Community Ties

Welcome to Community Ties, a
Nancy on Norwalk podcast.

I'm your host, Jack Pavia.
I'm a student at American

University and passionate
advocate for thriving towns and

cities.
I love nothing more than talking

to people who care about their
community and seek to lift it

up.
Using the platform of this show,

I'm going to facilitate
conversations with people who

have vision, drive, and passion
and choose to invest it in

Norwalk.
By conducting this dialogue, I

hope to search for truth and
meeting in our city and the

people who drive it.
A big thank you to the fine

people at Nancy on Norwalk who
have worked closely with me to

get this podcast up and running.
With that said.

Let's begin.
The Norwalk art space was the

brainchild of Alexander Corey, a
mergers and acquisitions lawyer.

She spent her life a
trailblazer, leading the charge

to abolish solitary confinement
for juvenile inmates in New York

City and becoming one of the
first women editors at the

Harvard Crimson and women
partners at Sullivan and

Cromwell.
She also served as chair of the

Harlem Educational Activities
Fund, which provides underserved

young people with academic
opportunities.

Unfortunately, she was diagnosed
with ovarian cancer prior to her

diagnosis, she envisioned the
Norwalk Art Space an institution

that would give underserved
students a chance to learn and

local artists a chance to shine.
Though she shepherded along the

project in her final months, she
passed away at the age of 61

prior to its official opening,
which took place in June 2021.

Today, the Norwalk Art Space
offers free art and music

classes, community workshops and
events, and a variety of

exhibitions.
Duvian Montoya serves as the

executive director.
In this role, he fosters

relationships with artists,
shapes educational programming,

and leads collaboration with
nonprofit organizations and

Norwalk Public Schools to
strengthen the community.

I wanted to speak to Duvian to
learn more about the history and

status of the Norwalk Art Space,
how he got involved in this

work, and what he tries to
communicate through art.

I want to sincerely thank him
for joining me in the first

virtual episode of Community
Ties.

I hope you enjoy our
conversation.

Duvian, thank you so much for
coming on today.

Usually I start with someone's
background, sort of where

they're from, what their story
is.

But for a lot of artists, I feel
as though their work in a lot of

ways is their story, or at least
their view of the world, perhaps

someone else's story.
So I'm going to start by asking

you a very broad question that
will work backwards and it's a 2

parter.
What do you think art is and

what do you work to communicate
with your art?

Wow, it's starting off right off
the back with a hard one.

But thank you for having me,
Jack.

And you know, art to me growing
up as a as a, as a young kid and

as a young artist, art was just
a reflection of who I am

visually sometimes.
I was never the best at words.

And I was able to express my
deepest emotions, thoughts on

subject matter, social justice
issues, the world around me in

my paintings.
And it gave me a sense of

distance from what sometimes
could be really harsh words on

my critique of the world around
me.

So it's definitely a a nice
barrier because art is in the

eye of the beholder.
So it allows for interpretation,

which is nice.
But to me, strong art is a

reflection of our days.
You know, Nina Simone, I think

said the best where she she says
as an artist, our job is to

reflect the world around us, and
I think the best artists do.

Your art is described on your
website as magical realism.

Can you tell me a little bit
about what that means?

So magical realism comes from
the world of Gabriel Garcia

Marquez from Columbia, who was
known for his style of writing,

which they called magical
realism.

It comes from his writings of
100 years in solitude.

It's based on reality, but
pushes the fantasy into the into

the work a little bit more than
a realistic setting would.

Being a Colombian myself, I I
felt that was an honor to be

mentioned as a magical realist
painter in honor of Gabriela's

career and outstanding role
model for Colombians.

So you talked about art being a
reflection of the times, and

that's what strong art is.
So you're also, it also says on

your website that your work has
become less intensely stylized

over time.
Does that have anything to do

with the changing times?
Absolutely.

Because I wanted people to see
what I was saying 1st instead of

seeing my style first.
I wanted the discussion to be

about that instead of the
beautiful lines and the forms

and, you know, composition.
I it was time for me to say

something.
What is that something?

Just like Nina Simone, just
reflect the world around us.

You know, it's hard not to have
commentary of what I feel is a

dangerous but beautiful world.
There's a lot of mistrust out

there.
There's a lot of hate, love,

war.
And, you know, when I see

something I disagree with, it's
hard for me not to relate that

into my work, especially, you
know, with with all the

immigration and ICE raids, you
know, that's where my art would

tend to go to, is more of
commentary about inhumanity that

we're showing the world.
How does your being Colombian

inform your art?
I think being Colombian, we're

always cheerful, happy, go
lucky, colorful people.

