An open house weekend will be held Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. at 61 Main Street in the city’s Centerbrook neighborhood. Guests can experience new arts and crafts while enjoying wine and snacks.

Among the artists are painter and educator Susan Bradley, who “explores diverse subject matter and includes multiple techniques: sculptures inspired by bee culture, monotypes of tree rings, still life watercolors, and multimedia collage,” says the artist. Press release.

For Jill Abele Butcher, the birth of a new image reveals the formation of a new story told in a unique visual language. It features a scene on the water that conveys a story of mystery, the gallery said.

Also new is painter Michelle Kaufman, known for her vibrant, realistic figurative works. She creates paintings from her own photographs and uses a long lens to achieve “invisible intimacy with others,” Spectrum said.

The painter Lisa Helene, “whose love of art and animals has been a constant throughout her life, makes all varieties of animals the main subject of her work. She has cultivated her own style, which can be described as cheerful, whimsical and filled with vibrant hues.

Whitney Prentice’s main interest is painting and drawing the figure. He received the 2021 Hudson Valley Art Association Annual Exhibition Award and has exhibited widely in Connecticut and New York. He will present several works in oil for the current exhibition.

Watercolourist John Murray has a “passion for art that goes hand in hand with a natural talent for capturing subjects, such as expressive coastal views, intimate woodland imagery and seasonal hikes through the countryside,” says the press release.

Joanna Chapin, another watercolourist, presents both a placid animal scene and one that particularly captures a moment filled with emotional expression.

Painter and graphic designer Greg Murry has several waterscapes featuring birds. He creates colorful and detailed paintings of various subjects including boats, animals and tropical beach scenes.

Mark Hannon, President of the Arts Alliance of Stratford, will present several acrylic waterscapes.

Award-winning painter B. Rossitto will exhibit several new oil works as well as a vibrant pastel-watercolor work.

Bivenne Harvey Staiger, a watercolourist known for his “dramatic” captures of natural motifs, presents a work that testifies to his passion for birds.

Linda Reid will exhibit a “vividly colored” painting of a hummingbird approaching a flower bed. She combines her scientific knowledge of plants with a passion for nature to produce landscapes and animal portraits in both watercolor and acrylic, Spectrum said.

Other artists include Ned Farrell, Ceal Swift, Jan Prentice, Daniel Dahlstrom, Dina Belyayeva, Christine Miller, as well as Layne Marholin, who will feature new works in oil.

The gallery and store are open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. “People and Animals in the Landscape” runs until May 8.

For more information, call 860-767-0742 or visit spectrumartgallery.org.