Karen Ponzio Photos.
The sketches
Yet another downpour threatened to upset many events planned for Saturday, but not the meet-up for the New Haven Sketchers. The local club of artists, who meet up every week or so, had scheduled to gather at the Yale University Art Gallery to take in and take down the sights of Chapel Street and its surrounding stores and locations — and the weather and other adjustments to the norm did not deter them.
According to cofounder and organizer Celia Poirier, a few artists and fans of drawing have been getting together informally for a while at various locations around town, but then decided a more formal plan might be worth making.
“I said, ‘let’s do something more inclusive, because there’s such a strong arts community and it will help people meet each other,’” she said. “It’s another way to organize people already doing this.”
Poirier was inspired by an urban sketch group she joined while working on a project as a graphic designer in San Francisco. She noted that every urban sketch group is different. Some sit in the same area and draw the same subject, while others meet in one spot and then scatter, finding a subject that interests them and then meeting afterward to share their work.
She had met some people interested in this type of group at the Art Meet Up event at Volume Two and other art events. She and cofounder Alex Krofta decided to start an Instagram page and meet more formally. The two most recent events have included a mini-meet up on Audubon Street for an hour last Tuesday and a Saturday morning meet up at P&M Market on Orange Street.
Although it is a New Haven-based club, she noted they have been getting participants from out of town as well, including from Milford and Stratford, and that interest has only been growing.
As more people started to file in, the group organized inside the art gallery’s lobby on the couches, with Poirier welcoming everyone and telling them they could stay inside the gallery or go outside to find a spot — even hit one of the coffee shops or other locations if they preferred. Since the gallery only allows the use of pencils as a medium inside, some mentioned they would be going outdoors to use something else or to take advantage of the setting up of the rescheduled Night Market on Chapel Street as an active scene to capture.
“I live in New Haven and don’t get here that often,” Poirier added of the art gallery. “Do whatever calls to you.” She noted that in a sketch group she participated in a couple of weeks ago, someone even wrote a poem. The plan was made to have everyone scatter, then meet back up an hour later for what Poirier referred to with a laugh as a “throw down.”
Sketchers in the gallery.
For Ryan Licwinko, the lobby was the spot of choice on this day. He noted that he had been looking at the ceiling and the “challenges presented” with its shapes and shading. This reporter, who was ready to be an active and enthusiastic participant, also decided to stay in the lobby as the rain-soaked sculpture garden spoke to me. Using one of the small black portable stools the gallery has available, I set up in front of the window and talked my inner critic out of keeping me from attempting a scene with such detail. Did that inner critic come back to make additional comments? Of course they did, but I persevered and even added a poem to my piece that addressed my struggle.
Licwinko and that ceiling.
When the group met back up an hour later, everyone was eager to see what everyone else had done. A few of the participants — including Poirier and Ben Cannan, who used gouache to create his scene — had gone outside and captured pieces of the Night Market set up, as well as other details of Chapel Street. A few other participants had made their way to the modern art floor upstairs. Two separate artists had both gravitated toward sketching horses in different areas of the gallery.
Sharing our work.
Everyone took a turn showing their work, describing what it was and why they chose it, and giving others the opportunity to comment. It can be intimidating to share work that is so fresh and immediate, but in this realm, it felt exciting and uplifting, everyone telling each other what they liked, admired, and found interesting about the works, allowing each artist to see their pieces through new eyes.
Poirier offering kind words.
The event ended with a group photo of everyone’s work. Poirier encouraged everyone to share any other art events they knew of, as well as other locations that might be amenable to future meetings. When it was over, it really wasn’t over, as artists made connections and kept conversations going.
“This was so inspiring,” said one participant. This reporter, and her inner critic, agreed.
The next mini-meet up is scheduled for this Thursday at Temple Plaza from 6 to 7:30 p.m. For more information on this event and others, please visit the New Haven Sketchers Instagram page @newhavensketchers.