3 New Art Exhibits Debut At Westport Library

WESTPORT, CT — Three new art exhibits recently debuted at The Westport Library that feature uniquely personal takes on nature, memory, abstraction, and form. The works, which are closing out the summer, will be on display through Oct. 5.

Steve Moen’s Circling Back is in the Library’s Sheffer Gallery, Tom Kretsch’s A Symphony of Color is in the South Gallery, and Linn Cassetta’s Eggcentric is in the Jesup Gallery. True to the experiences that have shaped each artist, these works are connected through their shared narrative themes and artistic processes.

Each exhibit will have an accompanying reception and artist conversation with Miggs Burroughs. Moen’s reception will take place on Wednesday, August 13; Kretsch’s will take place on Wednesday, August 27; and Cassetta’s will take place on Wednesday, September 17. Each reception will take place from 6 to 7 pm, with the accompanying conversation running from 7 to 8 pm.

From the announcement:

For Moen, painting is a process of returning — both to physical places and emotional landscapes. Circling Back began with visits back to Westport, where Moen's childhood memories live in the tidal marshes and the rocks and boulders along the shore.

Each piece starts with small studies created on-site — watercolors, quick oils on tin flashing, or digital sketches on an iPhone — then evolves in the studio into larger works. Color perception, memory, and emotion guide the process. Poetry, especially haiku, often plays a quiet role, offering focus and emotional resonance.

Moen considers painting a problem-solving adventure, one that engages both intellect and emotion. Each piece, large or small, finds its own path to completion, however long that may take. Over days or weeks, a dialogue unfolds between poem and image.

"I begin with intuition, follow with exploration, and embrace the challenge of making something both thoughtful and felt,” Moen said. “In the end, I aim for a painting where composition and color speak deeply to the viewer."

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Kretsch captures the quiet poetry of the land and sea and places in-between. From misty harbors, sun-drenched porches, abandoned structures on the plains, and old barns that ooze with texture, his compositions often feel like memories: soft, still, and filled with a sense of place.

With a painter’s eye for light and balance, Kretsch brings an artful calm to everyday scenes, making the ordinary extraordinary. This soulful serenity is highlighted in A Symphony of Color.

Kretsch’s background as an educator and lifelong traveler informs his ability to see beauty in the simple and the small. Peaceful environments shine through his work — particularly in his two published books On the Road, Five Visions and Touching Maine. The latter was a labor of love, with essays and photographs made over a 10-year span from visits to the coast of Maine.

Kretsch is active in outdoor art festivals throughout the area, with awards from numerous shows, including the Bruce Museum Show, The Brunswick Arts Festival, and the Wilton Library Annual Photography Show. His work has been featured in projects by Sloane Kettering Hospital, Morgan Stanley, and locally in Rizzuto’s Restaurant, as well as at The Nylen Gallery in Westport and Frame & Save in Fairfield and Norwalk.

“It is a great honor to have been given a chance to share my work here in this beautiful library,” Kretsch said. “Our family has lived in this vibrant town for just over 50 years, and it has truly been a sweet, special sanctuary to call home."

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Eggs are represented in every piece of art Cassetta makes, culminating in Eggcentric. Her connection to eggs goes back to some of her earliest experiences as a young girl in western Pennsylvania, where she spent her days wandering in the woods, drawing organic forms of nature, and finding feathers, broken eggs, and nests.

"At my aunt's chicken farm, I'd sit for hours, mesmerized by the eggs going down the conveyor belt, enchanted by their perfection, enchanted by the calm I felt." Cassetta said. "As a structure, it has magical qualities. A shape and form that has existed forever, it represents beginnings, hope, and perpetuity. An egg equals creation, simultaneously strong and fragile."

After receiving her BFA with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design, Cassetta became the first American accepted to the fashion department at the Royal College of Art in London, where she earned her MA.

In the first chapter of her career, Cassetta became an established figure in apparel and footwear design. At 25, she launched her own highly acclaimed apparel label Linn Callahan Designs. Later in her career, she refocused her talent on interior design, decorative and tromp l'oeil painting, and tabletop design. Her work has been featured in Martha Stewart's book, New Old House, among others.

From her work on the first Calvin Klein shoe collection, her own apparel collection in Saks Fifth Avenue, an earthenware collection for Deruta of Italy, and her restoration of a 1900s French style villa featured in numerous publications including House Beautiful and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens, Cassetta’s wide range of interdisciplinary art transcends boundaries.

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Artist Receptions and Conversations

Steve Moen

Wednesday, August 13

6-8 pm

https://westportlibrary.org/event/artist-reception-steve-moen-on-circling-back/

Tom Kretsch

Wednesday, August 27

6-8 pm

https://westportlibrary.org/event/artist-reception-tom-kretsch-on-a-symphony-of-color/

Linn Cassetta

Wednesday, September 17

6-8 pm

https://westportlibrary.org/event/artist-reception-linn-cassetta-on-eggcentric/

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More on Steve Moen: https://westportlibrary.org/steve-moen-circling-back/

More on Tom Kretsch: https://westportlibrary.org/a-symphony-of-color-photographs-by-tom-kretsch/

More on Linn Cassetta: https://westportlibrary.org/linn-cassetta-eggcentric/

Art at the Library homepage: https://westportlibrary.org/art-at-the-library/