The Greenwich Art Society at 100 Founded in 1912, the Greenwich Art Society (G.A.S.) is celebrating its centennial year. Our founders included many distinguished artists and art patrons. Our first president was Edward Clark Potter, sculptor of the lions that sit in front of the New York Public Library. Early members were Leonard Ochtman, Elmer MacRae, George Wharton Edwards, J. Alden Twachtman, and others associated with the Cos Cob School and the American Impressionist movement. Exhibitions were held in the hilltop house donated to the town by Robert M. Bruce when it became the Bruce Museum. In 1928, the prestigious Annual Members’ Exhibition moved to the art gallery of the Greenwich Library. We are looking forward to our next 100 years, but we realize for the arts to stay vital in our current economy, the arts organizations in lower Fairfield County need to collaborate with one another to cross-promote our various offerings and programs. We all offer our communities something unique. Today the Studio School at G.A.S. holds classes for all skill levels –in drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. Our school specializes in small classes with emphasis placed on individualized instruction. All classes (save those en plein air) take place in our fully equipped teaching studio on the third floor of the Senior/Arts Center on Greenwich Avenue. We hold classes year-round, and they are scheduled in mornings, afternoons and evenings every day except Sundays and holidays. G.A.S. is also very excited to be starting an Outreach Program this fall for children from the Bridgeport school system. The program is being spearheaded by Mary Newcomb, award-winning artist and co-vice president of classes at the G.A.S. The children will complete an art project that integrates art and musical history, including live performances by noted musicians. We also have a gallery on the second floor of the Arts Center for changing exhibitions of works by members, faculty, students and other selected artists. We present annual juried exhibitions in the Bendheim Gallery of the Greenwich Arts Council, the Flinn Gallery of the Greenwich Library and at the Garden Education Center of Greenwich. For more information, visit our website at GreenwichArtSociety.org.
FCBUZZ the new canaan historical society sees red (but in a Good way) She’s been the subject of artworks – including a William Wegman Weimaraner series – cultural studies, movies and now an exhibit. “Seeing Red: Little Red Riding Hood Visits the New Canaan Historical Society” (through Jan. 27) features the collection of Peggy Rice, who has spent 50 years in the thrall of the crimson one. (She’s the author of “The Peggy Rice Collection of Little Red Riding Hoods, II.”) Visiting the exhibit gives you a chance to be Red as you follow the path through town and into the shadowy woods to grandmother’s cottage. Along the way, you’ll spot advertisements, paintings, film memorabilia, household items, toys and other objects that reflect on the depth of the collection. The Historical Society, a privately supported nonprofit, will also present a series of exhibit-related programs. A Little Red Riding Hood puppet show will take place Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. as part of the Society’s Holiday Open House. The Town Players of New Canaan will present “Little Red Riding Hood – The Panto” Dec. 7, 8, 9 and 14,15, 16 at the Powerhouse Theatre at Waveny Park. Finally, there is a special event featuring a live wolf, “The Wolves of North America,” at 3 p.m. Jan. 12.
For more information, visit CulturalAllianceFC.org or email infoCulturalAllianceFC.org or call 256-2329. For events lists, visit FCBuzz.org.
Wedgwood Little Red Riding Hood service plate, circa 1890, from the collection of Peggy Rice.
Hours are 10 a.m.–4p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is $5. For more information, visit nchistory.org .
Good thinGs in small packaGes
Anna Patalano, president of the Greenwich Art Society
The mission of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is to support cultural organizations, artists and creative businesses by providing promotion, services and advocacy.
Arts & Culture of Fairfield County
“Veti Dikata # 12,” a 15-by15-inch collage and thread by Diane Pollack of Fairfield, is part of the Holiday Exhibition at ArtPlace, the organization’s first in its new home – which it shares with the Fairfield Theatre Company. Pollack says she was inspired by the quilts made by Congo women to create this work, whose title means “The mind plays the pattern strongly.”
Art/Place, one of the oldest nonprofit cooperative associations in Connecticut, will feature small works of art, attractively priced for holiday giving, in its annual Holiday Exhibition. It’s the organization’s first show in the new gallery at 70 Sanford St., Fairfield, an address shared with the Fairfield Theater Company. “Artful Giving,” which includes paintings, prints, drawings and mixed media, continues through Dec. 22. There’s a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 11 and a “Meet the Artists Afternoon” from 3 to 5 p.m. Dec. 2. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Says John Reid, producing artistic director of the Fairfield Theatre Company: “We are very pleased to be able
Visit FCBuzz.org for more information on events and how to get listed. 26 Week of November 5, 2012 • Fairfield County Business Journal
to share our space with Art/Place and are truly excited to see the arts flourishing right here in downtown Fairfield.” Diane Pollack of Fairfield and Florence Zolan of Bridgeport, are cochairwomen of Art/Place. Members include Phyllis Clamage of Stratford, Dave Pressler of Shelton, Carol Cole, and Elisa Khachian of Fairfield, Toby Michael and Mary Elizabeth Peterson of Westport, Barbara Bernstein and Susanne Keany of Weston, Cate Leach of Darien, Sandra Meagher of Rowayton, Mary Louise Long of Stamford and Martha Reinken of Greenwich. Artist membership applications are available from Sandra Meagher at sandrakm@mac.com. For further information, call (646) 258-6912 or visit ArtPlace.org.
Presented by: Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County