With Art Access: New Britain Exhibit, Gallery 66 Spotlighting Artists with Lower Incomes

New Britain’s Gallery 66 is spotlighting artists in the community with lower incomes in the Art Access: New Britain juried exhibit.

Exbibit organizers say that the, “show was made possible by an Artists Respond grant received from the Connecticut Office of the Arts by Eddie Hall and is meant to address economic disparity in arts opportunities.”

Juror Francis Estrada, the Senior Manager for Community Engagement from the New Britain Museum of American Art, selected the works on display from nearly two hundred entries.

Artists featured include, Alexzandria, Ramon Bonilla, Will Brady, Tamhja Coe, Jankaleishka Burgos Cruz, Julie Francois, James Gaffney, JuMo, LESN101, Billie Mae, MuvaMya, Irene Pham, Gleidymar Rivera, Jonathan E Ryan, Amy Senninger, Briam Shaw, Ashley RK Smith, Amy Valliante, Janey Warner, Aston Willams-Jacobs and Quentin Heath Willis.

“These works were created by over twenty diverse artists from throughout the region,” says an announcement from Hall, “and includes a variety of techniques including painting, photography, digital art, ceramics, and sculpture.”

The announcement from Hall says that,

The theme of this show was one of addressing an economic issue in the artistic community. One of the primary ways emerging artists have to build their exhibition resumes and gain the attention of curators is to participate in juried art shows. Not only is substantial time and effort involved in the process of creating art and applying for juried shows, but most require a fee for application. An application fee can be a significant amount to artists with lower incomes and often many cannot take the chance that a juror may not even select their work for display. These fees often exclude a subset of the artist population.

The Exhibit is on display until October 11, 2024 during gallery hours, Mondays to Fridays, from 3:00pm to 6:00pm and Saturdays, from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

A reception open to the public will be held on September 14th, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, organizers say, “where the artists will be present to discuss their were and where over $1,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to selected artists.”

More information about the Exhibit is available at eddiehallart.com/artaccessnb.

Gallery 66 located at 66 West Main Street in New Britain says that it is,

a vibrant gallery located in the Downtown District of New Britain, Connecticut. This gallery is headed by curator/manager Adrian Elliott who operates the gallery as part of the New Britain Visitors Center and offers regular group and solo art exhibitions, as well as monthly artist discussions and open mic events.

Editor’s note: Photos were provided courtesy of Eddie Hall.