Creative Arts Workshop Hosts Nasty Women CT’s “Hill Blocks View” Exhibition
New Haven, CT – March 3, 2025 – Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) is proud to partner with Nasty Women Connecticut to present Hill Blocks View, a powerful exhibition featuring works by more than 100 artists responding to the uncertainties and urgencies of our socio-political moment. The exhibition will be on view from March 5 – 23, 2025, with a gallery opening on Saturday, March 8 from 5 – 7 pm, in honor of International Women’s Day.
Inspired by road signs that warn of steep, obscured inclines, Hill Blocks View serves as a metaphor for navigating today’s unpredictable and precarious landscape. As the world reckons with challenges to democracy, gender equity, racial justice, and human rights, the exhibition invites artists and audiences to consider the role of feminist movements and collective solidarity in shaping the future.
Rooted in themes of activism, uncertainty, and resilience, Hill Blocks View draws inspiration from feminist thinkers, global art collectives, and liberation movements. The exhibition not only examines challenges but also envisions new pathways forward, asking how artists can shape roadmaps for a future where all can thrive.
The exhibition aligns with CAW’s mission to provide space for artists to create freely and engage in meaningful dialogue. Nasty Women Connecticut’s organizer, Luciana McClure says that the power of art is in, “its ability to hold space as we process our vulnerabilities and emotions, act, rest, meet new people, exchange ideas, share culture, and realize the fullness of our capacity to collectively dream.”
All are invited to the opening reception on March 8 at Creative Arts Workshop, located at 80 Audubon Street, New Haven, CT.
About Nasty Women Connecticut
Nasty Women CT is a collective of artists, activists, and organizers committed to using art as a tool for social change, uplifting marginalized voices, and creating space for feminist discourse and action. For more information, visit nastywomenct.org
Click HERE to see the complete listing of participating artists.
Press Coverage
Nasty Women Makes Its Return to New Haven
Creative Arts Workshop proudly presents Made Visible: Unveiled Roots, the latest installment of its celebrated Black History Month series. Running from January 31 through March 1, 2025, the exhibition showcases the compelling work of New Haven native Marquis Brantley Sr., a 2024-2025 New Haven Artist Corps recipient. A closing celebration will be held on Saturday, March 1 from 1 – 4 PM. This event is free and open to the public.
The show opened on Friday, January 31, with more than 175 people filling the gallery to celebrate the lives of the Black men and boys who have influenced and shaped Brantley’s work. The evening featured music by DJ Handsome and a special performance by local singer, Tay Fetty.
This powerful exhibition, evocative of the work of renowned painter Barkley Hendricks, features sixteen works in total. The lower level installation showcases six portraits of the Black men and boys who have had the greatest impact on Brantley’s life. Among those featured are his children, his brother, and a large painting of his father entitled “Pops.” The exhibition serves as an homage to Brantley’s family, with photographs depicting generations of relatives displayed throughout the gallery, illustrating the many shoulders on which he stands as he forges his path as a thriving painter. Brantley will continue to work on some of the paintings throughout the month, providing visitors with a glimpse into his artistic process.
“This exhibition amplifies voices and stories that are too often overlooked, yet they are central to understanding our shared humanity,” said Brantley. “Each portrait is a tribute to the men who have left a lasting impact on my life, and through their stories, I hope others find inspiration and strength.”
Brantley, a self-taught artist, uses his practice to reveal the innate brilliance within every individual. His studio is a sanctuary where art becomes a powerful journey of self-exploration and joyous recognition. His work celebrates the capacity of Black men and boys to rise above adversity, find their voices, and act on their passions—transforming narratives of struggle into visions of hope.
The Hilles Gallery at Creative Arts Workshop is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday from 10 AM to 7 PM and Saturday from 10 AM – 4 PM. All are welcome to experience this dynamic and thought-provoking exhibition.
Press Coverage: Fox News Video of Gallery Opening – Made Visible: Unveiled Roots
NBC Connecticut New Haven artist sheds light on Black male influences in new exhibit
Arts Respond with Lucy Gellman
Artist Extends the Family – New Haven Independent
New Haven Arts Paper – An Artist Digs Deep at CAW
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Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) is honored to announce the opening of Constance LaPalombara: A Sense of Place at the Hilles Gallery on December 5, 2024. This evocative exhibition, showcasing thirty-five oil paintings, pays tribute to the artistic legacy of Constance LaPalombara (1935–2023), a celebrated New Haven painter whose work masterfully captured the essence of the environments she cherished. The exhibition will run through January 12, 2025.
