Melissa Restuccia

Crow Talk and Winged Whispers

February 5th – February 27th

I am fascinated with the similarity of crows to humans- the ability to be playful, their attraction to small “precious” shiny things, their cunning behavior and their need to be the center of attention. The butterflies and moths in my collection on the other hand represent for me a whisper of beauty-just out of our reach, elusive like long ago memories. As a child I would chase butterflies and moths in the yard and dream of having a mini collection in my bedroom. My collection, ​Crow Talk and Winged Whispers​, melds our everyday human constructs with our more elusive dreams and yearnings. The heavily patterned backgrounds are a nod to past events and historical textiles.

Melissa Restuccia is currently a high school Art Educator and K-12 Art Department Chairperson at Vestal Central Schools. Her teaching career has spanned 27 years in five local school districts. Melissa received a Master’s Degree in Social Science from Binghamton University, Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education from Marywood University and an Associate’s in Fine Arts from Keystone College. She also received a full Presidential Scholarship to the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she attended for one year and studied Illustration.

Richard B. Henry

Paintings of the Northeast Region of America

January 8th – January 30th

The landscape has always been the focus of my interest, and the Plein Air movement that has been gaining momentum over the past several years has really been exciting. I feel that I have grown as an artist and my work has benefited as a direct result of working from life.  There are challenges when painting in this manner but it’s rewarding to see what you get after a few short hours. Conditions such as the changing light, clouds, rain, wind, bugs, bees and an occasional wild animal are just a few. Painting from life forces you to really look at your subject and it requires you work faster and make decisions in a more spontaneous manner. That result is a fresher painting and although not every piece works out the way I may have envisioned the benefits are a better connection to the work I do.  Many of the paintings here are painted in that manner.

Richard Henry began his formal art education at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh under the watchful eye of American Master Harold F. Edmonds and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (BFA) from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1979. After college, Richard entered the workplace as a commercial artist, building an outstanding career as art director and technical illustrator with technology firms, including IBM and Lockheed Martin. Throughout those years, Mr. Henry also continued his devotion to fine art, mastering many different paint mediums including oil, watercolor and graphite, developing his unique artistic language and continuously exhibiting his paintings at galleries and art shows throughout the Northeast and New England.

BCAC Members

2020 Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition

December 3rd – December 26th

Broome County Arts Council’s 2020 Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition will open on December 4 and be on view through December 26 at Artisan Gallery and online at SHOP ART. Exhibited artworks will include sculptures, paintings, mixed media works, photographs and drawings. Awards will be announced at the opening. Our jurors this year include Christina Di Stefano, Executive Director of the Tioga Arts Council, Alessandro Segalini, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Binghamton University, and Dr. Connie Sullivan-Blum, Executive Director of the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.

Alessandro Segalini is a communication designer who specializes in typography & text design. He holds a MFA in industrial design from Politecnico di Milano and one in graphic design from Aalto University. He taught typography in Italy, Turkey, and the U.S. He is the typographer and graphic designer for Contra Mundum Press, and an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Binghamton University.

Dr. Connie Sullivan-Blum has spent her life hanging out with performers, painters, potters, and poets. While pursuing her doctorate in Cultural Anthropology, she came to the realization that art is a necessary component of the transformation of knowledge into empathy and connection with others. Connie has been the Executive Director of The ARTS Council since 2014. She previously served as its Folk Arts Coordinator.

Christina Di Stefano has had the honor of serving as the Executive Director of the Tioga Arts Council (TAC) since February 2017. During her tenure, TAC has hosted and co-hosted dozens of individual and group exhibitions, including The World Split Open: Artistic Responses to the Women’s Rights Movement & Its Legacy and Everyday Life, Every Day Art, a juried regional art show.

Prior to her time at TAC, Di Stefano worked for Habitat for Humanity of New York State, Inc. for five years and focused primarily on training, program development, and advocacy. Before working at Habitat for Humanity, she attended Binghamton University and received a Master of Arts in Teaching, English Adolescent Education. Di Stefano also lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she taught English as a Second Language. As an undergraduate, she double-majored in English and Art History.

She lives with her loving husband and accomplished poet, Dante; her dear daughter, Luciana a.k.a. “Chi Chi;” and devoted goldendoodle, Sunny, in Endwell, N.Y.

Cole Johnson

Essence of Life: A Study of Nature
November 5th – November 28th

Johnson prefers to work in graphite powder though graduated with a Painting degree from Buffalo University in 1991. He enjoys the contrast of black and white, and the challenge of making a drawing come to life based solely on tonal value. Johnson has lived in upstate New York his entire life. Hunting, fishing, and spending time in the woods have been the preferred activities most of his life, and where he finds inspiration for his art. Incorporating the powdered graphite into his work creates a softness otherwise unobtainable and gives a distinct “mood” to many pieces. Use of the eraser as a tool in later stages of the drawing allows reintroduction of light and depth. Close-up, detailed portraits of deer, dogs, waterfowl and birds of prey are his favorite pieces.

