Five Points Gallery
  • HOME
  • About
    • Mission & Goals
    • Connect with Us >
      • Rentals
      • Join E-List
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Awards and Recognition
    • Patrons & Grants
  • Donate
    • University Drive Expansion >
      • Expansion News
    • Sponsor
  • EXHIBITIONS
    • Current Exhibition
    • Upcoming Exhibits
    • Past Exhibitions >
      • 2019 >
        • Johnson, Hochberg, Menagerie
      • 2018 >
        • Still Life - Untethered
        • Julie Pereira & Paper Rock Scissors
        • Presence: Encounters with the Figure
        • Raimi Slater & No Man's Land
        • Joseph Saccio, All Things Natural
        • Rosenberg, Lavery, Pesonal identities
        • Grzyb, Hesse, Pinette
        • Kennedy, Maine, Newman
      • 2017 >
        • Figure This
        • Personal Territories, Prentice, LaMonica
        • Balco, Carrigan, Stengade
        • Hong, Rohlfing & Water, Water Everywhere
        • Branson, Tost, Viens & Waite
        • 2017 Juried Show
        • Mazzocca, Nazari, Werner
        • Lage, Scullion, Paolucci
        • Busby, Byrne & Stockamore
      • 2016 >
        • In and Of The Land Part II
        • ABSTRACTION Part !
        • Borawski/Lasar/Horne
        • NCCC 50th Anniversary
        • Moutoussamy-Ashe/ Walker/ Gilman
        • Gregson | Holzman | Rosen
        • Grossman | Colbert | FPG Incubator Artists
        • Howe | Kendra | Detrani
        • Dente, Shortell, McClean
      • 2015 >
        • Pendleton/Eddinger/Jenkins
        • Calafiore/Objects & Ideas
        • Giuntini,Lindroth,Knaus
        • La Motta, Sobel, Roosen
        • Funt, Incandela
        • Mandrile/Jaffee/Shapiro
        • Both One and Another | Juried Show
        • Berg, Gort, Gregg
        • Bracken/Packer+Lauretano/Starcevic
        • Leger/Danzinger/Freidman
      • 2014 >
        • Danielle Mailer / Cut & Paste
        • In & of the Land
        • Ati Maier, George Cochrane & Jim Lee
        • Power Boothe & Joe Fig
        • DeMonte, McGowin & Shutan
        • Donovan / Quadland / Feder
        • Myers / Shpanin / Singh / Wallengren
        • Finnegan/Evans/Caldwell
        • Bock / Bramble / deNeergaard / Myers / Thorpe
        • Gulino / Scoville / Perdue
      • 2013 >
        • Looking Through a Glass, Darkly
        • Jennifer Sabella
        • John Willis
        • A Minor Selection...
        • Joy Wulke
        • Bill Gusky
        • Janet Slom
        • Jenni Freidman
        • Donna Forma
        • Jen Simms
        • Wayne Herpich
        • Emerging ARTists
      • 2012 >
        • Litchfield Hills
        • Emerging Artists
        • Infinite Connections
        • Feminine Nature
        • Hammer and Tongs
  • EVENTS
    • Current / Upcoming Events >
      • Five Points Annex: Small Works 2019
    • Past Events >
      • Annex: Draw-A-Thon 2
      • Juried Call: Small Works 2019
      • Art21 Screenings
      • Five Points Raffle
      • Art in the Orchards
      • Critique Day at FPG
      • Amanda Bakes
      • Deck The Halls Martini Tasting Party
      • Waterbury Symphony Orchestra
      • Katie Hyun: Maxwell Shepherd Concert
      • Art Heist 2017
      • DRAWING ON THE ARTS
      • "What Art Is...Not"
      • Launchpad Pop-Up
      • JURIED CALL 2017
      • An Art Dealer's Look on How to Collect
      • Art Heist 2016
      • Inside the Artist's Studio
      • Flute Meets Poem
      • World Wide Knit In Public Day
      • Presenting a Night of Art + Jazz2
      • Andy Warhol Screening
    • Public Art Projects >
      • TORRINGTON YARN BOMB >
        • April NEWSLETTER
        • Mar NEWSLETTER
        • Feb NEWSLETTER
        • Dec NEWSLETTER
        • Nov NEWSLETTER
    • Artist Talks: Video Archive >
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
    • FPG Lecture Series >
      • Overview
      • Past Lectures >
        • Laurie Simmons 2018 (video)
        • Henry Adams 2017 (video)
        • Alexander S. C. Rower 2016
        • Agnes Gund 2016
        • Past Lectures (Temkin Article)
    • News
  • Launchpad
    • About the Launchpad
  • Annex Gallery
    • About the Annex Gallery
    • Current Exhibitions/Events >
      • Five Points Annex: Small Works 2019
    • Upcoming Exhibitions/Events
    • Past Exhibitions/Events >
      • 2019 >
        • Desmond Horsfield
        • In-Sight
        • Annex: Draw-A-Thon 2
      • 2018 >
        • Holiday Sale
        • Starlight: Astronomy Meets Art
        • Shared Visions
        • Convergent Paths
        • Shape & Texture: Brian Smith
        • Theory
        • Jacobs & Ozga: Dreamland, USA
        • Work(s) In Process
        • FP Annex: Landau & Palmer
        • FP Annex: Ian James Roche
        • FP Annex: Creative Affinity
        • FP Annex: Charisma Uniqueness Nerve And Talent
        • FP Annex: Bradford McDougall
        • Annex: Draw-A-Thon Community Event
        • FP Annex: Santa Fe Art 1982 - 2002
    • Annex Exhibition Schedule 2018/19
    • Rental Information
  • Education & Outreach
    • Highlander Transition Academy
    • Nutmeg Ballet Student Outreach
    • Portfolio Day 2017
    • Past Programs >
      • FPG Nutmeg Drawing Workshop
      • FPG Incubator Studio
  • Visit
    • Eat
    • Location & Hours
    • Floor Plan
  • Artist Submissions

