The Women's Caucus for Art, Connecticut Chapter, will celebrate the varied work of women artists - and its 15th anniversary - with "Night and Day," a juried exhibition of 43 pieces from women across Connecticut and beyond, opening Sunday, June 12, at Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will be on display until Friday, July 29.

The exhibit opens with a public reception featuring music and refreshments at 4 p.m. Prior to the opening, the Caucus will offer a 2 p.m. screening of "Women Make Art," a short film about women artists and their work, in the Wien Experimental Theater, which is also in the Quick Center.

The exhibit includes 43 works from 41 artists, including painting, photography, mixed media pieces, sculpture and a large installation. The artists hail from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

"Our members are spread out all over the state and this particular show brings even more diversity," said Ridgefield resident Gloria Ruenitz, president of the Women's Caucus.

Ruenitz said the 125-member Connecticut chapter of the caucus strives to give women opportunities to show their art and works with schools and other educational programs to encourage young female artists. The caucus also documents women's art through exhibit catalogs, publications, lectures and slide shows. The new film, which was shot by Westport filmmaker Lisa Seidenberg, will be a perfect vehicle for caucus members, many of whom are teachers, to take their message into classrooms, Ruenitz said.

Juror Helen Cooper, the Holcombe T. Greene curator of American paintings and sculpture at Yale University, picked an untitled silver gelatin photo print as Best of Show. Killingworth, Conn. artist Kathryn Frederick created the image of a young girl and her grandmother, a topic Ruenitz said fits perfectly with the exhibit's theme.

"It's all about beginning and ending and opposites," she said.

Three awards of excellence will also be presented at the opening reception. Torrington artist Christine Altman won for her installation, "Let Us Marry Annette. Amen," which includes a video projected onto a wedding gown hanging from the ceiling. Constance LaPalombara of New Haven, won an award for her oil on linen work entitled "Sunlight." "Night Power," a watercolor by Guilford artist Suzanne E. Siegel, also won an award of excellence.

The Walsh Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call (203) 254-4000, ext. 2969.

Posted On: 05-19-2005 10:05 AM

Volume: 37 Number: 271