Correction: in an earlier version of this article, comments by Jilda Manikas were misattributed.

By Andy Brophy

Sandy Staw of Westport said she likes “Circle of Peace,” a sculpture by Gary Price of three children holding hands and smiling that was installed outside Westport Library’s cafe last week. “It’s happy,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s always nice to see happy children.”

Public sculpture

In a few weeks, the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, which met Tuesday in Town Hall, plans to select a sculpture that possibly will be installed in Machamux Park, a 1.2-acre open space by Greens Farms Road and Morningside Drive South, said Nancy Diamond, the committee’s co-chair.

“We have pretty much installed them in all the parks,” Diamond said.

She said many of the sculptures are loaned to the town for five years, which enables the committee to rotate artwork in public places, and that artists receive an annual stipend. The committee plans to add one more sculpture in a town-owned property, she said.

Jilda Manikas, a committee member, said David Hayes, a New York artist under consideration for the final sculpture, recently sent new photos of sculptures that she deemed “all very colorful.”

“The other stuff was too dark,” she said of previous photos he’d sent.

Committee members agreed, saying some of the sculptures already installed are dark, while a colorful sculpture would stand out, draw the eye in and have an impact they’d prefer.

Hayes would transport the sculpture to Westport at his expense and possibly cover the cost of installation, Manikas said.

Michael Alfano, an artist from Jersey City, N.J. who’s known for expressive face sculptures and who’s also under consideration for the final sculpture in Westport, said he’d also transport one of his sculptures to Westport and would pay for its installation, Bennewitz said. “It’s not going to cost us a cent,” she said.

But she said Alfano wants his sculpture to be in “a prominent place” and wouldn’t be able to transport a sculpture until spring.

“If we’d like to go with David Hayes, he can do it this year,” she said.

And Paul Davis, a committee co-chair, said if a new sculpture were to be installed before winter, it would have to be reviewed by the Town Planning and Zoning Commission in September.

Jersey City bought all 15 of Alfano’s face sculptures, but he also has sculptures depicting a dancer and a dove with wings in the shape of hands, the latter of which Diamond said she particularly likes.

Hayes and Alfano were the only artists discussed at Tuesday’s meeting for the final sculpture, though Manikas said another sculpture by Steven Brooks that committee members liked was sold and another by Andy Moreno, also popular with committee members, was an egret. “But we don’t want another egret,” she said.

Bus shelters

The committee also wants to install artwork at the town’s bus shelters. So far, two of 10 sculptures have been put by bus shelters, said committee member Miggs Burroughs.

“Each one is six feet tall and 10 feet wide and broken up into four segments because there are four windows,” he said. The state needs to approve sculptures by bus shelters, he said.

The sky

The committee also is planning a “TEA Talk” on Nov. 15 on “The Art of the Sky,” including its importance in paintings and our understanding and artists’ interpretations of it through history, said Richard Epstein, the committee’s treasurer.

He said he has a video in which Neil deGrasse Tyson, a well-known astrophysicist and writer, talks about what makes the sky blue, though he’s hoping to livestream deGrasse Tyson for the TEA Talk. He said Lonnie Quinn, a meteorologist in New York, will talk about how the sky changes in appearance.

Epstein said he’s now looking into leads on photographers “who utilize the sky as one of their touchstones.”

While some of the TEA Talk will include scientific information on the sky, Diamond said, “We have to remember art is the subject.”

Photography is a relatively new medium and artists in the past were limited by technology in how they depicted the sky, but now they can choose from a variety of mediums, committee members said.

The format of the TEA Talk isn’t set yet as Epstein said he’s focusing on concepts right now.

Eric Chiang, a committee member, said the committee should bear in mind what will draw an audience to the TEA Talk. “Let’s start with what an audience will be attracted to,” he said.

Circle of Peace

Meanwhile, the committee plans to have a celebration of “Circle of Peace” in September when the weather should be cooler.

Debbie Zucker, who works in the library, said “Circle of Peace” has gotten great reviews since it was installed last week. “Some people told me today a lot of people like it … especially the kids,” she said.

Cindy Villafane of Fairfield, who was at the library Tuesday, said her family thought “Circle of Peace” was “beautiful, a great addition.”