- [Announcer] Support provided by the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the State of Connecticut Office of Film, Television, and Digital Media, and Connecticut Humanities.

(gentle music) (car engine starting) - [Ray] For all my life, I've loved art.

From my time as a musician and artist, I believe the stories of artists themselves can inform, excite, and elevate.

- So visual poetry is, to me, one of the most exciting places in literature for play and experimentation.

And in creating this really profound experience of feeling in the works.

- Artists can inform us of history, of a moment in time, and reflect on modern society.

And I find this fascinating.

That's why I'm on the search for Connecticut's most vibrant artists, and to shed light on their stories, from designers and painters to muralists and poets.

Join me as I find the people that make up Connecticut's art scene on "Where ART Thou?"

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (gentle music) Hello and welcome to "Where ART Thou?"

I'm Ray Hardman, your host.

Today we are in Fairfield County.

It's a part of the state that is rich in art and art history.

In fact, in the early 1900s, this part of the state was home to several very important artist colonies.

Given its close proximity to New York, there is still a lot of art and a lot of artists making great things here in this part of the state, and I want to learn more about it.

I'm on my way to the Norwalk Arts Space to meet up with Erika Wesley.

She's our curator and guide today.

Erika is the Executive Director of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.

She's also a poet and author.

Let's see what she has for us today.

(gentle music) Erika.

- [Erika] Hi.

- [Ray] It's so nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- And in this gorgeous art space.

- Yes, isn't it beautiful?

- Tell me about it.

- We are at the Norwalk Arts Space.

We are in the middle of South Norwalk.

We're also standing in the middle of their beautiful art gallery.

And beneath us are some workshop spaces for young people and also areas for artists to create work.

- And so this is a relatively new space, right?

- It is.

It actually opened in 2021, so it's very new.

And you can smell the paint in this space if you're really focused.

(both laugh) - So you're teaching kids art here too as well?

- So artists are teaching kids to paint.

They're also teaching them how to work with different visual mediums.

And it's one of the greatest assets, I think, of this space, because it really increases art access and art opportunity for young people here in Norwalk.

- [Ray] Yeah.

What are you hearing so far?

- So far, everyone loves this space, and I think for two core reasons.

One, everyone who's from this community remembers when this space was a church.

So there's been a lot of conversation about how to repurpose buildings in the neighborhood to advance community opportunity.

And then I think people are lovers of art and culture.

And so if you've ever been to an exhibition here, you can feel the energy, you can feel the positive vibes, and people around are really enjoying that.

So folks come from beyond the borders of Norwalk to experience the Norwalk Arts Space.

- [Ray] Really?

Tell me a little bit about the arts community here.

- The arts community in Fairfield County, I think, is thriving.

What we're seeing right now are many connections and partnerships.

Right here in Norwalk, there's a beautiful partnership with the City of Norwalk and municipality, and they're doing a lot of good in terms of opening up art publicly with muralling.

We also see that in Bridgeport.

And so I think there's a corner that we're turning here in Fairfield County, and we're hoping that right on this 95 corridor, people from other states and also other communities will stop by and enjoy all of the arts and culture that we have to offer.

- Yeah.

Yeah, well, Erika, that sounds fantastic.

Tell me about some of the people we're going to see today.

- Okay, so today you're in for a treat, because you are about to witness an emerging artist, someone that has been giving back to their community by hosting different teach-ins, by having opportunities for young people to learn artistic skill.

You're also having an opportunity to meet with a young woman who, I think, is going to be the future of art here in Fairfield County.

And so I'm referencing Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche.

She is fantastic.

And once you talk to her, you will see the gem that she really is.

- Oh, I can't wait.

Who else are we seeing?

- You're also going to see Monica Ong, and her work as a poet really deals with different mediums.

And so she's someone that, I would say, uses words to move them into motion.

And I won't give away her style, but once you see it, get back to me and let me know how you enjoy it.

- Okay.

Erika, I'm so excited for today.

Thanks for your help.

- You're so welcome.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Yeah.

(gentle music) Alejandra, thank you so much for doing this.

I really appreciate it.

- [Alejandra] Thank you for having me.

- Yeah, sure.

First question I want to ask you is about your journey from Mexico to the United States, because something tells me that journey also informs a lot of your artwork.

So tell me about that.

- So I was born in Mexico, and then when I was about four years old, my parents needed... Well, everybody comes to the U.S. for a better life.

So we moved to Texas.

And then I kind of just grew up in Texas.

