Introduction

Welcome Artists! We hope you're as excited as we are to get the 2008 City-Wide Open Studios under way! After last year's festival, we asked for you to tell us how to improve and expand the reach of our program through an online survey and a series of focus groups. We received excellent comments and suggestions and used them to develop this year's festival- we're sure you'll be happy with the results!

The 2008 program includes new opportunities for you to show your work to more visitors, make connections with a greater number of curators, develop professional practices in building your portfolio and resume, and be listed in a year-round directory of artists working in and around New Haven. Things will look a little different to you, but be assured that everything was built with you in mind! We look forward to collaborating with you to present the 11th Annual City-Wide Open Studios (CWOS) in New Haven, CT.

The 2008 CWOS is one big weekend, and we will be promoting it as a destination event to draw people to our great city and explore the many areas where artists are working, living, and producing art.

Ways to Be Involved:

1. Open your local studio or show in a temporary space.
2. Apply for the Artist-in-Residence Site (AIRS) program.
3. Apply for the exhibition, CONNcentric, at Artspace.
4. List your artist profile in the printed Artist Directory.

1.) Open your local studio
Whether in your apartment, house, garage, studio complex (Erector Square, 14 Gilbert St., etc) or a rented studio, you are encouraged to register to open your doors October 3 through 5, 2008. All studios are required to be open from 4-8 pm on Friday, October 3, and from 12-8 pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 4-5, 2008.

Artists from outside New Haven or artists in New Haven without studios are encouraged to find temporary studio or exhibition spaces in any of the CWOS neighborhoods Downtown New Haven (including East Rock), Westville, Fair Haven, West Haven, and Hamden / Newhallville. We urge you to be resourceful and find a studio to rent, borrow or share for the weekend on your own. Artspace will hold meetings in each of the neighborhoods to connect you with other artists without studios to form groups and share ideas. We suggest you register early and give yourself time to find a space. The deadline to send us your studio location for inclusion in our printed materials is August 29, 2008.

2.) Apply for the Artist-in-Residence Site program (early application August 3 deadline)
Apply to show your new work as part of the Artist-in-Residence Sites Program. 60-80 artists will be selected by a panel of eight professional jurors (four local curators and four national curators) to participate in the five exhibitions. Each Artist-in-Residence Site hosts 10-15 artists and occupies a vacant building in each of the following Greater New Haven neighborhoods involved in CWOS: Downtown New Haven (including East Rock), Westville, Fair Haven, West Haven, and Hamden / Newhallville. These exhibitions are a key component of the City-Wide Open Studios festival and are a key stop on each of the guided tours. The Artist-in-Residence Site Program is an amazing opportunity to have your work noticed-you are guaranteed a location to be seen by thousands of visitors. Artists selected for the AIRS will be notified by August 8, 2008.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are selected as an Artist-in-Residence, you are not eligible to be included in CONNcentric. The Artists-in-Residence Sites program exhibition are open from 4-8 pm on Friday October 3, 2008, and from 12-8 pm on Saturday, October 4, 2008 and Sunday, October 5, 2008. If selected we recommend you be onsite during these hours to interact with and answer questions from the public.

3.) Apply for the exhibition CONNcentric at Artspace (early application August 3 deadline)
If you do not have a studio in Greater New Haven to open or are not interested in applying for the Artist-in-Residence Sites program, we highly encourage you to apply to show work in CONNcentric.

Artspace will transform our main gallery into an exhibition highlighting the work of over 100 participating artists. The exhibition's curator will select exemplary work representing quality artists in Connecticut. CONNcentric will be on view at Artspace from October 2, 2008 through December 13, 2008-an incredible opportunity to have your work on view for three months. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are selected for the exhibition, you are also eligible and encouraged to open your own studio or temporary studio space. The exhibition will be open and staffed by Artspace during our regular business hours.

4.) List your profile in the Artist Directory
All participating artists in 2008 CWOS will be listed in the Artist Directory. If you are not available to participate in the festival during 2008, we welcome you to list your artist profile for a $25 fee in our printed Artist Directory. This directory will be for sale at our gallery and through our website year-round for anyone who wants to contact you about your work. Each artist profile will have an image of one artwork, a short artist statement, and contact information of your choice. If you opt to only be profiled in the Artist Directory, you will not be listed in any of our other publications.