Community Buzz: MLK service project rescheduled for this weekend; Rowayton Arts Center plans ‘Abstraction Exhibition 2019’

MLK service project rescheduled for this weekend

Due to inclement weather last week, the Norwalk Historical Society and the Love All Project have rescheduled “Kids Care: MLK Jr. Service Day Project” for Jan. 26 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Norwalk Historical Society Museum.

For those who have already registered, email inf[email protected] to confirm attendance on Jan. 26.

This free, family-friendly Service Day Project supports the nonprofit organization Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants.

Participants will create welcome bags for immigrants and ref ugees settling into Connecticut. Participating families are encouraged to bring individually packaged, non-perishable snacks to include in the welcome bags. Along with filling the bags with goodies, children will be able to create cards and decorate the bags.

In addition to the service project, children will get the opportunity to create peace doves, heart origami and learn more about King’s mission for peace, freedom and justice for all.

Visit norwalkhistoricalsociety.orgto register. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Rowayton Arts Center plans ‘Abstraction Exhibition 2019’

The Rowayton Arts Center plans a new exhibit, “Abstraction Exhibition 2019.” The opening reception, 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 10, is free and open to the public.

The exhibition features artwork by RAC Exhibiting Members with a larger degree of independence from visual references. The theme is abstract art which uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition that exists independent from visual references. This departure from representation can be partial or it can be complete.

Co-chairs for the exhibition are Michael Brennecke and Dan Long. The judge Miggs Burroughs, a lifelong Westporter and graphic artist, has designed hundreds of logos, websites and print material.

RAC celebrates the study, creation and appreciation of the arts through classes, exhibitions and events open to all in the community. It is at 145 Rowayton Ave. For more information, visit rowaytonarts.org and follow @rowaytonarts.

Gallery hosts Hearst photo editor’s exhibit

“Forgotten” can refer to a lot of things. It can mean something or someone has been lost to time. It can mean that something has been misplaced and slipped from consciousness while life hurries on.

For Ned Gerard, the word holds lots of meanings as well. Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media’s photo editor, is having his first solo exhibit at Bridgeport’s City Lights Gallery — titled “Forgotten Panoramas: Roadsides and Waterways” — which runs through Feb. 21.

Gerard, 51, who lives in Stratford, said the title stems both from the fact that the photos themselves were forgotten for several years, and from the actual loss of many of the structures in the pictures.

“A lot of these these places are obsolete,” said Gerard, who works out of the Connecticut Post offices in Bridgeport. “They’ve disappeared.”

That includes the former carousel house at Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport and the Congress Street bridge in the city, both of which are featured in the show, and both of which have since been demolished.

But it isn’t just loss that ties together the works in the exhibit. Gerard said all 25 photos featured in the show were taken with the same camera, a Hasselblad Xpan, a film camera that takes panoramic images.

The pictures were taken between 2003 and 2013 and represent not just places in Bridgeport (and elsewhere in Connecticut), but spots around the country, including Ohio, rural Virginia, Wisconsin and New York’s Coney Island.

“I’ve worked 25 years in newspaper photography,” said Gerard. “And these have nothing to do with what I do for work. These were done on my own time. What you’re basically looking at here are my vacation photos.”

There are also many shots that were obviously taken on the water, including a few lighthouses. Those pictures were taken with the aid of a kayak, something Gerard invested in shortly after buying the camera.

“The kayak gets me to locations I couldn’t get to by land,” Gerard said.

There will be a reception for “Forgotten Panoramas” from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at City Lights Gallery, 265 Golden Hill St., Bridgeport.

—[email protected]