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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T173000
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SUMMARY:Seasonal Shifts Opens a New Velvet Mill Artists Group Show in Stonington
DESCRIPTION:Seasonal Shifts brings the work of artists based at Stonington’s Velvet Mill together for a new group exhibition opening Thursday\, September 17\, with an evening reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. \nThe exhibition will be installed in the Velvet Mill Gallery\, upstairs from the building’s main entrance near Zest Fresh Pastry\, and will remain on view through the holiday season. \nThat extended run makes the opening party more than a one-night event. It’s the introduction to a fall and early-winter exhibition showcasing artists who work inside the enormous former textile mill\, a building that has gradually developed into one of southeastern Connecticut’s more unusual creative communities. \nOne Building\, Many Artists\nThe Velvet Mill can be confusing if you’ve never explored it. \nIt isn’t one gallery. \nIt’s an enormous former industrial building filled with individual studios\, galleries\, shops\, makers\, restaurants and other small businesses. Some artists maintain spaces that function as both working studios and miniature galleries\, while others primarily use their rooms to make art. \nSeasonal Shifts pulls members of that scattered community into a shared exhibition. \nInstead of opening one studio door at a time\, visitors can see work by multiple Velvet Mill artists together in the Mill’s upstairs gallery. \nThe group format is particularly useful in a place like this. Artists working only a corridor or staircase apart can have dramatically different approaches\, materials and subjects. \nThe Theme Is Right in the Title\nSeasonal Shifts arrives almost exactly as summer turns to fall. \nThe autumnal equinox follows just days after the opening\, but “seasonal shifts” offers artists considerably more room than simply painting fall foliage. \nA shift can be environmental. \nIt can be emotional. \nIt can involve light\, color\, weather\, aging\, growth\, loss or transition. \nAnd an exhibition that remains up through the holidays will itself live through a substantial seasonal shift. Visitors seeing it in September will encounter the work in a different context than someone walking into the gallery in December. \nThe promotional artwork\, by Dennis Caruso\, reinforces that freedom of interpretation with an abstract composition of loosely defined forms\, energetic black marks and areas of white\, cream\, blue\, pink and muted yellow. \nIt’s not a postcard version of autumn. \nThat’s probably the point. \nThe Velvet Mill Has Become an Arts Destination Almost by Accident\nThe setting is part of the story. \nThe enormous brick complex at 22 Bayview Avenue was built in the late 19th century and became associated with the American Velvet Company\, which manufactured textiles in Stonington for generations. \nWhen industrial production ended\, the question facing the property was familiar throughout New England: what do you do with a huge old factory that no longer has a factory inside it? \nIn Stonington\, part of the answer became art. \nLarge industrial windows\, high ceilings and adaptable rooms made the former manufacturing spaces particularly suitable for studios. \nArtists moved in. \nThen makers\, galleries and small retailers followed. \nToday you can walk through the Mill and encounter painters and photographers alongside letterpress printing\, coastal art\, handmade goods\, antiques\, furniture\, food\, a brewery and other independent businesses. \nThe building still feels industrial. \nIt just produces very different things now. \nThere Are Galleries Hidden Throughout the Building\nThe artists’ group show also offers an introduction to a larger visual-arts scene inside the Mill. \nThere are individual artist studios as well as dedicated gallery spaces scattered throughout the complex. \nDennis Sirrine Gallery showcases the work of longtime Velvet Mill painter Dennis Sirrine. \nCoastal Arts Gallery & Studio #85 concentrates on coastal and New England-inspired work\, including original art\, prints and smaller gift pieces. \nStudio 87 – Nautical by Nature similarly draws inspiration from the region’s maritime environment. \nAllgood Studios and Gallery takes a less conventional approach\, combining gallery and creative studio space with an arcade component. \nShuttle Press & Bindery expands the definition further. Its Studio 77 is a working letterpress shop and bookbindery\, where traditional printing and bookmaking techniques become part of the Mill’s broader maker culture. \nThe result is less like visiting a conventional museum complex and more like exploring an arts neighborhood that happens to be contained inside one very large building. \nAn Opening Party Changes the Experience\nThe September 17 opening provides something that visiting the exhibition later won’t. \nThe artists are part of the event. \nOpening receptions are useful precisely because gallery exhibitions can otherwise separate the finished work from the person who made it. \nAt a group opening\, viewers have the opportunity to encounter multiple artists\, ask questions and hear how individual pieces relate to the exhibition’s theme. \nFor people who enjoy art but feel they don’t know enough to talk about it\, there really isn’t a prerequisite. \nFind something that stops you. \nLook at it. \nAsk the artist about it. \nThat’s enough. \nMake Sure You Head Upstairs\nThe Velvet Mill is big enough that knowing where you’re going matters. \nThe Velvet Mill Gallery is upstairs from the main entrance near Zest Fresh Pastry. \nVisitors entering the building for the first time shouldn’t assume the exhibition is in one of the retail galleries along the main corridors. \nThe opening begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday\, September 17. \nAfter opening night\, Seasonal Shifts remains on view through the holidays\, giving visitors several months to catch the exhibition even if they can’t attend the reception. \nA Particularly Busy September at the Mill\nThe opening also arrives during an active stretch at the Velvet Mill. \nTwo days later\, on September 19 and 20\, participating businesses throughout the building will hold the End-of-Season Indoor Sidewalk Sale\, moving sale and clearance merchandise into the hallways outside their shops. \nSaturday mornings also bring the Stonington Village Farmers Market into the Mill. \nThat makes Seasonal Shifts easy to combine with a larger visit. \nSomeone coming for the art can end up exploring shops. \nSomeone coming for the market can discover a gallery upstairs. \nSomeone arriving for lunch can find an exhibition they didn’t know was there. \nThat’s one of the advantages of putting art in a building where people are already doing other things. \nYou don’t necessarily have to decide you’re going to an art gallery. \nSometimes you just walk upstairs. \nDetails\nExhibition: Seasonal Shifts\nEvent: Opening Party\nDate: Thursday\, September 17\, 2026\nTime: 5:30 p.m.\nPresented By: Velvet Mill Artists\nVenue: The Velvet Mill\nGallery: Velvet Mill Gallery\nAddress: 22 Bayview Avenue\, Stonington\, CT 06378\nLocation in Building: Upstairs from the main entrance near Zest Fresh Pastry\nAdmission: No admission charge is indicated for the opening or exhibition\nFormat: Group exhibition featuring Velvet Mill artists\nExhibition Run: September 17 through the holiday season\nPoster Artwork: Dennis Caruso\nOpening Reception: Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/seasonal-shifts-opens-a-new-velvet-mill-artists-group-show-in-stonington/
LOCATION:Velvet Mill\, 22 Bayview Ave\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:Velvet Mill
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Seasonal-Shifts-Opens-a-New-Velvet-Mill-Artists-Group-Show-in-Stonington.jpg
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