Cole Johnson has lived in upstate New York his entire life and now resides in Binghamton, New York. Although Cole did not study art in high school, he discovered he had a knack for sketching. By graduation, he was featured in a local student art exhibit. The encouragement led to a junior college program in Fine Art at the Munson-Williams-Procter Institute of Art in Utica, New York, and art curriculum associated with the Mohawk Valley Community College. Cole completed his BFA with a concentration in Painting at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1991.

Although he has worked in oils, Cole prefers to work in graphite powder. Cole generally produces works in his studio after close observation in the field and taking of numerous photographs whenever possible. In addition to numerous local and regional shows, Cole continues to broaden his exposure nationally by attending shows such as the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina. Cole has also been juried into such prestigious exhibits as Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.

Carol Arnold

Joy Through My Eyes
October 2nd – October 31st

When you look at my work you see the joy I find in the simple things in life, the turn of a leaf against a pot that casts a gorgeous shadow that I can’t wait to paint! The beautiful colors of soft pink old English roses that fall against an old gated fence. Feel the cold winter air blowing across the ice when you stand in front of “Ice Fishing” as I did when I was standing there painting it. I hope this inspires you to find the beauty surrounding us everywhere, in everything, every day.

Carol Arnold was first inspired to become a painter when as a child she became fascinated by the plein air painters her family encountered on vacations in seaside Gloucester, Massachusetts. After graduating from Vesper George School of art in Boston, Arnold spent several years working in the commercial art field before turning her attention fully to fine art painting. Carol joined the Putney Painters group in 2006. At Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik’s request, she is now leading the Putney Painters group as they concentrate their efforts on passing their knowledge through their educational and inspirational books and videos.

Arnold’s work, executed primarily from life, has been steadily winning recognition, including taking the First Honor award at the Inspiring Figures Exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art in October of 2010. She won an Honorable Mention at the Portrait Society of America’s Members only competition in December of 2010, in April of 2011 she was awarded a Certificate of Excellence at the Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition and another Certificate of Excellence award in May of 2012. In 2015 and 2016 Carol was a part of the faculty for the Portrait Society’s annual conference where she taught a figure drawing workshop with Max Ginsburg along with many other tasks. She was juried into the first annual Cape Ann Plein Air Event held in Cape Ann, Massachusetts where she spent an inspiring week painting on the shores of Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester by the Sea and Essex, with about 40 other plein air painters. To see more of Carol’s work, please visit her website at www.carolarnoldfineart.com

Recent achievements:

2020    First Prize, for best Figure/Portrait in the June Plein Air Salon Art Competition

2019    First Prize, Small Stones Fine Art competition

               Finalist award, Boldbrush painting competition

2018   Honorable mention at the International ARC Salon Competition

2016   First prize at the Laumeister Fine Art competition at the Bennington Center for the Arts.

Martina DiRose

Everything but Nothing
September 4th – September 26th, 2020

A fun, colorful series that calls out the important things in life. Look closer to find the irony between the image vs the title of some of the paintings. Others are more straight forward. Each piece was painted with bright colors and bold lines to stand out and make a statement.

“I am a self-taught oil painter. There is nothing traditional about my work. It is not uncommon to see the use of metal, spray paint, glitter, or rope in my paintings. I am most inspired by people, lines, and colors.

I was born and raised in Binghamton, New York. My earliest memories are of me sitting on my mother’s lap as she drew figures, faces, and motorcycles for me to color. I always found calmness in doodling. I would get lost in the lines, especially the lines of the body. I sold my first painting, “Night Fever,” in 1997 to Broome Community College. Eventually, I began showing my work locally, traveling to art festivals and selling at cafes & restaurants in bigger cities. In 2006, when the mid-Atlantic flood hit our area, like many, I lost my home and 42 of the 43 paintings that were in my basement studio. One painting, “Self-Portrait,” survived. I was going to restore it to make it look like it did originally, but I realized that the damage sustained only added character. It also symbolizes my journey as an artist.

In 2007, I opened “Martina DiRose Gallery” at 81 State Street in Binghamton. This space was a safe and dry place for me to create and display while we rebuilt our home. It was here that I focused more on design and began creating digital images. I love people. ♥ I enjoy one’s individual quirkiness and believe differences should be celebrated & not hidden. #celebrateindividualism”

Anna Warfield

Soft Thorn
August 7th – August 29th, 2020

Soft Thorn addresses complexities in sexuality, language, and voice. The series is built of intangible yet highly relatable sentiments stemming from female experience in contemporary society. It’s intimate, personal, and political.

The mostly sculptural, often text- and always textile-based work is aspirationally frank. The materials and construction further complicate the picture. In employing “craft” to reclaim a visual vernacular typically coded as feminine, the works initially read like comfort objects, squishable and soft, before revealing themselves to be explicit, demanding, contorted, and self aware. The work’s light colors and soft textures mask the tone of text, disguising dominance with submission. The work broadcasts its intentions, summarizes memories, and demands an intimate exchange.

