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 |
