Live Drawing Session
Thursday March 25th, 6 PM – 8 PM

Artists, take advantage of this opportunity to work with a live model!

The model will start off with several short poses to allow artists to warm up and then will hold longer poses for approximately 20-30 minutes each.

The Center provides chairs, tables, and the model.  Several easels and drawing boards will be provided, so come early to claim one before they run out.  All other supplies provided by the artist.

Model-thon
Saturday March 27th, 11 AM – 4 PM

Join us for 4 HOURS of live models!

Due to the growing interest in the live model drawing program, we want to make sure artists who can’t attend during the week can still participate! Come for just an hour or stay for the whole time! Meet fellow artists while brushing up on your live drawing technique.

Special Price: $5 an hour

Creative Clusters Networking Forum (with HVCA) 7-9 PM

Tomorrow!

Women’s Voices Quilt Exhibit Opening Reception 2-4 PM

Ballroom Dancing 7-11 PM

Stop by any of these events and check out how beautiful our space is in the sunshine.

Oh!  And I did a lot of revamping to the website last week.  New sections, and you can now pay for classes and event tickets via Paypal.  Let me know other suggestions that you might have.

All the fun times going on this week (it’s a busy one):

Tuesday, March 16th 10-11:30 AM Let’s Get Messy!

Friday, March 19th 7-9 PM Creative Clusters Networking Forum with HVCA

Saturday, March 20th 2-4 PM “Women’s Voices” Opening Reception

Saturday, March 20th 7-11 PM Ballroom Dancing

Coming up next week — Live Drawing and Model-thon

On a less professional note, the following awesomeness makes me smile.

The painting that makes bad weather seem worthwhile.

in collaboration with Homestead Quilts

March 20th – April 1st, 2010

Opening Reception: March 20th, 2-4 PM

BETHEL,  CT – In March of 2009, a group of women gathered at Homestead Quilts of Bethel for a sewing class where participants would create a quilt based loosely on the stories of escaping slaves who had used the Underground Railroad as their path to freedom.  Because quilt shop owner Vivian Hultgren carries a line of reproduction fabrics, sewers were able to incorporate into their designs such fabrics as “Lincoln’s White House,” “Harper’s Ferry,” “Harriet Beecher Stowe House,” and others.  The women who ultimately completed their quilts had such a rich time together that they continued meeting Wednesday nights, twice per month, going on to create quilts based on farm fields and women’s Civil War experiences.

Nancy Weston, a member of this quilting group, proposed the display of the quilts to the Center for New Media and the Arts as a fitting event for Black History month and Women’s History month.  Making quilts has long been a way that women express themselves, since the needle-arts were one of the few avenues of artistic expression easily accessible to women.  Quilting grew out of necessity in colonial and pioneer times as a way to create nighttime warmth by using scraps from flour sacks, worn-out clothes, and small bits of fabric leftover from handmade clothes.  Contemporary women have thousands of pre-made fabrics from which to choose, rotary cutters that make short work of piecing, precisely outlined instruction booklets, and technological advances such as digital sewing machines that create dozens of stitch patterns.

The current blend of old and new techniques in the quilting world creates a natural fit for Homestead Quilts to team up with CNMA, across the tracks of the old Bethel railroad station, to share with the public this fabric art medium.

Public Events
Opening Reception March 20th, 2010, 2-4 PM
Our creative director and many of the quilters will be present to take questions about the history of quilting and the symbolism behind the quilts in this exhibition.  Wine and refreshments will be served.

Live Model Drawing Session

Thursday, March 11th 6-8 PM

Artists, take advantage of this opportunity to work with a live model!

The model will start off with several short poses to allow artists to warm up and then will hold longer poses for approximately 20-30 minutes each.

The Center provides chairs, tables, and the model.  Several easels and drawing boards will be provided, so come early to claim one before they run out.  All other supplies are provided by the artist.

Fee: $15

For God, Race and Country

Don’t miss this show!  This Saturday, March 13th will be the last Saturday this photojournalistic essay will be on display.  Stop by any time between 10 AM and 4 PM and discuss the show with Catherine.  The show closes on Wednesday, March 17th.

Lots of new things coming up.  We want you involved!

Google Image search for "website update" -- yep.

Check out The Mercurial, a weekly online magazine.  Their Arts and Music section is their biggest draw!

If you see a show or hear of an event you want to share, contact the editor about submitting an article.

Tuesday, March 2nd 10 AM – 11:30 AM

Parents and children ages 9 mo – 5 yrs.

We will be looking at the work of Alexander Calder and making mobiles.

$15 per parent/child duo

Middle Eastern Veil Performance

Saturday, March 6th 7 PM – 9 PM

Aleenah, a talented veil dancer, will be hosting a veil workshop at DanceEtc Studio, which teaches some of the best solo and troupe bellydance performers.  Aleenah and the DanceEtc participants will then hold a performance of all they have learned here at CNMA.

Doors open at 6 PM.

Limited tickets available
Adults  $15 in advance  -  $18 at the door
Children  $7 in advance  -  $10 at the door

For more information call:  Alarah (845) 519-7058

At the top of this page, you will see four tabs, one of which says “Discussion“.  Click on the “Discussion” tab for more information about your assignment, including links to all the discussion questions.  You can also scroll down this page to see the questions or click on the “Education” category under “What The Fuss is All About” at right.

We look forward to hearing your perspectives on the show.  If you have questions for Chris Capozziello, feel free to leave them in the comments section of the discussion questions, as he will be following along.  If you’d prefer, you can also email questions to Catherine at cnmabethel@gmail.com.

If you have not yet come to see the exhibition in person, our hours are 10 AM – 6 PM Monday – Friday and 10 AM – 4 PM on Saturday.  Please sign in on the sheet for your English teacher and walk through the exhibit with the gallery guide when you come.  There is a lot of text with the show; be sure to read all of it, as it answers many of the questions you may have.

If you have any questions about directions, call 203-797-1786.  Our address is 186 Greenwood Ave, Bethel, CT 06801.  We are on the second floor of the historic Opera House building in the middle of downtown Bethel.  The entrance is on Greenwood Ave, right near the clock.  Walk up the green staircase by our sign, and you will see a double door on your left, which leads to our stairwell.

As a photojournalist, I ask the permission of others to be allowed into their lives, to ask questions, to make pictures, in order to learn something that is outside of my own experience. Our society is quite insular in terms of how much we are willing to see beyond our own lives, and how deep we are willing to go.

In reading the text that accompanies his photographs, you will learn more about Mr. Capozziello, David, and how their friendship led David to leave the Klan.  This was never the intention; in fact, the role of the journalist or photojournalist is, as Capozziello says elsewhere, “simply to tell the truth.”  Consider the idea of objectivity; then consider the subject of these photographs, which document generational racism and unquestioned hatred.  Should the photographer do more than document?  Is it right to leave children in the hands of those who would shape them through hatred and violence?  To what extent do you believe a journalist should intervene in the lives of those he or she explores?  To help you focus your discussion, you might briefly research the history of journalistic objectivity.