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Wilton resident and art educator Sharon Cowley has a thing about space. No, not outer space. Actually, closet and living space. In an unusual quid pro quo, Sharon started the Wilton Parks and Recreation preschool program in 2004 in order to get storage space for her art supplies. Now it's one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the area, with full or part-time options for kids ages 2 to 5. It's called, "Sharon's On School Road."
Before starting the preschool, she was teaching regular art classes for kids and adults for the Department and storing most of her supplies--pains, paper, and other gear--in her car. So she happened to ask if she could keep some of her supplies in an on-site closet. Sharon was stumped when Parks and Rec refused. Their answer made no sense to her.
They said I couldnt use the closet because they needed that space for the preschool director. But at the time, there was no preschool! So I said, Youre telling me if I started a preschool here I could use this closet? And they said, If you did that, you could have two closets! It's been a fortuitous arrangement: Wiltonites now have a fine preschool art program and Sharon, finally, has not one, but two, closets for storage.
Sharon snagged even more closet space not to mention a living room, kitchen and bathroom -- because of another teaching gig. In 2007, she
was giving childrens arts and crafts courses at The Carriage Barn Arts Center, a renovated 19th century stone barn in Waveny Park, New Canaan, when the live-in caretaker in the barn's one-bedroom apartment moved out and Sharon moved in. The apartment, just above the Carriage Barn Gallery space where Sharon also taught and worked, seemed perfect -- until a few problems with some, um, neighbors popped up. When its damp out, I get so many snakes in my yard! And if the squirrels like the smell of something Im cooking, they get a running start and try to crash through my kitchen window.
So, her three years at her latest space acquisition, the Carriage Barn, has been "adventurous," she says. If she ever needs a pied a terre, there's that second closet at the pre-school.
What would you do for a little extra closet space?
Wilton resident and art educator Sharon Cowley went so far as to start an entire preschool program in exchange for a decent amount of storage.
Since Sharon was teaching regular art classes for kids and adults at the Wilton Parks and Recreation Department building on School Road, she didnt think it would be a problem to ask administrators if she could keep her paints, paper and other supplies in an on-site closet.
I was tired of hauling everything back and forth in my car, she says.
Sharon was surprised when Parks and Rec refused, particularly because their answer made no sense to her.
They said I couldnt use the closet because they needed that space for the preschool director. But at the time, there was no preschool! So I said, Youre telling me if I started a preschool here I could use this closet? And they said, If you did that, you could have two closets!
Six years later, Sharon has built the Wilton Parks and Rec preschool program into one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the area, with full or part-time options available for kids ages 2 to 5: Sharon's On School Road.
Oddly, another local teaching gig led Sharon to even more closet space not to mention a living room, kitchen and bathroom.
Sharon was giving childrens arts and crafts courses at The Carriage Barn Arts Center in Waveny Park, New Canaan when the Barns caretaker decided to get remarried and move out. This left the renovated 19th Century stone barns one-bedroom apartment, located directly above the gallery space where Sharon taught and worked, in need of a resident. Sharon was happy to fill the position, though the quaint location is not without its drawbacks, she says.
When its damp out, I get so many snakes in my yard! And if the squirrels like the smell of something Im cooking, they get a running start and try to crash through my kitchen window.
Still, it's been an "adventurous" three years at the Carriage Barn, she says...and if ever Sharon needs someplace to put her winter coats for a season, she can always pack them away in her spare closet at the preschool.
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