Guilford Art Center

Mindfulness in the Arts

Elán, Summer 2020 Written by Jen Matteis Art pulls us into its world, viewer and artist alike. When we enjoy artwork — be it a painting, a sculpture, or a sandcastle at the beach — it draws us, grabs and holds our attention, and maybe tells us something about ourselves that we didn’t know. To…

Guilford Art Center Announces Re-Opening for Fall 2020

Guilford Art Center (GAC) announces its reopening for the fall semester, which will begin the week of Monday, Sept. 14. The fall semester of classes will include a hybrid selection of on-campus and online classes. Small-sized on-campus classes will meet to ensure proper social distancing; there will also be a robust selection of online offerings…

GAC Offers Artful Opportunities for New Resident Potter Megan Mayall

Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer October 23, 2019 It’s a busy day in the Guilford Art Center (GAC) ceramics studio practice space, and that’s just how GAC’s new resident potter, Megan Mayall, likes it. During her year-long post with GAC, Megan’s not only enjoying the opportunity to develop her artwork, but also contributing to GAC’s…

Guilford Craft Expo Brings Artists to the Green

The Guilford Craft Expo brought 180 nationally-recognized craft artists to the Guilford Green from June 19 to 21. Click here for a Slideshow of photos by Susan Lambert, Guilford Courier.

Lofink Goes Hands-On to Help ‘Soup for Good’

by Pam Johnson, Zip06 October 31, 2018 As the new resident potter for Guilford Art Center (GAC), Dana Lofink is going hands-on to help a great cause, GAC’s sixth annual Soup for Good. She’s had a hand in making many of the unique pottery bowls that will be given away as part of the event….

Lofink Goes Hands-On to Help ‘Soup for Good’

by Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer, Shore Publishing, October 18, 2018 As the new resident potter for Guilford Art Center (GAC), Dana Lofink is going hands-on to help a great cause, GAC’s sixth annual Soup for Good. She’s had a hand in making many of the unique pottery bowls that will be given away as…

Denise Isaac: A Model Volunteer for GAC

by Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer, Zip06 July 03, 2018 If the creative minds at Guilford Art Center (GAC) could craft a model volunteer to help the non-profit inspire and promote community participation in the visual arts, they’d design someone just like Denise Isaac. A Branford resident of 11 years, Denise has lived in several…

At Guilford Art Center: Art is for everyone in this class

By Sarah Page Kyrcz, March 13, 2018 Googly eyes, shiny jewels, pipe cleaners, swatches of fabric and bright, multicolored feathers are neatly arranged on long tables awaiting the start of the Guilford Art Center Unified Art Class. Within minutes after taking their spots around the horseshoe-shaped table, there is no order at all as the…

Filling GAC’s Artistry is a Joyful Job for Albergo

By Pam Johnson, Shore Publishing, November 15, 2017 Talk about work you love—Elena Albergo has the joyful job of finding the best inventory possible to fill a unique shoreline shopping destination, Artistry at Guilford Art Center (GAC). Now through Sunday, Jan. 7, Artistry’s array of holiday gifts beckons from GAC’s gallery. It also spills into…

Best Artisans Jewelry Store: The Shop at the Guilford Art Center

by Kelly Goddard, Shoreline Times Jewelry pieces made from enamel, ceramic, semi-precious metals and stones, glass and silver sparkle in the lighted cases and shelves of The Shop at the Guilford Art Center. Everything from necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings, The Shop has it all. “We have a very broad range of different types of…

Burnham Lands Inspiring Residency at Guilford Art Center

By Pam Johnson, Zip06, October 10, 2017 Just weeks into her new role, Tori Burnham will throw herself in to directing GAC’s Bowl-a-Thon this Saturday, Oct. 14. Working with GAC potters, Tori will add her whimsical style to a potters’ production line of hand-crafted bowls. “I’m really excited; it’s going to be a big day,”…

Guilford Arts Center shows its stuff at age 50

By Joe Amarante, New Haven Register, July 21, 2017 The latest exhibit in this art-loving shoreline town is “The Friday Night Painters Show Their Stuff” in the Mill Gallery at the Guilford Art Center, which gives us works by “a feisty, dedicated, close-knit group of painters, some of whom have been working at GAC since…

Making a Masterpiece at the Guilford Art Center Annual Craft Expo

The Guilford Courier, July 2017 The Guilford Art Center held its annual Craft Expo this weekend on the Guilford Green. Here, Claire Leu (left) holds up her colorful scarf which she created with the help of Julian Dresser (right). Shibumi Silks offered expo patrons the chance to create their own original silk scarfs. ( Read…

GAC Celebrates Exhibit with Opening Reception

The Guilford Art Center’s opening reception of the faculty and student art exhibit on Friday, February 3. • See a photo gallery from the event here.

