Sacred Heart University in Fairfield is on the top of Newsweek’s 2012 list of ”least affordable” colleges in the country. The college compared tuition, student debt and median income among alums. Is that fair? Read and respond on education reporter Maggie Gordon’s blog now.
Author Archive
Bridgeport Theatre Company fundraiser: it’s all or nothing
The Bridgeport Theatre Company’s current fundraising drive is thiiiiissss close to success. Or utter failure. Their Kickstarter campaign, as of this writing, has attracted 51 backers who all together have pledged $4,370 of the BTC’s $5,000 goal.
But if you know how Kickstarter works, you know that if they don’t reach that $5,000 goal by deadline, poof! goes all that money, and the BTC gets nothing.
They have five days to fill that deficit, or the poof! scenario plays out.
Checkout the Kickstarter link to see the incentives the troupe is offering. There are the normal rewards, like tickets and autographs, but for $1,000 you get a walk-on role in the production of “Hairspray.”
Deductions are tax deductible.
Scenes from the Shippan Designer Showhouse
Got these photos from the Shippan Designer Showhouse in Stamford. Click ‘em to see ‘em larger.
The Showhouse folks are roughly halfway through their run, so if you’ve been meaning to go, don’t put it off any longer. The Showhouse benefits the Stamford Museum & Nature Center.
There’s a blog for the Showhouse at www.leesteele.com.
Art and engineering: City Lights Gallery in motion
Suzanne Kachmar
Today being Columbus Day, downtown Bridgeport was practically shut down. Practically nothing was moving. Then I wandered into the City Lights Gallery, where the Kinetic Art show was being installed. Everything was in motion.
As I walked in, Brooklyn artist Daniel Wurtzel was experimenting with some household-type fans in a circle on the floor. They were aimed at what looked like gigantic beach balls and he was trying to keep them suspended. The orbs wouldn’t obey and kept drifting outside the space. Then Suzanne Kachmar, the gallery director, brought in bags of packing foam. The dread inside me started to rise.
“View art that whirls, rolls and spins; on the walls , on the floor, in the air,” promises gallery director Suzanne Kachmar in the publicity for the show. But I couldn’t imagine packing foam doing anything but creating havoc. Would I be spending the rest of the day picking foam pieces out of my hair?
I turned my back to the whole thing as Suzanne showed me some pieces already installed. Dan Makara, Richard Griggs, Helen Zajkowski all had works in place. Curator Suzan Shutan did a marvelous job. I know they spent months trying to find those rare artists capable of creating objects of beauty that also incorporate small feats of engineering.
Then I turned around and in the corner of a far wall, like a sorcerer in “Fantasia,” Wurtzel made the foam pieces dance in the air at his command. The small blizzard was contained to his corner of the room. It was a stunning and beautiful sight to behold. Later, I saw other examples from his website that convinced me he’s in familiar territory. He knows exactly how to combine fans and common objects dance and swirl with either seductive moves or sheer fury.
City Lights is up against a tough deadline, so they’d better keep moving. Kinetic Art opens Wednesday, Oct. 13 . runs until Tuesday, Nov. 16. This exhibit is sponsored by the Aquarion Water Co. — Lee Steele
Goodbye sKwirl, hello Gus: Downtown public art unveiling tonight
Detail of work by Gus Moran. It's still a mystery what his public piece will look like.
As of this morning, the spot on the wall along Broad Street, reserved for a year-long art competition, was still occupied by the highly colorful and conceptual Weather sKwirl,™ and the sKwirl is predicting a hot day today. Not a great day for hoisting a painting onto a brick wall.
But since I haven’t heard otherwise, I’m assuming the public art unveiling is on. This is the year-long juried art competition on Broad Street.
Gus Moran’s art will be the second in a series of six outdoor public displays in downtown Bridgeport. The unveiling 
will be 6-8 p.m. today with a reception at Tiago’s.
The six artists are presenting their works for two months in the year-long, rotating exhibit on view on the Broad Street side of 211 State St.
The finalists, who are all all Bridgeport residents, are: kHyal, Gus Moran, Yolanda Petrocelli, Liz Squillace, John Lawson and Kelly Bigelow Beccera.
The sKwirl is still on the wall... for now.
The exhibit will culminate in the selection of a grand prize winner and a people’s choice winner, with cash awards of $1,000 and $250 respectively. The judges are Robert Curcio, co-founder of the Scope International Art Fairs and gallerist, New York; MaryAnn Fahey, curator and gallerist, Umbrella Arts, New York; Emily Larned, professor, graphic design, University of Bridgeport; John Favret, director, Housatonic Community College Art Department; and Penny Harrison, an arts consultant.
Artists were announced in February.
MainStateVentures is a joint venture between Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, LLC and Forstone Capital, LLC. MainState acquired the People’s United Bank downtown Bridgeport portfolio, which represents two prime city blocks including seven buildings totaling more than 255,000 square feet with 2.8 adjacent acres of developable land.