And my whole time that I lived in Texas, I always like felt that there was something that I could share with somebody.

I always, since I was like really little, I always had my parents telling me like, "Oh, you can't talk about like your immigrational situation.

You can't tell people," 'cause you never know, you know?

- [Ray] Right.

- And so I just always felt like there was so much more of me that I needed to share.

And that a lot of it when I started painting and drawing and all of that was very easy.

Like it came out very easily.

And so that's kind of how it started evolving into what is now and the way that I share stories, which I guess that's the important part.

I just wanted to share stories with people and show them my perspective of things and this lifelong journey of being in the United States as an undocumented person.

But that's kind of how it's happened.

(gentle music) I found this love of painting and doing big paintings and stuff through that as well.

- [Ray] Was there a moment that you decided, "This is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life"?

- Yeah.

Well, I was like six years old and yeah, I was really little and I remember we had an author come to the school and he was talking about how he had a person who did illustrations for him, 'cause it was like children's books.

And he was like, "Oh, I have this person who does drawings for me."

And I was like, "Hold on."

I was like, "You pay him to draw"?

He was like, "Well, yeah, this person like earns money by doing drawings."

And I was like, "I didn't know that you can make money off of doing this thing."

So it was always in the back of my mind.

I was always kind of like, "I want to do that."

I want to ask you about something on your artist statement.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

"I present my work as a third culture that is still being shaped and recognized."

Can you elaborate on that more?

I did a show and I called it "From Here and From There," - Yeah.

which is not from there, not from here.

I was like, "Well, I'm from both places."

And there's so many people like me.

I mean, the amount of people that always just message me or when I would have shows and be like, "Oh my God, I relate to your statement so much."

So that's something that, I think, doesn't get a lot of recognition either from people from over there or from people from here where it's kind of like, "Well, are you American or are you Mexican?"

And I'm like, "I can be both."

- [Ray] Yeah.

Yeah.

Much like Alejandra's personality, her artwork is colorful and bold.

Her process of taking inspiration from her family's rich heritage in Mexico and creating beautiful works of art is something, I think, anyone will find compelling.

(gentle music) So Alejandra, we're here where the magic happens, your studio.

Let's talk first... - [Alejandra] Sure.

- about this picture, because it drew my attention the minute we came in here.

- Yeah.

- Tell me about this.

- Okay, so this is, I called it "Doña Luchona."

She's kind of like a act of love, I guess I could say.

I was having a conversation with my husband and we were talking about the word itself, which "luchona" means like hard worker, like a fighter.

That's the word for it.

And I feel like it's turned into this thing where we say it jokingly, or people say the word "luchona" to kind of like make fun of, or to tease somebody who's like out there working, you know?

- Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

- And so I was like, "What if I turn this into like an actual, like a literal representation of that?"

And I had been wanting to do like a luchador mask for a while now, and I was just like, "Let me just put it on."

And I wanted it to be like big and like in your face.

And I wanted like...

It's just like the act of getting up every day and just like doing your makeup, and every day, as a woman, you have to fight for something.

Whether it be just to walk down the street without getting like cat-called or whatever.

- Cat-called.

Right, right.

- Everything's always something that you have to fight.

And so that's kind of just where this came from, where it's just kind of like we're just trying to be... We're just trying to put on our makeup, but it feels like you're having to put on like this mask.

- Everything's a battle.

Yeah, yeah.

I totally get that.

The mask came out beautifully.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) - So much of this work is personal.

Tell me about self-reflection and the role that plays in your art.

- I was always looking for things that I could relate to.

So whenever I paint, I always want...

I just feel like there's so many of us out there and I just want them to be able to see something and feel like they can relate to it.

And I want them to feel like, "Oh, this is my life too."

Like, "I'm not the only one here."

When I had a solo show, it was like a tiny little room, and it was just like a bunch of my paintings and a lot of them were about crossing the border.

And so it was just like different journeys in different canvases.

And I had a person who was just walking by and he came into the studio and he was like, "Are you the artist?"

And I was like, "Yeah."

He was like, "I just see my family in a lot of these," and he was like, "And I love that."

He was like, "I never really see that."

And so that to me was like, "Ugh, that's exactly what I want."

I want people to see these people, even though they're very personal to me, (indistinct) they exist, but maybe not to somebody else.

And they just feel like real people to other people.

Yeah.

(gentle music) - [Speaker] Yeah.

- [Speaker] Yes.

- So I just want you guys to take like a couple of minutes.