LaPalombara’s work is a celebration of light, color, and the emotional connection to place. Drawing inspiration from Edward Hopper, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Giorgio Morandi, her paintings evoke a sense of time and space, from New Haven to the serene landscapes of Maine and Italy’s timeless countryside. Through her painterly touch and devotion to capturing the interplay of light and color, LaPalombara’s work invites viewers to experience the spirit of the landscapes she loved. Her scenes, often painted of views from her studio windows, transform everyday structures into compositions of quiet grandeur, inviting viewers to see familiar landscapes through her discerning lens.
“The intimate size of Constance’s canvases belies the expansiveness of the places she portrays. Her work is simultaneously comforting and compelling, and consistently beautiful,” notes Trina Learned, Executive Director of CAW. “During her many years studying at Creative Arts Workshop, she influenced the work of many peers.”
LaPalombara’s artistic journey was one of reinvention. After early careers in intelligence and academia, she pursued her passion for painting, earning her MFA and dedicating herself to her craft. Over five decades, she left an indelible mark on the art world, from co-founding Kehler Liddell Gallery in New Haven’s Westville neighborhood to exhibiting work now held in private and public collections worldwide. This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to reflect on her enduring vision and celebrate her artistic legacy.
The exhibition’s opening reception on Friday, December 13, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, will include remarks from several local artists – her contemporaries and friends – reflecting on LaPalombara’s profound impact on the New Haven arts scene.
Press:
Artist Captures The Air, New Haven Independent, 12/18/24
PROCESS PROOF PRINT
Friday, September 6 – Saturday, September 28
Opening Reception, September 8 from 1:30 – 4:30 PM
Hilles Gallery, 1st and 2nd Floor
Creative Arts Workshop in collaboration with the Printmakers’ Network of Southern New England (PNSNE) will present, Process • Proof • Print, a gallery exhibition featuring the works of school faculty and PNSNE member artists. The show runs from September 6 – 28, 2024, with an opening reception and artist meet-and-greet on Sunday, September 8 from 1:30 to 4:30 PM at CAW’s gallery at 80 Audubon Street, New Haven. The exhibition will showcase engaging printmaking examples featuring traditional and contemporary process techniques such as relief, intaglio, silkscreen, monoprints, collagraphs, photo transfers, and lithographs.
“All creative art is magic, is evocative of the unseen in forms persuasive, familiar, and surprising,” said famed author and storyteller Joseph Conrad. Come discover the undeniable magic of an inked surface meeting paper under pressure that brings out the believer and keeps the artist coming back time and time again.
The exhibition will feature printmaking demonstrations, workshops, and gallery talks to reveal the wizardry that goes into creating a transferred image. If you’d like to experience a little printmaking magic for yourself, we invite you to see the show and register for one or more of the events planned by the participating artists. Registration is required to participate in one of the twelve free demonstrations or two paid workshops planned for September 7-8; and September 13-14, 2024.
Press:
Exhibition Shows All The Hues Fit To Print, New Haven Independent, 9/24/24
CITYarts Pieces for Peace
Friday, June 14 – Sunday, July 14, 2024
Closing Reception, July 14, 2024 from 2-4pm
HILLES GALLERY, 1st FLOOR
CITYarts is creating a mural in collaboration with Yale School for Art, artists, youth and community members from New Haven, CT in partnership with Creative Arts Workshop. The project consists of CITYarts Pieces for Peace workshop, and exhibition of youth artists, and an external peace mural. The project is within the CITYarts 50 States of Peace initiative under their Young Minds Build Bridges program.
Youth from 124 countries have voiced their hopes for peace through the CITYarts Pieces for Peace Project, and their ideas have started a movement. Their art has been featured in a traveling exhibition that has toured the United States, Spain, Egypt, Germany, Israel, Belgium, and more. It has inspired 7 Peace Walls in New York, Pakistan, the U.K., Germany, Israel, Spain, and Belgium. In 2023 the CITYarts 50 States of Peace Initiative was created, and 18 states have participated so far.
