Candlelight Opening at Farmington Valley Arts Center

For the 24th year, the Farmington Valley Arts Center and its resident studio artists welcome art admirers, collectors and sophisticated shoppers to a free Candlelight Opening on Friday, November 2 from 6-9 p.m. Visitors will enjoy live music, complimentary refreshments, twenty open artist studios, and art for sale in two galleries. Guests who follow the luminary-lit paths and walkways at this haven for artistic happenings will discover a variety of thoughtfully handmade products and have the opportunity to meet talented and inventive artists.

Visitors are invited to browse, shop and assemble their own holiday wish lists as they explore the selection of unique hand-crafted items displayed in the Arts Center's two galleries and more than twenty artist studios. Sister Sound, an a cappella women's singing group, will perform songs from a variety of spiritual traditions throughout the evening.

"Consider Your Spirit" is the theme for this year's Candlelight Opening, as well as for the collection of handmade gifts and fine art for the holidays that runs through December 24 in the FVAC's Fisher Gallery. All works are for sale and are priced from the accessible to the decidedly upscale. Most are one-of-a-kind pieces destined to become treasured possessions for purchasers and gift recipients. Holiday shopping hours at the Fisher Gallery are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Thursdays until 8 p.m.), and Sundays from noon-5 p.m.

The Candlelight Opening will also mark the debut of a new show in the Arts Center's Esther B. Drezner Visitor's Gallery. "Winter Time" will feature works reflecting the environmental changes and quieter, more reflective period that accompany the onset of the winter season. Visitor's Gallery holiday shopping hours are Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

More than twenty artists will open their studio doors to the public during the Candlelight Opening and during an Open Studios Weekend that follows on Saturday and Sunday, November 3-4 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Among them, visitors will meet husband and wife team Roxy and Tyler Wells, who fashion hand-woven garments; jeweler Emilie Cohen, who creates woven jewelry designs in silver and other metals; and Rosalie Lee, who will exhibit her wearable, painted silks. Items will be on sale in each artist's studio throughout the weekend.

The Farmington Valley Arts Center is located at 25 Arts Center Lane in Avon Park North, Avon. From Route 44, turn onto Ensign Drive, and Arts Center Lane is the second left. Parking is free. For more info call 860-678-1867.