Ball & Socket Arts Launches Capital Campaign

CHESHIRE ARTS GROUP PLANS GROUND BREAKING IN 2018

After three years of preparation, Ball & Socket Arts is gearing up to break ground on the first phase of its ambitious plan to create a multi-disciplinary arts and community center on West Main Street in Cheshire. The group will launch Bricks & Glass, a $2 million capital campaign, with a community celebration at the Waverly Inn in Cheshire on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 7:00 PM.

Two buildings on the site’s West Main Street frontage will be restored as part of Phase 1. They will house an art gallery, meeting space, co-work and studio spaces, and commercial tenants. In addition, the façade and windows of the iconic executive office building will be restored. Construction of Phase 1 is expected to begin in the spring of 2018 for an anticipated opening later in the year. Phase 2 will complete the rehabilitation of the historic buildings, housing art galleries, performance spaces, studios, retail shops, dining establishments and possibly a microbrewery.

“The Cheshire community is pulling together to build Phase 1 and kick-start the project. We know we’ll need a wider pool of supporters and funders from across the region and the state to get to the ultimate finishing line. If the people of Cheshire can make Phase 1 happen, it sends a huge message that the local community is truly behind to the project,” says Jeffrey Guimond, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Ball & Socket Arts with partners Ilona Somogyi and Kevin Daly.

The launch event, called the Rock-It Socket Launch Party, will bring together new supporters and those that are already working hard to advance the project. “We want to thank the many wonderful people who have helped us get to this important milestone, welcome new supporters into the family and celebrate what’s coming alive on West Main Street, with a rocking night out,” says Ilona Somogyi. “We will give an update on the project and introduce a special fundraising initiative for the capital campaign which will give many people an opportunity to put their names on the building.”

The event will feature live music by the Big Fat Combo and the Johnny I. Band, an auction of the artwork donated during the summer’s Plein Air at Ball & Socket events, refreshments, and more. The Connecticut Community Foundation is generously offering a challenge matching grant for the evening. Advance purchase tickets are $25, available at www.ballandsocket.org.

Concurrently, in preparation for Phase 2, Ball & Socket will undertake hazardous materials abatement and environmental remediation in the main buildings. Abatement work is slated to begin within the year under a $750,000 grant from the CT Department of Economic and Community Development to the Town of Cheshire. Preparations for remediation have progressed aggressively and cleanup of legacy contamination at the site will enter a fully active phase during Phase 1 construction.

Since purchasing the site in 2014, the group and also been presenting art events for the community. Most recently, Ball & Socket Arts presented Manic Episode 5, an exhibition curated by Kevin Daly, at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven. The show included Ball & Socket’s own group photo show “Capturing the Before,” which features images of the site right after the property was purchased. This summer, the group offered several events at the site including the West Main Art Market, four Plein Air sessions, and yoga classes with Jen Heseltine. Two summers ago, Ball & Socket built Art Garage across the street from the factory, a contemporary pop-up art gallery, which presented four distinct shows, hosted concerts and readings and culminated in a fundraising art auction called Garage Sale.

Currently on view at the site, “The Windows Project” is Ball & Socket’s most ambitious art project to date, and the largest public art project in Cheshire history. Illuminating over forty boarded up windows on the building that will house Phase 1 with pieces by Cheshire artists, each facade of the building presents a different angle on local artists. The West Main Street façade features a mural project designed by well-known muralist and Cheshire resident, Tony Falcone assisted by his volunteer Art Squad. The Willow Street façade presents the work of Cheshire artists of the past, including a 20 window reproduction of “Sunset over Lake George,” a painting by John Frederick Kensett, world famous Cheshire-born artist whose 200th birthday was celebrated in 2016. The inner court façade displays a juried selection of art created by contemporary local artists, both professional and amateur whose ages range from six to eighty. The Windows Project was unveiled to the community in 2016 to a great crowd with a day-long festival of music and food.

Ball & Socket Arts was founded in 2011, only months after the property was listed for sale. Financial leadership from the State of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development and pioneering donors allowed the organization to purchase the site in 2014. A plan for the site’s development has been completed as well as urgent repairs and environmental assesments. The group has also received funding from the CT Office of the Arts, the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the CT Trust for Historic Preservation, the CT Community Foundation and growing family of individual donors.

ROCK-IT SOCKET LAUNCH PARTY, Saturday, November 11, 2017, doors open at 7:00 PM, the Waverly Inn, 286 Maple Avenue, Cheshire, CT 06410, tickets and information at www.ballandsocket.org.