Press:
Youth Artists Make The Case For Peace, New Haven Independent, July 10, 2024
Young Artists Paint for Peace in Fair Haven, Arts Council Greater New Haven
Partial Totality, ECA Visual Arts Exhibition and Senior Thesis
Friday, May 10 – Monday, June 10, 2024
Reception Thursday, May 30th, 5-7pm
HILLES GALLERY, 2ND FLOOR
Maximum Totality, ECA Visual Arts 4th Quarter Show
Thursday, May 30 – Monday, June 10, 2024
Reception Thursday, May 30th, 5-7pm
ECA GALLERY, 5TH FLOOR AND CAW HILLES GALLERY, 1ST FLOOR
Creative Arts Workshop is pleased to announce two exhibitions featuring the work of Visual Arts students from the Educational Center of the Arts (ECA) in a CAW-ECA Audubon Arts Community partnership. Partial Totality and the senior showcase are exciting demonstrations of the promising, talented young artists who are an important part of our flourishing local and regional New Haven arts community.
Partial Totality, in the Susan B. Hilles Gallery and Small Gallery, explores the inventive possibilities of scale and context through abstract, narrative, and representational artworks. 3D analog and 4D digital media/fabricated work was created by ECA students as part of an interdisciplinary class taught by ECA artist faculty Willie Stewart and Johanna Bresnick. Video work was produced by ECA students in a foundation/advanced video course taught by ECA artist faculty Greyson Hong.
The senior showcase, in the Creative Works Gallery, is a student-curated and installed exhibition of work featuring video, drawing, painting, 4D digital and experimental media, printmaking, collage, sculpture, darkroom and digital photography made by ECA’s high school seniors. Seniors selected works created over the course of their four years of study at ECA that demonstrate their wide range of creative exploration and growth.
Partial Totality is in tandem with Maximum Totality, the ECA Visual Arts 4th quarter show, presenting work from the entire Visual Arts department.
Southern Connecticut Conference Art Show
April 1-22, 2024
HILLES GALLERY, 1ST FLOOR
Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) partners with the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC), a coalition of 23 member schools, to organize the SCC Arts Expo. This annual event, held at CAW’s Hilles Gallery, showcases the artistic talents of high school students across the region. Alongside its renowned athletic programs, SCC offers a platform for non-athletic pursuits, fostering a holistic high school experience for its students. The expo invites each member school to submit artworks for a juried group exhibition, with professional artists evaluating the pieces and CAW granting awards to the most exceptional entries.
This year’s exhibition, running from April 1st to 22nd, highlights the diverse creativity of talented young artists. Thanks to the generous support of United Illuminating, an AVANGRID Company, both onsite and online showcases are available, ensuring broader accessibility and engagement with the vibrant arts community.
Edible Book Tea
Make an edible book — or just come eat the show!
HILLES GALLERY, 1ST FLOOR
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Creative Arts Workshop is thrilled to be hosting the Edible Book Tea 2024.
1 PM Participants set up displays
2 PM Show opens to the public
3 PM Drink tea and eat the books
What is an Edible Book?
It’s a savory or sweet treat that looks like a book or makes reference to a book title, content, or binding…
Anybody can make one!
ALL ARE WELCOME
For details contact Paulette Rosen
(203) 562-4927
teaparty@creativeartsworkshop.org
Made Visible: Origins of Belonging
HILLES GALLERY, 1ST AND 2ND FLOORS
Opens: Friday, February 2, 2024
Last Day: Saturday, March 16, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, February 2, 2024, 5-7pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, February 17, 2pm
“Origins in Belonging” serves as a poignant and comprehensive exploration into the rich tapestry of interconnected narratives within black and brown communities. The exhibition brings together individuals hailing from diverse regions, including the African diaspora, India, Native Americans, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica, Panama, and Palestine. Within this collective mosaic, the exhibition meticulously examines the shard cultural bonds that unite these communities, delving into the nuances of their ceremonial practices and the profound impacts of historical events, such as colonialism, on their lands, resources, the religious impact on Indigenous customs and sexual exploitation of women and children.
The narratives presented in the exhibition extend beyond cultural celebrations to address the sobering realities of crimes against women and the vulnerability of children within these communities. By weaving together stories that reflect both resilience and challenges, “Origins in Belonging” fosters a deeper understanding of the complexities that shape the identities of black and brown individuals. Visitors are not only invited to witness these shared histories but also to engage in critical reflection on the enduring strength that arises from collective cultural heritage. The exhibition becomes a platform for dialogue, encouraging a nuanced exploration of the past while emphasizing the importance of unity in the face of shared struggles.
Artists are Bethani Blake, Anindita Dutta, Juan Giraldo, Mohammed Al Hawajrl, Shaunda Holloway, Aisha Nailah, Dennis RedMoon, Sain’t, Remy Soca, and Kim Weston.
