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‘Outside the Box’ art exhibit opens at Mills Pond Gallery

by Press Release - August 24, 2023

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Smithtown Township Arts Council presents Outside the Box, a fine art exhibition at the Mills Pond Gallery in St. James from Aug. 26 to Sept. 23. The exhibit will feature four Long Island artists — Ron Becker of Deer Park, JoAnne Dumas of Wading River, Sejal Mehra of Levittown, and Felecia Montfort of Melville — who are stretching the boundaries of their art to give us new avenues to explore the meaning of art and its relationship to our lives.

Photographer JoAnne Dumas has an affinity with nature and, in particular, water. Her work with experimental modes of display has allowed her to push the boundaries of her photography as both medium and art form. Constantly seeking new ways to engage audiences with her subject, Joann experiments with new mediums and innovative uses of materials to create her work, hoping that viewers will feel the swirling of the water, and see the shimmering, wind-driven ripples of the waters in her exhibited work.

Ron Becker is a professional artist who is known for his realistic landscapes and nature paintings. Working in acrylics and oil, his techniques and skill set are self-taught through experimentation and discovery. Seeking to expand his creativity, he envisioned an exhibit on social justice issues. The topic of prison reform and justice was inspired through his daughter Amanda’s advocacy, while attending theSilberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. His vision took shape and grew after starting correspondence with Bartholomew Crawford, an inmate in a NYS Correctional Facility. Bartholomew’s writings, recent social unrest related to minorities and those in prison, helped to inspire his exhibit “My Block.”

Sejal Mehra’s Engineering Art is a unique and inspiring combination of creativity, engineering, and sustainability. With a mission to change the face of STEM through art, Sejal transforms discarded computer and electronic parts, as well as plastic waste, into stunning works of art that showcase the beauty of science, technology, engineering, and math. Her art carries a powerful message about the importance ofrecycling and reducing waste.

Felecia Montfort has spent her life making magical art. Ceramics and painting are her favorite mediums. Her creations range from practical to surreal. She is happiest when she has clay or a brush in her hands. After exploring art in high school, Felecia went on to receive her BA at University of Bridgeport, Connecticut and completed her MA at Adelphi and Post in Garden City enhancing her skills of art set at the University of Texas and Post in NY.

The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, Aug. 26 from 1 to 4 p.m. meet the artists and view their works.

Mills Pond Gallery is located at 660 Route 25A in St. James. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission to the gallery is always free. For more information, call 631-862-6575, or visit www.millspondgallery.org.

Poetic Visions: Recent Works of Bruce Lieberman heads to Gallery North

by Tara Mae - August 21, 2023

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0-6 — 'COVID Driveway Quince' by Bruce Lieberman. Image courtesy of Gallery North

By Tara Mae

It is an art form to recognize one’s daily surroundings as fecund food for thought despite their familiarity. Gallery North’s new exhibit, Poetic Visions: Recent Works by Bruce Lieberman, explores the eponymous artist’s appreciation and perception of his own backyard as he cultivates its curated wildness. On view from Aug. 24 to Oct. 1, the show will feature approximately 35 of Lieberman’s oil paintings. While canvas sizes vary, the world within them is universally expansive.

‘Yellow Thirst’ by Bruce Lieberman Image courtesy of Gallery North

“The paintings are vivid, luscious, gardenscapes spanning summer through winter, when it is more bleak. Even then, he still pulls out colors and textures in the browns and other, more muted, [tones] that he paints,” said Gallery North’s Curator Kate Schwarting.

Immersing the audience in a verdantly vivacious, incrementally abstract atmosphere, these renderings inspired by his Water Mill property are rooted in realism, yet blossom with imagination.

“This is a presentation of paintings that blur the line between representation and abstraction. It also presents a painter who is very far along in his career trying to move into something new and push boundaries of his artistic practice. [Lieberman] revels in color and gets others excited about the interaction between color and form,” Gallery North’s Executive Director Ned Puchner said.

