Sandy Hook Art Gallery Is Changing Name, Adding Artists

By Shannon Hicks

A fine art show featuring the work of six painters and one sculptor will coincide with the holiday gala opening of River Glen Fine Arts Gallery, formerly Grey Horse Gallery, in Sandy Hook. The gallery is at 3 Washington Avenue (Route 34), in the Masonic Temple in the center of Sandy Hook.

The public is invited to the formal opening on Saturday, December 11, from 1 to 4 pm. (Snow date is December 18.)

Paintings in pastel, oil, and watercolor by Rainie Crawford, Frank Federico, Leslie Lillien Levy, Dick McEvoy, Alain Picard, and Peter Seltzer will be exhibited, as will sculpture by Sterett-Gittings Kelsey.

The change in name and management of River Glen Fine Arts Gallery arrives at a time when other exciting changes are happening in Sandy Hook.

“With the addition of the farmers’ market, The Mocha House, The Red Brick Tavern, etc, we are bringing our own innovation and creative spark to [the former] Grey Horse Gallery,” said Daryl Ifkovic, who created Grey Horse Gallery when she purchased the former Sandy Hook Post Office building in 1981. “Building on the success we have had in featuring the artwork of Newtown artist Dick McEvoy, we will be keeping that focus but expanding to include a consortium of other talented Connecticut artists.

“Their work will cover landscape, still life and figure/commissioned portraiture. We envision several mediums and a wide range of styles and idea,” she added.

The gallery has been spruced up with brighter lighting and more space for visitors. The Masons are also working on the building’s exterior in preparation for their upcoming centennial celebrations in 2005.

Mrs Ifkovic will continue to run Grey Horse Framing out of the current gallery space, in the Masonic Temple on Washington Avenue — across the street from the former post office building (and the gallery’s original location). Mrs Ifkovic will be available for framing appointments and gallery visitors on Tuesday afternoons from noon until 4 pm.

“After 31 years [including framing work to the opening of Grey Horse Gallery] I didn’t want this full-time anymore,” Mrs Ifkovic explained last week. “It’s been a beautiful experience, and I didn’t want the gallery to fall into the wrong hands, or worse, to fall apart.

“The best part, for me, is that after 31 years I’m not letting down my regular customers.”

Grey Horse Gallery originally opened in 1981, when Daryl Ifkovic purchased the former Sandy Hook Post Office building at 2 Washington Avenue and turned the space into an art gallery. In January 1998 Ms Ifkovic moved the gallery across the street, into the first floor space of the Masonic Temple. For the past few years the gallery has exclusively presented paintings by the Newtown artist Dick McEvoy.

All of Mrs Ifkovic’s framing samples will remain at the gallery, and visitors will be able to look at them on Tuesdays or by request.

When she began thinking about shifting Grey Horse’s focus from framing and art to an art gallery, Mrs Ifkovic began meeting with potential buyers for the gallery space. One potential buyer had been looking and talking about purchasing the gallery, but when that deal fell through Mrs Ifkovic turned to Mr McEvoy for some ideas.

“With all of his contacts, I figured it would be easy to find someone who would love this place,” she said.

So Mr McEvoy stepped in with four quiet partners who have taken on the financial obligations of River Glen Fine Arts Gallery. Mr McEvoy’s work will continue to be presented, but six additional artists are also being represented in the gallery’s first group exhibition.

“These artists will be here for the first show, and for the foreseeable future,” said Mr McEvoy. “These are big artists. Three — Rainie Crawford, Frank Federico, and Peter Seltzer — are master pastelists; Rainie, Frank, and Sterett-Gittings Kelsey have museum representation; and the portrait artists Leslie Lillien Levy, Alain Picard, and Peter are available for commissions.

“All seven of the artists have won awards in national shows,” he said.

Mr McEvoy is right in the same league as the artists with whom he will now be sharing space. He is a signature artist member of Connecticut Pastel Society and Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod; he is also the current president of the Connecticut group.

His work, primarily impressionist landscapes in pastel and oil, is featured in more than 150 private and corporate collections. He was invited to exhibit in the 2003 Biennale Internationale dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy, a ten-day exhibition of works by nearly 900 artists from 72 countries.

Rainie Crawford has won many awards and is a member of several prominent groups. Her abstracts and still lifes are in a number of private collections and in the permanent collections of two museums.

She is a master pastelist whose works have been shown in national juried shows at National Arts Club and Salmagundi Club in New York City. Her works have also been presented in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey presentations.

