Artist Newsletter: JULY 2023

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Subject: Artist Newsletter: JULY 2023

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News & Opportunities for Individual Creatives in

Fairfield County CT

July 2023

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Diane Tate has worked in the nonprofit arena her entire career, focusing on organizations that serve in different ways. Ms. Tate serves on the Boards of The Palmetto Hope Network (www.palmettohopenetwork.org) and R.E.A.P.- Rural Education Advocacy Project www.reapgh.organd volunteers in her local community. Along the journey, she has always appreciated the chance to serve, sharing her skills to increase the opportunities for those living on the margins of our society. She published her memoir and poetry, Under the Radar: When Truth Hides in Plain Sight.

CAFC NEWS

Registration is now open for the next Artist WorkLab: "Setting Up E-Commerce for Success and Sales" on Wednesday August 2 from 5:30 to 7 PM. This series is free and open to any artist working in any medium. Produced in collaboration with Metro Art Studios and with the support of Connecticut Humanities, Artist WorkLab brings you panels and discussions to help your art career thrive!

ACE AWARDS SUCCESS!

The 7th Annual Arts and Culture Empowerment (ACE) Awards were held on Wednesday, June 21 at Norwalk Shore and Country Club. With 170 arts and culture bearers in attendance and inspirational talks from nine speakers, this year was a huge success. Speakers included Michelle Lapine McCabe, Executive Director, Connecticut Main Street Center, who offered a keynote address that focuses on her own role in bringing communities together to invigorate and sustain our downtowns. In addition to Michelle, speakers included Elizabeth Shapiro, Director of Arts, Preservation and Museums (DECD) and Jason Mancini, Executive Director, Connecticut Humanities. Emcee: Tony-Award winner James Naughton. Awardees included Cris Dam, Artist Award; Vic Mulaire, The NEST Arts Factory, Citizen Award; David Genovese, Baywater Properties, Corporate Award; Jenny Nelson, Westport Country Playhouse, Educator Award; Michael Jehle, Fairfield Museum & History Centre, Nonprofit Award; Clea Newman Soderlund on behalf of Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward, President's Award. The videos of the event are now available:

WATCH HIGHLIGHT REEL

WATCH FULL VIDEO

JULY SPOTLIGHT ON ARTS & CULTURE PODCAST NOW AVAILABLE

The podcast of our July 10 broadcast on the "Good to Great" award winners is now available on Soundcloud. The highly competitive “Good to Great” grant, jointly administered by the CT Office of the Arts and CT Humanities, is awarded to “organizations of all sizes who demonstrate deep thinking about who they are as organizations, and what they could be if granted access to capital funding.” We thought this was a great opportunity to spotlight these organizations, the work they do, and how they will be using their grants to transform their organizations. Our guests were:

• Cybele Maylone, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield

• Peter Gistelinck, Avon Theatre Film Center, Stamford

• Kathy Maher, Barnum Museum, Bridgeport

• Tracy Kay, Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens, Stamford

• Howard Lasser, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield

• Hilary Wittmann, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan

• Clare Murray, cARTie, Shelton

• Maggie Dimock, Greenwich Historical Society, Greenwich

• Steve di Costanzo, WPKN, Bridgeport

LISTEN HERE

MEMBER NEWS

Nancy Breakstone 's photograph “Discarded” (iphone, 26” x 26”) was juried into the Rowayton Arts Center’s Photography and Sculpture Show 2023, along with two of her other photos. The show runs through August 6th, and there was an opening reception on July 16th. Nancy also has photographs showing in the Silvermine Guild Summer Salon 2023 Exhibit, July 22-Aug 24 with an opening reception on July 22, 2-4pm; the Decagon Gallery Openings Exhibition, July-Aug; and Fusion Art’s 7th Annual Skies International Online Juried Art Exhibition, July 1-31 with her photo in that exhibit receiving an Honorable Mention Award. WEBSITE

Tom Carruthers was one of 10 artists chosen from more than 300 in the Assets for Artists Capacity-Building Grant program, In partnership with the Connecticut Office of the Arts. Thomas had an early career as a professional musician and band leader and a subsequent pathway producing and promoting live music and film events. During this time, he never lost sight of his love for printmaking and strong visual messaging and continued to channel his passion and sense of connection to color, composition and imagery to create the graphics for his company’s marketing materials. Now eager to focus that passion into a career in the visual arts, Thomas is honing his printmaking skills and working on a collection of collagraphs, monoprints and etchings.

Carlos Davila has just had a new a new public art sculpture called Tangent installed in downtown Fayetteville NC as part of Artscape 7 for the Arts Council of Fayetteville. The 14' tall sculpture sits at the intersection of Hay St and Ray Avenue, the entry point to the downtown area. The sculptures in this series are constructed of triangular forms as a play on geometry. Tangent provides a different view from every angle as you walk around it. The different planes of the work show different tones of color, based on the angle of the sun, shadows, and reflections from the surrounding environment. See more of his work at www.carlos-davila.com

