Piecing Together a New Britain Story: The NBMAA Cityscape Project

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One of four panels, themes “The Four Seasons - Spring Garden,” 40 x 30 in., Created in 2018 in collaboration with the patients and families of the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital for their Arts for Healing program
One of four panels, themes “The Four Seasons - Spring Garden,” 40 x 30 in., Created in 2018 in collaboration with the patients and families of the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital for their Arts for Healing program

ABOUT THE EVENT

Piecing Together a New Britain Story: The NBMAA Cityscape Project

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Museum artist Rashmi Talpade has been awarded the Artists Respond Grant by the Connecticut Office of the Arts for a city-wide community art project. The Artists Respond Grant funds art projects that provide access to the creative experience and engage the community in an innovative manner.

The grant project is to create a series of 48” x 32” sized photo-collages, in collaboration with local residents, depicting the City of New Britain. The collage will be comprised of images cut from assorted photo prints to create an artistic cityscape, composed of fragments of photographic prints that will resemble a single image of an imaginary but familiar landscape of the City of New Britain. 

Under the guidance of the artist, residents will be involved from the beginning of the creative process by taking photographs of New Britain, emailing in their new and old photographs, and finally creating the collage itself over the 13-week period.

The collage project is meant to motivate residents to take interest and pride in their community, develop an appreciation for the visual arts, and explore their artistic potential. Creating this collage will take place in the Museum, beginning April 16, on designated Saturdays and Thursdays over a 13-week period, and will be open to people of all ages and abilities.

The entire community is invited to submit photographs of New Britain and participate in the creation of the collages in the NBMAA art studios.

Email photographs to [email protected]  

The public may drop-in to participate on any and all of the following dates:

April 16, 12-2 p.m.

April 21, 5:30-7 p.m.

April 23, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

April 30, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

May 3, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

May 7, 12-2 p.m.

May 12, 5:30-7 p.m.

May 14, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

May 19, 5:30-7 p.m.

May 21, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

May 26, 5:30-7 p.m.

June 4, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

June 9, 5:30-7 p.m.

June 11, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

June 18, 12-2 p.m.

The selection of photographs used in the collage will be a collaborative effort between the participants, the Museum, and the artist. General guidelines for photographs are as follows:

  • Photographs should only be of the City of New Britain. The photographs should be of houses, buildings, neighborhood landscapes, and scenic areas.
  • Photographs promoting businesses or commercial properties will not be accepted.
  • Photographs of individuals or community sports events will not be accepted.

About Rashmi Talpade:

Rashmi Talpade has been involved with the Museum for the past 8 years and is an award-winning artist whose work is in the permanent collection of New Britain Museum of American Art. A recipient of a 2006 grant from the Connecticut Commission of the Arts, her work has been displayed within and outside the State of Connecticut. In addition to being a well-respected artist, Rashmi is the Art Supervisor at Wallingford Parks and Recreation. She has been instrumental in creating educational art programs for various age groups from elementary school children to community college students and seniors at the Wallingford Senior Center. She has successfully completed similar projects with the Southington School district, Essex Elementary School, the Wallingford Public Library, the New Haven Public Library, a school in Mumbai, India, and the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. Her role as the coordinator and creative talent behind the project will be to teach participants how to form a collage, and she will make final touches to ensure that the final piece is of museum quality and be a part of the Museum’s collection.

SCHEDULE