nothin Behind-Scenes Effort Guides Westville Art… | New Haven Independent

Behind-Scenes Effort Guides Westville Art Scene Into 2019

Liz Antle-O’Donnell Photos

Pizza making at Rawa as part of “Let’s Play.”

From its art galleries to its warren of studio spaces to its live music and theater venue at Lyric Hall, Westville is seen as an arts center in New Haven,” said Elizabeth Antle‑O’Donnell. An initiative she’s helping to build is making sure it stays that way, and grows.

Antle‑O’Donnell serves as program coordinator of the ArtEcon Initiative, now entering its third full year of programming.

ArtEcon was founded by Thea Buxbaum and other members of the Westville arts community in March 2016 as an outgrowth of Art Lofts West, the Westville program that provides affordable housing to artists.

The idea behind ArtEcon was to provide arts and community programs in Westville free or at very low cost,” Antle‑O’Donnell said. The Westville Village Renaissance Alliance does that with several large events a year, including ArtWalk, the summer concert series on the lawn of Mitchell Library, adn the New Year’s Eve Winter Formal” bash. ArtEcon aimed to work alongside WVRA with ongoing programming for all ages, to support the consistent vibrancy of the neighborhood.”

Printmaking workshop with artist Tom Edwards.

ArtEcon first raised funds through an Indiegogo campaign that garnered support from over 100 people in the neighborhood, as well as a Mayor’s Neighborhood Cultural Vitality Grant. In its first year of programming ArtEcon produced 30 programs at Kehler-Liddell Gallery. Today, it counts the city and state as supporters, among several other local institutions and businesses. This year, it produced 60 programs, expanded from Kehler-Liddell to the neighborhood’s restaurants, parks, and libraries.

These programs ranged from story hour for kids on the weekends to a pizza making workshop at Rawa on the corner of Whalley and West Rock. ArtEcon sponsored artist talks, discussions and workshops usually inspired by exhibitions and artwork,” Antle‑O’Donnell said, but also happening when moments arise.” It threw indoor winter concerts mimicking summer concerts, in which people from the neighborhood gathered with blankets and picnic fare to spread out on the floor of the gallery and listen to live music. It held open critique nights for visual artists ranging from high school students to professionals. With teachers in local schools, it facilitated visits to the art gallery. In October it became a co-sponsor of Literary Happy Hour, the ongoing reading series at Lotta Studios on Whalley Avenue.

The organization has an apprenticeship program for college students, recent graduates, or mature high school students,” as ArtEcon’s website puts it, who are interested in learning about the nuts and bolts of arts management. The program has had four apprentices so far, who have engaged in a kind of build your own adventure,” Antle‑O’Donnell said. Some apprentices have delved into publishing. One ended up focusing on installing exhibitions and lighting design.

Heading into 2019 and its third full year, in addition to keeping up with the roster of current programs, ArtEcon plans to expand its school programming so that, not only can classes visit an art gallery, but the artists can visit the classroom. The class visits grew out of talking to teachers about how to better coordinate. Schools, Antle‑O’Donnell said, only have a limited number of buses” to get students to an art gallery. The artist visits could also supplement the schools’ existing art programs more effectively. At Mauro-Sheridan, the whole school studies endangered animals,” Antle‑O’Donnell said — which coincides nicely with an upcoming exhibit at Kehler-Liddell about African fauna.

In response to demand — You want to do something that people want,” Antle‑O’Donnell said — ArtEcon is expanding its workshop programming to create multi-day and perhaps multi-week workshops for adults in printmaking, pastels, sculpture and other forms of art making. This would be one of the few ArtEcon programs that isn’t free, though the organization is seeking to keep the cost low, to something in the range of $10 to $20.

ArtEcon may also scale back, just a little bit — from 60 programs to 50 programs — so I can devote more of my time to spreading the word effectively,” Antle‑O’Donnell said. At what point have you had too many programs in a month?” she joked. But the joke underscores a serious point about how to best use ArtEcon’s money and labor time as it heads into the future. The organization has become part of New Haven’s arts scene, doing a lot with a little even as New Haven continues to develop, and attract development, in part due to the perception of the city as the cultural capital of the state.

Antle‑O’Donnell sees the arts and economic development as going hand in hand, not just at the level of new apartment buildings, but at the street level of small local businesses. An event brings foot traffic, and hopefully people will go and get a coffee, or go out to dinner afterward,” she said. In a survey the organization conducted at its events, 30 percent of the respondents reported having supported a local business in just that way.

Panel discussion at Kehler-Liddell Gallery.

The arts and arts happenings can really be a powerful force in supporting the vibrancy of a neighborhood,” Antle‑O’Donnell said. I feel like it can be a huge release. It can be worth months of therapy,” she said with a laugh. A work on a wall” — like a mural — can make you feel better … public art can affect how you feel about where you live.”

But though almost all of ArtEcon’s programming is made free to the public, producing it is not actually free,” Antle‑O’Donnell said. ArtEcon last year operated on a budget of $20,000, in addition to in-kind donations of time and materials, particularly from the 25 artists who are members of Kehler Liddell. We really rely on in-kind donations to operate,” Antle‑O’Donnell said, but the goal is to rely on that less and less.”

It’s a small organization, so we’re very nimble,” Antle‑O’Donnell said, able to take advantage of new opportunities as they present themselves. It’s just really inspiring to be around art, and to offer the opportunity for creative expression to people.”

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