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Welcome to our Bridgeport Art Trail newsletter, providing a listing of arts and cultural events.
The streets of Bridgeport are in full spring buzz as May comes to a close!
There’s a show for everyone at The Bijou Theatre and Downtown Cabaret Theatre. The Bijou Theatre stage hosts Hamlet and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. And just in time for Memorial Day the Bridgeport Theatre Company presents A Few Good Men.
Grab a specialty cocktail or dinner and check out Sam Morrow’s exhibition at the Barnum Publick House Gallery. The opening reception for the London-native turned Bridgeport artist is Wednesday, May 20th.
City Lights Gallery opens their new exhibition “A Lifetime Making Comics” on May 28th. The reception will also include a special performance of cartoon show theme songs by pianist Walter Duda. And don’t miss figure drawing/painting on May 30th!
Take to the seas with The Barnum Festival at the Barnum Sails the Sound event!
And join the conversation at the new Heart of the City series. The June 1st event features local speakers, live music, and a pop-up artisan market on McLevy Green.
Don’t miss upcoming calls for art including Connecticut Free Shakespeare and City Lights Gallery is also extending a call to all artists for its 5th annual Same Sex exhibit.
And The Nest Arts Factory has two exhibits on view: the encaustic themed Encased Exhibit and photography exhibit by Catherine Conroy – Sidewalks of Bridgeport. Plus, The Housatonic Museum of Art present’s their student art exhibition,
Lastly, join us in celebrating The New England Ballet Company’s (NEBC) Kenneth Hopkins as our May Featured Artist!
Hopkins discusses how the NEBC has developed over the years, their new downtown Bridgeport location, and the transition from dancer to Executive Director
Be sure to check out all the details below!
-The Bridgeport Art Trail Team
Check out the full calendar of Bridgeport Art listings at the Bridgeport Art Trail Website.
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The experience of living in Peru and traveling to a number of different places around the world has had a lasting impact on my appreciation for the diversity of cultural expression and iconography, which as a theme frequently shows up in my work. Repeating motifs of fish, birds, and insects reflect my ongoing fascination with nature, the environment, and human impact on both.
– Jane Davila
Q. How would you describe your artwork/style? My work is collage-based. No matter the medium that I’m working in, it’s all about the layers! My work is graphic, stylized, and fairly minimalist.Q. What medium do you work in? I started as a printmaker, specializing in etchings and intaglios. Although I work mainly in fiber and mixed media now, many of my pieces incorporate printmaking in some form, including screen printing, gyotaku, and block printing. Having a printmaking background I find it more natural to work in a series, to take an idea and play with its many possible iterations before moving on to the next idea. Q. What is your process like? Q. What inspires you? Q. How do you think you’ve changed or developed as an artist? Q. Can you tell me about your experience during The 2014 Bridgeport Art Trail? Q. Any upcoming news or events you’d like to share? For More Information on Jane Davila’s work and class schedule visit her website at: www.janedavila.com |
Events at City Lights Gallery during the Bridgeport Art Trail:
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/City-Light-s-Judaica-show-features-Benton-s-mask-5856590.php
McLevy Hall
202 State Street, Suite 205
Bridgeport, CT 06604
203-525-6180
instagram.com/80gramz
Q. Can you tell me about your space at McLevy Hall and your programming plans for Bridgeport Art Trail weekend?
A. The space at McLevy has been a beautiful stage for design and creative inspiration. As an artist and designer, I have a great appreciation for the architecture and layout of the property. I plan to introduce the studio/showroom to the public offering art, design consultation and a collection of mid-century and modern furniture.
