Carriage Barn Arts Center

Plein Air Painting on Elm Street!

neelebanks — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:47:54 +0000

Art in the Windows

The Carriage Barn Arts Center in Waveny Park has done it again, bringing Art in the Windows to downtown New Canaan, from May 14th to May 28th. The annual art exhibition will feature 55 Artists in 50 Shops. There should be a little something for everybody.

This Art in the Windows event benefits the retailers and the artists, and allows art to be more accessible to residents of and visitors to New Canaan. Plein Air Painting will be on May 19th, during the day weather permitting A portion of each sale goes to benefit the Carriage Barn Arts Center in Waveny Park, a society that has been supporting visual and performing arts since 1977.

100 years of scouting under one Barn roof!

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:08:48 +0000

The Carriage Barn is hosting a Girl Scout Centennial Art Show Celebration this weekend featuring artwork in a variety of media by Girl Scouts in grades K-12. The Exhibit runs Friday, May 11-Sunday, May 13, 2012 from 12-4 pm. Everyone is invited to a special reception honoring the Scout-Artists on Sunday, May 13^th from 2:30-3:45 pm.

Selected Entries – Spectrum 2012

neelebanks — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:29:24 +0000

Our curator, Lydia Viscardi, has announced the Spectrum 2012 Selected Artworks! Thank you to all the artists who submitted to Spectrum 2012.

Girl Scout Centennial Art Show

neelebanks — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:25:56 +0000

Back row: Elizabeth Ozimek, Jane O'Brien, Kira Schott Front row: Amber Lynch, Emma Ognibene, Emma Grau, and Johannah O'Brien

Help us celebrate the Girl Scout Centennial Art Show Celebration Friday, May 11-Sunday, May 13, 2012 from 12-4 pm marking the Girl Scouts of America 100th Jubilee! This fun show will feature work by our New Canaan Girl Scouts in grades K-12, and is part of the Carriage Barn’s commitment to supporting local youth initiatives.

A reception honoring the Girl Scout artists will take place at our Betty Barker Gallery on Sunday, May 13th from 2:30-3:45. It is free, open to the public and milk and Girl Scout cookies will be served!!

It will be a fabulous Mother’s Day treat! Come on out, enjoy the refreshments and vote for your favorite piece on display. The winner will have her art exhibited at the Connecticut Girl Scouts Jubilee Fair at Durham Fairground on May 19th. The winner will be announced at the closing of the reception on Sunday, May 13 at 2:30- 3:45 pm.

This show has been organized by two Ambassador Scout troops comprised of 11th and 12th graders. Throughout the years these older scouts have led younger girls through a variety of activities ranging from cooking and crafts to camping. The Ambassador Scouts have undertaken the Girl Scout Centennial Art Show so our community can participate in the celebration of the Girl Scouts of America 100th Jubilee!

For further information, contact Margaret Pastel, at 203-972-6970.

Our High School Artists

neelebanks — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:59:55 +0000

Welcoming students and families at "Through Our Eyes II" are Carriage Barn Arts Center trustees Barbel Green and Jeb Walker

“Through Our Eyes II”, our second annual New Canaan High School Art Exhibition had a great opening reception at the Carriage Barn on April 15th! “Through Our Eyes II” features 100 works by students enrolled in several art courses, including Advanced Digital Media, Documentary Photography and AP 2D Digital Media taught by Jeanne McDonagh; AP Studio Art, taught by Lisa Floryshak-Windman, and Filmaking, taught by Greg Scalzo.

And then on April, 24th “MUD 2012, a National High School Ceramics Show” opened with a well attended opening reception. The ceramics show includes work by New Canaan High School students taught by Floryshak-Windman, along with art students from the tri-state area and as far a field as California.

Both shows will run through Sunday, May 6 with most works for sale!

Come on out to see what our fabulous High School students have been producing this year.

Please comments about the show below!

Back row: Meredith Jonker, Adelyn Graf, Kalan Lysenko, Jeanne McDonagh( Art Teacher), Birna Gustafsson, Grady Amrhein Front row: Lizzy Emond, Andrea Wong

National Student Ceramics Exhibit Opens April 25th

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:42:35 +0000

The Gallery is proud to host MUD.2012 A National Exhibition of High School Ceramics, which includes 30 works by high school students from across the country. The Exhibit runs from April 25th-May 6th in conjunction with “Through Our Eyes II,” our second annual collaboration with New Canaan High School.