Anna Warfield (b. 1995) is a fiber artist and Whitney Point native. An active member of the arts community for the last 7 years, Warfield predominantly works with themes surrounding sexuality. She is recent New York State Council on the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts “Artist as Entrepreneur Bootcamp” graduate, and recipient of the collaborative National Endowments for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts “Keep New York State Creating Project Grants” for her sculptural work.

Warfield has exhibited solo with the Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes’ Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery, the Vestal Museum, and with Cornell University’s Experimental Gallery. Her recent group exhibitions include the “Southern Tier Biennial,” at Center Gallery Jamestown Community College; “Birthday Suit,” at Site:Brooklyn Gallery; and “Made in New York,” at Schweinfurth Art Center. In 2019, she was recognized as a featured artist in both ragazine.cc and Create! Magazine, received an Honorable mention for Create! Magazine’s “Women’s Issue,” and was honored by the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce with a “HYPE Award” in the Arts.

Warfield graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Bachelor of Science in Communication and was honored with the Charles Baskerville Painting Award for her thesis work. She currently works as Production Director for LUMA Arts Initiative and as the Gallery Assistant for Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts.

John Fitzsimmons

Rhythms
July 3rd – August 1st, 2020

“Many of my works are about conflicted dual nature, arguments with myself, right brain vs. left brain, inside vs. outside, aggressive vs. passive, pragmatism vs. ideals. All are “non-verbal ideas.” These non-verbal ideas may float in my head for months and eventually I work them into sketches or small paintings. I then make reference photographs or drawings from models and then work those images into more elaborate drawings. When I start the actual finished work, I have a strong visual idea of where I want it to end up. Changes tend to be reductive, where I remove elements and simplify form and color. My work avoids specific verbal narratives but invites non-verbal, open and ambiguous ones. Often I’m uncomfortable with the images in the finished paintings but do not want to reduce this tension; for me this is the core of the work.”

John Fitzsimmons has been painting for 50 years and is a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati.  He has been painting for 50 years while also working in industry as a surplus dealer, business owner, designer and in marketing. He has invented and holds many patents for various devices including the RocLoc wall anchor. He has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally and is an alumni of the US Department of State’s “Arts in Embassies” program which was started by John F Kennedy to promote American art around the world. Current exhibits include “Made in New York” in Auburn.

He lives and works in Syracuse NY.

Warner K Varno, Scott Yurko, Dave Porter, and Jaleel Campbell

Art Connects Us All

Warner Varno has studied fine art formally since 1992 and taught visual art at all levels for almost twenty years. Warner has recently exhibited her work at Gallery 54 in Skaneateles, at Maxwell Memorial Library in Camillus, New York; “Both Sides Now,” at Zip37 Gallery in Denver for her one-woman show “Anatomy of Change” in February of 2017 and “Anatomy of the Spirit” in Gallery Julius at The Schweinfurth Museum and Art Center in Auburn, NY in October of 2016. Warner has exhibited in New York, Colorado, and California and has initiated an MFA in Visual Arts through Goddard College.

Scott Yurko was born in Upstate New York and received a dual A.S. in Commercial Art and Photography in 1986. In 1989, he graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a B.F.A. in Illustration and was later accepted into The United Scenic Artist Local 829, a union of artisans who make and paint scenery for movies, television and theater, in 1992.

Although he has worked in all of these venues, Mr. Yurko spent the vast majority of the past 25 years at The Metropolitan Opera Association in New York City painting the scenery for the Opera, working with many of the top designers, and making their creations come to life, while learning a vast array of products and techniques. He resides on a farm in downstate New York and enjoys traveling, tending his chickens, and painting for “art’s sake” in his spare time.

Dave Porter received a B.A. in Studio Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Albany, where he studied sculpture, painting, and printmaking with Dennis Byng, Marc Greenburg, Dennis Wilson, Robert Cartmel, and Richard Stankiewicz. Dave also has a BE in Mechanical Engineering from SUNY Stony Brook and a MS in Environmental Engineering from Syracuse University. He is a licensed professional engineer and has worked as a mechanical, environmental, and energy engineer. Prior to his engineering career he was a US Navy Surface Line Officer.

Dave’s early art training and work was primarily with oil painting, drawing, and print making. He has transitioned from mostly two-dimensional art to three-dimensional wood sculpture including both relief and freestanding wood sculptures as well as mixed media assemblies – he is more recently active in painting and digital graphic design. Sculptures are usually non-representational or abstract, and paintings have been representational.

He exhibits work in juried and non-juried shows in central New York including the Broome County Arts Council Gallery, Cooperstown National Art Exhibition, Cooperstown Regional Art Show, Schweinfurth Art Museum, Auburn, NY, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, and Cazenovia Arts, Cazenovia, NY. In 2018, Dave’s Cube 18 won best of show in the Cooperstown Art Association National Show.

