully live concert experience features and eight-piece rock band and six vocalists performing hit songs from the era of the hippies: Motown, The Beatles, and more! January 29, 7 p.m. Varies by seat location. Shubert Theatre, 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666. shubert.com.
February 3 Friday Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks This concert is part of the Ellington Jazz Series. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, of whom The New York Times has said, “In their hands, jazz is young again, full of ginger and pep,” perform the timeless
January 5–29 at City Gallery, 994 State Street, New Haven: Kaleidoscope: Four Artists; Four Different Worlds. New work by Judy Atlas, Meg Bloom, Phyllis Crowley, and Nancy Eisenfeld, featuring painting, photography, and sculpture. Opening Reception: Saturday, January 7, 2-5 p.m. (Snow date January 8, 2-5 p.m.). Artists Talk: Sunday, January 29, 2-4 p.m. Image courtesy of City Gallery. The Gallery at EleMar 2 Gibbs Street, New Haven. (203) 782-3544. elemarnewengland.com The National Parks Seen: Two Views David Ottenstein and Robert Lisak’s photographs in The National Parks Seen: Two Views, capture the beauty of our national parks and also explore the attempts to reconcile the lofty goals our national parks embody: “the desire to preserve pristine nature, to accommodate thousands of visitors, and to reflect the meaning of the American character.” Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. through January 14. Free. Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery 250 Flat Rock Place, Westbrook. (860) 358-6200. galleryoneCT.com The Artists of Gallery One at Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery On view through January 4. Free. Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library 146 Thimble Island Rd., Stony Creek. (203) 4888702. wwml.org Double Vision: Paintings and Works on Paper Paulette Rosen and Lisa Hess Hesselgrave present multimedia drawings, paintings, and artist’s books rooted in the atmosphere of the natural world. On view through January 2. Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday & Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1-4 p.m. Free. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 432-5050. peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/treasurespeabody-150-years-exploration-discovery Treasures of the Peabody: 150 Years of Exploration and Discovery It’s the 150th anniversary of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Founded in 1866 with a generous gift from international financier George Peabody, the Museum has served as a world leader for 150 years in the collection, preservation, and study of objects that document the diversity and history of both nature and humanity. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. through January 8. $6-$13.
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Galas & Fundraisers January 29 Sunday Matching Wine, Music & Friends Join NMS for our second Matching Wine, Music & Friends event. This year, we’re raising funds for financial aid students participating in the new After-School Arts Academy. We’re bringing back wine expert Janine Sacco, accompanied by a professional jazz ensemble, and transporting guests on a journey for the senses. January 29. Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. neighborhoodmusicschool.org.
Kids & Families Musical Folk First Presbyterian Church, 704 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 691-9759. MusicalFolk.com Music Together Classes Musical Folk, offering Music Together® Classes, a fun creative music and movement program for babies through 5-year olds and the ones who love them! Come sing, dance and play instruments in an informal and fun setting. Classes are ongoing through the year and are held in New Haven, Hamden, Woodbridge, Cheshire, and Branford. Classes held every day (morning, afternoon, and weekend classes available) at various locations. Free demo classes are also available. Four semesters per year—winter, spring, summer and fall! Tenweek semester is $220 and includes CD and songbook. Each semester is a new collection of music.
Music January 15 Sunday London Haydn Quartet Catherine Manson, violin, Michael Gurevich, violin, John Crockatt, viola, and Jonathan Manson, violoncello. With Eric
Eileen Eder, Study with Plums, Oil, 16 x 20” (detail). Hamden Art League’s monthly meeting, January 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Miller Library in Hamden, will feature a talk by Eder. Image courtesy of the Hamden Art League.
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music of the 1920s and 1930s. February 3, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $20, students $10. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/ EventDetail.aspx?p=15970.
9 Thursday New Music New Haven New Music New Haven presents a program of works including String Quartet No. 5 (“White Water”) and Second String Force, by guest composer Joan Tower, “a composer whose directness and eclecticism make her music instantly accessible,” according to The New York Times. February 9, 7:30 p.m. Free. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/ EventDetail.aspx?p=16309.
