Westville ArtWalk this Friday and Saturday

Westville Village Renaissance Alliance
838 West Rock Ave., Suite A., New Haven, (203) 285-8539
14th Annual ArtWalk
Fri., May 6, and Sat., May 7

Press release

Westville Village Renaissance Alliance, or WVRA, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization, celebration and enhancement of historic Westville Village and all its amenities.

WVRA is holding its 14th Annual ArtWalk this weekend, one of the organization's largest events in the heart of Westville Village. ArtWalk attracts thousands of people each year. Admission is free, and with a wide variety of activities, families are given the opportunity to spend time together in the quaint vicinity of Westville Village. A full schedule can be found at WVRA's Web site.

This year’s ArtWalk will be held on Mother’s Day weekend, rain or shine, on Fri., May 6, and Sat., May 7. Kick-off events will begin Friday night from 5—9 p.m. including art gallery openings, artist receptions, ribbon cuttings, merchant open houses, musical performances and refreshments at over 20 merchants throughout the village.

The fun continues throughout the day on May 7 from 11 a.m.—5 p.m. with live music, theater and dance, open studios and gallery exhibitions, fashion displays, all-day activities for kids including arts & crafts and a rock climbing wall, dining, a craft corridor, and great sales throughout the village.

There will be numerous visual arts-related events as part of ArtWalk. Kehler Liddell Gallery will be sponsoring The Exquisite ArtWalk landscape, a community art project:

In the 1920's, the Surrealists played the parlor game "cadavre exquise" or "exquisite corpse" in which they passed around a sheet of paper to three or four players who would collaborate on drawing a picture of a body. The first participant would draw the head and shoulders of the "corpse" and then fold over and hide his portion and pass the paper onto another player who would create the torso. The upper portions of the work were folded and hidden before being passed onto a final player who would complete the composition by adding the legs and feet.

The Exquisite Artwalk Landscape is our spin on this age-old game. The Landscape will include the participation of 200 artists to create their individual drawings on 10 x 10 inch squares that, when assembled, will create a outdoor scene that relates to Artwalk. Upon arrival, each visitor will be asked to randomly draw 1) a number and 2) a color from a hat. The number will correspond to a square that may contain a hint of a body part, animal part, or bit of nature. The back of the square will give the visitor a prompt to help guide them in how they choose to design the square.

The squares will be collected until and placed in a secure box out of sight. After all of the squares have been drawn upon, the project is over. When assembled, the squares will combine to form a large landscape mosaic, created by gallery painter Jason Buening. Like all good puzzles the final composition will remain an exciting mystery until its unveiling on Sat., May 7 at 6 p.m. The mural will remain on display through Mother's Day on Sun., May 8 until 4 p.m.