Fairfield arts center dedicates tree to former employee

FAIRFIELD — The staff at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center has planted a tree outside the building to commemorate their colleague Brian MacQueen, who died earlier this year.

At the base of the tree is a stone monument dedicated to MacQueen that reads “Your light shines upon us and is always in our hearts — In Loving Memory — Brian MacQueen 1957-2021.” On Friday, friends and family gathered to dedicate the tree, a prairie fire crabapple.

MacQueen was the arts center’s technical director from 2015-2018, and had just rejoined the staff in February of this year. But just a few weeks after MacQueen began working at the arts center, he suffered a sudden pulmonary embolism and died March 1.

MacQueen’s sister Jennifer Hamilton said Friday’s ceremony was a fitting way to remember her brother and his commitment to the arts.

“It was lovely, and I’m very grateful to the FACC for making this happen,” Hamilton said.

His family established a memorial hoping to raise $10,000 toward sound equipment that can be used both indoors and out. Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Executive Director Lindsay Bauer announced that the arts center had reached that goal and had already purchased the equipment. In fact, the arts center has used the speakers and amplifiers it purchased from the fund for the June 2 Summer Sun outdoor concert featuring Bo Ramsey.

The arts center will be relying on the new equipment all summer long as the Summer Sun series returns Wednesday at 7 p.m. with an outdoor concert featuring Baraka Trio. The remaining dates of the outdoor concert series and the featured performers are June 30 (Kevin Burt), July 14 (The Boys), July 28 (Awful Purdies) and Aug. 11 (Nicholas Naioti). After the outdoor concert series, the equipment will be used for events in the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts.

Norma VanCamp has worked at the arts center for six years and is now its facilities manager.

“Brian and I were the only ones left from the old group,” she said. “When he sent his resume in again, I was more than happy to offer him any type of work here. Brian was a really good theatrical guy who always had a smile on his face.”