Point of Contact gallery is located in The Warehouse building, 350 W. Fayette Street (near the intersection with West Street) in Syracuse, New York. It is an annex of Syracuse University located in the Armory Square area of town. Its mission is to provide an arts dialogue with the community focusing on Latin American culture.
In the summer, however, the gallery opens its doors to a juried exhibition, welcoming all local artists to participate. Currently, Sum Art 2017 is up until mid-August. The art reception was last night.
For some reason, every time I enter this gallery, it starts out feeling like Dr. Who’s Tardis – bigger on the inside. Last night, as I winded my way around the exhibit taking quick snapshots here and there around the many patrons who attended finding myself in the second room and nearly impaling myself on a tall wooden sculpture, I realized that idea is an illusion.
It isn’t so big and yet, this show really packs a punch. So much to delight in – to see. Large scale works and tiny collage pieces. Realism in both painting and ceramics juxtaposed with pricey abstracts. There was something for every individual aesthetic.
Last year I bailed on this show, lol. I made up for it last night, even getting an Instagram fashion post out of the dealio – thanks to contributing artist Penny Santy (photo cred)!
BCBGMaxAzria romper, belt and clutch, BCBGeneration booties
Maybe next year I will go a step further and enter my artwork…. (???)
Gallery Hours: The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday, 12-5 PM to the general public.
Last night Kim and I attended an art reception for local artist Jon Goode. He said his girlfriend surprised him with the show, titled Decades. She had unearthed some of his earlier works (in attic storage) and paired them with ones he has on display in his bookshop near my friend Kim’s hair salon down the road from me in Eastwood.
The result was this inspiring show of colorful mixed-media pieces of various sizes. There was an amazing food spread, a fully stocked bar complete with homemade wine labelled specifically for the show (!!!) and a DJ spinning vinyl.
The last time I had visited Apostrophe’s on Oak Street in Syracuse, New York, it was for Davana Robedee’s exhibit. Now that it is spring, the gallery is very bright in the evening in comparison to Davana’s opening and so, it was a very different vibe. Curator Holly Wilson had originally planned the space to be a showcase for Syracuse University student artists looking for a venue to begin their careers. She is now expanding to include the local Syracuse scene. Artists, like Jon, like me, who can rent the space for one to three week shows for a one-man gig or group showing.
It is a wonderful space and I may take her up on the offer. There is availabilitity this summer. If you are interested, contact Holly at yourfriendholly@gmail.com.
Jon’s show runs through next week. Hours of operation are limited, but I believe you can get a private viewing by contacting Holly’s email or galleryapostropheS@gmail.com.
Last night Penny Santy and I took a road trip to Rochester, NY to visit the Nan Miller Gallery.
What a beautiful place! Nan Miller has an exquisite eye for abstract art. I loved everything about the place. Linda Bigness has been in Nan’s stable for years and her work was prominently displayed throughout the gallery.
Linda’s husband told me the space is a new incarnation, now located at 3000 Monroe Avenue. A short hop, skip and jump from the New York State thruway.
There are sculptures and paintings, and in the back room, prints by well-knowns Keith Haring and Jim Dine! Price points range from $1,000 to upwards of $60,000!
The opening was very well attended by patrons of the arts (lots of sold stickers!!!), as well as artists. Nan and her colleague Gail Leess were so friendly and informative. If you’ve never been, I suggest a road trip. It’s definitely in order. You will love it!!! <3
The Edgewood Gallery is a teeny little place, about the size of my living room with only two walls of space in which to exhibit art. But I have to say, gallery owner and framer extraordinaire, Cheryl Chappell really knows how to pack an artistic punch.
I was crazy busy this weekend. On Friday, I installed my art exhibit at Natur-Tyme, attended my sister’s garage sale, exercised, wrote the blog post about my show and finally got around to going to the artist reception at Edgewood. It was from 6 – 8 pm and I squeaked in at 8:30. A handful of people were still there including Hall Groat who creates breathtaking oil paintings.
He is selling tiny square pieces – maybe 6″ x 6″? for $125 but they are worth every penny. He has such a masterful technique. They are perfectly worked little canvases. My favorite one is the little baseball.
Groat visited my school ages ago when I had this Visual Artist series at Bridgeport Elementary. I would get three or four artists a year to come to the school library and give two presentations – one to all the 4th graders and one to all the 5th graders. The series had been sponsored by the defunct State Bank of Chittenango. I asked the bank president for grant money every year to pay the professional artists around $100 for their services. Groat created a baseball painting as a demonstration that I still have somewhere. I think I had it framed and it is still at the elementary school.
He didn’t remember me when we spoke at this reception. No doubt my ego was a bit bruised, lol. Back then I remember him telling me how he had eeked out a living as an artist by being a go-getter. He’d created murals at the old Syracuse Savings Bank in downtown Syracuse by telling them he knew how to do it even though he had never done it before – the kind of amazing confidence that many of us spend our whole lives chasing. Now Groat works alongside his mini-me, Hal Groat II. They have a mutual website where, among other things, they interview other successful artists via offering them questions to respond to. He proceeded to demonstrate this on me, which was pretty hilarious.
Jay Hart creates these large-scale “geographic compositions”. They are mounted on foam board – not sure how they are attached to the wall. Very interesting textured topography! I’m not sure my Samsung Galaxy 6 phone camera do them justice. They are a bit more colorful in person.
At least I was able to take photographs. The last time I attended an opening at Edgewood, it was so crowded with so many of my art colleagues that I spent the whole time talking – no pics to show for it and of course, I didn’t write a blog post on that show. It was nice to be able to see the work from at least a five foot distance and the lucky thing for me was that even after hours, some of the artists were still there.
Vicki Thayer was selling hand-made jewelry. I was particularly impressed with the keshi pearls. They looked a lot like Honora pearls but her color combos were more brilliant, I think. She said that soon no one will be able to get these pearls in these colors (they kind of look like pieces of Corn Flakes in shape), because they take years to manufacture. Obviously they are a specific type of oyster – so when I say manufacture, these oysters are farmed but the process is all natural.
Even with that said, Thayer’s prices are so reasonable – a pair of earrings for around $40 and the ability to compliment them with a matchy-matchy necklace.
Finally, probably my favorite of the group – these impressive wood carved anamorphic wall mounted sculptures by June Szabo. They reflect the idea of nature. One of them was supposed to be a delta and two rivers but my dirty mind thought I was looking at Fallopian tubes, like in the 7th grade Health textbook. I’m a dork.
John Franklin is also exhibiting. The Edgewood Gallery is located at 216 Tecumseh Road, Syracuse, NY. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 9:30 am – 6 pm, Saturday 10 am – 2 pm. And this show, entitled Beneath the Clouds, continues through August 28th, 2015, so there is lots of time to see it!
