A letter from RAC’s Executive Director
Dear RAC Community,
I am pleased to announce that RAC is planning to reopen its gallery in early July with the Community Sponsored Awards exhibition. I will be modifying our drop-off procedures to
ensure that all artists will be protected. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to hold an opening reception for this exhibition.
Once we are open, we will be closely adhering to CT guidelines to make sure that all of our visitors feel safe. We will limit the number of people admitted to the gallery at one time, direct the flow of traffic through the gallery with floor markings and make social distancing and the wearing of masks mandatory. As Rowayton is bustling with new residents escaping city life during a pandemic, I am sure the gallery will see a lot of foot traffic and sales.
Even though it is too soon for us to safely hold classes in the studio , thanks to the hard work of Education Director Suzy Aubrey there is now an array of online offerings by many of our instructors, as well as workshops and children’s classes. Please check out the listings below!
Since becoming director, it had been one of my long term goals to have our exhibitions online as well as in the gallery. Because of COVID-19, I was forced to quickly create a website where you can now find all of our current and recent exhibitions – racgallery.carbonmade.com . It has been exciting to see people from all over the country not only entering our shows, but also buying the work. Art seems to be selling, especially pieces at an affordable price point. I have sold seven pieces so far to people who have seen the work online, two in California. Luckily, we were able to hold Kids Paint Rowayton again this year, a joint effort with the Rowayton Elementary School Art Dept. and PTA. Usually held in Pinkney Park during Rowayton’s Memorial Day celebration, this show can now be seen in our online gallery. Thanks to Eunice Roy, Exhibitions Chair, for having the foresight to continue this tradition in the face of the pandemic.
I was honored to judge the show and thoroughly enjoyed looking at and commenting on each and every piece.
It is time for membership renewal . With the aid of the new online database we invested in last year, instead of renewing by mail, members will be able to log in to a portal where they can renew their membership, update personal information, and purchase an Exhibiting Member Gallery Weblink. They can also manage volunteer preferences and hours. Members will soon be receiving an email to help guide them through this new and exciting process.
Thank you for your continued support, and I hope to see you in the gallery soon!
Andrea Letters, Executive Director
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May 22 – June 30, 2020
View the entire show via our online gallery here . Thanks to our jurors Frank Bruckmann, Ben Larrabee and Wendy Pieper who had a difficult task of narrowing down over 200 entries!
Winners were announced as follows:
Best in Show (seen here) , Wendy Moore of Pound Ridge for “Change of Plans” (Oil), 1 st Place: Carol Young of Fairfield for “Nana’s House” (Acrylic), 2 nd Place: Joyce Grasso of Stamford for “Awakening” (Acrylic), 3 rd Place: Anda Styler of Sherman for “Dance of Light” (Acrylic), Honorable Mention: Nicholas Thompson of Ottawa, Canada for “Crouching Boy” (Clay for Bronze Sculpture).
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June 14 – July 5, 2020
Focus Under Forty is currently planned as an online show.
Cash Award: $250 for Best in Show: Winners notified by June 5
Co-Chairs: Peter Ostasewicz and Lucy Armstrong
Judge: Terri C. Smith
Check for more info on our website here .
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July 5 – August 2, 2020
Who: Exhibiting Members
What: All Media
How Many Works: Two works per artist
Fees: $20/1 piece; $35/2; Fees waived for Art Angels.
Receiving:
Monday, June 29 from 4pm to 7pm
Tuesday, June 30 from 11am to 2pm
Please note there will be a new process for paying for entries online
prior to drop off to minimize exposure during the procedure.
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Upcoming Workshops & Events
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ONLINE Watercolor
Paint and Sip with
Nancy McTague-Stock
Thursday, June 4
4:30 to 6:00pm
Fee: $30
RAC is offering another Zoom “Paint and Sip” experience, this time with watercolors! RAC Instructor Nancy McTague-Stock will lead students through a specific landscape painting, but participants are welcome to choose an image of their own. Using variations of one color on 5 x 7″ watercolor paper, students will learn how to create a painting through the use of value changes. Appropriate for all levels – no prior experience with watercolor is necessary.
For an extra $15 RAC will deliver supplies to your home (as long as you live within a 20 mile radius of RAC). Just let RAC know on the registration form.
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ONLINE Print and Sip with
Nancy Chapman
Thursday, June 11
4:30 to 6:00pm
Fee: $35
Learn to create block prints using foam plates in your own home! RAC Instructor Nancy Chapman, a skilled and versatile mixed media artist, will lead participants through the process of creating block printed greeting cards and a personal keepsake print. Think of it as a fun date night, girl’s night out, family craft or simply a way to spoil yourself.
Fee for the class is $35. RAC will deliver supplies to your home as long as you live within a 20 mile radius of RAC, otherwise a supply list will be provided.
