Connecticut Postings

Bridgeport has waited years for an arts council to get up and running. And now that it finally has one, folks have been looking forward with great anticipation to Wednesday’s welcoming celebration for the group’s first executive director Penny Harrison.

They’ll just have to wait a little longer.

The reception, slated for Wednesday evening at Housatonic Communtiy College’s Housatonic Museum of Art, has been postponed because of  a snowstorm that is expected to strike the region.

The reception will be re-scheduled for sometime in March, HMA director Robbin Zella has announced.

Harrison was chosen from among 40 candidates to lead the  Bridgeport’s Arts & Cultural Council, Zella has said. Her primary responsibility as executive director will be to organize and enlarge the city’s arts and cultural community so that it can play a more significant role in the city’s economic growth and renaissance.

The part-time position comes with a $30,000 salary; Harrison has a one-year contract that is renewable. A Virginia resident, Harrison is renting a furnished apartment here and plans to spend a minimum of 10 days per month in the Park City.

 Harrison may be reached at 203-505-0200 or via e-mail at Penny.BridgeportArtsandCulture@gmail.com. Her office is in Room C 108 at the college, 900 Lafayette Boulevard in downtown Bridgeport.

 Phyllis A.S. Boros

Greenwich landscape artist Ernest Garthwaite, a master of the centuries-old technique of applying gold leaf, will be feted at a reception on Friday (Feb. 5) to mark the opening of his exhibit at the new Southport Galleries in Fairfield.

Garthwaite will be on hand from 5 to 8 p.m. at the gallery reception, which is free and open to the general public. The show will be on view through March 3.

As readers of Pulse, the Connecticut Post’s Sunday arts section,may remember, Garthwaite’s work was the subject of a major one-artist show last summer at Fairfield University’s Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery.

Garthwaite often embeds gold leaf, a foil-like substance that glimmers when struck by light, in his oil and acrylic paintings  — all to dazzling effect.

Southport Galleries, which opened a few months ago, is housed in a landmark building from the 1920s that for decades served as the home of Village Hardware. The gallery, which specializes in American masters and contemporary artists, is at 330 Pequot Avenue in village center (off Exit 19 of Interstate 95). It’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. 

For additional information, visit www.SouthportGalleries.com.

Phyllis A.S. Boros

Troopers at State Police Troop G arrested a 25-year-old Stratford man Thursday after he accidentally spit on a corrections officer while in lockup at Bridgeport Geographical Area 2, 172 Golden Hill St.

According to police reports, Christopher Hagans, of Okenuck Trail, was attempting to spit on another inmate, but, instead, his saliva struck the corrections officer in the face. Hagans was charged with disorderly conduct and failure to submit to fingerprinting.

The water main break that stopped the flow of water to roughly 300 properties in a Shelton neighborhood was fixed early Saturday morning, said Aquarion spokeswoman Lorraine Bukowski.

A 16-inch main on Armstrong Road broke Friday evening, and Aquarion crews were on scene shortly after 6 p.m. Properties affected including those on Armstrong Road, James Farm Road, Warner Hill Road, Sterling Ridge Road and Old Stratford Road.

Bukowski said water was restored within two hours, using a nearby pump station. The main itself was repaired by 1 a.m. Crews returned to the area later Saturday morning to flush out fire hydrants in the region after reports of discolored water.

Bukowski said the break was likely caused by age, as no crews were doing any work in the area.

The break caused roughly 500 to 600 gallons a minute to be pumped out, another spokesman told the Connecticut Post Friday evening. The pressure resulted in a 300-foot section of Armstrong Road to cave in. Bukowski said crews were repairing and repaving the stretch of road on Saturday.

Here’s your chance to get at Mayor Bill Finch when his defenses may be down.

Dazed from an anticipated crowd of hundreds of school kids picking up backpacks and school supplies on McLevy Green early this evening, His Honor is scheduled to toddle over to Black Rock later for a public forum hosted by the Greater Bridgeport-Fairfield County Property Owners Association. The event gets under way at 7 p.m. in the Burroughs Community Center, 2470 Fairfield Ave.

So sharpen up some pointed questions. The agenda, according to forum organizers, will include economic development, landlord-tenant issues and, oh yeah, taxes.

Be kind.

And if you can’t make the program in person, look for coverage planned on connpost.com later tonight and the Connecticut Post tomorrow.

If you see hundreds of kids converging on McLevy Green this evening, don’t panic.

It’s a good thing. In preparation for the start of the new school year tomorrow, RYASAP, the regional agency that advocates for the health and safety of young people, is staging a backpack give-away starting at 5 p.m.

Joined by city officials, RYASAP expects to hand out backpacks, stuffed with school supplies, to about 400 school children. The project is funded by a $10,000 grant to RYASAP and local business donations.

Mayor Bill Finch and municipal department heads are also expected to turn out, with info available on a range of topics: fire safety and smoke alarms, school health centers, lead-poisoning prevention and police community services.

Unspecified kinds of refreshments are also supposed to be available. But like everything else at the event, they’ll be free! So how bad can they be?