Closing Reception
Feb
23
2:00 PM14:00

Closing Reception

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Join us Sunday, February 23, 2pm for a workshop to celebrate the final day of our current exhibitions. Artist/Activist Perla Mabel @platanoperls and local organizations (such as Bosomii and the New Haven Pride Center ) will be running an informational meeting and workshop on how to use art as resistance. Mabel will show easy and accessible ways for printmaking your own resistance fliers!

Free and Open to All!

Closing exhibitions:
Florenciendo en La Obscuridad
The Fall ‘24 Keyhole Workspace Residency Exhibition
Scott Azevedo, Miguel Mendoza & Odette Chavez-Mayo

Seeing Red w/ Land Acknowledgement
Krystyna Printup

Conuco
Perla Mabel
w/ Artist talk guided by Howard el-Yasin on February 2 at 2pm

Through a Glass Darkly
Peter Brown - curated by David Borawski

Nature is Flawed
Kristi Arnold in the Flat File room - curated by John O’Donnell

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Feb
16
2:00 PM14:00

Wish Upon A Star

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Join the Fall ‘24 Keyhole Workspace Artists Scott Azevedo, Miguel Mendoza and Odette Chavez-Mayo for Wish Upon A Star.

Let’s come together as a community to celebrate revolutionary love and wish for a better future while making paper stars.

The stars will contain letters of love created during the workshop and will be placed into the Altar work that is part of their exhibition “Florenciendo en La Obscuridad” on view through February 23rd.

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Feb
13
7:00 PM19:00

WEIRD MUSIC NIGHT

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Please note in case of heavy snow: Storm Date of Feb 20, 7pm

February 13, 2025

FREE

Get Ready for The Night Before Valentine’s Day Costume Party!

Join us for a night of wild creativity, experimental music, and unforgettable vibes at Weird Music Night! Celebrate the eve of Valentine’s Day with costumes, art, and performances that will set your heart on fire.

Dress Code: Your weirdest & wildest Valentine’s Day costume!

Expect an eclectic lineup of sound-based projects, art performances, and surprises that embody the Weird Music Night ethos: experimental, unexpected, and unapologetically fun. Whether you’re a romantic, a rebel, or something in between, this is your night to shine!

Bring your friends, your creativity, and your energy. Let’s make this a pre-Valentine’s celebration to remember!

Phantasmata Traumata is a performance collective that crafts strange and compelling experiences, merging eerie aesthetics with a rough-hewn, otherworldly charm. Their work is steeped in 19th-century mysticism, evoking a haunting ambiguity that is as terrifying as it is captivating. Drawing on elements of costume, coded symbols, and conceptual storytelling, the group utilizes drapery, paper-mâché creations, and hand-crafted masks to construct immersive performances that blur the line between the real and the surreal. Through their enigmatic narratives and tactile, visual language, Phantasmata Traumata conjures a sense of the uncanny, leaving audiences entranced by the mysterious worlds they summon.

Logan Bishop is a Connecticut-based artist and poet who explores the intersections of personal experience, pop culture, and the raw beauty of everyday life. His poetry draws from observations, encounters, dreams, nightmares, humor, and desires, weaving fragments of dive bars, eavesdropped conversations, and music into vivid and striking narratives. Logan describes his poetic practice as akin to being a "word synthesizer vampire," extracting meaning and energy from the world around him. Deeply connected to his visual art practice, his writing and art feed one another, creating an honest dialogue about real places and moments. Whether through words or imagery, Logan's work aims to resonate with audiences, leaving them to think, “Dude, that’s cool—that hits hard.”

Nadine Nelson, a celebrated New Haven-based artist, chef, and community organizer, will present her performance, Love Letters for Bob Marley as part of Weird Music Night at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. Known for her innovative approach to blending art, food, and social activism, Nelson has established a reputation as a visionary who uses her talents to engage and empower communities. Her performance at Weird Music Night promises to be a heartfelt and thought-provoking tribute to Bob Marley, blending her characteristic use of storytelling, community engagement, and artistic exploration.

Samuel Leaf is a Connecticut-based indie musician and songwriter whose work blends introspective lyricism with ambient, lo-fi melodies. Drawing inspiration from folk, alternative rock, and experimental soundscapes, Samuel crafts songs that explore themes of identity, longing. Known for his DIY ethos, Samuel writes, records, and produces much of his music independently, reflecting his commitment to maintaining creative authenticity.

