2005-10-11

WestConn art show to feature 100 pieces

By Jody Minalgo

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-TIMES

DANBURY — WestConn alumni, professors and members of the community will be featured in a 12-day art show starting Wednesday at the Ruth Haas Library on the school's midtown campus.

The fourth annual Alumni and Friends Art Show is part of Western Connecticut State University's homecoming week. It kicks off with a reception for artists at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The show features more than 30 artists and nearly 100 pieces of art ranging from photos to paintings and glass.

"I'd like to get everybody out there and let them see what the alumni are doing," said Eileen Coladarci, the organizer of the exhibit. "I've brought the art to the community, and now I'm hoping to bring the community to the art," Coladarci said.

This year's art show will be twice the size of last year's show, Coladarci said.

"It's kind of like an artist community that I've created," she said. "Artists have actually gotten jobs because people saw the art at the show and liked their work. We're hoping to sell a lot of art. Most items will be for sale, ranging from $150 to $3,500."

The show will feature art by some of WestConn's professors like Adel Faghir, a New Fairfield resident who has had his art shown all over France, and art adjunct Polonia Nixon Van Verhoevan, who is from Holland.

Shawna Lee Kwashnak, who attended WestConn from 1991-1995 as an illustration and print-making major is a returning artist from last year.

She is submitting three charcoals of her children. Kwashnak said for her, the art show is a way of keeping in touch with art as she takes care of other parts of her life.