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NEWS: WINTER 2008

A LETTER from the Executive Director

The year of 2007 was one of relative stability. The Board of Directors of Creative Arts Workshop undertook to write a new strategic plan. This plan will guide the Workshop’s activities and goals for the coming three years. We finished year five of involvement with the Greater New Haven Arts Stabilization Project, receiving our third of four grants to be used as a working capital fund.

A second Cultural Passages exhibition, this year entitled Identity Made Visible, was held and again proved to be very successful. This year, thanks to a grant from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, we were able to add a stimulating symposium on art and identity.

We continue to be pleased with the success of the PACK (Parents And Communities for Kids) program. Families who have never been to Audubon Street have come because of this innovative program. This year, a new grant was received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, guaranteeing the continuation of
this highly successful program throughout Greater New Haven. The Community Foundation and the Graustein Foundation continue to support the effort.

We completed a project funded by a grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism that allowed us the time to examine the format and type of classes we offer. We heard from focus groups that they wanted shorter courses and more held on the weekends. They also wanted to have “pre-beginner” sessions to try out a medium before committing to a multi-week course,
so we introduced a series of sampler workshops on Sunday afternoons. There was also interest in courses that dealt more with the decorative arts, so we are offering a series that fall under that theme. We are committed to continuing to accommodate our students as a premier learning center for the visual arts.

I thank all of you who have volunteered your time and have supported Creative Arts through your donations. The Workshop was begun by volunteers and continues to rely on the valuable time people offer. With the contributions of individuals and businesses from the community, the Workshop is able to keep its fees low, despite rising costs; offer programs to underserved
groups in the community; make tuition assistance available to those who would otherwise be unable to take courses; and push itself to present innovative programs and exhibitions for the entire community.

Susan Smith, Executive Director

P.S. Be sure to notice our new façade – we received a
grant from the City of New Haven to repair and improve
the front of our building.

 

CAW welcomes new staff member
Catherine Lincoln joins Creative Arts Workshop as the new Development Consultant. Working closely with the CAW
Development Committee, she will assist in planning special
events, including the 2008 Gala, and other fund raising
initiatives.

Catherine comes to CAW with lots of experience managing volunteers and planning special events. She has worked for IRIS, Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, New Haven’s refugee
resettlement agency, as well as the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. She has also worked at Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Smithsonian’s Division of Musical History in Washington, DC. She is delighted to be working at CAW and expanding her knowledge about the visual arts field.

Catherine lives in North Haven with her husband, Matt, Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, and their two children. She is a member of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and she and her family are long time supporters of the arts in New Haven.

 

 

Creative Arts Workshop, a top holiday shopping destination

With glowing lights, festive colors, and only the finest in contemporary American crafts, the Celebration of American Crafts currently on view at Creative Arts Workshop promises a brilliant array of fine ceramics, decorative and wearable fiber, wood furnishings, blown glass, hand crafted jewelry, whimsical toys, and much more.

“We are celebrating 39 years of the Celebration of American Crafts and have come a long way from the one-day sale,” notes Susan Smith, Executive Director of Creative Arts Workshop. The Celebration began in 1968 as a one-day craft sale to benefit the fledgling Workshop and has grown into a seven-week event, featuring the highest caliber of work by over 400 artists from across the country, including over 50 new artists.

A dedicated group of over 125 volunteers devote an enormous amount of time, care, and creativity to all aspects of the Celebration including the selection, processing, and display of the thousands of items featured in this holiday sale. The Celebration Selection Committee scour the country year round to bring fresh
new dimensions and something for everyone to the Celebration each year – satisfying a wide variety of tastes and budgets while maintaining a high level of quality. By the first week of November, the collection comes together in the two-story CAW Hilles Gallery, with ever changing displays as new items are introduced daily.

“The Celebration has established the Workshop as one of the premier showcases of fine contemporary crafts,” says Smith. Drawing in over 10,000 visitors from throughout New England, the exhibition/ sale is highly anticipated by both avid fine craft collectors and holiday shoppers seeking one of a kind gifts. “This year, we will be exploring new retail ventures that will expand throughout the year,” adds Smith.

In addition to providing major support for the nonprofit art center and its community programming, the Celebration further extends the educational mission of the Workshop of fostering creativity through participation in, and appreciation of, the visual arts by providing the entire community with a view of the current trends and innovative techniques of fine contemporary crafts in this country. Faculty members at CAW often use the Celebration as a learning tool for students, as it brings a large group of work of a diverse set of media and techniques to New Haven.

The Celebration of American Crafts is currently on view
at Creative Arts Workshop and runs through December
24, 2007, open daily 11 to 5, Thursdays 11 to 8, Sundays
1 to 5, and December 24, 10 to 1.

Creative Arts Workshop would like to thank the dedicated team of volunteers who lend their time and energy in support of the Celebration each year. We also thank our sponsors for their generous support: Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C. (Lead Sponsor); Arlene & Cheryl Szczarba, Realtors at Prudential Connecticut Realty; Chamber Insurance Trust; and the New Haven Register (Media Sponsor).