Press:
Arts Council Greater New Haven, February 5, 2024
CAW Displays Resilience, Collective Cultural Heritage, New Haven Independent, February 16 ,2024
XOXO
Small Gallery
Opens: Thursday, February 1, 2024
Last Day: Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Brighten up your February with CAW’s XOXO art sale from 2/1/24 through 2/14/24. Browse our selection of fun cards and boxes, lovely pottery, cozy scarfs and hats (it’s still February after all) and much more. Pick up a little gift for someone special or find a card that says it all. And yes, we even have Valentine’s Day merchandise.
All items in this sale are made and donated by CAW artists and all proceeds benefit CAW.
The Alchemy of Art: Ann P. Lehman and Creative Arts Workshop
December 3, 2023 – January 25, 2024
Opening Reception: Sunday, December 3, 2023, 3-6pm
Panel Discussion: Sunday, December 3, 2023, 4-5pm
New Haven, CT – Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) will launch a commemorative exhibition on Sunday, December 3, celebrating the body of work of artist, teacher, mentor, and founding member Ann Lehman. Occupying both levels of the Susan B. Hilles Gallery, the exhibition will feature objects from Lehman’s sixty-year career including sculptures, paper sketches, photographs, and small models that served as studies for later artistic creations. The opening reception will be held at CAW’s building at 80 Audubon Street and will begin at 3 PM. This event is free and open to the public.
Ann Lehman, who passed away in December 2022 at the age of 94, was part of a group of women artists who saw the need for an arts-based educational center in New Haven that served the needs of the city’s underserved populations. Through her efforts and those of its founding members, CAW was established to provide art instruction to the city’s young people and area art enthusiasts.
The retrospective exhibition, designed and developed in collaboration with Lehman’s family and curated by local arts advocate Thea Buxbaum, will run through January 25, 2024. All objects on display, previously held by family members, will be offered for sale through an online auction that will culminate on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Proceeds from the sale will support the mission of CAW–bringing arts and people together to connect to that which is fundamental to us all: creativity.
Another highlight of the reception will be a panel discussion of movers and shakers from New Haven’s vibrant art scene. Frank Mitchell, local historian and curator, will moderate a panel discussion on Lehman’s impact on the New Haven’s artistic community and her legacy as an artist and teacher.Bitsie Clark, former head of the Arts Council, Susan Smith, former CAW executive director, Ted Salmon sculptor and former Lehman student, and Peter Lehman, son of Ann Lehman will all participate in the panel discussion.
“Creative Arts Workshop endures today as Ann’s dream realized. Visitors see children as young as three and adults well into their nineties make pottery, weld sculptures, paint, draw, photograph, bind books, craft jewelry, make prints, design digital art, weave and sew, and assemble collages,” remarked Trina Learned, interim executive director.“CAW is a place where artists can inspire, and community members can learn and grow.”
Other planned events will include an Elm City Party Bike tour of Lehman’s public art in New Haven on Saturday, December 9 beginning at 11 AM. The two-hour tour will include a lunch from Haven Hot Chicken and a choice of Black Hog beer or hot cider. Tickets are $60 per person. On Saturday January 20, CAW instructor Beth Klingher will offer a mosaic art fabrication workshop using Italian tiles from Lehman’s studio. The one-day workshop will cost $125 and will begin at 10 AM. A gourmet lunch with a choice of wine and beer is included in the fee. Visit creativeartsworkshop.org for additional information and to register.
Press Coverage
Audubon Arts Hero Remembered In New Exhibition
LoveBabz LoveTalk with Babz Rawls-Ivy: Trina Learned, Interim Director, Creative Arts Workshop
Exhibition Shows How Ann Lehman Struck A Spark
Impossible Souls
September 29 – October 28, 2023
The exhibition Impossible Souls explores art as a distillation of artists’ relationships that exceeds verbal knowing and expands upon the human need and ability to receive and convene over information through subjective cultural production. In a world marked by political polarization, it’s our shared humanity and the power of art that allow us to bridge divides.
Block and Bridges: World Building in New Haven
September 29 – October 28, 2023
Blocks and Bridges: World building in New Haven is a deep dive into discovering the practice of world building. Much like the first step to building a house, world building is the foundation where artists situate repeating formal and conceptual qualities in their practice: the who, what, where, and when of their stories
Arts in Action: A Celebration of the Arts and Mental Health in New Haven
September 21 – September 25, 2023
Parent’s Foundation, along with Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, Marrakech, and Fellowship Place, celebrated the arts and mental health at Creative Arts Workshop.
