Faces of Norwalk
Norwalk 2.0’s groundbreaking FACES of Norwalk project produced a year of site-specific programming that fostered social and cultural vibrancy while energizing visitors with an interactive continuum of learning and creative engagement in Norwalk’s historic downtown.
FACES of Norwalk consisted of a series of arts events and street exhibits that evoked and synthesized the historic economic resonance of downtown Norwalk with a now catalyzed artistic hub within the district.
Pop-up arts and retail experiences placed creative expression into the heart of the district and helped forge ties from the new businesses located in the retail area with the larger community and its historical roots.
Inspired by the original WPA Federal Arts Program, Norwalk 2.0 commissioned Norwalk artists to develop new large-scale works about their version of everyday life in Norwalk.
The art works that currently hang in the Norwalk Public Library visually tell the stories of childhood summer fun in an urban neighborhood and family leaving a homeland in search of “The American Dream”.
JAHMANE
b. 1975 –
Project Summer, 2013
mixed media, acrylic on canvas
JAHMANE is a Norwalk artist and arts entrepreneur. His career as an artist began in the form of Graffiti, or “URBAN ART” and has evolved into a wide spectrum of mediums including works on canvas, photography, mural painting and graphic design. Through years of formal training and life experience as an “Artist of the People”, JAHMANE has developed a unique style that combines social awareness, spirituality, mythology and abstract language.
Duvian Montoya
b. 1975 –
Norwalk Migration, 2013
Oil on canvas
Duvian Montoya is a Norwalk artist whose work has been displayed in many different galleries and museums around the country and is collected all over the world. Duvian attended the School of Visual Arts, studied old masters in Europe and restored early nineteenth century lithographs for museums, galleries and private collectors. He has developed his own language of color and brush stroke that dominates his work today.
About the Project
Linking the past with the future, the project received funding support from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency (DECD Office of the Arts) as part of the Arts Catalyze Placemaking (ACP-3) Arts Leadership Implementation grant program.
Norwalk 2.0 is a not-for-profit arts and economic development organization. Its mission is to engage residents, businesses and community organizations to work together and create an authentic, creative, economically diverse and sustainable future.