Art Brings Stamford Best Friends Back Together

STAMFORD, Conn. — Growing up in Stamford, best friends Maureen Callahan and Kim Mirabito were always together. After nearly 25 years apart, their hometown has brought them back together for “Horsin’ Around Stamford Downtown.”

“We used to march around these streets,” Mirabito said, remembering how they used to ask security guards at the then-new Landmark Square building if they could ride the elevator up and down.

The two always had an affinity for art and got together every morning to do some sort of project, working until it was dinnertime, Mirabito said. So it was only fitting that an art project would bring them back together, they said.

“We didn’t play dollhouse, we made a dollhouse,” Callahan said. “It was like we were obsessed with sewing and gluing.”  

Callahan, who now lives in Ridgefield and pursued a career in art, wanted to participate in the summer show but didn’t want to do it alone. She decided to ask Mirabito, a married nurse and mother of two from Southbury. Mirabito accepted immediately, saying that her only art experience in the past 25 years has been helping her kids with school projects.

The two went to work and came up with four designs to submit for the exhibit, settling on “Horse Fleye” and “Rockin’ Horse.” They flipped a coin to see whose name would appear first — Mirabito guessed tails and lost.

Mirabito said that once they got to work, the time apart was erased. They went back to laughing and joking around like when they were kids. That has not gone unnoticed by others: Mirabito’s husband remarks how happy she is, and David Klein of the Downtown Special Services District described the two as a tag team.

“You haven’t heard the end of Kim and Maureen,” Mirabito said. Callahan said, “It’s just the beginning.”

“Horsin’ Around Stamford Downtown” will feature 40 large fiberglass horses decorated and designed by mostly local artists. The exhibit will be displayed in various places across downtown. The horses will be auctioned for charity at the end of the summer.

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