06/07/2019
There is no one marking the green this afternoon for this historic arts and crafts show....this is why...
In November of 2018 the Junior Women’s Club voted to find another local charitable organization that would be willing to take over as host of this event. It was not an easy decision, but one our group felt would let Gallery grow and help even more members of our community. The Litchfield Education Foundation (LEF) was the group willing to take over this event. With their enthusiasm and fresh views, the Junior Women’s Club was happy to hand over this historic event and agreed to help with the transition.
Unfortunately, even after following all of the requests of the Borough of Litchfield, the Litchfield Education Foundation has had to withdraw their application to hold the Arts and Crafts show this year. In a special meeting on January 22nd, The Board of Warden and Burgesses changed the certificate of insurance policy, as follows….”…the Borough Board require certificates of insurance naming the Borough of Litchfield as additional insured, from each individual vendor and for all events on the Green…”.
This new policy rendered it impossible to host an Arts and Crafts show on the green, where all artists will be considered “vendors” by this new policy. It is not feasible to gather these certificates of insurance for every artist in attendance, nor would the artists be willing or able to pay for those binders. After contacting a career artist and long-time Gallery participant, we were told this is almost unheard of among other art shows.
The Junior Women’s Club is truly devastated that this wonderful community event has come to an end. Much time was spent looking for a new host and many hours of planning and transitioning where spent by both organizations, with no warning or discussion allowed on this new policy from the Borough Board. The end of Gallery on the Green is a very sad day for our club and the community as a whole.
The Junior Women’s Club of Litchfield Hills
