Carole P. Kunstadt’s ‘Between The Lines’ Exhibition Opening on September 11

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

CONNECTICUT---Charter Oak Cultural Center presents Carole P. Kunstadt’s "Between The Lines" exhibition from September 11 thru October 14, 2014. The opening reception is September 11, 6 to 8 pm with an Artist Talk on Oct. 1 at noon. Carole P. Kunstadt, a graduate of Hartford Art School and the A&O INSPIRE ME! Artist for September 2014, deconstructs paper and text of old books. The works are inspired by the purchase of an 1844 parish Psalmody. Kunstadt slices the pages into strips, then sews and weaves them together layering fine tissue paper and leaves of gold. These reimagined images reference spirituality, and the temporal quality and vulnerability of life. Guests for the opening reception on September 11 are invited to register on Eventbrite, and in addition, Kunstadt has a second exhibition of works at the Clare Gallery at the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry from Oct. 23 to Dec. 28.

‘East of the Wallace Line’ Opens at the Yale University Art Gallery

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ken Johnson

An Indonesian tunic, made around 1910, in “East of the Wallace Line”
at Yale University. Credit Yale University Art Gallery

CONNECTICUT---“East of the Wallace Line: Monumental Art From Indonesia and New Guinea,” opening Friday at the Yale University Art Gallery, will present more than 120 works of art and craft from the 17th to the 19th century made by people living east of that line. Drawn from the gallery’s Indo-Pacific art collection, the exhibition will include large, ritual and ancestral statues carved from wood; small, intricately carved ceremonial and utilitarian objects made of wood, ivory, and brass; richly patterned textiles; and wooden shields inlaid with mother-of-pearl. [link]

Yale University Art Gallery: "East of the Wallace Line: Monumental Art From Indonesia and New Guinea" (August 15, 2014–Sunday, February 1, 2015); 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT; (203) 432-0600; artgallery.yale.edu

Jewish Art Now Presents: ArtFest – 4 Days of Art, Performance, Music, & Writing

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS

CONNECTICUT---Curated by Jewish Art Now, "ARTFEST" celebrates the vibrant infusion of creativity and artistic engagement in a diverse, eco-conscious Jewish community. ArtFest offers a wildly diverse array of opportunities to learn about, create, and engage with the emerging universe of Jewish art and the art of Judaism — with over 15 presenters from all walks of art. This year’s exploration of of Jewish culture takes place June 30-July 3 at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, in the Connecticut Berkshires. Begin your exploration by RSVPing on Facebook today.

Yale University's Slifka Exhibit Addresses Jewish Identity

YALE DAILY NEWS
By Emma Platoff

CONNECTICUT---A new exhibit at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale aims to explore what it means to be culturally Jewish in contemporary America. “T-Shirt Talk: The Art of Reimagining Cultural Jewish Identity,” a collection of approximately 40 T-shirts and other paraphernalia that express differing messages about Jewish identity, opened in the Center’s Sylvia Slifka Chapel on Tuesday. The exhibit opened with a conversation between Anne Grant, a Vanderbilt University graduate student who collected the items, and Lucy Partman ’14, the Slifka Arts Curator, who discussed the way the exhibit addresses the meaning of cultural Judaism. Partman explained that the role of clothing in expressing cultural Judaism is especially relevant on a college campus, where T-Shirts play a big part in expressing identity of all kinds. [link]

Catholic Poet Reconciles His Art With His Religion

YALE DAILY NEWS
By David Kurkovskiy

CONNECTICUT---Poet, critic and businessman Dana Gioia opened his Tuesday evening lecture in the Woolsey Hall President’s Room with a dramatic reading of a scene from William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” Gioia, who has also served as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, read several poems — which were mostly his own — before beginning his discussion of the difficulties of reconciling one’s religion with creating art. “Existence is a kind of active literary creation,” Gioia said, adding that the study of literature helps humans understand their own lives as stories. Gioia explained that his identity as a Catholic helps him relate his art to his community. There is merit in returning to one’s own group with poetry, he said. “There’s a kind of conversation you can have with your own tribe that helps you clarify your ideas,” Gioia said. [link]

Monday's "Madonna & Child" by James Lattimore Allen

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

"Madonna & Child" by James Lattimore Allen

CONNECTICUT---"Madonna & Child" by James Lattimore Allen -- The portrayal of Jesus and other Christian scriptural figures as black embodied fundamental African American values and served to bolster African American self-esteem, wrote Camara Dia Holloway. Monday's Madonna & Child is a 2014 project for Alpha Omega Arts.

