CT: Real Art Ways Celebrates 35 Years At Creative Cocktail Hour

From Blogs.courant.com (Hartford, CT): Real Art Ways Celebrates 35 Years At Creative Cocktail Hour
It was the best of what Real Art Ways has provided to the Hartford area and beyond over the past 35 years...out-of-the-box, thought-provoking art, theater and music, food, drink and entertainment and a happy hour that attracts one of the most eclectic crowds around.

But Thursday's RAW's monthly Creative Cocktail Party was bigger than usual because it also served as the launch for the art collaborative's 35th anniversary.

" I started coming here 10 years ago, " said Sondra Celle, a West Hartford resident who remembered when she first came with friends who told her about an unusual happy hour in town. "I came because it is where my friends came, and honestly, what I find interesting is that even 10 years later I fit in because the crowd is made up of all kinds of people, young, old, professionals, students. "It's timeless."

"I kind of ended up getting dragged here," explained Middletown resident John Lamb who was with his girlfriend, Maria Pelletier of Windsor. "I come often," said Pelletier about the center known for its blend of mainstream and alternative art offerings that include theater, dance, music and visual arts. "So when he started dating me, he came too."

Besides the monthly party and the anniversary celebration, one of the big draws was the "Street Alchemy" exhibit by "Poster Boy," the pen name for artist, Henry Matyjewicz.

"It's not just me, it is several of us," said the camera-shy but very polite "Poster Boy" about his art he says is made in collaboration with several other artists who were also at the party. The exhibit landed on RAW's doorstep after Trinity College canceled the show because stolen materials are used in Matyjewicz's billboard-like montages that underscore social issues.

"I'm not surprised in the interest in my work," said the soft-spoken Matyjewicz. "The work is so timely."

"It is hard to say whether using stolen items is justified given what he is doing with them," said Kim Silverman, a Hartford court reporter who came with friends. "I think the social message, the controversy and the mystery of the artwork is part of its appeal."