Jaleel Campbell is a New York based artist whose work ranges from illustration, curating, directing, performing and the latest, Doll making. Jaleel attained his BFA in Visual Communications with a specialization in Graphic Design from Cazenovia College and his MFA in Media Arts & Culture at SUNY Purchase.

His passion for creating knows no bounds. It is through these acts that community building comes to the forefront. That is Jaleel’s mission and what drives him the most. Whether it be through his illustration work that showcases the often underrepresented, video work that captures the beauty and essence of black life and culture, or even his handmade dolls that aim to honor and acknowledge those who came before us. There is no limit to his genius and he will continue to keep creating work that reminds black people of their worth while also providing a sense of relief when the weight of the world gets too heavy.

High School Emerging Artists

The 2020 Regional Emerging Artists Show & Competition

The Broome County Arts Council (BCAC) and the Fine Arts Society of the Southern Tier, inc. (FASST) combined the Emerging Artist Competition and Young At Art Show for a one-time special event–The Beethoven Project presents “The 2020 Regional Emerging Artists Show and Competition” celebrating the life and times of Beethoven through a special art category.

Various Artists and Florists

2020 Spring Flower Show
March 5th – March 27th, 2020

Join us for the opening reception of the Broome County Arts Council’s Flower Show, Friday, March 6th from 6pm – 9pm in Artisan Gallery. This group exhibition takes its inspiration from flower shows across the nation and hosts artworks by Broome County artists that celebrate florals, and highlights the masterful work of florists in our area.

Greg A. Chianis

Italia Rediscovered
February 6th – February 29th, 2020

In a cardboard box at an Italian antique market, established photographer, Greg A. Chianis, happened upon six rolls of exposed 35mm film negatives from the 1930’s and 40’s. This exhibition consists of forty silver gelatin images that have been printed from these original negatives. Each image transports the viewer to a former time and place through the lens of an unknown photographer.

Greg A. Chianis, AIA (b. 1961) obtained his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986. He is the co-founder of Chianis + Anderson Architects, a twenty-two-person firm with offices in Binghamton, New York. As a self-taught photographer who was first introduced to photography after a three-year battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer, Chianis has a unique eye for capturing life. In a strange, yet positive way, the illness heightened his awareness of the surrounding environment, the places and things he came in contact with, and most importantly, the way he looked at the world.

In addition to his work with digital media, Mr. Chianis has developed a deep curiosity and interest in analog film photography that includes the use of the pinhole, 35mm, medium format, large format cameras and equipment, and more recently, found photography. His award-winning work has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions, and he is honored to have his work on display in many commercial properties and in private collections. Chianis resides in Newark Valley, New York with his twenty-two-year-old daughter, Madelyn.

Jaleel Campbell

Obsessions
January 2nd – February 1st, 2020

Obsessions showcases select illustrations, photographs, and cloth dolls spanning the past 3 years of Campbell’s artistic practice, as well as a selection of personal images of the artist across those same years. His passion for creating knows no bounds. It is through these acts that community building comes to the forefront. That is Jaleel’s mission and what drives him the most. Whether it be through his illustration work that showcases the often underrepresented, video work that captures the beauty and essence of black life and culture, or even his handmade dolls that aim to honor and acknowledge those who came before us. There is no limit to his genius and he will continue to keep creating work that reminds black people of their worth while also providing a sense of relief when the weight of the world gets too heavy.

Jaleel Campbell is a New York based artist whose work ranges from illustration, curating, directing, performing and the latest, Doll making. Jaleel attained his BFA in Visual Communications with a specialization in Graphic Design from Cazenovia College and is now pursuing his MFA in Media Arts & Culture at SUNY Purchase.

Kopernik Observatory & Science Center

Celestial Bodies: de revolutionibus orbium coelestium
December 5th – 28th, 2019

While you’re home for the holidays, let these stellar images, courtesy of the Kopernik Observatory & Science Center, transport you to other worlds.  All of the images included in this exhibition, hosted by Artisan Gallery, were taken at Kopernik Observatory & Science Center  using the observatory’s equipment. Image processing was done by Kopernik Astronomical Society Member, George Normandin. The images were acquired by various Kopernik Astronomical Society Members working either individually, or in small groups.

The Kopernik Observatory & Science Center opened in 1974, built by the Kopernik Society of Broome County to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Mikolaj Kopernik, the man known to the world as Copernicus – the “father” of modern astronomy. Since that time, hundreds of thousands of children and adults have experienced the wonders of science through the Observatory’s programs.

Located atop a 1740 foot hill in Vestal, NY, 13 miles southwest of Binghamton, the Observatory has been one of the best-sited and best equipped public observatories in the Northeast United States for nearly 45 years.

