| The Connecticut Cultural
Heritage Arts Program of the Institute for Community Research
will host an Open House to showcase artwork created by master
artists and their students in four traditional arts workshops
held this year. The event will feature demonstrations and sales
of the art forms, and foods from ethnic groups involved in the
workshops. Admission is free. The Open House will take place
at the Institute for Community Research at the junction of Charter
Oak Avenue and Columbus Boulevard in Hartford on Thursday December
5 from 5 to 7 PM.
" ICR's workshop series has provided a way for older
teens and adults to learn the traditional arts of communities
and cultures important to the Greater Hartford area,"
states Lynne Williamson, Director of ICR's Connecticut Cultural
Heritage Arts Program. "For many members of ethnic communities,
their artistic traditions have deep roots in history and culture,
and are an important source of cultural identity and knowledge.
Passing the skills on to others helps to revitalize community-based
art forms."
The Open House will display examples of artwork created in
workshops on African-American style quilting; Puerto Rican
painting on silk; Caribbean drumming, dancing, and hair braiding;
and Lithuanian straw ornament making. Four master artists
will demonstrate the artistic skills they taught in the workshops:
quilter Laura Hudson, painter and potter Ilka Robles, Leon
Phillip of the Cashiboo Folk Performers (in collaboration
with the Sankofa Cultural Arts Consortium), and straw craft
artist Aldona Saimininkas.
The workshop series has been supported by the Greater Hartford
Arts Council, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and
the Institute for Community Research.
For further information, call Maryland Grier at 860-278-2044
x 228 or Lynne Williamson at 860-278-2044 x 251.
Photographs are available for press use.
The Institute for Community Research is an independent non-profit
organization that conducts applied research, programming,
training, and evaluation in the arts, education, and health
arenas. ICR's Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program encourages
and promotes traditional artists and their communities through
an active process of documentation, technical assistance,
and public presentations to bring their work and the history
of their communities to new audiences.
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