HOME/TOWN Exhibit at Mahopac Library on Display Through March 12
Your Home, Your Town, Your Library – Mahopac Public Library’s tag line emphasizes three of the essential aspects of our lives and our community. With the reopening of the library after 4 ½ months of renovation work, it seemed appropriate to initiate the Third Floor Gallery with an exhibit entitled “HOME/TOWN…where my heart lies.” The response to the HOME/TOWN show was tremendous: 92 artworks created by 52 local and regional artists were submitted and are currently on display in the gallery; the exhibit will remain on view through Sunday, March 12.
The participating artists interpreted the HOME/TOWN theme in many different ways. Alicia Gonzalez and Pauline Bruno painted literal representations of their own homes with the surrounding foliage in full bloom. Heidi Johnson’s ‘Patterson Gothic’ depicts the artist and her husband solemnly standing with a pitchfork in front of their home – a humorous take on Grant Wood’s well-known painting – ‘American Gothic’. Local barns and farmland were depicted by Wendi Bistany, Deborah Beck, Rosemary A. Hocking-Sanzari, Judika Lieberman, and Alfred Dioguardi among others.
Significant or historic town structures were featured in Phyllis Entner’s watercolor painting of the Town of Carmel Historical Society, and Geoffrey Lock’s pastel paintings of Belden House. New York City was a favorite ‘home town’ as seen in Julius Grill’s ‘Sunlight in Manhattan’, Herberto Turizzo’s ‘One Night in Times Square’, Michael Mendel’s ‘New York Morning Rush Hour’, and Penny Feder’s ‘Golden BQE.’
Winter scenes captured the essence of the season’s beauty in images by James Trapani (‘When It’s Cold’), Grace Su (‘Our Park After Snow’), and Judith Challis (‘Homeward Bound’). Landscapes and seascapes take the viewer to towns throughout the tri-state region including Barbara DeMartini Smith’s ‘A Friendly Town’ (Peekskill), Mindy Ackerman’s ‘Sunrise, New Rochelle’, Jessica Paternoster’s ‘Tappan Zee Bridge, Sunset View’, ‘Cormorants in Peekskill Bay’ by Christine Rice, and JoJo Maxwell’s ‘Sunrise over Lake Mahopac.’
Figurative work portrays everyday people in familiar settings: ‘Coffee Break’ (Barnes & Noble) by Maria Kaprielian, ‘Crowd Emotion’ (Yankee Stadium) by James Sparks, and ‘She is Riding Anton’ (Old Salem Farm) by Tooraj Pourman. Abstract entries are also featured including Joan Gillman Smith’s ‘Along Route 22’, Heidi Stein’s ‘Home is where our stories begin’, and Margie Marek’s ‘Lost and Found’.
This spectacular exhibit is all the more poignant when we think of those in other countries who have lost their homes due to war or natural disaster. The meaning and importance of home and community, the visual depiction of vibrant activity or peaceful reflection, the expression of our relationship with the environment – all of these aspects of life are exemplified in the artwork on display at the library. In the words of American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne, “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble there’s no place like home.”
The HOME/TOWN show can be view during regular Library hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday, 9:30 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m., and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
For further information about the Third Floor Gallery at Mahopac Public Library, visit www.mahopaclibrary.org, or call 845-628-2009, ext. 108.
This is a press release provided by the organization. It has been lightly edited and is being published by Examiner Media as a public service.
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