SUMMER - Group Members Exhibition
June 11 – July 25, 2010

Opening Reception: Friday, August 6, 6:30 - 8:30pm.
“Picasso & Braque Go to the Movies” Film Screening: August 12, 7pm.
Art Café: Fridays, 9:30 - 10:30am. Chat about the exhibit & the art world.
Brown Bag Lunch Talks with the Artists: Wednesdays, 12:30 - 1:30pm.

“In the summer, the song sings itself.”
-William Carlos Williams, poet

The Westport Arts Center celebrates the artistic diversity of our community with its annual Group Members Show. This themed exhibition, which explores the spirit of summer, wil be juried by Alexandra Munroe, Ph.D., Senior Curator of Asian Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.


We are proud to announce the 70 artists in the 2010 Group Members Juried Exhibition:

Memory
Curated by Helen Klisser During
September 24-November 28, 2010

Above: Works by Mayer Kirshenblatt

We begin our exhibition season with a show that explores the importance and fragility of memory, and assert that documenting one’s own experiences is a valuable undertaking that will have significant impact on future generations. Work in the show will include drawings, paintings, lithographs, film, and sculpture by Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Anselm Keifer, Mayer Kirshenblatt, Leo Kok, and Ursula von Rydingsvard, among others. All of these artists address collective memories surrounding events pre- and post-World War II, but through the medium of art, embellish and abstract them, so that the resulting images exist in a space between fact and fiction.

As part of the exhibition, visitors will be encouraged to document their own memories through writing, speaking, drawing, or painting – proving that all of us have stories worth sharing and recording. The exhibition is intended to complement and build upon the powerful memories conveyed in Westport Country Playhouse’s fall production of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Opening Reception: Friday, August 6, 6:30 - 8:30pm.
Art Café: Fridays, 9:30 - 10:30am. Chat about the exhibit & the art world.

Kid Kulture
Curated by Helen Klisser During
December 10, 2010 - February 20, 2011

Morris Engel, New York City, Comic (Joe Palooka), 1948; Arthur Leipzig, Dodge Ball 0/0, 1950; Ruth Orkin, Heinz Stroller, World's Fair, NYC, 1964.
 

“Kid Kulture” captures the universal spirit of children through the lenses of classic 20th century photographers, including Robert Frank, Arthur Leipzig, and Ruth Orkin. Iconic images by these renowned photographers depict the innocence and playful curiosity of children as they discover the world through everyday activities.

As a counterpart to these professional images, the exhibition will include a selection of juried photographs of children taken by children ages 5 to 18. Howard Greenberg, one of the world’s premier photography dealers, will be the juror for the kids’ photography submissions.

Opening Reception: Friday, December 10, 6:30 - 8:30pm.
Art Café: Fridays, 9:30 - 10:30am. Chat about the exhibit & the art world.

Resilience Through the Rubble
Curated by Helen Klisser During
March 4 - May 1, 2011

In April 2010, 3 months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, 50 orphans were given disposable cameras for 48 hours and asked to document their lives. The resulting images provide unprecedented access and insight into the children’s perceptions of this event and its impact, as well as the strength of a people despite all odds - resilience through the rubble.

Besides the children’s images, the exhibition will include photographs by WAC Director of Visual Arts, Helen Klisser During and London-based photographer and philanthropist, Elizabeth Jordan, who spear-headed the “kids with cameras” effort to support the Carma orphanage. The photographs range from poignant portraits of individuals at the orphanage, in relief hospitals and remote villages, to colorful renditions of Haitian Tap-Tap buses, whose kitsch groovy messages brighten up the streets of Port au Prince, encouraging hope, peace and a brighter future.

This exhibition is produced with assistance from R&B hip-hop singer Melky Jean and the Carma Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the health of women and children in Haiti. Proceeds from art sales will be donated to the Carma Foundation.

Opening Reception: Friday, December 10, 6:30 - 8:30pm.
Art Café: Fridays, 9:30 - 10:30am. Chat about the exhibit & the art world.

Join WAC at the Downtown Merchants Association’s 37th Annual Fine Arts Festival, where we will sponsor the Children’s Zone with activities inspired by Frank L. Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.

Children of all ages and their families are welcome to come and create tie-dye rainbows, tin-men made out of “found” objects, good (or evil) witch hats, three dimensional collage lollipops, and “characters of a different color”--colored pictures inspired by Andy Warhol.

To find us at the festival, follow the yellow brick road!

Saturday, July 17 from 9:00am-6:00pm
Sunday, July 18 from 10:00am-5:00pm

For more information about the Fine Arts Festival, please see www.westportfineartsfestival.com.