After a needed remodel, the Norwich Arts Center’s gallery is ready for all to see.
The NAC, at 62 Broadway, will have two celebrations for the re-opening on July 5. From 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., there will be a ribbon cutting by the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce, and there will be an event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. as a part of Norwich’s First Friday for July, according to a press release.
Once open, the gallery will resume its regular hours of noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and availability to request meetings and tours at other times, Co-President Faye Rangel said.
In June 2023, the state appropriated $500,000 for the Norwich Art Center to work on the building, alongside funds to help other important institutions in Norwich, including, the Chestnut Street Playhouse, Greeneville Congregational Church, and the St. Vincent de Paul Place. The funds weren’t received until November, Rangel said.
“It kind of slowed down the process,” she said.
While patrons may notice the “beautiful new floors”, the work was not cosmetic in nature. The 132-year-old building needed stabilization to resolve major issues with the floors, walls and foundation. The gallery was closed in January so work could commence.
The gallery was supposed to reopen in June, but it was pushed back a month. The second floor, which features offices and changing rooms for the Donald Oat Theater, is still mid-remodel.
The Donald Oat Theater itself remained open through the remodel, even as the roof was replaced in February. The theater has flourished during this time, showing different genres of music and attracting new audiences, Rangel said.
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To mark the special occasion, the gallery has a show displaying recent works from local artists, including Mark Patnode, Lindsay Aromin, and Rita Dawley, among many others.
Dawley was among the NAC elected artists at the gallery Friday, getting the gallery ready. She thought the renovation work turned out beautiful. She also realized in the 30 years the gallery has been open, it has almost never closed.
“We needed the rest, but its good,” she said.
There’s still people in the city who need to check out the Norwich Arts Center gallery.
“We’ve been here for 30 years, and they don’t even know we’re here,” Dawley said.
Supporting NAC
Two new souvenirs funding the NAC will be available for purchase; sets of note cards with works from 12 different local artists, and the 132 page “Wanderings 2024” book, which features works from 32 local artists. Most of these artists are expected to be available Friday evening to sign books.
The first Wanderings book was from before the pandemic. Another one of the elected artists, Glen Cheney, also owns the New London Librarium, is the publisher, Rangel said.
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What’s next?
August features the gallery’s big event for the year, the Artistic Wanderings 2024 Fine Crafts Show, with the support of the Katherine Forest Craft Foundation, providing six $300 prizes for any genre of fine crafts, from jewelry and textiles, to sculpture and even “unclassifiable installations,” Rangel said.
Work will be received on July 26 and 27, and notification of acceptance will be sent July 31, according to the NAC website.