All across Connecticut, young artists are moving into rehabbed old buildings, setting up creative new businesses and bringing new life to their communities. I’d like to share two examples.
In Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood, factories and warehouses have been converted into apartments and commercial space. A new CPTV series called “The Parkville Sessions” tells this story through the eyes of some of the musicians who now call Parkville home.
But it’s not just a city thing. In Litchfield, the former Bantam Switch Factory has been renovated and converted into commercial space for artists and artisans. Today, the occupants of the Bantam Arts Factory are helping draw younger people to this rural town. “Arts means business,” says Jocelyn Ayer of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments.
Click the links below and get a sample of the exciting things arts are making happen in our communities!
The Parkville Sessions, Bantam Arts Factory, Bantam revitalization
AAMC Foundation Launches Call For Applications For Its Propel Program
AAMC Foundation has opened the next application cycle for its Propel Program, a multifaceted initiative designed to support and accelerate a curator’s mid-career advancement
Professional Alliance for Curators of Color
The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) Foundation announced the Professional Alliance for Curators of Color (PACC), an initiative designed to support curators of color around the globe, has opened applications for its third edition.
Muse Squad Teams With Learning Streams
Homeschoolers have a new creative writing course! Muse Squad, a creative writing program just for kids, unites with Learning Streams, an alternative education center in Bethel, Connecticut. The whimsical facility is located at 145 Grassy Plain Street. The class meets twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 11 AM – 12:30 PM, May 17 – June 16.
Funding Roadmap Action Alert Reminder
Urge the Appropriations Committee to support the Funding Roadmap.
Thrown Stone Awarded NEA Grant For “Invitation To The Conversation”
Thrown Stone launches its Invitation to the Conversation program.
Arts Workforce Initiative – Apply Today for an Apprenticeship
We are currently accepting submissions from individuals who are interested in a summer apprenticeship with a non-profit arts organization. The apprenticeship period is June – August 2023.
Student Art Show: Artist on the Rise 2023!
Over 200 people attended our reception and awards ceremony for our Student Art Show: Artist on the Rise 2023! Over 140 students from surrounding High Schools submitted works for display in the Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery in our Mill Building.
All About the CT Communities Challenge Grant
CMSC Webinar: All About the CT Communities Challenge Grant, CT Main Street Center MARCH 30 | 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhbition at Western CT State University
Dan Baker, of Danbury, is an interdisciplinary artist who works in multiple practices, including photography, printmaking, painting, drawing and collage. In 2021, he earned a B.A. in Photography from WCSU, where he is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Visual Art. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant at WCSU, he has worked in several advanced photography courses. “My work in the exhibition shows the ups and downs of everything that I have faced within my education. By mixing my background in photography, I attempt to show the emotion that I felt to create these works. I mix the mediums that I use to show what I want to express,” Baker said.
His work was exhibited at the Brookfield Craft Center in 2021 and at WCSU in “Covering Blue Note (1 & 2),” collaborative shows with the WCSU Department of Art and Department of Music in 2019. Baker’s short film, entitled “Perfect Lovers,” was shown on “The Marty Heiser Show” and “The Chris Pante Show” on Danbury, Bethel and Ridgefield Television. Upcoming in May 2023, he will have a solo exhibition of mixed media works at Art in Common Gallery, Ridgefield.
WCSU presents “Fairview,” a relevant and evocative play on social conditions in America
Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, “Fairview” is “a searing examination of families, drama, family dramas and the insidiousness of white supremacy,” and is described by the New York Times as “dazzling and ruthless … a glorious, scary reminder of the unmatched power of live theater to rattle, roil and shake us wide awake.” The Pulitzer committee called the play “a hard-hitting drama that examines race in a highly conceptual, layered structure, ultimately bringing audiences into the actors’ community to face deep-seated prejudices.”
A Greek Celebration at Western CT State University
he tastes, sounds and art of Greece come to Western Connecticut State University on Tuesday, March 28, for the Macricostas Greek Celebration. The special evening of Greek culture is free and open to the public and will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in WCSU’s Higgins Hall Lobby, Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Advance registration is required.
WCSU Presents Renowned Afghan Potter Matin Malikzada
Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghan master potter, fled the Taliban to resettle in New Milford with help from New Milford Refugee Resettlement. His work is internationally recognized for its technical skill and elegant designs, and has been displayed all around the world, including in the Japan International Museum, Tokyo, Japan; the Islamic National Museum, Doha, Qatar; Leighton House and Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom; the Smithsonian Institute’s Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C.; and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.