For the next four weekends, New Haven will celebrate its thriving arts scene with a series of events and exhibits.
This is the 17th year New Haven's Artspace has organized City-Wide Open Studios. Three hundred and forty Connecticut artists will participate in events every weekend in October, including exhibits in large spaces, like the Goffe Street Armory and Erector Square, the three-story warehouse where Erector Sets were manufactured for decades.
Artspace's executive director, Helen Kauder, said one of the most popular weekends is Transported Weekend, October 18 and 19, where art lovers can visit artists in their private studios throughout the greater New Haven area.
"It's really a chance to understand the creative process," Kauder said, "whether that's the artist's influences -- which can be seen through postcards of other artists pinned on the wall of their studio -- or to see their tools. In some cases, artists will be giving demonstrations, so [it's] really a chance to understand how the work was made."
The theme for this year's City-Wide Open Studios is "Transported and Illuminated." Friday night's opening reception at Artspace on Orange Street will include artwork using elements of light.
"Orange Street will be closed off to the public," Kauder said. "There will be a kind of block party. There will be a bar outside. There will be tables, and there will be 12 artists who will be showing various light works."
For more about the events, visit cwos.org.