When is a bench more than a bench? When it’s also art, sculpture, and fun.
As autumn’s leaves transform from shades of green to eye-popping reds, oranges, and yellows, summer’s biting bugs wane, and the air turns crisp and fresh, the time for outdoor strolls calls us forth from our homes and businesses.
This year, something unique awaits pedestrians on the sidewalks of downtown Milford who are seeking a place to rest their feet, kick back, and people watch.
In 2019, thanks to a grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development: Office of the Arts, the Milford Arts Council (MAC) was awarded grant money to build five new benches in downtown Milford that would be more than nondescript places to sit. Those involved wanted the benches to also function as works of art.
“We really wanted to create a project in the arts that would bring the community closer together and celebrate what we have as amenities in our downtown are
a,” states MAC executive director Paige Miglio.
Milford’s location in Connecticut is unique. “We are the only community along the shoreline, that we are aware of, that you can enter by car, train, bus, foot, bike, or boat,” explains Miglio. “So, we wanted to create an art trail that was attached to Founders’ Walk, which was another state project that was founded by State Senator James Maroney.”
Maroney wanted an art trail in downtown Milford, and the Meet Me at the Bench art and craft project “gave that vision teeth,” says Miglio.
The idea was to bring the community together to celebrate Milford’s historic areas and show off a beautiful downtown that people will want to visit and explore. “Providing this art trail gives people an excuse to linger, to explore, to walk around, to create memories, to meet new people to share experiences,” says Miglio.
Those involved at the MAC took the idea of the park bench and recreated it as a public front stoop, inviting artisans and craftspeople to come up with unique designs that would be both fun and practical.
“We reached out to our woodworkers, metalsmiths, architects, engineers, contractors, and photographers to recreate the park bench as an art and community experience,” notes Miglio.
Author Ray Bradbury wrote about front porches and stoops in his seminal novel, Fahrenheit 451, where he described the front porch as the place where neighbors stroll by and stop in to visit one another.
Post-WWII, front porches and social gatherings on front stoops became a fixture of the past, replaced by backyard decks and patios where people hid from their neighbors. Today, young people are inside much of the time—often to the consternation of parents—playing computer games and donning 3D virtual reality headsets, making the outdoors even more of a strange environment to some.
Venturing outdoors to meet people face-to-face in our community is more important than ever, and Milford, with the Meet Me at the Bench arts and crafts project, is providing just that sort of activity with the recently installed art benches.
All five benches are now in place. The first three were installed in March and April and the remaining two benches were installed in June.
“We’re really excited,” notes Miglio. “It really is about not only artists but craftspeople—those people who are artists who don’t necessarily come to mind when somebody considers an artist.”
A committee of local artists, city representatives, downtown businesses, and service organizations reviewed the submissions and matched them to suggested bench sites. “We’re really hoping at some point that our local artists, performers, and poets will create many events that can happen in these places,” concludes Miglio.
So set out for a stroll in downtown Milford this autumn and pull up to one of the five new art benches, take a seat, and soak in the vibrant community and its people.
—Jason J. Marchi
