WAC Open Studios - First Town Downtown

July, 2024

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Event:

WAC Open Studios

Date:

July 20th, 2024.

Time:

11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Location:

Windsor Art Center Studios

Contact:

info@windsorartcenter.org

The WAC Studios host Open Studios on select Saturdays, providing visitors the opportunity to meet the artists and see their creative processes. You can even pick up homemade gifts for your friends and family all while supporting local artists Cathy Doocy, LeaAnn Cogswell, Andres Chaparro, Amy Hoffman, and Xarea Lockhart. You can also check out the art classroom with Michelle Hawran and Sage Neighbors!

Studio artists include:

Cathy Doocy is a painter of contemporary landscapes. “In my work, the representation of a ‘landscape’ is not the final goal. Instead, I use the vernacular of landscape painting as a method for exploring composition and color. My work is about painting not landscape; about illusion not representation; about drawing not twigs and branches.”

Andres Chaparro is a mixed media painter and collagist whose bold and expressive art is a visual representation of jazz music. “I work without premeditation simply following the path that each painting sets forth for me. Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness.”

LeaAnn Cogswell is a sculptor devoted to the power that lies within the human form. “I consider it a great privilege to work regularly from life. Infinitely varied, the human figure is fascinating and amazingly beautiful, even in all its not-so-perfect forms. A powerful visual subject, it always holds new surprises.”

Xarea Lockhart is an emerging clothing and accessories designer from Connecticut. Xarea hopes to use her work as a vehicle for love and representation for the black community. Xarea also aims to highlight sustainability, ethical production and craftsmanship with her pieces.

Amy Hoffman is a photographer and painter. Her work is inspired by the beauty inherent in nature, exploring perspective and the forms and hues that change with passing seasons. “I enjoy seeking out the hidden complexities in the deceptive simplicity of our natural surroundings.”

Michelle Hawran (studio classroom teacher) is a painter of her own family history. “I have a fear of time, a fear of forgetting my family’s past. I use my work to transform that anxiety into moments of warmth. Not like fading memories of the past at all, but snapshots that capture the vibrancy of that exact moment, years ago.”

The former freight house, also restored, is located across the tracks and is the home of the Windsor Art Center. While travelers may still board trains for Springfield, Hartford and New York from the exterior platform, the updated interior provides space for artists to work and the opportunity to bounce creative ideas off other artists.