Remember when Mom posted your first doodle on the refrigerator door. And now, what's posted there? Art should, and can, be everywhere.
The Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut's 2018 Accessible Art series continues to ensure that you'll find works of Art throughout our small business community - on the walls of Danbury City Hall, CityCenter Danbury, Hodge Insurance Agency, Bethel Public Library, Mothership Bakery, Hancock Hall, and Pour Me Cafe.
Beginning Monday, April 23rd, these participating venues will open a 2nd round of exhibitions to celebrate their vibrant community, one in which art and business go hand-in-hand throughout the year. This round of Accessible Art runs through Friday, June 29th.
The works of seven area artists will be highlighted: Doreen Breen (Thomaston), Diana Gubbay (Bethel), Cynthia O'Connor (Sherman), Helga Ruopp (Hawleyville), Amy Salerno (Danbury), Gary Stanford (Danbury), and Annette Womack (Danbury). Hours at the venues vary, so call ahead. For more information about Accessible Art, call (203) 798 0760 or visit www.artswesternct.org All exhibitions are subject to change.
A photographer throughout her life, Cynthiaa claims that her camera is always with her, "my eye, always open." Essentially self-taught, she finds fulfillment by sharing her discoveries, moments that give her a thrill, a lump in the throat, those that make one stop, sigh, and that completely captivate - "all those exceptional or simple treasures that fill me with joy."
Born in a refugee camp in Czechoslovakia to a family displaced after WWII, Helga didn't understand English, so she took to art as a way of expressing herself. She notes that in her artwork, she seeks to capture the innocence and beauty of everyday sightings, using the colors of nature. A graduate of Danbury High School, she's gone on to study Oceanography and Limnology at Western Connecticut State University, and now teaches cooking and painting to children at the YMCA's ESCAPE to the Arts.
"In each artwork that I create," explains Amy, "exists at least twenty other works below the surface, that emerged or disappeared throughout my creative process and the meanderings of my soul." She has recently immersed herself in mosaic artwork, at first studying a more formal style in Venice, then moving on to combine the work with the King of South Street, Philadelphia's Isaiah Zagar, creator of the famed Magic Garden. "I find myself creating layered stories in wax and tile, and image transfers. Always I have been interested in the story beneath the immediate facade."
Filosa/Hancock Hall, 31 Staples Street, Danbury
"I've always been drawn to surrealist concepts," Annette writes. "The human psyche, the power struggle between man and nature, interpersonal communication, and connectivity have been reoccurring themes in my work. My current series encompasses all of these concepts and helps me to process varying views on life and death." Her personal artistic style borders between realistic and expressionistic, and there is something to be said about feeling an artist's energy through visible brush strokes. She often paint in oils, building layers to create depth in color, depict form, and highlight details.