Good for GAC: Resident Potter Monica Hewryk

By Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer, Zip06 Published October 19, 2016 As the new Resident Potter at Guilford Art Center (GAC), Monica Hewryk feels a bit like a kid in a toy shop. That suits her playful style with clay and her joyful approach to collaborating with others perfectly. The New Britain resident and newly…

Fiery competitor Parkinson forges reputation as bladesmith

by Lisa Backus, New Britain Herald, August 14, 2016 Matthew Parkinson can recall the vivid arc of sparks the first time he saw a blacksmith at work, when his parents took him to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts as a child. “There were sparks flying everywhere,” the 40-year-old New Britain resident said. “It was just…

Jasmine Gonzalez, Guilford Art Center Resident Potter, Featured in Gallery

Zip06, Published August 11, 2016 Guilford Art Center will stage an exhibition of the ceramic works of Jasmine Gonzalez, the center’s resident potter since January 2015. The exhibition is on view in the gallery Friday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Sept. 4, with a closing reception on Thursday, Septe. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. Gonzalez…

VIDEO: The Art of Blacksmithing

JP Coleman, WTNH News 8 Photojournalist and Dylan Hyman, wtnh.com Staff It’s hot, it’s loud, and a bit dirty, but one Connecticut artist says it’s all he has ever known. Mace Vitale is a blacksmith at the Guilford Art Center. Mace says that while some believe blacksmithing is a dying art, it is actually very…

From a Long Tradition, Maximum Creativity

by Pem McNerney, Living Editor, Zip06 Traditional quilts are usually made of three layers, including a cover, then the padding, then the backing. But when the craft evolves into art, it doesn’t always have to be exactly that, says Diane Wright of Guilford, a studio art quilter who is one of the curators of the…

‘Forged in Fire’ Victors Reception, Display of Works

Guilford Art Center (GAC) will hold a reception and temporary display of works by its GAC blacksmith instructors and Forged in Fire winners, Mace Vitale and Matt Parkinson, on Thursday, Sept. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. This event will celebrate their victories on the new History Channel series, as well as provide the public a chance…

Guilford bladesmiths prove they’re a cut above other sword makers

AS SEEN ON FOXCT An age-old art form is in the spotlight thanks to a reality program that showcases the talents of the country’s best bladesmiths. A bladesmith is a craftsman who makes knives and swords. Mace Vitale, of Guilford, and Matt Parkinson, of Wolcott, both won the competition on the History Channel reality show…

Guilford bladesmith wins History Channel competition show

New Haven Register, by Tim Rizzo, August 15, 2015 Photo by Catherine Avalone It’s not coincidence that William Mace Vitale, or “Mace” as he prefers to be called, is a bladesmith whose middle name is also that of a medieval weapon used to cause blunt force trauma in early 3200 B.C., which is created by…

Finding New Perspectives at the Guilford Art Center Expo

From Zip06, July 21, 2015 Photo by Kelley Fryer, The Courier Brian and Patty Donahue were impressed with the Richard Gayle Photography booth at the Guilford Art Center Expo held last weekend on the Green. Expo welcomed thousands of guests and featured works by more than 180 of the country’s most distinguished artisans. (Read More)

GAC is Top Guilford Shopping Destination

The shop@ Guilford Art Center was just featured as a top shopping destination in Guilford by the e-list. Click here to view the list and map of all shops featured in the guide.

Teen learns blacksmith trade from Iron Age, forging a trade at Guilford Art Center

By Sarah Page Kyrcz, Shoreline Times Photo by Catherine Avalone, New Haven Register Ben Cohen’s blackened hands, resting near the red-hot coal forge in the Guilford Art Center blacksmithing shop, are just one visible example of his commitment to this ancient art. “A desire, a desire to do something with your hands,” is what it…

GAC Selects Talented Gonzalez as Resident Potter

by Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer, Shore Publishing With talent and promise in her hands, Jasmine Gonzalez is happy and excited have been selected as the first Resident Potter for Guilford Art Center’s (GAC) newly-launched residency program. Fresh from the University of Hartford, Hartford Art School (BFA 2014, major in Ceramics and Sculpture; minor in…

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