BRIDGEPORT ART TRAIL 2017
DOWNTOWN KICK-OFF AND ARTISTS’ PARTY |
|
| THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH; 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm |
|
|
Celebrate our creative community with
art, live music, food & drink, and more!
|
|
|
Read’s Artspace
1042 Broad Street
Bridgeport, CT 06604
City Lights, the Downtown Special Services District, and the artists of Read’s ArtSpace host the Bridgeport Art Trail Kick-Off and Artists’ Party.
Celebrate and mingle with the Bridgeport art community.
Enjoy local art, music, food, and drink.
|
|
|
View a sampling of artwork from Bridgeport Art Trail artists while enjoying the “Park City All-Stars”, a musical lineup of local bands and guest artists curated by John Torres of “Oh, Cassius!”.
Bridgeport musicians include: Kenny Owens , Dan Carlucci from Hitch and the Giddy UP, Rapper the Legendary Tay, Tim Walsh & Gab Lakshmi, Scott Packham, Netty Walker, and Chris Cavaliere and (CT Post) Bad Slugs.
|
|
BRIDGEPORT ART TRAIL
FEATURED OPEN STUDIOS
|
|
Read’s Ground Floor Gallery
Artists’ Living and Working Spaces
1042 Broad Street
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Once the Read’s department store, an anchor store to the twentieth-century downtown, it is now a community based, redeveloped live/work artist space in downtown Bridgeport. The gallery is utilized by Read’s residents to host exhibitions and related programming and is open on an event/appointment basis. Read’s artists also exhibit their work in common spaces throughout the building. |
|
| Featured Events
Event: City Lights and the Downtown Special Services District host Bridgeport Art Trail Kick-Off and Artists’ Party at Read’s ArtSpace
Thursday, November 9; 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm
City Lights, the Downtown Special Services District, and the artists of Read’s ArtSpace host the Bridgeport Art Trail Kick-Off and Artists’ Party. Celebrate and mingle with the Bridgeport art community. Enjoy local art, music, food, and drink.
Event: Opening of Artists Choose Artists Exhibit
Thursday, November 9; 6 pm to 10 pm
Read’s ArtSpace hosts its popular Artists Choose Artists exhibit this year featuring new artwork from the talented community of artists who exist in this historic building, as well as their peers who are also exceptionally talented.
Artists Choose Artists is an invitation to build new relations with artists and their audience, and a chance to showcase a strong and diverse exhibit.
Event: Artists Choose Artists Exhibition
Friday, November 10; 12 pm to 5 pm
Saturday, November 11; 12 pm to 5 pm
Sunday, November 12; 12 pm to 5 pm
The Ground Floor Gallery will be open with the exhibition Artists Choose Artists on display. Feel free to peruse at your leisure. Donations are appreciated and most artwork is available for sale. |
|
Event: Artist Circle
Saturday, November 11; 2 pm to 3 pm
All area artists are welcome to join our lively discussion of today’s art-related hot topics! Seats are assigned numbers, numbers are randomly selected. Who will be in the hot seat next? Whoever is so lucky must choose a topic category and answer a question on the spot before the buzzer sounds. Questions are unknown until chosen, ensuring a fast-paced, fun and maybe even frantically good time for all. The public is welcome to come watch and see what the artists think. |
|
|
Nest Arts Factory
1720 Fairfield Ave
Bridgeport, CT
The NEST Arts Factory is a community of artists and musicians working in a wide variety of media in a re-imagined factory building on the west side of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Built at the beginning of the last century during Bridgeport’s heyday as the premier manufacturing center of the United States as a factory to construct automobile and limousine bodies, the building that currently houses the NEST Arts Factory has been over its long history an industrial scale factory, a jewelry manufacturer, an aerosol can factory, a manufacturer of artillery detonators during WWII, and most recently a sock factory before becoming the vibrant and diverse artist community that it is today.
In addition to participating in the annual Bridgeport Art Trail, the nearly 40 artists and musicians of the NEST Arts Factory host Open Studios events for the public six times per year in March, April, May, September October, and November. NEST artists work in a wide variety of media from painting, drawing, and sculpture to ceramics, fiber, and jewelry, and are delighted to share their work and explain their inspiration and process. NEST musicians play in an array of genres including classic baroque, acoustic folk, latin, alternative rock, and reggae.
Ample onsite and street parking is available for all events.
|
|
| Featured Events:
Event: Open Studios
Friday, November 10; 5 to 9 pm
Saturday, November 11; 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday, November 12; 11 am to 4 pm
Meet the artists of the NEST Arts Factory. Tour the open studios, listen to musicians, enjoy a gallery show, and see a variety of demonstrations. Art on view and for sale includes acrylic and oil painting, sculpture, drawings, collage, jewelry, ceramics, mixed-media, fiber, decorative painting, and much more.
Admission: Free
Event: NEST Art Demonstrations
Watch a variety of NEST Arts Factory artists demonstrate how they create and learn something new! Free admission for all demonstrations. Demos last about 15-20 minutes each. |
|
 |
Event: ARTISTS TALK with the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County
Friday, November 10; 6pm
Join us for a discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the art-making process when Carlos Davila, Lauren Rago and Rick Shaefer talk about their work as part of ARTISTS TALK, a series of short talks, recorded by the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, about the work of artist members in select group and juried shows.
The videos are creating an archive of member artists’ talks on the Cultural Alliance YouTube channel and website – an asset for the artists and a showcase for the richness of the visual arts in the County (see the 20 talks recorded to date at: http://bit.ly/CAFCArtistsTalk).
