Why Creativity Matters in Danbury: Meet Brian Walters

Why Creativity Matters

What fuels a vibrant, connected and creative community? What makes people feel good about living in Danbury? When locals share the creativity that they uncover in the nooks and crannies of their community it brings about connectivity and makes us all feel good.

Believe it or not, you discover creativity in the ordinary every day as you walk, shop, work and play in Danbury. HamletHub’s “Why Creativity Matters” showcases these local experiences.

Meet Danbury resident, Brian Walters, co-founder of the In View project of Danbury.

What organization in town makes you feel good?

I am the co-founder of the In View project of Danbury (with Mark Nolan of Nolan Enterprises) Together we find Connecticut based artists to display their artwork in vacant storefronts in downtown Danbury. As an artist myself doing this makes me feel good because I know first hand how tough it is to display artwork when you are first starting off. We do not charge a rental fee at the In View project and give the artist about 2 months to showcase their work in a highly visible storefront in the downtown area. The other great thing is that Mark and I are bringing art to the community for everyone to see, these storefront projects have been around for a long time and it is an amazing way to bring art to those who may not normally be exposed to it. 

Is there a person or organization using creativity to provoke change in Danbury?

I'd have to say that I've been most impressed with Mark Nolan's generosity with regards to collaborating with me on this project and his willingness to let artists use his properties as temporary art exhibition sites. He doesn't charge the artists any rental fees and is beyond accommodating to both me and the featured artists. It's very clear to me that Mark loves his community and supports the arts/cultural scene here in Connecticut. 

When I think of creativity in Danbury I think of …

So many different things, places and people really.  I think of the art gallery at WSCU, the tribute wall over at the corner of Franklin and Main Streets, the sculpture installation on Main Street (which was recently updated)  The Danbury Makerspace, Library, the Cultural Alliance of Western CT and all of the talented creative minds that call the greater Danbury area home. As the Co-founder of the In View project, I take great pride in my community and will continue to promote emerging artists that call CT their home. Last year the In View project hosted five artists, in 2020 we hope to double that number. We encourage any local visual artists to submit their work to us via our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/INVIEWDanbury/

Why Creativity Matters is made possible by LIFEWTR.

The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of

 

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Submitted by Danbury, CT

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