By Paige Miglio
The Arts Scene
Paige Miglio
It’s amazing to me how insulating my role with the Milford Arts Council is at times. I promised that coming out of the pandemic I would get back out there. This weekend I treated myself and attended Bridgeport’s Art Trail/Open Studios with friends. It was a perfect opportunity to step away and experience the visual arts community beyond our reach.
The day was also special because my friends are not artists. I believe we are all born creatives, but I acknowledge that sometimes the artistic tendencies we have are hidden by our lives and choices as we age. In the end, the arts need patrons to experience and enjoy them, so off we went.
Before heading into Bridgeport we stopped by a friend’s porch sale of her pottery. To call it pottery is an understatement, as she is a prolific artist, experimental and driven. It was equally overwhelming and inspiring to wander through her home, porch and garage studio seeing the sheer variety of style, color and technique everywhere you looked.
She shared her journey through process, failure and success openly and asked for comments and suggestions. Her desire to understand what the patron wanted was key. Artists are not only working to feed and answer their own passion. They are working for us, the patron, to catch our eye, to desire their efforts, to touch and hold their craft, and ultimately to own it. The three of us walked away with multiple items as gifts, to ourselves and others.
Heading into Bridgeport we stopped first at the Arcade Mall, an amazing historic gem built in 1840 as one of America’s first enclosed shopping malls, and one of the few remaining. With its latest renovation reactivated by artists, storefronts are working studios and gallery spaces alongside retail, restaurants and event space. It’s truly magical. The space was buzzing with live music and performance art. The Art Trail welcomed additional vendors with an eclectic array of jewelry, vintage collections, visual arts and artisans under its glassed-in atrium. These smaller items were perfect for unique gift-giving.
We also discovered a hidden speakeasy with “gallery after dark,” inviting patrons to walk through a pitch-dark space with only an LED keychain light to view the sketch art lining the walls, floor to ceiling.
We moved on to Artspace, which is inside the Reads Building, a circa 1925 department store which closed in 1981 and becoming a symbol of urban decay, now reimagined as live/work artist apartments, gallery and event space. With soaring ceiling heights, vast walls, hand-decorated columns, and center stairwell, the pedestrian yet royal spaciousness embraced the art displayed allowing for patrons to view up close – and also from across expanses, all the while surrounded by a quietness, lifting the works to a whole new museum-quality experience. The artwork exhibited is bold and full of storytelling; it makes you stop and gaze closely.
Finally, we stopped at the new (and award-winning) Metro Art Studios, inside the historic corset factory and just a two block walk from Brewport (we had to have lunch somewhere). This is a restoration project lovingly done mostly during the pandemic with volunteers working side-by-side with contractors. While I admit I was most interested in seeing the building having watched the process unfold on social media for nearly four years, I was equally excited by the quality of the artists inside. What was so evident was their sense of ownership in the space, many of them working those volunteer hours, making many of the final decisions on the design and layout of their individual spaces. Every artist was eager to share the story behind their art and journey, just as my friend had that morning on her porch.
At the end of the day it was empowering to see so many artists presenting their work with pride and welcoming those conversations. Most of these spaces will be open for the holidays, some with special holiday hours. I implore you to venture out. Be drawn in. Speak with the artists. Understand their story. Ask questions. Fall in love with a work. Pick it up, touch it. And bring it home with you.
Art as gift is personal and generous, whether you purchase it for yourself or others. The artist’s goal is to sell; they want you to own a piece of them. A piece of their story.
The arts as gift applies not only to visual arts. Performance and experiential arts also make wonderful gifts – and ones you can experience together. Support your local theaters and venues, the big and the small. See live music, local theater, listen to poetry. The arts are here to serve you, to enrich your lives and bring people together.
Happy holidays, everyone.
Paige Miglio is the Executive Director of the Milford Arts Council, celebrating 50 years of service in 2022 supporting and presenting all genres of art to the greater Milford Community. Visit milfordarts.org for information on the MAC, and send your events in the arts (include dates and details) to executivedirector@milfordarts.org.