Free, but please register at http://atnest.eventbrite
|
|
Historic Arcade Mall
1001 Main Street
Bridgeport, CT 06604
The Arcade Mall is a stunning historic restoration of one of the nation’s first enclosed shopping malls. The breath-taking atrium has a dramatic Victorian stepped-glass roof. The property was built in 1840 and underwent several interior and exterior renovations during the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s. It holds historic significance locally and nationally as one of the few remaining arcades from its time period. The renovated downtown landmark has been reactivated by artists. Its charm and scale make it a perfect location for social gatherings and events.
The distinct group of artists at the Arcade work in a wide range of media, from oil painting, screen printing, and weaving to graphic design, interior design, and mixed media. Featured artists include Liz Squillace of Paradox Ink, the creative force behind the recently unveiled Painted Stairway of the Broad Street Steps; Ruben Marroquin of the critically acclaimed Fiber Weaving Workshop; Cris Dam, an internationally recognized painter and muralist; Philip Post of Dertbag Atelier, a line of graphic and hand-printed apparel embraced by celebrities such as Kanye West; Robert Valle of the distinguished Robert Valle Designs; and Razul Branch, shop owner and operator of BPT Creates/Magnacon 7, |
|
| Featured Events
Event: Open Studios
Friday, November 10; 10 am to 6 pm
Saturday, November 11; 10 am to 6 pm
On 10 and 11 November, the historic Arcade Mall will open its doors to the public for a two-day Open Studios organized in collaboration with the Bridgeport Art Trail. A popular destination for both local enthusiasts and collectors, the Arcade is home to six of Bridgeport’s most renowned artists and innovators, who will be on site to give tours of their studios, demonstrate their crafts, and provide insight into the most immediate aspects of their creative practices. The event will also allow visitors the opportunity to purchase artworks—many of which will be on public view for the very first time—directly from studio inventories.
Event: Arcade Night!
Friday, November 10; 5 pm to 8:30 pm
The festivities will kick off on Friday, 10 November, with Arcade Night!, a launch party that will transform the Arcade into an all-immersive happening. For this special event, which will be free and open to the public, the Arcade artists are thrilled to welcome guest artist Holly Danger, owner and curator of Stamford’s experimental art space Danger Gallery, who will showcase a new body of video art. Stamford-based sculptor Mark Andreas will also install a provocative “reactive” sculpture, one of a series of works that have been lauded worldwide. Music will be provided by DJ Justin Shay of JMS Jams, and drinks and small bites will be offered. |
|
American Fabrics Building
1069 Connecticut Avenue, Building 4
Bridgeport, CT 06607
12th Annual Open Studios
Saturday, November 11; 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday, November 12; 10 am to 5 pm
In its 12th year, American Fabrics Arts Building (AFA) Open Studios showcases over 25 artists in their studios where the creative process happens. Held in a renovated factory building where linen and lace were once manufactured, the event has become a destination for collectors, interior designers, and art lovers alike. AFA’s diverse group of artists are engaged in painting, printmaking, sculpture, quilting, jewelry, photography, ceramics, textiles, design, mixed media, and more.
In an effort to give back to the community we love, for the fourth year we are supporting the Bridgeport Rescue Mission (BRM). AFA will be serving as a drop-off point for their Thanksgiving Stuff-A-Truck event, event, giving patrons the opportunity to donate food and coats for local families in need.
There will be food trucks, including Snappy Dogs, in the east parking lot to serve our patrons from 10 am to 5 pm each day.
Music and participatory performances will offer fun for the whole family.
Ample onsite free parking and handicapped access. |
|
| Featured Events:
Event: WPKN 50 Year Archive Record Sale
Saturday, November 11; 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday, November 12; 11 am to 5 pm
The record archive of WPKN will be onsite at AmFab and WPKN programmers will be spinning an eclectic mix of music on-site.
Event: Brewport Beer Tasting
Saturday, November 11; 1 to 5 pm
Between studio visits at American Fabrics Arts, peruse vintage vinyl offered for sale by WPKN while sipping on the locally produced beers of Brewport.
Event: Aspetuck Brew Lab Beer Tasting
Sunday, November 12; 12 to 5 pm
Between studio visits at American Fabrics Arts, peruse vintage vinyl offered for sale by WPKN while sipping on the locally produced beers of Aspetuck Brew Lab. |
|
305 Knowlton Street Studios and Armstrong Gallery
305 Knowlton Street
Bridgeport, CT
305 Knowlton Street was once the Armstrong Manufacturing Company, a well-known tool and die manufacturer in the 1800s, and creator of a technologically advanced prototype “horseless carriage” built in 1895. The building is located on the Pequonnock River estuary in the Washington Park Historic District on Bridgeport’s East Side.
Today, 305 Knowlton houses a fresh mix of new innovators including small businesses, artists and an art gallery. This repurposed factory building provides two floors of working studio spaces. 305 Knowlton’s diverse community includes artistic talent in painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, jewelry making, tattoo design, and yoga practice.
The Armstrong Gallery is a large, privately-run art space on the main floor with monthly shows, artist talks, live performances, and other events that contribute to our cultural vibrancy.
Plenty of free parking available in our off-street parking lot, located on the Pequonock River. |
|
| Featured Events
305 I Revitalized
Friday, November 10; 5:30 to 8 pm
Armstrong Gallery – first floor
Join the artists of 305 Knowlton for a lively reception featuring new faces and old friends of the 305 art community. Enjoy diverse local art with music and complimentary refreshments. All are welcome.
Open Studios
Saturday, November 11; 11 am to 7 pm
Sunday, November 12; 12 pm to 5 pm
Meet the artists, see the work, talk the talk! Tour three floors of open studios including our beautiful Armstrong Gallery (downstairs) where you can view and purchase art, including watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings, sculpture, photography, airbrush works, and more. Free food and drink all day Saturday. |
|
|
|