Poetic Visions, Lieberman’s fifth solo show at Gallery North amid many group exhibitions, is the latest harvest of a long, fruitful relationship. Making their public debut, the paintings invite viewers to seek the serenity of soulful solitude.

For Lieberman, these works reflect an introspection born out of necessity: they were primarily started during the COVID-19 lockdown, when he ceased teaching painting and figure drawing as an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University.

‘Crape Myrtle Pool’ by Bruce Lieberman. Image courtesy of Gallery North

Informally referred to as the “COVID Driveway Series” by Lieberman, the paintings reference a time when circumstances encouraged him to find novelty in the known as he navigated the unprecedented pandemic. “It has become rather a cliché to speak about how ‘COVID made me do it.’ Or how one’s COVID experience framed and affected their work.’ But…it sort of did. It gave me an excuse to cut my ties with everything. I stopped teaching, stopped going out, stopped going to openings, stopped going to New York,” Lieberman said in an email. “[My wife and I] canceled everything! It, the COVID experience, removed guilt from the decision…For us, we were lucky to have the ability—the luxury—to withdraw from the world.”

Setting up an easel at the furthest point of his property line and painting whatever he saw in all directions, Lieberman experimented with different points of view, paint techniques, and previously untapped styles of brushstrokes.

Such interior creativity born of outside chaos is evidenced in the precise details and less defined boundaries of Lieberman’s paintings. Using the landscape as his muse results in a sort of inherent optimism; even as trees appear bare, traces of green can be found — the promise of fertile rebirth.

“My garden has become a big giant motif — a living still life with endless variations…my Giverny,” Lieberman said.

Almost impressionistic brushstrokes illustrate different types of foliage and lighting as well as rich bright colors for the plants, beautiful blue reflections on fencing, and similar nuances, according to Schwarting.

“Bordering on abstraction, it is a very identifiable scene, but areas of canvas draw you in and almost become an abstract moment on the canvas. It happens very organically, a natural process of him exploring the medium through his paintings. There is an amazing juxtaposition of abstract, painterly brush marks, with drips of the paint. I love how you can have both in one place,” she added.

A singular entity containing multitudes is a recurrent theme in the art of Lieberman, who began his career in the figurative art world of New York City.

Traces of the genre are apparent in elements of Poetic Visions. Representative objects contrast and complement the somewhat subjective wonderland Lieberman’s paintings project, revealed to onlookers by the revelations of his paintbrush.

“He developed a sort of a new vision of his home during [lockdown] and it came through daily examination of his surroundings. When you look at something long enough, you begin to see it differently and start to think about the larger meaning behind the growth of a flower, the changing of a season, or how light can illuminate colors,” Puchner said.

Lieberman’s contemplative examination was a three year study that he now strives to share and shed. Like most acts of creation, the process of producing the paintings was a labor of love; Poetic Visions is a culmination of Lieberman’s efforts as he looks towards the next endeavor.

“I worked hard, I worked for three years on these paintings. So I care about them. I look forward to getting them on the wall and looked at. An added bonus — [having] my studio clean so I can move on to the next thing. Trying to make great paintings is always the goal,” he said.

Gallery North, 90 North Country Road, Setauket invites the community to an opening reception for Poetic Visions on Thursday, Aug. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. and a free ArTalk with Lieberman on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. For more information, call 631-751-2676 or visit www.gallerynorth.org.

Wet Paint Festival reception at Reboli Center moved to July 22

by Heidi Sutton - July 20, 2023

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2017-11-24-CBC-ReboliCenterw — Photo by Beverly C. Tyler

**Important Event Update**
Due to inclement weather forecasts, the Wet Paint Festival Reception being held at The Reboli Center is being moved from Friday, July 21 to: Saturday, July 22 from 5:30pm – 8:00pm.

