FOCUS ON FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT by New Venture Media Group

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FOCUS ON FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT ooking for a city escape, or maybe a quick coun-

try getaway? Want to breathe salt air and take in

a scenic coastline? Only forty miles from

Manhattan, you can enjoy all three experiences in south-

western Connecticut’s Fairfield County. Two dozen communities in this sophisticated, diverse corner of the

Nutmeg State are rich in a vibrant arts and culture scene.

Connecticut’s most populated city, Bridgeport, prom-

ises urban adventure, as revitalization over the past two decades has breathed new life into the downtown. The cultural transformation of Park City—the nickname

derives from Bridgeport’s many open spaces—included the conversion of what once was New England’s

largest department store into Read’s Artspace, a live/

work development for artists with a 4,000 square foot public gallery space on the ground floor.

Read’s Ground Floor Gallery is among the partici-

pating galleries and three theaters in the 4th Annual

Photos: Michele Frentrop

Bridgeport Art Trail happening over Veteran’s Day

weekend. Each year an average of 2,000 Art Trail visitors turn out to meet the city’s artists, enjoy music, and purchase art. New this year is a guided bus tour on Satur-

day morning that starts downtown at City Lights Gallery

at 34 Markle Court, a block from the Barnum Museum,

and then heads to the American Fabrics Building of

Design, Neighborhood Studios, Gallery 305k, Read's

Ground Floor Gallery and studios, and The Nest. Other

weekend diversions include a bicycle tour and a limited number of free Greater Bridgeport Transit bus passes.

Also participating in the Art Trail is the Housatonic

Museum of Art at Housatonic Community College. The generosity of artists and collectors has led to this world class museum which has Rodin, Renoir, Christo and

Jeanne-Claude, Warhol, Picasso, Mirò, and Chagall as

MONOTHON2012

Discover the Bridgeport Art Trail Tour Open Studios Veteran’s Day Weekend, Thursday-Sunday 11/8-11, 2012

IS COMING!

LIVE AUCTION AND PART Y

November 17, 6 –9 pm Original works by Wolf Kahn, Emily Mason, Bryan Nash Gill, James Prosek, Julio Valdez and other prominent artists Guy Bennett, Auctioneer

Online Auction Preview at contemprints.org

3 1

5 4 6

Venues Include: 1 American Fabrics Arts 2 305 Knowlton Street 3 Read’s Ground Floor Gallery 4 City Lights Gallery 5 The Nest 6 Barnum Museum For full listing of participating venues, schedule and bus tours:

299 West Ave | Norwalk CT | 203 t 899 t7999 www.contemprints.org

ART NEW ENGLAND

November/December 2012

www.bridgeport-art-trail.org (203)334-7748

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT well as ethnographic objects from Africa, Oceania and

Washington Street, you’ll find Galerie Sono, with its

Center hosts a marathon of monotype printing that pro-

works of art. That makes the Hous-atonic’s collection the

includes works by artists such as Wolf Kahn, Jamali,

tunity for collectors to participate in silent and live auc-

college in the country.

sented has a designated wall panel in the 5,000 square

the Americas represented in its collection of nearly 4,000 largest and arguably most significant of any two-year

Heading south to the city of Norwalk, a hip, edgy

vibe pulses through The Factory Underground, a 2,000

square foot recording studio and sound stage, and reno-

expansive showroom of contemporary fine art that

duces extraordinary original works and a special oppor-

Anne Packard, and Carmelo Blandino. Each artist repre-

and Party fundraiser takes place Saturday, November 17.

foot gallery that has large, inviting windows.

Tickets include a bid number, food, and drink.

communities, Norwalk has become a haven for artists.

once was a thriving industrial community. Danbury pro-

Considered more affordable than its neighboring

The city of Danbury in northern Fairfield County

vated 2,500 square foot renovated gallery/event space.

The Wilson Avenue Loft artist studios have played an

bowling alley, an inactive World War II era bomb sus-

front city with open studio events and exhibitions. More

Reclaimed wood from a Catskills barn and a Brooklyn

tions. This year’s Fourteenth Annual Monothon Auction

instrumental role in nurturing and enriching this water-

duced about a quarter of all the hats made in America. Where the Beckerle Hat Factory once stood on the Still

River is now the site of The Gallery at Still River

pended from the ceiling and a 1950s Chicago traffic light

than a dozen artists rent space and show their work

Editions, which has hosted national and regional pho-

and contemporary art lighting might have you thinking

workspace at 225 Wilson Avenue. This year’s experience

Gallery’s programs occur quarterly. Through December

drive away from the revitalized arts district known as

November 10; and Sunday, November 11.

