Cultural Events

SCAN Presenting Open Studio Painters Exhibition; Reception </p><p>Early Next Month

Published: Aug 01, 2026 8:00 am

The Society of Creative Arts in Newtown (SCAN) is presenting its annual Open Studio Painters exhibition.

The show features works by a group of dedicated painters who meet every Wednesday for open studio painting.

As part of this year’s exhibit, the Open Studio Painters are honoring one of their own, Lisa Willvonseder-Greto. The talented artist was instrumental in every SCAN activity for more than 25 years. She was also responsible for initiating the Open Studio Painters annual show.

Willvonseder-Greto died in June following a brief illness.

The Open Studio Painters exhibition is on view at Art and Frame, 77 Main Street, through September 26. The gallery and frame shop is open Monday through Saturday, 10 am-6 pm.

An artist’s reception is planned for Saturday, August 8, 4 to 6 pm.

“Still Life Oil” by the late Lisa Willvonseder-Greto, who initiated the SCAN Open Studio Painters annual show and is being remembered during this year’s annual exhibition.

SCAN Presenting Open Studio Painters Exhibition; Reception

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Bruce, welcome to the conversation. Your recent statement after the storm — admitting that you should have communicated “faster, more completely, and more personally” — was fine as far as it went. But this is not just about one storm. It is about a pattern. You ran on openness, responsiveness, and transparency, even saying that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government.” The problem is that Newtown residents have been dealing with exactly that silence from you since you were elected. Newtown’s Emergency Management page says the town, together with the Office of the First Selectman, provides “critical public information and warning” during emergencies. The town also rolled out CodeRED cellphone registration on March 24, 2022 so residents could receive emergency information directly. So where were you when police were searching for missing 23-year-old Kateri Doty in January? Where were you during the brush fires near the Newtown town line in April? Where were you on April 22, when state police and Newtown police were searching for two people who fled an I-84 crash and a canine search moved into the Church Hill Road area? Residents should not be hearing about a missing person, wildfire conditions, or police tracking dogs moving through backyards from Facebook, neighbors, or kids in town. They should be hearing from their town government. This is not really about whether you personally press the CodeRED button. Or how many task forces you have created. It is about leadership. You are the First Selectman. You are responsible for making sure the town communicates clearly, quickly, and visibly when public safety is involved. So yes, it is nice that you have finally acknowledged the problem. But the public did not need this storm to figure it out. We have been saying it for a long time. Bruce, you were missing when the town needed to hear from you. The question now is whether this storm finally woke you up, or whether this is just another late apology followed by more silence.

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SCAN Presenting Open Studio Painters Exhibition; Reception </p><p>Early Next Month

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