Ryan Gurry & Red: Collaborative Performance, two distinctive voices in the experimental art and performance scene, are set to join forces for an unforgettable collaborative performance. Together, they will explore the intersection of sound, movement, and visual storytelling, creating a shared sensory experience that defies categorization.

Special Thank You’s to Ungrafted Selections & That Sound Game for sponsoring this programming

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Jan
26
2:00 PM14:00

Florenciendo en La Obscuridad - Keyhole Workspace Residency Fall ’24 Cohort: Artist talk guided by Marissa Del Toro

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Join us in conversation with Marissa Del Toro and the Keyole artists!

Sunday, January 26 @2pm

51 Trumbull St

New Haven, CT

Free and Open to all

Serendipity emerged throughout the residency, as the artists found unexpected moments of overlap in their work and life, especially through their shared heritage. Mendoza was born and raised in Mexico, only moving to the States in adulthood; Chavez-Mayo was born in Mexico and raised in Texas, and Azevedo is American-born and has been chipping away at the mysteries of his Mexican grandparents.

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Opening Reception: January 26 1-3pm
Jan
26
1:00 PM13:00

Opening Reception: January 26 1-3pm

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Join us for the Opening Reception for:

The Fall ‘24 Keyhole Workspace Residency exhibition: Scott Azevedo, Miguel Mendoza & Odette Chavez-Mayo
Artist talk guided by Melissa Del Toro

Solo exhibition for Krystyna Printup

Solo exhibition for Perla Mabel

Solo exhibition for Peter Brown - curated by David Borawski

Solo exhibition for Kristi Arnold in the Flat File room - curated by John O’Donnell

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Opening Reception for Resplendent: Magic in Everyday Life
Jan
24
2:30 PM14:30

Opening Reception for Resplendent: Magic in Everyday Life

Join us for the opening reception for RESPLENDENT: Magic in Everyday Life at the Perspectives Gallery at Whitney Center on Friday January 24 at 3:00 pm. There will be artists talks with Eileen Eder & Brian Flinn at 2:30pm.

The participating artists in RESPLENDENT: Magic in Everyday Life uncover beauty in what others may overlook. A hike in the woods, the reflection on a vase, an unexpected angle, or a familiar place become portals to fantastical worlds—capturing magic and dazzling the imagination.

The featured artists are Carol Boyoucos, Eileen Eder, Brian Flinn, Samantha Hayslett, and William Meddick. Curated by Debbie Hesse, Technical Curator is Steven Olsen.

Perspectives Gallery @ Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Drive, South Entrance, Hamden, CT 06517

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Jan
9
7:00 PM19:00

Weird Music Night- Start 2025 off right! Jan 9, 7pm

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Start your new year right and don’t miss the first WEIRD MUSIC NIGHT of 2025!

Featuring the sounds of: Brian Ember, Fluffy Kitten, Bent Light

7 pm - Always Free and Open to All

The Ely Center of Contemporary Art invites you to the next installment of Weird Music Night, a monthly event curated by artist, performer and professor John O’Donnell. On Thursday, January 9th, 2025, at 7:00 PM, join us for an evening of experimental sound, performance art, and puppetry that challenges conventional boundaries and celebrates the unexpected.

Featured Performances:

● Black Metal Pac-Man by John O’Donnell: Opening the night is an innovative multimedia performance featuring a live projection of O’Donnell playing the iconic Pac- Man video game, accompanied by a driving drum track. This piece explores the intersections of nostalgia, sound, and new media, while paying homage to the cultural significance of the 1980s.

● Brian Ember with Mara D. Batts on Cello: Experience the emotive and genre-blending artistry of Brian Ember as he delivers a captivating performance of original compositions. Joined by cellist Mara D. Batts of Mara and the Dead Batteries, their collaboration promises a deeply resonant musical journey, blending classical influences with experimental innovation.

● Fluffy Kitten presents "Keep it Down Up There!": A delightful puppet show by Kimberly Van Aelst, this performance combines puppetry, performance art, and materials like paper and wood to tell the story of a two-story apartment building, a new neighbor, and a very disgruntled cat. Expect humor, creativity, and unexpected twists.

● Bent Light: The duo of Michael Slyne and Russell Linder crafts immersive soundscapes that bridge experimental and melodic worlds. With atmospheric audio maps and guitar-based explorations, Bent Light’s performance is a transformative experience that invites audiences to journey into warm corners of mystery.

