2022 Autumn Arts Festival
Madison Town Green, Madison, CT
ONE DAY ONLY
Saturday, October 8 (10-5pm)
Festival Artists Updates in progress!
The Outdoor Festival, located on the Madison Town Green (Boston Post Road/Route 1 and Copse Road) will be held on Saturday, October 8 (10-5pm). Entrance to the Gallery Group Show and Arts Festival are free.
The Arts Center Killingworth returns to the Madison Connecticut Town Green for its Annual Autumn Outdoor Arts Festival, Saturday, October 8, 10-5pm with new and original artwork and fine crafts by artists from throughout Connecticut and the tri-state region. The Festival a one-day event, located at Boston Post Road (Route 1) and Copse Road, includes representational and abstract painting, as well as photography, mixed media, collage, and more. Artisans exhibiting on the Green feature those working in pottery, wood, glass, fiber, and jewelry designs in sterling silver, precious/semi-precious metals, and stones.
The Madison Green itself is a well-loved destination, surrounded by historic buildings and important modern sculptures. The Festival will have a variety of food selections and live music with The Fuse Funk Band with Jan Jungden swingin’ on vocals, keyboards, and flute, while other members walk the bass and add rhythm on the drums. Classic to modern jazz, Latin, swing, and a bit of R&B, this tight but spontaneous ensemble delivers something for everyone! Entrance to the Festival is free, pet-friendly, and visitors receive a complimentary event map with artist booth locations, as well as information on upcoming art classes and workshops. For a sneak peek of artists, visit spectrumartgallery.org for online galleries which feature artwork images and biographical information.
Presenters at the Festival include Tammy Blais, a painter (and photographer) who works in oil and explores diverse themes with whimsical views. She paints in soft, tranquil color tones, often on stretch canvas of various sizes, smooth board, and linen paper. Lois Warner, an emerging artist based in Newtown, Connecticut, comes originally from Antigua, where her ancestral home is often the influence for her creativity. Using many mediums such as watercolor, acrylic, inks, and dyes, her pieces are strikingly bold and bright. Her style is eclectic showcasing abstract, geometric design, collage, and botanical prints.
Ronald Olansen works in oil, pastel, acrylic, and watercolor. He loves to paint still life, seascapes, and landscapes inspired by the drawings and paintings of Andrew Wyeth, Vermeer, and the Impressionists. He also carves in stone (mainly granite) realistic subject matter such as birds, fish, frogs, and other wildlife. Victoria Williams displays a quiet serenity and optimism through her contemporary Impressionist paintings. Landscapes, still life, and floral works are favorites. Also showing is returning artist Tatiana Ferraro who presents several vibrant watercolors of wildlife and landscape.
New England-born Kate Fountain relishes the freedom and variety of working in ceramics, encaustic, acrylic, oil, and ink. She is currently focused on botanical studies in acrylic, as her connection to nature drives her artistic process. New to the festival is painter Ann Kelly who paints landscapes, portraits, animals, still life, and westerns in a representational style with bold colors. Lisa Conti merges original photographs, often capturing images on travel adventures, and incorporates pen and ink to add contrast and enhance textural features. Artist Patti Maher is interested in simple, elegant lines and explores shadows and negative space. She works in pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, and combines them. And Festival favorite Diane Rubacha returns with new works in oil and watercolor. Laurel Hoynoski joins the Festival for the first time; her primary medium has been oil but has been recently branching out into acrylics with a focus on portraits, landscapes/nature and still life.
Photographers include award-winner Judith Secco, a digital photographer who has developed a technique using layers, textures, and composites. Larry Reitz portrays scenes of stunning rivers and waterfalls on canvas, and offers fountain pens too, crafted from metal and fine woods. Mary Elizabeth Dutko came from the world of floral design and has taken her powerful ability to use color, balance, texture, and design into her photographic work. Award-winning photographer Robert Thomas returns with new and exciting images, and Maria Johnson – typically a painter – shows photographs exemplifying her focus on expression and mood.
