BY NORWALK MAYOR HARRY RILLING
From ballet to hip hop, Suzuki to jazz, Shakespeare on the Sound to the Theatre Arts Workshop, our community is proud to support the arts in ways that make the whole Norwalk experience engaging and memorable. I appreciate the foresight of those who preserved and restored our Norwalk Concert Hall, a premier performance venue, home of the Norwalk Symphony, Youth Symphony, Community Chorale and the Fairfield Theater Company. The Carriage House Arts Center in Cranbury Park and the Crystal Theatre Company in the former Benjamin Franklin School demonstrate our commitment to repurposing public buildings for the arts. We”™re also excited about the Globe Theater on Wall Street, currently undergoing renovation and scheduled to open in 2015, as part of neighborhood revitalization efforts.
Many popular cultural destinations and organizations call Norwalk home, including the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, Stepping Stones Museum, the Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk Community College, and its impressive art gallery. We are also home to many galleries, studios, and artists”™ collaboratives including the Rowayton Arts Center, SPAG (St. Philip”™s Artists”™ Guild), WALA (Wilson Avenue Loft Artists), and Firing Circuits. Creative Connections, the Historical Society, Norwalk Preservation Trust, and Norwalk 2.0 also enrich and contribute to our community.
As a Norwalk High student in the ”™60s, I remember admiring the murals. These are now recognized as one of the largest restored WPA collections in the country. As mayor, I am pleased to support my Arts Advisory Commission in its efforts to connect the arts with the community and celebrate public art. We have commissioned murals on blank walls and art installations at the South Norwalk train station, created a gallery at the Maritime Garage and a Traffic Graphic program. The Norwalk Arts Festival will host its second-annual event in late June, and the SONO Arts Celebration is a popular August destination. Our investment in public art and pride in our cultural heritage generates regional interest, promotes tourism, and helps our local economy. Norwalk is a great place to live, work and visit.
The mission of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is to support cultural organizations, artists and creative businesses by providing promotion, services and advocacy. For more information, visit CulturalAllianceFC.org, email info@CulturalAllianceFC.org or call 256-2329.
