Joyful Noise Concert Series Opens With Thomas Pandolfi

Photo Courtesy of Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

First Congregational Church of Guilford hosts the first concert in the annual Joyful Noise series on Sunday, October 20 featuring world renowned pianist Thomas Pandolfi.

The young American pianist THOMAS PANDOLFI is an exciting virtuoso who, with each passing season, is becoming more and more sought after by audiences worldwide, and showered with superlatives by critics for his passionate artistry and amazing technique. His orchestral appearances often feature not only the belove masterpiece concerti by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Liszt, but also the equally brilliant ones by Paderewski, Rubinstein and Moszkowski. Additionally in the "Pops" genre, Thomas is considered a leading interpreter of the works of George Gershwin. Thomas' career has already included performances with such European orchestras as The George Enescu Philharmonic, The Cluj Philharmonic, The Oltenia Philharmonic (Craiova), The Moravian Philharmonic, The National Philharmonic of the Republic of Moldova, and The Aberystwyth Symphony in Wales, as well as the American symphony orchestras of Mississippi, Cedar Rapids, Asheville, Princeton, San Angelo, York, Fairfax, Northbrook, Great Falls, and Owensboro to name but a few. He has collaborated with such conductors as Dimitru Goia, Sabin Pautza, Emil Seigbert Maxim, Peter Schmelzer, Mihail Agafita, Grigori Moseico, David Russell Hulme, Murry Sidlin, Michael Luxner, Andreas Delfs, Christian Tiemeyer, Ron Spigelman, William Kushner, Nicholas Palmer, William Hudson, Kirk Muspratt, Kim Allen Kluge, Robert Hart Baker, Crafton Beck, Lawrence Rapchak,
Gordon Johnson, Philip Bauman, Anthony Maiello and Vincent Zito.

This is a return engagement for Mr. Pandolfi to the beautiful sanctuary of the First Congregational Church in Guilford.  The Sunday, October 20 concert is at 4pm.  Admission is free but free-will donations will be received to support the Myrtha Licht Music Fund.

Following a performance of MacDowell's D Minor Piano Concerto with The George Enescu Philharmonic, The Bucharest Cultural Observer lauded Pandolfi's "virtuosity, beautiful touch, sensitivity and broad scope...logica phrasing and expressive percussiveness...a soloist whom we would like to hear again." Of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Asheville Symphony, The Asheville Citizen-Times remarked, "Pandolfi is a standout among today's young pianists, demonstrating a great technician's grace, finesse and polish...his virtuosity and strength might have had some believing that Liszt himself had taken over the keyboard. Equally popular as a recitalist, Pandolfi has appeared in concert halls nationwide. The Washington Post has described him as "an artist who is master of both the grand gesture and the sensual line. Pandolfi possesses first-rate technical skills, an unerring comma and of phrasing, a quicksilver touch and cunning legerdemain when it comes to pedaling...etched with calm and crystal clarity...outstanding." New York Concert Review has characterized Pandolfi's interpretations as containing "high level pianism and tasteful, diversified musica ideas...crystalline texture and deft coloration... charm and bracing elan."

While the 2008-09 season marked Thomas' debut recitals in Canada, Germany and China, the 2009-10 season highlighted his debut in London, as well as return engagements throughout Eastern Europe, and concerts both a recitalist and soloist with orchestras across the United States. Pandolfi released his 6th CD album during the 2010-11 season, and returned to China in August of 2011 for his second tour of that country. Additionally, he made his recital debut in Toronto during the 2011-12 season, as well as stepped in on 48 hour notice to perform the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto for The Alexandria Symphony's closing concert of that season. Last season, he performed a highly successful and acclaimed 15 state recital tour across the United States. Audiences during 2013-14 will enjoy his artistry in New York, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Montana, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, Washington, DC, Illinois, Utah, and North Carolina. Thomas will also be making his debut with the Dubuque Symphony on Gala Opening Night in Gershwin's Concerto in F, and his debut with The National Philharmonic at The Strathmore Music Center in Richard Strauss' Burleske for Piano & Orchestra for their closing concert of the season. He will also be guest soloist with Symphonicity on their Gal Opening in Rodrigo's "Heroic" Piano Concerto, the St. Augustine Orchestra in the Grieg Piano Concerto, and the Wilson Symphony in the Grieg as well.

