What happens to an artist’s work after they die? For many, their life’s creations fall into the hands of those unable to properly preserve it, and in far too many cases the items are thrown out, leaving no legacy for the artist.

With such a sad plight in the art community, River Art Museum Inc in Newtown was created to preserve the works of contemporary artists and celebrate them whether or not they are alive to see it.

River Art Museum Secretary/General Assistant Frederika “Fredi” Leet explained, “America has a wealth of artists who don’t get recognized for their work. Often these artists struggle to have their creations survive. Upon their death, their families inherit this burden. All too often, it becomes a losing battle ending in the complete disappearance of the artist’s achievements.”

Leet’s brother, Glen River, is a Newtown resident who founded River Art Museum as a nonprofit organization in 2018.

“He has such a passion for saving artwork,” Leet said. “There are so many good artists, and their work is just lost, and people never know about them.”

She later added, “Having personally experienced the loss of much of his artistic body of work through fire, flood, and building collapse, he realized that all artists struggle to have their creations survive.”

With the help of volunteers, including former Newtown resident Faith Vicinanza, who now lives in neighboring Southbury, and Bridgeport resident Gus Moran, River Art Museum has been able to document, catalog, and preserve individual artists’ collections in temporary safe storage facilities.

“Providing climate-controlled storage for endangered art is a vital contribution supporting the heart of our mission. We are delighted that individuals like Faith step up to help out,” Leet said.

The nonprofit group currently does not have a brick and mortar location and is on the search for establishing or acquiring a permanent site to meet its unique requirements.

“Right now, that is our main need. We need a climate-controlled building of some sort. Ideally, we would like to have climate-controlled storage space. All the collected works would be in storage, but packed in a way that whether they are boxed or crated, all are computer coded and ready, so you can send it anywhere in the world if you wanted to have a show,” Leet said.

Additionally, River Art Museum hopes to have a display area where local artists can make presentations and host community events.

Volunteers Needed

Another important need for River Art Museum is more volunteers.

Leet says they would appreciate help with promoting the nonprofit, filming, and advocating for an actual building facility.

Leet shared, “We are happy to be part of the Newtown Nonprofit network. It is great to see so many people contributing to the community.”

River Art Museum is also looking to connect with more artists to help preserve and promote their work.

“We would love to get more local artists involved,” Leet said.

So far, River Art Museum has preserved the works of a variety of artists from Connecticut and New York, including River, Tom Scippa, and Lisa Daugherty. Their work can be viewed on the nonprofit’s website.

“Also at our website, we include instructions with lists of tools so that artists or collection owners may catalog their art themselves. At the website, anyone can fill out a simple form suggesting an artist we should look at, whose work may be at risk,” Leet said.

For those interested in volunteering, donating, or becoming involved as an artist with River Art Museum, visit riverartmuseum.org.

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Reporter Alissa Silber can be reached at alissa@thebee.com.