ART GIVES BACK

ART GIVES BACK – ART SUPPLY DRIVE FOR LARC AND WACCC HOSTED BY NWCT ARTS COUNCIL AND AMERICAN MURAL PROJECT
Thursday, December 12th, 2019

LITCHFIELD COUNTY, DECEMBER, 2019 — The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is partnering with the American Mural Project for the next Arts Night Out, the Arts Council’s popular creative networking event. This Arts Night Out event will serve as an art supply drive in which supplies will be directly donated to Litchfield ARC’s (LARC) and the Winsted Area Child Care Center’s (WACCC) visual arts programs. The full list of suggested art supplies can be found at artgivesback2019.eventbrite.com. The event will be held at the American Mural Project (74 Whiting Street, Winsted, CT) on Thursday December 12th at 6:00 pm. All are invited to bring new or gently used art supplies to donate at this event. As usual, there will be food, drinks, community drawing, and the Arts Council encourages people to bring business cards and flyers or other material to share. Arts Night Out is a free networking opportunity for the creative community in the Litchfield Hills. Artists, business owners, creative economy workers, and curious neighbors are invited to come, network, and give back to the community!

LARC serves 220 individuals throughout Northwest Connecticut. Their services include residential group homes, in-home supports, transportation, day and employment programs. Since 1994, LARC has embraced the philosophy and principles of self-determination; in 1995, the organization developed and implemented a set of Guiding Principles to support their vision of “Community for All” and to establish a standard of services which promotes self-determination throughout the organization. You can learn more about LARC at litchfieldarc.org.

WACCC currently serves children from 6 weeks of age to 12 years, and provides care for 112 infants, toddlers and preschoolers and 74 school-age children. Between their two locations, WACC provides children of the Winsted community with a high quality of early childhood education. You can learn more about WACCC at winstedareachildcarecenter.weebly.com.

Through Arts Night Out, the Arts Council intends to provide a social networking opportunity for all who attend and a free fun night out for the arts community, while bringing business to local social spots such as breweries, wineries, galleries, and creative organizations. This is also a chance for those who attend to give the Council feedback on what their community needs to support the creative sector in their towns, and discuss possible solutions to the issues the region faces.

Maddie Stenson, Program Coordinator of the Northwest CT Arts Council says, “We are so excited to organize an art supply drive for the first time ever! LARC and WACCC are two very important organizations in our region and we recognize the vital programs and services they provide our community. As part of our mission, we want to continue promoting all kinds of art-making as essential promoters of mental health and well-being. We anticipate that an Art Supply Drive will be a yearly holiday Arts Council-hosted event.”

Amy Wynn, Executive Director of the American Mural Project adds, “We are excited to have Arts Night Out guests see the mural at this amazing stage of its installation, and to help support art programs at LARC and the WACCC. Donations of art materials are already arriving, I’m happy to say! We are hoping that artists will make time to go through their supplies and clean out and give back.”

To register for Arts Night Out/Art Gives Back on 12/12, RSVP at artgivesback2019.eventbrite.com. Share and invite friends to the Facebook event, “Art Gives Back,” listed on the Northwest CT Arts Council’s Facebook page. For more information about the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council or information about Arts Night Out, call (860) 618-0075 or email questions to info@artnwct.org.

The mission of the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is to engage the public in building a strong and connected arts and culture community that is integral to the economic development and the collective well-being of the region. The Arts Council board and staff believe that access to arts and culture is a universal human right, meeting both a social and psychological need. The Council supports a vibrant, vital, and necessary component of the local community through promotion and advocacy.

The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is supported in part by the DECD/Connecticut Office of the Arts, the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation and the Connecticut Community Foundation.