If you missed the Artists Forum last night, you missed a lot! Several artists from the area got together with members of the West Haven Council on the Arts and discussed ideas on how to fund the future Arts Center, how to earn public interest in the WHCA, and what types of programs artists would like to see (and participate in) at the Arts Center. The WHCA was also able to dispel the myth that we are a performance-based organization when, in fact, we are eager to meet visual artists from all disciplines – painters, photographers, sculptors, writers, and anything we have not thought of yet. It was a very enlightening evening to say the least! In fact, so many ideas were discussed that we plan on having more of these Artist Forums in the future, just to stay in touch with the community.
President Kevin Davignon’s main focus will be to draw up comprehensive business, marketing and development plans to take us into the future. His goal is to fill up a yearly calendar with programs and activities, so meeting with the artists of our community was a great way to figure out what some of these events should be to create a sustainable Arts Center for West Haven and the surrounding communities.
Some of the ideas discussed:
- Connecting with New Haven’s City-Wide Open Studios, though this may have to wait until next year due to application deadlines.
- Space for artists to work after hours.
- The various types of studios we would like to see at the Center.
- Arts camp
- Juried exhibitions
- Artist fairs
- A production combining all different disciplines – artists make the sets, performers perform, musicians play, etc.
These are only some of the ideas knocked around last night. By getting the community together during these informational and brainstorming sessions, we hope to create an Arts Center that will rival none. We invite anyone interested, as always, by joining us at our first Thursday meetings, 7pm in basement room A of West Haven City Hall. We hope to see you there on Thursday, June 3rd at 7pm.