I think my color palette
reflects that.

It's very bright, bright and
vibrant.

And, you know, my commentary as
well, talking about family,

talking about, you know, parties
being reflective of how I grew

up is part of that.
To zoom in a little bit on the

history of the Norwalk Art Space
itself, can you walk me through

first the history of of your
involvement in the Norwalk Art

Space?
Sure.

So October of 2020, I was called
out of the blue by Robin

Penafka, who is was the husband
of Alexandra Deverne Corey, who

is our founder, the Newark Art
space founder who originally

bought the building in 2019, an
old church, a Science Christian

Church that was built in 1935.
Robin called me and just said

how would you activate an art
space?

And we just started talking,
having a, a nice easy

conversation about what I've
done in the past, what I could

do in activating an art space.
And you know, it was a beautiful

conversation, really easy.
And then I got another phone

call maybe early November with
Robin wanting me to come see the

art space.
First time meeting Robin, you

know lovely gentleman love the
mission of what Alexandra wanted

to do with the art space.
And once I saw the building for

the first time inside, I was
like, OK, this could be really

special.
That would serve the, the first

initial like aha moment for me
and, and what could happen with

the art space.
And then a month later, I was a

bit hesitant to, to, to take on
the position full time.

So I I promise I'll give you 3
days out of my week to make this

make the art space work.
And as soon as I shook hands it

it, it was seven days a week.
Can you tell me a little bit

about what you were seeing,
hearing, and feeling, both

talking to Robin and then
walking through the physical

building of the Norwalk art
space, sort of the vision that

he had, and then how that played
into what you wanted to see for

art in Norwalk?
Well, Alexandra's mission was

always to give free art
education to the youth of

Norwalk, getting to know her
story through Robin and her

daughters.
It really hit me how important

this was to her and how special
of a place that she was building

for the kids of Norwalk.
And you know, being a Norwalk

native myself, I was just in awe
of what she was doing for for my

community.
And so, you know, again, the

more I got invested, the more I
heard about stories, the more I

heard about Alexandra, the more
I worked with Robin, it became

easier and easier to take on
this responsibility of the art

space because we are giving free
art education.

We are giving free music
education for giving teaching

opportunities to young artists,
exhibition space to young

artists, everything that I
believe I could have used as a

young artist going through the
school system in Norwalk to give

me the confidence to pursue my
own artwork at a younger age or

just be confident who I am.
And so, you know, thanks to

Alexandra and her her vision and
ambition to to make the art

space this gift that it is.
I just had to say yes.

And what was your experience
growing up in Norwalk?

Were there certain things that
you know, specifically regarding

the arts that you wish you had
in terms of resources?

I was lucky I had each
elementary school, middle

school, high school.
I always had one teacher who

always believed in in me and my
art, my artistic ability.

I never thought anything of it
because I was more of the

baseball player.
But quietly, art was always what

I did in my bedroom.
My parents always fed me the

materials I needed, the little
workspace I wanted.

But being able to find a
community like we're offering

here at the art Space to our
kids of other creative

individuals, other creative
kids, you know, it didn't take

me until after high school to
realize art is really what I

want to follow.
And I just hope we could do that

for this younger generation
that's coming through.

So we focused previous episodes
on COVID-19, and it seems as

though the rock art space was
opening during the height of

COVID-19 in 2021.
What were some of the

accommodations you had to make
during that time?

It was all new.
You know, when we opened, we

opened June 21, right when
everybody started coming out of

hibernation.
So we had to, our openings would

be 3 to 400 people strong
because people were desperate,

almost desperate to, to find
community again.

And what we had to do is have it
ticketed and, you know, only 150

people within the building at a
time.

We had waiting lines make sure
the masks were were on, but the

excitement that when we first
opened was unbelievable.

You know, huge openings, great
music and people just loving

being together again.
Our openings continue to be our

largest events of the year, but
nothing like like that first

year.
You've talked a little bit about

your inspirations around the
style of art that you create,

but of course this there's a
large community aspect to all of

this as well.
I know in my own life, like

reading Bowling Alone by Robert
Putnam and realizing the

importance of civic institutions
and community development within

a town or city is just vital for
people connecting with one

another.
Was there anybody in your life

or people that you have learned
about that inspired that sense

of wanting to bring people
together and, you know, getting

getting excited about seeing
hundreds of people outside of a

community institution?
You know, I can't say there's

one particular.
It was just a following of a

lifestyle that led me to to
where I am today.

