The Port Jefferson Free Library, 100 Thompson St., Port Jefferson invites the community to view its latest art exhibit in the Meeting Room titled Celebration of Art/Coming Out of the Pandemic by artist Joseph Rotella through the month of December. The exhibit will feature landscape and floral narratives which were all created during the pandemic. For more information, call 631-473-0022.
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.
By Melissa Arnold
As global temperatures continue to climb, we are unfortunately subject to more natural disasters, lack of resources, and personal discomfort. It’s a harsh reality, but it can be hard for some people to grasp.
The Smithtown Township Arts Council (STAC) is tackling the issue of climate change with a dynamic and colorful exhibit called “On the Edge” at the Mills Pond Gallery in Saint James.
Beginning Nov. 6 and running through Dec. 19, “On the Edge” will feature more than 50 works from environmental artists Pam Brown and Kathy Levine. The exhibit is part of a deeper exploration of environmental concerns through the lens of art.
“For a while now I’ve been wanting to dedicate a year to the issue of climate change and what can be done about it. We read about it and are touched by it every day, but I thought we could explore this issue through art and the beauty of our natural world,” said Allison Cruz, executive director of STAC.
Cruz met Stony Brook-based artist Pam Brown years ago through the local art community, and since then, Brown has served as a juror for several STAC exhibits. Prior to the pandemic, Brown suggested she could put together an environmental-themed exhibit with Levine, her longtime friend and colleague from New York City.
“Pam’s environmental work makes me think, and it touches my heart. I love the choices she makes,” Cruz said. “I was so excited to see this idea take shape and to meet Kathy. When I saw [Kathy’s] passion for connecting people to the environment and the way she salvages material to create beautiful art, I was hooked.”
Brown, who focuses on sculpture, said that she spent much of her childhood exploring the woods around her home.
“The environment has always been a topic of interest for me, and art is a barometer for what is happening in the world,” she said. “It’s hard not to be connected to the environment, and it’s a tragedy to see the loss of beauty.”
Brown works with salvaged material that she says has its own story to tell. Everything is made of sheet metal or sheet copper, then hand cut with scissors or shears, stitched, soldered and welded together.
One of her works included in the exhibit is “A Place Called Home,” which depicts a bird inside of a hanging basket on a branch.
“The bird is calling out, looking for a new place to call home. In the same way, populations around the world are being forced to relocate because of climate changes and disasters in their places of origin,” Brown explained.
Levine is originally from Queens, but had the unique opportunity to grow up in Spain and England, where she was constantly immersed in natural beauty.
At the same time, she was impacted by the energy crisis of the 1970s. Her electricity was cut in the evenings, leaving her to do homework by candlelight.
“I saw the way humans were able to work in harmony with the natural world and have the potential to make it even better,” she recalled, “But I also began to learn just how fragile our connection to the natural world can be, and that our impact can be positive or negative.”
Levine is a mixed media artist, including painting, photography and recycled materials in her work, to name a few. She also makes recycled paper casts of natural objects including leaves and bark, and uses a water-based method of photo transfer.
One of Levine’s pieces, “Rift,” is a cast paper cross-section of a tree that’s split in half. One half depicts the urban sights of New York, while the other side shows a woodsy and natural scene.
“This kind of work fascinates me. It’s the one thing I feel like I could never get tired of,” Levine said. “It’s inexpensive and tactile, flexible and light, as opposed to other methods of sculpture.”
While the exhibit will showcase the beauty of our world, Cruz, Brown and Levine all hope that it will inspire viewers to become more active in preventing climate change.
“It can be overwhelming to consider just how large the issue of climate change is, but it’s small changes in your own family that make a big difference, like recycling, composting and using reusable materials as much as possible,” Brown said.
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The Mills Pond Gallery, 660 Route 25A, Saint James will present “On the Edge” from Nov. 6 through Dec. 19. The public is invited to an opening reception on Nov. 6 from 2 to 5 p.m. Meet the artists and enjoy an Art Talk presented by the Artists and Environmental Art Activists at 3 pm. Masks are required for unvaccinated individuals and optional for those who are vaccinated.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. Please use the rear parking lot off of Mills Pond Road. For more information, call 631-862-6575 or visit www.millspondgallery.org.
