"To the Lighthouse"

The Norwalk Arts Commission announces a new show at the Mayor’s Gallery, titled: “To the Lighthouse: Plein Air Artists on Sheffield Island.” An opening celebration will take place on Tuesday, July 19 with Mayor Harry Rilling, from 6 – 6:30 pm. Everyone in the community is invited to attend the opening. Light refreshments will be served.

“To the Lighthouse” artworks will be on display from July 12 through the end of August. This show features work produced by members and friends of the St. Philip’s Artists’ Guild, also known as SPAG. SPAG is a group of artists and associates who share space in the historic Manice Lockwood Mansion, located on the grounds of St. Philip Church in Norwalk. The focus of SPAG is to foster creative thinking and to support both its members and the local arts community in pursuing its artistic goals.

For the last four years, SPAG member Tony Mobilia has organized a June trip to Sheffield Island for a day of plein air art making. The group includes photographers, painters and mixed media artists, who spend the day making art outdoors or en plein air. SPAG artists in the Mayor’s Gallery show include: Sherry Becker, Amy Bilden, Ralph DiMarco, Art Gerstein, Bruce Horan, Pat Jenkins, Anthony Mobilia, Helene Napolitano, Noreen R. Normand and Sergey Stepanenko. A concurrent show of SPAG plein air artwork is also on display through the summer in the lighthouse on Sheffield Island. The Norwalk Seaport Association runs daily ferry rides to Sheffield Island during the summer.

In a separate event, Laurel Peterson, Norwalk's Poet Laureate, will lead a Poetry Writing Workshop inspired by the SPAG artists’ work in the Mayor's Gallery. This workshop will take place on Thursday, July 14, from 1 - 3 p.m. Poetry written in response to a work of art is called ekphrastic poetry, where the author comments on or interacts with the action of the work, or connects the art with some aspect of his/her life. Famous ekphrasticpoems include Keat's “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Auden's “Musee Des Beaux Arts.” To attend the July 14 Poetry Workshop, please register online through EventBrite at http://tinyurl.com/jl9mjoy All are welcome to participate in this free event!

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