Reception for Silas Finch show at Derek Simpson Goldsmith store tomorrow

Reception and book signing at Silvermine Sunday

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Claire Watson Garcia: Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner
Dec. 13, 2009—Jan. 9, 2010
Artist Reception & Book Signing: Sun., Dec. 13, 3—5 p.m.

Press release

Silvermine School of Art faculty member Claire Watson Garcia will have a book signing at Silvermine Guild Arts Center Auditorium for her latest book, Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner. A portion of the proceeds from book sales will go to the Silvermine School of Art Scholarship Fund. All are welcome to attend the reception and book signing to be held on Sun., Dec. 13 from 3—5 p.m.

Based on the author's successful courses and workshops, Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner really does start at the beginning, helping new painters find "what works" while providing information on all the necessary tools, tips, and techniques needed to create a representational painting. A special feature is the artwork and commentary of real students, which helps beginners set realistic goals and shows them how other artists at the same level of experience have worked through inevitable setbacks to achieve success. The chapters follow a progressive sequence that teaches basic skills through practical, accessible exercises—how to handle a brush, achieve the right paint consistency, mix color, and create dimension—building a solid foundation that readers can rely on as painting projects grow more challenging.

A resident of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Claire Watson Garcia is not only a faculty member at Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, but she also was once a student herself at Silvermine when she was a teenager. An experience Ms. Garcia remembers vividly each time she steps into a studio to teach in the same room where she stood as a young artist. As an instructor at the School of Art, her specialized workshops and courses for adults have been popular for over 20 years. Her best-selling books, Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner and Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner (published in August 2009), are based on the courses and workshops she teaches geared toward the beginning artists. Educated at Smith College and University of California, Berkeley where she received a BA in Fine Arts, Claire is an award-winning artist and best-selling author whose work has been included in numerous national juried shows and many individual collections. Her lifelong love of art and animals has found its most recent expression in fine art animal portraiture. She has illustrated three children's' books featuring animals, two of which were also authored by her.

The artwork created by Claire Garcia specifically for the book will be on exhibit from Dec. 13 through Jan. 9, 2010, at the Silvermine Guild Arts Center Auditorium. About the works she included, Claire states:

I created paintings I hoped would educate, illustrate and perhaps inspire beginners to acquire fundamental painting skills and understanding. I looked for subjects that I enjoyed working with, so the resulting work had some spark to it.

Also on exhibit in the Auditorium will be art work by her students featured in the book, and there will be an exhibition in the Student Gallery featuring works by students from Claire's current painting class at the School of Art.

Sunday opening and upcoming events at Kehler Liddell Gallery

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Size Matters: A Group Show
Through Jan. 10, 2010
Artists' Reception: Sun., Dec. 13, 3—6 p.m.
Benefit Reception with Child Life Arts & Enrichment: Wed., Dec. 16, 6—8 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Sat., Dec. 19, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery responds individually, collectively, and exuberantly to matters of size and how size matters. This salon style exhibition is a holiday celebration of art and giving, featuring relatively small works as well as full scale art in a broad array of mediums (and prices!)

Artists: Joseph Adolphe, Amy Browning, Frank Bruckmann (see image), Jason Buening, Susan Clinard, Rod Cook, Emilia Dubicki, Matthew Garrett, Lisa Hess Hesselgrave, Blinn Jacobs, Keith Johnson, William Kent, Gigi Horr Liverant, William McCarthy, Lawrence Morelli, Edith Borax-Morrison, Hank Paper, Joseph Saccio, Deirdre Schiffer, Alan Shulik, Gar Waterman, Marjorie Wolfe.

A portion of proceeds from this exhibit will benefit the Child Life Arts and Enrichment Program at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. For more info on this wonderful program and benefit party.

Artists Reception: Sun., Dec. 13, 3—6 p.m.
Benefit Reception with Child Life Arts & Enrichment: Wed., Dec. 16, 6—8 p.m.
Artists Talk—Pay it Forward!: Sat., Dec. 19, 2—5 p.m.

