By Dirk Langeveld

WESTPORT — This year’s VersoFest will once again include a significant arts component, with The Westport Library announcing an interactive exhibition as well as a discussion on “good art made by bad people.”

Exhibitions from two artists will be installed in three of the library’s galleries and on view starting on March 20th. The VersoFest lineup will also welcome Claire Dederer, the bestselling author of Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, on March 28th.

Now in its fifth year, VersoFest will officially begin with a kickoff concert by rising rock band The Thing on Friday, Feb. 27th. A storytellers evening with Bangles co-founder Susanna Hoffs will take place on March 6th, and the festival will conclude with a three days of events from March 26th to 29th with guests including Wyclef Jean, Gina Gershon, Ani DiFranco, and more.

Lighthouse and The SneakerVangelisT

The Westport Library’s Sheffer Gallery will be home to Lighthouse by husband-and-wife team Holly Danger and Jeff Schram, a “video art installation that reminds us that we project light into the world for ourselves and each other.” Thousands of soft, polyester, colorful strings will line the perimeter of the gallery and be illuminated by projections synchronized to an original soundscape. Visitors are invited to touch and interact with the strings, and take advantage of faux fur rugs and floor pillows to fully immerse themselves in the piece.

Sean “Opus 1” Williams’ The SneakerVangelisT will be displayed in the library’s South and Jesup galleries. Named after Williams’ nickname in sneaker culture, the exhibition “provides examples of sneakers as self-expression, function, artistic expression, and muse.” A variety of models important in sneaker culture are featured in digital graphic-based works, with each one serving as “a statement piece that declares a love and an appreciation for kicks.”

An artist reception will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 25th at the Westport Library. The exhibitions will be on view through April 5th.

The Art of Monsters

Another event at VersoFest will explore the darker side of art appreciation. Claire Dederer will be in conversation with journalist Hilarie M. Sheets to discuss Dederer’s book, a hybrid of essay, criticism, and memoir based on her viral 2017 essay “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?”

In Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, Dederer explores the tension that occurs when a person admires a song, film, or piece of art and tries to juxtapose that appreciation with their discovery that the creator did something terrible. Copies of the book will be available to purchase during the event, which will take place at 1 p.m. on March 28th at The Westport Library’s Trefz Forum.

For more information about these exhibitions and programs, and a complete VersoFest schedule, visit versofest.org.

Dirk Langeveld

^{_{Dirk Langeveld has worked as a news reporter, content marketing specialist, and freelance writer. He is the author of “The Artful Dodger: The 20-Year Pursuit of World War I Draft Dodger Grover Cleveland Bergdoll” and has contributed to several books on Connecticut history.}}