Anew place for art space
Vacant downtown Danbury storefronts put artworks front and center
DANBURY — In the downtown, a “for rent” sign might hang in a window next to a local artist’s work.
It is part of an effort to display pieces in vacant storefronts in downtown Danbury, with the hope of giving artists exposure and attracting potential businesses.
The IN VIEW Project started in 2013, but took a hiatus until last year. But the project has found new life due to the coronavirus pandemic and promotion on Instagram.
“Traditional art galleries have art openings
and they have dozens, if not hundreds, of people walk through the building,” said Brian Walters II, a visual artist from Bethel who co-founded the project. “We can have art installed. Passersby can look at it, without the risk of COVID.”
Mark Nolan, a downtown landlord and co-creator of the project, said the art draws prospective renters’ eyes to his buildings.
“It looks nice in windows, as opposed to seeing a vacant, blank storefront,” he said.
Walters sees the project as part of Danbury’s effort to breathe life into downtown, with sidewalks and other amenities planned.
“I want to support artists,” he said. “I want to fill the storefronts and I want to be part of the revitalization that our former mayor was
pushing for.”
The pandemic has not increased vacancies in the Main Street area, but still has made businesses vulnerable and led to movement in buildings, Nolan said.
“The COVID pandemic has affected small businesses,” he said. “Downtown is representative of that. Where we might have seen a few more spaces spaces that don’t have the foot traffic, and therefore they’ve had to close. But there are other places that are still keeping busy and being able to adapt to COVID.”
Walters’ goal is to host art in three to four storefronts simultaneously, with 325 Main St. the most popular location due to its proximity to Kennedy Park and Mothership Bakery and Cafe, Walters said. But the best site depends on the medium.
Instagram has helped promote the project, with five to six artists in the works for the future.
On display at 325 Main St. is a piece by Kate Skakel, a multimedia artist from New York. Previous pieces have included photographs, paintings and a leaf pattern with yarn at the old CityCenter building.
Next up is artist Christalena Hughmanick, who is in the midst of a residency in Reykjavík, Iceland. Her “some thing grand” project displays quilts decorated with phrases submitted by the public about what they want to see in 2020.
“I am always looking to show work in spaces that were not initially intended for art and the In View Project provides a lot of generous opportunity for that,” Hughmanick said in an email. “My recent ongoing public engagement project ‘some thing grand’ uses empathetic strategies to provide a platform for people passing by a window to communicate amidst the pandemic which I plan to
bring to one of their storefronts.”
Opportunity for emerging artists
Walters is a welder by trade and taught himself to sculpt more than 17 years ago, so he knows well the challenges emerging artists face. With Connecticut’s proximity to Boston and New York City, the state’s art scene is “over-saturated,” making it hard to get a foot in the door.
“I didn’t come out of college with a professor saying ‘this is where you go to show your work,’” Walters said. “I didn’t have those connections where other people who go through their MFA do.”
Describing himself as an advocate for downtown Danbury, he said he was walking Main Street one day around 2009 and 2010 and was “blown away” by the number of vacant storefronts. He had heard of similar projects in big cities and wanted to bring the idea
to Danbury.
“Honestly, it was done out of frustration,” Walters said. “It was like, I have to leave my community every weekend to see art.”
He met with Nolan and gathered a group to organize a pop-up gallery with six to eight artists for about three months in 2010. That event became a precursor the project, which launched a few years later.
Walters curates the pieces, while Nolan provides the space. Various mediums are accepted. Guidelines are loose, but graphic or political pieces are not permitted.
“We have to be mindful that it’s a community,” Walters said. “You can have a 6-year-old kid walking by or an 80- year-old grandmother. That is something that is always at the forefront of our minds, but we also want the artwork to challenge people who might not necessarily go to a museum.”