Orchard Street Shul Project opens Sunday at John Slade Ely House, Saturday night jazz jam session at Joseph Slifka Center

John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art
51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, (203) 624-8055
Orchard Street Shul Cultural Heritage Artists Project
Dec. 6, 2009—Jan. 31, 2010.
Opening reception: Sun., Dec. 6, Noon—5 p.m.

Press release

During the months of December 2009 and January 2010, the John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art in New Haven, Connecticut will come alive with memories, recollections, and recreations of an important community heritage site, in an innovative group installation designed to both stimulate reflection on the legacies of past generations and engage the public in dreams for the future.

The Orchard Street Shul Cultural Heritage Artists Project is an art exhibition, a history lesson, a point of cultural exchange, and meeting place for dreamers, both nostalgic and visionary. Artists, researchers, and scholars have joined together to celebrate an important historic New Haven landmark, which was once central to the life of a large Jewish immigrant population in the Oak Street neighborhood.

Contributions to the installation offer a range of approaches. Some artists researched the history of the Orchard Street Shul and its neighborhood, uncovering multiple stories of this community: stories of women working together to aid refugees, stories of hard-working fathers and mothers who dedicated themselves to making a better life for their children, and stories of teenagers who giggled and mingled on the steps of the Shul. Others built on their own experiences, reaching into their hearts to create depictions of the Shul that are evocative of deeper connections with history and community. Still others focused on the issues of urban renewal, making real the shifts in our urban landscape that are difficult to imagine as we visit the site today.

Included in the Project are presentations by researchers from Yale University who developed innovative ways to document the building, including virtual reconstructions exploring new digital methods, ground-breaking research by computer scientists that promises to change the ways that cultural heritage sites will be documented in the future. Some contributing artists used this digital data in their creative work.

The Orchard Street Shul Cultural Heritage Project is organized by Cynthia Beth Rubin, a New Haven based artist, in collaboration with participating artists and researchers: Nancy Austin, Meg Bloom, Donnamarie Bruton & Tim Coutis, Jeanne Criscola, Roz Croog, Linda Drazen, Paul Duda, Gonzalo Escobar, Maya Escobar, Alan Falk, Greg Garvey, Shalom Gorewitz, Jaime Kriksciun, Leslie J. Klein, Beth Krensky, Seth Lamberton, Mary Lesser, Lisa Link, David Ottenstein, Bruce Oren, Robert Rattner, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Holly Rushmeier, Janet Shafner, Frank Shifreen, Suzan Shutan, Sharon Siskin, Christina Spiesel, Yona Verwer, Julian Voloj, Laurie Wohl, Chen Xu, and Howard el-Yasin. The group includes artists from California, Florida, Utah, Missouri, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York, who traveled to New Haven to contribute to the project alongside artists from the region.

A Project Book is being published in conjunction with the exhibition, including essays by Hasia Diner, the eminent scholar of Jewish immigration history, Walter Cahn, renowned historian of art and and architecture, and Hana Iverson, known for her remarkable multi-media installation "View from the Balcony", that was instrumental in helping attract attention to the renovation project of the Eldridge Street Shul. The book will also feature photographs of the works in the exhibition and memories of the Orchard Street Shul, with commentary by Karen Schiff. The innovative book design is by Criscola Design.

The Public is Invited to the Opening Reception for the Participating Artists, on Sunday, Dec. 6, from Noon—5 p.m. To set the mood for the launch of The Orchard Street Shul Artists Cultural Heritage Project, the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale for Jewish Life at Yale will host a Jazz jam session on Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m., celebrating the swing dance music of 1924 and beyond, when the cornerstone of this Synagogue was put in place in a ceremony attended by Mayor Fitzgerald and much of the entire New Haven community.