Pick one of these, or you can do both if you like.

What do you think of when you think of science?

And what do you think of when you think of spirituality?

And this will lead in into our next work.

So kind of just pick one of these and then answer the question.

- Alejandra, when you're teaching, I mean, do you feel like you can impart some wisdom on these students that you yourself wish you would've gotten the advice for?

- Yeah, a lot of it is just being able to let them paint.

I feel like anytime that I had a class that I wanted to take that was painting, it was always just very technical.

Like, "Oh, this is how we're going to draw a sphere."

And then whenever I would be like, "Well, I don't want to draw a sphere anymore."

Like, "I want to do some actual painting."

So it's been nice to just kind of have students and letting them figure it out on their own and letting them just kind of like explore.

(slicer thudding) Okay.

Here you go.

Okay, and then on that one that you pick, you're going to draw a head.

It could be whatever, it could be a dog, it could be a cat, it could be a person, it could be a dolphin.

I don't know, just a head.

(gentle music) A lot of them don't know what to paint, and that's also something that I went through where it's like, "Okay, I have the skills, but I don't know what to paint," so... - [Ray] Right.

- part of my teaching is just kind of like, "Okay, let's dig into what do you like?

Where are you from?

What's your interest?

How do we incorporate that into your artwork?"

- [Ray] So you're really trying to draw the artist out of these young kids.

- [Alejandra] Yeah.

- Yeah.

Well, Alejandra, so nice to meet you, learn more about your art, see your art.

Very fascinating.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much for having me.

It was such a pleasure.

(gentle music) - [Ray] A short drive beside Long Island Sound from Norwalk will bring you to Bridgeport, Connecticut's largest city by population, and also a city with a rich history.

Among the most famous Bridgeport residents is P. T. Barnum of the world-famous Barnum and Bailey Circus.

I met up with Kathy Maher at the Barnum Museum to learn a little bit more about it.

And while the museum is currently under construction, I still got a chance to take a peek behind the curtain at Barnum's impact on the world.

(gentle music) Kathy.

- [Kathy] Hi.

- [Ray] Nice to meet you.

- So nice to meet you.

Welcome, welcome.

- Thank you.

This is amazing.

- Yes, yes.

- It must absolutely kill you as an executive director of a museum to not have the pitter-patter of schoolchildren running through or anybody coming to visit.

- I'm thinking ahead.

The moment we'll come back and we'll have hundreds of thousands of people through the museum again.

- Yeah.

Well, I want to talk about the plan for the future.

But right now, let's talk a little bit about P. T. Barnum 'cause that's why we're here.

It seems like in this day and age, he's more myth than man.

- He is.

And thank you for recognizing that.

Yeah, people don't realize how early Barnum is in history.

He's born in 1810.

Putting that in context, Napoleon is still alive.

Okay?

I mean, that's how early he is in American history.

So he dies in 1891, but it seems like the 20th century has sort of taken Barnum and given him a whole new life.

And a lot of the reality of his life and his accomplishments and his achievements have really been lost to history.

- There's something about Barnum to me that kind of epitomizes this American spirit that was very prominent in like the 1800s, where people really kind of felt this freedom that they hadn't felt before to really go out and do audacious things.

- It was all new.

It's the American dream.

And Barnum's born in Bethel, Connecticut, so he's a Connecticut Yankee through and through.

And he just saw the world as an opportunity.

Barnum was 61 when the idea of a circus enterprise came to him, and the greatest show on earth is born.

(whimsical circus music) (whimsical circus music continues) - I want to talk about another Connecticut original who was part of P. T. Barnum's crew, General Tom Thumb.

- Tom Thumb.

Yes, Charles Stratton, who actually is a Bridgeport native.

(uplifting music) Charles Stratton was born in the 1830s, and he had a family, he had siblings, but he just stopped growing.

And by the time he was five years old, his family recognized the fact that he was just not going to assume any more growth through the course of his life.

But he was extremely engaging.

It was a big personality in a little body.

So Barnum meets Charles and his parents, and he immediately says, "Let's engage."

And he gave him different types of characters.

So he played everything from Samson to Napoleon.

Barnum and Tom actually do become friends, but it was always a billing of marvels of nature and natural wonders.

- It's fascinating to me how art gives us that sense of amazement and wonder with our natural world.

And throughout history, it's been that way, questioning what it means to be human or having a sense of belonging in any type of art medium.