See more images at www.tbrnewsmedia.com
Smithtown Township Arts Council has announced in a press release that the works of Commack artist John Taylor will be on view from October 25 to December 16, 2021 at Apple Bank of Smithtown, 91 Route 111, Smithtown. The exhibition, part of STAC’s Outreach Gallery Program, can be viewed during regular banking hours Monday – Friday 9 am – 4 pm; Saturday 9 am – 1 pm.
John Taylor earned his associate’s degree, in commercial art from S.U.N.Y Farmingdale. There he met and studied with world-renowned painter/ illustrator Raphael DeSoto who introduced him to pastel painting. John feels fortunate to be able to pursue his passion for art full time now that he is retired. He works hard to improve his art skills by studying with many art groups on Long Island.
“It is the challenge of every artist to try and catch the beauty of a flower and succeed in doing so,” said Taylor.
“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.
Smithtown Township Arts Council is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization.
As the days grow shorter and temperatures begin to fall we turn our attention to the sights and sounds of autumn. In celebration of the season, the Reboli Center for Art and History presents Autumn Shadows, a beautiful exhibit featuring artwork by Joseph Reboli, Laura Westlake, Vicki Sawyer and more that include some beguiling and bewitching crows and ravens in paintings, drawings, ceramics and jewelry.
The show will run from September 28 to Oct. 31.
Some of Joseph Reboli’s paintings are on loan from private collectors, and are rarely exhibited, providing a great opportunity for Reboli fans to see some of his work for the first time.
Laura Westlake is a native Long Islander, who grew up in Stony Brook and now lives in Orient with her artist husband, Dominic Di Lorenzo. Having studied at Santa Barbara City College in California and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, she spent 15 years working in commercial illustration for television, magazine and print ads, portraiture and book illustration.
Westlake excels in both color pencil and oil paints and has been exhibiting in galleries for over 35 years. Her love of birds and nature complements the work of internationally known artist, Vicki Sawyer, another show participant.
Celebrated for her incredibly imaginative and whimsical art, Vicki Sawyer, former Stony Brook artist and designer, has had two shows at the Reboli Center in recent years. Growing up in farm country, she spent years studying and admiring birds and animals.
Sawyer works in acrylic and incorporates vegetables, twigs and flowers to adorn her whimsical creatures with hats, necklaces and other decorative accessories. Her paintings are definitely one of a kind. Her notecards, calendars and other home decor items are on sale in the Reboli Design Shop.
Other participating artists include Kevin McEvoy, Linda Giacalone, Laura Peters, Barbara Glynn Prodanuik and more. The Center’s History Room will continue on with an interesting exhibition curated by Tricia Foley, The Legacy of Leslie Marchant, which showcases the life and accomplishments of the accomplished Long Island builder.
“We are thrilled to have such a high caliber of artists participating in Autumn Shadows,” said Lois Reboli, a founder of the Reboli Center. “They each bring a distinct element of talent and creativity that supplement each other’s work.”
The Reboli Center for Art and History is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook. The gallery 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, please call 631-751-7707 or visit www.rebolicenter.org.
Resurgence: A rising again into life, activity, or prominence.
— Merriam-Webster
When the Smithtown Township Arts Council’s Mills Pond Gallery opens its doors this Saturday, it will introduce Resurgence, a fine art exhibition featuring fifty works by twenty-five contemporary realist artists selected by curator Thomas Legaspi. The stunning show will run through Oct. 23.
The exhibit features a cross section of representational artists from the New York Metropolitan area, including Long Island, and Pennsylvania and a few artists whose ties to New York continue to be strong even after their art careers have relocated them after their amazing New York educational experiences.
“The artists have had to evolve and react to the changes happening in this pandemic society,” said Allison Cruz, Executive Director of the Mills Pond Gallery. “From cancelled brick and mortar exhibitions, closing of cultural institutions, concerns about the future to zoom teaching, virtual exhibitions and more. For some, working alone has sharpened their creative focus … for others, the absence of physical human connection has forced them to seek new sources of inspiration.”
