2026 is a big year for The Norwalk Art Space. The nonprofit, which provides underrepresented artists with free mentorship, studios and exhibition space in exchange for teaching students receiving no-cost arts education, turned five in June, and they are hosting their third annual Arts Bash fundraiser on September 24. This year, which they’ve titled “5 Years of Feeding Passions,” they’ll be honoring Bill Taibe, the visionary restaurateur behind Kawa Ni, and, not coincidentally, The Norwalk Art Space Café. “It’s a tremendous honor,” Bill tells Westport Lifestyle.
Bill got involved with The Norwalk Art Space almost immediately from its inception. “We were just coming out of COVID, and I got a random email from the daughters of Alexandra D. Korry [the late visionary who founded The Norwalk Art Space],” says Bill. “Now, I get a lot of random emails. But this one told the story of what their mother had wanted to create, and that they were looking for a culinary leader to help them with the café element. It piqued my interest.” He agreed to meet, and as soon as he saw the space, he was on board. “It was immediately something I wanted to be a part of. I felt like it was going to give me as much as I could give them.”
Bill tapped two proven alumnae from his team—Caitlin McGowan, who had worked at many of Bill’s restaurants, including Jesup Hall and Don Memo, and Kelly Clement, who was the manager of Kawa Ni at the time— to helm the project as the executive chef and general manager, respectively. “It was just this perfect combination of good people coming together,” he says. “Everybody understood the mission, and everybody was happy to do it.” From the get-go, Bill says, Caitlin and Kelly became “the heartbeat of the café,” pouring blood, sweat, and tears into making the operation successful (other than donations, the café is the Art Space’s main source of funds, and all proceeds after paying the staff go back into the organization). And while, yes, the creative, delectable sandwiches, salads, and baked goods bearing the food-world pedigree of Bill Taibe and his team might get people in the door, the ever-humble Bill says that “pales in comparison to what is really happening in this building.” “Maybe people are here because of the café,” admits Bill. “But honestly, the reason we are all here is because of the mission, and what Alexandra wanted to do. We are so fortunate in this community. If we don’t use all our resources to help the folks—especially the children—around us, then what are we really doing?”
Even as Bill began spending less time in Connecticut—he opened an outpost of Kawa Ni in Denver in 2023, and left Don Memo and The Whelk—his commitment to The Norwalk Art Space Café never wavered. “There’s something so special about it,” he says. “It anchors everybody that gets involved with it.” In fact, Bill’s connection to the Art Space is a key component of one of their newest initiatives: as he is also the president of the board of the Westport Farmer’s Market, and, in collaboration with director Lori Cochran-Dougall and the WFM, they launched “Fueling Creativity.” The new program will offer after-school meals once a week for students taking classes at the Art Space, with the ingredients donated by the WFM and prepared by Caitlin, Kelly, and their team. “We want to make sure the kids are fed, and not only with art,” says Bill. “These kids will go home with a full stomach and feeling good about themselves.”
Honoring Bill this year was a no-brainer for the Art Space, but as he puts it, this recognition is really about all the people who have helped the café, and therefore the Space itself, thrive. “At this point in my life, I’m trying to create opportunities for great people who work hard to flourish,” Bill says. “Watching [Caitlin and Kelly] navigate this, and make it work, is remarkable—and inspiring.”
The Norwalk Art Space September Exhibition Preview: ABUNDANCE
In tandem with honoring Bill, the Art Space will be showcasing work that explores the intersection of food, art, community, and culture in a free exhibition titled ABUNDANCE. The exhibition runs September 3 through November 5, and features work from artists including Mia Bronwell, a New York/Connecticut based painter known for her sci-fi still lifes depicting classic food tableaus with a contemporary lens, and Wende Caporale-Greene, a Connecticut-based, nationally-recongnized Master Pastelist whose works, The Art of Feeding Community, showcase the people who grow and prepare the fresh food close to home.
To purchase tickets to the 2026 Arts Bash on September 24th at 6:00 p.m., visitthenorwalkartspace.org/arts-bash The Norwalk Art Space relies on donations from readers like you: 40 percent of the children who attend their classes live below the poverty line. To learn more or make a donation, visit thenorwalkartspace.org.
“The Norwalk Art Space was immediately something I wanted to be a part of," says this year's Arts Bash honoree Bill Taibe.
"We are so fortunate in this community. If we don’t use all our resources to help the folks around us, then what are we doing?”