Around Town

Town Approves Arts Festival Planned for Oct. 1 in Waveny

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The Board of Selectmen this week approved use of Waveny Park for an arts festival operated by one of New Canaan’s best-established nonprofit organizations. The Carraige Barn Arts Center has proposed use of the area immediately outside its own building and the nearby Powerhouse Theatre for a one-time event to be held on Sunday, Oct. 1. Hilary Wittmann, the Carriage Barn’s executive director, said the festival will be free and open to the public and will coincide with her organization’s 45 Annual Member Show, featuring “artists, demonstrations, performances and workshops and in addition to the sale of painting, sculpture, jewelry and ceramics.”

“Approximately 35 artists would exhibit in 10-by-10 display spaces or tents in the park,” Wittmann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held Tuesday in Town Hall and via videoconference. “In the parking area and courtyard area of the Carriage Barn and Powerhouse Theatre, that sort of section of the park.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the use of Waveny.

Around Town

Q&A: ‘Art in the Windows’ Kicks Off Friday

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A partnership that brings together the New Canaan arts and business communities is set to kick off a popular annual exhibition this week. “Art in the Windows” is a storefront exhibition organized by the Carriage Barn Arts Center in partnership with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. They’re hosting an Art Stroll Kickoff event at Elm Street and South Avenue from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 2. 

We put some questions to Carriage Barn Executive Director Hilary Wittmann ahead of the launch. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: What is ‘Art in the Windows’ and what is its history in New Canaan?

Around Town

Q&A: NCHS Annual Art Exhibition Opens This Week at Carriage Barn 

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New Canaan High School’s annual exhibition, “Through Our Eyes XI” (see sample gallery above) opens Friday at the Carriage Barn Arts Center and runs through April 1. There’s an opening reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. We put some questions to the Carriage Barn’s executive director, Hilary Wittmann, ahead of the show. Here’s our exchange:

New Canaanite: “Through Our Eyes XI,” the annual New Canaan High School exhibition, opens this week at the Carriage Barn Arts Center. Tell us about how the show comes together in terms of curation and submissions, and the partnership between your organization and NCHS.

Around Town

Podcast: Downtown New Canaan Arts Festival

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This week, on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Hilary Wittmann, executive director of the Carriage Barn Arts Center, about the organization’s Downtown New Canaan Canaan Arts Festival. To be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the festival is a kickoff to the Carriage Barn’s 15th annual Art in the Windows exhibit, presented in partnership with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Around Town

Police Commission Approves Use of Former ‘Pop Up Park’ for June 4 ‘Art in the Windows’ Kickoff

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The appointed municipal body that oversees road closures in New Canaan this month voted unanimously to approve use of the former “Pop Up Park” area at Elm Street and South Avenue for an all-day art celebration in June. The Police Commission voted 3-0 to approve use of the Pop Up Park from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 4 as a kickoff for the annual Art in the Windows event (rain date June 11). Presented by the Carriage Barn Arts Center and organized in partnership with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, the annual exhibit sees dozens of pieces of art work displayed in the windows of downtown stores. 

“It’s just a fabulous event for the town,” Commissioner Shekaiba Bennett said at the group’s March 16 meeting, held via videoconference. 

Bennett, Commission Chair Paul Foley and Secretary Jim McLaughlin voted in favor of the road closure. The event will run through 4 p.m., and will require about one hour for cleanup, according to the organization’s executive director, Hilary Wittmann. Art in the Windows is the Carriage Barn Arts Center’s one big event that’s not at the organization’s headquarters in Waveny “that we do downtown,” Wittmann said.