Open Studios – Spring 2024

Windsor Art Center Open Studios

Date: Saturday, May 11th 2024

Time: 10am-4pm

Location: 35 Central St. Windsor, CT 06095

Cost: FREE

The Windsor Art Center Studios hosts eight studio spaces which will be open to the public on Saturday, May 11th from 10am-4pm. Located at 35 Central St. in the center of historic Windsor, CT, Windsor Station was originally built in 1870 as the Hartford & New Haven Railroad Depot and rebuilt to its original Victorian architecture by the Town of Windsor, Amtrak and the Greater Hartford Transit District in 1988, the same year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Artists at Windsor Art Center Studios work in a variety of media and styles.

Studio artists include:

Cathy Doocy is a painter of contemporary landscapes. “In my work, the representation of a ‘landscape’ is not the final goal. Instead, I use the vernacular of landscape painting as a method for exploring composition and color. My work is about painting not landscape; about illusion not representation; about drawing not twigs and branches.”

Andres Chaparro is a mixed media painter and collagist whose bold and expressive art is a visual representation of jazz music. “I work without premeditation simply following the path that each painting sets forth for me. Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness.”

LeaAnn Cogswell is a representational sculptor, painter, and glass artist, whose main inspiration is drawn from the human figure.  She has received national awards for her works, including portrait busts, both human and animal.  She sculpts solid in terracotta, then hollows and fires her originals, often making molds for further casting in bronze.  She has taught Figure Modeling at the Hartford Art School since 2010.

Xarea Lockhart is an emerging clothing and accessories designer from Connecticut. Xarea hopes to use her work as a vehicle for love and representation for the black community. Xarea also aims to highlight sustainability, ethical production and craftsmanship with her pieces.

Amy Hoffman is a photographer and painter.  Her work is inspired by the beauty inherent in nature, exploring perspective and the forms and hues that change with passing seasons. “I enjoy seeking out the hidden complexities in the deceptive simplicity of our natural surroundings.”

Michelle Hawran (studio classroom teacher) is a painter of her own family history. “I have a fear of time, a fear of forgetting my family’s past. I use my work to transform that anxiety into moments of warmth. Not like fading memories of the past at all, but snapshots that capture the vibrancy of that exact moment, years ago.”

The former freight house, also restored, is located across the tracks and is the home of the Windsor Art Center. While travelers may still board trains for Springfield, Hartford and New York from the exterior platform, the updated interior provides space for artists to work and the opportunity to bounce creative ideas off other artists.

For more information, please call 860-688-2528 or email info@windsorartcenter.org.