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Donna Crinnian

The winners of the 2023 Annual Gurwin Photo Contest were revealed at an evening awards presentation recently at a gallery-style cocktail reception hosted by the contest’s new partner, the Commack Public Library. Winning photos will remain on display in the Library’s new gallery through the end of the year.

Thirty-two winning selections were revealed, as the amateur photographers and their guests received their award prizes and trophies and got a first glimpse of their beautifully mounted and professionally framed photographs on display in the Library’s lower level gallery. Following the month-long residence in the Library, the stunning photos will be featured in the Tiffen Gallery at Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Commack for the enjoyment of the community’s 460 long- and short-term residents, staff and visitors.

“This year marks the 30th anniversary of our renowned Gurwin Photo Contest,” said Stuart B. Almer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gurwin Healthcare System. “Each year we are so very impressed by the incredible work of the talented members of our community and grateful for the support they show our Center, and in turn, the residents in our care.”

Selections the 2023 winning photos were conducted by Tony Lopez of East End Film & Digital Corporation, and Chris Appoldt of Chris Appoldt Photography, as well as new judge Chris Geminski of the Tiffen Company, long-time sponsor of the Gurwin Photo Contest. The three experts chose the “best of the best” from among hundreds of entries in the annual contest. 

Best-in-Show went to perennial winner Donna Crinnian of Huntington for her photo “Somewhere in India” and Best-In-Show Runner-Up went to Eric Lohse of Connecticut for “Fishing the Farmington.” Grand Prize and Honorable Mention (HM) awards were awarded in each of 12 categories, as well as a Resident/Staff Selection award for photos selected through a vote by the residents and employees of Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

Action/Sports: Grand Prize “Surfer Girl” by Frank DiBenedetto; HM “To the Crease” by Mike DiRenzo

Altered/Enhanced: Grand Prize “Dahlias in a Vase” by Carol Goldstein; HM “A Pair of Pairs” by Marc F. Alter

Children: Grand Prize “One Dog, Two Bites” by Robert V. Guido; HM “Run with the Sun” by Robert Oliva

Landscape: Grand Prize “Kentucky Sunset” by Carol Goldstein; HM “Peaks and Valleys” by Molly Werfel

Long Island/New York: Grand Prize “Dumbo” by Stuart Greenberg; HM “Independence Day” by Alan Sloyer 

Nature: Grand Prize “Elakala Falls”by Carol Milazzo-DiRenzo; HM “Woodland Path” by Marc F. Alter

People: Grand Prize “Sweet Moments” by Michelle Nickerson; HM “The Hat Maker” by Herb Knopp

Pets: Grand Prize “Winnie” by Peter Stango; HM “Sitting on the Dock” by Leslie Bannon

Still Life: Grand Prize “Vase of Flowers’ by Harold Naideau; HM “Thru the Window” by Herb Knopp

Student: Grand Prize “Wonder Wheel” by Tiffany Yung; HM “Dream Chaser” by Noah Gorlewski

Travel: Grand Prize “Seen Better Days” by Herb Knopp; HM “Bass Harbor Lighthouse” by Carol Milazzo-DiRenzo

Wildlife: Grand Prize “Osprey at Play” by Sandy Sommer; HM “Mama and Her Cub” by Nancy Panicucci-Roma

Resident/Staff Selections: “Purrrfectly Tweak” by Jill Fanuzzi; “Lola” by Dorian Froelich; “Cardinal on Fence” by Meryl Lorenzo; “Summer Time” by Janet Pieper; “Visions of Sugarplums” by Katie Scherer; “Scarlet Macaw” by Frank Silverman

The 31st annual Gurwin Photo Contest will open for submissions on February 15, 2024. Information on the contest can be found at www.gurwin.org/about/photo-contest/.

‘76’, photograph by Joseph Reboli

Through March 27, The Reboli Center for Art & History in Stony Brook will for the first time feature the photographs of the late artist Joseph Reboli and several well-known Long Island and New York based photographers including Donna Crinnian, Jeremy Dennis, Vanessa Fischer, Daniel Jones, Jacques LeBlanc, Timothy McCarthy, Jessica Neilson, Patricia Paladines, Matthew Raynor, Paul Scala, Leonid Shishov, Corinne Tousey, Marlene Weinstein, and Jo-Anne Wilson in a new exhibit is titled Through the Lens.

