New Canaan’s downtown becomes a giant art gallery

Storefronts in New Canaan will become even more stylish during the summer thanks to the efforts of the Carriage Barn Fine Arts Center, the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce and almost 75 artists as shops, restaurants, and businesses throughout the town will display paintings, etchings, photos, and sculptures in their front windows until June 24.

“For 15 years we’ve been doing this exhibit, but it’s really evolved and grown,”said Hilary Wittmann, the executive director of the Carriage Barn Arts Center. “This year we have about 70 businesses that are part of it, and about 15 pieces of art in windows throughout town.”Wittmann highlighted the diversity of art and businesses involved.

“It’s really the businesses that have storefronts and windows that lend themselves to something like this, so the art is everywhere you go,”Wittman continued. “The boutiques and clothing stores, and the home goods stores to everything like the Dunkin Donuts right here and the real estate offices participate. Merrill Lynch is our presenting sponsor and their offices on Pine Street probably have 10 or 15 pieces of art in all their windows. Almost everyone gets involved. For us this a great way to have presence and awareness downtown. A lot of people discover the Carriage Barn through the Art in the Windows exhibit each year and then they get involved with other things that we do in the gallery.”The art in the windows is all for sale and can be purchased by scanning an accompanying QR code. Prices range from $100 to several thousand dollars, depending on the relative profile of the artist.

In addition, a section of South Avenue between Elm Street and Morse Court will be periodically blocked off throughout the exhibit. A booth for the Carriage Barn will offer arts and crafts for children while artists will be able to set up tables and sell additional works.

Ashley McNeal, a New Canaan resident and artist was among those who set up a booth to sell their creations during the launch event on June 3.

“It’s an honor to be involved in the New Canaan community,”McNeal said. “It’s fun it’s engaging, it’s exciting.”McNeal is a self-taught artist who has lived in New Canaan for five years. She specializes in paintings on wine bottles and shares her methods in classes. While most of her work is on canvas, she said she was attracted to bottles because they provided a smaller scale format to work in, and her piece in this year’s event was also painted on a bottle.

Stephen Dori Shin, co-owner of the Adirondack Store & Gallery on Elm Street, was pleased with the paintings placed in their storefront. A pair of equestrian paintings by the Argentina-born artist Dolores Aldecoa, each valued at $4,000, fit perfectly with the store’s mix of upscale and antique offerings according to Shin.

“Our profile is very rustic,”Shin explained. “So, we’re looking at anything to do with a sort of luxury lake house or a lodge, everything in here sort of has that feeling. We’re very lucky because Dolores Aldecoa’s art fits in so perfect. Everything else in that window is Black Forest antiques, so it’s all wood and carved antlers, and one of her paintings is a hunting scene. We couldn’t believe how perfectly it fit in with the theme of our store.”Boudica Matik, the manager of the Adirondack Store’s New Canaan location, noted that the success of the event can also be partially attributed to it being a collaborative process.

“They show us the brochure showing us which pieces are theirs and what they feel strongly about,”Matik said. “They want us to know what their art is, so artists love this event as well because they’re connecting to individuals who might not have seen their work before this week.””All these events are really appreciated by the businesspeople,”Shin added. “It does bring people to town. The restaurants, and the stores, the town really supports brick and mortar which is really refreshing.”