New to the Festival is photographer Zili Zhang. His subjects range from landscape to people, from street documentary to travel, and combines elements of both Eastern and Western art. Zhang was a finalist for his work “Looking down at the bottom of Glenn Canyon Dame” in the prestigious Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest.
Other returning fine artists and artisans include Chris Penry who specializes in Pulp Painting, making paper with inclusions from nature and from paper made with Thai Kozo, a fiber from the mulberry plant. Fiber artist Anna Mastropolo charms with her upcycled clothing embellished with her skilled embroidery. Claudine Burns Smith is an artist who has had numerous group and solo exhibitions both in the US and internationally of her functional ceramics, sculpture and works on paper. Layne Manginelli’s woodturning and custom woodworking are specialties, featuring unique and rare woods that add color, shape, and complexity to each one-of-a-kind piece. His designs frequently feature geometric shapes and patterns that are diligently planned.
Amy Handler has a strong sense of color and is inspired by nature’s beauty, mostly from the Northeast and Pacific Northwest. She developed her signature “upcycle” wine bottle lights which when held up to light, reflect a vivid array of colors reminding viewers of stained glass. A must-see is Deborah Churchill, an artist who crafts exquisite mandala artworks using a technique called “dotism,” painting with small, distinct dots of color in patterns to form elaborate images; she employs geometric patterns such as Fibonacci sequence style and sacred geometry with acrylics on canvas, plates, and gypsum rocks.
Mixed media artist Deborah Simmons is back, exploring mediums including oil and wax, acrylics, charcoal, ink, and photography. Also attending is Joan Weir who makes whimsical creations in stained and fused glass for picture frames and contemporary suncatchers; fine artisan Marie Angersola is back displaying her carved and adorned gourds as is Lynn Webber who repurposes glass and designs garden art in the form of birdbaths, totems, seed feeders and flowers. Jean Gresham shows her high-end fused glass home décor items; Joanne Brown brings festive holiday-themed wreaths; favorite potter Nancy Scilipote has new work as does candlemaker Janice Wood. New to the Festival is Marc Dutko, a fine woodworker who creates artisan, heirloom-quality kitchen serving ware. There are many exceptional jewelry designers represented on the Green such as Lori Meehan, Joanna Biskupski, Sue Braden Hull, Joan Wenzel, Lina Wilder, and Phyllis Nolan.
As a complement to the Madison Green event, Spectrum Gallery and Artisans Store of Centerbrook presents Changing Seasons. This six-week gallery show runs through Sunday, November 6 with gallery hours Wednesday-Saturday (12-6pm) and Sunday (12-5pm). For more information about programming call (860) 767-0742 or visit spectrumartgallery.org. Also, visit and enjoy shopping on Spectrum Anytime, spectrumanytime.com, the Gallery’s online platform for art and fine craft purchasing.
tival pet-friendly and offering unique local food selections and live musical performances.
Spectrum Art Gallery and Artisans Store of Centerbrook, Connecticut presents Changing Seasons, an exhibition showcasing select works by participating artists in the 2021 Outdoor Autumn Arts Festival. Discover fine artists and artisans from throughout Connecticut, New England, and the tristate region who present representational and abstract painting, photography, mixed media, and collage. The gallery show opens to the public Friday, September 24 with an Open House Saturday, September 25th from 1-6pm and Sunday, September 26th from 1-5pm. The show closes Sunday, November 7. Also, the Gallery’s Artisans Store offers many one-of-a-kind fine crafts including works in ceramic, stoneware, glass, wood, fabric, and innovative jewelry design.
Spectrum Anytime at www.spectrumanytime.com offers visitors the ability to browse and shop the online gallery and Artisans Store from home with shipping available throughout the US. These options offer a perfect choice for upcoming events and gift giving. Gift cards are also available in the Store and online. Visit spectrumartgallery.org and call (860) 767-0742.
