‘Art About Town’

On View In Special Events Room

Of Sandy Hook Restaurant

 

By Shannon Hicks

The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN) is presenting the third show in its new series of exhibitions called “Art About Town.”

Rosemary Rau, Marianne Scanlon, and Virginia Zic spent a few hours at The Stone River Grille in Sandy Hook on Monday, receiving and then hanging the 26 works in the new show, which will remain on view in the third floor special events room of the restaurant until March 31.

Art by five members of the artists’ group — Pam Danneman, Adele Moros, Margaret Moss, Glen River, and Roberta Shea — have been hung on the second floor of Stone River Grille. Non-diners are welcome, restaurant owner Gary Seri said on January 30, to visit the show any time the restaurant is open.

The exhibition features a cross-section of styles and mediums, from the oils and watercolors of landscapes by Ms Moros and oils and watercolors of landscapes and still life by Ms Danneman to oil paintings by Ms Shea and mixed media works of Mr Glen. Ms Moss has contributed a collage, called “Strange Wanderings,” which has been hung in the entryway just outside the main entrance of the special events room.

SCAN will host an opening reception for “Art About Town: Stone River Grille” on Sunday, February 12, from 2 to 4 pm.

Mr Seri announced this week that the commissions that come from the sale of any works from this show will be donated to FAITH Food Pantry.

In addition to its “Art About Town” series — previously offered at Sal e Pepe Restaurant and Avancé Esthétiques —  SCAN regularly presents one-artist shows in the outer office of the First Selectman’s Office at Newtown Municipal Center. Two more “Art About Town” shows are already being planned.

The Hawley Warner Room

Constructed circa 1857, The Red Brick Store building at 1 Glen Road in Sandy Hook is the oldest commercial building in Newtown. It served for decades as a grocery and general store, before being used for a short time as an office space and political headquarters and then transformed into a restaurant space.

The first floor of the building today serves as the main dining room and a pub area for The Stone River Grille. The upstairs room is being used as a special events room, Mr Seri said this week, for everything from private parties and dinner theater to evenings of jazz or comedy and now its newest offering, an exhibition space. The large counter butcher block from a previous life of the store is now a prominent feature in the special events room.

During the opening reception of “Art About Town” on February 12, Mr Seri plans for formally dedicate the special events room as The Hawley Warner Room, honoring the man who was the sole proprietor for the last 30 years that The Red Brick General Store (formally known as H.G. Warner and Company) was in business. Mr Warner retired in May 1978, and the building was sold out of the Hawley family later that year.

“We do special events up here, and I have long thought it would be nice to have an official name for this space,” Mr Seri said Monday afternoon. “I really want to fill this big, important space in Sandy Hook with regular events.

“This building is so beautiful,” he continued. The restaurant overlooks the Pootatuck River, which runs along the west side of the historic building. “I mean, this would be a beautiful building anywhere in the United States. But to have it on the banks of the river? You can’t beat that.”