Retail space is at a premium at Skaneateles Artisans. This is the gallery on the lower level of the Old Stone Mill, located at 3 Fennell Street, Skaneateles, New York 13152.
Teresa Vitale is the owner. She is also a very successful artist who creates faux finishes on furniture and fireplace mantles in homes. Some of her work is on display in the gallery as well as paintings, ceramic and glassware, jewelry and trinkets created by over one hundred local artists and artisans.
It is a gift-giver’s paradise.
There is so much from which to choose. I was telling my friend Janine that I was so overwhelmed by it all that I would have to go through my pictures to really digest everything and I would probably see things in the pictures I didn’t remember seeing in person. In that regard, this gallery is a place one must frequent often. That and the fact that stock gets replaced often. It is a cash and carry business, unlike other galleries where the exhibit must conclude before one can take stuff home.
The Skaneateles Curbstone Festival continues today, July 21, 2023, from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. This gallery did not have an outdoor presence but over forty other vendors are sidewalk sale-ing it. In addition, there are magic acts, balloon animal makers, musical guests, sightseeing cruises on the lake and many fine dining restaurants to experience.
We visited yesterday and had such a wonderful adventure of discovery while shopping the numerous stores on Jordan Street and West Genesee Street, as well as Fennell, culminating in a watermelon and feta salad lunch at The Sherwood Inn followed by custard ice cream from Doug’s Fish Fry.
There is an art exhibition of original paintings, posters and magazine covers representing the career of illustrator Norman Rockwell at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, 310 Genesee Street, Utica, NY 13502. This show was organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
All of the Saturday Evening Post covers are represented here! It is amazing to see them all together like this – they hold court in two of the three gallery rooms on the second floor of the museum.
I won tickets to see this show. Thank you, Sullivan Library, Chittenango, NY for this wonderful gift. And thank you, Penny, for accompanying me on this wonderful summer art excursion. So fun!
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute is open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 AM -5:00 PM and Sunday noon-5:00 PM. They have guided tours of the exhibit – call (315) 797-0000 for more information.
P.S. They are having an arts festival through Sunday, July 17, 2022. There are outdoor events including a music stage, local art display and food trucks!
Terry Plater, “Spaces Akin to Freedom”, 2021, oil, 12″ x 16″ $800
On Sunday, I was inspired to go the the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center. I planned to meet up with my friend about forty minutes before I actually arrived, and luckily, that bit of procrastination created an unexpected rendezvous.
Terry Plater, the featured artist in the Gallery Julius, happened to be in attendance and was gracious enough to meet with me and that was AMAZING!
Plater’s exhibit is titled Harriet’s Legacy. It is a series of watercolored landscapes (along with a few oil paintings). They are abstracted with muted tones and sweeping brushstrokes creating a harmonious horizontal solitude. The paintings demonstrate a tranquility, as though the historical voices yearning for freedom that infuse these landscapes are finally at peace.
An historian from the Cayuga Museum of History & Art directed Plater to the actual places that Harriet Tubman walked to include the probable paths of the Underground Railroad. The artist imagined these places as they may have been, sort of remembering the past in a vision and injecting it with the love of four hundred years, the strength of character through tears of both sorrow and joy, and the quiet confidence and intelligence she exudes as the beautiful soul, artist, and teacher she is today.
It is a marriage between past and present with the focus on positive outcomes, as well as the deep respect for Tubman and people like her who had the courage to make the future brighter.
I see the power in that beauty – it isn’t the angst of social injustice. Each painting was inspired by text – by quotes from books, letters penned by “fugitive” slaves, and notes from recorded journals – all found in a library where Plater researched the Underground Railroad activities specific to the Auburn, New York area. The paintings echo the manifestations of desires, wishes, hopes and dreams that came true in spite of doubts, fears and sacrifice.
Each painting in this eleven-piece collection is for sale. They will be on display until August 7, 2021.
In addition, Plater is simultaneously showing paintings at the Cayuga Museum of History & Art. These are figurative paintings.
She has channeled a voice to the local African American past through a connection with her own family members. There is an ethereal flavor to these paintings as well, the same muted tones, albeit in oils. That museum was closed on Sunday, so I could not view the shows in tandem, but perhaps you still can!
So beautiful, uplifting and inspirational.
Terry Plater told me that her deepest wish is to share this journey with students, so, I want to relay that message to families who are looking to do a day trip. The museums are adjacent to one another and – you’re welcome.
Thank you, Terry Plater – you are a beautiful person inside and out, and it was a sincere pleasure to have met you. Continued success to you in your career as an artist and in all that you choose to do! <3
Artist Statement: The idea for this exhibit came together for me in an iterative fashion as I contemplated three things: the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in the now United States (in 2019); the release of the film “Harriet,” which so richly conveyed the life, struggles and triumphs of Harriet Tubman; and an ongoing project I have been undertaking: painting from old family photos to better come to know and honor the history of my own family in Maryland and Virginia.