Refreshments provided by Ungrafted Selections

Created/Curated by John O’Donnell

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Dec
8
1:00 PM13:00

Printmaking with Legos Workshop

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Join us for a tactile, family friendly printmaking workshop
Sunday December 8, 1-3pm - free drop in event

Using flat lego pieces and a 5” x 5” base plate we will easily and safely create amazing relief prints- inspired by Beth Klingher’s mosaics and Ronnie Rysz’s linoleum prints from “To The Touch” and “No Relief”

All materials provided- but we recommend wearing clothes you don’t mind getting a little bit messy!

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Opening Reception November 10, 1-3p
Nov
10
1:00 PM13:00

Opening Reception November 10, 1-3p

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Please join us for the opening reception of new exhibitions:
To The Touch
Curated by Deborah Hesse

Regan Avery, Marsha Borden, Melanie Carr, Grayson Cox, Leila Daw, Gangwisch, Gregory Patrick Garvey, Beth Klingher, Yin Mei, Dana Prieto, Ben Quesnel, Cate Solari

Reflection
Curated by Moshopefoluwa Olagunju

Merik Goma, Remy Sosa

Be Longing

Shanti Grumbine, Frank De Leon Jones

Dude Portraits

Leigh Busby

Self Taught: Bula, Serge D,Bill Healy, Karen Karen, Richard Knowels
Curated by Michael Shortell & Emily Weiskopf

FlatFile Exhibition

Ronnie Rysz

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Halloween Mask making w/ Soule Golden
Oct
20
1:00 PM13:00

Halloween Mask making w/ Soule Golden

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It was so much fun last year we are bringing it back!
Join us again for a Sunday Funday with costume designer Soule Golden!

Use trash to make your very own mask for Halloween Fun!

Have some cool bits and pieces you have been saving for just the right project? Bring it and pair it with the materials we have on hand!
Already have a costume started but it needs a finishing touch? We may have just the thing!

Sunday, October 20th 1-3pm
Free and Open for all ages
This is a drop in event

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Weird Music Night
Oct
17
9:00 PM21:00

Weird Music Night

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Weird Music Night Returns!

Thursday, October 17 at 7pm.

Featuring: Michael Slyne, Russell Linder, James Burke, Daisy Cross, Pervert Savant

with special guest Black-Metal-Pac-Man

Refreshments provided by Ungrafted Selections.

AND MARK YOUR CALENDARS for more WMN events!
November 7, December 12, January 9, February 13, March 6, April 10, and May 8

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Audubon Arts District 2024 Open Studios
Oct
5
to Oct 6

Audubon Arts District 2024 Open Studios

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Audubon Arts District
2024 Open Studios
Saturday October 5 & Sunday October 6, 12-5

Ely Center of Contemporary Art - 51 Trumbull Street
Creative Arts Workshop - 80 Audubon Street

Join us for this exciting collaboration between Creative Arts Workshop and us!

Meet the 3 current artists in the Keyhole Workspace Residency
The artists will be in their studios, eager to talk about their practices. They will have a culminating exhibition opening in January showing their work created during the Fall ‘24 Keyhole Workspace Residency.

Scott Azevedo | Odette Chavez-Mayo | Miguel Mendoza

Meet the 8 artists from our 2024 Open Call who are participating in this residency-exhibition hybrid at Creative Arts Workshop.
All 8 artists have studio tables on the second floor of the CAW gallery, and a group exhibition “NONESUCH” curated by David Borawski is on the ground floor of the gallery. Come and meet these artists in person on Oct 5 & 6 and see what they are learning and working on during their time at CAW!

Marquis Brantley | Linda Colletta | Danielle Giroux | Maria Markham | Luca McCarthy | Omar Muqbil | Dana Simmons | Jean-Pierre Solis-Sánchez

Brush and Pallette Club
The Brush and Pallette Club of New Haven has been in existence since 1902 and has been housed at their 51 Trumbull St studio since 1961. You are invited to see the current members’ works on display in the studio space for our open studios weekend. The group meets every Tuesday morning Sept-June. For more information please contact Diane Chandler, the current president: dchandler1@snet.net

For more events around New Haven Open Studios, please check out the Institute Library’s Glorious Index exhibition and the Erector Square Studios website with a full list of participating venues.

