January 5, 2016, The New Haven Independent, by David Sepulveda - "Even when the sun is not shining, there are shadows: Wheels, spokes, and unmistakable shapes of bike frames seem to be cast by colorful light stretched across the sidewalk just outside Westville’s Manjares Restaurant. They’ve inspired many a double-take at the base of a yarn-bombed, U-style bike rack — especially when no bikes are parked.The sidewalk painting is the creation of Artist Violet Harlow. And it is among a growing number of public art installations that have enlivened Westville’s pubic spaces in just the last few years, with many more now in the planning stages. Harlow, a creative ceramicist who works at DaSilva Gallery, said she has always enjoyed making shadow drawings in chalk. Like their chalky predecessors, the bike shadows are not permanent, though they have lingered for several months. Created with with tempera paint, the shadows have mellowed and faded and are actually at their peak in suggesting real shadows. Harlow said she painted directly over night-time shadows created by the strong LED streetlights that have the “Close Encounters intensity of a descending spaceship.”With a new name and logo, East Wall Westville, the billboard-sized outdoor exhibition space at 12 Fountain St., has been dutifully managed and curated by building co-owner Eric Epstein. It will soon have a dedicated website for the gallery wall. Epstein, an architect, musician, and visual artist himself, said he is largely motivated by the fun of bringing new projects to the site. He also likes “the surprising results of working outdoors, and large, but without the burden of ensuring longevity.”The exhibit space, which faces the Aquila Motors parking lot, was first used for mural painting during one of Westville’s annual Artwalk festivals and has functioned as an installation space for every Artwalk since. In between, Epstein has evolved the display apparatus and honed the mission of the outdoor gallery, which has featured the work of a number area fine artists, some of whom are exploring the potential of working at large scale for the first time. East Wall Westville just featured “Cladding,” a highly tactile piece by artist Susan McCaslin. The artist and her husband George Corsillo are partners in Design Monsters, a graphic arts business. McCaslin recently exhibited an even larger newspaper-based cladding piece at the curving Moira Fitzsimmons Arons Art Gallery at Hamden Hall Country Day School..."

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