Host Ray Hardman heads to South Norwalk to The Norwalk Art Space, where he meets Erika Wesley, the Executive Director of the . Erika is a poet, author and longtime Fairfield County resident. She shares a bit about the rich diversity of arts and artist organizations in the area, including the role has played since its opening in 2021 to expand opportunities and equity in the local art community.
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
At The Norwalk Art Space, host Ray Hardman interviews Erika Wesley, Executive Director of Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County for 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 original series "Where ART Thou?鈥� on January 17, 2024.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
The gallery of The Norwalk Art Space, a community arts and education space that opened in 2021 after being converted from a former church.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
Erika Wesley, Executive Director of Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County tells "Where ART Thou?" host Ray Hardman about the thriving arts scene in the area.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
While we鈥檙e there, we meet with one of The Norwalk Art Space鈥檚 2023-24 resident artists, . She is an oil painter and educator originally from Coahuila, Mexico. Her paintings focus on the stories and memories of the people around her and her identity as a Mexican person now living in the United States.
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Artist Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche stands in front of a painting she鈥檚 working on in her studio during filming for 鈥淲here ART Thou?鈥� at The Norwalk Arts Space. Alejandra presents her work as a third culture that is still being shaped and recognized. The identity of being 鈥渄e aqu铆 y de all谩鈥� (from here and there) 鈥� a blend of Mexican heritage in northern soil, and not 鈥渘i de aqu铆 ni de all谩鈥� (neither from here nor there).
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
Host Ray Hardman interviews Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche next to her painting 鈥淭renzas de Amor鈥� at her Norwalk Art Space studio during filming for "Where ART Thou?" in January, 2024.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
鈥淒o帽a Luchona鈥� by painter Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 Still Frames
Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche works in her studio at The Norwalk Art Space in January, 2024.
Dave Wurtzel / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche works on her painting 鈥淓l Guardian鈥� during filming for 鈥淲here ART Thou?鈥�. At far left is visuals journalist Dave Wurtzel, far right is sound recordist Glenn Goettler.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield County Episode
Host Ray Hardman interviews painter Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
On our way to Trumbull, Ray stops at in Bridgeport. The museum is currently closed to the public due to renovations, but before they go deeper into the next phase of preservation and construction, Executive Director Kathy Maher shares some of the classic pieces of Barnum's history. An immersive, 21st-century Barnum Museum is on the horizon.
Our final stop in Fairfield County is the home of visual poet and author, . She uses art and poetry to invite people to talk about uncomfortable issues or explore hidden histories.
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Monica Ong shows "Where ART Thou?" host Ray Hardman some of her visual poetry, where she explores how text and image can function together creating a sense of feeling.
Dave Wurtzel / 黑料吃瓜网
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Artist and visual poet Monica Ong during an interview for "Where ART Thou?" in November 2023 at her home studio in Trumbull.
Dave Wurtzel / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield Episode
Visual poet Monica Ong shows Ray Hardman her poem 鈥淭he Star Gazer: Planisphere Poetry."
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
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— Where ART Thou? Season 3 - Fairfield Episode
Monica Ong reads her poem titled 鈥淗er Gaze" through a ViewMaster reel, a tribute to astronomer Caroline Herschel.
Julianne Varacchi / 黑料吃瓜网
In 2015, U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo selected her book, , as the winner of the Kore Press First Book Award in poetry. Ray has the opportunity to see the various ways Monica alchemizes words and visual mediums to create a unique experience for those who come in contact with her art.
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