A graduate of The Juilliard School, Pandolfi earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees as a scholarship student.

College Hosts Opening Reception for Exhibition by Famed Illustrator Tim O’Brien

 Illustration by Tim O'Brien

The College is hosting an opening reception for a new exhibition by acclaimed illustrator and portrait painter Tim O’Brien, on Friday, Oct. 11. His exhibit, “Portraits and Illustrations: A Retrospective,” will be on show in the College’s Chauncey Stillman Gallery through Jan. 11, 2014.  The reception is free and open to the public from 6 to 8 p.m.  All are welcome.

O’Brien’s detailed and imaginative illustrations have been published most notably on the cover of TIME Magazine, as well as magazines such as Rolling Stone, Fortune, Esquire, Business Week, Playboy and the New York Times, to name only a few.  His illustrations have been published by every major book publisher, and include the book covers of the popular young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games.  In 2006, the U.S. Postal Service issued two postage stamps, Judy Garland and Hattie McDaniel, both created by O’Brien.

Currently a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, O’Brien lectures frequently across the country.  His numerous speaking engagements have included the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Society of Illustrators, Syracuse University, School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and California College of the Arts.

On Friday, Oct. 18, O’Brien will be giving an “Inside My Studio” lecture at Lyme Academy College.  A reception will be held at 6 p.m. before O’Brien speaks from 7 to 8 p.m.  Reservations are required at $10 per person or $35 for the series of four lectures.  Reservations should be made by contacting Ann de Selding at 860.434.3571 ext. 117 or adeselding@lymeacademy.edu.  Read more

O’Brien has received multiple awards and recognitions including ones from the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles, Graphis Inc., Print Magazine, Communication Arts Magazine, the Society of Publication Designers, American Illustration, and the Art Director’s Club.  He has over a dozen painting in the collection of the National Gallery, Washington, DC, and is a winner of the prestigious Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators.

The Tim O’Brien exhibition, “Portraits and Illustrations: A Retrospective” runs from its opening on Oct. 11 through Jan. 11, 2014. The gallery is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the exhibition or the College, contact Olwen Logan, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at 860-434-3571, ext. 135 or ologan@lymeacademy.edu

Select Group of Fine Artists and Artisans to Exhibit at the 2013 Autumn Arts Festival

                                                                       The Woman                  Juanita-La Marchanta

Paintings by Armida Espaillat

Celebrate Columbus Day Weekend, October 12-13, 2013 at The Arts Center Killingworth’s FREE Autumn Arts Festival located on the Madison Town Green, Madison, Connecticut, (Boston Post Rd./Rte. 1 and Copse Rd.). This annual Shoreline event showcases dozens of fine artists and crafters with a choice few opening their private Shoreline studios to the visiting public. This year, the Festival offers returning favorites as well as new artists from various locations throughout Connecticut as well New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Artists include representational and abstract painters, photographers, printmakers, sculptors, potters and ceramicists, jewelry designers, as well as fine artisans working with glass, mixed media, fabric, and wood.

“This event is a one of the best ways to enjoy a beautiful fall weekend on the Shoreline of Connecticut,” notes Barbara Nair, Executive Director of the Arts Center Killingworth. Meeting and interacting with prominent and emerging artists while having the opportunity to collect fine art and high-end crafts, has been drawing new and, of course, returning visitors year after year. For artists, their work is exposed to a host of people who become buyers or even long-term collectors. “For instance,” Nair adds “one collector has told me that the Festival affords her the opportunity to collect a set of high-end, one-of-a-kind porcelain dinnerware over time to fit her budget.”

The Festival comes alive not only with the visual arts, but also with gourmet food options and musical performances by the JazzMan Duo and singer, songwriter and bandleader Mark Rosenberg. On the Green – itself a New England destination surrounded by both historic buildings and important modern sculpture – each visitor is given a complimentary and colorful Weekend Event Program containing valuable background information and photos of every participating artist.