14 Tuesday Imani Winds The Imani Winds return to YSM as part of the Oneppo Chamber Music Series for a performance of music by Valerie Coleman, Julio Medaglia, Stravinsky, Anders Hillborg, Poulenc, and Simon Shaheen, with YSM faculty pianist Wei-Yi Yang. February 14, 7:30 p.m. Tickets from $26, students from $13. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets. yale.edu/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=15689. Singing Valentines on Feb. 14th It’s that time of year to tell that special someone how much they mean to you. Let a quartet from Silk’n Sounds present that message with a singing valentine on Feb 14th. We deliver to restaurants, residential, and business locations throughout Greater New Haven and Shoreline communities. Starting at $35. Call Chris at (203) 314-8661 to arrange a time February 14, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Silk’n Sounds, Greater New Haven Area, (203) 314-8661. silknsounds.org.
17 Friday, 18 Saturday, & 19 Sunday Così fan tutte The Yale Opera presents a new production with stage direction by Chas Rader-Shieber and music direction by Giuseppe Grazioli. February 17-19. Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets available through the Shubert Theatre box office shubert.com. Shubert Theater, 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666. musictickets.yale.edu/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=16013.
Long Wharf is calling Endgame a “once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience.” The Samuel Beckett play will feature two big-hitting actors, Brian Dennehy (Krapp’s Last Tape, Hughie and Love Letters) and Reg E. Cathey (“The Wire,” “House of Cards”) and will run January 5-February 5. Beckett’s uncompromising masterpiece explores the biggest question we all face—can love, family, or belief truly give meaning to our lives? Beckett’s rich use of language, mordant sense of humor, and courageous worldview combine to weave a spell both humorous and chilling. Visit Longwharf.org for more info/tickets. Image courtesy of Long Wharf Theatre.
24 Friday Faculty Concert Series – President’s Day From the Land of the Keys and the Home of the Breve Sfourzando: Vicky Reeve, Laura Richling, Margaret Ann Martin, Guest George Melillo, Noah Bloom, Naomi Senzer, Matt Torcellini, Deborah Lipton and the NMS Premier Dance Ensemble (Katherine Broun, Grace Ehle, Chloe McCrory, Adaiah Moore and Hanan Hameen, coach). February 24, 7 p.m. Free. Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon St., New Haven. (203) 624-5189. neighborhoodmusicschool.org. Yale Philharmonie in Sprague Hall Conducting fellow David Yi leads the Yale Philharmonia and student pianist Viacheslav Gryaznov in a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35. February 24, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $10, Yale faculty/staff $8, students $5. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 5625666. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/EventDetail. aspx?p=15850.
25 Saturday A Night of Firsts: An Opera, A Debut, A Premiere Brilliant young conductor Perry So leads O.N.E. in an eclectic program with four Yale Opera vocal soloists: Edgar Varese: Octandre, Joseph Russo: New England Portrait (premiere), Jean-Philippe Rameau: Dances from Les Boreades, Igor Stravinsky: Renard (one-act chamber opera). February 25, 7:30 p.m. Reserved seating $35, general admission $20, stu-
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dent $5. Orchestra New England, United Church on the Green, 270 Temple St., New Haven. (203) 777-4690. orchestranewengland.org/ night-of-firsts.
26 Sunday “Imaginary Theater”: Works of Rameau and Handel House of Time presents “Imaginary Theater”: Works of Rameau and Handel with Tatiana Daubek, violin, and Gonzalo X. Ruiz, oboe and recorder. Beiliang Zhu, viola de gamba and cello Leon Schelhase, viola da gamba February 26, 3 p.m. Tickets $25, seniors & Yale faculty/staff $20, students $10. Yale School of Music, Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, 15 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven. (203) 432-0822. music-tickets. yale.edu/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=16324.
28 Tuesday An Unlikely Muse The Oneppo Chamber Music Series presents Harry Clark’s concert drama An Unlikely Muse, for actor and six musicians, which explores the inspiration that clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld provided Brahms in the composer’s later years. Featuring: David Shifrin, clarinet, Andre Watts, piano, Jack Gilpin, narrator (Mühlfeld), Troy Hollar, director. February 28, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $26, students $13. Yale School of Music, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, New Haven. (203) 432-4158. music-tickets.yale.edu/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=15691.
Special Events January Artistry: American Craft Shopping for the Holidays Holiday shopping event featuring one-ofa-kind works from American artisans, including jewelry, ceramics, glass, fiber, ornaments, accessories, toys, specialty foods and more. Find beautiful and unique gifts or everyone on your shopping list this year! Through January 8. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Thursdays until 8 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. No entry charge; open to the public. GAC members receive 10% off all purchases. 411 Church Street, Guilford. (203) 453-5947. guilfordartcenter.org.
