PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/17/15
Contact: Leslie LaSala, Director of Marketing & Communications
203-222-7070 leslie@westportartscenter.org
Attached images:
1. Benji Porosoff next to his second place photograph, Midnight Flower, in the 8-10
year old category. Photo by Helen Klisser During.
2. Westport Arts Center Staff, Westport Farmers’ Market Staff and Board members,
Bill Taibe, jurors and finalists in the Young Shoots competition. Contributed
photo.
3. First place winner Esme Stiel (8-10 year old category), Bill Taibe (owner of The
Whelk restaurant), and first place winner Lili Dowell (11-14 year old category).
Photo by Helen Klisser During.
4. Esme Stiel’s “Roots,” First Place and Fan Favorite in the 8-10 Year Old
Category.
5. Lili Dowell’s “Tomatoes,” First Place in the 11-14 Year Old Category.
6. Lindsay Oren’s “What’s Found Underneath,” the First Place winner for the 15-18
Year Old Category.
Westport Arts Center and Westport Farmers’ Market Announce
Winners of Young Shoots Student Digital Photography
Competition
The Westport Arts Center and the Westport Farmers’ Market are excited to
announce the winners of the first annual Young Shoots student digital
photography competition.
The competition, jointly sponsored by the two Westport non-profit organizations,
was designed to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their
creativity through the digital photography medium, and to showcase the local
color and vibrancy of the Westport Farmers' Market.
Both the Westport Arts Center and the Westport Farmers’ Market are passionate
about curating visually rich experiences and champion the presentation of “farm
to table to wall” in new and interesting ways.
Close to 100 photographs of the Westport Farmers’ Market were submitted by
kids and teens ages 8-18 from across Fairfield County. The subject matter
ranged from flowers to sheep to tomatoes.
Jurors for the competition were Helen Klisser During; Westport Arts Center's
Artistic Director, Eileen Sawyer; local photographer and member of the Westport
Farmers' Market Board of Directors, and Stephanie Webster; Editor-in-Chief for
CTbites.com.
Following are the selected winners and photographs:
Ages 8 – 10
 First Place: Esme Stiel, Roots
 Second Place: Benji Porosoff, Midnight Flower
 Fan Favorite: Esme Stiel, Roots
 Honorable Mentions: Chloe Barnes, Sprouting Wood; Nora LaFleur,
Pasta la Vista; Michael Rossi, Purple Red Rooster; Sam Saperstein: Blue
Baby
Ages 11 – 14
 First Place: Lili Dowell, Tomatoes
 Second Place: Maxine Tan, Lettuce Relax
 Fan Favorite: Maxine Tan, Sunbathing
 Honorable Mentions: Sammy Boosin, WFM; Charlotte
Cohen, DSC_0013_2; Ethan Glennon, Greenbeans; Ethan Glennon,
Honey
Ages 15 – 18
 First Place: Lindsay Oren, What’s Found Underneath
 Second Place: Eliza Goldberg, Groomingtime
 Fan Favorite: Lindsay Oren, Leftover Sunlight
 Honorable Mentions: Dominique Catanzar, Cherries; Jack Gartland,
Peppers
The students were honored Tuesday night in a gallery-like reception hosted and
donated by Sugar & Olives restaurant in Norwalk. Sugar & Olives owner and
chef Jennifer Balin has generously served the local arts and food communities
through the years.
First place winners in each age group won the opportunity to co-lead a photo
shoot at The Whelk restaurant with Bill Taibe and a $50 cash prize.
Second place winners also received a $50 cash prize. Fan Favorite winners for
each age group, selected by the public, were also showcased at the event and
received a one-year membership to the Westport Arts Center and a Westport
Farmers’ Market t-shirt.
The winning photographs will remain on display at Sugar & Olives through
Tuesday, September 29 and can also be viewed at The Westport Arts Center
concurrent with The Print Show: Celebrating 45 Years of Printmaking with Pace
Prints New York exhibition opening September 18.
“Watching the market fill with kids and their cameras confirmed that this
community partnership was not only successful but should become an annual
event. Bringing together children, community, art and our farmers' market - what
could be better?,” stated Lori Cochran-Dougall, Executive Director of the
Westport Farmers’ Market.
For more information on Young Shoots and other youth and teen programs at the
Westport Arts Center, please call 203/222-7070 or visit westportartscenter.org.
About the Westport Farmers' Market
In June 2006, Paul Newman and Michel Nischan planted a seed and we opened
our doors in the parking lot of the Westport Country Playhouse. We were so
proud of our 14 vendors, and so grateful for the 500 shoppers who showed up to
support us.
In 2009, we moved to our current home at 50 Imperial Avenue, a stone's throw
from the Saugatuck River. With a little more space and a little more air, we began
to put down roots. We started expanding our programming, and our role within
the community.
Today, boasting the accolade of the strictest guidelines in the state, to assure the
most delicious and healthy food possible, the market is blooming with 45
vendors! Food trucks, GMO free vendors, organic farmers, pizza, yoga, chef
demos, tamales, and an eager, hungry lunch crowd. We now welcome
thousands of eager shoppers each month.
About the Westport Arts Center
The Westport Arts Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting
community through the arts, reaches more than 11,000 people annually through
outstanding programs in visual arts, arts education, and the performance arts of
Chamber music, Jazz, and film.
The Westport Arts Center also receives philanthropic support from 4th Row
Films, the Aibel Foundation, the Arnhold Foundation, Artur and Heida Hermanns
Holde Foundation, Inc., Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Bernstein
Global Wealth Management, Borrowed - A Vintage Inspired Company, the Brant
Foundation, CBP, Cannupa Foundation, the Carl Marks Foundation, Cohen and
Wolf, P.C., the Connecticut Office of the Arts, EC Infosystems, Finn Dixon &
Herling LLP, Fairfield County Bank, Fairfield County Community Foundation,
Festivities, Gault, Energy, Geiger's, GWAY Marketing Gymnasium, the Hall Art
Foundation, KD & J Botanica, Land Rover Milford, Landtech, Lillian August,
LLBH Private Wealth Management LLC, Madison/Mott, Main Street
Resources/Green Village Initiative, Meadow Ridge, the Mitchell’s Family of
Stores, Moffly Media, Newman’s Own Foundation, Riverside Management
Group, Saugatuck Sweets, the Shack Sackler Foundation, the Sheffer Family
Foundation, Sontag Advisory LLC, Stamford Tent, Steel Shed, Sun Hill
Foundation, Thomas C. Hofstetter and Daniel Baron of The Saugatuck Group,
Tito’s Handmade Vodka, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth
Management, Westport Family Counseling, Westport Now, Westport Resources,
Westport Special Education PTA, William J. Rosenbloom Charitable Trust, Xerox
Foundation, WPKN, WSHU Public Radio Group, and Yellowtail.
For more information, contact the Westport Arts Center at (203) 2227070 or www.westportartscenter.org. The Westport Arts Center gallery is open
during the summer Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 12 p.m. – 4
p.m. at 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT.
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