The Westport Arts Center announces the MORE Than Words/#iammore exhibition, a juried show featuring selected works by the community at large. The works were designed in support of the theme of the Arts Center’s previous exhibition MORE Than Words – courage, resilience and empowerment in the face of bullying – featuring pieces by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time.
The exhibition, that runs through January 7, 2017 features a diverse range of thought-provoking and conversation-starting works, including videos, three-dimensional works, paintings, drawings, photography, multi-media installations and more.
Over 160 works were submitted for consideration, including entries by young artists ages 10-17 in a separate new Junior Category. Submissions came from Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York. Students affiliated with the Norwalk Housing were granted scholarships to participate, and their works are included in the exhibition as part of the Junior Category.
In the Call For Entries, Westport Arts Center invited artists to submit work that examines the idea of bullying within a broad cultural context that considers how the imbalance of social, physical, or political power can marginalize those who are perceived as weaker. Artists have long responded to these inequities through their work, able to speak truth to power in a way not available to others.
Jurors for MORE Than Words/#iammore were Gerry Snyder, Dean of The Pratt Institute School of Art; Pamela Hovland, Designer and Senior Critic in Design, Yale University School of Art; and Ward Shelley, Sculptor and Performance Artist (Pierogi Gallery).
The jurors together stated, “As a panel of jurors, we found an abundance of thoughtful and highly skilled work from which to choose. Artists both young and mature addressed their strongly felt emotions and ideologies in work that spanned all genres. There was great diversity in the artists’ formal strategies and in their interpretations and points of view; we wished we could’ve included more of the work that was submitted.”
“The show’s variety will offer visitors a rich experience around deeply felt, universally human concerns — the desire for equality, acceptance and compassion — as well as an expanded view of the ways artists address those concerns,” they added.
The Westport Art Center is located on 51 Riverside Ave. in Westport. Gallery hours are: Mon. – Sat. 10 am – 5 pm and closed Sun. To sign up for a monthly newsletter on what to see and do in Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com
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