BY JEANINE ESPOSITO AND FREDERIC CHIU
Many feel the age of rapid innovation is a threat to traditional arts. At Beechwood Arts & Innovation in Westport, we embrace innovation and technology, while holding hands with the past. Our arts immersion salons are the core of what we do, a perfect formula for delivering an innovative experience that is both intimate and immersive.
- Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu.
Immersive: Each salon”™s theme inspires many arts genres and generations. A world-renowned classical pianist mixes with youth slam poets, violin virtuosos with student actors, jazz with audience readings. Visual art, sculpture and short films are curated to the theme. A collaborative artists-in-residence program results in an outdoor installation. Culinary arts brings food created especially to the theme, such as “Four Seasons,” presented as four courses, or food that taps into the body, mind or heart at our “Vibrations” salon.
Intimate: For an audience of creators, arts lovers and supporters, the immersive nature of the Salon opens up the senses and the perspective of what an arts experience can be: a sharing of ideas that builds a sense of community and connectedness. We foster inter-generational collaboration by inviting experienced artists with up-and-coming youth, encouraging the sharing of the former”™s craft and wisdom and the latter”™s energy and new technologies.
Innovative: Technology expands our audience worldwide while enriching the experience and retaining intimacy. For “Vibrations,” neuro-researchers created software to measure the collected heart and brain response of audience members during a piano performance, projecting reactive images on the wall above the pianist in real-time. Visual art is embedded with videos of the artist, which guests “call to life” through their mobile device.
Our “Salon Around the World” is a network of small venues around the globe who host our art immersion salons simultaneously, streaming our performances, screening our art films, hanging a virtual gallery of images of our art. Best of all, the different audiences “meet” at the virtual reception via iPads and webcams. In this way, our audiences attend an intimate salon, while being part of a global audience of potentially thousands!
The space at the intersection of the past and the future is an exciting one and we hope to be inviting people to experience it for many years to come. For more information, visit BeechwoodArts.org.
Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu, of Beechwood Arts & Innovation, are members of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.