Susan Fehlinger has over twenty oil paintings on display at the Cheshire Public Library through July 29th. A reception and Meet the Artist event was held on Thursday, July 20th.This body of work, which reflects Fehlinger’s continuing fascination with coastal architectural and seascapes, is painted entirely with a palette knife, which gives it a distinct style. While in Cheshire she has been teaching ‘How to paint with a Palette Knife’ at Artspace Center for the Arts along with her ongoing classes at the Rowayton Art Center, which will restart in the fall. This summer she’ll be painting en plain aire on the Maine coast to prepare for upcoming shows at the Westport Country Playhouse in September and the Wilton Library in October in collaboration with the Artists Collective of Westport. WEBSITE

Ellen Gordon is exhibiting at The Painting Center at 547 West 27th St, Suite 500 in New York City. Pictured here: “Crazy Dance”. 20”x40” acrylic on canvas. She is one of the featured artists in "Refrigerator Poetry/Living Room" NYC’s Summer/Fall’s online exhibition catalogue. Statement: "The colors and patterns in Ellen Gordon’s paintings are roller coaster rhythms of fences, grids, and fractured geometries – a kind of mapping. The artist guides us along a journey of the personal narrative through landscaped layers of abstraction and portraiture. Playful and speculative, the rhythms remain determinedly open-ended and essentially borderless. An un-plotted story with unbounded possibilities.” WEBSITE

Adair Heitmann won two national awards, First Place (Web and Social Media - Personal Website) and Honorable Mention (Writing - Personal Essay) from the National Federation of Press Women at its 2023 Professional Communications Contest awards ceremony in Cincinnati, Ohio. She also won Connecticut state awards First Place (Essay), First Place (Web and Social Media), Second Place (Speeches), Third Place (Speeches) from The Connecticut Press Club at its awards ceremony in Westport, CT. adairheitmann.com

Fruma Markowitz’s cyanotype collage “The Girl Who Ran With Gazelles” was recognized as the Winner in the category “Alternative Processes” by the 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers. In the past nine months this piece has also been shown at galleries around the US in Philadelphia, PA (@The Halide Project), Providence, RI (@RI Center for Photographic Arts), Winchester, MA (@Griffin Museum of Photography), and Brattleboro, VT (@Vermont Center for Photography). She also received an Honorable Mention for two of her Lumen images in the category “Women See Women.” WEBSITE

Tim Nighswander is exhibiting at Carol Corey Fine Art Gallery in Kent Falls in the exhibit "She Then Turned Away." Carol Corey Fine Art and guest curators James Salomon and Benoist Drut present this exhibit throughout July. Using Salomon's fictional short story, "She Then Turned Away," as inspiration, the gallery space is transformed into the luxurious living room of the story's central figure. This is the physical manifestation of the space where the protagonist contemplates her life and her relationship to artwork and objects acquired over the years Furnishings and objects are from Maison Gerard, with artwork selected by Salomon & Drut.

Barbara Ringer, a member of Westport Artists Collective, has received one of the four Dan Long Grants from the Drew Friedman Foundation. Her project entails reaching out to the mental health community about using her images as a tool to open up conversations in their practice. Her artwork has much to do with childhood traumas as well as adult anxieties, and her use of dolls and toys can provide a safe entry to exploring childhood experiences or buried memories. WEBSITE

Clarice Shirvell is pleased to have her latest painting, Fly Fishing 30x40 acrylic and Golden Hour at the Farm, 24x36 acrylic on view at Wilton Library 77th Annual Summer Art Show. Smaller landscape paintings by Clarice are showing at CH Booth Library in Newtown Summer Art Show. The Meetinghouse Artists, a Newtown artist collective is having their first group show at Art and Frame Gallery 77 Main Street Newtown, CT. The group, including Clarice Shirvell, has been painting together and critiquing their work in an artist salon style at the old Meeting house in Newtown. An Artists’ opening reception will take place Saturday August 19th. WEBSITE

Liz Squillace recently completed a restoration of her interactive composition at the Broad Street Steps, a large scale mural representing unity, diversity and humanity. Her design is now background for photo shoots, music videos and events held by residents and visitors alike. Squillace is thrilled to share her newly published website, a compilation of public art projects, affordable artworks for sale and results from weekly figure painting sessions held at a fellow artist’s studio in Brooklyn. There is also a collection of paintings and drawings made during her current pursuit of a Painting Certificate from RISD. See what Liz has been up to inside and outside of the studio here: WEBSITE www.lizsquillace.com/

Elizabeth White has received one of the four Dan Long Grants from the Drew Friedman Foundation for The Folding Chair Collective. This project was inspired by a quote from former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table bring a folding chair." Participants are invited (and sometimes assisted) to identify and express an issue or concern or to simply pay homage to the inclusive wisdom of Shirley Chisholm. Each piece uses the physical frame work of a folding chair upon which to illustrate and voice a personal message. The use of actual folding chairs lends itself to "Pop-Up" show formats. More Info Support from this grant enables exploration of further platforms and eases the engagement of future possibilities to present this unique and powerful traveling exhibition. Also, Bethel Arts.org is featuring Elizabeth's out-door sculpture installation at Mekauer Park through September.

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OTHER NEWS

ARTIST RESPOND PROGRAM

The Artists Respond grant program awards funds to Connecticut artists for community-based art projects. Connecticut artists may apply for a grant of $3,000 to support artist fees and project related expenses. Artists may partner with organizations (nonprofits, business, etc), but the project may not be an extension of the organization's work.The Artists Respond program will invest in wide range of community-based projects from large audience events to small group activities. Deadline: October 25th

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Subject: Artist Newsletter: JULY 2023