I moved from Norwalk to New
Mexico to find an art community

because I never thought there
was 1 here.

You know?
I was working at Starbucks,

hustling coffee, but also
hustling my my artwork.

From there I was able someone
believed in my artwork and

actually gave me a gallery and
said I need this gallery active.

I need it to be, you know,
filled with people you need to

put events on.
So I did that for two years.

I came back to Norwalk.
I'll help start the Saint

Philip's Artist Guild and did
the same thing with studio

spaces on the on the top floor
and gallery space on the 1st

floor.
We would put on events on a

monthly basis.
And that's, I think that's where

that community love comes into
play because you see the

connections, you see how to meet
your neighbors and how to meet

people that you want to work
with because you believe in what

they're doing and how beautiful
that could be if we just work

together.
And so from there, you know, I,

I stopped managing sort of the
same Phillips Artist Guild, went

to my studio, but I was always
craving more and more community.

And that's when I started the
Westport Artist Collective with

four other artists.
And that, again, was just trying

to bring community together
because Obama would say, you

know, high waters raise all
boats.

And I, that's stayed true in my
mind.

And having other artists, you
know, building careers around

me, I felt was as important as
just me building my own career.

I needed that community to to
build it.

And then now with the the Newark
art space, it's, it's bringing

together multi generational
artists, students all around the

sake of art and seeing how art
could be be that common

denominator for all of us to
unite has been a beautiful thing

to witness over the years, you
know, and I'm constantly

partnering with other
organizations who are doing good

work.
As I mentioned in the

introduction, the Norwalk Art
space serves a variety of roles

in the community.
There's classes, showcases, lots

of collaboration with city
institutions like nonprofits,

Norwalk Public Schools.
Can you walk me through just a

little bit more detail these
various functions of the art

space?
So you know, when Alexandra

passed away, her mission was to
give studio space for free to

emerging artists.
So we have 4 studio spaces here

at the Art Space that are given
for free for one year residency,

24/7 access.
They get exhibition space

upstairs, they get teacher
training here in the classroom

and in in exchange for that they
teach our free art education.

We have 3 semesters, summer,
fall and spring and where they

all get training and are able to
share what they love about their

art career to other young
artists.

Our mission has always been
about trying to have a majority

female residency.
Alexandra was a adamant about

women breaking the glass ceiling
and and she thought that was

much, you know, very important
in the art world too, because

92% of museums or the art
economy is from white males.

So I think with that mission, we
developed the Quarry Fellow

exhibition space.
So upstairs is the beautiful

gallery where older, more
established artists get to

showcase their artwork and be
inspiration for our residents

and our students who come
through the door.

So it's a 2 program system.
We have an amazing Cafe, the Art

Space Cafe that keeps our space
filled with people throughout

the day.
You know, we have artist talks,

we have community workshops
where we like to bring the young

and old together and working on
on certain projects.

We have a project coming up in
the next couple weeks called

Brushes for Peace with the
Westport Rotary Club and and

that's a multi generational
program as well.

Since the beginning, the Newark
Art Space has worked with the

Carver Foundation, Newark
Housing Authority for

exhibitions with students,
family and children agency to

give art art enrichment to their
kids Horizons at CT State.

I'm a big believer in working
together with other nonprofits

to showcase the arts or using it
as an enrichment tool for their

kids.
You mentioned before we started

recording that part of your role
as executive director is

fundraising for the Norwalk Art
Space.

So I'm just curious to know a
little bit more about what that

looks like and how projects like
the rock art space, how artistic

institutions in different cities
and towns, how those get funded?

The funding part is probably the
newest part for me being an

artist, being doing these types
of projects independently didn't

prepare me for the fundraising
aspect of of what it takes to

run a non profit, but we've
managed.

To I've managed to discover AI
guess a new talent in in raising

funds, but all it is is just
telling people about what we do.

We, we have this multi
generational program where

people who are coming to see our
shows upstairs fall in love with

a mission and who are art
related and that has been a huge

help in helping to fund our
programs and, and is having

those exhibitions and those
community partnerships grants.