Join the Reboli Center for Art and History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook for a Backyard Picnic Reception to celebrate the artwork and artists of Gallery North’s 2023 Wet Paint Festival from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Featuring an awards ceremony (awards will be granted to Best Picnic Blanket Spread and Centerpiece and 1st, 2nd and 32d Place in the People’s Choice of Artwork), live music by the Bayport Jazz Band, coffee and cake. Bring your own picnic spread. For more information, call 631-751-7707 or email [email protected].

Artists explore ‘A Sense of Place’ in latest exhibit at Mills Pond Gallery

by Heidi Sutton - July 13, 2023

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By Heidi Sutton

From July 15 to Aug. 11, the Smithtown Township Arts Council’s Mills Pond Gallery in St. James will present a very special art exhibit capturing snapshots of the place we all call home.

Titled A Sense of Place, the juried exhibit features 62 works by 54 artists from 35 communities across Long Island in a variety of mediums including acrylic, charcoal, ink, watercolor, oil, pastel, photography, torn paper collage, collage quilt, and etching.

According to Mills Pond Gallery Executive Director Allison Cruz, artists were asked to creatively capture what they experience, appreciate, or connect to in their Long Island homeland. The resulting submissions will fill the gallery walls with scenes of Long Island beaches, lakes, sunsets, parks, wineries, farms, and wildlife, exactly was Cruz was hoping for when she came up with the theme of A Sense of Place several years ago after reading an article in an Early Childhood Education Journal while serving as a school board member.

“I was reading the Journal and this [passage] caught my eye: ‘Places shape the stories of our lives. These stories become ongoing “ecological conversations”—i.e., expressions of the dialogue between ourselves and the environment (Lutts, 1985). When this conversation ends, so will our future.

The development of healthy environmental awareness and concern starts with a feeling response to nature. Such a response comes primarily by way of firsthand positive experiences in the out-of-doors, especially in environments fostering a “sense of place” experience.'”

The recurring exhibit has become a favorite among the community, the artists and Cruz.

“I really love the Long Island exhibits! I have done six or seven of them and every one has been unique. Long Island artists always step up to the plate and submit me unique works every time. I never fail to find a work that makes me add a new place to my personal list of “must visit” Long Island places,” said Cruz. “And that is what I hope gallery visitors will be inspired to do…find new local places to explore. This Island we call home has so many amazing, unique places to see and learn about!”

Exhibiting artists include Marsha Abrams, Bonnie Bennett Barbera, Shain Bard, Ron Becker, Kyle Blumenthal, Sheila Breck, Joyce Bressler, Carlo Buscemi, Lou Charnon-Deutsch, Rocco Citeno, Lisa Claisse, Kirsten DiGiovanni, Julie Doczi, Karin Dutra, Paul Edelson, Ellen Ferrigno, Dorothy Fortuna, Stacey Gail Schuman, Vivian Gattuso, Kathleen Gerlach, Maureen Ginipro, Jan Guarino, Susan Guihan Guasp, John Hunt, George Junker, Julianna Kirk, Myungja Anna Koh, Mark Levine, Christine MacDonagh, Kathleen McArdle, Kerri McKay, Paul Mele, Patricia Morrison, Annette Napolitano, Gail Neuman, Sean Pollock, Robert Roehrig, Oscar Santiago, Kathee Shaff Kelson, Stephen Shannon, Gisela Skoglund, Lynn Staiano, Mike Stanko, Madeline Stare, Judy Stone, Angela Stratton, Tracy Tekverk, Dominique Treboux, Nicholas Valentino, Steve Walker, Robert Wallkam, Patty Yantz, Theodora Zavala and Tianzhou Zhao.

Cruz is excited to unveil the exhibit to the public this Saturday, July 15 at an artist reception from 1 to 4 p.m.

“Visitors will see wonderful artwork created by artists living and working right here on Long Island. And all the works are actual places here on Long Island that people can visit…no need to travel too far to be exposed to wonderful history, ecology, and culture,” she said.

