Valley Arts Council gallery no longer in the dark

By Patricia Villers
Register Staff
pvillers@nhregister.com/ Twitter @nhrvalley

DERBY - Let there be light.
After a week of being in the dark, the electricity has been returned at the Valley Arts Council’s Gallery@37, 37 Elizabeth St.
Council president Rich DiCarlo said Thursday, “Out of darkness came some good. The lack of electricity led to us planning a poetry reading and gaining some new members.”
The council has put out a call to poets for a reading at 7 p.m. May 19 at the gallery. The event is open to the public. It will feature budding poet Jen Mandeville, a senior at Seymour High School.
The power went off because the council had not received state funding that it had planned to receive in February. Then in a comedy of errors, the state check was mailed to an address in Shelton, where the council formerly had a small office.
“Basically our check was being bounced between Hartford and 900 Bridgeport Ave. in Shelton,” DiCarlo said. That address is the former location of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, where the arts group once had an office.
DiCarlo said he wanted to thank the individuals who stepped forward in the past week and donated money to help the nonprofit.
“All is well, but we can always use a helping hand,” he said.