“We’re almost at the ten-year anniversary of the event and it’s amazing to see how unique each year is,” Nair adds. “We’ve taken a big step forward at the Festival this year. In the past we focused more on local, Shoreline artists. Now, while many of the public’s favorites are back, there are also many new artists who were personally invited to participate based on the quality of their work. This ensures the high-quality of the work exhibited.”

Several Shoreline studios are also open to the visiting public this weekend including painters and a fashion designer. Due to the popularity and visibility of the Green, artists who have shown out of their studios in the past have requested to exhibit on the Green. Nair notes, “We love our studio artists, so we are thrilled that some are with us on the Green. But those who chose to show out of their studios this year afford the public a real treat as they may have work that does not transfer easily to such a public location like the Green.” Read more.

The Arts Center Killingworth’s Autumn Arts Festival is Saturday, October 12 (9:30am-5:30pm) and Sunday, October 13 (Noon-5:30pm). The Center's website, www.artscenterkillingworth.org, contains up-to-date information, a gallery of participating artists and a newly-released video showcasing the event. The Arts Festival is a great opportunity for adults to become more involved in the arts community on the Shoreline by volunteering during the event, and for teens to earn community service hours. For local businesses there are multiple advertising and event sponsorships levels available.

The Arts Center Killingworth is a nonprofit 501(c)3 art organization focused on the development and presentation of the visual and performing arts on the Shoreline of Connecticut. The Center supports artists by organizing exhibits and concerts and offers classes, camps and workshops for children, teens and adults, as well as ongoing volunteer opportunities to the public and advertising options for local and regional businesses.

For information call (860) 663-5593 or email artscenterkillingworth@gmail.com. Connect with us at www.artscenterkillingworth.org, facebook.com/artscenterkillingworth, twitter.com/arts_center_ct, and pinterest.com/artscenterct.

Light Artists Making Places

 Devil's Hopyard

A ship sailed from New Haven,
And the keen and frosty airs,
That filled her sails at parting,
Were heavy with good men's prayers.

New Haven is celebrating the 375^th anniversary of its founding.  L.A.M.P. ~ Light Artists Making Places, now in its 3^rd year, will join in the celebration with one-night of special events focused on light as art.  The theme of this year’s L.A.M.P. exhibition is the Return of the Phantom Ship of New Haven.  As the story goes, “Even the stern divines of Puritan New England in colonial days confessed their belief in the phantom ship. Cotton Mather tells of such a craft which was spoken of from the pulpit in New Haven. A new ship left that port in January 1647, for her maiden trip to directly trade with England, loaded with beaver pelts, wheat and other tradable goods.  The godly people of New Haven, not hearing the fate of the passengers or their investments after six months had elapsed, fasted and prayed that the Lord would let them hear what he had done with them, and to prepare them to accept his will. A great thunderstorm blew up one day in June, and an hour before sunset, a ship of similar dimensions to the one which left in January appeared in the sky over New Haven harbor’s mouth and sailed into the north wind for half an hour. (Toward, not away from, the thunderstorm).  Drawing nearer, she gradually disappeared and finally vanished altogether. Thanks were offered in the pulpits of New Haven that God had granted this confirmation of the fears of the townspeople.

L.A.M.P. is produced by 9arts with support from CT Office of the Arts, New Haven's Office of Art, Culture and Tourism and Projects 2K.  Established in 1993 by Joy Wulke, Projects 2K creates collaborative events that foster the fusion of art and science as a means of discovery and appreciation of the natural world. Project 2K is a non-profit corporation to create collaborative events that foster the fusing of art, science, and ecological concerns as a means of discovery, appreciation, and stewardship of the natural world. Projects for a New Millennium and its collaborators continue to aspire to extend presentations and educational programming illustrating a useful and wondrous philosophy of life, a worldview that celebrates our differences while recognizing the importance of our timeless common goals of peace and freedom in an environmentally sound world.

