Fairfield Arts Center announces "FACes and Places" art tours

Fairfield Arts Center
70 Sanford St., Fairfield, (203) 319-1419
FACes and Places: Art Behind the Scenes
$75 for FAC members, $95 for non-members.

Press release

The Fairfield Arts Center presents a new program for the community called FACes and Places: Art Behind the Scenes. With this new program series, FACes and Places strives to give art collectors, arts enthusiasts, and the general public access to Fairfield County’s vast arts community by introducing the faces behind the art and the place where their art is created. The program will kick off with three studio tour events featuring artist studios or live/work spaces in Bridgeport. Known for its empty factory buildings, Bridgeport has become artistic home of many area artists from around Fairfield County who have worked with building owners to repurpose the factory spaces and turn them into hubs of creative energy. The three studio buildings that FAC will showcase are the American Fabrics Arts Building, 305 Knowlton, and Read’s ArtSpace, a live/work space downtown Bridgeport.

Each tour will guide a limited number of guests from studio to studio. At each stop, the guests will have the opportunity to hear the artist talk about their background and their work. Guests will have an intimate look at the artists work in their studio. A light catered lunch and wine tasting will be provided in one of the artist’s studios. Guests are invited to linger after the program to visit with the artists and explore the studios. Each FACes and Places tour will be $75 for FAC members and $95 for non-members. Due to the limited number of spaces, guests are requested to purchase tickets in advance by visiting the Fairfield Arts Center Web site or calling (203) 319-1419.

The first tour will take place on Thurs., June 2 from 10 a.m.—3:30 p.m. at the American Fabrics Arts Building. 15 Studios will be featured and include Denyse Schmidt Quilts (Bridgeport), Lisie Orjuela (Trumbull), Brechin Morgan (Milford), Judith Corrigan (Shelton), Ulla Surland Interior Design (Fairfield) among other noted artists in the area. Lunch will be held in the studio of Janine Brown who is also from Fairfield.

The American Fabrics Art Building, once housed the American Fabrics Company. The factory was built around the 1920's, and was once a hub of the textile industry, specializing in the manufacture of linen, lace and knits. The factory buildings at that time were built with large windows to provide light and fresh air during the summer months, which provides a perfect setting for an artist loft building. Manufacturing activity at the factory began to decrease in the 1960's and by the 1970's the entire industrial complex was abandoned. A handful of artists started to rent space in the building several years ago and in 2009, the current owner of the building, Westrock Development, LLC., renovated the building turning the second, third and fourth floors into artist’s studios.

The Fairfield Arts Center (FAC) is a not-for-profit, local municipal arts agency dedicated to enriching the cultural experience of the members of its community. In support of Fairfield’s arts and artists of all disciplines, FAC seeks to integrate the creative process into the daily lives of the Town’s 60K residents by providing access through opportunity, education and outreach. FAC is funded in part by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fairfield County Community Foundation.

(Image: "Sienna Aspens," linoleum cut print by Janine Brown.)

Thursday evening reception for "Bridgeport Prints"

The BACC Gallery in the Historic Arcade Mall
1001-12 Main St., Bridgeport, (203) 552-4154
Bridgeport Prints
May 12—June 23, 2011.
Opening reception, Thurs. May 12, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

The Bridgeport Arts and Cultural Council (BACC) is pleased to present Bridgeport Prints: An Exhibition of Original Prints from May 12-June 23, 2011. The works in the exhibition were selected by Master Printer, Artist and Collector, James Reed.

The public is invited to meet Mr. Reed and the artists at the opening reception on Thurs., May 12th from 5—7 p.m. At 6 p.m., Mr. Reed will give a talk about printmaking and the selected works. The BACC is located inside the historic Arcade Mall at 1001 Main Street in Bridgeport.

Featuring 24 artists, Bridgeport Prints gives the public a snapshot of the variety of fine art printing techniques and styles used by artists. Historically, "printmaking" refers to the process of using a matrix, or a single original surface, which is used to apply a medium, such as ink, to its surface; the medium is then transferred, or pressed, onto another surface creating an impression of the original on the final surface. Although an artist can make more than one impression or print, each print is considered original due to the nuances of the printing process that creates "multiple originals."