“We are thrilled to celebrate the strength of Realism as an art form and provide a forum for our public audiences to experience the moving and original ways artists depict the world around them,” she said.
Curator Thomas Legaspi has juried shows for Dacia Gallery and an Art Collective New York Realism. A New York based, contemporary realist artist with an MFA from The New York Academy of Art, he has exhibited nationally and internationally for the past 20 years. In that time, he has also worked as an Adjunct Professor of Art for St. John’s University and City College of Technology as well as in the historic Educational Alliance Art School in the Lower East Side.
“With a hopeful gaze, Resurgence aims to highlight what these contemporary realist artists are creating in this return to creative activity,” said Legaspi.
Exhibiting artist include Susan Cottle Alberto, Steven Assael, Ross Barbera, James Xavier Barbour, Charis J Carmichael Braun, Julia Chen, Jon deMartin, Stephanie Deshpande, Elizabeth Diaz, William Dodge, Christian Fagerlund, Mojca Fatur, Kelly Foss, Kyle Keith, Sara Keith, Scott Lawson, Lisa Lebofsky, Peter Leeds, Cliff Miller, Kseniya Ostrovska, Ivan Pazlamatchev, Ravindra Rana, William D. Reed, Doug Reina and Zimou Tan.
The Mills Pond Gallery, 660 Route 25A, St. James presents Resurgence from Sept. 25 to Oct. 23. The community is invited to an artist reception on Sept. 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
Gallery hours are Wednesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 631-862-6575 or visit www.millspondgallery.org.
By Melissa Arnold
From his early days, Bill Graf was laser-focused on becoming a professional artist. And while he didn’t come from an artistic family, they were still eager to support him.
“When I was a little kid, I always drew — my mom was a voracious reader and would bring home stacks of books from the library, and I would draw in the margins,” said Graf, 61, of Huntington. “The librarian called our house and that’s how I was found out. My mom bought me two big pads of paper and pencils, and after that, it opened the floodgates.”
That deep love for creating has taken Graf from an art degree to a successful career and, more recently, sharing what he’s learned with others as an art teacher. He has also traveled the world in search of new vistas to capture.
This fall, the Atelier at Flowerfield in Saint James will exhibit more than 50 of Bill Graf’s paintings from the 1980s to current times. The solo exhibit will highlight Graf’s great skill in a variety of media and the beautiful places he’s been fortunate to paint over the years.
After high school, Graf wanted to use his artistic skills in a practical way. He chose to pursue an associate’s degree in advertising art and design from SUNY Farmingdale, but was initially turned down for the program.
“I met with the director of the program to sort of plead my case, and outside the office were these photorealistic pieces from the second-year students,” Graf recalled. “I told the director that I could do that. He doubted me, but he said, ‘Okay, I’ll give you three days to draw something in that style.’ When I came back, he looked at my work and said, ‘You’re in.’”
He went on to work in design, illustration and advertising, and studied in his free time at the Art Students’ League in New York City, where he learned the Frank Reilly system of painting. He also had the opportunity to study in Italy at the prestigious Cecil-Graves Studiomin Florence, Italy. Those experiences made a huge impact not only on his art, but on his career as well: Graf would spend more than 20 years illustrating the covers of various Harlequin novels.
“I would have a description of the hero and heroine, along with a synopsis of the book. Then I would work with models who would serve as references. We would set up the lights and backgrounds that I had chosen, shoot some pictures, then I would take those pictures home with me. I would have about a month to complete the final painting,” he explained.
Ultimately, as Harlequin switched over to photographed covers in 2015, Graf returned to his old passions as a way of coping with loss of his major client. He found renewed joy in watercolor and oil painting. A friend even suggested he try leading a casual paint night, which was a great success.
“I came away from that event with a sense that I could pass on what I’ve learned to others,” he said. “Seeing the enthusiasm of the people that were there, it felt like a good time to start paying it forward.”
Since 2016, Graf has taught a number of workshops in drawing and painting throughout Long Island, including at the Atelier.
