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07/01/2015 08:00 AMIf the energy feels right at Branford Art Center (BAC), it’s because Yvonne Gordon is powering it.
Since opening the window-fronted gallery in the heart of downtown on May 15, the Branford resident has been heading up a place she says is all about community.
“This is a place where the community is invited; where there is a community artists and a community of youngsters, teens, and adults who love art,” says Yvonne.
Just a little more than one month on the scene, BAC is already helping shift Branford’s growing reputation as a cultural arts community into high gear.
“The energy is just right,” says Yvonne. “So many people have said, ‘We really need this in Branford.’ The people have been great—they want to support it, and the kids need it, and the teens need it. Everybody just needs a place to come and experience art and have community—a center.”
BAC combines a beautiful, art-filled gallery space with a fully equipped learning workshop offering programs for artists of all ages and ability. For Yvonne, BAC fulfills a life-long dream that couldn’t have been scripted any better.
The talented artist (BFA, Connecticut College) recently completed a masters in art therapy and certification in addiction counseling from Albertus Magnus College and was actively seeking the perfect location for her dream gallery/artists co-op and learning/therapy space.
“This was the universe talking,” says Yvonne of founding BAC. “I was finishing up my master’s degree with a class on creating your intention and what you wanted to do. And what I wanted to do was to have a gallery with an art therapy studio and workshop area together somewhere.”
Yvonne put this intention on the board in her class on March 1.
“Two weeks later, I come through town and I see the antique store is closing down, and I thought, ‘Wow, that would be a great place for a gallery and the space.’ And then not even a week later, I see this huge sign in the window that says ‘Art Co-op Coming Soon’—and that was Gregg. And I thought, ‘Somebody’s talking to me.’”
Gregg is Branford native and realtor Gregg Robbins, who thought the location would be the perfect site for an artist’s co-op and, with a partner, he was willing to invest in the right person to make it happen.
Yvonne knew she was that person.
“I called him up on a Friday and I started working on everything on Friday. I put together a contract, application, by-laws, mission statement...” recounts Yvonne. “I came in here on Saturday and said ‘Okay, 10 artists—we’re going to need another wall in here!’”
After Gregg and Yvonne met, she gave the documents she’d produced to him, and then the two parted.
“I think he called me two days later and said he’d like to have me meet his partner. We met the following Saturday, and from then, on I’ve been representing them.”
Yvonne runs the center as BAC’s founding artist and owner. Part of Yvonne’s role is gathering and championing the work of other local artists in the gallery’s unique co-op. Currently, their dazzling array of talent spans mediums from paint to ceramics, glass to pencil and photography, sculpture, college, handcrafted guitars and more.
The artists are Yvonne, Gretchen Geneis Dugan (drawing, painting, and ceramics), John Dwight, (realistic renderings in pencil and paint), Briton Shell (photography and hand-crafted, plucked instruments), Regina Thomas (representational to expressionistic collage and decollage), Linda McCarthy (acrylic, oil, and abstracts with a combination of mediums), Larry Hart (original stained glass) and Danielle Hanson (sculpture, drawings, and paintings).
Yvonne is thrilled to join a co-op of artists who have the vision and passion to appreciate all the possibilities BAC creates.
“Basically, they were selected by their passion, by their desire to show and be part of the gallery here and be part of the community of artists that are going to be in this movement in Branford, to be part of the kind of new happening here. It was their desire to be here,” she says, adding “It was more organic than it was about a plan—and all of their art was beautiful!”
But there is a plan, of course, and it involves giving back to the community. Each artist in the co-op is involved in BAC’s charitable efforts. BAC makes it easy for the artists to get involved.
“We ask 10 percent from our artists—most galleries get 30, 40, 50 percent of whatever the artists get—and of that 10 percent, we’ll take a percentage of that to go to charitable giving. And the artists decide what the charity is, on a quarterly basis,” explains Yvonne.
In addition, BAC sponsors rotating space for works from local high school students and visiting artists (currently, artist Sharon Hart). Yvonne also notes BAC is accepting “applications for artists who have a passion for art and the community at large — emerging artists welcome.” BAC also welcomes street art vendors, interns, and gallery volunteers, says Yvonne.
“So there are emerging artists here, there are seasoned artists here, and there are artists who can’t afford to be part of the community here, but we’re inviting them anyway,” she says.
BAC takes opportunities to fundraise for local causes during events and programs, too.
“We’re really interested in the charitable giving piece and giving back,” says Yvonne. “On opening night, we had everybody paint panels on a wall and they all made donations, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. And by doing that, BAC raised $210 to send a local child to camp at Branford Parks & Recreation.”
BAC is also offering Summer Art Camps for kids aged 3 to 12, now through the second-to-last week of August, at very reasonable rates ($27 per class, or $110 for five classes, Tuesdays through Fridays, all non-toxic materials provided). Every Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m., coinciding with Branford’s summer Jazz Fest on the Town Green, Yvonne opens the workshop for a teen drop-in night with materials and music provided.
“On Thursday nights we want teens who’ll come down and listen to music, and enjoy an open studio,” says Yvonne, who has tie-dying and other art-making materials available for a $20 per-teen fee. “It’s really inexpensive; they can use of all of the materials, so bring the kids down the hill while the parents go up to the Green to listen to jazz. Last Thursday we had a DJ; we’re trying everything. We just want the kids to feel comfortable and that it’s a safe place.”
BAC’s rear workshop space is the creative heart of the center. Yvonne envisions opening its overhead side doors to let the summer air mingle with creativity and music on Thursday nights. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, she leads adult figure drawing classes and on Saturdays, a process painting workshop (symbolic subconscious discovery). Artists of all abilities willing to “let your spirit be your guide” can bring personal items representing “something you want to let go of” to incorporate into the painting, she explains. Yvonne also continues to offer her services as an art therapist.
“Since I was three, I’ve always wanted to be an artist and have my art shown as well be a vessel for other people’s creativity,” says Yvonne, “to be able to help them find their way with art and with healing, because art was always healing for me through my life, and I realize it could also be so with others. My degree was in art therapy, so that’s another piece that I’m really working on trying to build and develop.”
Yvonne can provide all of that, and more, with BAC’s “perfect triangle” of offerings.
“It’s like the perfect triangle,” she says. “Each thing kind of lends itself to the other. You have the gallery space, the learning space, and the therapeutic space. All art is really therapeutic—no matter what. We really want people to know that everybody’s welcome to come into the gallery, that there are classes and camps and nights when people can meet the artists. We want there to be a feeling of community.”
BAC, located at 1229 Main Street in Branford, is currently holding a membership drive and is also accepting financial contributions. For more information about BAC, find “Branford Art Center Gallery and Art Workshop” on Facebook, call 203-208-4455 or 860-334-4642, or email ymgordon@albertus.edu.