It takes a lot of grants writing
out there.

We probably write to about 20
grants per year.

We hope to uptick that over the
next couple years because

funding is starting to get a
little bit harder to come by.

We have a lot of foundations
that support us and that's based

off of relationships that I've
built over the last 4 1/2 years

now and then the family
continues to support the art the

the Newark art space as well.
And I have heard very good

things about the Newark Art
Spaces Cafe, things so good that

I've had people tell me not to
shout it out because I would be

blowing up their spot.
What is your go to when you're

there?
I'm a rice and beans guy so the

the the good bowl which has
rice, avocado and tahini and all

these wonderful things in it is
probably my go to and favorite

dish.
You mentioned a little bit about

how you spent time outside of
the Norwalk area, So what

brought you back?
What brought me back, I was just

the weird uncle out in the
desert.

When I was living out in New
Mexico.

My brother, my sister were all
having kids, and I just wanted

to be closer to home.
My parents were still here in

Norwalk, and so I was just
coming back home.

And then when I told people I
was coming back, I was looking

for studio space.
And I reached out to my old

priest at Saint Philip's
Catholic Church and he was like,

we got this old mansion
interested in doing something

here.
And I sort of jumped on the

chant.
And of course, cities have often

served as cultural hubs, hubs of
art specifically.

Why do you think that is?
I don't know if it started out

to be a cultural hub, but it's
revitalization.

They use the arts artists to
revitalize neighborhoods,

bringing in the beauty of
murals, little artisan craft

shops, small studios.
It's you know, artists will take

almost any space to create their
their love and you know, they'll

create a beautiful neighborhood.
And yeah, cities have been

notorious at using artists to,
to, to make that happen.

And with Norwalk, Norwalk has
been good to me as a, as an

artist.
They've definitely commissioned

a lot of artwork.
A lot more murals are going up

in, in, in and around Norwalk,
which is always good to see.

And they have an arts Commission
which is beneficial to any art

community.
How long has that arts

Commission been around and and
is there any work specifically

that you've done in terms of
advocacy towards the city or

working with fellow artists or
art enthusiasts to improve

Norwalk's standing with murals
and things like that?

Yeah, the, the Arts Commission
has been around, I believe close

to 15 years.
And they, they helped to approve

funding for murals for, you
know, they, they were ones that

just got approval for the big
Welcome to Norwalk mural between

Sono and Wall Street area.
They've advocated for murals

down Martin Luther King Drive
and there's a few others that

are coming online, hope for the
next year or two.

But having having an institution
like that advocating for more

arts is ideal.
Can you tell me a little bit

more about the value that you
see in having art more

integrated into a city and what
that vision of a place where art

and people can coexist in public
spaces?

I mean, art is.
I'm just referencing a piece of

art I was commissioned to do for
the Sono train station.

I was given this opportunity to
create something for the South

North train station.
I dug deep into the history of

Norwalk, all the migrants that
came in and out of of its

history.
The history or the churches.

Why was this church built?
Why was that there?

You know, I really dug into the
history and I think as an

artist, you know, I wanted to
bring in as many of the diverse

generations that have called
Moore walk home and Rep make

sure I represent them.
And so I think art in general,

again, good work will help tell
that story of, of the time of

the history of, of a, of a
place.

What do you think?
And I love that mural, by the

way, in the South Norwich train
station, for anyone who's for

any listener who's curious, it's
the one under the train station.

When you're going from one side
of the tracks to the other, what

do you think holds the
expression of art back?

You told me a little bit at the
beginning about some of the

repressive forces that you seek
to fight against through

expression.
So are there forces that you've

identified that specifically
serve as stumbling blocks to

free expression that art
represents?

It's a good question, but
artists are always going to

create art.
Artists are going to create what

they want to create.
If it means art, Art is healing,

art is understanding, art is
journaling for the individual.

So good art comes from that's
that, that heart of the artist,

I guess.
But what stops it sometimes is

the need to make money.
We all need to make money and

we, we wish we could make our
living off of what we are

producing from the heart.
But you know, sometimes you get

a Commission and you have to put
that heart back in its place

and, and adjust what you're
saying based on the needs of a

client.
So is it a negative?

Maybe, but does it help you put
food on the table?

Yes.
So it's a it's a give and take.

But other things that could
stifle, I think creativity.