Click here to see images of the event.
Small Small World
May 15 – June 30th, 2023
In the Susan B. Hilles Gallery and the Tiny Gallery, Small Small World explores the inventive possibilities of scale and context through abstract, narrative and representational artworks. This exhibit is a student-driven, collaborative curatorial show which will evolve over the duration of the exhibition.
The Senior Showcase
May 15 – June 30th, 2023
In the Creative Works Gallery, The Senior Showcase is a student-curated and installed exhibition of work featuring video, drawing, painting, 4D digital and experimental media, printmaking, collage, sculpture, darkroom and digital photography made by ECA’s high school seniors.
The two exhibitions (Small Small World and Senior Showcase) featured the work of Visual Arts students from the Educational Center of the Arts (ECA) in a first-ever CAW-ECA Audubon Arts Community partnership.
2023 SCC Art Expo
Group A: March 25-April 8
Hilles Gallery: 1st and 2nd floor
For more information, click here.
Made Visible: Freedon Dreams
February 6 – March 18, 2023
Creative Arts Workshop and the Bldg Fund present Made Visible: Freedom Dreams, the newest in a series of exhibitions piloted in 2020 by CAW. This 2023 exhibition is now the fourth such exhibition under this series name. Made Visible’s intention is to make visible work by historically underrepresented artists at CAW.
This year’s exhibition curated by Nico Wheadon of the Bldg Fund features Connecticut-based artists, Y. Malik Jalal, Linda Vauters Mickens, and Jasmine Nikole, with weekly programs in the gallery by Babz Rawls Ivy.
Press
New Haven art exhibit celebrates ‘diversity within Blackness’, New Haven Register, Chatwan Mongkol, February 8, 2023
CAW Show Makes Freedom Visible, Arts Paper, Lucy Gellman, February 8, 2023
Artists Walk Toward Freedom At CAW, New Haven Independent, Brian Slattery, February 8, 2023
Compost Headlines: Who Nailed It, New Haven Independent, Paul Bass, February 10, 2023
For more information, click here.
COMMON
HILLES GALLERY, 2nd floor
October 21-January 20, 2023 Opening Reception: October 26, 2022 5:30-7:30 pm
COMMON, on the Hilles Gallery second floor, highlights CAW’s esteemed teaching artists showcasing the wide-ranging work taught at CAW with painting, drawing, printmaking, pottery, metalworking, fiber arts, book arts, photography, and sculpture on display. In daily life, common can mean something simple and unrefined or convey a sense of unity and harmony. This show leans into both definitions, highlighting this group of artists at times intersecting and converging, playing off one another, moving together toward new unexplored territory.
For more information, click here.
Băng Qua Nước: Across Land, Across Water
HILLES GALLERY, 1st floor
October 21-January 28, 2023
Opening Reception: October 26, 2022 5:30-7:30 pm
Closing Programming and Celebration: Saturday, January 28, 2023 11:30 am-4 pm
Part of Artspace’s Open Source Art Festival, CAW is proud to host a special exhibition of an Artspace-selected curator and her exhibition.
On the first floor of the Hilles Gallery, Băng Qua Nước: Across Land, Across Water, curated by Ivy Vuong (Yale ‘23) Connecticut-based Vietnamese artists Thuan Vu, Antonius-Tín Bui, Quyên Trương, and Thu Tran explores how home(s) exist, twist, and meld across land and water for Vietnamese peoples. The word nước in Vietnamese can mean homeland, nation, or water. Water gave passage to loss and new lives for thousands of Vietnamese ‘boat people’ escaping Vietnam post-1975 in the wake of the fall of Saigon. This displacement fraught with grief yet teeming with strength and resilience, is felt in this exhibition through paintings, cyanotypes, video, and soft sculpture divided into three sections: 1) Nơi Đây, Nơi Đó: Here nor/and There, 2) Cùng Nhau/Together, and 3) Sự Mất và Sự Trả Lại: Loss and Return/Redemption.
For more information, click here.
New Haven Paint & Clay Club
Tuesday, September 6 – October 8, 2022
Opening Reception Friday, September 9, 2022, 5:30-7:30 pm
HILLES GALLERY
Featuring work created by members of the New Haven Paint & Clay Club.
Art in Relief: New Works from the CAW Studios
Friday, July 22 – Saturday, August 23, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, July 22 5:30 – 7:30 pm
HILLES GALLERY
Featuring contemporary work created in the last year by CAW studio, class and workshop participants.