LAMP is New England’s premier light event and  this year will coincide with New Haven's Citywide Open Studios October 4, 2013.  For more about this event read Chris Arnott’s article Shine On in New Haven Living magazine. 

LAMP was founded in 2011 by Paul Mayer, owner of Café Nine, Margaret Bodell, Mary Schiffer of Art in Heaven, Robert S. Greenberg of ACME Furniture Co, and Lou Cox of Channel 1. Together these early art settlers in New Haven's historic Ninth Square formed 9Arts, a collective of artists, musicians, producers, merchants and volunteers. 9arts initiated the first annual LAMP event in 2011 with collaboration from Project Storefronts and Artspace’s annual open studios.

A Pivotal Figure in American Abstract Art

 Harry Holtzman in the Classroom

The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, presents Harry Holtzman and American Abstraction, the first retrospective of abstract painter, teacher, and writer Harry Holtzman (1912-1987) from October 4, 2013 through January 26, 2014. Drawing from the holdings of the Holtzman Trust, public collections, and private lenders, the exhibition brings new attention to the role Holtzman played in shaping abstract art in America from the 1920s to the 1980s. A close friend and colleague of Piet Mondrian, Holtzman is best known for helping to bring the originator of Neoplasticism to America. This exhibition of roughly 60 paintings, sculptures, and drawings features many works not exhibited since Holtzman's death and highlights the different facets of his role as perennial stalwart of the New York avant garde.

Harry Holtzman and American Abstraction examines Holtzman's career from the 1920s to the 1980s, charting three distinct periods of abstraction in his work. The first section of the exhibition, Early Abstractions: 1928-1934, examines the years when Holtzman was a prolific young artist attempting to find his artistic voice. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Holtzman enrolled in the Art Students League in New York in 1928. There, he began experimenting with a variety of styles - making copies after Cézanne, invoking Regionalist figures in scenes from a Harlem speakeasy, referencing Cubist collage in ink drawings over existing text - while reading the freshest ideas of the day. Thriving under the tutelage of the German abstract painter Hans Hofmann from 1932-1935, Holtzman developed a commitment to expressiveness and color while beginning to search for a new direction in his art.  He found one in 1934 when he encountered Piet Mondrian's work. Fascinated by those paintings he began tentative experiments with gridded, geometric abstraction.

The second section of the exhibition, Pure Plastic Painting: 1934-1950, explores the rigorously Neoplastic paintings, drawings, and freestanding sculptures Holtzman made from 1934 to 1950 under Mondrian's influence. After seeing Mondrian's work in 1934, Holtzman became convinced of their shared sensibility and raised funds to travel to Paris to meet him. Holtzman spent four months in Paris studying under Mondrian, during which time the two artists established what would become a lifelong friendship. When Holtzman returned to New York in early 1935, his work was transformed as he adopted a Neoplastic style - replacing the bold gesture that defined his work under Hofmann with new compositions that used a grid of black lines on a white ground balanced with primary-colored shapes to produce purely non-objective paintings.

Works such as Mondrian's Fox Trot A call attention to the concern that the Dutch artist and Holtzman shared for establishing a dynamic balance of line and color. Where Mondrian tipped the square painting on its end to exploit the tension of the diagonal format, Holtzman contemplated similar issues of space by pushing his work from two dimensions into three. Moving away from framed canvases that would hang on a wall, he constructed four-sided columns such as Sculpture (Yale University Art Gallery) to encourage viewers to confront the interaction of line and color in space and on a human scale.    

This was a vital period for abstraction in America, and Holtzman was at the forefront of the struggle to establish this new art. He was a founding member of American Abstract Artists in 1936 - a group whose members included Josef Albers, Ad Reinhardt, Arshile Gorky, Lee Krasner, Burgoyne Diller, and George L.K. Morris in its early years. Holtzman helped arrange Mondrian's immigration to New York in October 1940, as the violence of World War II spread across Europe. Holtzman also introduced Mondrian to American boogie woogie records that would inspire Mondrian's most beloved paintings-ones that pulsated with the energy of life in New York. Upon Mondrian's death in 1944, Harry Holtzman became both his legal heir - inheriting the entirety of his personal and artistic estate - as well as his artistic successor, taking up the mantle and cause of Neoplastic painting in America.