Jean McCreary & Anne Copps

Threads: Regional Quilt Work
October 31st – November 30th, 2019

Whether the work is traditional or contemporary, there is always a story stitched into every quilt.

Jean McCreary has been an environmental lawyer in Rochester, New York, for the past 35 years.  She was taught how to sew at age 10 by her mother, and 25 years ago she took up quilting after seeing a show of traditional Amish quilts in the Finger Lakes region. She and her husband travel for pleasure with a distinct focus on observing and protecting the natural environment and endangered and threatened species, which inspire her quilt art. She has one son, Evan, and lives in Victor, NY, with her husband Greg.

“I started quilting in the traditional form with Log Cabin and pieced quilts. However, I very quickly migrated toward applique and collage with thread painting after learning how hard it is to sew a straight line! Following classes I took with Melinda Bula, Rosemary Burris and others, I eventually learned techniques for improving composition, shading, color blending and creating depth of field, enabling me to pursue my passion for creating detailed pictorial quilts that capture the natural world or special moments through bits of fabric the size of a fingernail. The Matriarchs (of two females and male calf elephant in Botswana) took about nine months to create and expand my comfort zone creatively. Several of my quilts have been auctioned in support of land and species preservation.” – Jean McCreary

“I began quilting in 1990 when my children were quite small. It was a way to have a bit of ‘me time.’ I am attracted to traditional patterns. I try to add a contemporary twist with fabric choices or layout. My quilts tend to be utilitarian.  They are meant to be slept under, cuddled with and loved (sometimes to the quilt’s demise). There is always a quilt underway in my studio. I love to take classes to learn new techniques.” – Anne Copps

Joseph Daily

Twelve Years in Painting
October 4th – October 26th, 2019

“In my career as an artist, I have primarily earned a living painting portraits on commission. Although I love to paint people, my portrait practice requires that I work primarily from photographic references, alone in the studio and cut off from nature. To help stay connected with the natural world, I have found it necessary to also make time to work from life. This show collects paintings and drawings from twelve years’ worth of such personal explorations, dating back to some of my very first forays in plein air painting. I hope that the viewer will find them as refreshing to see as I found them to paint!”

Joseph Q. Daily (b. 1981, Philadelphia) 

Joseph has been making pictures for as long as he can remember. The son of two illustrators, he began his formal art training at Lower Merion High School and continued his education at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where he was awarded the four-year Silas H. Rhodes scholarship. Joseph’s time at college deepened his love for depicting faces, and he began working professionally as a portrait painter immediately upon graduating. Two years later, he won both Best of Show and the People’s Choice Award at the Portrait Society of America’s 2005 International Portrait Competition. A fortuitous meeting with Minnie S. Churchill – director of the Churchill Heritage and keynote speaker at the conference – led to a steady stream of commissions on both sides of the Atlantic. Today, Joseph’s public and private commissions hang in collections across America and the U.K. Whenever they can, Joseph and his wife Maria also enjoy seeking out paintable subjects in the gardens, fields, and woods surrounding their home in Vestal, New York.

Armondo Dellasanta

Armondo Dellasanta: A Retrospective
September 5th – September 28th, 2019

Armondo Dellasanta: A Retrospective is the first exhibition showcasing four distinct collections of his work since his death in 2010: Binghamton, New York City, Susquehanna, and Floral. The exhibition, courtesy of the Estate of Armondo Dellasanta, is in memory of a beloved artist who continued to create stunning works with passion well into his 90s.

Known as the “Binghamton’s Van Gogh” and “urban Monet”, Armondo Dellasanta was arguably the most renowned impressionist in Binghamton, NY. Though deeply influenced by French and American Impressionism and The Ashcan School, Armondo began to use customized palette knives to paint, giving his work a unique look and finish. Growing up as a Binghamton native in an immigrant family, Armondo developed a keen observational sensibility while teaching himself to paint. He was also a World War II veteran where he passed the time by doing drawings in Germany. He translated these observations, with great technical skill, into his oil paintings, capturing the collective and precious memories of the local and regional cityscapes.

Anita Welych, Dave Porter, & Russell Serianne

Vibrant Ground: A Contemporary Take on Nature
August 1st – August 31st, 2019

Three artists, using different media, approach nature with a contemporary twist, exploring the connection between and interaction of natural lives. Vibrant Ground: A Contemporary Take on Nature features the work of Anita Welych, Dave Porter, and Russell Serrianne and encompasses a variety of artistic approaches: oil paint, wood carving, gall mobile sculptures, vine tendrils, and other media. Each artist examines the liveliness of nature through emotive linework, the use of organic forms, and close studies. This exhibition invites viewers to rethink how the natural world transforms our everyday spaces.Three artists, using different media, approach nature with a contemporary twist, exploring the connection between and interaction of natural lives. Vibrant Ground: A Contemporary Take on Nature features the work of Anita Welych, Dave Porter, and Russell Serrianne and encompasses a variety of artistic approaches: oil paint, wood carving, gall mobile sculptures, vine tendrils, and other media. Each artist examines the liveliness of nature through emotive linework, the use of organic forms, and close studies. This exhibition invites viewers to rethink how the natural world transforms our everyday spaces.