10 Tuesday Hamden Art League Meeting Hosts Eileen Eder’s “The B. S. of Painting” Artist Eileen Eder will discuss and demonstrate how to “Be Smart” in the planning stages of your paintings. Inspired by light as it reveals objects and nature in an endless variety of color and value, Ms. Eder works to entice the viewer to linger and reflect. With an MFA from the NY Academy of Art, she teaches at the Lyme Academy of Fine Art. January 10, 7-9 p.m. Meetings are on the second Tuesday of most months: refreshments and conversation at 7 p.m., a brief business meeting at 7:15 p.m., and artist’s program at 7:30 p.m. Free
and open to the public. Note: If Miller Library is closed due to inclement weather the meeting will be cancelled. 2901 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden. (203) 287-1322. hamdenartleague.com.
Theater Listen Here! Join us for an evening of great short fiction performed by members of the New Haven Theater Company, followed by a half-hour “talk back” with the New Haven Review team. Donations accepted; registration encouraged. January 17, 7-9 p.m. Free. Institute Library, 847 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4045. eventbrite.com/e/listen-heretickets-29627156623. Imogen Says Nothing All the world’s a stage, but in Elizabethan England all the roles are given to men. Enter Imogen, who seizes a wordless walk-on in Shakespeare’s new comedy and recasts herself in a ferocious real-life leading role. Imogen Says Nothing is the wildly theatrical & subversively funny tale of an unforgettable creature refusing to let history erase her. January 20-February 11. Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 432-1234. yalerep.org/productions-and-programs/ production/imogen-says-nothing.
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The Arts Paper january | february 2017
BULLETIN BOARD
The Arts Council provides bulletin board listings as a service to our membership and is not responsible for the content or deadlines.
Call For Actors, Singers, Dancers I Luv A Party, Inc., an entertainment & event company is seeking male and female actors, singers, and dancers for their winter season of corporate and party events. Part time work is available in New Haven, Hartford, and Fairfield counties. You may email us at nancy_jane2003@ yahoo.com with picture and resume as well as call Nancy Douglass at (203) 461-3357 to arrange for an interview/audition. Artists Join us and participate in the 10th year of Rochester Contemporary Art Center’s (RoCo) international small art phenomenon 6x6x2017. Entries Due: April 16, 2017. Learn more about 6x6x2017 at www.roco6x6.org. Artists Guilford Art Center invites fine craft artists to apply to participate in the 60th annual Craft Expo July 14-16, 2017. Works in a variety of media; must be handmade in the US or Canada. See guilfordartcenter.org for info and link to online application. Deadline is January 9, 2017. Artists The Tiny Gallery: a very big opportunity for very small art. The Tiny Gallery is a premiere space for “micro” exhibitions in the historic Audubon Arts District, located within the lighted display “totem” outside Creative Arts Workshop, at 80 Audubon St., in New Haven. The Tiny Gallery is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Submissions will be considered on a rolling basis and should include a written proposal, artist statement, and images of artwork. Call (203) 562-4927x14, email gallery@creativeartsworkshop.org, or visit creativeartsworkshop.org/tiny. Curators Open call for emerging curators. Deadline: February 3, 2017. Artspace is reviewing curatorial proposals from emerging curators and professionals in arts-related fields who are interested in mounting a ten-week exhibition at Artspace in winter 2017 and winter 2018. Learn more & apply at artspacenewhaven.org/opportunities/ open-call-emerging-curators. Musicians The New Haven Chamber Orchestra has openings for strings for the 2016-2017 season. The orchestra rehearses on Tuesday evenings at the Fair Haven School, 164 Grand Avenue. The orchestra performs three concerts per season. To sit in on a rehearsal or to audition, contact the orchestra via e-mail at info@newhavenchamberorchestra.org. Photographers Are you a fan of photography? A program of The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Photo Arts Collective aims to cultivate and support a community of individuals who share an interest in photography through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques, and special events. The Photo Arts Collective meets the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. Photographers A small group of dedicated, friendly photographers is seeking a few new members. If you consider yourself an advanced creative amateur who can’t wait to get that next great shot, call us... no fees, no B.S., just a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. Fred Rosenthal, (203) 481-0173, fmrosenthal@comcast.net. Poets Artspace New Haven invites poets working in all genres of poetry to apply to be considered for our Opening Poems project. Artspace will consider applications on a rolling basis. Through this project, Artspace seeks to commission original poems written in response to one or more images and/or works in our exhibitions opening through spring 2018.