Press: Artists Breathe A Sigh Of Relief In CAW Exhibit, Brian Slattery, New Haven Independent
Reshaped | Refocused
June 10 – July 9, 2022
Opening Reception: June 10, 2022 6-9 pm
HILLES GALLERY
Featuring artists Greg Aimé, Amira Brown, and Mosho.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CLICK HERE
Press
Mining Themes From Parable Of The Sower, Artists (Re)focus On The Future, New Haven Independent, Brian Slattery
At CAW, Artists Commune With Octavia Butler, Arts Paper, Al Larriva-Latt
Proximity
May 4 – June 5, 2022
HILLES GALLERY
Featuring artists David Borawski, Joan Fitzsimmons, John Keefer, and Nathan Lewis. Curated by Steven DiGiovanni.
Press:
Artists Meditate On The “Proximity” Of War, New Haven Independent, Brian Slattery
War and Pieces, Daily Nutmeg, Dan Mims
Creative Arts Workshop Turns Its Lens On Proximate Perception,The Arts Paper, Juliette Lao
For more information, CLICK HERE
In the Spotlight: Steven DiGiovanni
September 1, 2021 – May 3, 2022
Lobby Gallery
For more information, click here.
Press:
New Haven Independent, Steven DiGiovanni Blurs The Lines In CAW Exhibit, Brian Slattery
2022 SCC Art Expo
Group A: March 24-April 6; Group B: April 14-27, 2022
Hilles Gallery
For more information, click here.
Celebrating Women’s History Month 2022
March 14-22, 2022
HILLES GALLERY
For more information, CLICK HERE
Made Visible: Through Errors
February 1- March 6th, 2022
HILLES GALLERY
For more information, CLICK HERE
Tiny Gallery: Abandoned Dance
November 1, 2021 – March 1, 2022
For more information, click here.
First Wave
November 1, 2021 – January 7, 2022
For more information, click here.
Press:
New Haven Independent, Artist Builds City From Scraps, Brian Slattery
And All Those Stories
June 1 – July 6, 2021
For more information, click here.
2021 SCC Arts Expo
March 25, 2021 – April 18, 2021
For more about the exhibition, click here.
Made Visible: From Every Angle
February 1 – 28, 2021
For more about the exhibition, click here.
Creative Arts Workshop is excited to announce the next installment of its Made Visible exhibition series. Made Visible: From Every Angle presents work by three Connecticut-based Black artists: Aileen Ishmael, Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, and Kyle Kearson. Curated by Shaunda Holloway, From Every Angle honors Black History Month with miniature and large-scale sculptures that address contemporary themes like mass incarceration, the embodiment of ancestry and DNA, and the beauty of the Black experience.
Artist Discussion Panel: 2/17/21, 7-8PM
Press:
Yale Daily News: Celebrating Black History Month, Zaporah Price
Arts Paper: On Audubon Street, Three Sculptors Salute Black History, Lucy Gellman
New Haven Independent: Exhibit Finds The Gold Within The Struggle, Brian Slattery
Made Visible: Streetside Windows Exhibition
September 28, 2020 – January 4, 2021
For more about the exhibition, click here.
With this exhibition, CAW seeks to explore issues of our time and of our city and region, and asked CT-based artists to create proposals for site-specific window installations at 80 Audubon Street that explore issues that our community is grappling with. Because the building, including the gallery spaces, are still closed to the public due to COVID-19, CAW asked artists to design their installations to be viewed streetside through the gallery windows. The call for work encouraged proposals from artists whose work affirms the importance of black and brown lives, lived experiences, influence, and culture in our community and nation.
Margaret Roleke Artist Talk: 10/22/20, 6-7PM
Shaunda Holloway Printmaking Demonstration: 11/10/20, 6-7PM
Annie Sailer Gallery Walk-through: 12/15/20, 6-7PM
Press:
Daily Nutmeg: Eye Glass, Kathy Leonard Czepiel
Arts Paper: Shaunda Holloway Brings New Haven Into Focus, Lucy Gellman
New Haven Independent: CAW Makes New Shows Visible. Brian Slattery
Through the Window
Launched online July 2020
To view the online exhibition, click here.
Luminous Instruments
Launched online March 2020
To view the online exhibition, click here.