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Adult Workshop with
William McCarthy
“Atmospheric Landscapes”
Saturday, July 25 and
Sunday, July 26
10:00am to 4:00pm both days
Fee: $275
Back by popular demand, this workshop will inspire your imagination and loosen up your flow, as William McCarthy engages you by sharing the techniques that enable him to paint from his imagination and achieve an atmospheric style that captures, in essence, the beauty and the emotion of the landscape. Note: both oil and acrylic painters are welcome. More info here . Image: William McCarthy, “Morning Rise”
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ONLINE Art Classes for Adults
Beginning Thursday, June 4
RAC Instructors Dana Goodfellow, Christy Gallagher, Susan Fehlinger and Anda Styler will lead students online to provide an opportunity to learn and grow in their artistic specialties. Please note Lenny Moskowitz’s class is now full!
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Dana Goodfellow will teach “From Realism to Abstraction” on Thursdays from 2:00 pm to 5 pm beginning June 4 for four weeks . The goal of this class is to use theories of composition, layout, design and perspective to allow for stronger realistic or abstract paintings. This class is a mixture of students whose work is either realistic or abstract or a mixture of both styles. The fee for this class is $110.
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Christy Gallagher will teach “Watercolor and the Landscape” on Tuesdays from 10:00 am to 4:10 pm beginning June 9 for six weeks . Though everyone is still staying at home, there are many ways to paint in our gardens and our neighborhoods. Another way is to paint from windows – inside or outside –each window offering a chance to observe our surroundings in new and exciting ways. This class is most appropriate for Intermediate and Advanced watercolor artists. The fee for this class is $160.
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Susan Fehlinger will teach “Painting with the Palette Knife” on Tuesdays from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm beginning June 9 for four weeks . In this interactive online class, students will learn the joys and challenges of painting with the palette knife. The class will be painting from photographs covering a variety of subject matter to show how versatile this tool can be. Participants will also be experimenting with mediums to achieve transparent glazes and layering effects in oils or acrylics. The fee for this class is $110.
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Anda Styler will teach “Step by Step – Working it Through the Old and the New – Weekly Personal Critique Sessions” on Mondays, 11 am to 2:00 pm beginning June 8 for four weeks . This class gives students the opportunity to work one on one with Anda Styler, one of Connecticut’s (and RAC’s) most renowned landscape artists. Class assignments will be sent to students at the beginning of each week followed by finished or “troubled” work being sent back to Anda for a comprehensive personal critique via Zoom, Skype or Facetime. Lessons on how to achieve light, shadow and depth will be emphasized each week. The fee for this personal critique class is $250.
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ONLINE Art Classes for Children
Online Adventure in Art
Grades K-2: Tuesdays 1:00 to 2:00pm
Grades 3-5: Thursdays 4:30 to 5:30pm
Both classes will be taught on Zoom by
Muffy Pendergast , the well known “Empress” of New Haven’s annual Giant Puppet and People Making Mayhem Parade. Zoom has now made it possible to share her creative teachings with the students of our community. Both classes will be age appropriate and will focus on teaching the various elements of art through engaging and fun-filled projects, using items you already have in your house. Any extra supplies will be delivered to homes on a weekly basis.
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Art Exploration with Nancy Chapman
Ages 7-12: Tuesdays 4:00 to 5:00pm
4 weeks left, still room for new students
In this class, students will learn about and experiment with all sorts of mediums from inks to distress paints, texture mediums to fabric materials as well as various tools such as brushes, palette knives, even your own fingers and much more. They will also learn how to think “outside the box” by incorporating recycled or everyday household items into their art. Students will work on a few projects throughout the eight weeks, adding layers to each as new mediums and techniques are introduced. The emphasis is on teaching students the various elements of art through joyful us of the varied mediums available to them.
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KIDS PAINT ROWAYTON
RAC has once again joined forces with the Rowayton School Art Department and PTA to continue this wonderful tradition. This year, c hildren were encouraged to work with any materials they had on hand at home to “Wish a Wish.”
Congratulations to our winners:
1st Prize: Emily McAuliffe “If I could Travel” (shown here), 2nd Prize: Abigail Mitchell, 3rd Prize: Wylie Graves, Honorable Mention: Charles Kopcsay, Felicia Denis, Zaira Major.
View this show at the
RAC online gallery here !
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Leslie Concannon
We are saddened by the unexpected news of Leslie Concannon, who died from an acute heart attack at NYPresbyterian/Columbia Hospital on May 18, 2020. She belonged to an artist collective, meeting weekly for 10 years in Old Saybrook, CT, where she enjoyed going to paint with her cairn terrier, Henry. Leslie exhibited there through Gallery One , and her art studio, Wilson Avenue Loft Artists in South Norwalk, CT, along with numerous other galleries and art shows (this is her painting, “Canal Garden #1” from RAC’s recent Spring Juried Show). The family is thankful for memorial donations, and asks that they be made to: Studio in a School , 75 West End Avenue, NY, NY 10023. studioinaschool.org/support .
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LET’S STAY CONNECTED!!! Follow @rowaytonarts
#ArtLivesHere
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