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Urban Artists Create "New City"
December 17, 1997 - Hartford, CT

The Institute for Community Research Gallery in Hartford celebrates First Thursday on January 8 with a closing reception for Reinventing Urban Areas Through the Arts, an exhibit of works by selected artists from the Inner City Cultural Development (ICCD) program. The reception is from 5-7 pm at 2 Hartford Square West (on Wyllys Street). Talks by exhibit artists and Mexican, Caribbean, and Latin American music by Tierra Mestiza are featured. Admission is free.

The theme of a "new" revitalized city is reflected in a diverse array of media, including painting, sculpture, assemblage, and photography. From Deborah Simmons' award-winning A Wish for My City, a ceramic tile table inscribed with quotes from Hartford's homeless, to Colleen Coleman's assemblage, The Healing Cabinet, the ideas expressed are as varied as the media and methods used. Says curator and exhibitor Coleman of her piece, "It is my belief that before we can have a new urban or world environment, we must first heal ourselves."

In addition to Simmons and Coleman, the featured artists are Eva Scopino of New Haven; E. Diann Cook of Hartford; Margaret Plaganis and Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez of West Hartford; Ann Evans de Bernard and John Lawson of Bridgeport; Vanessa Bennett-Johnson of Waterbury; Liliana Mejia of West Haven; and Berta Vargas Ortiz of Middletown.

More than 90 artists and organizations are part of ICCD, a statewide arts program that provides training, mentorships, residencies, and performance and exhibit opportunities. Developed by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts in partnership with the Institute for Community Research, ICCD addresses the needs of artists and arts-related organizations in underserved communities in Connecticut's major cities; Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Institute for Community Research. ICCD is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Connecticut, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and the Waterbury Foundation.