Artists leap into ‘Let’s Dance’

The broad local constituency of residents who appreciate art and those who create it mingled at the highly anticipated opening of “Let’s Dance.”

The now traditional annual exhibit and sale invites local artists to show their works at the Sharon Historical Society Gallery. The festive opening was held Saturday, Feb. 17.

Historical society President Chris Robinson reported that 53 artists are participating in this year’s juried show that he recalled is now in its 10th year. Local artist Thomas Gibb served as judge, choosing top winners from among a variety of works using media ranging from the traditional oils, watercolors, photography, sculpture and quilting to the more contemporary works exploring digital photographic techniques.

About this year’s theme, “Let’s Dance,” board member Robert Lindgren said that artists were free to interpret the theme literally or expressively.

“I’m so excited. I did not expect it,” said Kent-based artist Mary Terrizzi, who arrived to find that her digital photographic work, “Isitshikitsha,” had earned the top prize. She noted that her immediate family are all involved in the arts, with daughter Naya Bricher excelling as both a painter and dancer, and husband Scott as a painter.

“I do experimental things,” Terrizzi said, with “Isitshikitsha” serving as an example. She works in printmaking and digital collage using Photoshop, collating many different images into one piece, layered on board.

“Digital collage has given me freedom to explore,” Terrizzi explained.

“When I heard the theme, I knew which one to submit,” said artist Scott Bricher, as he pointed out his work “Anti-Gravity,” depicting joyful dancers who seem to be suspended in air. The piece that began as a sketchbook doodle had earned an honorable mention. Bricher said that this work had been included in past showings at the New Britain Museum of Art and at the Silvermine Art Center in Norwalk.

“I like the fluidity of it,” Bricher said.

The exhibit in the historical society’s impressive gallery space coincides with the society’s exhibition of the curated collection of dance photographs by Frances Morehouse Kelsey. The present exhibit, the first in a series, captures the Sharon Dance School in the 1950s and 1960s.

The “Let’s Dance” gallery exhibit will continue through Friday, March 29. All exhibits are free and open to the public during historical society hours.