Looking at her winning entrant for the logo for the 2014 Newtown Arts festival, artist Julia Provey noted, “I looked around Newtown and, from my imagination, I saw a musician, a juggler, an artist and a dancer, and they were all Newtown.” Admittedly, the performers in her art are derivative of people she actually knows in Newtown, she added.

Ms Provey’s design has been selected from among those entered to Newtown Cultural Arts Commission’s Festival Artwork Selection Committee. Announced in October, the competition sought new, original art that illustrated the idea of  “Newtown Arts & Culture.”

A graduate of the prestigious High School of Music and Art in Manhattan (now part of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts), Ms Provey went on to spend two years  at SUNY Purchase. She is a third generation artist.

“I had severe learning disabilities,” she said. “But art was something I was good at and it was something in which I could shine.”

Ms Provey is an artisan as well. A working artist, she does garden sculptures, snow sculptures and fabric art. Her dolls are whimsical, more meant to be seen and appreciated than aggressively loved. She is a textile artist and accepts commissions for portraits, having just completed one for a wedding gift.

Her biggest concern right now is the environment. Hoping to leave a small footprint, she recycles and up cycles, planting an extensive garden.

Part of her enticing home is three cats, three bunnies and a fish, Finn, that was obtained at the St. Rise Carnival and has “tripled in size.” The cats are Lucy and Rocky, rescued from a litter of barn cats. The bunnies, Neverland Dwarves, have been banished to a pen after having tried to burrow beneath the house.

Ms Provey’s husband, Vince, is a well known musician in the area, currently playing with Outfunked along with solo gigs. The Proveys have three children: Olivia, who is earning her undergraduate degree in printmaking; Will, 21, a tree climber with CT Arborist; and Eva, who is at the middle school and, like her Mom, into nature.

Ms Provey’s winning image will be used to promote the 2014 Newtown Arts Festival and will appear in businesses and public spaces around Newtown and surrounding towns.

The image will also be printed on T-shirts, posters, and other items that will be available for purchase at this year’s arts festival. Events are being planned for September 6-14, culminating in a two-day outdoor festival at Fairfield Hills, September 13-14.

In addition to having her work selected to serve as this year’s arts festival logo, Ms Provey also received a $750 prize from the arts commission.