Monica Ong is a Trumbull, Connecticut-based artist and poet who combines the different types of art she makes, creating a truly unique and reflective experience.

(uplifting music) Monica, tell us a little bit about yourself.

- Well, I'm Monica Ong and I am a visual poet.

And I would say I got my start with probably a pretty traditional arts background.

- Studio art.

- Studio art, exploring a lot of the foundational areas of painting, photography, and such.

But I was coming up at a time in which art and technology started to come together, and I developed a really strong interest in digital media.

And so when I went off to grad school, I focused in on digital media as a way to bring all of my varied interests together, particularly in art installation and experimental literature.

And not long after that, I began working as a digital designer, which caught me thinking a lot about the relationships between text and image, and what enabled me to really explore a practice as a visual poet.

- Tell me about visual poetry.

- So visual poetry is, to me, one of the most exciting places in literature for play and experimentation.

And I think about it as a kind of alchemy of text and image whereby each of those elements participate in a poem's content, its structure, and its meaning.

And words and images, they don't echo one another like a caption or an illustration would, but really function syntactically and in creating this really profound experience of feeling in the works.

I'm always curious about creating new and interesting experiences of what it means to read a poem, what it means to be immersed in a poem.

And so I think all of these things kind of come together in the kind of work I make.

(gentle music) Some of these photographs are taken in many places that my family would call home.

This is a photo from a grocery store in the Philippines that I was walking through with my father.

And the Philippines is a very tropical place, and when I see these colors, I think a lot about like the food culture that we grew up in and these sort of parrot greens, right?

Like these places that are by the water.

I was kind of writing from a place of like remembering, reminiscing about these things.

So there's a lot of play on words.

- [Ray] Could you just read some of those?

- Sure, sure.

So for this photograph, I write, "Born from parrot-green isles, I glimpse you shrimp walking.

We hover in fluorescent isles of neon repetition.

Memory's mantra, salts are dying, mother tongues."

There are some photographs from my childhood with parents.

- Oh, which one are you?

- I'm this girl over here in the middle.

And this was definitely from the '80s, so there's a kind of more of an '80s color palette of the kinds of photographs that were processed at that time.

(gentle music) - Monica, you have the visual arts and you have poetry, and these are two art forms that a lot of artists would argue is a way into the human soul, into the human psyche.

How do you make both of those forces work together?

- So that is a wonderful question, and a question I love sitting in and thinking about as I engage in the process of my work.

And when I started interrogating a lot of my family histories, I initially worked in a very visual approach, looking through family photographs and archives.

But what I was finding was that there were so many interesting hidden histories and secrets that were just not evident in the photos in and of themselves, that you couldn't tell by looking at the surface.

And so I found that in writing and integrating writing into these works, those elements working together accomplished an effect that I think that each of them individually wouldn't be able to do on their own.

Yeah, I think what I love about making a poem like this is the fact that you can align this to any date in the year, and the poem that you read on a summer, maybe for your birthday, might be different than the poem you might read in the winter time to somebody else on another auspicious day.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- And so it's a poem that changes over the course of the year.

And the text all comes from a star chart, it's called the Suzhou astronomical chart of the Song Dynasty in China.

And I took my favorite asterisms and wrote lyrical verses in between them.

And it's such that you can read and let your eyes wander in any direction and always get a poem.

"A mother's made blunted stunted by typhus.

Caroline, I watch you sleep by the cinders, dreams dim in the clouds that thicken, and the glass of her gaze."

- What are you thinking about for the future with your art?

I mean, do you have some big ideas out there?

Are you looking to change it up a little bit or what's on the horizon?

- I think a lot about what "Planetaria" could be if it were a poetry reading in an actual planetarium, because a lot of the poems are based on constellation maps of the Chinese sky, the poems explore the lives of really, really interesting women scientists.

I think that would be a really interesting place to create a really immersive experience for visitors.

And again, I think anything that allows me that challenge of trying something new and to kind of redefine something that we think we know, but to really reimagine it as something completely new is exciting to me.

- [Ray] Yeah.

(gentle music) What an incredible experience getting to meet these amazing artists here in Fairfield County.

Alejandra, Monica, and other artists like them keep teaching me there's always something new to discover in the arts.

Until next time, I'm Ray Hardman, and thanks for watching "Where ART Thou?"

(soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music continues) (soft upbeat music continues) (soft upbeat music continues) (soft upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Support provided by the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the State of Connecticut Office of Film, Television, and Digital Media, and Connecticut Humanities.