New arts hub fulfills dream of late attorney
Norwalk Art Space set to open this spring
“She designed and planned every inch of the building before she died, with the brilliance and intensity she brought to everything she did.” Robin Panovka, husband of Alexandra Davern Korry
NORWALK — A Westport lawyer’s vision of a public arts space in Norwalk will soon be coming to life.
The Norwalk Art Space on West Avenue plans to open this spring as a free hub for local arts and artists, providing classes for high school students and art performances and exhibitions for the rest of the community.
Westport attorney Alexandra Davern Korry bought what was once a Persian rug store in late 2019 with a vision of turning the space into a public space for local arts and arts education. According to her husband Robin Panovka, Korry was drawn to the space due to its location near Mathews Park, Stepping Stones and the Print Museum.
Korry died in September of ovarian cancer before getting to see her dream realized. Panovka, along with his and Korry’s daughters, Rebecca and Sarah, decided to commit to bringing Korry’s vision to life and launching the space.
While the hub itself will continue to be called the Norwalk Art Space, the building will be called the “ADK House” in honor of Korry, her husband said.
“The Norwalk Art Space was entirely Alexandra’s vision,” Panovka said. “She designed and planned every inch of the building before she died, with the brilliance and intensity she brought to everything she did. ... The vision is to create a
public hub for the arts in Norwalk, promoting local artists, providing free art education for students and providing the public a welcoming space to enjoy art and music. Alexandra wanted to help promote local artists and to enhance educational opportunities for underserved kids.”
Panvoka said local artists can apply to receive free studio and exhibition space in exchange for offering art classes to Norwalk youth. The family will fund the venture for the first several years, but have applied to eventually turn Norwalk Art Space into a nonprofit which will be fueled by donations.
“Everything will be free,” he said. “This is essentially a gift from Alexandra to the artists and kids of Norwalk.”
Korry was a senior partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and one of the leading mergers and acquisition lawyers in the world, according to Panovka. She was one of the first women to be elected as a partner in mergers and acquisitions at Sullivan and Cromwell.
On top of this, she was the New York State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School and a board member of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard. Her work with the civil rights commission helped lead to the end of solitary confinement of youth in New York, according to her husband. More recently, her committee published influential reports on police accountability and educational equity.
She also chaired the Harlem Educational Activities Fund, an after-school educational program in Harlem for a period of time as well.
Panovka said part of his wife’s philosophy was anyone involved in Big Law had “an obligation to give back.”
“Alexandra was a force of nature, a real trailblazer — she was an incredible mother and wife, a brilliant lawyer and civil rights advocate, and a wonderful friend, mentor and teacher to a whole generation of younger women and lawyers on Wall Street,” Panovka said. “She opened doors and worked to
create opportunities for women and other under-represented groups wherever she could.”
According to Duvian Montoya, director of art and education, the Norwalk Art Space will feature a cafe, a sculpture garden, exhibits for local artists that rotate in and out every six to eight weeks and studio space for artists in residence. Once public gatherings are allowed, the space will also be home to musical and literary performances.
“Everything was planned and designed by Alexandra before she passed in September,” Montoya said. “It was a passion of hers and she believed Norwalk could really benefit from a program like this with all the great local artists in the area. ... I believe this is really needed.”
The original plan was to open the space in mid-April, but the pandemic will likely cause that to be pushed back, Montoya said. Instead, the art space is in the beginning stages of finding art students and artists to come to the space.
They recently put out an open call for four Korry Fellows and four Korry Resident Artists to undertake a one-year term at the space.
Resident artists will be provided a free 300-square-foot private
studio space with a sink and access to ADK House families. They’ll have the opportunity to display their work in the art gallery for a year and access to visiting artists and fellows in exchange for teaching a weekly class to art-oriented high school students who would otherwise have limited access to art education. They will also have lifetime membership and alumnus status for annual events
Korry Fellows will have their work highlighted in major exhibitions in the gallery and will work with resident artists through teaching and mentorship.
The deadline for applications is Feb. 1. For more information and application, visit www.the norwalkartspace.org/artist-residency .