Business & Tech
'Art by Local' Debuts
The art festival in Sconset Square opened with a bang on Thursday night.
Westport lived up to its reputation Thursday night, as people came out in force to support our resident artists. Art by Local took over Sconset Square for an opening night reception, kicking off the weekend-long festival.
The event drew an impressive number – estimated to be 350 by the event organizers, Westport Downtown Merchants Association and Westport Arts Center. More of a summer evening festival than a gallery preview, the preview drew kids and families, dogs and art aficionados alike. The youngsters, however, might have been more intrigued by the yellow "tube lady" who danced for two hours non-stop than they were by any of the paintings on the walls.
The concept behind Art by Local was to bring undiscovered, original and affordable art to town and launch emerging artists into the market. The 32 artists who competed for a spot in the exhibit were all Fairfield County residents who'd never been in a show. Last night they displayed work ranging from paintings to photographs, mixed media to ceramics. Everything was priced under $1,000.
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In the first hour, 10 of the 60 works of art had sold. "We didn't know what to expect," said a happy Peggy Travers, administrator for the merchants association. "This is the first year we've done this. It's going great so far."
The works were shown in the various storefronts in the square, including RM Architecture, Room, Travel Exchange, Ranney Michaels and Rockwell Art & Framing. Blue Lemon – known for its perennial display of local artwork – was in on the fun as well. As guests wandered from one make-shift gallery to another, people tasted a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc (bottled in what resembled a grown-up juice box) and an Argentinean Malbec, provided by Country Liquor Store.
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Set up in the middle of the square was Mirabelle Cheese Shop's new portable cheese trailer, nicknamed "Cheese Wheels." Mirabelle was sampling a cabot clothbound cheddar, a 5-year gouda, a goat cheese, and a decadent French triple cream called Delice de Bourgogne. During Sunday's day-long event, Mirabelle will be selling sandwiches and drinks in addition to cheese plates.
"This was a great kicking off event for us," said Mirabelle's Andrea Itin. "We had to branch out and expand our brand. We hope to do this at the Westport Arts Festival and other events as well."
The cheese, wine and art were all well-received by the crowd. "For Westport, this is unusual. We don't have that many events like this here," said Harry Kritzer, a commercial real estate attorney. "This was fun tonight. I enjoyed the art."
The works will continue to be shown and sold through the weekend, culminating with another event on Sunday. The festival will feature live music from local musicians throughout the day as well as demonstrations all forms of artwork – cubist painting, watercolor, mixed media and ceramics.
