Bridgeport's shortcomings may still be the butt of jokes, but the fact remains that countless residents and suburbanites alike have great hopes — and fondness — for the Park City.

Perhaps that accounts for the enormous success of the Bridgeport-themed art exhibit that the nonprofit City Lights Gallery offers annually.

"It's by far the most popular show of the year," points out gallery manager Steven Gerber. The 2008 show, "Bridgeport: Showing Our Colors," will open with a reception that's free to the general public on Thursday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the downtown gallery.

The third annual exhibit will be the largest ever, with about 60 works from 30 artists throughout the region. Oil and acrylic paintings, watercolors and photographs will be among the works on display through March 1.

Gerber notes that the show draws visitors from Bridgeport and neighboring municipalities alike.

"There's a large clutch of people who remember the old Bridgeport" as an industrial center, "so there's a lot of nostalgia tied to the show," he says. This year's show also will focus on the city's present and future, Gerber says.

And now that the city's fortunes are again on the rise culturally and economically, there's a sense of excitement that surrounds it," Gerber adds. Adding to the popularity of the show is its "everyday" quality.

"Everyone can relate to the subject matter . . . the artists take everyday images and transform them into art," he says.

Bridgeport

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photographer Israel Guibbory participates in the City Lights show because "Bridgeport doesn't get its fair shake in its portrayal." His photos often focus on the "variety of people who work, live and visit here."

Guibbory says the Bridgeport show always draws large crowds because "deep in their hearts, I think a lot of people want the city to succeed — and anything that promotes that. A lot of people want the city to be viable again."

Milford artist Suzanne Kachmar has spent most of her artistic life depicting Bridgeport in her oils, acrylics and watercolors. She'll have about a half-dozen works in the show, including one of the powerplant on Bridgeport Harbor with a perspective from Interstate 95.

For Kachmar, "the city is still the same gritty, visually intriguing place. This year there are a few more new blossoms of hope in the way of culture and business . . . The arts still struggle along, but as always will persevere somehow. "Two prime preoccupations in my work at present are technology versus nature and time and memory. A painting, like a snapshot, captures a moment in time. While I spend the time and energy to create the painting, I am very aware that the moment" is fleeting, Kachmar says.

For Monroe artist Andrew Pinto, Bridgeport's old factory buildings are "a piece of Americana" that deserve to be captured on his canvases before they disappear from the urban landscape.

Born and raised in Bridgeport, Pinto says that when working on site near a deserted factory, passersby will "often say to me: 'Why don't you paint something beautiful?' "Well, to me, these buildings are beautiful . . . I love the color of the brick, or the way the light hits the windows . . . and all the history the buildings represent." Pinto says he believes the show is so popular because so many people in the region "have ties to the city or remember Bridgeport in its heyday" around World War II and "have been waiting decades for its renaissance. "Now that it's finally happening, a lot of people want the chance to be a part of it, to celebrate and revel in it."

City Lights Gallery is at 37 Markle Court in Bridgeport. Hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For additional information, call 334-7748 or visit www.citylightsgallery.org. Free parking is available at the Aquarion parking lot, at the corner of Broad Street and Cesar Batalla Way.