The proposal links these discreet endeavors in a single narrative, one that imagines, represents, and celebrates family history and 19th-20th century public life — specifically here in upstate NY — as emblematic. The title is meant to convey several things: the intergenerational history, value, and ownership of our collective American story as embodied in slavery and emancipation, the acknowledgement of Harriet Tubman as a local figure and national treasure.
Terry Plater wishes to thank all those who made this exhibition possible: The Schweinfurth Art Center and the Cayuga Museum of History and Art in Auburn; and the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.
The Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center is located at 205 Genesee Street, Auburn, New York 13021. For more information, including hours of operation, call (315) 255-1553 or visit their website here.
The Cayuga Museum of History & Art is located at 203 Genesee Street, Auburn, New York 13021. For more information, including hours of operation, call (315) 253-8051 or visit their website here.
Every year the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center does a Made in New York (MINY) juried exhibition. This year’s show – what can I say? A lot of eggs and phallic symbols, am I right? OMG – round circular objects with the center piece sculpture filled with actual eggs. And every other sculpture is sporting the dildo-esqueness of a you-know-what.
LOL, so great! I wonder if this was the intent, or am I being fresh?
Sixty-nine artists were selected….
Shari Werner, New York, NYChristina Bang, Pittsford, NY
Actually, the great thing about this exhibition is that artists must produce new work for it and everything looks very fresh in that sense of the word. It is all so colorful and curvy, clean, linear, firm and innocently provocative.
It’s a great show!
Jean K. Stephens, Honeoye, NY
MINY will be on display through August 7, 2021. Check out videos of the artists sharing their respective visions here.
Sharon Louden is an artist, educator, advocate for artists, editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and the Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution. Louden’s work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Drawing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Weisman Art Museum, National Gallery of Art and held in major public and private collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, National Gallery of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Arkansas Arts Center, Yale University Art Gallery, Weatherspoon Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
George Afedzi Hughes is originally from Ghana and studied painting at The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, College of Art, Kumasi, Ghana, where he earned a BA in Art: Painting and Drawing (1989) and an MA in Art Education (1991). He later received an MFA in Painting and Drawing (2001) from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S.A. His paintings, performances, and installations have been featured in several museum exhibitions: Perez Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Football Museum, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Museum voor Zuid-en Noord-Beveland. The following museums have collections of his work: Royal Museum of Ontario, Harn Museum of Art, Iwalewahaus and the Ghana National Museum.
Hannah Frieser is the Executive Director for the Center for Photography at Woodstock, an arts organization that features exhibitions, residencies and other artist-oriented programming. With over twenty years of leadership experience in the visual arts, she has curated countless solo and group exhibitions with contemporary photographers, including Suzanne Opton, Adam Magyar and Barry Anderson. Her essays have been featured in monographs and publications, such as Contact Sheet, Exposure, and Nueva Luz. Prior to joining CPW, she was Director of Light Work in Syracuse, NY.
Lauren Bristol, Syracuse, NYJohn Fitzsimmons, Syracuse, NYCharles Compo, New York, NYEmily Kenas, Geneva, NY
MINY Artists
Carolyn Abrams Liz Alderman Robin Arnold Patricia Bacon Christina Bang Howard Bartle Madeline Bartley Mary Begley Marna Bell Tammy Renée Brackett Paul Brandwein Lauren Bristol Andrea Buckvold Susan Byrnes Carlos Caballero-Perez Nancy Callahan Eva Capobianco Stephen Carlson Kevin Carr Tara Charles Sage Churchill-Foster Fernando Colón-González Charles Compo Cynthia Cratsley Carole D’Inverno Lisa DeLoria Weinblatt KP Devlin Lisa Donneson Audrey Dowling Robert Doyle Sharon Draghi Leonard Eichler John Fitzsimmons Faithanne Flesher John Galt Jacq Germanow Cora Jane Glasser Julia Graziano Raechelle Hajduk Barbara Hart Laural Hartman David Higgins Lee Hoag George Hrycun Bob Ievers Emily Kenas Dale Klein Tom Kredo Timothy Massey Becky McNeill Valerie Patterson Beth Pedersen Judith Plotner Rose Popper Jim Quinn Steve Rossi Amy Schnitzer Catherine Shuman Miller James Skvarch Jason Smith Jean K. Stephens Susan Stuart Jane Verostek Kim Waale Mary Pat Wager Shari Werner Katharine Wood Hope Zaccagni Leah Zinder
Julia Graziano, Manlius, NYJim Quinn, Williamson, NYKim Waale, Manlius, NY/Nancy Callahan, Gilbertsville, NY
The Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center is located at 205 Genesee Street, Auburn, New York 13021. For more information, including hours of operation, call (315) 255-1553 or visit their website here.
Paul Brandwein, Rochester, NYRobin Arnold, New Paltz, NY/Timothy Massey, Spencerport, NYCharles Compo, New York, NYCatherine Shuman Miller, Williamsville, NYAndrea Buckvold, Syracuse, NY/Patricia Bacon, Lyons, NYMary Pat Wager, East Greenbush, NYCora Jane Glasser, Brooklyn, NY,#coach #tashkovski #rebeccataylor #ragandbone