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Opening Reception Shifting Senses
Sep
27
2:30 PM14:30

Opening Reception Shifting Senses

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Join us for the opening reception of our off-site exhibition Shifting Senses at the Perspectives Gallery @ Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Drive, South Entrance, Hamden, CT 06517. Curated by Debbie Hesse. Learn more here.

Featured Artists: Marsha Borden, Melanie Carr, Leila Daw, Gregory P. Garvey, Beth Klingher

Artist Talk with Marsha Borden & Melanie Carr at 2:30pm, reception to follow at 3pm.

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Photobook Mini Fair
Sep
22
11:00 AM11:00

Photobook Mini Fair

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Join us for a full day of programming including a Photobook Mini fair, artist talks, book signings, and workshops, all FREE and open to the public. Save the Date! Sunday September 22nd, 11am-7pm, at 51 Trumbull Street.

Featured Books: Marianne Bernstein: Theatre of the Everyday, Adger Cowans: Adger, Benjamin Donaldson, Ottilie Leete, and Lisa Kereszi: IN, Daniel Eugene: Metro North Secrets, Laura Wexler and Peter van Agtmael: Magnum America, William Earle Williams: Their Kindred Earth, Ruth Lauer Manenti: I Imagined It Empty

(use the link on each book title to pre-order your copy)

Schedule for the Day

  • 11 -11:50am, Amartya De will be in conversation with Art Historian/ECOCA Board Member Prof. Kishwar Rizvi.

  • 12:00-12:50pm. IN, Benjamin Donaldson, Ottilie Leete, and Lisa Keresziin conversation with writer Cindy House

  • 1-1:50pm. Magnum America, Prof. Laura Wexler, Susan Meiselas and Peter van Agtmael in conversation

  • 2-2:50pm I imagined It Empty, Ruth Lauer Manenti with Atefe Moeini, Yale Photo MFA First Year

  • 3-3:50pm Their Kindred Earth, Prof. William Earle Williams in discussion with book contributor/historian Frank Mitchell

  • 4-4:50pm Adger, Adger Cowans in dialogue with Independent Curator/Artist Shaunda Holloway

  • 5-5:50pm Theatre of the Everyday, Marianne Bernstein in dialogue with Art Historian Anne Higonnet

  • 6-6:50pm Metro North Secrets, Daniel Eugene—stay for beer & wine

    12-1pm, 3-5pm: Zine Making with Amartya De



    Please note this schedule is subject to change.


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Sep
21
3:00 PM15:00

Harvest Mandalas: Nature's Sacred Circles

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Join us on the Fall Equinox to create a community labyrinth, embodying the essence of forest bathing through collaborative art. This living mandala, crafted from foraged materials and food waste, invites us to walk mindfully- reflecting on our connection to nature. Harvest Mandalas is more than art - it’s a think tank, café and wellness lab. Create personal mandalas from natural ingredients, contemplating the circles in nature from cells to galaxies. This Sanskrit symbol of wholeness and harmony encourages reflection on health, sustainability, and our place in nature’s cycles. Through this therapeutic process, we inspire unity and environmental awareness in ourselves and our community.

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Weird Music Night
Sep
12
7:00 PM19:00

Weird Music Night

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Weird Music Night. Sept 12, 7pm. Curated by John O’Donell. With Fluffy Kitten, Chris Ruggiero, 2005 co, and Journal of Philosophy and Art with Yulian Jules.

 Our monthly evening of experimental performances.  Come say Hellooo! Wine tasting provided by Ungrafted Selections.  Suggested donation at the door.

“Weird, Wacky and Wildly Entertaining”.—New Haven Independent. 

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Opening Reception: Forest Bathing, Mesoma Onyeagba, and Flatifle: Stump In Situ
Sep
8
1:00 PM13:00

Opening Reception: Forest Bathing, Mesoma Onyeagba, and Flatifle: Stump In Situ

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Join us for the Opening Reception of Forest Bathing, Mesoma Onyeagba, and Flatifle: Stump In Situ. Free and open to all, light refreshments will be served.

