This year's Litchfield Hills Creative Awards ceremony will celebrate creative COVID heroes in Northwest CT. Get to know each of the 6 honorees and what they have accomplished.

Ash Royer, Thomaston

Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington

Since 1975, the Institute for American Indian Studies has engaged the public through its mission. The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through in house and virtual educational programs, ongoing anthropological research, and collaboration with the Native community, IAIS shares this knowledge to the public year around.

Since its inception, IAIS has surveyed or excavated over 500 sites, including the remarkable discovery of a 10,000-year-old camp site—the earliest known archaeological site in Connecticut. But archaeology is about so much more than excavating sites or collecting stone tools: it is about people. Through archaeology, IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans. This history echoes throughout all history and informs us in the present. With full awareness of the importance of keeping this knowledge alive, the focus of the Institute has always been stewardship and preservation.

IAIS took the pandemic and the safety of their guests very seriously. They developed strict cleaning and sanitizing procedures. They were able to quickly and safely reopen their Wigwam Escape room, and ensure every touchable surface was sanitized. The museum was a great example of an organization that was able to reopen swiftly and safely. They were a model for how businesses should address safety procedures, and strengthened their mission through increasing their social media and digital presence.

KidsPlay Children's Museum, Torrington

Since its founding in 2012, KidsPlay Children’s Museum has grown to 11,000 sq.ft of interactive, hands-on exhibits in downtown Torrington. It has become a community anchor, cultural gateway, and an integral part of a local childhood ecosystem that makes a positive difference in the lives of children and families throughout the Northwest Corner of CT and well beyond. The Museum has incorporated the brain-building and stress-reducing benefits of purposeful play by designing engaging exhibits and programs for children ages one through 10 (and their favorite adults).

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, KidsPlay continues to enrich children’s lives. To combat social isolation and disrupted education, KidsPlay developed interactive virtual programming and resources to support families while many were at home. As Connecticut lifted mandates, KidsPlay reopened its exhibit galleries to visitors using a variety of risk reduction strategies to balance mission, relevance, and public health. 

Understanding the economic challenges facing families, KidsPlay expanded access programs to make the Museum more affordable and ensure all children could access the simple joys and benefits of play in its galleries. KidsPlay has welcomed back nearly 20,000 visitors in the last 15 months. The Museum’s commitment to being open for play brought a small sense of normalcy for families and contributed to the recovery of neighboring businesses.

KidsPlay is recognized by parents, educators, and social service coordinators as a safe and interactive space for play, social engagement, intervention work, and learning. KidsPlay’s next steps include adding a Family Learning Hub, a new gallery, and building new exhibits that will spark curiosity, innovation, and creativity. The Museum’s continued growth also reflects vital steps in downtown Torrington’s redevelopment as an active cultural, arts, economic, and educational center.

Mental Health CT Mending Art, Torrington & State-wide

Mending Art from Mental Health Connecticut (MHC) began in 2013 as a casual meetup of 3-4 interested program participants at MHC’s Independence Center (IC) in Waterbury, CT. Amy Smith, an artist, art advocate, and former gallery owner, founded Mending Art at MHC when she witnessed firsthand how art became a powerful force in healing and connecting with oneself and others.

Throughout the pandemic, Mending Art provided opportunities for individuals and the community to actively engage in the arts for wellbeing in multiple ways. Through statewide workshops in a Virtual Studio, at MHC programs, and at the Five Points Center for the Visual Arts, the Mending Art Artists were able to connect with others and create. Mending Art Artists worked on creating Mending Art Activity booklets with original drawings, poetry, and thought provoking questions for others to be inspired by and create from home. These Mending Art Activity books were shared with program participants throughout the state as well the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Waterbury. Mending Art Artists also participated in the Mending Art-Art Pal project with individuals in the community. They did this by sending postcard sized artwork through the mail in a visual conversation with their Art Pals.

Mending Art has reached hundreds of individuals throughout the state who receive services from MHC, including residential programs in: Torrington, Waterbury, West Hartford, Danbury, Bridgeport and Stamford. Through community partnerships, and with the addition of Jazz Borst, an artist and former studio manager, Mending Art reaches hundreds more in the community.

Michelle Begley, Education Programs Director at American Mural Project, Winsted

Michelle Fenton Begley believes that art and music are for everyone and have a place in our everyday lives. She is a versatile professional vocalist, voice teacher and teaching artist.

Michelle was a founding member of the duo, Starr & Shello, composing and performing original songs for children and families. She has created a variety of music and songwriting workshops that she delivers at regional libraries and museums and is currently Education Programs Director at the American Mural Project (AMP), developing and leading programs about the “art of work.”

During the pandemic, Michelle pivoted AMP’s virtual arts prgrams for kids, brought in new families, new art forms, and new teaching artists. She adapted AMP’s curriculum to focus on virtual programs during the school year, and reworked summer programs to focus on older participants. Michelle developed virtual arts programming, which resulted in kids who were engaged and thrilled to have an opportunity to creatively express themselves.

Village Center for the Arts, New Milford

Village Center for the Arts (VCA)’s mission is to provide a nurturing environment for artistic creativity and development through educational fine art programs and events for all ages.

VCA has been providing a place for creativity for all members of the community for over 21 years. They offer classes, workshops, art shows, gallery openings and special events. Through the instruction of their experienced staff, students have produced incredible paintings, drawings, pottery, and sculptures.

In the initial stages of the COVID shutdown, VCA provided over 1,000 Creativity Care Packages for free to the community, promoting creativity to everyone while they could not open. VCA assisted mask makers by providing materials for them to use to make hundreds of masks for various community first responders, and donated thousands of masks, gloves, shoe covers and face shields to our local hospital.

As part of its continued growth, VCA has added 3D printers as a component of existing programming. Adding this technology allows for customization of pottery students’ pieces through custom imprints and textures, as well as expanding the Cartooning and Video Game students’ character designs by printing badges, stamps and buttons of their creations.

VCA has also expanded their pottery studio to include a variety of clay bodies, high fire glazes, and multiple firing processes. This is in response to the popularity of the ceramic art, and at the request of several potters.

Finally, VCA has continued their Unexpected Artist program throughout the pandemic. This program allows students to come and complete any art-related homework projects for free. VCA has assisted with over 3000 projects in the last ten years.

The Litchfield Hills Creative Awards will take place at the Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT on Saturday, November 13, 6 - 8:30 pm.

The Litchfield Hills Creative Awards are a celebration of the creative leaders, organizations, businesses and programs that help our region's arts community to thrive. The NWCT Arts Council hosts this awards ceremony to recognize those who positively impact the community and enhance the collective wellbeing through arts and other creative means.

For more information about the Litchfield Hills Creative Awards and to get tickets, visit creativeawards.eventbrite.com

The 2021 Litchfield Hills Creative Awards are sponsored by:

Aquarion Water Company
Northwest Community Bank
Thomaston Savings Bank
Torrington Savings Bank
Warren Town Center
O&G Industries, Inc.
HealthMarkets Insurance - Mel Brickman
MOMIX
Simpson & Vail
Torrington Downtown Partners