Anita Welych is a mixed-media artist who studied painting at Cornell University, Syracuse University and the Universidad Nacional in Bogotá, Colombia. Her paintings, artist’s books, collages and installations have been exhibited nationally and internationally. She currently teaches in the Studio Art BFA program at Cazenovia College. She has received two Fulbright Grants to Colombia to study, teach and lecture at universities across the country. 

Through an examination of large data sets, translated into visual form, Welych explores the nature of loss through an investigation of the loss of nature. Declining bird populations are a particular concern.

Dave Porter received B.A. in Studio Fine Arts from State University of New York at Albany, where he studied with Dennis Byng, Marc Greenburg, Dennis Wilson, Robert Cartmel, and Richard Stankiewicz.  Dave also has a BE in Mechanical Engineering from SUNY Stony Brook and a MS in Environmental Engineering from Syracuse University. Until recently worked as a mechanical, environmental, and energy engineer for various engineering consulting firms in upstate NY.  He was also a US Navy Surface Line Officer and served onboard the USS White Plains (AFS-4), homeported in Yokosuka, Japan.

Dave’s early art training and work was primarily with oil painting, drawing, and print making.  He has transitioned from mostly two-dimensional art to three-dimensional wood sculpture including both relief and freestanding wood sculptures and mixed media assemblies – active in painting and digital graphic design.  Work largely non-representational or abstract. In 2017 Dave began experimenting with goldenrod assemblies and continues to produce goldenrod assemblies and mobiles as well as paintings, wood sculptures, and digital prints.

He exhibits work in juried and non-juried shows in central New York including Cooperstown National Art Exhibition, Cooperstown Regional Art Show, Schweinfurth Art Museum, Auburn, NY, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, and Cazenovia Arts, Cazenovia, NY.  

Russell Serrianne lives in Glens Falls, NY. Raised in Niagara Falls, Serrianne attended the New School of Art in Toronto, Ontario with a concentration in drawing and screen process printing. He then studied printmaking at the Center for Music Drama and Art in Lake Placid, and lithography at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

Solo exhibitions include the Salem Art Works in Salem, NY and Castleton University, Castleton, Vermont. Invitational and juried exhibitions include the Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region, Albany Center Gallery, The Brattleboro Museum, Vermont, the Laffer Gallery, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, and the Center for Contemporary Art, NJ. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art and private collections. 

BCAC Members

2019 Member’s Exhibition
July 5th – July 27th, 2019

The Broome County Arts Council’s 2019 Members’ Exhibition will be on view July 5th, 2019 through July 27th, 2019 in B.C.A.C.’s Artisan Gallery located at 95 Court Street in Binghamton. This juried exhibition includes up to two works by each of BCAC’s Members. Jurors include Ms. Diane Butler, Director of the Binghamton University Art Museum, and Mr. Hall Groat II, Professor and Chair of SUNY Broome’s Department of Art & Design. 

Dr. Diane Butler

Dr. Diane Butler has been the director of the Binghamton University Art Museum for seven years. She has an eclectic background: an undergraduate degree in music, and Master’s degrees in Africana Studies and Art History, as well as a PhD in Art History from Cornell University. For her dissertation she studied maps of Africa printed between the 16th and 18th centuries. Prior to her arrival at Binghamton University, Diane worked at three academic museums – in the education and curatorial departments at the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, as a curator at Colgate University, and as the Andrew W. Mellon Coordinator of Academic Affairs at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College.

Professor Hall Groat II

Painter Hall Groat II, professor, and chair of Art and Design at SUNY  Broome Community College teaches foundation courses in painting, drawing, color theory, and computer graphics. Groat earned a master of fine arts degree in painting and drawing from City University of New York at Brooklyn, a bachelor of arts in art history, minoring in studio art at Binghamton University, and attended graduate and certificate programs at Buffalo State College, Syracuse University, and Savannah College of Art and Design. He also attended summer sessions at Chautauqua School of Art, Chautauqua, NY, and Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vt.

Groat has had one-person exhibitions at Everson Museum of Art, Roberson Museum of Art, Finger Lakes Community College, Cazenovia College, Jasper Rand Art Museum, Lemoyne College, Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art, and Washington and Jefferson College, and has participated in dozens of group shows throughout the United States.

Dillon Utter

Old Friend, New Genre
June 5th – June 29th, 2019

Known for his works of individuals often overlooked by “polite society”, this series of paintings puts forward an inherently self-reflexive perspective. These intimate portrayals are near and dear, many of whom are local artists. The backgrounds while specific, represent the grit and character of the area, with a mindfulness of its rich history. In this way, Utter gives a direct and honest glimpse into his daily life and inspirations. “Old Friend, New Genre” stands as a testament to the creative growth and coexistence of a diverse, post-industrial community.