For group visits outside of regular hours, send an email to: arts [AT] orchardstreetshul-artistsproject.org

An exciting series of public events includes:

Sat., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.
Music from the 1920s—1930s jam session
Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale

Sun., Dec. 6, noon—5 p.m.
Opening Reception with the Artists
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Wed., Dec. 9, noon
Lunch and Learn, in Partnership with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Sun., Dec. 20, 2 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Memoirs and Remembrances
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Sun., Jan. 10, 2 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Documentations: Photography, Recordings and Recreations
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Sun., Jan. 17, 2 p.m.
Informal Community Conversations
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Thurs., Jan. 21, 4 p.m.
Presentation by Yale Computer Science Graphics Group on The Orchard Street Shul: Case Study in Three - Dimensional Digital Representations of Culture Heritage Sites.
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Sun., Jan. 24, 2 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Art and the Echoes of Spirituality
The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art

Sun., Jan. 31, 2010
Open Forum: Artists Reflect on Cultural Heritage Project as Process
Closing Party

Jazz photographs show opens Friday evening in Westport

Westport Arts Center
51 Riverside Ave., Westport, (203) 222-7070
The Judge: Jazz Photographs by Musician Milt Hinton
Dec. 4, 2009—Jan. 10, 2010
Opening Reception: Fri., Dec. 4, 6:30—8:30 p.m.

Press release

This winter, the Westport Arts Center (WAC) will celebrate the great American art form of jazz with a lively mix of visual arts, music, and film. An exhibition of photographs of famous jazz musicians taken by Milt Hinton (1910-2000) will serve as the springboard for jazz-inspired programs including a holiday concert in honor of Westport's Sally White (of Sally's Place record shop), and a documentary film screening with jazz historians, musicians, and filmmakers.

The exhibition, concert, and film-screening began with a suggestion from Brian Torff, WAC's new artistic director for jazz. Torff, a Fairfield University music professor and accomplished bass player proposed the tribute to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hinton's birth in 2010. According to Torff, "Milt Hinton was a friend and mentor to countless musicians, myself included. This photography exhibition illuminates the humanity that is jazz and the message that is spread by creative artists, including soulful experts such as Sally White. It's all a part of living, and these unique individuals exemplify that."

The Judge: Jazz Photographs by Musician Milt Hinton will feature 30 black and white photographs by Milt Hinton. The exhibition will run from Fri., Dec. 4 to Sun., Jan. 10, with a public opening on Fri., Dec. 4 from 6:30—8:30 p.m.

Hinton is considered the Dean of jazz bass players and earned the nickname, "The Judge," because of his reliability as a performer. He took more than 60,000 photos during his seven-decade long career as a musician, and his insider perspective of the jazz scene gave him full access and special insights into the personalities and talents that propelled that musical genre.

Hinton's photographs feature relaxed, candid images of music legends at work, play, and in quiet moments at the studio, backstage, and on the road. The list of figures in his photographs includes Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and Billie Holiday.

On Thurs., Dec. 10 among Hinton's photographs, WAC will present a holiday jazz party and celebrate Sally White, loved and respected owner of Sally's Place record shop in Westport. The performance will feature drummer Adam Nussbaum, Rob Aries on keyboard, and Brian Torff on bass, along with numerous special guest artists who will drop by to jam. The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. There are a limited number of tickets remaining for the Holiday Party. Tickets are $25 / $10 (college students) / $5 (18 & under) and can be purchased by calling 203-222-7070.

Richard Epstein, a WAC board member and music host on radio station 89.5 WPKN, FM, believes it's time to celebrate Sally White and her contributions to the community. "Stepping into Sally White's record store is like going into one of those magical bookstores where the owners seem to have knowledge of every book—either mainstream or offbeat. She somehow knows just what will work for you, and will reach into a box hidden behind the counter and pull out the exact recording you have been searching for. Her personal knowledge, intuition, and attention are irreplaceable, and our community is lucky to have a gem such as Sally who cares so passionately about music and the recordings that document it."

