Art House New Canaan

The Art House is a regenerative project transforming the 1940's Post Office Depot into a collaborative center for creating mixed media art, ecology, and community.

Our Mission

The core aim of The Art House is to regenerate vibrant life through our unique gifts of creativity. The ongoing mission of the Art House is threefold:

To restore the art community and art economy of New Canaan.
Regenerate the communal spirit that New Canaan so dearly remembers.
To bring gifts to the larger region by offering children the opportunity to develop through art.

The Art House will provide studio space for artists at a low rent, where they can create and sell their work to the public. The second part of the mission is that these artists will agree to provide art lessons and art immersion experiences to local kids: art in all its messy, glorious, hands-on involvement. Art is about getting your hands dirty, the feel of clay, the smell of paint, the splash of colors on paper. The Art House will provide these types of activities by bringing artists and kids together in a fun space. In addition to art lessons, there will also be collaborative projects to create public art. The Art House will not only reach out to artists and to kids, but to parents and other interested adults as well.

Rubicon Seven and the Rubicon Seven Foundation would like to thanks its partners in the creation of the Art House. The New Canaan Historical Society has worked tirelessly to ensure that the history of the building and the town are recognized as part of the project, providing images and expertise. Students from Norwalk Community College’s Art, Architecture + Design department, under Jacek Bigosinski, will be involved in the redesign of the space.

Our History

Exterior drawing of Arthouse New Canaan overlaid with the words "Culture is rooted in the soil" What makes a town great? What makes a place iconic and special? The Art House is an exploration of these questions, focusing on the art of living. It seeks to present an arc of creativity unique to New Canaan, CT, and how we might develop this creativity going forward.

In 1907, sculptor Solon Borglum moved to the Silvermine area of New Canaan, and sparked the creation of what became one of America’s most famous art colonies. His barn became the locus of a story about how we create greatness through our relationships. The “Knockers Club” attracted top-level artists to spirited gatherings critiquing each other’s work. But, behind the discipline of improving their craft was the energy of their playfulness and style of living life to its fullest. The rural character of the area made it the perfect playground for creative and personal exploration. These were artists engaged in all forms of media, sharing each other’s talents with a welcoming communal spirit.

A man and a woman admiring a photograph hung on a brick wall

People checking out the artwork in art house new canaan

We can trace this spirit to many qualities in New Canaan, CT, from the world famous modern house movement to having impromptu dances in the street. But, at its core was always the talent of generating creativity and community through very simple and resourceful means. The Art House seeks to reflect this core dynamic of generating life-well-lived through nature and simplicity.

About Art House

Over a six-month period about two dozen people worked at transforming the Post Office Garage Depot from a forgotten space into a celebrated place that allowed for imagination to flourish. This never would have been possible without the strong friendships and camaraderie of all the talented people who participated. Every dimension of this process required the care and creativity of our team as we re-envisioned the essence of this 1930’s building.

The exterior of the ARt House with mums and pumpkins

Woman laying out artwork in a gallery space

Two people kneeling on a floor inspecting artwork

Doug and Tedrowe show off their art hanging skills

Woman smiling in front of framed scraps of newspaper from the 1930

A banner hanging from the ceiling joist of the gallery

Three workers on ladders hanging stencils for painting

Quote on wall "the losing party would have to wheel the winning party down the street in wheelbarrows!"

Two men unfolding a large plastic sheet to protect a floor of a building

Opening the stencils for the wall quotes

A man and a woman on a ladder removing a paper stencil from a wall that has been lettered red

A white brick room with quotations from New Canaan's past stenciled in red letters on the wall

Close up of red words stenciled on a white brick wall in extreme perspective

The quote "Izzy's place became a town forum, attracting people from all walks of life. You'd go down to Izzys and find a lunch pail next to a briefcase"

Interior of a raw building space with the words "Oh, this sounds wonderful!" stencilled on the wall

Interior of a raw building space with the words "Reinvention requires creativity to adapt" stencilled on the wall

White brick wall with the quote "Hanging out in the courtyard behind Forest St. is the best." stencilled on the wall in red

Programs & Events

Popsicle stick architectural model of the New Canaan Post Office

March 14th 2013 Event

On March 14, 2013, the students from Jacek Bigosinski’s Norwalk Community College Art, Architecture + Design program presented their final design ideas for transforming the postal garage depot.

Our Kick-off Event

In the spirit of Solon Borglum’s barn, we launched The Art House project with our October 19th kick-off party. Held in the original 1930’s Post Office Garage Depot, our exhibition regenerated the feel of early twentieth century New Canaan using images, poetics, art, and even the building itself.

Thanks

What a wonderful crew Rubicon Seven, LLC and the Rubicon Seven Foundation, Inc. worked with on this project! To our partners/friends: Gracias, شكرا, Dziękuję, Grazie, शुक्रिया, hvala, אַ דאַנק, спасибо, Thank you! Especially:

The New Canaan Historical Society has worked tirelessly to bring to life the history of the town for this project, providing images and expertise. Specially, thank you to Janet Lindstrom and Vicki Ambrose for their guidance with research and their love for our project.

Norwalk Community College’s Art, Architecture + Design department, under Jacek Bigosinski, held a phenomenal display of their work at the kick-off event. We look forward to our partnership in designing the building and land into a place for artists to thrive.

Pirie Architects have been involved with Rubicon Seven, LLC for a number of years and will be involved with the design of building. Specially, thanks to Laura Turlington for her imagination and creativity with helping to conceive our exhibit.

Austin Ganim Landscaping
Caryn Kaufman Communications
Dinos Landscaping
Louis Painting
Marlin Electric
Nielson Carpentry
Pirie Associates Architects
Romeo Construction
Rosies