Art Exhibit and Preview Reception

Artwork that has been donated by area artists to the Flanders 50^th Anniversary Gala and Auction can be viewed at a Preview Reception at Clapp & Tuttle Fine Art and Framing, 742 Main Street South, on Sunday, September 30 from 3 to 5 pm. The work will be on exhibit at Clapp & Tuttle through October.

The 19^th annual gala and auction to benefit Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust will take place on Saturday, November 3 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Southbury. The Woodbury nature preserve’s largest fundraiser of the year will begin at 5:30 pm with cocktails and a silent auction, followed by dinner, music and a live auction with auctioneer Wayne Mattox. This year’s event will also salute Flanders’ 50^th Anniversary.

The signature artist for 2012 is Christopher Magadini, who has been painting for four decades. He has donated “Flanders Pond,” an oil on canvas which captures an impression of lily pads, a rising bank of trees and billowing clouds on a warm summer afternoon. After a successful career as an illustrator, Mr. Magadini now devotes all his creativity to fine arts painting and conducting artist workshops. He is one of 27 members in the prestigious New England Plein Air Painters Group.

Available for bidding at the auction will be artwork from other noted regional artists and more than one hundred unique items including trips and tickets, home and garden items, dinners, gift certificates and one-of-a-kind experiences.

 Artworks which will be offered for bid are on display at Clapp & Tuttle. They include paintings by Christopher Magadini, Michael Patterson, Tom Adkins, Nadine Newell, Cindy Gillette, Marija McCarthy, Thyrza Whittemore, Carol Brightman Johnson, Jan Grody, Anda Styler, Chuck Urban and Linda Gardner. Other donated artwork includes a ceramic and steel sculpture by Ann Mallory, ceramic horse by Louise King, and wooden bowl by Peter Petrochko. Mieke Schuyler, the new owner of Clapp & Tuttle, who has offered her store for display of the artwork, also has donated one of her framed botanical pressings to the auction.

For more information on the exhibit or auction, call Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust at (203) 263-3711 or visit www.flandersnaturecenter.org.