The Annual Bridgeport ArtTrail weekend is approaching. The 6th city-wide open studios weekend is scheduled for November 13-16, Thursday-Sunday. Once again advertising is a free service to all arts venues in the city of Bridgeport, CT. Larger ads and sponsorships are available upon request and subject to space limitations.Please compose a brief description of venues and listings of activities scheduled for the city-wide open studios weekend and submit your listing by Tuesday SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 to clgallerybpt@gmail.com
Please use Bpt Art Trail Listing in the subject title of your email. Please send copy in a word document in upper and lower case. See an example below of info requested.Venues that already have something scheduled for that weekend do not need to create additional programs, just send us your listings, in the manner that you want to describe it.The plan in the past has been that Thursday and Friday evenings focused on the downtown area and then Friday night, Sat, Sunday events happened city-wide. Once we get the information we will organize an itinerary for the weekend. Please collaborate with your fellow artists/neighbors as you have done in the past so that performances, open studio tours, etc. are scheduled in clusters creating a mini-destination place yet do not compete or overlap too much.
SOMETHING NEW:
AN ARTISTS PARTY, ART TRAIL KICKOFF THURSDAY NIGHT at McLEVY HALL.
We received feedback that artists would like an opportunity to socialize and get to know other artists during the art weekend. This year the Thursday night kick-off will feature a small works show of Bridgeport artist from all areas of the city at McLevy Hall. All Bridgeport artists are welcome to submit work and attend. It will be a convenient way to introduce visitors to a sampling of Bridgeport artists.
If you have any questions please email or call or look at last year’s BPT Art Trail guide: http://bridgeport-art-trail.
Please compose listings in this fashion. Be sure to give contact info that you are comfortable giving out to the public.
Please send listings and info to
clgallerybpt@gmail.com Please use Bpt Art Trail listing in the subject title.
REQUIRED INFO TO SUBMIT FOR LISTING:
Name of Venue:
Title of Event, Program: OPEN STUDIOS (for example)
Dates & Times: Day(s), Date, Hours
Reception, Studio Tours or Demos Times if applicable:
Brief description: For Example: View the studios of 35 artists working in all medias of fine and applied art, including photography, painting, fine quilts and textile design, sculpture, woodwork, printmaking and more.
Admission: Free, Suggested Donation $XX, Ticket Price, etc.
Parking Info if applicable
Contact Info: Phone, email, website
Below is an idea from a series of events that took place last year at the READ’s building.
The Ground Floor Gallery at the Reads Artists Space
www.readsgroundfloorgallery.we
Presents:
E.G.O.’/Everything Gothic and Outrageous’ an invitational group show open to all Read’s artists and their selected guest-artists working in all media including: drawing, digital media, painting, print-making, installation and sculpture. The underlying theme is the darker aspects of creative inspiration. Showcasing work embracing the themes of destruction, horror, mystery and myth from an emotionally provocative perspective;’E.G.O.’ will take viewers on a tour of the shadowy side of the human psyche.
Special Events Offered:
The Fall exhibition, ‘E.G.O. ;- Everything Gothic and Outrageous’ will open on Thursday, October 27th from 6-9 p.m.; featuring a costume-optional party and reception;
August 1-31, 2014
NEST artist Carlos Davila is exhibiting a sculpture, Triangulum, in the New England Collective V show at Galatea Fine Arts in Boston. The opening reception is Friday, August 1 from 6-8 pm. The exhibit is also viewable online.
Galatea Fine Arts is located at 460B Harrison Street, Boston MA.
June 26- August 21, 2014
NEST artist Iyaba Ibo Mandingo is exhibiting his work at the Pump House Gallery in Hartford, CT from June 26 to August 21. Watch a video of Iyaba talking about the inspiration behind his exhibit, Letting Go, on Access TV.
The Pump House Gallery is located in Bushnell Park at 60 Elm Street, Hartford CT
Ruben Marroquin is an American born (Chicago 1979), Venezuelan Artist specializing in textiles. He lives and works both in Bridgeport and Brooklyn. He facilitates outreach weaving programs for youth and adults in Bridgeport, New York, and New Haven. This includes an ongoing weekly weaving program for Bridgeport YMCA residents sponsored by a community partnership of City Lights & Company and ALPHA Community Services-YMCA. Ruben also makes art and offers weaving classes in his Bridgeport studio in the Arcade Mall, 1001 Main St. Downtown Bridgeport, CT.
