A group of local artists plans to showcase contemporary art by offering a new annual arts festival next June.

Litchfield Visual Arts, Inc. will host the first Litchfield Festival of Art on June 4-6, said Pamela Stockamore, LVA president.  She announced the event at Tuesday’s meeting of the Litchfield Area Business Association.

The weekend festival will include events at local galleries, the Litchfield Historical Society, and the Litchfield Green. 

“We want this event to be a minor version of the Litchfield Hills Road Race, a little more sedate and subdued,” Stockamore said.  She predicted the festival would have a major impact on local businesses.

“This will bring in an entirely new demographic than other events in town,” she said.

LVA’s membership includes eight art galleries and about 30 artists and artisans in Litchfield.

The festival will kick off with a Friday gala at the historical society, which also will host a juried exhibit of contemporary art.

“The Litchfield History Society has never, to my knowledge, had an exhibit of contemporary art,” said Stockamore.  “So this is huge.”

Other events will include artists’ plein aire painting on the Litchfield Green and lectures on art topics at the historical society, she said.  LVA will sell ads for a festival guidebook.

Stockamore said she hopes the new event will increase Litchfield’s attraction as a cultural destination and replace the popular Litchfield Jazz Festival, which moved to Kent.

LVA also hopes to capture some of the market held by A Taste of Litchfield and the Litchfield Hills Harvest Festival, which were held at the former Haight Vineyard until new ownership and regulations forced a hiatus this year.

Data from the state Commission on Culture & Tourism shows the vineyard festivals were responsible for more than $1.8 million in annual local spending, $1.1 million in annual local personal income, and the creation of 23 jobs per year.
More information about Litchfield Visual Arts is available at http://www.lvart.org/ .

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