It was only last year that Groton City residents Audrey Heard and Lana Orphanides decided to create an ongoing art show throughout the summer months. In June, July, and August, artists and easels covered the green of the Bill Memorial Library as passersby took in the scenes around them and on the artists’ canvases.
This year’s series began June 21 and will end Aug. 16, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We are trying to create an artist space, a place where artists can talk to each other about art...and they can make art if they want to,” Heard explained. “Many of [the artists] set up their easels and paint on site…[Artists] can sell their paintings…and the visitors can buy, and they stand a very good chance of buying a masterpiece.”
Heard explained how the idea for Art on Groton Bank began with herself, Orphanides, and treasurer Judith Winder of Bailey Hill. When sharing their vision with Bill Memorial Library Director Hali Keeler and Groton City Mayor Dennis L. Popp, Heard said their positive response motivated the three to make their vision come alive.
It was Heard’s idea to establish a Paris theme around the show; her goal is to bring the famous city’s sense of art and culture to Groton City.
Enhancing the artistic quality of the show, many of the artists participating in this year’s shows are students, graduates, or alumni of the Lyme Academy or the Rhode Island School of Design.
“It’s an amazing assortment,” Heard said. “You don’t find this at most little art shows.”
Last year many of the artists were locals, but this year, members of the Art on Groton Bank board strived to open up the event to more people.
“We have broadened our horizons,” Heard said. “We’re inviting more fine arts crafts-people. We’re also trying to have more community events. For example, this time we’re having a workshop for children…being run by the library.”
Many of the artists, according to Heard, have commented on the generosity of the library, whose staffers provided treats for the art show on June 21.
“That one went well,” Heard said. “We didn’t have as many visitors as we would have liked because there was so much going on,” she said mentioning other events at Electric Boat and Avery Point. “We felt the impact of that...We also want to attract the local people.”
To gain more visitors, Heard said a banner was hung recently over Route 1.
“It’s to remind people that we are here and we have a wonderful Web site that has been attracting people from all over,” she said.
Details about Art on Groton Bank are available at www.artongrotonbank.org.
With the help of David Brown, a Web site designer at Lunar Graphics in Rhode Island, the charming Web site encompasses the fun and colorful feel of Art on Groton Bank.
“He’s probably one of the most talented Web designers that I’ve ever run into,” Heard said. “It opens with a paint brush going across the page…and then it continues with an overlap of photographs from last year.”
The site also offers information about the participating artists. Lynn Anderson of Noank, a full-time painter and sculptor who also draws, is one of them. Anderson recently published a children’s book, The Flying Horses of Watch Hill.
“Her book is wonderful,” Heard added. “She’s sold so many [books]!”
Heard said renowned local artist Rosemary Palmer displays her watercolor paintings of local scenes throughout Southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island at Art on Groton Bank. With a BA in fine arts from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass., Palmer said her in her profile that her originals and prints “evoke fond memories of the many who own them.”
Heard reiterated, “Visitors have a real opportunity to possibly pick up a masterpiece, because these artists are very talented.”
Art on Groton Bank takes place at the Bill Memorial Library, 240 Monument Street, Groton, on Aug. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.artongrotonbank.org.