The final section of the exhibition, The First Paintings in History: 1950-1987, seeks to explain a long period from 1950 to 1987 when Holtzman produced very few finished works, and instead directed his creative energies towards theorizing a new art that would unify ambitious ideas of language, science, history, and aesthetics. It was an extremely productive time for his work as a writer, professor, editor, lecturer, and activist. As interest in Mondrian grew, he increasingly committed himself to the attendant demands of managing the Mondrian estate and promoting his legacy. Along with a large collection of paintings that he would gradually sell over the years, Holtzman became responsible for Mondrian's collected writings, which he published in the year before his own death. After years absorbed with securing Mondrian's legacy, Holtzman returned to the studio, creating a series of towering painted sculptures that took Neoplastic ideas in a new direction. Excited with the potential of these works and this new chapter in his artistic life, Holtzman described the sculptures as the "first paintings in history." The exhibition will include a number of these works, as well as the artist's dynamic, over life-size studies.

Holtzman was dedicated to the cause of the Abstract movement, which before the 1930s was seen as an exclusively European art movement. He was a founding member of American Abstract Artists, a group determined to promote abstraction to a reluctant American audience, was involved with the Eighth Street Artists Club in the 1950s, which served as an incubator for Abstract Expressionism, and taught for three decades at Brooklyn College alongside an impressive roster of abstract and conceptual artists. At every stage of his career, Harry Holtzman pursued new ideas and philosophies through the language of abstraction. Where traditional histories of American Modernism treated Neoplastic painting as a passing fad, Holtzman's work stands testament to its lasting importance to a dedicated circle of artists who advanced the embrace of Modernism in this country. In this, it is possible to discern the larger story of abstraction in America.

Connections to Connecticut

Organized by the Museum's curators Amy Kurtz Lansing and Benjamin Colman, this exhibition is the third presented by the Florence Griswold Museum that brings a better understanding of modern artists that lived in the greater Lyme area, an often-overlooked chapter in Connecticut's rich artistic history. Holtzman was part of a local community that has been little studied but included significant artists. In 1962 Holtzman chose a monumental barn along the country roads of Lyme, Connecticut, to personally convert into a home and studio workspace. He lived and worked there until his death in 1987.

In 2010, the Museum presented a rediscovery of the work of the Bauhaus-influenced artist and Yale professor Sewell Sillman, followed by a 2011 retrospective of the work of photographer Walker Evans, who discovered the artistic community in Lyme in the 1940s and lived here in the last decades of his life. This ongoing series of exhibitions helps to fulfill the Museum's institutional goal of fostering an understanding of American art in all its forms.

Golf Anyone?

Artspace announces New Haven’s first Artist-designed outdoor mini-golf installation at “The Lot,” on lower Chapel Street between Church and Orange Streets. This installation is a full, playable 9-hole mini golf course which will be open to the public for play during gallery hours for only $5 a game. Each hole in the course has been designed and created by a local artist. In opening this installation to public participation and play, Artspace strives both to support and promote local artists, and to bring engaging, world-quality art to the streets and citizens of New Haven. Those interested in playing on the course may find more information regarding rules, materials, and procedures, online at artspacenh.org/galleries/the_lot.
 

