Join us on Saturday, September 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. for Days of Summer, a student showcase of work by art, writing, and photography students at Arts Escape. The event will take place at our new location, 493 Heritage Road, Suite 4C, in Southbury.
Painters and photographers may submit up to three works no larger than 16 x 20 inches representing the theme Days of Summer. Two out of three works will be selected for the showcase. Work can be in any medium and will be displayed on the afternoon of September 24. Writers can submit up to ten minutes of original work on the same theme; there will be an opportunity to share their work during a reading to take place that afternoon. The showcase is open to the public and light refreshments will be served.
As part of this showcase, we’re offering an opportunity to generate new material in a beautiful setting, on Wednesday, August 10th. Students are invited to A Morning at Hollister House Garden to paint, photograph, and write in these inspiring gardens, one of the area’s best-kept secrets. Students will work with oversight from two Arts Escape instructors, art teacher Sandie Daignault and writing teacher Nancy McMillan from 9 to 11 a.m. Students can stay at Hollister House until 1:00 p.m. on their own. Admission is $5.00. The rain date is Wednesday, August 24.
Artists and photographers, please email descriptions (size and medium) along with photos (jpg) no later than September 1 to submissions@artsescape.org. Writers, please email finished pieces as Word documents to the same email address.
A resident of Preston, CT, Margaret Gibson– a professor emerita at UConn –-is the state’s seventh Poet Laureate.
A nationally and internationally acclaimed writer, Gibson is the author of 12 books of poetry, as well as the memoir “The Prodigal Daughter: Reclaiming an Unfinished Childhood.” Awards include the Lamont Selection from the Academy of American Poets, the Melville Kane Award from the Poetry Society of America as a co-winner, the Connecticut Center for the Book Award in Poetry and three Pushcart Prizes 1993. The Vigil was a Finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry. Broken Cup was a Finalist for The Poet’s Prize.
The panelists who selected Gibson as Connecticut’s Poet Laureate, stated, “ Throughout a long, distinguished career as poet, educator, and activist for peace and justice, Margaret Gibson’s lyric poetry interrogates and illumines the connection between our inner and outer worlds. Her 12 collections exhibit intelligence, meditative reflection, and an ever-deepening courage to reckon with uncertain…As Connecticut Poet Laureate, she will encourage and listen to the voices of others and bring to the position a demonstrated dedication to building an engaged, caring community.”
Also the author of a memoir about growing up in Richmond, Virginia, Gibson has lived for forty years in Preston, Connecticut, with her husband, writer David McKain. She has taught in many colleges and universities, at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
If you missed the showcase it’s not too late to see and hear the work of our talented members. The work was created from April 1 – July 15th during the Covid-19 pandemic quarantine.