“When we first met, I was blown away by Bill’s talent. He’s been able to pick up and excel in so many different media, with an incredible level of detail and a very high standard,” said Gaby Field-Rahman, administrator for the Atelier at Flowerfield. “Bill was also an instrumental part of getting the Atelier online and offering virtual classes during the height of the pandemic. In that way, he was truly a lifesaver for all of us.”
Carol D’Amato of Sound Beach first met Bill at one of his watercolor classes. She was newly widowed at the time and struggling to navigate life without her husband of 58 years.
“My doctor told me very seriously that I needed to make some positive changes or I was going to die of a broken heart. He asked me, ‘What is something you’ve always wanted to do but never had the chance?’ I admitted that I wanted to try watercolor, and he broke out into this huge grin,” she recalled. “He immediately said that he knew just the thing — that I needed to go to the Atelier and study with Bill Graf.”
During the first class, Graf gently observed that D’Amato didn’t really know how to draw, and told her that if she could learn to draw, he knew she could learn to paint.
“I really was the worst drawer ever! I never knew that I had the capability. I just needed someone who cared to come alongside me and teach me,” D’Amato said. “No one teaches like Bill. He has the ability to make you feel good and find good things in your art, even when you’re doing things wrong. I started with simple shapes and now, amazingly, I can paint nudes.”
As for Graf, he is always striving to grow as an artist and has never lost the passion he found as a young boy.
“It was my lifelong ambition to become a painter. I still have the same enthusiasm for a finished piece as I did with those first drawings when I was a kid,” he said. “I can lose so much time in my art … it’s almost meditative. I’m not looking to be the greatest of them all — I just have a love for seeing ideas come to life and sharing what I’ve learned with others.”
Bill Graf’s solo exhibit is on display now through Oct. 21 at the Atelier at Flowerfield’s Atelier Hall, 2 Flowerfield, Suite 6 & 9, Saint James. A reception will be held Sept. 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 631-250-9009 or visit www.theatelieratflowerfield.org.
In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Celebrate St. James will present an art exhibit at the historic Calderone Theater, 176 Second St., (second floor), St. James with an opening reception on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. Raffle prizes & 50/50 raffle. Refreshments will be served. Funds raised will go to the St. James 9/11 Memorial Fund and Save the St. James Theater Fund. For more information, call 631-984-0201 or visit www.celebratestjames.org.
We all know that Long Island is a special place to live. Over at the Reboli Center for Art & History in Stony Brook, a beautiful new summer exhibit, Coming Home, showcases our island in all its glory.
“This past year has given us all an opportunity to reflect upon what is most important in our lives. For most, this includes family, friends and nature. The Reboli Center is honored to present the work of three artists whose works epitomize the wonder and beauty of Long Island: Casey Chalem Anderson, Lynn Mara and Joseph Reboli,” said Lois Reboli, a founder of the Reboli Center and wife of the late Joseph Reboli. The new exhibit opened July 20 and runs through Sept. 26.
According to the prolific painter, Lynn Mara, a Long Island native, “I like to capture the American spirit through my work. My impressionist style turned abstract expressionist was influenced by my friend and fellow Southampton artist, the late Jack Reggio, as well as Andy Warhol, Fairfield Porter and Bansky.” Her media includes acrylic paint, oil pastels, hand cut stencils, spray paint and photographic images. Mara’s work has been featured on the Hampton Jitney, at Met Life Stadium, and she was the 2017 Hampton Classic poster design winner. Her flag painting was a gift to each member of the LPGA Solheim Cup in 2019 in Scotland. She is currently working on a 10th anniversary piece for the NY Giants, which will be given away at Giants Stadium this season.
Casey Chalem Anderson divides her time between Greenwich Village and Sag Harbor, where she immerses herself in both natural and urban artistic worlds. “I am a landscape painter who is secretly an abstract painter. After years of living by the beach and observing the daily color variations provided by the tides, sunlight and weather, I’m making paintings that are boiled down to the essential elements that I care about,” said Anderson. Her newest works are a series using the colors of her Hampton’s palette in novel abstract forms that connect her realist works.