Forest Bathing is curated by Alex Santana and features artists: Austin Bryant, Lauren Cardenas, Adrian Martinez Chavez, Kim Kyne Cohen, Carolina Cuevas, Melissa Dadourian, Jen DeLuna, Sebastián Cole Galván, Alondra M. Garza, Donté K. Hayes, Kristen Heritage, Sunnie Liu, Jo Lobdell, Marie-Josè, Sebastián Meltz-Collazo, Robert Mirek, Julia Oldham, Vick Quezada, Jacoub Reyes, Samnang Riebe, Raphaela Riepl, Linda Sok, Loretta Violante, Aura Xuanyi Wang, Ying Ye and an entrance by Nadine Nelson. Learn more.

Mesoma Onyeagba is the first solo exhibition by new MFA graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Mesoma Onyeagba. Learn more.

Flatfile: Stump In Situ features prints by Logan Bishop, Nathan Lewis, Enrique Figured, Jesse Peck and Maria Posada. Learn more.

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Weird Music Night
Aug
8
7:00 PM19:00

Weird Music Night

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Join us for another Weird Music Night curated by John O’Donnell!

This edition of Weird Music Night features Spyrodon (psychedelic garage goth pop), Stone Jaw (dark ambient drone field recordings), Skull Tower 4E (circuit bent experimental noise), Tommy Riles (Irish dance to Metallica), and The Chomins (folk punk for protests and pubs). Refreshments will be provided by Ungrafted Selections.

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Closing Reception
Aug
4
1:00 PM13:00

Closing Reception

Join us for the closing reception of our summer exhibitions on Sunday, August 4 from 1-4pm. Free and open to all, light refreshments provided.

Featured exhibitions include: Horacio Marquínez: America Unfiltered, Lawrence Morelli: Remembrance, Can Yağiz: Not today either, Keyhole Artists: Ramón Bonilla, Esthea Kim, Adrian Panaitisor, Línda Perla-Giron, Emily Weiskopf, and Stump-in-Situ: Logan Bishop, Enrique Figuerado, Nathan Lewis, Jesse Peck, Maria Porada.

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Long Water Land, SITE NO. 6: MARITIME COMMUNITY
Jul
27
11:00 AM11:00

Long Water Land, SITE NO. 6: MARITIME COMMUNITY

Long Water Land is a free community education and art-making series along the Quinnipiac River hosted by the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven Sketchers, and other partners.

SITE NO. 6: MARITIME COMMUNITY
Saturday July 27
11am–1pm
Quinnipiac River Park at Pierpont and Front St in New Haven
Street parking 

Aaron Goode of the New Haven Bioregional Group will discuss the Quinnipiac River Historic District, and the rise, fall, and restoration of the River's oyster fishery. Contemporary artist Nadine Nelson will discuss the social meaning and symbolism of oysters, and lead an additional art activity! Join as we learn and draw together.


After a brief talk we will explore each site and sketch, then share our drawings together as a group. No drawing experience necessary! We use sketching as a tool for observing, capturing, and reflecting on our surroundings. Some art supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. Bring water and sun/weather/bug protection. We will be next to a river, after all!

Heavy rain will reschedule events; check back for info.

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Summer Apprentice Mural Unveiling
Jul
26
5:00 PM17:00

Summer Apprentice Mural Unveiling

Join us for the unveiling of a mural created by our Summer Apprentices!

At the Ely Center, July 26, 5-7pm.

This summer, 11 New Haven public high school students learned the art of mural making, working with New Haven native, Boston-based painter/educator Destiny Palmer.

For three intensive weeks, the students worked together to build out their vision for a mural that reflects their own perspective of the city. Palmers’ murals have been commissioned for numerous sites around Boston.

The students hail from: Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, Hamden High School, Educational Center for the Arts, Hillhouse High School, Highville Change Academy, Metropolitan Business Academy, O.H. Platt High School, New Haven Academy, Wilbur Cross High School, and Shelton High School. This year’s participants are from Coop: Soleil Nelson; from Hillhouse: David Coardes; from Highville: Alivia Patterson; from MBA: Adrian Gonzalez, Dezirae Pollard, Manny Pollard, and Elliana Hunte; from Platt: Solace Khuc; from NHA: Joey Esposito; from Wilbur Cross: River Ferrucci; and from Shelton: Merlin Shallow.

They were also mentored by recent School of the Museum of Fine Art alum painter Perla Mabel Ledesma.

“Every Piece is Part of the Whole” is a 40-foot banner that transforms the façade of the historic Ely Center of Contemporary Art with references to some of New Haven’s most iconic features.

The Banner will remain on view at the Ely Center through fall 2024.

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