Dillon Utter (b.1993) is an emerging artist from Binghamton, NY. Influenced by his late grandfather Armando Dellasanta, Utter has been painting most of his life. In 2016, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of Visual Arts in New York City. He currently resides and maintains a studio in Endicott, NY. This is a community where Utter has established deep roots and plays an active role in its revitalization. His paintings have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions locally and in New York City. 

Scott Yurko

A Painter’s Snapshots
May 3rd – June 2nd, 2019

Scott Yurko was born in Upstate New York and received a dual A.S. in Commercial Art and Photography in 1986. In 1989, he graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a B.F.A. in Illustration and was later accepted into The United Scenic Artist Local 829, a union of artisans who make and paint scenery for movies, television and theater, in 1992.

Although he has worked in all of these venues, Mr. Yurko spent the vast majority of the past 25 years at The Metropolitan Opera Association in New York City painting the scenery for the Opera, working with many of the top designers, and making their creations come to life, while learning a vast array of products and techniques. He resides on a farm in downstate New York and enjoys traveling, tending his chickens, and painting for “art’s sake” in his spare time.

“The idea of this collection of portraits came to me a year or so ago. I thought it would be really interesting to paint a show that would connect emotionally with the viewer. Rather than enter the gallery and look at all the paintings, the viewer would enter to find all the paintings looking at you. I had made several of these ‘confrontational portrait’  in the past and was excited to explore this concept further. For me, it is a way to create an emotional dialog between the art and the viewer. Hopefully, as one confronts each individual piece the viewer will get a sense of who the subject is as well as the specific emotional state they emote.

“Each piece is a unique person at a moment in time, a moment that I felt made that person interesting to me. I hope that the diverse array of subjects ultimately shows us all of our differences and all of our similarities. It is my hope as the artist that you, the viewers are able to connect with and enjoy as many of these paintings as possible. If you, the viewer, feel like you know what the subject must be like as a person then I have done my job. Please enjoy these works; my hope is that they are the beginning of many more to come.” 

-Scott Yurko

Emerging Artists

2019 High School Competition
April 5th – April 27th, 2019

Come celebrate the area’s best high school-level talent at Broome County Arts Council’s 2019 Emerging Artists Competition & Exhibition!  Each year, BCAC invites high school art teachers from around the County to choose up to 12 pieces of exemplary visual artwork to be adjudicated by community art professionals.  This annual exhibition represents the Best of the Best from young artists, as chosen by their instructors who have watched their progress over the years. The exhibition opens on first Friday, April 5th, 2019 from 6-9pm, and will be on view through April 27 at Broome County Arts Council’s Artisan Gallery located at 95 Court St, Binghamton.

Ramona Lena Kacyvenski

Of Artistic Descent
March 1st – March 30th, 2019

This exhibition illuminates how inspired and imaginative lives can endure through generations and become a family tradition that grows into a legacy. “Of Artistic Descent” showcases creative work from Ramona’s parents, herself and her children. This multi-generational art exhibit expresses how a legacy for a family can be much more powerful than material or monetary inheritance.

 Creative work included from the late Marlene Theresa (Roma) Stacconi and the late Giuseppe Stacconi, their daughter, Ramona Lena (Stacconi) Kacyvenski, and Ramona’s sons Forest Hunter Giuseppe, 19, and Phoenix Thunder Lee, 16.

Warner K. Varno

Anatomy of Hope: a collection of mixed media paintings
February 1st – February 23rd, 2019

From a moment of deep compassion for the people in Japan during the 2011 Tsunami and Earthquake to the 2016 US Election to here and now in 2019, Warner, like many artists feels a pressing desire, even necessity to create artwork that adds beauty and joy to our lives while appreciating the struggle that all living things grapple with in the face of change.

Warner often chooses to use bird images to signify the living worlds relationship to its environment, how crucial that relationship is and how vulnerable all living things are to changes in their environment. It is easy to see how a delicate bird is susceptible to changes in its environment, but it is much more challenging to see that same relationship for the top of the food chain, human beings.

Creating a “bone garden” of sorts and through use of paints and graphic line, Warner weaves a tapestry of imagery that also includes human anatomy and botanical images to illustrate and explore this relationship, while creating a mysterious and veiled story, sometimes personal, sometimes universal that ultimately celebrates this struggle to achieve balance and wholeness and retain a feeling of hope despite the challenges that lie ahead.

Warner has studied fine art formally since 1992 and taught visual art at all levels for almost twenty years. Warner has recently exhibited her work at Gallery 54 in Skaneateles, at Maxwell Memorial Library in Camillus, New York; “Both Sides Now,” at Zip37 Gallery in Denver for her one-woman show “Anatomy of Change” in February of 2017 and “Anatomy of the Spirit” in Gallery Julius at The Schweinfurth Museum and Art Center in Auburn, NY in October of 2016. Warner has exhibited in New York, Colorado, and California and has initiated an MFA in Visual Arts through Goddard College.

