Local Real Estate Agent Donates to Shoreline ArtsTrail
Contribution Supports Annual Artist Studios Map

Area real estate agent Leigh Whiteman has made a major donation to the Shoreline ArtsTrail in support of the group’s annual Studio Map & Guide.

The Shoreline ArtsTrail includes the towns of Branford, Guilford and Madison. It is intended to create a destination for residents and visitors and to highlight the work of the many accomplished artists and artisans in the area. The ArtsTrail is run cooperatively by member artists with administrative support from the Guilford Art Center. Each year the group hosts an Open Studios Weekend in November and publishes 10,000 copies of its annual Studio Map.

“As a business owner in, and resident of, the shoreline, I believe the arts are an integral part of the fabric of our communities,” says Whiteman, lead agent for The Whiteman Team, real estate consultants with William Raveis Real Estate. ”Both the art and the artists themselves add a rich diversity to our community. I love that the Connecticut shoreline is know as a destination: for our beautiful landscapes, our exceptional architecture and for our arts community. When I was approached to be a sponsor of the Shoreline ArtsTrail I said yes, without hesitation. Their annual map is a great tool for both locals and visitors who want to discover and support the arts here.”

Whiteman and her husband, artist Jefri Ruchti, collect art from their various travels. Prior to becoming a realtor in 1988, Whiteman was an assistant professor of dance and co-founder of a modern dance company in New York. As a realtor, she says, “I now interact with space in a very different way, and I still get to be creative!”

For more information about the Shoreline ArtsTrail, please contact the Guilford Art Center, info@guilfordartcenter.org, 203.453.5947, or artist member Margaret Dean, 203.494.0104.