Artist Sandra Ray to be featured at Apple Bank in Smithtown

by Press Release - July 6, 2023

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Smithtown Township Arts Council has announced that the works of Smithtown artist Sandra Ray will be on view July 4 to August 24 at Apple Bank of Smithtown, 91 Route 111, Smithtown. The exhibition, part of the Arts Council’s Outreach GalleryProgram, may be viewed during regular banking hours Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sandra Ray was born Alessandra Bocchi in Brooklyn, NY, July 14, 1924. She is 99 years old and is a smart, outgoing, and humorous woman who loves animals and good conversation. Her parents, Rose Oddo and Gino Bocchi were Italian immigrants. She had one sister, Yolanda. She met and married her husband, Charles Ray after WWII, and lived in Brooklyn, Ohio, Rochester, and Kings Park before moving to Smithtown in 1961. She has three daughters, Linda (now deceased), Pamela, and Amy, and four grandchildren. She attended both Hunter College and Hofstra University where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in education. Sandra still lives at her home in Smithtown to this day and worked as a teacher for the Smithtown Central School District, retiring in 1986. Having lived and worked in Smithtown for so many years, everyone seems to know her, and she sees former students all the time who remind her of how much they loved having her as a teacher.

Her passion for art and painting started as a young adult. While living in Brooklyn, Sandra worked for Whelan’s in the photo restoration and retouching department. She loved the feeling of the oils and started to purchase her own art supplies and began her painting in her small backyard. She also worked for a photographer when she and Charles lived in Rochester, New York. In the studio, Sandra worked in the Heavy Brush department retouching portraits and painting photographs. She used thick oils to tint faces. If you ask her about oils as a medium, she will tell you that oils fascinate her because oils “Project life in the way that they flow. They have a velvet flow.” She has always enjoyed the arts and attended several galleries throughout the years, joining painting groups and going on tours. One of her art teachers recommended that she try other mediums, so she started to work with pastels, acrylics, and watercolors.

Sandra’s daughter Pam says, “My mother is very funny, and she is sharp as a tack!” Smithtown Arts Council is pleased to feature the work of this incredibly special local lady and artist at Apple Bank!

“STAC is grateful to Apple Bank for its continued support of culture in our communities. We are so happy to feature the talents of Long Island artists in this space!,” read the press release.

Wet Paint Festival makes its mark at Old Field Farm

by Julianne Mosher - June 22, 2023

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By Julianne Mosher

On June 17 and 18, visitors from across Long Island headed to Old Field Farm in Setauket for Gallery North’s 19th annual Wet Paint Festival, a fun-filled weekend to not only admire local artists practicing their craft en plein air, but to see the excitement of a derby. According to Sally Lynch, owner and farm operator, the festival couldn’t have come during a better weekend.

The 2023 Seaside Hunter Derby took place on June 18 on the campus and as the riders competed, over 40 artists took to their canvases to paint and sketch the local scenery and content.

“All the horse people are thrilled to see their horses painted,” said Lynch. “There’s a reason why the horse remains a constant subject of the arts.”

She added that the day before, the farm hosted vintage riders (ones who ride side saddle) in full old-school costume who also modeled for the artists on-site.

The two-day festival also featured nature walks courtesy of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, live music by Tom Killourhy and the Keenan Zach Trio, plein air art tours with Jim Molloy and Nancy Bueti-Randall, a history tour with Margo Arceri of Tri-Spy Tours and an animal presentation by Sweetbriar Nature Center.

The event was sponsored by bld Architecture, Jefferson’s Ferry and Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning.

All of the artwork created at the festival will be on display at the Reboli Center for Art and History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook on July 5 through August 27. The public is invited to an opening reception on July 21 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

PRIDE! exhibit pops up in Northport

by Press Release - June 7, 2023

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Pride exhibit — The PRIDE exhibit at the Northport Historical Society runs through June 30. Photo from Northport Historical Society

The PRIDE exhibit at the Northport Historical Society runs through June 30. Photo from Northport Historical Society

In perfect timing with Pride Month, the Northport Historical Society, 215 Main St., Northport presents PRIDE!, a pop-up exhibit curated and designed by Marketing and Membership Coordinator John N. Daniello.