Five Pointed Star 

10/25/2013

0 Comments

 
PictureNorth Gallery
Reprinted from Litchfield Magazine 
Nov/Dec 2013
by Joseph Montebello

The renaissance that people keep hoping will occur in Torrington may have finally gotten a jumpstart with Five Points Gallery. At the corner of Water Street and Main Street—where there is a five-point traffic circle—director Judith McElhone is making great strides with her coterie of artists.

McElhone, herself an artist since the age of ten, understands artists and their needs. “My mother felt I was too young for oils and that watercolors would be better and safer,” she says. “My father, however, agreed with me, and so I got my first set of oil paints.”

She thought she would go on to art school, but her parents thought that an impractical route for a girl to take. After marrying and having children, she got back on her original track—earning a BFA and an MFA from the University of Hartford. She went on to have exhibitions in New York and across the country.

McElhone now has a studio above the gallery. “I started out in a building on Main Street that was eventually sold. I moved to a new space on Litchfield Street, but when my landlady died, I had to move again. By that time, Downtown Torrington Partners had bought nine buildings that border Main and Water Streets, and I took a studio space upstairs in the corner building,” she says.

Shortly after McElhone moved into her space, she received a request to consult with the Arts and Culture Commission of Torrington. At the time, the gallery she lived above was called Art Space, where artists could exhibit for the summer.  McElhone felt the call for artists was not effective, so she rewrote the prospectus.  “I wanted to get the best possible people, and to do that you need to show what you can offer the artist.”

Although the gallery has only been open a few months, the buzz around it is stretching beyond the borders of Litchfield County. While there are many fine galleries in the Northwest Corner, Five Points is unique in that it not only exhibits art, but also offers lectures, book signings, and receptions to introduce the artists to their fans.

“We want to reach out to the whole community and outlying areas so people can learn more about contemporary art,” says McElhone. “Contemporary art is about challenging assumptions about the world and ourselves.”

As part of its lecture series, the gallery recently hosted Ann Temkin, chief curator of painting and sculpture for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Temkin, a Torrington native, delivered a talk on “The 21st Century Artist” to over 200 guests.

Supported in part by the Torrington Downtown Partners and the Arts and Culture Commission of Torrington, the nonprofit gallery is, according to its mission, “committed to the exhibition of high-caliber contemporary art of emerging and established local and national artists.” The first few shows were difficult since the idea of quality art and Torrington seemed incongruous. “I now have a waiting list a mile long of artists wanting to show,” says McElhone.

“While I don’t do many studio visits, we have a website where people can submit their art. I always look at the art first, then the résumé, and then the statement. Some artists may not have the greatest résumés, but the art speaks volumes.”

The gallery space affords floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides. While major repairs include new furnaces, roofing, and new plumbing, the original subway-tile floor remains. “The building is still a work in progress, but we’ve now broken through to the adjacent building, which doubles our gallery space,” McElhone says.

With plans underway for a group show at the end of the year, McElhone is also working with UConn Torrington to partner with the gallery and incorporate the school’s art program by offering internships and exhibition space.

“Everyone is excited about what’s happening,” says McElhone. “We are getting some great press and people beyond our community are hearing about us. It’s just a question of time before we have not only a renowned and respected gallery but new businesses that will bring new people to this great town.”
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2018
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Guest Bloggers
    Magazine Articles
    Newspaper Articles

    RSS Feed



Five Points Center for the Visual Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

© COPYRIGHT 2018 FIVE POINTS GALLERY

​
Join our Email List

Enter E-Mail Address