The 9 artists selected by Artspace to create their own participatory mini golf art for the installation are Ian Applegate, Heather Bizon, Silas Finch, Matt Feiner, Rocko Gallipoli, Willie Hoffman, Linda Lindroth, MakeHaven, and Dana Scinto. Ian Applegate is new media artist, born and raised in New Haven. Heather Bizon is an artist and architect practicing in New Haven, whose work explores perceptual and spatial experience through installation, new media, architecture and animation. An accomplished sculptor, Silas Finch works with found and broken objects to create his pieces. His awards include the Most Innovative Table Design award at the 8th Annual Flavors of Connecticut, and the Mollie & Albert Jacobson Award for Sculpture. Matt Feiner, cycling advocate and owner of the Devil’s Gear Bike Shop, is also a prominent New Haven artist whose art includes installations, collages, and found object mixed media work. Inspired by carnival culture, West Haven artist Rocko Gallipoli uses mixed media to represent pop cultural and historical objects. Owner and craftsman of Playable Studios, New Haven carpenter Willie Hoffman designs and creates beautiful and original furniture for all ages. The architect-artist-builder collaborative of Linda Lindroth, Craig Newick, and Jeff Carter have reprised Jasper Smiles for this public setting. Lindroth’s work has been displayed across the US, Canada, and Europe, and has received numerous Artists Fellowships and design awards.  MakeHaven is a cooperative workplace in downtown New Haven for artists and other collaborative creators working in a range of fields, including mechanics, electronics, crafts, digital art, biology, and woodworking. Dana Scinto is a New Haven-based artist whose works are vividly colorful and range from furniture and other decorative interior objects to fine art.

This is one of 4 public projects made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and is also supported by an Arts Catalyze Placemaking grant from the CT Office of the Arts.   A full history of the Lot and the exhibitions which Artspace has organized, in partnership with the City of New Haven and the Town Green Special Services BID there can be found on our Wikipedia page, wikipedia.org/wiki/Artspace.  Read the Yale Daily News blog for more information on the creation of this site.

New Voices in Children's Literature: Tassy Walden Awards Seeks Unpublished Writers & Illustrators of Children's Books

 Illustration by Marcella Staudenmaier

New Voices in Children’s Literature: 14^th Tassy Walden Awards is seeking unpublished writers and illustrators of children's books.  This annual competition encourages and nurtures the creation of exceptional quality books for children of Connecticut residents.  This exciting book awards program has seen the successful publishing of 18 writers and/or illustrators and will be accepting entries for this year’s contest until February 3, 2014 in the categories of Picture Book (text only), Illustrated Picture Book, Children's Book Illustrator’s Portfolio, Middle Grade Novel and Young Adult/Teen Novel.  An award of $250 may be presented in each category as judged by publishing industry experts.  The winners and honorable mention recognition are determined at the discretion of the judges. 

Call for Entry guidelines and forms, as well as additional information on preparing manuscripts and portfolios, are available here or by calling 203-453-3890.  All submissions to the New Voices in Children’s Literature competition must adhere to Call for Entry requirements and will be evaluated pursuant to children’s book publishing industry standards and guidelines in a two-tier process.  Nationally recognized literary agents will make the initial selection of submission finalists in each award category after which acclaimed editors will determine the awardees.  All applicants will be notified of the judges’ decisions in early May.  

In order to provide encouragement and guidance to unpublished authors and illustrators, the Shoreline Arts Alliance in collaboration with public libraries and schools, will be offering workshops to address submission requirements and steps to publication.  Workshops are currently scheduled at 7pm on Tuesday, October 22 at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, 84 Lyme Street, Old Lyme; 2pm on Saturday, October 26 at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown; 6pm on Tuesday, October 29 at New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm Street, New Haven; and 7pm on Wednesday, October 30 at Welles-Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main Street, Glastonbury. RSVP requested for attendees to tassy@shorelinearts.org or 203-453-3890. 

These workshops are open to the public and free to attend and are facilitated by published children's authors and illustrators and award winners of the New Voices in Children's Literature competition. The workshops provide potential entrants with guidance in preparing Tassy Walden Award submissions according to the entry requirements; provide insight into the standards of the children's book publishing industry; and answer questions about this field and writing and illustrating for an audience of children.

For call for entry forms and additional information forms click here.  Read more.

Katherine “Tassy” Walden (1913 – 2008) for whom these awards are named will long be remembered for her outstanding dedication and contributions toward the betterment of the Shoreline community.  Tassy’s volunteerism and primary interests were in the fields of education, theatre and social services, especially as those programs enhanced and enriched the lives of children.  As we commemorate the 14^th anniversary of these awards we also remember and celebrate the incredible life of its namesake.