A new gallery space run by artists features contemporary art and makes connections with the community. The Harts Gallery is all about bringing people together through art.
On August 1st a new art gallery opened in New Milford called The Harts Gallery, named after a former tenant of the space: Hart’s 5 & 10, which closed in 1998. Newcomers to the area, Carmen and Evan Abramson have taken over the store that Spruce Home & Garden most recently occupied on Bank Street and turned it into a space that features museum quality fine art from around the world.
Unlike other galleries owned by dealers, this one is artist-run. Evan is a photo journalist and both he and his wife Carmen create documentary films. Their goal with the gallery is to focus on building community and inspiring change through the questions raised by contemporary art. Carmen studied politics, philosophy, and religion at the School of International Studies at Hopkins. Evan went to Vassar where he majored in creative writing and literature. Their 2011 documentary Carbon for Water has won nearly 20 film festival awards. Evan’s 2010 multimedia documentary When the Water Ends won First Prize at the 2012 World Water Forum and was nominated for a Webby, a World Press Photo Award, and was a finalist in the Online Journalism Awards. They moved to Bridgewater with their two children last December.
At 5,000 square feet, the large open space on the main floor is great for showing art work. High ceilings and a spare interior give it a pleasant atmosphere to contemplate art. The gallery will function as a commercial venue for the sale of contemporary art, as well as a non-profit space offering community outreach through guest artist lectures, youth art, and film workshops taught by gallery artists, live performances, independent film screenings (at neighboring Bank Street Theater), and arts education classes taught in both Spanish and English.
Starting in September, Matt Del Rosario, a former Pilobolus dancer will be leading movement classes at the gallery—movement through expression—for all ages. Also in the works are DJs from Cuba and storytelling sessions. Future plans include turning the lower level of the gallery into a “lab” area with computers and other equipment.
The gallery’s first show, Love & Sacrifice, brings together the work of six artists with ties to the community: photographers Evan Abramson and Tealia Ellis Ritter, mixed media sculptor and installation artist Lauren Booth, painter Sebastian Tillinger and local well known mixed media artists Elizabeth MacDonald and Peter Wooster. The exhibit will run through September 30th. On September 5th at 5:30 pm, Evan Abramson will hold an artist conversation, in which he will talk about his journey becoming a photographer in Bolivia.
The next show will open on October 3rd and will feature artists Julia Randall, Cecilia Mandrile from Argentina, and Claudia De Monte.
The gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to
8 pm, Sundays from noon to 3 pm and by appointment.
The Harts Gallery
20 Bank Street
New Milford
917.913.4641
www.thehartsgallery.com
