From the winter 2008 issue of UConn Momentum
A $250,000 gift is enhancing the Litchfield County Writers and Artists Project (LCWAP) at UConn’s Torrington campus, a program that has become a touchstone of the University and brought dozens of highly acclaimed authors and artisans to campus.
The gift is the largest ever to support the Torrington campus and will allow for a room in the M. Adela Eads Classroom Building to be renovated into a dual-purpose teaching and gallery area. It will also sustain the LCWAP itself through an endowed fund that supports fellowships for writers and artists and sponsors LCWAP events. The first display in the teaching and gallery area will feature the works of Robley E. Whitson, a distinguished writer and artist from Litchfield County who helped to coordinate the gift from an anonymous couple.
“This has come as a wonderful honor and an unexpected delight,” Whitson says. “I think what is most impressive about the writers and artists program is that it allows for the development of the connection between academics and the community at large. It moves beyond the narrow side of academia and has become something unique, wonderful and valuable—truly where the University meets the public.”
Whitson says that the program provides an atmosphere that is highly conducive to a deeper understanding of the arts, which the gift supports through the room renovations.
“For a visitor, the [dual-purpose room] area will be much more experiential than a typical gallery,” he says. “Instead of simply looking up at the pictures, patrons can actually study what the art means. There aren’t many settings where you find the academics, the community and the arts so integrated.”
Involving the entire Litchfield County community plays a large role in the LCWAP’s success. It is the primary outreach effort of UConn’s Torrington campus, and has attracted such authors as Frank McCourt and Arthur Miller for presentations that are open to the public. The free and informal nature of the lectures attracts an audience from across Connecticut to the quiet northwest corner of the state. Director Davyne Verstandig believes the surroundings of Litchfield County itself may provide some of the artistic and literary inspiration for the program to thrive.
“I don’t think there’s any other community quite like this one,” she says. “There are dozens of award-winning authors in this area, and it’s fascinating to see that talent come together and dialogue with this community. The fact that our project is free and open to the public matters a great deal. At each lecture, one can find a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and viewpoints.”
Geraldine Van Doren is an English professor at the campus and a member of the LCWAP Advisory Board. She says the project has helped to put UConn–Torrington on the map. On campus, it has encouraged faculty from a number of disciplines to come together, which ultimately enriches the University.
“I can’t see how this gift could do anything but raise more interest in the project,” she says. “This campus has such an interdisciplinary atmosphere. Torrington is so intimate, which I think gives us a certain freedom to work together. It is different from any campus on any university I’ve seen. The writers and artists project provides a catalyst on campus. There’s a wonderful value to the community through the writers and filmmakers who have come, and the more we invest in it, the more it will give back to the entire University and the state.”
To support the LCWAP or UConn’s Torrington campus, please contact Frank Gifford at 860.486.6798 or by e-mail.
