Mayor’ Gallery exhibit celebrates the oyster

NORWALK, Conn. – There was a time when the oyster was Norwalk’s world – or at least a big part of it.

The oyster and it impact on Norwalk will be celebrated starting today with an exhibit in The Mayor’s Gallery at Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Ave.

An opening reception is planned from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. today (April 8), in vestibule outside the Mayor’s Office. Oysters will be served by the Bloom family.

The exhibit runs through June 30.

Oysters are a favored delicacy and play a valuable role in ecosystems and economies around the world, according to a press release from the Norwalk Arts Commission. Locally, these bivalve mollusks have sustained harvesting by American Indians, cleaned polluted harbors, provided critical habitat and created waterside cultures.

The exhibit highlights the science and natural history of oysters, information on the biology and ecology of this common bivalve, tools of oyster harvesting and shucking. The materials are all on loan from The Norwalk Historical Collection, The Rowayton Historical Society and friends of the Bruce Museum of Greenwich.

The Mayor’s Gallery of Norwalk is sponsored by the Norwalk Arts Commission in an effort to exhibit art in public spaces and make art accessible to the public in a variety of venues.