When selecting the pieces for the exhibition, Mr. Reed wanted to show a range of talent from young emerging artists, such as Perry Obee and Andrew Murdoch, to more established artists, such as Ann Chernow, Michael Torlen and Alberta Cifolleli. The thread that ties all of these works together is that all of the artists work, live, or print their artworks in Bridgeport. Other artists included in the exhibition are Roland Becerra, Kelly Bigelow Becerra, Thurston Belmer, Janine Brown, Richard Byrnes, Helen Cantrell, Xenia Fedorchenko, Andre Junget, Kate Larocca, James Meyer, Gus Moran, Brechin Morgan, Misty Morrison, Yolanda Petrocelli, Ronnie Rysz, Nomi Silverman, Tyson Skross and Liz Squillace.

Mr. Reed, who holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Missouri and a Master of Arts from San Francisco State University and Tamarind Institute, is the owner and Master Printer at Milestone Graphics in Bridgeport, CT. As a master printer, he has worked at print shops throughout the United States, Mexico and France and has collaborated with over two hundred artists during a career that spans over forty years. Also an accomplished artist, Mr. Reed's personal work is included in the collections of IBM, General Electric, Tamarind Institute, Achenbach Print Foundation, New York Public Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. He has received a Ford Foundation Fellowship and a Rockefeller Research Grant.

The Bridgeport Arts and Cultural Council, a non-profit organization, was founded to advocate for cultural and arts organizations by promoting participation of the community in arts and cultural activities in Bridgeport. In addition, the BACC provides exhibition opportunities and promotion for area artists and artisans. Exhibitions and events at the BACC are sponsored by private and public funding partners.

Saturday opening at the Bruce Kershner Gallery in Fairfield Public Library

Bruce S. Kershner Gallery at Fairfield Public Library
1080 Old Post Rd., Fairfield, (203) 256-3155
Beauty Marks
Mar. 27—May 16, 2010.
Opening reception: Sat., Mar. 27, 5—7 p.m., Curator/Artists' Talk at 6 p.m.

Press release

Curated by Janine Brown, Beauty Marks, at the Fairfield Public Library's Bruce S. Kershner Gallery, is an exhibition of 10 Connecticut artists that use mark making in their art. The exhibition will run from Mar. 27 through May 16. The opening reception will take place on Sat., Mar. 27 from 5—7 pm with a brief talk by the curator and artists at 6 p.m. The Bruce S. Kershner Gallery is located at 1080 Old Post Road in Fairfield.

Ms. Brown states that "Beauty Marks was inspired by the history of the beauty mark." During 17th century France, high society women used faux "beauty" marks made of black taffeta to enhance their looks and communicate coquettish messages. For instance, a mark on the forehead suggested majesty, a mark close to the dimple was playful, and a mark at the corner of the lips was regarded as murderous. Similar to the French female aristocrats, the artists in this exhibition use their "beauty" marks to communicate a message to the viewer. The act of mark making for these and other artists is done by intentionally placing lines and symbols on paper or other supports to ultimately create the artist's unique message. In this exhibition, the humanity and the human form are the common threads, yet each artist in the exhibition communicates their reference to humanity in a different way.

Referencing the origins of man, Paul Kaiser's graphite drawings of hominid skulls on the worn pages from the first edition of The Tragical Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke combines the marks made by the artist with the marks of the typography of the book. The juxtaposition of the skulls and the story of Hamlet provide a subtle statement of man as beast.

Karen Sorensen also references early man with "Viking I" and "Viking II." Sorensen's life-size drawings of the Norse warriors provide an unsettling contrast to the tranquility of a library setting by showing the warriors in full armor with weapons drawn.

Likewise, Jak Kovatch has used the warrior as inspiration. Kovatch uses mixed media to create powerful graphic elements and linear shapes that wrap around or weave in and out of diffused forms. In the works selected for this exhibition, Kovatch starts with the skull and transforms it into various references of the warriors of yore.

Nomi Silverman comments on humanity with three of her works that deal with homelessness. The expressive use of lines and color characterize the sadness and despair that one imagines feeling if one was homeless.

Expression and use of line comes across in artist Peter Konsterlie's work, which fuses medical illustrations with linear marks and patterns to create his response to a loved one's medical treatment and illness.

Addressing the linear in a different way, Edith Borax-Morrison uses a woven sheath of free flowing strings and fibers to create references of women in her pen and ink pieces, "Ensnared" and "Wired Woman."

Noted for her works on ceramics and drawings, Judy Henderson was selected for this exhibit for her drawings executed on tea bags. Henderson's charming works are based on her interest in the human body and the head as a vessel holding information.

The other artists included in the show include Anne Doris-Eisner, M.G. Martin, and James Reed.