story & photo
by Jessica Warzeniak

On Tuesday, August 26, Rose City Renaissance (RCR) held its  first Community Annual Meeting at the Community Information Center, its new home at 2-6 Cliff Street, Norwich, to recognize the commitment and accomplishments of the individuals and organizations who daily engage in making the vision of revitalization a reality in Norwich. The informative and interactive program provided a report of the activity of RCR during the past year and where it hopes to go in the coming months and years.

The Annual Meeting also provided the opportunity for RCR to recognize the accomplishments of four individuals and businesses. This year’s honorees included Robert Oickle, executive director, YMCA  of Southeastern CT, Marcy Vitagliano, owner, Morning Glories Floral Designs and Pottery, Joseph Manfredi, owner, Billy Wilson’s Ageing Still, and Richard and Joyce Morrison, owners, The Ice Cream Shop.

Robert is this year’s recipient of the 2008 Face of Main Street Award in recognition of the impressive ongoing renovations and reinvigoration of the YMCA. In addition to the benefits of the physical structure, which anchors one end of RCR’s designated program area, the YMCA’s effort in expanding programming, producing events and growing their memberships is helping to enliven downtown.

Marcy received the 2008 Bring Back the Bustle Award in recognition of her contribution to the revitilization of Norwich by bringing people and commerce back to the downtown area. The opening of Morning Glories  is a significant addition, not just to the recently restored Wauregan, but to Broadway itself. Her sense of style trandsends her beautiful floral arrangements, infusing her shop and its display windows with presentations filling all the senses. By opening the shop’s displays to the street, it is as if she is poised to transform Broadway single-handedly.

Joseph and Billy Wilson’s Ageing Still are the recipient of the 2008 Heart of Main Street Award in recognition of his positive impact in downtown Norwich and the surrounding areas. Whether at the “original” Billy Wilson’s on Franklin Street or the “new” Billy Wilson’s Ageing Still on Broadway, Joe is a fixture on the Norwich scene. His enthusiasm, vibrant spirit, generosity, and commitment to the city are as important as bricks and mortar in the revitalization of the historic downtown.

Richard and Joyce are the recipients of the 2008 Downtown Life Award in recognition of maintaining a veteran business that shows its commitment to Norwich by maintaining its operation downtown and working to make the city’s core viable. From their location in Franklin Square, the Morrisons saw many changes in downtown. They unflaggingly continued on and worked to serve those whose careers center around downtown. From their salad bar to their reasonably priced, tasty lunches, to their spectacular ice cream, their efforts keep downtown going strong. Their business is a valuable thread in the fabric of downtown Norwich.

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The Catherine Lorillard Wolf Art Club is pleased to announce that local Noank Foundry artist Serena G. Bates had work accepted into its 112th Annual Open Exhibition at the National Arts Club in New York City.

This exhibition of works in a variety of media by women artists from all over the US was by juried admission and was not limited to members only. The exhibition is open to the public from September 23 to October 13.

The Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, one of the oldest women’s art clubs in the country, was founded in 1896, in honor of Miss Wolfe, a prominent New York philanthropist and art collector. She was the only woman among the 106 founders of the Metropolitan Museum Of Art. Today’s members are represented in museums, galleries, and prestigious art collections all over the world.

Serena G. Bates, born 1965, in Quonset, RI.  From childhood, Bates had an inquisitive nature and keen interest in anything artistic.  She was classically educated at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design.  She studied sculpting with renowned sculptors Elizabeth Gordon Chandler, Laci deGerenday and Don Gale, and painting with painters Aaron Shikler, Burton Silverman, Dean Keller and Dan Gheno.  Serena is an artist member of the Salmagundi Club (NY) the National Sculpture Society (NY), the Catherine Lorillard Wolf Art Club (NY), the New England Sculpture Society, the CT Academy of Fine Arts, the Mystic Art Center, a founding member of the Artists Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, and recently joined the Noank Foundry.

Whether it be sculpting or painting, her work is primarily done in the field or with a live subject, where she feels her works are the result of “experience and keen observation.”  Serena feels, “you can’t breathe true life into your paintings or sculptures unless you have gotten to know your subjects on a personal and more intimate level.”  Serena refined her craft over the past decade, and actually worked for four years in a bronze-casting foundry to learn the lost wax process from start to finish.  She is now focusing on a series of bronze animals and is studying the nuances of ceramic sculpture.   If asked, she will tell you her greatest influences are John Singer Sargent, Daniel Chester French and Anna Hyatt Huntington.

Recent accolades include winning the top award in sculpture at the 29th Annual Juried Non-Member Exhibition of the Salmagundi Art Club in New York, NY.  She received the Joseph Hartley Memorial Award for her sculpture “Shoo Fly” and was accepted as a full artist member.  Serena is well known in the southern New England community, and her work can be found in many private collections throughout the US.  Her main local venue is the Courtyard Gallery in Mystic. She maintains her studios in Noank and Westerly, RI.

For more information regarding the National Arts Club, call 212.475.3424.

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