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RAW to Open Four Community Art Exhibits Saturday

By Andy Hart

May 28, 2009

Real Art Ways (RAW) will present four public art projects in Hartford’s Frog Hollow & Parkville neighborhoods, by artists Margarida Correia, Satch Hoyt, Sofia Maldonado, and Matthew Rodriguez.

Projects will open Saturday, May 30, 2009 and will extend through the fall. The official opening reception will run from 2 - 5 pm this Saturday at RAW, 56 Arbor Street, Hartford.

There will also be free bus tours of the four projects from 3 - 5 pm, leaving every 10 minutes from RAW as well as free bike tours from 3 - 4 pm. Those who’d like to tour the displays by themselves can take a Self-Guided Cell Phone Audio Tour (On or after May 30). Call 860-760-9979 and listen to narration by the artists.

The four public art projects, each created specifically for Hartford, will make use of the existing culture, creativity, and vibrancy of the Parkville and Frog Hollow neighborhoods.

Photographer Margarida Correia has been working with members of Hartford’s Portuguese community. Two Parkville billboards will display photographs of Hartford youth embracing their Portuguese heritage, and of the Praia da Nazaré, Portugal's famous beach. Street lamp banners on Park Street will display album covers of famous Fado singers.

Satch Hoyt will create a labyrinth in Frog Hollow's Pope Park. The labyrinth, constructed from clotheslines, will address the migratory voyage of the residents who reside in the neighborhood. Upon completion, the public will be invited to traverse the labyrinth's path.

Sofia Maldonado's mural, on the Pelican Tattoo building in Frog Hollow, will blend elements of female aesthetics and street cultures. Maldonado will also collaborate with young people in Parkville and Frog Hollow neighborhoods resulting in the creation of uniquely designed murals and events that celebrate youth culture.

Matthew Rodriguez will install a series collages and murals that use found materials, staged photographs, and paintings, including 70 characters on trees in Pope Park and one on the side of a local Parkville bakery. The results will be playful “characters” residing in the neighborhood’s neglected spaces.