Maricarmen Godoy of Norwalk
Maricarmen is a journalist, artist manager, and philanthropist. She belongs to the fifth generation of a family of musicians from Ecuador. Maricarmen began singing sacred music from an early age and made a living as a singer while she finished her journalism degree at Universidad Central de Ecuador. She migrated to the United States in 1997 with her daughter, Angie, who is an award-winning violinist and cultural entrepreneur. As a citizen artist and cultural promoter, she saw a need to advocate for emerging artists who have are pursuing their international careers. Her community work began at the Ecuadorian Civic Center in Danbury, Connecticut and she is a founding member of what is now the Ecuadorian Civic Committee of Stamford. In 2021, she founded En Vivo con Maricarmen, a non-profit organization that uplifts Latin-American artists. Throughout the pandemic, her philanthropic work directly supported musicians, sound engineers, and video editors in times when the stages were closed and artists were in crisis. As a journalist, Maricarmen amplifies community arts and cultural events. She is an editor for La Voz Hispana de Connecticut, a Spanish newspaper based in New Haven, and the anchor of En Vivo con Maricarmen, a Spanish radio news show on 103.5FM La Voz Radio. Maricarmen is a contributor to the Fairfield County Catholic newspaper, where she writes articles in Spanish. She serves as a volunteer bilingual translator and artist liaison for INTEMPO in Stamford.
Cristin Rivera of Niantic
Cristin is a talented designer and an all-around creative person. She designs and creates beautiful and unique clothing, femme comfort for all people. She hopes to empower individuals through fashion. Cristin is the glue that holds together The Annex, an artist space co-founded and operated by local artists for the community to shop authentically and support local artists. She is described as an individual who has endless energy and creativity. She curates storefront displays, arts shows, and installations and creates new clothing lines all while working full-time and caring for her family. She has been referred to as a Superwoman who knows how to connect and grow projects flawlessly. Richard White of Coventry. Richard is an artist, photographer and teacher. He serves as President of the Coventry Arts Guild and has donated years of his time advocating for the arts and expanding public access to the visual arts in Northeastern Connecticut. Richard curates a large outdoor public art exhibit in downtown Coventry, spearheads the annual Coventry Arts on Main event and has mentored young people in the visual arts and design for decades. Richard invests considerable energy into animating the arts in Coventry for the betterment of residents and visitors.
Stewart Wilson of New Hartford
Stewart has been fostering art in the community for 40 + years, founding three arts organizations, Public Image (1980-1984, NYC) and Artwell Gallery (1995-2011, Torrington). Stewart, the artist, is known for the Personas, his wrapped representatives from another dimension. He created over 31,000 Persona sculptures in human and animal form which has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. The Personas have “come alive” in Stewart's latest project, Personaland – an online global arts village showcasing nearly 500 artists from 52 countries in 15 group and 37 individual artist galleries. In addition, you can enjoy movies, dancing flowers, a wishing well and challenging art games. He is known for his unflagging good humor and as a visionary artist who believes art is for everyone.