May 2020 Newsletter
A letter from RAC’s Board President
Dear RAC Community,
I hope this note finds you and your families well.
I want to update you on what is going on behind the scenes at RAC. When the world changed as we know it, Andrea and her team immediately jumped into finding new ways to stay engaged with you while the Board assessed our financial position and took a number of actions. I want to take this opportunity to let you know what we have done.
Firstly, we drew down a modicum of cash from our Endowment Fund to provide liquidity for our operations for the next 90 days. Secondly, we sought funding through a variety of governmental programs and private Foundations. We have received preliminary approval for a Paycheck Protection Program loan through Fairfield County Bank and are awaiting word on two other loan programs and two Foundations from which we have asked for working capital grants. We anticipate hearing from these sources of funds within the next several weeks. We continue to monitor our expenses closely and have completed a contingency analysis, under conservative assumptions, to carry our operations through the end of the year. We will update that analysis periodically and will keep you informed of our progress.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement. You inspire us to innovate our programs so we can stay connected. Please remember to follow RAC on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram and we will do all we can to maintain our existing programs and find new ways to reach out to our community.
Thanks,
Steve Mernick, Board President
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve been hard at work
putting our exhibitions online so the art can continue to be enjoyed by RAC visitors. Go to  racgallery.carbonmade.com  where you will find links to several of our current exhibitions.
And check our website for online workshops plus other updates!
RAC Exhibitions
Spring Juried Show – RAC’s First Online Exhibition!
View the entire show in our online gallery here .
Award winners and accepted artists are being promoted on social media as well as on the RAC website. We’re excited about providing a way to share art online when we can’t get together in person.
The @ RAC Artists Talk is now virtual – join Mindy Green online as she chats online with artists from the Spring Juried Show.
Watch “RAC Artist Talk: Joanie Landau” here !
RAC is extending an invitation to artists during this unprecedented time
of separation with the COVID-19 virus. Online submissions for the
Shutdown Throwdown   for the Rowayton Arts Center (RAC) online gallery
are accepted now until  Monday, May 18, 2020   . The show will run  through
June 30  and is open to all artists interested in exhibiting their artwork online. Categories include: oil painting, acrylic painting, watercolor, mixed media,
color photography, black and white photography, sculpture, printmaking, pastels or drawing.
**SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE EXTENDED to May 18th
A ll art entered is accepted to the show and will be uploaded to our online gallery every few days as received. View artwork here !
Theme:
As humans, we have the ability to meet with great adversity and find a
silver lining. As artists, we have the ability to transform adversity into a
source of motivation and inspiration for our work. Whether you are spending this “shutdown” reflecting, introspecting, or appreciating simple things that suddenly seem sweeter, we want to know how it is informing your art.
Creativity helps us all to heal, grow and have a little fun on the way.
Let’s see what you’ve got!
Entry Fees:
RAC Members: $10 for each piece (up to 3); Art Angels (Life Members- enter as Art Angels): $2 for 1 piece, $1 for each additional piece (up to 3).
Non-Members: $15 for each piece (up to 3).
Winner Notified:   On or before Friday, May 22
Cash Award:  $100 for Best in Show
June 14 – July 5, 2020
Focus Under Forty is currently planned as an online show. If RAC is allowed to reopen by June 1, we will make every attempt to hold this in our gallery.
Who :   Open to members and non-members 16 to 39 years old
What:   All Media
Theme:   Open theme
How Many Works:   One to five works per artist
Submission Information:   Online submissions until May 22
Fees:   RAC Members: $20 for 1 piece; $10 for each additional piece (up to 5); Art Angels (Life Members- enter as Art Angels): $2 for 1 piece, $1 for each additional piece (up to 5);
Non-Members: $30 for 1 piece, $10 for each additional piece (up to 5).
Cash Award:       $250 for Best in Show
Upcoming Workshops & Events
ONLINE Paint and Sip with
Susan Fehlinger
Cinco de Mayo Tuesday, May 5
4:30 to 6:00pm
Fee: $25
We are excited to jump into the world of Zoom in order to deliver an online “Paint and Sip” experience to all who yearn for some creative fun on Cinco de Mayo! RAC Instructor Susan Fehlinger will lead participants through a Southwestern landscape painting using a palette knife only. The challenge, the fun and the laugh factor should be high as participants navigate this new platform together.
For an extra $10 RAC will deliver paints, palette knives and a canvas to your home (as long as you live within a 20 mile radius of RAC). Individuals can even purchase a table easel for $15. Just let RAC know on the registration form.
More info and register online at rowaytonarts.org/workshops . A class confirmation email will include a Zoom invite.
Adult Workshop with
William McCarthy
“Atmospheric Landscapes”
NEW DATES
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”
RAC Happenings
FREE ONLINE “Cartooning”
KIDS CLASS
Thursdays
4:00 to 4:30pm
Suzy Aubrey, RAC’s Education Director, continues to teach an online cartooning class for kids on Thursday afternoons through May 25. All are invited to attend the free weekly class. Register here !
NEW ONLINE Art Classes for Children
Starting the week of May 18
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. We’ve been trying to get Muffy to work with us for years, but distance has always played a major factor. 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.   Click here for more information.
You may have noticed a new sign installed on the Rowayton community fence with an important thank you to the everyday heroes!!! Here is Executive Director Andrea Letters admiring things after designing the new artwork.
CALLING ALL KIDS –
Artwork Needed!!!
RAC is empty so we are looking for arty kids to help us fill our gallery windows with artwork. Draw/paint, write a poem or create any other mini-masterpiece max 8 1/2 x 11″ that we will hang for all to see (sign the back only please!)
Look for the plastic tub under our concrete bench in front of our building to put artwork in whenever you’re downtown. And look at the artwork already up there! 🙂
Other News
For information on RAC’s classes and instructors CLICK HERE !!!
A new suite of online classes is in development so check back often to see our updates.
Thanks to all who have made donations to RAC in the
past few weeks. Your generosity is greatly appreciated and helps support our instructors, models and staff.   #ArtLivesHere
STAY SAFE & BE WELL!!!