Vincent Scarano to Speak at Friends of Fort Trumbull on Defying the Odds
On Thursday, September 26, The Friends of Fort Trumbull will welcome as their next speaker, Vincent Scarano, the President of the Hygienic Art, located on Bank St., in New London.
Mr. Scarano, a graduate of Paier College of Art, was hired in 1979 to work as Lead Photographer for the New London City Art Project, whose goal was to create public art in the City of New London. After that project, Vincent opened a commercial photographic studio in New London. Subsequently, thhroughout his 50 year career as a photographer, his commercial and freelance work has been published and credited locally, nationally and internationally.
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Having become President of Hygienic Art in 1990, he then led the organization to become a non-profit in 1993. When the Hygienic Restaurant building was slated for demolition in 1996, he led an all-volunteer Board of Directors to save the building from destruction. This volunteer group then renovated the building as a Fine Art Gallery and a site for affordable housing for visual artists.
This project , which was widely acclaimed as a model for community and economic revitalization, won numerous national and statewide awards for its contribution to adaptive restoration of historic properties and community development though public art. In addition, Scarano led the organization to buy and develop the surrounding properties to create the Hygienic Art Park in 2005, and later to build the Frank Loomis Palmer Amphitheater at the Hygienic Art Park in 2017.
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Hygienic Art’s contribution to the City of New London and surrounding communities by its artists and volunteers has been huge. Culminating in a $2,300,000.00 Capital Investment for the Arts on Bank Street, the Hygienic Art project now stands as a shining light of volunteer community activism, committed to the revitalization of the City through the Arts.
Mr. Scarano will speak about how a grassroots team of artists, defied the odds to save History, Community Identity, and Free Art, in a city where governmental bulldozing had become rampant. He will also discuss the goals of the organization to continue its role in the revitalization of the city. The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. at the Fort Trumbull Conference Center. The public is welcome to attend this presentation which will be of interest to everyone.