In 2011, Ruben Marroquin was the recipient of the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Scholarship, and attended a semester at the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle (ENSCI, les Ateliers) in Paris, France, with a concentration in weaving.
http://m.ctpost.com/news/article/Fiber-artist-loves-the-old-embraces-the-new-5498927.php
It is in Ruben Marroquin’s studio in Bridgeport’s Arcade that traditional and cutting-edge both find a comfortable home.
To those he teaches at the YMCA or in his Bridgeport studio, he is an expert traditional weaver who has a passion for sharing his skills with his students. He’s also known for his custom hand-woven pieces — such as wall hangings, table runners, rugs and place mats — for interior designers.
And in the world of fine arts, he’s considered a textile master — and innovator.
The Arcade, an 1889 Ornamental Gothic Revival iron-and-glass structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a celebration of Victorian mores, in which embroidery and weaving were championed. Enter Marroquin’s studio, and its looms (from a tabletop to a huge computerized model) seem to be perfectly suited to the storied surroundings. In contrast, most wall space is devoted to Marroquin’s avant-garde, three-dimensional sculptures and embroidery, which he views “simply as paintings.”
Both, he said, represent important facets of who he is as an artist and teacher. Born in Chicago and raised in his mother’s homeland of Venezuela, the artist divides his time between Bridgeport and Brooklyn, N.Y., where he spends many weekends “networking” with other artists.
Marroquin said he came to the arts as a youngster.
“Painting was what I loved to do,” he said. “It was by chance that I came to textiles — I ran out of paint and there was no money for more. So I started sewing together pieces of old rags,” creating collages of sorts.
After a few years living and bartending in Mexico City (where, he said, ironically, he would have difficulty as an American getting all the required work permits), he decided the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York would be his goal. Not only was he admitted, he stayed for five years and “became obsessed with weaving.” So much so that he won a FIT scholarship to spend six months in Paris to learn many advanced techniques, such as the complex art of jacquard weaving.
“I’m just fascinated by it and the mathematics involved,” he said. “Weaving is painstaking, very challenging, requiring a lot of patience,” which he said complements his character. “And it’s a lot of fun.”
For his wall sculptures, Marroquin combines cotton, linen and bamboo fibers with modern industrial cords (known as paracords) and other materials. He creates mass by laying fibers over fibers, often applying the fibers over “structures,” such as pieces of wood. His color palette seems to rival the rainbow.
In July, one of Marroquin’s embroidery and collage paintings, a map of New York, will be featured in “Game Changers: Fiber Art Masters and Innovators” at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Mass. The work will be on view for about five months in the invitational show.
Since Marroquin’s students receive a great deal of one-on-one instruction, he usually doesn’t conduct group classes for adults. He prefers to have prospective students call to arrange for a series of classes that are suitable to their particular needs.
“I have a husband and wife from Stratford who come every Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. They wanted something nice to do together,” he said. “It’s a good experience for us all. It’s quiet here, and they have an opportunity to really focus on their own projects … and I work on mine. And I am always here to help or guide them.”
Youngsters are a different story. “I bring several portable looms to classrooms and many have no idea” what the contraptions do, he said. Each student has an opportunity to work the loom for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
“Whether it’s with men or women or children, there seems to be a great sense of satisfaction that comes from weaving, from creating something with your own hands that you can keep, or give to family and friends, or sell.”
The Arcade, 1001 Main St., Bridgeport. Ruben Marroquin Art Studio is on the second floor and is open afternoons Tuesday through Friday and by appointment. marroquinruben@hotmail.com; 917-533-2276.
pasboros@ctpost.com; Twitter: PhyllisASBoros
We love this article on Ruben Marroquin and his weaving studio in the Arcade at 1001 Main Street, Bridgeport. We hope you love it too!
Chuck Close exhibit at The Housatonic Museum of Art. Read more at The Connecticut Post.
A Chuck Close exhibit, open studios across Bridgeport and arts and cultural events over Veterans Day weekend. Read more at the Connecticut Post.
Thank you for your support of the Bridgeport Art Trail 2013! Here’s what happened:
View Super-Sized Art at the 5th Annual Bridgeport Art Trail, City-Wide Open Studios: November 7-10, 2013, Veteran’s Day Weekend.
The Art of Chuck Close at Housatonic Museum of Art and the work of his ‘KIDs’ (mentees from Roosevelt school Bridgeport, CT), is one of the many highlights of the city-wide, 5th Annual Bridgeport Art Trail, November 7-10, 2013. This city-wide event features open-studio receptions, demonstrations and discounted art sales. VIEW ART, TALK ART, BUY ART. Among the locations that visitors can tour on Saturday and Sunday are: the American Fabrics Building, 305 Knowlton St., Read’s ArtSpace and The NEST Art Factory. Art Trail program guides will be available at participating venues. To get info in advance go to www.bridgeport-art-trail.org or call (203)334-7748, City Lights Gallery.
The 5th Annual Bridgeport Art Trail held on Veteran’s Day Weekend, Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 7-10 will kick off Thursday night with art receptions and exhibits throughout the downtown. Starting at the historic Arcade Mall on Main St. from 4:30-7 visitors can visit the CreateHereNow store fronts including Made In Bridgeport and Paradox Ink while Bridgeport’s WPKN radio 89.5 FM spins discs and sells vinyl from their vintage PKN collection. Light refreshment by Ripka’s Market sponsored by the Downtown Services District.
Art receptions will culminate at Housatonic Museum of Art on the Housatonic Community College campus, hosting an exhibit featuring the art of world renowned artist Chuck Close, who mentors students of Roosevelt school in Bridgeport. The HMA exhibit will also include Roosevelt student work. Other downtown locations include, UArts at McLevy Hall, City Lights Gallery and the Read’s Ground Floor Gallery. The Bridgeport Art Trail is sponsored by Mayor Bill Finch and the city of Bridgeport, The CT Office on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts and the Fairfield County Community Foundation and City Lights Gallery.
Visitors can indulge their palette (both visual and gastronomic), with a complementary Happy Hour Raw Bar courtesy of Charles Island Agriculture at 305 Knowlton St., BBQ by the Grumpy Hogg at American Fabrics Arts Building or a Sunday Pancake Breakfast and Honey Drizzle Bar at the NEST Art Factory. Bob Halstead will lead the annual art trail bike tour. Join him at 11:30 a.m. Saturday for a bagel and coffee at City Lights.
Featured art includes drawings, paintings, prints, photography, sculptures, fabric art, pottery, artisanal items for the home, jewelry and apparel.
CREDIT: © Chuck Close in association with Magnolia Editions, Oakland, courtesy Pace Gallery
Rhino by Rick Shaefer of the NEST Art Factory
Chuck Close
The photo credit is Courtesy Magnolia Editions and Pace Gallery
CREDIT: © Chuck Close in association with Magnolia Editions, Oakland, courtesy Pace Gallery
Plegaria…Yolanda Petrucelli
Art Trail
Rick and Rhino
Judy Corrigan. Elizabeth Bullis-Weiss.Open Studio
http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/exhibits/coming.asp
Check out the link for additional information.
Thank you, Rick!
Rick Shaefer was our next Fave, as we moved closer to the Art Trail for 2013. Rick works out of The Nest, in Bridgeport (which is one of the stops on the Trail).
His Biography:
Born at West Point, where his father taught physics, Rick grew up traveling with his military family. He studied at Duke University, joined a German Surrealist Artist group, moved on to study Photography at the Art Center in LA, California. Moving to NY, he did editorial and fashion photography. With inspiration from Dűrer and Rembrandt, as well as R. Crumb, he did a series of etchings and drawings, moving into landscapes with noted Northern European iconography. Rick continues to work on large scale charcoal drawings, in addition to his other work.
