CHESTER – The theme of the First Friday in October is “Come Home to Chester,” and longtime artists-in-residents are introducing new collections of their works at Chester Gallery and Dina Varano Gallery, in addition to other First Friday activities going on around town on Friday, Oct. 4, from 5 to 8 p.m.
At Chester Gallery, “The Uncommon Goods” – Peter, Jan, Justin and Jesse – present a two-generational exhibition of collages, constructions, prints and videos. Formerly at the head of Main Street, Jan Cummings Good and Peter Good and their family made Chester home until they sold their iconic building to The E-List Shop and The E-List.com headquarters. This family exhibition opens at Chester Gallery on Oct. 4 and will be on view through Nov. 24.
At Dina Varano Gallery, the eponymous jewelry-designer and -maker and her longtime shopkeep Kate Hair will unveil a collaborative collection that reflects their shared inspiration by the forms and colors in nature and the beauty found within each New England season. Varano has created a new line of nature impressions jewelry, and Hair has botanically printed on a variety of fabrics to introduce a new line of scarves to the gallery.
The French Hen will once again partner with Camp Hazen to accept donations for the camp’s scholarship fund along with serving Camp Hazen’s famous chocolate-chip cookies and mulled apple cider.
Artist Aya will show her one-of-a-kind framed artwork using beautiful sea glass and pottery fragments that have washed up on beaches around the world at Lark.
Shops at the Mill House will have a showing of Thomas G. Mayer, a Connecticut painter and teacher whose works in acrylics, oils, pastels and collages have won numerous awards throughout New England.
At the Leif Nilsson Spring Street Gallery, the band Arrowhead is in residence from 5 to 8 p.m. on the porch, weather permitting, along with a collection of Leif’s artwork.
Elsewhere around Chester, shops will be open until 8 p.m. offering complimentary snacks or beverages and introducing new products or promotions. In addition to on-street parking in Chester, there is free parking available in the town’s public lots on Main Street by the cemetery, on Water Street and on Maple Street.
More information about First Friday is available on Facebook.com/VisitChesterCT or by calling (860) 322-4047.