‘Altars, Amulets and Shrines’ show opens Aug. 25

FALLS VILLAGE » The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will premiere the group exhibit, Altars, Amulets and Shrines, curated by Gay Schempp, with an opening reception on Friday, Aug. 25, 5-7 p.m. with free admission and refreshments.

This exhibit expresses eight artists’ exploration of personal altars, amulets or shrines used to create external representations of interior mysteries, memories or links between people, between things and between realms. The works range in a variety of disciplines and materials including sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, encaustic, assemblage and jewelry. Featured in the exhibit are works by Mary Lou Alberetti, Lori Barker, Suzanne Benton, Robert Dansik, George Herrick, Barbara Jaroch, Gay Schempp, and Diane Wright.

The exhibit will be on display through Friday, September 22. For more information call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org.

Gay Schempp, the curator of Altars, Amulets and Shrines, in a statement about the exhibit wrote, “People have been creating devotional memorials since the beginning of recorded time to the present. The impulse to assemble and “make special,” places for objects that nourish us and act as reservoirs of spiritual energy are present in our homes and places of work as well as our places of worship. When we gather together family photos on a mantelpiece, or carry a good luck charm, we compose a language of materials, the messages of which may include a memorial, memory space, honoring space, or meditation space.”

All the artwork in Altars, Amulets and Shrines were created for the exhibit which, after closing at the Hunt Library on Sept. 23, will travel to the Underground Gallery in Collinsville, October 13-29, and the Silvermine Center for the Arts in New Canaan, Nov. 5-Dec. 25.

Participating artists include: Mary Lou Alberetti, New Fairfield, Ceramic reliefs and mixed media; Lori Barker, Goshen, mixed media painter and sculptor Suzanne Benton - Ridgefield, sculptor and printmaker; Robert Dancik, Beacon Falls, jeweler and sculptor; George Herrick, West Hartford, mixed media; Barbara Jaroch, Hartford, assemblage; Gay Schempp, Winsted, encaustic painter and sculptor; and Diane Wright, Canton, mixed media sculptor.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO “Wisdom,” a sculpture by Gay Schempp of Winsted.