Press:
New Haven Independent: Photographs Capture the Music, Brian Slattery
Yale Daily News: “Luminous Instruments” lights up Yale collection, Marisol Carty
Zip06: Shapiro’s Eye Captures Music in Motion, Pam Johnson
New Haven Register: You can see the music at new CAW exhibit, Joe Amarante
All In: Contemporary Student Work
January 16 – February 29, 2020
For more information, click here.
Press:
New Haven Independent: CAW Goes All In, Brian Slattery
50th Annual Celebration of American Crafts
November 23 – December 24, 2019
For more information, click here.
Sanctuary Cities and the Politics of the American Dream
October 3 – November 9, 2019
Curated by Luciana McClure
Creative Arts Workshop is proud to present a group exhibition, titled Sanctuary Cities and the Politics of the American Dream, curated by artist-activist and CAW faculty member Luciana McClure. Creative Arts Workshop held a nationwide open call for art and scholarship on issues of place, cultural identity and dislocation. The show features over 125 individuals from across the country, working in mediums ranging from collaborative poetry to multi-story portraiture to augmented reality (AR) installation. Related programming throughout October and November will include cooking demonstrations, community conversations, and other public events.
Opening Reception and Audubon Block Party: 10/3/19, 6-8PM
Community Conversation: 10/17/19, 6-9PM
Sanctuary Movements, Open Archive, and Community Building: 10/26/19, 2-5PM
Rice, Beans, and Neighbors Unforeseen: 11/2/19, 12-2 PM
Closing Reception—Tea and Tradition: 11/9/19, 2-5PM
Press:
Art Paper: At CAW, Artists Rally for Sanctuary, Lucy Gellman
Hartford Courant: Political exhibit takes on issue of NHV as a sanctuary city, Susan Dunne
New Haven Independent: CAW Gives Many Faces to Sanctuary, Brian Slattery
New Haven Register: Hands-on ‘Matter’ exhibit colorful, comforting in New Haven, Judy Birke
Yale Daily News: Local gallery holds exhibit on sanctuary cities, Natalie Kainz
Matter
August 30 – September 25, 2019
Curated by Steven DiGiovanni, Head of the Drawing & Painting Department
Matter is the body, the “thing in itself,” the primordial soup. Matter is both universal and incidental. It is still, it is in motion and its resonances produce reflections. The five featured artists – Howard el-Yasin, Olivia Bonilla, Joseph Fucigna, Alan Neider and Thomas Stavovy – seek to ground their aesthetic inquiries in the various properties and poetic potentials of matter. Their work is tactile, often rich in narrative, and emblematic of a desire to recover a sense of physical connectivity in a digitally virtual world.
Reception: Friday, September 13, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Press:
Art Paper: “Matter” And The Matter Of A Closer Look, Lucy Gellman
New Haven Independent: Art Exhibit Makes Matter Matter, Brian Slattery
New Haven Register: Hands-on ‘Matter’ exhibit colorful, comforting in New Haven, Judy Birke
Freed Formats: the book reconsidered
June 15 – July 27, 2019
Curated by Chris Perry & Alice Walsh
Opening reception: Saturday, June 15, 6 pm
Artists’ Talk: Saturday, June 22, 11 am, featuring Shiela Hale, Miriam Schaer, and Beatrice Coron
Ania Gilmore, Library of Alexandria
What is book art? It can be an existing book that has been altered by the artist; an original hand-made book using unconventional materials; an object that tells a story but does not resemble a conventional book; an object that opens like a book but contains no text inside.
Freed Formats appeals to all ages. Each person has a different feeling about what a book means to them. Book art engages anyone who has ever read, written or, for that matter, held a book in their hands. A book can impart information, entertain, outrage, inspire. With book art, the artist takes this thing we call a book, and turns it on its head, or turns it inside out, or turns it into something that is unrecognizable as ever having been a book.
Freed Formats features 135 works of book art by 53 artists from 17 states and 2 countries. Programming includes book-making workshops for adults and children, artist talks, and a screening of the documentary film Codex.
Press
New Haven Independent, “At CAW, The Art Is The Word, ” By Brian Slattery
Daily Nutmeg, “Group Text”
The Village Project
March 1 – April 4, 2019
The Village Project is a community installation. Created by artist Denise Minnerly (Norwalk, CT), in collaboration with Don Bracken (Cornwall Bridge, CT), the exhibition features handmade, floor-resting clay houses which form a village beneath a sculptural pod created from Connecticut vines and roots.
Visitors are invited to use clay provided in the gallery to create their own visions of home. Their work will then be fired in one of CAW’s kilns before being added to the growing collective community centered in our gallery.