The Society’s first LGBT+ exhibit, PRIDE! explores the history of the LGBT+ movement in the United States and Northport. The month-long exhibit is generously sponsored by Northport Copy and features local artist Greg Fox and his comic Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast. The Society welcomes members of Northport’s (and the surrounding areas) LGBT+ community — and their allies — to share their personal stories of Pride.

Viewing hours are Thursday to Sunday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. including during Northport’s Pridefest on June 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Northport Village Park. Admission to the exhibit is free. For more information, visit northporthistorical.org

‘Figurative/Narrative’ exhibit heads to Mills Pond Gallery

by Press Release - June 1, 2023

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Up next at the Smithtown Township Arts Council’s Mills Pond Gallery is Figurative/Narrative, a juried fine art exhibition featuring 58 works from 36 artists from 10 states including CA, FL, MA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, SD, TX, VA and 14 Long Island communities. The show opens June 3.

Through figurative or narrative paintings, artists give shape and character to the stories and people of our lives. Whether real or imagined, their art invites us to connect and engage with their characters and stories. We invite viewers to enjoy the expressions of the portraits or the illustrated scenes and imagine the untold stories of the lives of the subjects.

Exhibition juror Zimou Tan’s exhibit called for entries that celebrate contemporary realism and figurative and narrative paintings. Zimou is an Art Renewal Center Living Master (true masters in the visual arts…training and inspiring the next generation of artists, scholars, and teachers, to protect, preserve and perpetuate traditional painting techniques). Zimou noted that selected artists captured the essence of the human form and communicated compelling stories through their art.

Exhibiting artists include Diana Aliberti, James Xavier Barbour, Joanna Burch, Mónica Carmona, Yen-Ching Chang, Teresa Cromwell, Collin Douma, Christine Dupuis, Andrew Elsten, Ryan Flannery, Connie Gisi, Hank Grebe, Jennifer Hartzler, Gia Horton, Tyler Hughes, Julia Jenkins, Natreka Kelly, Frank Loehr, Avrel Menkes, Drigo Morin, Diane Motroni, Susan Perrish, Kai Lun Qu, William Dunham Reed, Anita Schnirman, Barret Schumacher, Eileen Shaloum, Angela Stratton, Mark Sweeney, Tracy Tekverk, Robert Tuska, Zoë Walker, Joseph Weinreb, Ashley Williams, Ni Zhu and Doug Zider.

Mills Pond Gallery, 660 Route 25A, St. James presents Figurative/Narrative from June 3 to July 1. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

The community is invited to an opening reception on June 3 from 1 to 4 p.m. to meet the artists and view their work. For more information, call 631-862-6575, or visit www.millspondgallery.org.

Setauket Artists celebrate spring with exhibit at Deepwells Mansion

by Heidi Sutton - May 18, 2023

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By Heidi Sutton

May is one of the prettiest times of the year on Long Island with the trees in bloom and the pleasant weather. The month also signals the return of a beautiful event, the Setauket Artists’ annual spring exhibit at Deepwells Mansion in St. James.

The juried show, which opens on May 21, will feature approximately 100 paintings in various types of mediums including oil, watercolor and pastel along with etchings and painted photographs by Setauket Artist members in addition to two guest artists: Charles Wildbank, a well known and respected artist from Jamesport, and Russell Pulick, founder of Pulick Pottery.

This year’s distinguished judge is Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook. Ruff will have the difficult job of choosing winners from a pool of incredible local talent.

“Because we live in such a beautiful area, many of the paintings are Long Island landscapes and seascapes of the Sound. Other paintings reflect artists’ travels and daily inspirations, which range from tea cups to trailers,” said Paula Pelletier, a member of the Setauket Artists for over 10 years and whose painting “Flax Pond Inlet” will be in the show.

“Recently, my husband and I discovered the walk at Flax Pond Marine Lab. The views took my breath away; I had to paint them,” she explained.