Connecticut Man Paints Religious icons for Eastern Christian Churches

RECORD-JOURNAL
By Molly Callahan

Detail of icon painting by Andrew Bobik, who also teaches a weekly class meets in the church hall on icons.

CONNECTICUT---For one man who paints religious icons, the effort by Eastern Christian churches to raise awareness of icons has given his work new purpose. Andrew Bobik paints religious icons such as angels, saints and Jesus Himself, in the Byzantine style of painting. Icons refer to any paintings of religious figures. At Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church on Park Avenue, where Bobik is a member, icons adorn the walls and ceiling, helping to tell the story of Bible passages, said the Rev. Joshua Mosher. Because they are writing out a specific story, iconographers like Bobik are said to “write” icons, rather than paint them. Icons were originally used centuries ago to help parishioners who could not read follow along with the church service. Today the images are helpful in explaining dense, complex biblical concepts to children, Mosher said. [link]

Monday's "Madonna and Child" by Francesco Vanni

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

"The Virgin Offering the Christ Child to Saint Francis”

During this Christmas season, I've really been drawn to the image of the Madonna & Child. I don't know why but the mother & baby fascinated me this year than ever before. "You can generally depend on Italian Renaissance art for tasteful, traditional Christmas imagery, and 'Francesco Vanni: Art in Late Renaissance Siena' at Yale University Art Gallery delivers plenty of Madonnas, angels and adorable infants, wrote Martha Schwendener in The New York Times. "But it also offers a view of European art at a moment of upheaval and of an artist working in the centers of religious power and responding to these changes." I am not heading over to Connecticut, but I am going to make an effort to make Mondays my "Madonna & Child" day in the weeks ahead. I'll see how far it gets...and then stop. In the meantime, the show at Yale ends on January 5.

Yale University Art Gallery: Francesco Vanni: Art in Late Renaissance Siena,” (Ends Jan. 5); 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT; (203) 432-0600; artgallery.yale.edu

Eggs as Religious Art at the Connecticut's Bruce Museum

CONNECTICUT POST
By Scott Gargan

These Ukrainian Souvenir Painted Eggs Decorated With 
Religious Patterns Kiev Ukraine are for Illustration Purposes Only

CONNECTICUT---These eggs aren't for cracking. The collection of 1,000-plus ovals owned by Yvonne Shia Klancko and Robert J. Klancko are artworks and artifacts -- a reflection of a religious tradition that dates back to Medieval times. In fact, the egg has wobbled its way into religious traditions of many sorts, Klancko said. He noted that the Easter egg rolling contest at the White House commemorates "the rolling away of the stone from Jesus' tomb" prior to his ascension. "It's very spiritual," he added. "Eggs-hibition: Unscrambling Their History," which is on view through Oct. 20, features Faberge eggs from Betteridge Jewelers of Greenwich, examples of Ukrainian egg art from the Stamford-based Ukrainian Museum and Library and delicately carved eggs from Illinois-based artist Beth Ann Magnuson. The exhibit explores the evolution of the egg through art, religion, literature and science. [link]

Bruce Museum: "Eggs-hibition: Unscrambling Their History"(Ends Oct. 20), 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT; 203-869-0376, brucemuseum.org