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Poets both emerging and established, based in Connecticut or out-of-state are invited to submit. Learn more: artspacenewhaven.org/opportunities. Singers The New Haven Oratorio Choir invites singers of all voice parts to audition for a position in the choir. We will be performing a spring concert on May 13 entitled Northern Lights, featuring selections from composers from the northernmost countries. Auditions will be held during the first week of January. The first scheduled rehearsal is January 11. Regular rehearsals are held on Wednesdays from 8-10 p.m. at the Church of the Redeemer in New Haven, on the corner of Whitney Ave. and Cold Spring St. Please contact Gretchen Pritchard at (203) 624-2520 or membership@nhoratorio.org to schedule an audition. For more information please check out our website nhoratorio.org. Singers of all experience levels are invited to join Greater New Haven Community Chorus. No audition required during open enrollment period. Spring repertoire for the June 10 concert features John Rutter’s Requiem. Thursday rehearsals begin January 5, 7 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 704 Whitney Ave., New Haven. Details at gnhcc.org. Singers The award winning Silk n’ Sounds Chorus is looking for new members from the Greater New Haven area. We invite women to join us at any of our rehearsals to learn more. We enjoy four-part a cappella singing, specializing in the barbershop harmony style. Our repertoire has broadened to also include jazz, traditional American Songbook, and other styles. Rehearsals are every Tuesday from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Spring Glen Church, 1825 Whitney Ave., Hamden. Contact Lynn at (203) 623-1276 for more information. silknsounds.org. Teachers Teaching positions at Neighborhood Music School. We are always on the lookout for talented and dedicated instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers to join our exceptional faculty! If you are passionate about teaching, please send your CV/resume, along with a cover letter detailing your teaching interests and expertise to: jobs@ neighborhoodmusicschool.org. Tell us what you value and why you feel you might be a good fit for NMS. We look forward to hearing from you! Volunteers The Yale Center for British Art welcomes applications for Information Volunteers. Volunteers make an invaluable contribution by helping to carry out our mission to inform and educate the public about our collections. Following training, volunteers commit to the program for a minimum of one year. Volunteers receive special benefits including private tours and a museum shop discount. If you would like to be part of a committed corps of individuals, possess a love and appreciation of art, and a fondness for interacting with the public, please email ycba.volunteer@yale.edu or call (203) 432-9491 for more information. Volunteers and Interns Volunteering at the Institute Library is a great way to meet your local community, have fun, and make a major difference at one New Haven’s great treasures. More volunteers means more (and longer) hours that we can stay open! Contact us if you are interested at home@ institutelibrary.org. Our internship program is also expanding! Let us know if you are a high school, college, or continuing education student looking for credit and a meaningful professional development experience. Volunteers Volunteers are a vital part of Artspace’s operation. Volunteering with Artspace is a great way to support the organization, meet new people, and develop new skills. Our volunteers provide a service that is invaluable to making Artspace function
smoothly. We simply couldn’t operate without the tremendous support of our volunteers. To find out more about volunteer opportunities, please contact Shelli Stevens shelli@artspacenh.org.
Creative Services Art Therapy I help people of all ages use creative expression to access their innate wisdom and transform suffering into joy. My New Haven office has a relaxing view of the Quinnipiac River. I offer a free consultation to discuss if an expressive approach could benefit you. (203) 903-3156. Abigail Tischler, LCSW, ATR-BC. Historic Home Restoration Contractor Period appropriate additions, baths, kitchens & remodeling, Sagging porches straightened/leveled, wood windows restored, plaster restored, historic molding & hardware, vinyl/aluminum siding removal, wood siding repair/replace, CT & NH Preservation Trusts. RJ Aley Building Contractor: (203) 226-9933, jaley@rjaley.com. Web Design & Art Consulting Services Startup business solutions. Creative, sleek web design by art curator and editor for artist, design, architecture, and small-business sites. Will create and maintain any kind of website. Hosting provided. Also available for low-cost, in-depth artwork analysis, writing, and editing services. (203) 387-4933. azothgallery@ comcast.net.
