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

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.

Local Business Q&A: New Canaan Music on Main Street

In today’s installment of our Q&A series spotlighting local businesses, we hear from Phil Williams, a town resident and owner of New Canaan Music. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: New Canaan Music has become a fixture of the downtown, a Business Of The Year honoree that offers not only in-store items for sale but also music lessons, in person and remotely. How are you faring, as we enter this our second shopping season since the onset of COVID-19? We are hanging in there and continue to be grateful to the community for thinking of us for all things music.

New Canaan Music Opens Second Store in Newport, R.I.

An established New Canaan business has opened a second location in Rhode Island. New Canaan Music, which sells and rents out instruments and offers music lessons, opened its Newport, R.I. store on Saturday, according to owner and town resident Phil Williams.

“Newport New Canaan Music” is Williams’s first location outside of New Canaan. 

“I think we’ve got a pretty good formula and I wanted to broaden [the company] a little bit,” Williams told NewCanaanite.com. 

“I’m feeling really good about it,” he added. Asked why he chose to open a shop there, Williams said, “It’s a great little town.”

“There’s a big music community there and no music store,” he said. New Canaan Music is a membership business of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. Williams, a Planning & Zoning Commission member, is a former member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Podcast: New Canaan Music Owner Phil Williams



This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to New Canaan Music owner Phil Williams, as the state lifts most of its COVID-19-related restrictions for businesses. We hear from Phil about the mask policy at his own Main Street shop, what he’s learned from the pandemic and about a rise in the popularity of musical instruments and lessons in the past year. 

Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Podcast: New Canaan Music Owner Phil Williams



This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to town resident and Planning & Zoning Commissioner Phil Williams, owner of New Canaan Music. The Main Street fixture, like so many of our local businesses, has been through the ringer in 2020—with a forced closure followed by a restricted reopening and new operational requirements. As a retailer (instruments) as well as a service provider (lessons), New Canaan Music has been through as much as any of our local merchants. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0: