The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Preview party a prelude to Open Your Eyes Studio Tour
Sharon, Lakeville and Salisbury artists will welcome visitors June 24-25
SALISBURY » The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is presenting the eighth annual Open Your Eyes Studio Tour on June 24 and 25 in Sharon, Lakeville and Salisbury. This year’s tour will feature more than 30 artists with studios in those towns. Participating visual artists and artisans will open their creative spaces and show their processes to the public during the days of the tour. Free ticket packets can be ordered online and include a map, direction sheets, suggested itineraries and convenient sign-in stickers.
A preview party was held June 11 at the Scoville Memorial Library in Salisbury. The Open Your Eyes Studio Tour is free to the public. This year’s tour artists include painters, photographers, sculptors, multimedia artists, ceramicists, textile artists, jewelers, printmakers, woodworkers and a blacksmith. Participants include Nanzy Zarider, Joan Jardine, Tom Goldenberg, William Trowbridge, Eric Forstmann, Tara O’Neill, Lilly Woodworth, Randy Orzano, Alistair Jones, Doug Evans, Warren Prindle, Patricia Decker, Nunwell Glass, Robert Bristow, Joel Schapira, Diane Schapira, Hilary Cooper, John Atchley, Karen LeSage, Leslie Sykes O’Neill, Kate Stiassni, Roger McKee, David Bowen, Serena Weld Granbery, Susan Rand, Justine Valla, Charlie Noyes, Karin Noyes, Undermountain Weavers, Dorothy Fox and Jodi Luby.
Each year the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council selects groups of towns within its 25-town service area for the tour. In recent years, the event has drawn almost 1000 visitors, with many returning annually. The aim of Open Your Eyes Studio Tour is to shine a light on the many artists who live and work in the region, to give the community a greater understanding and appreciation for the arts and the creative process, and to draw attention to the towns in which these artists live and work, according to a press release.
After bringing this event to all 25 of the towns in its service area, the council is starting a second cycle of the tour by popular demand, members said. The tour was last presented in Sharon, Lakeville and Salisbury in 2012.
“This event gives the visitor an up-close experience to see how and where the artists do their work. The Arts Council knows that when the public learns first-hand from the artist about what is involved with the making of a work and the ‘story’ behind it, a deeper connection and involvement with the art work happens. In addition, people going on the Open Your Eyes Studio Tour will discover truly beautiful sections of our region that they might not otherwise find,” said Amy Wynn, Northwest Connecticut Arts Council’s executive director, in a written statement.
“This year’s artist roster includes many returning 2012 tour artists with new work, and 14 new artists that have never opened their studios for this event before,” said Maggie Cady, arts council program director, in the statement. “Also new this year is a Toast the Tour after-party on June 24, hosted by Lakeville Interiors, followed by a set of dinners in private homes in the region, to raise funds for the arts council and the tour.”
The mission of the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is to promote the arts and cultural resources of Northwestern Connecticut as integral contributors to the quality of life in the region, to assist all artists and cultural organizations in their efforts to thrive, and to inform the general public about, and give access to the arts and culture of the region. The Council serves Barkhamsted, Bethlehem, Burlington, Colebrook, Cornwall, Falls Village/Canaan, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, New Milford, Norfolk, North Canaan, Plymouth, Roxbury, Salisbury/Lakeville, Sharon, Thomaston, Torrington, Warren, Washington, Winchester, and towns surrounding this service area.
The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is supported in part by the DECD/ Connecticut Office of the Arts, the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, and the Connecticut Community Foundation. For more information about the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, call (860) 618-0075, email info@ artsnwct.org or go to www. artsnwct.org.
For information about Open Your Eyes Studio Tour go to openyoureyestour.org, contact the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council at 860-618-0075 or email maggie@artsnwct.org. Support for the tour is being provided by Housatonic Heritage, the Republican-American, WSHU-FM, the Matthews Group, the Kestrel Foundation, Harney Real Estate, Imagine Design & Construction, with additional support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD.