Many residents of Fairfield County assume they have to venture into the city to get a taste of great art. Unbeknown to most, they can easily access high quality art within their own community. The following list provides a roundup divided and organized by town of almost thirty art galleries all within Fairfield County specializing in many different art forms and styles. Gallery hours and upcoming exhibits can be found by clicking on the link provided.
Darien
The Charles Michael Gallery is a family-owned gallery for over 35 years that houses a large selection of original vintage posters, antique posters, original posters, as well as original antique and contemporary prints and paintings.
This gallery is a fine art gallery known for its representational art with exhibits that rotate every five weeks. Exhibits feature acclaimed Connecticut-based artists as well as other artists from along the eastern seaboard. Master pastelist Gene Sparkman along with Andrew N. Wyeth, nephew of Andrew Wyeth, exhibit at the Geary Gallery every other year. Proprietors, Tom and Anne Geary, strive to create a welcoming atmosphere, as they are friends to many of the artists featured at the gallery.
Fairfield
The J. Russell Jinishian Gallery specializes in fine Contemporary and Antique Marine and Sporting Art from both Europe and America. Frequently changing exhibits create even further variety. The gallery boasts over 250 paintings, drawings, scrimshaw, and ship models with a wide variety of subjects and styles. Owner, J. Russell Jinishian, the Nation’s Leading Authority on Contemporary Marine Art, is able to offer collectors unparalleled direct access to the finest art available in the marker place.
J. Russell Jinishian Gallery
The Soderlund Gallery and Studio features portraits, seascapes, and landscapes by artist Karl Soderlund. His paintings have been on display at many of the finest galleries, and featured on television as well as in magazines and newspapers.
Thomas J. Walsh Gallery at Fairfield University
This gallery provides visitors with multiple contemporary visual and educational discourses including development, gender, culture, and socio-economic issues, in turn offering diverse and conflicting points of view. The Thomas J. Walsh Gallery presents interrelated visual experiences that are welcoming, challenging, and thought provoking.
Ulla Surland Gallery
The Ulla Surland Gallery is a fine art/design boutique and gallery including high design housewares, fashion accessories, jewelry, and custom furniture.
Greenwich
The Samuel Owen Gallery is housed in a 5,000 sq. foot loft featuring fine art and vintage posters including subjects such as art deco, fashion, movies, psychedelic, and street art, among many others.
Samuel Owen Gallery: Street Art Show curated by Michael De Feo
This gallery contains quality American and European paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and photography that range from the 19th century to the present.
In their 23rd year of operation, Cavalier galleries offer the finest in contemporary painting, sculpture, and photography from around the world. Their blog provides constant updates regarding upcoming exhibits.
This gallery includes contemporary American paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints. Weber Fine Art specializes in American art of the 20th century with a specific focus on postwar American art.
Weber Fine Art Gallery
Larchmont
A contemporary art gallery and experienced art consulting firm that represents over thirty emerging and mid-career investment quality artists working in a variety of mediums.
This gallery is run by Robert and David Bahssin and specializes in American fine and decorative arts of the 19th century and also has become a source for museums, collectors and dealers. Post Road Gallery has long antique shop roots and boasts a broad eclectic mix of rare and unique objects.
New Canaan
Butler Fine Art specializes in oil paintings, pastels, and abstracts. Sample work of featured artists can be viewed on their website.
The gallery is located in a 19th century stone barn on the grounds of the former Waveny Estate in New Canaan, CT sponsored by the New Canaan Society for the Arts, a member-supported, non-profit cultural organization. It is home to the Betty Barker Gallery which serves as host to six premier art exhibitions annually, including a popular Members’ Show, a juried Photography Exhibition, and Spectrum, the center’s major juried event for painting, drawing, graphics, and sculpture. In addition, there is a variety of Invitational Exhibitions each year. Entrance to the Gallery is free and all exhibitions are open to the public.
Handwright Gallery offers original fine art oils, sculptures in bronze and terracotta, as well as limited-edition prints including an extensive selection of 18th and 19th century botanicals. Paintings vary from traditional Dutch fashion small-scale still life to large-scale impressionist style landscapes set in Provence or Tuscany.
The gallery features paper, photography, painting, and sculpture by both emerging and established artists.
The Silvermine Arts Center is comprised of a Guild of over 300 professional artists with five galleries presenting new exhibitions every six weeks. Sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and a bronze-casting foundry are located in an adjacent building on the Center grounds. The Silvermine Arts Center in also home to innovative dance, theater, film, and music programs. The Center’s School of Art provides a range of classes for all ages and all levels of experience.
Norwalk
This gallery consists of one-of-a-kind artworks by some of the finest contemporary artists. Each artist is showcased on his or her own wall panel in the gallery.
Founded in 1970, the Market is a combination of a gallery, a museum, and a framing workshop that showcases classic contemporary handmade American crafts, exquisite fine art, and photography.
Port Chester
Nelson Macker Fine Art represents contemporary high quality art by mid-career and emerging artists. The gallery presents a regular schedule of exhibitions featuring works that demonstrate a broad range of styles and mediums. Nelson Macker Fine Art was selected in 2009 and 2010 for the Best of Port Chester Award in the Art Gallery Category by the USCA.
Ridgefield
The Guild contains three large gallery spaces, a gift gallery, and a studio loft, all within a 200-year-old barn. Membership includes artists who work in a broad range of media at all stages of development. They present a full calendar of exhibitions each year including: an Annual Juried Exhibition, a collaborative exhibitions of emerging artists with the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, a holiday show called Festive Home, among several other shows. The Guild offers art classes for children and adults as well as art lectures on-site.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is an independent, non-collecting contemporary art museum founded by Larry Aldrich in 1964. It is the only museum in Connecticut devoted solely to contemporary art and was recognized by the American Association of Museums in 2011. It is the museum’s mission to provide innovative and high quality contemporary art exhibitions as well as programs focusing on emerging and mid-career artists.
Southport
Southport Galleries specializes in fine art by American Masters and Contemporary artists. It is harbored in a 1,700 sq. foot space nestled in Southport’s picturesque village.
Rowayton
Quester Gallery is the leading source for exceptional 18th, 19th, and 20th century marine paintings with a broad range of styles, subjects, and values. The gallery holds rotating retrospective exhibitions, including one-artist shows. The gallery also offers a selection of fine period marine antiques, ship models, half-models, campaign furniture, sea chests, sculpture, sailor’s valentines, and books, among other decorative arts.
Stamford
The Stamford Loft Artists Association is a non-profit organization with a goal to enhance the public’s artistic and cultural exposure. The gallery produces two “Open Studios” events and six gallery shows per year.
The Association is a non-profit organization whose members include painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers. The gallery holds eight consecutive shows each year, six of which are juried exhibits. Annual shows include the Faber Birren Color Shows and the Marine Show. Also, each year the Association showcases the work of students from Fairfield County high schools in a juried exhibit that awards scholarships and other prizes to promising young artists. The event calendar can be found on their website.
Westport
Amy Simon Fine Art showcases contemporary art by mid-career and emerging artists located in the Sasco Mill, a 200-year-old landmark building. There is a focus on areas such as contemporary blue chip editions and Asian contemporary art.
The Center consists of contemporary art and is located on the banks of the Saugatuck River in downtown Westport. The main gallery features three to four curated exhibitions each year, centered on current themes or ideas in contemporary art, which are developed by Director of Visual Arts, Helen Klisser During. The galleries are also popular gathering spaces for art lovers who come to ArtCafe, Wednesday Artist lunches, film screenings, concerts, and literary discussions, among other events. The Center celebrates talent within the community through their annual members show, juried exhibitions, and Studio Gallery. Check out their ArtCafe blog on their website.
The Westport River Gallery houses European, American, and Asian fine art including impressionistic, realistic, abstract, and modern styles. Artists are selected for the gallery based on their reputation, level of credentials, styles, and distinctions.
Wilton
These galleries are housed in an 18th Century Salt Box overlooking the Norwalk River. In operation since 1940, the Vallin Galleries are purveyors of fine Chinese and Asian art and antiques. The galleries include Chinese sculpture, furniture, paintings, scholar’s objects, early ceramics, Japanese ceramics, and works of art, as well as outdoor Asian sculptures.