One of her paintings is included in “The Allied Artists of America 91st Annual Exhibition: An Invitational,” a major traveling exhibition that opened in March 2003 and will continue to tour the country until August 2005.

Frank Federico is a master figure, landscape, mural, and portrait painter whose work has been exhibited in such major venues as Brockton Museum of Art in Boston and The National Gallery of Tokyo. His work is also featured in corporate collections of IBM and Gulf Oil.

He is a highly sought-after workshop teacher who has inspired students from Maine to Florida; one of his most recent local workshops was this past July, when he offered a pastel landscape demonstration for Candlewood League of Artists in New Fairfield. He is also a popular guest artist for The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN), for whom he has presented programs a number of times.

Leslie Lillien Levy of Kent is an award-winning painter who specializes in still life and portraiture, although she also does landscapes. She works in oils and pastels, in a representational style.

She has exhibited widely in nationally juried exhibitions and museum shows, and in gallery invitationals. She is active in a number of art organizations.

Peter Seltzer’s formal training was over the course of six consecutive summers spent under the tutelage of the celebrated portrait artist Daniel E. Greene.

Mr Seltzer’s oils and pastels are exhibited regularly in New York City and throughout the Northeast. He has been featured at New Britain Museum of American Art, The National Academy of Design, Butler Institute of American Art, and National Arts Club.

A master pastelist and a member of Allied Artists of America, Mr Seltzer has received numerous awards including the Dianne B. Bernhard Gold Medal and first place for still life in 2004 Pastel 100, a national competition.

Alain Picard is a fine artist and portrait painter who lives in Bethel. His primary mediums are pastel and oil; the gallery is currently presenting a portrait called “Daydreaming” and a beautiful new landscape of a girl in Ram Pasture.

His work has been featured in The Artist’s Magazine and The Pastel Journal, and he has won top awards throughout the Northeast including honors from Pastel Society of America, Hudson Valley Art Association, Kent Art Association, and Connecticut Pastel Society. Mr Picard holds signature member status in CPS.

Sterett-Gittings Kelsey works primarily in bronze with figures ranging from three inches to 14 feet tall. Her bronzes are owned by collectors around the world, and can be found in more than 300 private, public, and corporate collections.

“Her work is just incredible,” Mr McEvoy said. “People at Balanchine have looked at her work and say there’s no one better doing this kind of sculpture today.”

The gallery is currently presenting a few small-scale ballet sculptures by Ms Kelsey.

“We wanted to have one of her full-size sculptures in here but we couldn’t fit it through the door,” Mr McEvoy explained. Visitors can look at many of Ms Kelsey’s works in a portfolio the gallery will make available for all guests. Each artist will be represented with works on view and a full portfolio of additional photos and biographical information, in fact.

All seven are Connecticut-based artists.

“We didn’t try for that on purpose, but it’s neat that it worked out that way,” said Mr McEvoy. Most of the artists are planning to attend next weekend’s opening celebration.

River Glen Fine Arts will host three to four shows annually.

“What we may do is have one area with featured artists and the remaining walls with the core artists,” said Mr McEvoy. “It’ll all be up to the gallery director.”

Longtime Newtown resident Carol Garbarino is the new gallery director for River Glen Fine Arts.

Mrs Garbarino has done a lot of volunteer work in town with one of the garden clubs, as well as a lot of volunteer time for the public schools. She also spent ten years working on restoration projects in Hudson Valley including projects at Van Cortlandt Manor, Philipsburg Manor, and Sunnyside. She and her husband, Bill, were married at Sunnyside 25 years ago.

“I was surrounded by art and antiques and have always loved it,” Mrs Garbarino said. “Our kids are out of the nest now, so when I heard about this opening I made the decision quickly, with no reservations.”

River Glen Fine Arts Gallery will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm, Tuesdays from noon until 4 pm, and Thursdays from 7 until 9 pm. Brochures are being printed with gallery and artist information, and will be available at the gallery and at a few locations around town in the near future, including the front offices of The Newtown Bee.

In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, River Glen Fine Arts Gallery will donate ten percent of all sales between December 11 and December 25 to Family Counseling Center and Newtown Scholarship Association.

“It is extremely rewarding and thrilling to be a part of Sandy Hook’s growing appeal as a gathering place and creative destination,” said Mrs Ifkovic. “I am proud to continue to support and contribute to our vital artistic community.”