The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
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Porfolio Day allows artists to share work with professionals
TORRINGTON >> Thirty aspiring artists both young and old arrived at Five Points Gallery Saturday to have their work evaluated by professional art professors at the third annual Portfolio Day.
Sitting at various tables within the gallery at 33 Main St., representatives from three area art colleges gave feedback on works shown to them as well as career paths for a successful art career. Gallery representatives said about 50 visitors were expected by the end of the program at 1 p.m.
Noel Croce, the gallery’s associate director, said, “It is a relaxing and non-stressful way to get feedback on one’s art.”
Sal DeVito, 18, of Litchfield, talked to a representative from the Hartford Art School of West Hartford, and showed his illustrations in charcoal, ink, and graphite.
“It is good to see where you can go from here and to do new things,” said DeVito, who attends Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted, and is thinking of transferring to the Hartford Art School.
Between art evaluations, Emily Cappa, an admissions coordinator at Hartford Art School, said, “It’s going good so far. We have seen a lot of good work today.”
Christian Crowley, 17, a senior at Southington High School in Southington, came with his mother, Beth Nyerick, to exhibit his colorful and textural abstract paintings, the 16x20 “Levels” and the 24x36 “The Window.”
Crowley explained, “I am going to the University of Hartford next year, but it is good to get a new perspective on your art.”
Nyerick agreed. “It is good exposure to come to this event,” she said. “Christian is lucky in that we built him an art studio in the cellar. He has a space he can call his own. He has also been involved with being mentored by local artists at Southington Community Cultural Arts. He also volunteers and helps out at the space.”
Nyerick referred to a local program held at the renovated historic Gura Building, where local artists can work and exhibit their art.
Ashley Berube, an admissions coordinator at the Hartford Art School, looked at the sketches and black-and-white photographs of Benson Thai, 20, a student at Northwestern. “It’s going really well today,” Berube said.
Across the gallery, Kristin Smith, 18, of Hartland and a senior at Northwest Region 7 High
School in Winsted showed her art to Janet Nesteruk, art professor at Northwestern. Smith had a smaller, untitled painting rendered in the 15th-century traditional Flemish style of her sister wearing a white plastic bag on her head.
“It is traditional but with a modern twist,” said Nesteruk.
Smith recently won the First Congressional District Art Competition in Connecticut, an annual high school visual arts competition held by the U.S. House of Representatives nationwide. The winners’ art is exhibited for one year at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Smith said she hasn’t yet decided whether she will be attending Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic or study at Northwestern.
Nesteruk told Smith and her friend Bethany Makowski, 18, of Hartland, a video artist, that art students at community colleges were eligible under the state’s Art Transfer and Articulation Program (TAP) to be guaranteed admission to art programs at state universities.
During the day, Croce also led tours to the gallery’s new Launchpad space next door at 5 Water St., which offers shared art studio space and mentorship to 16 participating area artists.
“It is so important,” Croce said, on the support of aspiring artists in the community. “It has been shown that if you don’t start it right off, the likelihood of pursuing art is slim, especially with paying off student loans and such.”
At another table within the Five Points Gallery, Frank Noelker, a photography professor at the University of Connecticut, evaluated the copious and varied collection of highly-proficient art by Macayla Muzzulin, 15, of Torrington.
“I am extremely impressed,” Noelker said. “She is off to quite a start here. I would say if she were to attend UConn, the school’s mission would be to get her started and to stay out of her way.”
Muzzulin, who sported black henna-based temporary tattoos on her left forearm, said she paints every day after school and eventually wants to work for Walt Disney Studios as a storyboard artist — someone who typically illustrates animated works’ narratives, shots, and action sequences.
Sandy Benge of Colebrook waited to show her ceramic sculptures. One was a bust of herself as a younger woman, yielded from her recent first pottery class. “I am trying to be an artist,” Benge said. “I would like to become an illustrator.”
Benge said her propensity for clay work dates back to her childhood. “I would pull out clay from the foundation of the house,” Benge joked. “I grew up loving clay.”
Benge, who is a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, recently participated in art therapy and wanted to explore the possibilities of pursuing art education via her veteran’s vocational rehabilitation status.
“It is amazing to see young people who have such abilities,” Benge said of the attendees. “They really need the encouragement. It is simply wonderful.”
To learn more about Five Points Gallery and its exhibits and opportunities, go to fivepointsgallery.org.