For those that are curious about Milt Hinton's life and work, WAC will screen the Tribeca Film Festival award-winning documentary, Keeping Time: The Life, Music, and Photographs of Milt Hinton, directed by David Berger, Kate Hirson, and Holly Maxson. The screening will be followed by a conversation between the audience, jazz historians, and film makers. The screening will be held on Sun., Jan. 10, at 4 p.m. at the Westport Arts Center. Tickets are $15/$10 (college students).

Milt Hinton's photographs and the film "Keeping Time," will be on public view courtesy of the Milt Hinton Collection, NYC.

About Milt Hinton

Hinton was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1910, and, at the age of eleven, moved to Chicago. During the late 20s and 30s, Hinton worked as a freelance musician in Chicago, joining Cab Calloway in 1936—a fifteen-year stint that included performances with Danny Barker, Dizzy Gillespie and Ben Webster. Beginning in the 1950s, he embarked on several decades of studio freelance gigs in New York City, playing with Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and more.

Hinton took more than 60,000 photos during his career as a musician. His insider perspective of the Jazz scene gave him access and insights into the personalities and talents that propelled that musical genre for seven decades. The list of figures in Hinton's photos include: Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, and Billie Holiday. His photographs have been shown in numerous exhibitions, including solo shows at the Denver Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian Institution.

About Sally White

Sally White and her twin sister were born in Danbury, CT, and moved to Norwalk, CT when they were 11. She graduated from Norwalk High School in 1946. Her love of music was nurtured by an early boyfriend who played the saxophone in a band known as Alan Burr and His Rhythm Makers. She and the band would travel into New York City and go to movie theatres that featured live music before the main screening. There she was introduced to musicians like Duke Ellington and Jimmy Dorsey.

In 1954 White started selling records working part-time for Melody House in Norwalk. In 15 minutes she knew that music would be part of her life forever. She worked there until she started full time at Klein's of Westport, where she managed the Music Section until its closure. In November of 1985, she opened Sally's Place at 190 Main Street in Westport -the only owner-operated record store in Westport, and one of a handful still in operation in the region. White emphasizes that making personal connections are what makes her shop thrive. She values the nature of community that existed when Main Street was about Mom and Pop businesses. "Their stories are what made America," says White.

The Westport Arts Center is a visual and performing arts organization dedicated to creating arts experiences that enrich the lives of area residents and the entire community. The Westport Arts Center is supported with funds from the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc., Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Fairfield County Bank, Fairfield County Community Foundation, Gault, Inc., Independent Film Channel, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, Westport Sunrise Rotary Young Voices Program, and Xerox Foundation.

For information contact the Westport Arts Center at 203-222-7070 or go to the website at www.westportartscenter.org. Gallery hours are M-F, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. from noon to 4 p.m., at 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport.

Thursday evening art opening at 100 Pearl Street in Hartford

First anniversary show opens Thursday at Gallery at Black Rock

The Gallery at Black Rock
2861 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, (203) 814-6856
Charlie Walsh 2.0: Works on Paper
Dec. 3, 2009-Jan. 7, 2010
Opening reception, Dec. 3, 6-9 p.m.

Press release

The Gallery at Black Rock in Bridgeport celebrates its first year anniversary with a show opening this Thursday, Charlie Walsh 2.0: Works on Paper.

The gallery's Holiday Gift Show opens the following day. Both shows will run concurrently through Jan. 7, 2010.

Artspace fundraiser Thursday evening: "Refurbished Means"

Artspace
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
Fundraiser: Refurbished Means
Dec. 3, 2009, 6:30—8:30 p.m.

Press release

Refurbished Means is a one-night fundraising event designed to present forty artistic visions in response to the current economic climate in America. Artspace has asked artists to make two unique objects as donations, one for sale to our patrons, and the other to trade with another artist at the event.

Artspace strives to create innovative events, programs, and exhibitions that support artists throughout the year; your support will contribute to all Artspace, artist-based programs.

As part of our Artspace fundraising series this year, Artspace has asked all participating Flatfile and Artspace artists to donate small artworks. This December, artists are asked to donate works that fit into two small gable boxes.

Each artwork ticket purchaser will select one of these unique boxes to call their own. For $25, visitors will be admitted to the event, eat for free, enjoy live entertainment, and be included in our Flatfile artwork raffle. For $75, visitors are also offered a uniquely crafted artist box to call their own. For $135, the ticket also admits two, includes two on-the-house drinks, and two artworks.

Tickets are currently available at: www.artspacenh.org. Every donation helps us look forward to change in 2010! We appreciate donations of all amounts, and please visit our website for more information.

Art stories in the New Haven Advocate

I'm doing some freelance writing on visual arts again for the New Haven Advocate. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about an exhibit at Yale's Beinecke Rare Books Library on the collision of post-World War II avant-garde art and radical politics in "The Revolution Is Curated:"

Were the revolutions of the 1960s — and 1968 in particular — just a dream (or nightmare, if you were part of the ruling class)? Based on evidence presented in a fascinating show at the Beinecke Library, the revolutions were both real and surreal.

The Postwar Avant-Garde and the Culture of Protest, 1945 to 1968 and Beyond tracks the influence of a generation of artistic rebels in Europe. These artists/activists sought not just to change art but to change life.

According to curator Kevin Repp, 2008 — the 40th anniversary of 1968, when the globe convulsed with multiple upheavals — would have been the ideal year to mount the show. But Beinecke was undergoing renovations at the time.

Meanwhile, the collection has been further fleshed out. The library purchased more than 240 posters produced during the May 1968 uprising in France when students occupied the universities and some 10 million workers went on strike.

"Rather than focus solely on 1968, the focus here is to put 1968 into the larger story," Repp says.

You can read more here.

•••

In the issue of the paper out today you'll find "The Gods Must Be Freaky," an article on Bill Saunders' (aka Volonté Morceaux) show at Hull's Gallery at One Whitney.

At the opening of Forces de Nature, Bill Saunders, aka Volonté Morceaux, told me his paintings were informed by mythology and postmodern fiction.

I'll admit it: I thought he was just tarting up already fine work with pseudo-intellectual bullshit. But a couple of trips back to Hull's Gallery at 1 Whitney Ave. — and further discussions about the paintings with Saunders and gallery director Barbara Hawes — changed my mind.

This is farce, yes, but serious farce.

Read more. There will be a second artists' reception for this show—this time under Saunders' real name—tomorrow, Thurs., Dec. 3, from 5—8 p.m. All New Haven's freaks will be there.

Two openings today at Middlesex Community College

Middlesex Community College Niche
100 Training Hill Road, Founders Hall, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Flurrying Pheremones: An Installation by Suzan Shutan
Through Jan. 16, 2010.
Opening reception, Wed., Dec. 2, 5:30—7 p.m.

Press release

Suzan Shutan's temporal installations consist of delicate compositional illusions that challenge viewer perception. Shutan's work has been included in numerous prestigious collections and she has participated in international and regional exhibitions for three decades.

Suzan Shutan:

Flurrying Pheromones is about sexual attraction as communicative behavior. It represents forces of nature and life processes that are unseen but felt as subjective universes. The compelling mystery of airborne chemo-signals... a spray, a flutter, a blast... make us receptors of sexual attraction. Flurrying Pheromones tries to illustrate this idea, evoke its essence and remake it into something uncommon and transformative.

The Niche is located on the first floor of Founders Hall and open: Mondays through Thursdays 8:30 a.m.—6 p.m., Fridays & Saturdays 8:30 a.m.—4 p.m.

•••

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Chapman Hall, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Self Portraits: Paintings by Erika Arneson
Through Jan. 16, 2010.
Opening reception, Wed., Dec. 2, 5:30—7 p.m.

Press release

Middletown Artist Cooperative resident, Erika Arneson is a MxCC Fine Art Alumnus and recent B.F.A. graduate from the Hartford Art School. Arneson's paintings address the symbolic and introspective nature of self-portraiture and the expressive vehicle of color. The personal nature of this series explores the dynamics of self as an interdependence of past and present.