Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 6, 2006|Volume 35, Number 5

Pictured is a work by Clint Jakkala, assistant professor of painting/printmaking at the School of Art and one of the Yale artists taking part in this year's City-Wide Open Studios festival. Jakkala will be featured in the Oct. 14-15 weekend.

Area artists will be showcased in annual festival

In a city well-known for celebrating the arts, the month of October is one that art lovers from near and far have come to associate with one of the most adventurous art extravaganzas in the region -- the annual City-Wide Open Studios (CWOS).

Yale faculty and staff members, as well as students, are among the hundreds of artists who display their work during CWOS, which takes place over three weeks in and around New Haven. The 20-day arts festival, which this year will be held Oct. 9-29, is presented by Artspace, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to "catalyze artistic efforts, to connect artists, audiences and resources, and to redefine 'art spaces.'" Yale is one of the sponsors of CWOS, which is one of the largest open studios programs in the country.

Now in its ninth year, CWOS provides the public the opportunity to meet hundreds of area artists -- both emerging and established --to visit their art studios, and, in some cases, actually watch them in the process of creation. New Haven's CWOS is unique in that the festival also provides "alternative spaces" to artists without access to a personal studio or to those from outside the New Haven area. This year, the temporary installations will be in the former Hamden Middle School, just over the New Haven border in the Newhallville neighborhood.

Bicycle and bus tours allow festival visitors easy access to art spaces. For many CWOS guests, these tours are a means to explore New Haven neighborhoods as they travel from one artist studio to the next.

CWOS begins on Monday, Oct. 9, when an exhibition featuring one representative work from each participating artist opens in the Artspace gallery at 50 Orange St. The exhibition will be on view daily through Oct. 29. Exhibition hours are Sunday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

The public will have the opportunity to meet participating artists at a grand opening reception on Friday, Oct. 13, 5-8 p.m., at Artspace. Refreshments will be served, and live music will be featured at the free event.

Other events take place over three weekends. The weekend of Oct. 14 and 15 will feature 100 artists with studios at Erector Square, located at 315 Peck St. New Haven's largest studio complex, the site is the former Erector Set toy factory. It will be open noon-5 p.m. both days. Artspace will offer guided walking tours of the complex, and a shuttle bus will loop continuously from Artspace. There is a $5 suggested donation.

On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 21 and 22, some 50 artists in their studios and small studio complexes across New Haven and surrounding towns will show their work. Free guided bus and bike tours (about four hours long) led by artists, architects, and youth and community leaders will depart from Artspace at noon on both days. The bike tours are free; there is a $5 suggested donation for the bus tours. Sign up for tours in advance by calling (203) 772-2709. A map showing individual studios is available online at www.cwos.org; maps will also be printed in the Oct. 11-17 issue of the New Haven Advocate.

During the culminating weekend, Oct. 28 and 29, more than 300 artists will display their work in the 180,000-square-foot Alternative Space at the former Hamden Middle School, 550 Newhall St. A free shuttle bus will loop continuously from Artspace to the Alternative Space. The weekend will also feature live music and food vendors. A $5 donation at the door is suggested.

A directory of artists and other information is online at www.cwos.org and will also appear in the Oct. 11 New Haven Advocate.

A few of the many Yale artists participating in CWOS will be featured in the next issue of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar.

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