Get ready for three weekends of discovering art! Here’s an event overview. For updates, join our Facebook events for each weekend:
Passport Weekend
Erector Square Weekend
Alternative Space Weekend
Event Schedule
Opening Reception | October 5, 5:00–8:00 PM
Celebrate the festival kickoff at Artspace (50 Orange Street) with all the artists! The central hub exhibition features one work by each of the CWOS participating artists. Pick up your free Passport and the Official Map & Guide. Stay in the area for a night of LAMP (Light Artists Making Places)installations throughout the Ninth Square, including a Crystal Ball. FREE!
Passport Weekend | October 6–7, 12:00–5:00 PM
Visit artists in their private studios throughout New Haven, West Haven, North Haven, and Hamden (detailed map). Take this opportunity to see the spaces in which artists work all across the Greater New Haven area—maps, signage, and guided tours will be provided. Special bike tours, led by Matt Feiner of the Devil's Gear Bike Shop, will be held on Saturday or Sunday (more information here). Be on the lookout for special crystal-themed works done in honor of our Crystal Anniversary as you explore these hidden gems of creativity!
Completed passports will be entered to win a $250 gift certificate to the Artspace Flatfile, as well as a signed copy of the book Crystallography by poet Christian Bok.
Erector Square Weekend | October 13–14, 12:00–5:00 PM
Erector Square (315 Peck Street) acts as a hub of artistic activity in Fair Haven. A high concentration of artist studios—housed in a former Erector Set factory—make it an especially exciting place to be during Open Studios. Explore the personal studios of hundreds of local artists on your own or through a guided tour. Artspace volunteers will be on hand with maps, schedules of demonstrations and directions for visitors.
Alternative Space Weekend | October 20–21, 12:00–5:00 PM
The Alternative Space weekend sets New Haven’s CWOS apart from other open studio weekends by offering artists from across Connecticut, and those who are interested in creating site-specific works, a unique backdrop to showcase their talents. Each year the Alternative Space provides artists with the chance to show work in vacant historic properties throughout the city, connecting artists and visitors with different areas of New Haven. This year’s exhibition will take place in the New Haven Register Building (40 Sargent Drive, off I-95), a mid-century building that was originally built as the Gant Shirt Factory. It has most recently been a newspaper production plant, where writers have long been committed to the same notions of transparency and clarity that will help inspire CWOS’s crystal-themed work!
Need help getting oriented?
Come by the central exhibition at Artspace (50 Orange Street, Downtown New Haven), which will serve as the CWOS festival hub, October 5-22. Here, you can get an overview of the artists exhibiting and plan your studio visits. Volunteers will be on hand during each studio weekend to assist you with maps and advice.
Photo credits: Second photo from the top, Mia Orsatti. Other photos, Artspace staff.
