New Haven County Bar 2nd Annual Art Show
Creative Arts Workshop
New Haven
Through May 10
Wandering through the bar association’s second annual exhibition of art by local lawyers and judges and other legal professionals, I couldn’t decide on where to rest my eyes. The walls were covered with art so striking, even the lure of champagne and charcuterie faded into the background. There were paintings, sculpture, glassware, photography and something altogether unclassifiable – extravagant mixed0media headpieces that I could see on the likes of RuPaul.
IThree pieces captivated me in particular – Fences, Blue Ridge Grocery and Dory Bluff. Their lush usage of blues and hyperrealistic details were mesmerizing.
Fences (oil and acrylic paint on canvas) was a large optical illusion of the beach. At the top, a thick band of alternating variegated blue lines represented the ocean. The oscillating blue lines continued on down the canvas and mixed in with beige lines that signified the sand. The canvas gave off a shimmering effect; I could even imagine the heat of the sun. Beyond that, the piece also evoked interwoven fabric that begged to be caressed.
Fences was painted by Allie Jacobs, corporation counsel for the City of New Haven, president of the charitable foundation for the New Haven County Bar and the mastermind behind their Annual Art Show. Fences (which took about 60 hours of hand-cramping work) drew inspiration in color and composition from a painting of fenced Nantucket beaches by Jacobs’ grandmother. “I felt very connected to her when I was painting it,” she told me.
Jacobs has been painting since she was a teenager, and devoted her undergraduate years to the study of oil painting. “It turns out that painting is not a very feasible career,” Jacobs said with a chuckle. After school, she pivoted into the family business of law (fourth generation!) and found her place.
The arts continued to call her, though. “I kept meeting lawyers who were incredibly talented, creative people; they were artists, musicians, and poets. I thought, ‘There’s so many of us, we should have a show.’”
With support, her idea blossomed into a reality that continues to grow. “I never had to turn anyone away,” Jacobs observed of the Annual Art Show’s participating artists. Some of the pieces were on sale; the proceeds will benefit the New Haven County Bar’s foundation, which has the mission of fostering the accessibility of legal services to the greater New Haven community. With luck, they’ll also be giving out grants.
One piece on sale carried extra meaning for Jacobs. It was a photograph of a bird donated by the wife of the late Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, who was one of Jacobs’ professors at Quinnipiac University School of Law. “I never knew that he was an avid bird photographer,” she exclaimed, underscoring the evening’s theme – you may think you know, but you have no idea.