The Arts Paper advertising and calendar deadlines: The deadline for advertisements and calendar listings for the March issue of The Arts Paper is: Monday, January 30 at 5 p.m. Future deadlines are as follows: April 2017: Monday, February 27, 5 p.m. May 2017: Monday, March 27, 5 p.m. June 2017: Monday, April 24, 5 p.m. July/August 2017: Friday, May 26, 5 p.m.
Space
September 2017: Monday, July 24, 5 p.m.
Artist Studio West Cove Studio and Gallery offers work space with two large Charles Brand intaglio etching presses, lithography press, and stainless-steel work station. Workshops and technical support available. Ample display area for shows. Membership: $75 per month. 30 Elm St., West Haven. Individual studio space also available. Call (609) 638-8501 or visit westcovestudio.org.
October 2017: Monday, August 28, 5 p.m.
Events and Parties With 2,000 square feet of open exhibition space, Kehler Liddell Gallery is a unique venue for hosting events. We tailor to the special interests of private parties, corporate groups, arts organizations, charities and academic institutions. Our inviting, contemporary setting provides the perfect venue for your guests to relax, mingle, and enjoy the company of friends. We provide a warm atmosphere filled with paintings, drawings and sculptures by local CT artists and free parking, with front door wheelchair access. See kehlerliddellgallery.com/ event-rental, roywmon@gmail.com, or Roy at (203) 872-4139. Studio/Event Space at Erector Square in New Haven available for dance and theatre rehearsals and performances, events, workshops, and exhibitions. 1,500 square feet, 1st floor, 14 ft. ceilings, white walls, great light, wooden floors. Contact Annie at anniesailer@gmail.com.
November 2017: Monday, September 25, 5 p.m. December 2017: Monday, October 23, 5 p.m.
Calendar listings are for Arts Council members only and should be submitted online at newhavenarts. org. Arts Council members can request a username and password by sending an e-mail to communications@newhavenarts.org. The Arts Council’s online calendar includes listings for programs and events taking place within 12 months of the current date. Listings submitted by the calendar deadline are included on a monthly basis in The Arts Paper.
Studio Space for dance, performing arts, events. A 1,500-square-foot space with adjoining rooms in a turn-of-the-century mansion in a historic district. Hardwood floors. Vintage stage with curtains. Mahogany woodwork and glass doors. Ample natural light. Chairs and tables on premises. Contact whitneyartsctr@aol.com.
Jobs Please visit newhavenarts.org for up-to-date local employment opportunities in the arts.
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The Arts Paper january | february 2017
The 2016 Arts Awards Celebrated ac staff photos by judy sirota rosenthal The Arts Council’s annual Arts Awards honored “Creative Communicators” this year. Photographer and partner at Wiggin and Dana law firm, Charles C. Kingsley received the C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement in and Contribution to the Arts. Other honorees recognized at the December 2 luncheon at the New Haven Lawn Club included New Haven Museum Executive Director Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky, filmmaker Travis Carbonella, muralist and educator Kwadwo Adae, journalist/artist/retired educator David Sepulveda, and the social enterprise East Street Arts. We at the Arts Council are grateful to the following sponsors that made this event possible:
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, CT Sinus Center, Wiggin and Dana, AVANGRID Foundation, Cannelli Printing, Edgehill Realtors, Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven, Key Bank, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Interactive, People’s United Bank, Yale– New Haven Hospital, and Yale University.
The 2016 Arts Award winners. Back row (left to right): Eric Ginnish and Rhonda Voos (representing East Street Arts), Travis Carbonella, Kwadwo Adae, Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky, and David Sepulveda. Front row: Isabel Martin and Joseph Cappolla (representing East Street Arts). Not pictured: Charles C. Kingsley.
Lifetime award winner Charles C. Kingsley with Arts Awards presenter Ron Ebrecht.
Arts Award winner Travis Carbonella.
Adam Christoferson of Musical Intervention with President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, William W. Ginsberg.
Pianist Andrew Rubenoff.
Shoreline Arts Alliance’s Eric Dillner and Donita Aruny with Bitsie Clark.
Kwadwo Adae accepting his award.
Ray Baldelli (left) and Wojtek Borowski (right) from Edgehill Realtors with former Arts Council board member Lois DeLise (center).
Mark Slater with Arts Award winner Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky.