are part of the eclectic décor here. Exposed steel beams

you’re in a Soho loft. Turns out you’re a seven minute

SoNo, where you can walk along blocks of brick ware-

houses and old fisheries that have been transformed into bars and restaurants, galleries and boutiques. Anchoring

together at an annual open studio at the gallery and will happen Friday evening, November 9; Saturday,

tographers and artists since 1989. The East Liberty Street

21 it offers its Second Annual Affordable Art Exhibition

and Sale, an invitational group exhibition of archival dig-

Norwalk’s Center for Contemporary Printmaking

on West Avenue is dedicated to printmaking, papermak-

ing, book arts, and digital experimentation. Each year the

ital prints of work by sixteen Connecticut photographers

(and one artist from New Jersey). The photographs, each

sized sixteen-by-twenty-inches and priced at $100, were archivally printed by Still River Editions.

Fairfield County’s bucolic towns have long drawn

artists to gather and work amid their scenery. Quiet,

peaceful New Canaan on the southern border of

silvermine arts center Enjoy our grounds, see an exhibition, enjoy a performance or event, take a class…. Feel the vibrancy that is Silvermine Arts Center.

Exhibition November 11-December 20 Cecilia Moy Fradet “Dreams of Devotion and Delight” / Susan White “Picture Perfect” / Guild Group Show “Important Incidentals” / Historical Exhibit “Reuben Nakian: Eight Decades of Creation”

Silvermine School of Art Holiday Fundraiser

Westchester County is also bounded by Wilton,

Norwalk, Darien and Stamford. Three miles from town is the Silvermine Arts Center, situated on a beautiful

four-and-a-half-acre campus with a pond and sculpture

walk and five galleries presenting new exhibitions

changing frequently. Celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this year, Silvermine has a guild membership of

over 300 professional artists and presents a range of art courses, special events and programming.

From November 11 through December 20,

Silvermine presents four simultaneous exhibitions.

Additionally, Silvermine’s School of Art Holiday

Fundraiser, taking place this year the weekend of

French Impressionists • Westport River Gallery

Saturday, December 1, 10am-4pm Sunday, December 2, 1pm-5pm Shop for wonderful gifts, in all media, created by our talented students and faculty

Fine Art & Artisan’s Trunk Show Saturday, December 1, 10am-4pm 1037 Silvermine Road New Canaan, CT 06840 203-966-9700 www.silvermineart.org

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT December 1–2, is a great opportunity to locate gifts in a variety of media created by students and faculty.

These encompass ceramics, prints, paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, and wearable art.

Coastal Westport has sandy beaches, inland

woods and a riverside downtown with charming art galleries, boutiques, and the prestigious Westport

Country Playhouse. It is a summer resort and destination for artists that has evolved into a desirable bedroom community for New Yorkers. Over the

years, Westport’s notable, diverse residents have

included Helen Keller, Paul Newman and Joanne

Woodward, Patty Hearst, Meat Loaf and Rolling Stone Keith Richards.

Located off the Saugatuck River on Riverside

Avenue is the Westport River Gallery, which has earned a reputation for its extensive collection of

original French Impressionist art, including works by Camille Pissarro. Also represented is work, including

art glass, by a range of international contemporary

artists. Nearby is the Westport Arts Center, a 2,000

At the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, master printer Anthony Kirk (left) editioning a print for artist Julio Valdez. Photo: CCP.

square-foot gallery that presents five exhibitions a year.

Running November 16 through January 13 is Muse, featuring work by Paul Cadmus, Jane Sutherland, Chuck

Close and others. The center’s innovative staff and cura-

tors present programming that reaches about 11,000 peo-

ple each year, spanning visual arts as well as chamber music, jazz, literary arts and film. Art therapy classes

include a newly launched “WAC Gives Back” for indi-

viduals with special needs.

No need to go all the way to New York to experience

extraordinary visual and performing arts, distinctive fes-

tivals, and shopping for art. You have only to go as far as the gold coast of Connecticut. Fairfield County offers many reasons to visit—and to keep coming back.

—Janine Weisman

Now celebrating 15 years in Historic South Norwalk, CT in a new 5,000 sq.ft. showroom.

900 Lafayette Blvd Bridgeport, CT

Visual Arts Performing Arts Education Emerson Woelffer, The Big Kiss; photo by Paul Mutino

W W W.HOUSATONICMUSEUM.ORG

ART NEW ENGLAND

November/December 2012

Gallery open seven days a week