Holy Land USA Deal Promises New Life for Abandoned Catholic Shrine

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Ann Marie Somma

CONNECTICUT---Holy Land USA once awed the curious and the faithful. Lately it endured vandalism, wrestled (and lost) a battle with nature and faded from memory. Now the abandoned Bible-themed shrine from the 1950s may find new life. The park closed in 1984, two years before the death of its founder, John Baptist Greco, a devout Roman Catholic. He left the property to the order of nuns who watched it crumble from their convent window on the site, eschewing several attempts to restore the park. Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary and local car dealer Fritz Blasius bought the 17-acre ruin from the Morristown, N.J-based Pontifical Institute for the Religious Teachers Fillippini. O’Leary told The Waterbury Observer that he and Blasius will form a nonprofit to raise the $350,000 to turn the property into a Christian shrine where the city’s ethnic groups can display their faith. [link]

Artist Rsponds to Newtown Tragedy Through Jewish Carvings

CONNECTICUT POST
By Phyllis A.S. Boros

Above is an example of a Mizrach, which is placed by Jews on eastern walls so they know the direction of Jerusalem.

CONNECTICUT---Overcoming despair and persevering through adversity are issues familiar to Harvey Paris in his role as co-director of Jewish Family Service in Bridgeport. Considered by many as among the finest of modern-day Jewish chip carvers, the Fairfield artist is using his love for this ancient art to raise awareness of "the serious lack of community mental health care" -- spurred by the tragedy in Newtown last December in which 26 children and adults were killed by a gunman who stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School. A selection of 20 contemporary basswood carvings are on display through Sunday, June 30, at Easton Public Library in "Jewish Art in Response to Newtown." [link]

Two Very Different Exhibits Of Religious Artistic Expression in Connecticut

HARTFORD COURANT
By SUSAN DUNNE

Robin Rice of Enfield created this angel painting. It is part of the "Angels in the Casa" art exhibit at ArtSpace.

CONNECTICUT---Ever since mankind began creating art, spirituality oriented themes have been eternally the most popular. Two shows in Connecticut, a contemporary show open for just a few weeks and a show of ancient art open until next April, show different facets, and different eras, of celestial artistic inspiration. In today's secular world, any subject matter is open to artists. Spiritual art is increasingly in the minority. Yet the artists gathering beginning this weekend at ArtSpace in Hartford have one thing on their minds: angels. [link]

New State Arts Grants Seeks Arts Partnerships as Economic Drivers

CONNECTICUT MIRROR
By Jan Ellen Spiegel

CONNECTICUT --- Barbara Schaffer, the director of development at New Haven-based Elm Shakespeare, hadn't been too worried last year when the newly reconfigured state Office of the Arts overhauled its grant system. She turned out to be wrong. Instead of giving away money mainly for general operating support as it had for decades, much of the grant system was reformulated under the philosophy of "creative place-making." A growing trend nationally, it seeks to merge the ideas of arts, community-building and partnership to present arts as an economic driver that attracts more people, arts and business to the cities and towns they serve. Grant-seekers in Connecticut this past year had to be able to prove all that. [link]

Holy Land, USA: From Place of Pilgrimage to Creepy Destination

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
By Laura Sesana

CONNECTICUT--- Today this decaying religious theme park in Waterbury Connecticut looks like the set of a 70s horror movie. Statues and replicas made of concrete, plaster, and plywood crumble below a 50-foot steel cross that can be seen from the highway and for miles around. The large empty parking lot and what remains of a gift shop hint at a prosperous past now long gone. Closed to the public since 1984, Holy Land USA is still attracts visitors seeking the unusual and slightly spooky. The park has been the subject of several articles, blog posts and even an episode of The Daily Show. The future of Holy Land is uncertain. Residents wonder what a potential new owner may do with the property. [link]

Long-Exposure Photo Exhibit By Atta Kim At NBMAA

THE HARTFORD COURANT
By Susan Dunne

"ON-AIR Project 110-2, The New York Series, Times Square" (2005) By Atta Kim

CONNECTICUT---Change is the only constant in life. That philosophy drives the work of Korean-American photographer Atta Kim, both in his cityscapes and his depictions of human interactions. His artist's statement declares "Disappearance is the reality of all existence. Reality is not clear to us; it must be interpreted to be revealed."A new exhibit of long-exposure photographs by Kim at the New Britain Museum of American Art, six photos in all, emphasize this transitory nature of human existence, a key feature in Buddhist philosophy, which Kim studies. [link]