Artwork by Minnerly and Bracken on both levels of the Hilles Gallery complement their sculptural, community centerpiece.
A closing reception and artist talk will take place on Thursday, April 4 at 6 pm.
For information on how to bring a group to build with clay at CAW, contact Robin Green at gallery@creativeartsworkshop.org.
Creative Matters
January 17 – February 23, 2019
Opening reception: Thursday, January 17, 6-8 pm
Group exhibition of new work by current students. Over 115 works — book arts, drawing/painting, fiber arts, photography, pottery, printmaking, and sculpture/jewelry — will be on view. This diverse selection reflects the breadth of artistic activity happening at CAW.
49th Annual Celebration of American Crafts
November 24 – December 23, 2018
In Range: Faculty Biennial
September 7-November 3, 2018
Opening Reception Friday September 7, 5:30-7 pm
Creative Arts Workshop presents new work by its faculty of professional artists. The exhibition features a diverse selection of work and styles, reflecting the breadth of artistic activity happening at CAW.
Read New Haven Independent’s review here.
Read the Daily Nutmeg’s review here.
Sea Change: Transforming Found Objects & Environments
August 10-31, 2018
Working in collaboration with the young people in CAW’s Adventures in Art programs, Selim CAW Instructor Gul Rukh Selim helped explore the ways in which we are shaped by the sea and we shape it in turn. In this era of rapid climate change, the urgency of reexamining our treatment of the earth is palpable and art remains a powerful vehicle for conveying this urgency. We thank Ashley’s ice cream for its sponsorship of this exhibition and the ice cream social.
An African Lens
April 5 – April 8, 2018
An exhibition exploring Africa and African identity through the eyes of African Artists. Reception on Friday, April 6, 2018 at 6:30 pm.
To view the online gallery, click here.
Out of Order: Bob Gregson
May 22 – June 30, 2017
In Out of Order, Gregson explores contradictions where order and disorder share the same place.
CHAOS + ORDER II
March 13 – April 21, 2017
By Members of New England Wax: Art in the Medium of Encaustic
Juror: Jennifer Gross, Former Chief Curator, The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
Bi-Annual Faculty Show
September 19 – October 28, 2016
Adventures in Art + Welcome to Whackville
August 6 – September 2, 2016
Group exhibit featuring emerging young artists curated by Young People’s Department and Artist in Residence, Liz Antle-O’Donnell.
Welcomed to Whackville by Eric Epstein
Concrete & Shadows + Retrospective
June 24 – July 29, 2016
CONCRETE & SHADOWS curated by Steve DiGiovanni and featuring Riley Brewster, Howard el-Yasin, Jilaine Jones, Christopher Mir
RETROSPECTIVE by Graziella Patrucco de Solodow
New Haven Paint + Clay Club: 115th Annual Juried Exhibit
May 13 – June 10, 2016
Juried by renowned contemporary American painter, Barkley Hendricks
Student Show 2016
March 20 – April 30, 2016
A glimpse into CAW’s curriculum, the type of work that comes out of our courses and the quality of instruction CAW students receive.
Prizewinners of Intelligent Objects
January 26 – February 26, 2016
A national exhibition with juror George Fifield, director of Boston Cyberarts, featuring Robin Mandel and Joseph Morris
New Haven Paint & Clay Club: Select Members Show
November 18 – December 23, 2015
The exhibition features new work by five of their active members: Barbara Groff, William Meddick, Ralph Schwartz, Peter Seltzer, and Cheryl Weymann.
Geographies: New England Book Work
September 18 – October 30, 2015
Responding to the theme of “New England,” 26 artists from the Guild of Book Worker’s New England chapter presented new bookbinding and artist books.
Figures & Paper
September 18 – October 30, 2015
This exhibition presented recent work by Shirley Binin — figurative images using hand made paper and gouache, often including elements such as thread or string, built on a fabric base.
Geometric Curtain: The August Installation
August 7 – September 7, 2015
For our 2015 August Installation, Virginia Melnyk combined fabric and lights to create a three-dimensional wall of color and pattern in our Hilles Gallery. While the Gallery was closed to the public during August, the Installation was on view 24 hours a day through its two-story windows.
Intelligent Objects: Empathetic and Smart Art
June 12 – July 17, 2015
Our 2015 Juried Show presented artworks that explore the intersection of analog and digital media. The exhibition was juried by George Fifield, media arts curator, writer, teacher, artist, and founder of Boston CyberArts.