Westport Art Curator Appointed

The Town Curator will work with the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, an appointed group whose charge is the preservation and promotion of the town’s artistic heritage.  

The committee was established in 1997 by an ordinance approved by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM).

The town owns several hundred works of art, which can be seen throughout Town Hall, the Senior Center, the Parks Department Headquarters, and even the Fire Department Headquarters.  Westport also owns a number of significant sculptures, including the Minute Man and the World War II Doughboy Memorial on Veterans Green.

In addition, the town maintains a close relationship with the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection (WSPAC), which has more than 1,100 works of art displayed in Westport schools, and with the collection at the Westport Library.  The Town Curator will serve as liaison to these groups.

“For the first time we will have a professional art curator to advise the town and the school district on the care of this valuable resource, which represents the artistic legacy of Westport, and which we must protect and maintain for future generations,” said First Selectman Gordon Joseloff. 

He noted that Westport already has a Town Historian (currently Allen Raymond) as a symbol of the importance of history and historic preservation to the community. 

“Though these are appointed volunteer positions, we are fortunate to have professional experience and expertise in these areas, as we do in so many areas of Westport life,” he said.

Bennewitz’s first project as Town Curator will be moderating a panel discussion celebrating the town’s collection of 34 WPA works of art, which were created during the Depression in the 1930’s and ‘rescued’ in the 1980s, featuring a panel discussion at the Westport Public Library on Wednesday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m.   The program, which will highlight ways in which the Town of Westport has cared for its art treasures, is presented in conjunction with an exhibit at the Fairfield Museum andHistory Center, which was conceived by the Mattatuck Museum.

Bennewitz, an independent curator, is a member of the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, co-chair of the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection, and member of the PTA Council.