Yeah, I'm going to stick with
that just because it art as an

artist, you, you create from the
heart and and and money is what

stifles it.
So how then, how do we create a

paradigm where art is able to be
authentically expressed?

Of course, you're always going
to have situations, like you

said, where someone is looking
for, you know, the next to pay

their next bill of rent or
whatever it may be, and this is

how they get by.
But how do you think we can

create a world where people are
able to authentically express

themselves and perhaps not not
worry at all, but worry less

about these sort of financial
implications?

I, I, I think the, the best way
would be to constantly be

creating artwork that speaks of
who you are.

You know, we, we all tend to
have our own style, our own

look, our own feel.
And I I think we hope that

translate to the corporate world
or to the, you know, to the

entity commissioning the artist,
that you will trust the artist

in creating something beautiful
based on their likes or their

style.
Does that make sense?

Yeah.
I know we're getting very

theoretical.
The first, the first is like,

OK, what's your role?
And now it's like, what is the

meaning of it all?
So if someone examines your

life, your experiences, your
service, what you've produced

and the perspective specifically
that you've sought to highlight,

what do you think?
What would you like their their

takeaways to be?
I would hope and and like for

them to see that I was just
trying to honor people, people

I've loved, people who have
cared for me, people who who I

feel have done great things for
our society.

Because I, I feel like we, we,
again, we just need to

understand there's a lot of good
out there.

And I was just trying to
highlight the good that people

were doing.
So for the last question, I'm

going to get a little bit
selfish.

What would you say to people who
are looking to immerse

themselves in more art and
culture, particularly in the

Norwalk area?
Where do they start?

Well, of course you have to
start the Newark arts space.

You know, if you're if you're a
little kid, you know, between

the ages of 9 to 18, take take
our free art classes that we

offer after school and we're
starting to offer Saturday and

Sunday classes as well.
We're looking to expand program

in the future.
We have a portfolio development

class for those more advanced
students looking to go to that

next level of either college or
professional artistic route.

If you're an artist, apply to be
a resident artist here.

Get teacher training, get your
artwork exposed, get mentorship

from our amazing community of of
artists and curators and

directors who come in.
If you're just a lover of the

arts, come to our art openings,
our artist talks, our community

workshops, our gala or volunteer
at our yellow desks.

Our volunteers, once they come
in, they're they're hooked.

You know, we have volunteers
since the beginning and they're

here every time I I need a hand
with installing a piece of

artwork or cleaning the floors.
It's been amazing to to see the

support we're getting from every
level and then come to the Art

Cafe.
Cafe has amazing food created by

Caitlin Kelly, who do amazing
artistic things with flavor and

just be inspired by the people
around you.

Because we we get a lot of
artists, we get musicians,

poets, we've had ballet here
too.

That, that just, I think all the
arts, I'm trying to combine all

the arts here.
So it really inspires all of us

to to to come together around
the arts.

And where can people find you
online?

Feel free to shout out any sort
of personal or mark art space,

socials or websites.
Sure, definitely the Norwich

artspace.org and then
dubiamontoya.com is my website.

I do.
One other thing is our annual

fundraiser is October 9th,
Thursday, October 9th from 6:00

to 9:00 PM where we're honoring
Lissy Newman, Melissa Newman as

our honoree.
Dale Najarian and Catherine

Devine are Co chairs and love to
see the community come out and

support our annual fundraiser
for all the free program we

offer to the city.
Duvian, thank you so much for

coming on today.
Thank you, Jack.

I appreciate the time.
This episode of Community Ties

couldn't have happened without
the work of the board of Nancy

on Norwalk, particularly that of
Justin Matley, Sean Fox, and

Ashley RK Smith.
Nancy on Norwalk is powered by

its donors, who keep the
organization's lights on.

Of course, I want to
particularly thank Duvian for

coming on the show and engaging
in this dialogue.

In case you're curious, the
Norwalk art Space's newest

exhibition is called The Weight
of Memories and includes Melissa

Newman, Kimberly Klaus, and
Paige Moss Toys Art, most

prominently featuring Newman's
reflective porcelain works.

Access to recording equipment
was provided by the Westport

Library's Verso Studios.
Special thanks to Travis Bell

for showing me how it all works.
I highly encourage listeners to

look into the resources that the
Westport Library offers if

you're at all interested in
audio, music, or podcasting.

Of course, always support public
libraries.

To everyone out there listening,
thank you for tuning in.