WHCA Photo
Master printer James Reed with artist Ann Chernow.
The West Haven Council on the Arts wants to know how a proposed arts center in the neighborhood could best serve area artists. The organization is scheduled to host a forum on Friday March 9, through which it hopes to receive such feedback. The event is being billed as a “cultural happy hour” at which master printer James Reed, who operates the Bridgeport-based Milestone Graphics printing studio, will speak.
Elaine Carroll, who serves as executive director of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and volunteers with the West Haven Council on the Arts, described (in an email) the latter group as “a coalition of citizens dedicated to reviving art, cultural events and tourism in our community.”
The West Haven Council on the Arts “has been in existence for six years and recently was approved for 501c3 status as a registered charity,” Carroll said. “Our mission is to strengthen and promote the arts in West Haven by nurturing an appreciation of and participation in artistic endeavors in all media.”
A March 2009 post on the West Haven Council on the Arts’ blog indicates that the City of West Haven purchased the Masonic Temple building on Center Street in 2007 for $650,000. Funding for the restoration of the property has included “$194,409 in federal stimulus funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for downtown revitalization efforts,” according to the organization’s blog, and, as a subsequent West Haven Council on the Arts blog entry indicates, “$500K in support of the Arts Center planned for the space” from Yale University.
“Through the conversion of the Masonic Temple on Center Street into the West Haven Cultural Arts Center,” Carroll said, “we intend to provide a forum for local, regional and national artists to display their talents. Friday night’s event is geared toward giving artists and performers an opportunity to share their opinions about what is needed at the Arts Center.”
The West Haven Council on the Arts invites area artists to share their thoughts about the proposed arts center at a forum scheduled for this Friday, March 9, from 7 – 9 p.m., at City Hall (Meeting Room B), 355 Main St., West Haven.