Connecticut and Indiana Mormon Temple Renderings Released

MORMON NEWSROOM

Rendering of the Indianapolis Indiana Temple

UTAH -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) has released renderings of the Hartford Connecticut and Indianapolis Indiana Temples, as well as the site location of the Hartford Temple. The proposed plans call for the Hartford Connecticut Temple to be built at 1024 Farmington Avenue in Farmington, Connecticut. The Indianapolis Indiana Temple site (in the city of Carmel on the southwest corner of the intersection of W116th and Spring Mill Road) was announced in January 2011. [link]

Jewish author Maurice Sendak, creator of 'Where the Wild Things Are,' dies at 83

HAARETZ
By Associated Press

CONNECTICUT - Maurice Sendak, the Jewish children's book author and illustrator who saw the sometimes dark side of childhood in books like "Where the Wild Things Are," died early Tuesday. He was 83. Longtime friend and caretaker Lynn Caponera said she was with him when Sendak died at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut. She said he had a stroke on Friday. [link]

Is that God in the Abstract details of Artist, Josef Albers?

THE IRISH TIMES
By Aidan Dunne

 "Park" (1924).  Images courtesy of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
of Connecticut. Yes, there's something going on in those squares,
but is it something of a religious as well as an optical nature?

IRELAND - Josef Albers, the German- American abstractionist artist, is being recast as a religious painter and the meaning that lies between his famous squares takes centre stage in a terrific exhibition. The Glucksman Gallery’s "The Sacred Modernist: Josef Albers" as a Catholic Artist is by far the biggest and best exhibition of the German-American artist’s work ever seen in Ireland. More than that, though, the title spells out an ambition to reposition Albers, surely the archetypal austere abstractionist, as a religious painter.  The Sacred Modernist: Josef Albers as a Catholic Artist is presented in co-operation with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. Lewis Glucksman Gallery, UCC. Until July 8. [link]

Connecticut Artist's Vibrant Torah Covers Inspire

MILFORD-ORANGE BULLETIN
By Pamela McLoughlin

Jeanette Kuvin Oren, an artist who specializes in Judaic artwork,
sits in her Woodbridge studio with examples of Torah covers that she has created for clients.

CONNECTICUT - When the High Holy Days begin Wednesday at sundown, Torahs throughout the world will soon be taken out of their everyday covers and “dressed” in their holiday best, traditionally in whites with muted tones. At Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, N.J. and dozens of other synagogues worldwide, that change is all the more artfully inspiring because the covers are made by reknowned Judaic artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren of Woodbridge. “Her artwork is so striking, you’re drawn into looking. It’s so vibrant, you just look at it and it connects with you, with people of all ages,” said Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of the New Jersey synagogue. “It exhibits the joy and brightness you want the Torah to have. It sort of gets you in the mood for the holidays that are a about to happen.” [link]

Connecticut Gallery to Host Perspectives from Asian Women Artists

STAMFORD PLUS
By Sacred Heart University

Finding Home #93 "Mahalat" (Fereshteh) Siona Benjamin, 2006 Gouache and 22K gold leaf on paper 22" x 22"

CONNECTICUT - Sacred Heart University’s Gallery of Contemporary Art will kick off its 2011-2012 season with the exhibit, Fluidity, Layering, Veiling: Perspectives from South Asian and Middle Eastern Women Artists, at an opening reception on Sunday, September 18 from 1pm – 3:30pm.  This exhibit will be on display from September 18 – October 27. Curated by Deborah Frizzell, Ph.D., the five artists included are Samira Abbassy, Jaishri Abichandani, Siona Benjamin, Afarin Rahmanifar and Naomi Safran-Hon. The artists are from South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States and they reinvest aesthetic languages with a new purpose, presenting a sense of both narrative and abstraction, of shifting notions of “community” as a subject. [link]