Come See the High School Show!

admin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:09:05 +0000

Please join us for the Opening Reception for “Through Our Eyes II” on Sunday, April 15th from 4-6 pm. This annual collaboration between the Carriage Barn and New Canaan High School reflects the Town’s commitment to enriching our community’s teen experiences through art. The Exhibit features 120 works by 100 talented students enrolled in AP and Advanced Courses in Studio Art, Digital Media and Documentary Photo at NCHS.

“Through Our Eyes II” runs from April 15th-May 6th.

Members in the News: Norm Jensen

neelebanks — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:15:30 +0000

The Bank of New Canaan will be exhibiting photographs from Norm Jensen, one of our favorite volunteers and longtime artist member. For details follow this link to the NC Patch: http://newcanaan.patch.com/announcements/jensen-photography-show-at-the-bank-of-new-canaan

Curator’s Comments: Pattern, Rhythm and Cycles

neelebanks — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:12:46 +0000

Pattern, Rhythm and Cycles is a lively mixture of representational, abstract and non-objective paintings, sculpture, mixed media, graphics and two photographs by thirty-one members of the American Society of Contemporary Artists, a national organization known as ASCA. Artists in this exhibit are predominantly from the tri-state area as well as California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. The society is in its 95th year and limits its membership to 100 artists chosen by a peer revue panel.

The show includes many paintings, sculpture and mixed media work. It is refreshing to see so many paintings and sculptures that are inviting due to their tactile nature. A spare green abstract painting by Maria de Echevarrai, Nina, is quietly compelling as is Annette Lieblein’s Waiting (B), a beautiful small encaustic of numerous small figures in black and white. Run Rabbit Run, a colorful, boldly painted abstract oil by Richard Karp, is small but vibrant, and Scream, a large and imposing canvas by Sachie Hayashi, demands attention. It is a turbulent abstract landscape dominated by swirling puffy clouds. Eleanor Comin’s elegant pencil and gouache drawings are intricate patterns with small little windows of color unexpectedly appearing amidst the soft graphite drawn forms.

A few highlights of sculpture include Lubomir Tomaszewski’s Portrait of a Woman, an unusual mixture of rough glass and weathered wood. The glass is formed into the silhouette of a woman’s face framed by the wood resembling flowing windblown hair. When the afternoon light pours through the gallery, the face seems to glow. Harrient FeBland’s Turning, is a visually strong wall relief in the shape of a column with spiraling linear black and white ovals. In contrast, two untitled totemic-like wall pieces by Marcia Bernstein seem simultaneously ancient and contemporary. They are crafted out of metal parts and other materials with an overall rough stone finish. Jeremy Comin’s Double Pleasure is a tall and elegant geometric wood sculpture with a few smaller organic shaped components. The center of the gallery is dominated by his square format puzzle-like piece of wood and metal entitled Delicate Balance #3. Mihai Caranica’s Unknown Portrait in wonderstone is an elegant spare form as is the bronze abstract figure Counterpoise by Isabel Shaw. In contrast, Estelle Levy’s Queen of Hearts is a whimsical porcelain portrait in celadon green. The Queen smirks and proudly adorns a red flower on her “crown.”

Barbara Brown Schiller has two fiber works in the show. Sunlight and Shadows depicts a striking adobe suburban house. In regard to the inclusive show theme, Schiller, president of ASCA, said, “Every artist has a rhythm to their work.”

Enjoy the Pattern, Rhythm and Cycles of the American Association of Contemporary Artists at the Betty Barker Gallery through April 1, 2011.

These comments are from our curator, Lydia Viscardi, on the ASCA show. What do you think? Share your thoughts below!

Our Curator Shows in Brooklyn

neelebanks — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:29:45 +0000

We were pleasantly surprised to discover our curator, Lydia Viscardi, singled out in a review of “MIC:CHECK” at Side Show Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – a big salon style open call show with 489 artists! “The artists here are tied together in more ways than one. This is not some museum curator’s idea of what’s hip this season but rather an organic network that has long been showing and working together, in some cases for over half a century. These artists do not exhibit here expecting to sell.” They give their work over to Sideshow to demonstrate their affinity with the alternative scene. This show has been extended!

Lydia Viscardi’s “Crib” is a lacquer-like oil and collage showing the interior of a nursery; at first glance, it looks natural enough—until you realize that a child is trapped in a cage underneath the crib, formed by the crib’s side slats having been lowered to the ground.

The review called “The Latest Superspectacular” can be found at:

http://www.pirihalasz.com/blog.htm?post=834515.

Check it out and let us know what you think!