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january | february 2017 •
The Arts Paper member organizations & partners
Arts & Cultural Organizations
Chestnut Hill Concerts chestnuthillconcerts.org (203) 245-5736
Firehouse 12 firehouse12.com (203) 785-0468
A Broken Umbrella Theatre abrokenumbrella.org
The Choirs of Trinity Church on the Green trinitynewhaven.org
Gallery One CT galleryonect.com
ACES Educational Center for the Arts aces.k12.ct.us Alyla Suzuki Early Childhood Music Education alylasuzuki.com (203) 239-6026 American Guild of Organists sacredmusicct.org Artfarm art-farm.org Arts Center Killingworth artscenterkillingworth.org (860) 663-5593 Arts for Learning Connecticut www.aflct.org Arts in CT artsinct.org Artspace artspacenh.org (203) 772-2709 Artsplace: Cheshire Performing & Fine Art cpfa-artsplace.org (203) 272-2787 ARTTN Gallery www.arttngallery.com Ball & Socket Arts ballandsocket.org Bethesda Music Series bethesdanewhaven.org (203) 787-2346 Blackfriars Repertory Theatre blackfriarsrep.com Branford Art Center branfordartscenter.org Branford Folk Music Society branfordfolk.org
City Gallery city-gallery.org (203) 782-2489 Civic Orchestra of New Haven civicorchestraofnewhaven.org Classical Contemporary Ballet Theatre ccbtballettheatre.org College Street Music Hall collegestreetmusichall.com
Guilford Art Center guilfordartcenter.org (203) 453-5947 Guilford Art League gal-cat.blogspot.com Guilford Poets Guild guilfordpoetsguild.org Guitartown CT Productions guitartownct.com (203) 430-6020
Lyman Center at SCSU www.lyman.southernct.edu
New Haven Paint & Clay Club newhavenpaintandclayclub.org
The Second Movement secondmovementseries.org
Creative Businesses
Madison Art Society madisonartsociety.blogspot.com
New Haven Symphony Orchestra newhavensymphony.org (203) 865-0831
Theater Department at SCSU/ Crescent Players southernct.edu/theater
Access Audio-Visual Systems accessaudiovisual.com
New Haven Theater Company newhaventheatercompany.com
University Glee Club of New Haven universitygleeclub.org
Make Haven makehaven.org Mattatuck Museum mattatuckmuseum.org Meet the Artists and Artisans meettheartistsandartisans.com (203) 874-5672 Melinda Marquez Flamenco Dance Center melindamarquezfdc.org (203) 361-1210
One True Palette onetruepalette.com Orchestra New England orchestranewengland.org (203) 777-4690 Palette Art Studio paletteartstudio.com
Hull’s Art Supply and Framing hullsnewhaven.com (203) 865-4855 I Luv A Party 203-461-3357
Wesleyan University Center for the Arts wesleyan.edu/cfa
Toad’s Place toadsplace.com
West Cove Studio & Gallery westcovestudio.com (609) 638-8501
Pantochino Productions pantochino.com
Yale Cabaret yalecabaret.org (203) 432-1566
Community Partners
Paul Mellon Arts Center choate.edu/artscenter
Yale Center for British Art yale.edu/ycba
Connecticut Experiential Learning Center ctexperiential.org
Yale Institute of Sacred Music yale.edu.ism (203) 432-5180
Connecticut Dance Alliance ctdanceall.com
Greater New Haven Community Chorus gnhcc.org
Milford Fine Arts Council milfordarts.org (203) 878-6647
Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus ctgmc.org 1-800-644-cgmc
Hamden Art League hamdenartleague.com (203) 494-2316
Music Haven musichavenct.org (203) 745-9030
Play with Grace playwithgrace.com
Connecticut Natural Science Illustrators ctnsi.com (203) 934-0878
Hamden Symphony Orchestra hamdensymphony.org
Musical Folk musicalfolk.com
Reynolds Fine Art reynoldsfineart.com
Hopkins School hopkins.edu
Neighborhood Music School neighborhoodmusicschool.org (203) 624-5189
Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, New Haven Branch nhrscds.org
Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital Child Life Arts & Enrichment Program www.ynhh.org (203) 688-9532
Nelson Hall at Elim Park nelsonhallelimpark.org
Shoreline Arts Alliance shorelinearts.org (203) 453-3890
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History peabody.yale.edu
Shoreline ArtsTrail shorelineartstrail.com
Yale Repertory Theatre yalerep.org (203) 432-1234
New Haven Preservation Trust nhpt.org
Yale School of Music music.yale.edu (203) 432-1965
Town Green Special Services District infonewhaven.com
Yale University Art Gallery artgallery.yale.edu
