Sentimenti, a secondhand antique and vintage shop which doubles as a local artisan boutique, celebrated spring by featuring artwork made by Newtown High School (NHS) students in its display window.

From mid-April until early May, a piece made by NHS juniors and National Art Honor Society (NAHS) members Eileen Celli and Caroline Kaufmann adorned the right of Sentimenti's public exhibition space.

The piece depicts the historic local meadow Ram Pasture. It features a field of green grass, lush bushes and trees, a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds, colorful flowers, a bubblegum pink Vespa scooter, and the location's signature white and gold sign.

Celli and Kaufmann's piece was only the first under this season's theme, "Newtown in Bloom." However, this is not the first time Sentimenti has featured the work of local artists.

Sentimenti co-owner Sandra Rasmussen had three young artists create pieces for Sentimenti's public exhibition space last July. Celli and Violet Assante-LaBash had acrylic paintings in Sentimenti's western windows, while Alli Holden had a chalk illustration covering the store's southern wall.

Rasmussen hoped it would be the start of an ongoing display that changed seasonally.

This effort aligns with Rasmussen's vision from the moment Sentimenti opened: to create a space that was "more than just a shop." She wanted to create a space that could be an integral part of the community and, in turn, the community could feel a part of.

Rasmussen said she started by carving out space in the shop where local artists could share their artistic talent and passion. This way, they could reach a customer base on a more regular basis versus solely through sporadic craft shows or the internet.

Rasmussen, who has always been drawn to buildings with art on them, felt inspired by Wynwood Walls in Miami. According to its website, Wynwood Walls started as a visionary concept back in 2009 and has since grown into a globally recognized museum dedicated to street art.

"I saw how that community had turned the outside of otherwise 'boring' buildings into engaging pieces of art and I wanted to try to do the same for Sentimenti," Rasmussen said.

Her goal is to have the window displays be seasonal and to change three to four times a year. Rasmussen also plans to engage the community with other projects, whether it is designing an outside "Free Library" for people to share and swap books or inviting customers to paint on a canvas for a Newtown-themed holiday landscape.

Greener Pastures

Rasmussen said her daughter, Danika, who graduated from NHS in 2019 and went on to get degrees in both astrophysics and fine art, had her artistic talent cultivated during her Newtown education.

Rasmussen always loved when her daughter's artwork was shown and featured locally, and hoped to give current NHS students an open, public canvas where they could showcase their work.

So when it came to this season's theme of "Newtown in Bloom," Rasmussen wanted students to create pieces depicting recognizable places in Newtown.

Rasmussen contacted NHS art teacher Kymberly Noone about the opportunity. Celli, who worked on the first student art display at Sentimenti last year, was happy to create another piece for this spring.

Kaufmann got involved after Noone mentioned that Celli did an acrylic painting for Sentimenti last year. Since she drives by Sentimenti every day, Kaufmann thought it would be fun to have her own piece featured in the shop's display window. She also wanted to be involved in a lot of NAHS projects this year because of her leadership role as the group's president.

The two worked on the piece together, with Kaufmann coming up with Ram Pasture as their subject. She also came up with other design options, such as Fairfield Hills. However, Rasmussen really liked the Ram Pasture idea and encouraged them to add a "springy pop of color" to it. This was their inspiration for the pink Vespa in the foreground of the painting.

When asked if this is their typical media, Celli said that she works with acrylics so much that it is practically "all [she does]." She also does a lot of landscapes.

Kaufmann has worked on murals before and helped paint advertisements for the past two NHS spring musicals, Hello, Dolly! last year and Mamma Mia this year. However, Kaufmann had never tried window painting before working on the Sentimenti display.

"But that's also why I was glad that Eileen and I were doing it together, and I could get more comfortable with it," Kaufmann said.

She and Celli worked on the Sentimenti window piece for eight to ten hours in total over the course of three days. This is not counting the creative process of sketching and finalizing the painting's design, which Celli and Kaufmann talked about over several classes.

They spent the first of the three days working together, but had to work separately afterwards due to their conflicting schedules. Regardless, Celli and Kaufmann would work on the painting for several hours at a time after school. The girls would work outside in front of Sentimenti, either enjoying the sunny weather or dealing with chilly wind.

To Paint A Canvas

After hours of hard work between her and Kaufmann, Celli thought the finished piece came out great.

"This might be my favorite one that's been done so far," Celli said about the painting. "I love that it [depicts] a local place that actually exists. I think that's cool."

Kaufmann said working on the piece was very much a "trust the process" situation, because until the end, it looked really simple. She added that Celli put a lot of finishing touches on it since she worked on it last, making Ram Pasture come to life on the canvas.

When the painting was finished, Kaufmann was happy to see their work come together.

"I was proud of myself because it's nice when ... you actually have a physical product of your work. And then also having everyone else see that, I think that's also super cool," Kaufmann said.

Passersby or people shopping at Sentimenti would see Celli and Kaufmann as they worked and compliment their art.

"Some of the people going into Sentimenti would come out and then they'd say, 'Wow, it's looking great,' and I'd say, 'Oh my God, thank you so much,'" Celli said.

She added having that community support was "like an ego booster." Kaufmann said she was glad to work with Celli, considering she had never done anything like this before and, thus, did not feel like the responsibility was totally on her. Instead, they got to consult each other on what they thought was good, whether it was on a different color or scaling down an object's proportions.

Kaufmann said it helps to work with someone considering they each have their own individual strengths and weaknesses. Kaufmann did more of the initial base, while Celli did more of the landscape.

Working with someone else also means they each learned what techniques work well. Even Rasmussen got to try some new stuff, as Kaufmann said they put down latex paint so that way it would be easier to scrape off for the final product.

"You kind of learn new stuff every time you keep working on something ... it's a good, teachable moment, and it helps you be better," Kaufmann said.

"And then when people yell, when people roll down their windows and say nice stuff, I think that was really great. It shows that people appreciate the work that we're putting into it, and I think it just adds a nice touch of personality to the community," Kaufmann said.

As for Rasmussen, she said the community seems to love the display. Not only has she received positive feedback from customers, but she has also had people that have come in because they have seen the artwork from the street or from the Caraluzzi’s parking lot and wanted to see more art. Rasmussen said she hopes more local businesses consider creating their own outdoor artistic spaces.

Celli and Kaufmann's pierce marks the third series they have done at Sentimenti, according to Rasmussen. She said she is excited to keep the display going.

"I always knew we had talented, young artists in our community," Rasmussen said. "In addition to being talented, the students have all been mature, respectful, organized, committed and so much more. Not necessarily something I didn't know, but certainly something that our community should be proud of."

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.