Greg Clark of ARTIFACT...NEWS OF NEW VENTURE TO COMPLEMENT THE COMPANY.
Greg Clark describes how, using original art, functional objects and balancing scale of furniture, it is possible to create a pleasing "vignette."  (From "About Town" interview..)


From ARTIFACT at the beginning of this school year:

 "...Attached is a recent article from Fairfield County Business Journal.  As you will read, the article talks about a new venture to compliment our company - The Gregory Clark Collection of one-of-a-kind and limited series pieces (editions of 9). 

"Our clients have requested exclusive original works from Gregory to be signed and authenticated.  These pieces are conceived and intimately produced by Gregory with one of his finest veteran craftsmen.    The work will be available in a handful of the finest galleries in NYC and Miami as well as through gregoryclarkart.com.

"Artifact Design Group is continuing to grow and create beautiful designs for its collection as well as taking on non-stop custom commissions.  Feel free to visit our gallery to see our latest projects or view our internationally renowned textile art collection curated by Brown Grotta Arts.

"We look forward to seeing you soon."


SEASONAL NEWS:
Artifact family pitching prowess on display!!!

Weston starts season with two wins      
Weston FORUM
Thursday, July 17, 2008
 
The Weston nine- and 10-year-old All-Star baseball team started the summer season on the right foot, winning its first two games by beating the Ridgefield Americans 13-12 and the Ridgefield Nationals 18-9. Weston also battled the Ridgefield Reds to a 12-12 tie.

The Weston nine- and 10-year-old travel baseball team got off to a great start to the season, winning its first two games and playing to a tie in its third.

In a back and forth affair, Weston beat the Ridgefield Americans 13-12 to get the season off to a good start. Andrew Clark was the starting pitcher and threw very well. He was followed by strong relief pitching from Jason Lawrence and Jonas Lustbader.

Zach Zipkis played a strong defensive game at catcher. The offense was led by hits from Nathan Metviner and Andrew Clark, among others.

Weston was down by two runs in its last at-bat when Lawrence came up to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a double in the gap to tie the game. Michael Rheinhardt then walked with the bases loaded to bring in the winning run.

Weston then defeated another Ridgefield team, the Nationals, in Ridgefield by an 18-9 score. The visitors had a strong pitching performance from both Brendan Kirk and Michael Rheinhardt. The offense was led by Emerson and Mauri Litvak, Jason Lawrence and Andrew Clark. Matthew Drobner had a strong defensive game.

Numerous lead changes highlighted the next game against the Ridgefield Reds. Weston starting pitcher Peter Demattio had a good game, as did relievers Lawrence and Clark. Zipkis and Mauri Litvak both played strong behind the plate on a very hot day. Emmerson Litvak and Lustbader flashed some leather with strong defensive plays.

After Ridgefield took the lead Brendan Kirk hit a two-out, two-strike, bases loaded clutch double to bring Weston back. Once again Ridgefield fought back to take a two-run lead in its last at bat.

With the game on the line and men on second and third, Lawrence hit a triple to tie the score. Ridgefield held on and the game was called in a 12-12 tie.

Weston looks to improve upon its 2-0-1 record with three games remaining this week.


Wilton firm taps into the simple and exotic 
Greenwich TIME
By Harold Davis, Special Correspondent
Published December 6 2006

If you're looking for furniture that's unique and artistic, you might consider Artifact Design Group LLC of Wilton. Owner Greg Clark designs and manufactures wood furniture that also incorporates exotic materials such as stone, steel or glass.

"I don't think we've made an identical piece twice," said Clark, who co-owns the business with his wife, Elizabeth.

"With a manufacturing factory, we're able to create what I come up with over the weekend and test-market it in the showroom. I call the showroom my laboratory," said the Weston resident, who employs a staff of 10.

Clark operated the business out of his garage for nearly two years. Then he bought land, and, nearly six years ago, constructed a building at 66 Danbury Road where he occupies about 7,000 square feet.

He typically designs three or four new pieces of furniture a month. They run the gamut, from upholstered items to cabinets and tables and chairs. Pieces start in the $2,000 range.

"I classify my design style as formal contemporary. It represents elegant, clean lines and exotic, rich materials," Clark said.

Fifty percent of his business comes from interior designers and architects, who are liaisons between him and their clients. The other half of his business is selling directly to the consumer, with his designs attracting customers from Fairfield County, New York City and as far away as Miami.

In the beginning, Clark made all of the furniture, but now he has a team of seven involved in manufacturing.

Clark's works often require collaboration. To add finishing touches to a particular piece of furniture, he may call upon someone in a network of about 200 artists to add their personal touch - in glass or steel.

He has always had an inventive spirit. He grew up in a family antiques restoration environment. As a child, he made award-winning miniature furniture.

Clark previously served as director of product development at Simco in Weston and operated We Walk, a shoe manufacturing dot-com business that created high-end shoes.