 

CAW featured in documentary and resource book about PACK and Family Learning

PACK (Parents and Communities for Kids) received a federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant in the fall of 2006 to continue their work providing out-of-school family learning activities. Since 2002, PACK has given low-income families free access to activities they might not otherwise be able to afford, including art activities at Creative Arts Workshop. These activities, while fun, have done more than just bring smiles to the faces of
the participants. They have increased parent-child bonds, communication among family members, and awareness about different cultures and ideas. Most of all, they have reinforced the idea that parents are their children’s first and best teachers and that community is a classroom.

Money from the IMLS grant was used to infuse literacy into family learning activities and to create a documentary about the program shown on CPTV.

A PACK Family Learning resources book, organized and designed in part by CAW Program Director Kate Paranteau, was created to serve as a guide to community classrooms
throughout New Haven, Hamden, and Ansonia, where a parent can be their child’s first and best teacher. The book, titled Open
Doors to Family Learning, was developed with the support of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Connecticut Children’s Museum, Connecticut Humanities Council, NewAlliance Foundation, the New Haven Free Public Library, and the United Way of Greater New Haven. In addition to the IMLS grant, PACK receives support from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the Graustein Memorial Fund.

For further information about Creative Arts Workshop’s activities with the PACK program, please call the Workshop at 203.562.4927

 

View past newsletters:

Fall Newsletter 2006
Spring Newsletter 2006
Winter Newsletter 2006
Fall Newsletter 2005
Summer Newsletter 2005
Annual Newsletter 2004
Annual Newsletter 2003
Annual Newsletter 2002

FACULTY UPDATES

JOSH GAETJEN
Awarded a Faculty Development Grant from Mercy College in August 2007, which supports the making of new work this year. Also received a grant from the Artist’s Resources Trust, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, in October 2007. This grant also supports the making of new work over the next year. Participated in City Wide Open Studios, where one of his paintings exhibited was featured in an article in the New Haven Advocate, Fall 2007. Currently an assistant professor at Mercy College, teaching in the Computer Arts & Design Program, since 2002.

BARBARA HARDER
Current exhibitions: Give Art 2007, Group Exhibition, City Gallery, New Haven, CT, November to December 2007; The Artist Gift, Group Exhibition, Art/Place, Southport, CT, November to December 2007. Upcoming exhibitions: Not Printed on Paper, Invitational Exhibition, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT, January 2008. Participated in City Wide Open Studios, for the tenth consecutive year since its start, Artspace, New Haven, CT, Fall 2007. Master Printer for “Monothon” at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT. Instructor of Printmaking Workshop at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT.

ANN LEHMAN
Ann reports that two of her students have won prizes: ALAN SILVER STEIN (sculpture prize at Paint & Clay Club Show, Ely House) LIANE AUDETTE (Best Environmental Piece in Oil Drum Show in Torrington, CT).

MEREDITH MILLER
Attended a residency in August 2007 at the Artists’ Enclave at I-Park in East Haddam, CT.

FETHI MEGHELLI
Recent exhibitions: Oil Drum Art Aesthetic and Environmental Exhibit, Hartford Artspace Gallery, Fall 2007; The Los Angeles Printmaking Society19th National Juried Exhibit, Fall 2007. Current exhibitions: Black+White and Red Upstairs, an exhibit at The John Slade Ely House, through December 9, 2007, 51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, CT; Ceremonies and Celebrations, 2007 Legacies Invitational, Alva Gallery, through December 15, 2007, 54 State Street, New London, CT.

DORTHY POWERS
Recent exhibitions: Environmental Visions, Invitational Group Exhibit at Haskins Laboratory, Fall 2007; Connecticut Women Artists, Inc. Annual Juried Exhibit, Mystic Art Center, Fall 2007; One Person Exhibit featuring paintings and photographs, The Gallery at River Street, Fall 2007; Open Studios at Erector Square, reviewed in Connecticut Art Scene Online and the New Haven Independent, Fall 2007.

JOSEPHINE ROBINSON
Recently co-authored a book titled, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Drawing (Wiley Publishing), with her husband, Dean Fisher. Josephine will be doing a book signing at Silvermine School of Art, sometime in Feb/March 2008.

KRIS SABATELLI & MATTHEW MANDELBAUM
The two Painting & Drawing faculty members announce the birth of their first son, Adam Sabatelli Mandelbaum, on September 9, 2007.

REBECCA STROM
Currently working on a Masters in Art Education at SCSU, while teaching art at Bishop Woods School and Elm City College Prep, both in New Haven, CT.

Creative Arts Workshop is saddened to report that longtime student ANNE CONKLIN passed away on November 11, 2007. Anne was an early sculpture student of Ann Lehman’s and worked primarily in metal, creating lively animal figures. Anne was an active supporter of the arts in New Haven.