Visit New Haven visitnewhaven.com
Yale University Bands yale.edu/yaleband (203) 432-4111
Westville Village Renaissance Alliance westvillect.org
Creative Arts Workshop 203-562-4927 creativeartsworkshop.org Creative Concerts (203) 795-3365 CT Folk ctfolk.com DaSilva Gallery dasilva-gallery.com 203-387-2539
The Institute Library institutelibrary.org International Festival of Arts & Ideas artidea.org Jazz Haven jazzhaven.org
New Haven Ballet newhavenballet.org (203) 782-9038 New Haven Chamber Orchestra newhavenchamberorchestra.org
Kehler Liddell Gallery (203) 389-9555 kehlerliddell.com
New Haven Chorale newhavenchorale.org
East Street Arts eaststreetartsnh.org (203) 776-6310
Knights of Columbus Museum kofcmuseum.org
New Haven Free Public Library nhfpl.org
EcoWorks CT ecoworksct.org
Legacy Theatre legacytheatrect.org
New Haven Museum newhavenmuseum.org (203) 562-4183
Elm City Dance Collective elmcitydance.org
Long Wharf Theatre longwharf.org (203) 787-4282
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Shubert Theater shubert.com (203) 562-5666 Silk n’ Sounds silknsounds.org Site Projects siteprojects.org Susan Powell Fine Art susanpowellfineart.com (203) 318-0616
Department of Arts Culture & Tourism, City of New Haven cityofnewhaven.com (203) 946-8378 DECD/CT Office of the Arts cultureandtourism.org (860) 256-2800 Fractured Atlas fracturedatlas.org JCC of Greater New Haven jccnh.org
New Haven Oratorio Choir nhoratorio.org
newhavenarts.org • 19
The Arts Paper arts council programs
Perspectives ‌ The Gallery at Whitney Center Location: 200 Leeder Hill Drive, South Entrance, Hamden Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.
Nature Constructed Marjorie Wolfe. Lustre and Rust. Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery.
Curated by Debbie Hesse A multimedia exhibition that examines the complex intersection between art, nature, and culture. Dates: Extended through January 13
Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery Location: The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon St., 2nd Floor, New Haven Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Lustre and Rust Curated by Kevin Daley, artist and curator of Ball & Socket Arts in Cheshire. Dates: January 10-February 24 Reception: Thursday, January 19, 5-7 p.m.
Advice from the AC
Crystal Gregory. Lustre and Rust. Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery.
Need help finding exhibition space/opportunities, performance/rehearsal space or developing new ways to promote your work or creative event? Schedule a free one-on-one consultation with Debbie Hesse, the organization’s director of artist services and programs, by calling (203) 772-2788. Walk-ins are also welcome. Dates: Thursdays, January 19 and February 2, 1-4 p.m. Location: Lotta Studio, 911 Whalley Avenue, Westville Village, New Haven
Photo Arts Collective The Photo Arts Collective is an Arts Council program that aims to cultivate and support a community of individuals who share an interest in photography, through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques, and events. The Photo Arts Collective meets the first Thursday of the month at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whitney Ave., New Haven, at 7 p.m. To learn more, send email to photoartscollective@gmail.com.
Artist-Led Workshops in the Community Bill Fischer with likeness of himself by Abbie Rabinowitz at the ALL IN reception.
Carl V. Puleo at the ALL IN reception.
If you are an artist and are interested in conducting an artist-led workshop this coming year, please contact Debbie Hesse at dhesse@newhavenarts.org.
Coming Soon... Spring Professional Development Workshop Series: Technical Support for Artists and Arts Organizations Topics include tax preparation, financial planning, promotion, grants, and more. See newhavenarts.org for detailed schedule.
Gallery view of Nature Constructed at the Perspectives Gallery.
Artist Briah Luckey leads a workshop at Park Ridge Senior Center in New Haven.
For more information on these events and more visit newhavenarts.org or check out our mobile events calendar using the Arts, Nightlife, Dining & Information (ANDI) app for smartphones.