Working with furniture, however, was still an overriding passion for Clark, so he decided to pursue it.

And the 42-year-old designer is happy that he made that decision. He is thoroughly pleased about the way his business has developed and looks forward to expanding. He hopes to open showrooms in the Hamptons and in the South Beach section of Miami within the next two years.

Ali Schwarz, an interior designer of AS Interior Design in Redding, has worked with Artifact Design Group on projects. She said that she enjoys the detail that Clark puts into his work.

"He's done a few projects for me, various functional pieces like a tet-a-tet, a bench that sat in the middle of a room. I had a fabric with customized embroidery that he worked around. His finishes are of a superior quality, and I prefer working with him because of the end result," she said.

One of Schwarz's projects called for a painted finish, and she called upon Clark to do the job. While painted finishes are not Clark's specialty, she said he went to "great lengths" to make sure the project "met all the requirements."

Though custom-designed furniture is expensive, Schwarz said that people are increasingly interested in enhancing their home decor with unique furniture.

"I've always worked on the higher end," she said. "But I do believe, in general, that the public is becoming more savvy and getting into the aesthetic of their home."



Furniture Designer Completes Showroom and Studio in Wilton

GREGORY M. CLARK, award-winning furniture designer, has completed his most-accomplished design – a beautiful showroom and studio in Wilton.  Greg, graduated from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a degree in Industrial Design.  While at RISD, Greg had exposure to course work with master craftsmen/designer Tage Frid, and participated in studies with glass artist, Dale Chihuly.  He is a fellowship recipient from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, to study at the European Center for Artisans in the Conservation of Architectural Relics, Venice Italy.  Since his studies, Greg has received 35+ patents for his designs in consumer products working with Fortune 500 companies such as Hoechst Celanese, Proctor & Gamble, Schick Razor, Scott Paper, Johnson & Johnson, Clinique, Kimberly Clark, Engelhard and Adidas.  During these years in the corporate world, he made beautiful furniture for his home in Weston.  It was this passion for woodworking that led him to the creation of Artifact Design Group.

Artifact Design Group creates elegant, formal-contemporary furniture that blends well with traditional decor.  Having grown up with antiques, Greg’s designs use time-tested, old-world joinery techniques and each piece receives hand-rubbed French polish finishes that best capture the true brilliance of wood’s grain and color.  “Most of the furniture today is soulless.” states Greg, “with unknown origins, designed for mass production and embody unoriginal adaptations of historical styles.”  Creating with Artifact Design Group is a thought-provoking process where the client’s interior space and desires are considered as much as the final piece.  “Our furniture will be the ‘antiques of tomorrow’ - intrinsically rich in materials and execution, to be viewed as collectibles and richly enjoyed by many generations.” says Greg Clark.

In addition to private commissions, Artifact Design Group has a product line that is sold in 70 galleries and contemporary furniture showrooms in the country.  The signature collection is more contemporary in design than the commissions, with clean lines, mixed-media materials, and extraordinary craftsmanship.  Visit the website (artifactdesigngroup.com) to see the collection that represents work from top artists in various mediums (blown glass, ceramics, iron, paper, etc.).

Artifact Design Group’s studio/showroom is newly constructed and conceived to reflect high-end design through originality, beautiful proportions and rich materials.  The building was designed with fundamentally traditional aesthetics on the exterior and with clean, open contemporary museum-like interior space.  Beautifully detailed with hand-cut stone, solid-handcrafted mahogany doors, copper details, and Italian lighting, the building complements the collection of furniture.  Intriguing details were considered in the final design such as a conference room with a leather floor by Edelman Leather that is available for private design consultations.  Selections of natural materials (stone, leather, exotic woods species, etc) and hand-crafted elements (ceramic, blown glass, paper, hammered iron, etc.) entice one to think outside-the-box for design.  In the back of the showroom, there are glass windows that allow visitors to view high-end, one of a kind, furniture being crafted.  In the center of the showroom there is an espresso bar and theatre viewing area where clients can watch video content to learn more about Artifact Design Group’s commissioned artists, furniture designers and the process of design.

In addition to its own collection, other lines of furniture and accessories are being sold in the showroom.  Knoll’s classics of the contemporary furniture movement of the last century are available for purchase.  A new upholstered line of furniture from Italy, Crivellari, is available with custom-design features.  Artemide, a line of lighting from Italy, is shown throughout the building (interior & exterior architectural lighting) and also available for purchase.  Various boutique furniture makers such as John Hartcorn of Boston Furnituremakers will complement Artifact Design Group’s collection.  “For all of our products, we celebrate the artists/designers and communicate to our clients the origins of each piece we promote and sell” states Greg.

A portfolio of current projects can be viewed at: artifactdesigngroup.com or contact Greg Clark (203) 834-7757 for a private showing.  The showroom, located on the corner of Route 7 and Hollyhock Road in Wilton, is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00 or by appointment. 


From the Norwalk HOUR front page Thursday, March 10, 2005...