Request To Hold New Canaan Arts Event In Former 'Pop Up Park' Approved

NEW CANAAN, CT — The Police Commission unanimously approved a request to hold a day-long arts celebration event at the town's former "Pop Up Park" area this summer.

The commission voted 3-0 during their March 16 meeting to approve the use of the area, located near the corner of Elm Street and South Avenue, for a kickoff event June 4, with a rain date of June 11, for the Carriage Barn Arts Center's "Art in the Windows" exhibit.

Executive Director Hilary Wittmann noted the annual exhibit, now in its fifteenth year, is presented by the arts center along with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, during which pieces of art are displayed in windows throughout the downtown area.

"It's an important way for us to sort of do outreach and have visibility downtown," Wittmann said, "and also to just bring a lot of excitement into the town with art in almost all the store windows along Elm Street, Main Street and Forest Street."

According to Wittmann, the organization typically held a kickoff event the Thursday night before the exhibit started, however they decided to expand the event last year to take place in the Pop Up Park area and feature various activities, which proved successful.

"We're looking to sort of expand on that this year," Wittmann said, "and for our fifteenth year, rather than a Thursday evening, to make this a day-long Saturday event where we can not only promote Art in the Windows, but really have a sort of downtown celebration of the arts and have many of our artist members out there with demonstrations and workshops showcasing their work, [and] activities for the community."

Phil Williams, a member of the organization's Board of Directors, also plans to help organize live music performances to take place throughout the event, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wittmann said.

The event is entirely run by Carriage Barn staff, board members and community volunteers, Wittmann said.

"In prior years, we've just sort of had it going on along Elm Street and we've had activities taking place at various locations," Wittmann said, "but we really found we needed one central location where everything kind of kicks off. It was excellent to do it last year and have that spot for a few hours, but it was a lot of set up and coordination for really just sort of an hour and a half-long event, so I think we'd be able to just accomplish a lot more by making it a day-long event."

Commission member Shekaiba Bennett said the exhibit and celebration were "a fabulous event for the town."

The commission ultimately settled on reserving the area from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to allow an hour for clean up after the event.

Commission Chairman Paul Foley thanked Wittmann for her work helping organize the event.

"This is an important town event," Foley said. "Having it on a sidewalk isn't quite the emphasis that it deserves."