Photo by Jeremy Dennis

In conjunction with the exhibit, the History Room will feature a companion show focusing on the life and work of nature photographer, Howard Eskin, a patron of the arts and dear friend of Joseph Reboli, who also collected many of his paintings.  Eskin concentrated on photographing nature, and many of his pictures were published by the Audubon Society. In addition, there will be a slideshow depicting the evolution of photography from when the first recorded photograph was taken in the early 1800s.

“Just as Joe’s paintings glowed with illuminous light, so do his photographs. Joe was not widely known for his photography, but he really enjoyed it and I am happy to share that side of him. I have known the Eskin family for a longtime, and am very proud to document Howard’s life and work as part of this new exhibit,” said Lois Reboli, a founder and president of the Reboli Center.

The Reboli Center is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 631-751-7707 or go to www.ReboliCenter.org.

The Reboli Center for Art and History in Stony Brook presents its winter holiday exhibit, “Celebrate the Season,” from Nov. 4 through Jan. 23, 2022. 

The show will feature the artwork of a variety of artists, including paintings by the late artist, Joseph Reboli, the Setauket-based artist for whom the Center is named. 

Participating artists include Mireille Bellajonas, Lucille Betti-Nash, Grainne de Buitlear, Al Candia, Donna Crinnian, Julie Doczi, David Ebner, Pamela Herbst, Tyler Hughes, Melissa Imossi, Joanne Liff, John Mansueto, Esther Marie, Jim Molloy, Dan O’Sullivan, Vicki Sawyer, Gia Schifano, Carl Siege, Jodi Stills, Angela Stratton, Mike Stanko, Ty Stroudsberg, Joseph Reboli, Doug Reina, Corinne Tousey, Hal Usher, Mary Jane van Zeijts, Marlene Weinstein, Charles Wildbank, and Patricia Yantz. 

“We are thrilled to have so many Long Island artists in the show,” said Lois Reboli, a founder of the Reboli Center.

In addition, the Reboli Center’s Design Shop will once again be the envy of Santa’s workshop as it is decorated for the holidays and filled with beautiful and handcrafted gifts for people of all ages. In the seasonally-festive shop, you will find jewelry, felted ornaments, artisan crafts, art books, children’s toys, scarves, mittens, hats, prints and more. Reboli gift certificates are also available in any denomination. Free gift wrapping is available while you enjoy the holiday spirit at the Center.

The Reboli Center is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook, and is open Tuesday  to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 to 5pm. Admission is free. For more information, please call 631-751-7707. 

Be sure to visit the Center’s website at www.ReboliCenter.org for holiday hours, pop-up shops and special events.

The Reboli Center for Art and History is located in Stony Brook at the former site of the Capital One Bank. File photo

It’s much more than a place to go to appreciate the work of late artist and painter Joe Reboli.

Located at the former site of Capital One Bank across the street from where Reboli grew up in Stony Brook, the Reboli Center for Art and History, which opened a little more than a year ago, blends a collection of art from the prolific painter with works by other local artists, rotated every three months.

Housed in an A-frame white building with blue awnings, the center has showcased the work of artists including Ken Davies, who was Reboli’s teacher and mentor.

Reboli was born and raised on Main Street, not far from where his name is memorialized.

He and his family had a long history in the area. His grandfather ran a business across the street from where the center now stands, and decades later his aunt worked in the same building when it was a bank.

He died in 2004 at age 58 after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Since his death, his wife Lois Reboli had been attending makeshift meetings at coffee and kitchen tables across Three Village with a squad self-identified as The Rebolians, working to make sure Joe Reboli’s story lived on.

“[The center is] hopefully a gift back to the community my husband loved so much,” said Reboli, a former art teacher.

The Reboli Center is named in honer of late Stony Brook artist Joe Reboli. File photo

He was on the board of the Three Village Community Trust and Gallery North. When asked by his wife why he attended those gatherings, she said he told her he loved the community and wanted to support it in some way.

“I didn’t really understand it at that point,” she said. “I did after he got sick, and I just really wanted to give something to the community so they would remember Joe.”

As part of the center’s cultural contributions, free talks are given with local artists, and, after a successful musical debut, the center may be the site of future concerts.

Donna Crinnian, a photographer whose pictures of egrets were featured at the center in the fall, called the center a great addition to the community.