The exhibit will also feature a gift boutique with matted unframed smaller works, cards, and books written by the artists. The group will raffle off four paintings including “Watching the Stillness of a Setting Sun” by Shain Bard, “Daffodils by Joanne Liff, “Along the Coast” by Renee Caine, and “Road in Mt. Sinai” by Angela Stratton on June 18, the exhibit’s last day. Visitors can enter the raffle throughout the exhibit’s run and do not need to be present to win.

According to Pelletier, the show will fill the Deepwells Mansion’s first floor and extend to the upstairs. The back rooms on the second floor will house three of the Setauket Artists’ personal “studios” with additional artwork available for sale.

The mansion, which is part of the Suffolk County Parks Department, was built in 1845 in the 16th century Greek-Revival architecture for Joel Smith, a descendant of Smithtown’s founder Richard ‘Bull’ Smith. It is now managed by the Deepwells Farm Historical Society.

“It’s wonderful to return to Deepwells,” said Pelletier. “The rooms are expansive with natural light flooding in from the floor to ceiling windows. For visitors, it’s an opportunity to view the period wallpaper and distinctive crown moulding.”

This year’s Honored Artist is Irene Ruddock, the Setauket Artists’ president and mentor for the past 18 years. “A woman of elegance, grace and great kindness, she has worked tirelessly ensuring that our exhibitions are successful, professional and beautiful. Her artistic talents inspire us all. We send her our love and a sincere thank you,” said Pelletier.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Ross Barbera, Shain Bard, Ron Becker, Joyce Bressler, Renee Caine, Al Candia, Gail Chase, Anthony Davis, Julie Doczi, William Dodge, Paul Edelson, Margaret Governale, William Graf, Melissa Imossi, Larry Johnston, Flo Kemp, Karen Kemp, Joanne Liff, John Mansueto, Jane McGraw Teubner, Eleanor Meier, Fred Mendelsohn, Muriel Musarra, Paula Pelletier, Russell Pulick, Catherine Rezin, Joan Rockwell, Robert Roehrig, Irene Ruddock, Oscar Santiago, Carole Link Scinta, Barbara Jeanne Siegel, Angela Stratton, Susan Trawick, Maria Lourdes Velez, Marlene Weinstein, Charles Wildbank, and Patricia Yantz.

The Setauket Artists’ Spring Exhibit will be held at Deepwells Mansion, 2 Taylor Lane, St. James from May 21 through June 18. The community is invited to an opening reception on May 21 from 1 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission is always free. For more information, visit www.setauketartists.com.

Artist Steve Walker to be featured at Apple Bank of Smithtown

by Press Release - May 5, 2023

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Smithtown Township Arts Council has announced that the works of East Northport artist Steve Walker will be on view at Apple Bank of Smithtown, 91 Route 111, Smithtown now through June 30. The exhibition, part of the Arts Council’s Outreach Gallery Program, may be viewed during regular banking hours Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday 9 am – 1 p.m.

Steve Walker is a self-taught charcoal artist and civic-minded individual. After retiring from the corporate world, where he worked as a Corporate Accountant and an Enterprise Technology Account Executive, Walker joined a nonprofit, Rebuilding Together Long Island, as a volunteer where he is currently helping the organization run as Vice President. The charity utilizes volunteers to provide free safety repairs to homeowners who are financially and physically unable to maintain their homes.

Walker was inspired by his mother who dabbled in art and did some incredible drawings while being legally blind. However, it was not until after retirement that he started drawing as a hobby. He loves using charcoal which allows him to produce detailed images that are visually bold with an element of drama. He introduced pastels into many of his pieces for color and additional contrast and vibrance. Walker’s art mainly focuses on landmarks and architectural structures on Long Island and in New York City but includes scenes from Europe as well.

Walker’s hobby has blossomed into a fulfilling passion during retirement. His art has had many solo art exhibits in galleries and libraries across Long Island.

“STAC is grateful to Apple Bank for its continued support of culture in our communities. We are so happy to feature the talents of Long Island artists in this space!” said the press release.

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