Wilton Library’s December Art Exhibition Is A Newtown Family Affair

WILTON — “A Father-Daughter Collaboration” is the December art exhibition at Wilton Library. The artists’ opening reception for Ed MacEwen and Bonnie MacEwen Sailer will be Friday, December 3, from 6 to 8 pm, during the annual Wilton Holiday Walk.

The show features about 20 watercolors by Mr MacEwen along with fifteen box art pieces, more than sixteen pieces of ceramics and photography by Mrs Sailer, and a set of murals produced on which the two of them worked. Mrs Sailer is a resident of Newtown.

“As a part of her requirements for her masters in art education, Bonnie’s work has to be exhibited,” noted Mr MacEwen. “It came to me that her work combined with my paintings would be a rather eclectic show for the library. Working with my daughter is a joy – I couldn’t be more proud and pleased to do this show with her.” The exhibit is the first time the father-daughter team has shown together. According to Ed, “It represents a little of a lot of different art for us.”

The paintings by Mr MacEwen cover varied subjects ranging from sea to land in the form of marine themes to barns and houses. Mrs Sailer’s work represents recent pieces produced for her master’s degree classes. Together, father and daughter produced the murals that graced the stage for last spring’s Wilton Singers’ Caribbean Dinner concert, which will also be on exhibit at the library.

Mr MacEwen retired from his position at GTE Corporation as vice president, corporate communications and president of the GTE Foundation in 1996 to paint full time. His first one-man exhibit was at Wilton Library in 2000. He recently won Best of Category at the May show at Kent Art Association’s gallery and he received a second place award for one of his watercolors at the Spectrum Art Exhibition at The Carriage Barn Arts Center at Waveny in New Canaan.

He received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Carnegie-Mellon in 1960 and a master’s degree in communications from Fairfield University in 1984. He also has studied watercolor painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art and with Jim Minnicks, a past faculty member of Silvermine Guild

 For the past eight years, he has been the art chairman of the Wilton Library, responsible for selecting and hanging more than 80 exhibitions at the library. He is a past trustee of the library and still serves on the library’s building and interiors committees. He also is a member of Wilton Arts Council.

His stage design work also has been seen at Wilton Playshop and for the last twenty years at performances of The Wilton Singers, of which he is a founding member. He and his wife, Jan, recently moved to Weston after living in Wilton for 25 years.

Bonnie MacEwen Sailer has worked in private industry, consulted and worked as a freelance graphic designer and is now a full-time art teacher for grades 5–8 at Saxe Middle School in New Canaan. Her art interests range from ceramics, mixed media and painting to print media, modern art jewelry making and photography.

She received her bachelor of fine arts in studio art at Connecticut College. This exhibition marks the final stage of her requirements to receive her masters in art education at Southern Connecticut State University.

She also has studied at Cleveland Institute of Art’s Lacoste, France program, Brookfield Art Center in Norwalk, and Silvermine Guild of Art in New Canaan. She lives in Newtown with her husband Dan and their two children.

Most of the pieces in the show are available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library. The exhibit will remain on view until Wednesday, December 29.

Library hours are Monday and Friday from 10 am to 6 pm; Tuesday through Thursday, 10 am to 7 pm; Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; and Sunday, 1 to 5 pm. Wilton Library is in the heart of Wilton Center at 137 Old Ridgefield Road. For more information, call 203-762-3950.