“Everybody in the community likes having it there,” she said. “They get a really nice crowd coming in for the speakers.”

Besides Reboli, the idea for the studio gallery came together with the help of Colleen Hanson, who worked as executive director of Gallery North from January 2000 until her retirement in September 2010. She worked alongside Lois Reboli after Joe passed and also helped launch the first Reboli Wet Paint Festival weekend at Gallery North in 2005.  Hanson also worked with B.J. Intini, a former Gallery North assistant and executive director who is the president of the Farmingville Historical Society.

“I made a vow that we would do something for [Reboli],” Hanson said. “If we were to find a space, it had to be in Three Village and it had to have a Joe-like feeling. Now, I pinch myself and think, ‘This is so cool.’ We love this community. We want it to be even better and richer for everybody, and I see this as a beautiful upbeat place where people want to be.”

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) is credited with helping to make the purchase a reality, Reboli said. He helped the three, self-dubbed the “tres amigas” create a not-for-profit called the Friends of Joseph Reboli, with a mission of collecting, preserving and exhibiting artwork and artifacts related to Joe Reboli. The group filed for federal 501(c)(3) status in 2012.

Reboli had been looking for a suitable place to share her late husband’s work with the public and had been demoralized by a few false starts when she wondered if she would be able to find the right spot.

“If we were to find a space, it had to be in Three Village and it had to have a Joe-like feeling. Now, I pinch myself and think, ‘This is so cool.’”

— Colleen Hanson

It wasn’t until March 2015 when Hanson said she heard of Capital One in Stony Brook potentially leaving the historic landmarked building at a price tag of $1.8 million. Englebright spearheaded securing a $1.3 million state grant that went toward the purchase of the building, and two anonymous $150,000 donations turned the dream into a reality.

“He went to bat to help us get as much funding as we could,” Reboli said of the lawmaker. “He was remarkable.”

She signed the contract Sept. 25, 2015 — her late husband’s 70th birthday.

“It’s everything I hoped for and more,” Englebright said of the center. “I have heard from dozens of people and they are absolutely thrilled that this is a new part of the cultural dimension in our community.”

Englebright said the late artist’s paintings open up a wide range of conversations about the interaction between nature and development. One of his favorites is of three gas pumps in front of a coastal scene on the North Shore.

“He put this scene together that clearly to me is an expression of concern regarding the impact of overdevelopment, on a way of life, and on the beauty of Long Island,”
Englebright said.

In its first full year of operation, the center, which is free for guests, has hosted a range of crowds and events. In May, it welcomed a visit from the Commack High School Art Honor Society. In late October, world-renowned cellist Colin Carr, who has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony and is teaching at Stony Brook, performed at a benefit concert.

He said the way the sound worked its way through the building was an unexpected
surprise.

“When I went in there and played the cello briefly as a trial run, it was immediately apparent that this was perfect for the cello,” Carr said. “It’s always exciting to walk into a new place, whether it’s a room or concert hall or even a church, to sit down and start playing and feel that there’s an immediate rapport between me, the instrument and the space.”

Carr is the one who suggested that the center would be a “wonderful place for a small music series.”

Reboli said she is thrilled with the direction the center is taking and suggested the showcase is far beyond what she had imagined when she first discussed highlighting her late husband’s artwork.

On a Friday in late November, the building hit a high-water mark with about 180 guests in attendance, Reboli said.

“I would have been happy with a wall somewhere,” Reboli said. “This has morphed into something that would have been unimaginable before. Never did we expect to have a place like this. This is a miracle.”

From left, photographers Donna Crinnian, Anita Jo Lago and Lorraine Sepulveda and Colleen Hanson, trustee, Reboli Center after the event. Photo by Heidi Sutton

Nature lovers fill Reboli Center The Reboli Center for Art and History in Stony Brook Village hosted a successful Third Friday lecture on Sept. 15. Titled “Photographing Nature,” the event featured three local nature photographers Lorraine Sepulveda, Anita Jo Lago and Donna Crinnian who take their inspiration from the parks, harbors and lakes in the Three Village area. The trio shared their photographs of wildlife taken in the local area with a slide show and offered tips and strategies on how to become a better nature photographer during a Q&A. All three photographers have work on exhibit in the rear galleries of the Reboli Center. For more information, call 631-751-6408.