FIRE SALE Ticket

April 19, 2025
6 - 9pm
The Arts Industry
West Hartford, CT

A solo show, farewell dinner party, and blow-out blow-off sale by Sophia DeJesus-Sabella in collaboration with Merry Harpin of Moon and Cowrie.

FIRE SALE is a party, show, and sale by Sophia DeJesus-Sabella in collaboration with Moon and Cowrie. The title pulls from a scene in the first episode of Arrested Development in which Tobias auditions for a commercial but doesn’t read the entire script, thinking it’s a “FIRE” when it’s a “FIRE SALE.” The title refers to the urgency and humor of the multi-layered joke while poking fun at everything-must-go aesthetics, as the event will be Sophia’s last hoo-rah as an artist and Hartford community member before she dissolves her weaving business and moves to Missouri for her MFA.

FIRE SALE will consist of a ‘fine art gallery’ and ‘merch shop’ alongside a dinner party, prepared with local and New Orleans-based ingredients by chef Merry Harpin of Moon and Cowrie. FIRE SALE promises ticket holders the opportunity to bid on one of many of Sophia’s pieces in the ‘fine art gallery’ during a silent auction at the end of the night, a raffle ticket for a new weaving by Sophia or digital drawing by Merry, a commemorative swag bag with stickers and a handmade local beeswax candle, and of course dinner lovingly prepared by Merry. There will also be a cash bar offering cocktails crafted by the artists - come thirsty! Can’t swing a ticket? Come for viewing hours before dinner until 7:00.

FIRE SALE is as much a sale as it is a show, a performance, and a sincere love letter and goodbye to Hartford. This city has been the site of all of Sophia’s artistic growth in the last three years, and she wouldn’t be in the position she is without everyone and everything in Hartford. Come eat, party, hug goodbye and perhaps buy art for a good price to support Sophia’s next step <3

6:00-7:00 Viewing Hours
7:00-8:00 Dinner and gallery viewing
8:00-8:15 Silent Auction Setup
8:15-8:30 Silent Auction
8:30-8:55 Auction Announcements
8:55 Raffle Winner Announcement
9:00 Farewell

Sophia DeJesus-Sabella is an artist, weaver, and educator from Connecticut. She received her BFA in Fibers from MassArt in 2019 and has lived, worked, and taught in Hartford for the last three years. She will be attending the University of Missouri this fall to get her MFA in Fibers.

Meredith Harpin is an artist, chef, and aspiring homesteader from Biloxi, Mississippi. She received her BS in Chemistry and has lived and cooked in New Orleans for the last five years. She is moving to France this summer to cook and make art.

Merry and Sophia met on Hinge in New Orleans during Sophia’s show "refracted futures (in black and white)" and have maintained a nebulous connection since. Traveling between Hartford and New Orleans and moving from friends, to lovers, to exes, to besties, what has become clear is their foundational fate in being collaborators. FIRE SALE is their first public effort, presenting weavings by Sophia, digital drawings by Merry, and a dinner party produced by both artists.

Menu announcement soon!