Marie Veschusio

perfect human-ness
January 4th – January 26th, 2019

perfect human-ness is a solo exhibition of works by Cazenovia-based artist Marie Veschusio. The exhibition, which includes works on paper as well as sculpture, will be on display January 4th – January 26th in BCAC’s Artisan Gallery.

“A beautiful part of being human is our ability to feel. Life events cause us to feel joy, pain and a myriad of emotions in between. All humans experience these emotions, yet experience them with different levels of intensity, which trigger physical responses in our bodies. This delicate blend of physical and emotional feeling- so unique in every individual- is a beautiful part of our life: our perfect human-ness.” – Marie Veschusio

Ruby H. Wang

Paintings
January 4th – January 26th, 2019

Ruby Wang’s art fuses the traditional brush techniques of her native China with the broader aspects of western contemporary art particularly that of the United States where she has lived for many years.

Ruby Wang studied is a student of Huang Chung Pi and Wu, Yongxian, both masters of Chinese paintings. After graduation from the Department of Art at Taiwan Normal University, she went to the United States and had her further study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

Ruby’s early works were rooted in the traditional Chinese culture. After coming to the States, she was influenced by the western culture and modern art and her works have displayed the essence of the combination between oriental and western artistic forms. Her work expresses the doctrine of realistic and strong feelings on real objects with Chinese brush-pens and patterns and western painting ideas and skill.

Preservation Association of the Southern Tier

COUNTRY STYLE: The Rural Architecture of Broome & Tioga County
December 7th – December 29th, 2018

COUNTRY STYLE is a  juried photography exhibition put on by the Preservation Association of the Southern Tier. The exhibition features works from the following age groups: 13 and under, 14 to 18, and 19+. All submitted photos are on display in Artisan Gallery, 95 Court Street, Binghamton. This exhibition opens to the public on First Friday, December 7, and continuing through the month of December.

The three judges had a tough time selecting winners from the outstanding photos submitted… and after careful consideration, the winners are:

First Prize:

Debra Rockefeller, “Rest in Peace”

Erin McCollough, “Weathered Barn”

Kira Harting, “Barn Times”

Greg Chianis, “Privy”

Lydia Corcoran, “On the Side of the Road”

Honorable Mention:

Debra Rockefeller, “Gateway to the Past”

Sandra Kirker, “Alonzo Pease Bridge” and “Departing Light”

Debra Meetze, “Sunset over Niemann’s Dairy Farm”

Grace Deyo, “Winn Hill Farm”

Charlie Hunter, “Make Hay while the Sun Shines”

In addition, visitors during the First Friday exhibit will select a “People’s Choice” winner. Stay tuned!

Rolf Quam

Department of Anthropology
Binghamton University

Dr. Rolf Quam is a paleoanthropologist who studies the fossil remains of our closest evolutionary cousins the Neandertals. He has participated in field excavations at the Pleistocene archaeological sites of Atapuerca in northern Spain for the past 23 years and has authored numerous scientific publications. He teaches courses on human evolution at Binghamton University.

Public Lecture: New Perspectives on Ice Age Art
The earliest appearance of visual imagery or graphic representations in the archaeological record are found during the Upper Pleistocene time period on the African and European continents. Whether the capacity to produce art is limited to our own species, Homo sapiens, or was also present in some of our evolutionary relatives, like the Neandertals, is an open question. This public lecture considers some of the latest discoveries of Ice Age art and discusses the current thinking surrounding the origins of symbolism and its possible link with language and culture in our evolutionary past.

To hear more lectures and readings like this check out:

Tom Besom

Artist’s Statement
Anthropology is the study of humans and their diverse cultures. The discipline teaches us that different peoples interpret reality–and see the world–in distinct ways. As an anthropologist and artist, I explore some of these alternate realities through my artwork: I make pieces that refer to many cultures, both from the past and in the present; I produce art that is derived from peoples’ fears, dreams, myths, notions of purity, ideas about the sacred, and conceptions of the universe.

Meg Reynolds

Artist’s Statement
Most of our time is spent thinking about or interacting with others. This collection explores power gained through collective existence, and the continued presence of others through mental and physical memories during the moments we spend as individuals. Touch is a central theme, expressed through the combination of different medias that drive the viewer to want to feel or contemplate the texture of the pieces, to be a part of the scenes, or perhaps to avoid putting barriers between themselves and the people around them. Associated lines, colors, shapes, and textual subjects are also used as visual markers of connection and separation. The subjects of the works are the people that surround me – my friends, family members, and sometimes people I had seen when I am out whose body language and facial expressions speak to the social nature of humans. These works display many lenses in a shared story; it is a collective ethnography of people around me experiencing human interaction or lack thereof.