Rick’s Shaefer’s Statement:
I tend to always come back to the line work. I find what I respond to and admire in other artists’ work, past or present, is usually the integrity of the line – whether it’s a single stroke or a mass of scribble in the shadows. If the strokes are put down with validity and assurance they will resonate and the piece will vibrate. False or uneasy notes stand out and unsettle and even demoralize. A fluidity of movement and gesture coupled with a confident, rhythmic ease of delivery is what is consciously and unconsciously felt and appreciated by the viewer. At least that is how I respond to a work.
For me the scale of larger drawings compels a distinct approach—more gestural, almost calligraphic. The act of drawing itself is highly sensual and pleasurable to me. I hurriedly scribble with a writer’s hand in a spontaneously invented language with looping cursive gestures, larger flourishes, and tight punctuations. If the rhythm is there, I write my way across the surface as if I were capturing thought in a frenzied rush of note taking.
Because of my photography background and countless hours spent trying to secure a rich array of grays and blacks in the prints, creating a full range of tones in the drawings is important. But for these larger pieces it has been crucial for me to create the tonal range by line alone – without smudging and rubbing the charcoal in any way. Maintaining the crispness of the line work is the goal—not unlike that of an etching, engraving or woodcut—with rich blacks being crucial to the conveyance of shape but also to the sense of bulk and weight.
I have chosen subjects with a great variety of textural surfaces: the idea being to draw these pieces life size, with an archivist’s fidelity to scale. In a sense, the process is not unlike scanning the surface of a highly varied landscape from high up—mapping the transitions from rough areas of exuberant detail to the occasional quiet patches. When I first decided to do this series, brought on by the felling of a large old oak in a neighbor’s field during a storm, the textures of the bark and decay were what initially caught my eye. Added to that was the sense of massive weight and the anthropomorphic elements in the curvature of the trunk and the large “eye” in the middle. It seemed to resemble a large dying beast, a beached whale for instance, looking out from the finale of a grand and quickly waning life. The vast wealth of mythology, symbolism, and iconography surrounding our historical relationship with trees can’t help but inform such encounters.
The surface and scale exploration of the Oak Tree led to the Rhino, with its similar beseeching eye and intricately distinctive, textured hide. Both stare out at us from murky but resonant realms. In the Elephant feet (umbrella stands) drawings, with their distinct references to clear cutting and taxidermy, the series headed further toward an ecological and moral imperative and a larger discourse has begun to inform my process. Further works now in progress have a clear connection with the first Oak drawing while enlarging the discussion around environmental confrontation and exploitation. What appears at first glance to be a rather straightforward process of archival documentation expands, perhaps unavoidably and inevitably, to embrace such diverse themes of deforestation, strip mining, species annihilation, overpopulation and pollution and the vast array of environmental challenges facing us. For me, these life size records of a specific moment also speak of transience and our responsibility or culpability in that impermanence.
Introducing our Fave Feature, as we count down to the Trail in November which begins 11/7/13…
Felipe Soltero, working out of 305 Knowlton Street, is a full time artist.
His biography:
Born and raised in the city of Bridgeport (CT), I have spent over 24 years learning, creating, mastering and earning a living from the craft of custom art.
I’ve expanded my artistic versatility by earning a bachelors degree in commercial art at The Connecticut Institute of Art in Greenwich, CT. I learned many different types of media applications, styles and techniques.
As I’ve sharpened my skills throughout the years, including use of the airbrush to allow me the ability to render my creations on an infinite array of surfaces.
I am currently accepting commissioned work and will be exhibiting in the near future.
My Services Include: Fine art paintings, Portrait commissions, Mural Art design and application, Automotive Art and Face ‘n Body Art.
I take pride in using only the best in paint products and have an unrelenting devotion to always create quality work.
Felipe
“I am a Visual Fine Artist”
http://solteroart.wix.com/solteroart
http://facebook.com/solteroart
From the Bridgeport Arts and Cultural Council web site:
“With her work as an individual artist, Director of a dynamic gallery space City Lights, and leader of citywide arts initiative “The Bridgeport Art Trail”, we are happy to honor Suzanne Kachmar as our November Artist of the Month.”