Joseph Reboli grew up and lived in the Three Village area. Many of his works were painted on Long Island, Greenwich Village, Block Island and Tuscany. “Joe was noted for his luminous rendering of everyday scenes and subjects, infusing the mundane with an aura of wonder. No object was too familiar or humble for his transforming touch. His canvases glowed with an unmistakable light,” said Lois Reboli.
The History Room features a new exhibit as well. Titled Legacy of Leslie Marchant, the exhibit showcases the noted Stony Brook and Long Island builder and is curated by designer and author Tricia Foley.
“There is a certain look about Leslie Marchant’s work – classic and symmetrical in style, usually brick or stone in material, and usually American Colonial Revival. This timeless style is seen in churches and schools, post offices and community centers throughout the Town of Brookhaven and the East End. Marchant was the ‘go-to’ builder of his time – from Bellport High School to the Stony Brook Crescent, Marchant built structures to last in this enduring and familiar vernacular,” said Foley.
Join the Reboli Center on Sept. 25 from 3 to 5 p.m. for a “Birthday Celebration for Joseph Reboli,” who would have turned 76 on that date.
The Reboli Center, 64 Main St., Stony Brook is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission to the gallery is free. For more information visit their website at www.rebolicenter.org or call 631-757-7707.
As the world slowly reopens from the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions are lifted, the art world celebrates as well. Over at the Art League of Long Island in Dix Hills, a new exhibit is ready to be unveiled this weekend. Titled “Awakening,” the show is described as “an exploration of the world of the past 16 months as seen through the eyes of artists.” Juried by Kathleen Gurchie of Gurchie Designs, the exhibit opens on July 17 in a virtual gallery format and runs through Sept. 6.
Artists were challenged to submit their best works “representing their expressions of our world as we re-awaken and acclimate to a new post-pandemic normal.”
“The title, ‘Awakening’, reflects our joy at finally awakening from the long pandemic “sleep” and stepping slowly and carefully into public life again. But that is not all! We are awakening in many other ways, including social, political and environmental,” said Susan Peragallo, Gallery Coordinator and Curator at the Art League. “Juror Kathleen Gurchie approached her task with thoughtful care and did a wonderful job selecting some of the most powerful and beautiful interpretations of that theme.”
Of the 221 works submitted by artists from across the United States, Ms. Gurchie selected 59 to show in the virtual gallery in a range of mediums including; oil, acrylic, watercolor, ink, collage, sculpture, digital, fiber, encaustic and monotype. Of those 59, six were singled out for awards.
Awards of Excellence were give to Gerry Hirschstein of Old Bethpage for “Standing Twice as Tall,” pastel on canson paper; Margaret Minardi of Northport for “First Awake,” colored pencil drawing; and Beth Wessel of Huntington for her plaster sculpture titled “Joy.”
Honorable Mentions were handed out to Sooltan Madsen of Savannah Georgia for “Can You Spare a Fag,” oil on canvas; Regina Quinn of Gilboa, New York for “Salmon and Blue,” encaustic, oils and beeswax; and Philip Read of Long Island City for “On the Wings of a Dream”, drawing with watercolor.
“This skillful, wide ranging visual banquet can put a face to the complex mix of emotions from 2020’s extremes,” said Ms. Gurchie. “Sculptor Lloyd Lilly once told me ‘It’s in the tightest parameters of a system (ie: Awakening Theme) that our truest uniqueness shines forth.’ Additionally, it’s in viewing this, and experiencing that bond of commonality, that can help us to heal.”
“The timeliness and diversity of this show can do much more than entertain. It can lend you a perspective that you may not have considered. It can inform and help deepen your conversation,” she said. “It can show you that the indomitable human spirit, the timeless beauty and joy are very much present.”
The Art League of Long Island, 107 Deer Park Road, Dix Hills will present “Awakening,” a virtual gallery exhibition, from July 17 to Sept. 6 at www.artleagueli.org. For further information, call 631-462-5400.
Images courtesy of Art League of LI
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