Ridgefield Schools Art Exhibit, Artists' Reception on June 4

An exhibit of visual art developed from the dialogue between Ridgefield students and their teachers, inviting the larger world to participate.

If you were lucky enough to attend the opening artist’s reception last year for an exhibition titled Creative Conversations at The Meetinghouse, you would be well-advised to attend the encore Artists’ Reception on June, 2-4pm.

Like its predecessor, Creative Conversations II is a bountiful, energetic show, presenting the artwork of students and teachers at Ridgefield High School and other schools in the area. The exhibition will be on display through June, in the Shield’s Hall Gallery on the Meetinghouse campus at the historic crossroads of Ridgebury Road and George Washington Highway. In recent times, this venue has become an ever more important center for art from among the highest quality creations of local artists. The focus on art and artists is in turn a core pillar of the Meetinghouse’s spiritual initiatives including Community, Wellness, Food & Farm, and the Arts.

Creative Conversations has been curated by Ridgefield High School art teacher Dana Phelan. This was a formidable undertaking, due to the show’s eclectic range of media, style, composition, palette, form and line. It is so imbued with youthful energy, it practically vibrates. If you do attend the opening and, upon entering Shields Hall, encounter the nearly 40 works of art on display, you will surely be amazed by the impact of so many artfully hung pieces that seem to be in conversation with you and one another.

The Creative Conversations title is apt in this way. As Ms. Phelan explains, “The exhibit is about what happens when artists share their ideas and questions in the classroom and also about what happens when artworks are installed in a gallery near each other, and relationships form among the pieces.”

The variation in media represented among the exhibition’s multitude of works does not imply a lack of quality or cohesiveness. First rate examples of collage, pottery, abstractions, and digital renderings are interspersed successfully with more traditional media such as painting, drawing and photography. This virtuosity and diversity make for a highly enjoyable viewing experience. One can practically feel the youthful creative energy emanating from the walls of the gallery.

If sentences and equations are elements of the language of the mind, and athletics and exercise are those of the language of the body, then art is an expression of the language of the soul or spirit. Through our artistic endeavors, we communicate feelings and ideas for which words are insufficient. The arts empower us in this way as we seek to be heard and understood. This in turn grants us the courage to take risks in communication with others and ourselves.  A successful art exhibition creates spiritual bonds among and between artists, viewers, and the art itself. This is the thrilling state of connection one feels in experiencing a show as diverse yet powerfully coherent as Creative Conversations and its sequel.

Ms. Phelan emphasizes the paradoxical state of the working artist, who typically toils alone. Yet in a classroom the artist is able to share ideas and questions and to gain useful practice in navigating uncertainty, which she believes “is a crucial life skill, now more than ever.” In this way she emphasizes the value of 

camaraderie in the arts, as in countless other fields. “We work as individuals and together as a creative community to move through uncertain times.”

The extent of emphasis on teaching the arts in school has varied considerably over the years. It is therefore heartening to witness in Creative Conversations the passion and virtuosity that emanates from the works of so many young people, all of whom chose to take art courses voluntarily.

You can meet Dana Phelan and a number of the student artists at the Opening Reception from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, June 4^th in Shield’s Hall, The Meetinghouse, 602 Ridgebury Road, Ridgebury, CT 06877. The gallery is also open on Tuesday, Wednesday and by appointment.

Images of artworks from the show can be found on the Meetinghouse website—https://meetinghouse.life/the-arts/.