Upcoming: Senior Project Showcase 2024

Filed under

December 13, 2024 – January 10, 2025


Opening Reception: December 13, 2024
5 – 7PM

Gallery Hours: Thursday-Friday 2-5PM, Saturday 12-4PM (During Exhibition Only)
*Gallery Closed to the Public: December 22, 2024 – January 3, 2025*

Senior Project is the capstone of The Art Effect’s portfolio development programming and is the most rigorous course currently offered at the Art Institute. Modeled after a senior thesis college course, students work on a personal theme for 12 weeks with an artist/mentor in their chosen art medium. Focusing on developing a cohesive body of work, how to prepare for an exhibition, and how the gallery viewer will interact with the work, students complete the program with a strong portfolio of work around their chosen theme. The Senior Project exhibition is a celebration of the accomplishments of these young artists.

Upcoming: The Member Show 2025

Filed under

Check back soon for more information and our Call For Entries.

The Duo Show

Filed under
Image Not Found

October 10 – November 8, 2024
Trolley Barn Gallery | 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie, NY

The Duo Show at the Trolley Barn Gallery is a captivating exhibition curated by the Youth Arts Empowerment Zone (YAEZ) Curatorial Team in collaboration with guest curator Indira A. Abiskaroon, Curatorial Assistant of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum, and Jaime Ransome, Trolley Barn Gallery Manager. The Duo Show features the works of painter and photographer Kimmah Dennis and the installations of Marielena Ferrer, two regional artists whose pieces in conversation initiate a transformation of the Trolley Barn Gallery into a space where themes of childhood, displacement, loss, and hope collide with one another. Both artists are motivated by a desire to examine the strength and vulnerability of youth and the roles and responsibilities the rest of us have in empowering or weakening them, bringing these themes to life in a powerful and reflective way.

BROKEN MONARCHS

Broken Monarchs commemorates the thousands of migrant youth who, beginning in 2017, were separated from their families and detained at the U.S.–Mexico border. Marielena Ferrer exalts their stories through an immersive installation of paper Monarch butterflies, which for their beauty and resilience—and their multi-generational migrations throughout North America—have become a powerful symbol for migrant rights. Ferrer, alongside community participants, has produced over five thousand Monarchs, each correlating to a child taken from their loved ones. Many children have since been returned, represented by the mobiles that resemble the butterfly clusters who rest post-migration on Mexico’s oyamel firs. The artist also honors those not yet reunited through her caged butterflies, while “broken,” fallen Monarchs memorialize those whose lives were cut short. In defiance against the spread of global anti-immigrant sentiment, Ferrer’s work gives equal weight to trauma and hope, becoming more beautiful and bittersweet as it, alongside the estimated total number of separated children, continues to grow.

CAPTURING ECHOES

In Capturing Echoes, Kimmah Dennis offers glimpses into the lives of African children subjected to the volatility of socio-political turmoil. Informed by her family’s wartime displacement from Liberia to Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and, finally, the United States, the artist crafts materially and conceptually layered vignettes that show children who, like her, have navigated the fragility of childhood amid seemingly inescapable chaos. Symbols of innocence are placed in contrast alongside indications of unrest, engaging issues of governmental abuses, the recruitment of children to armed forces, and the ever-present threat of violence. The tension present in these portraits is eased by the meditative “Capsule” series, which depicts domestic spaces where home can be found, and memories can live. The inclusion of photo albums in these works, as well as other autobiographical touches throughout the exhibition, root Dennis’s explorations of memory and migration in autobiography, tethering personal experiences and shared global histories.

About the Artists:

Kimmah Dennis is a painter and photographer, driven by traditional, experimental, and conceptual exploration of materials through familiar archives and the lack thereof. Born amid the chaos of the first Liberian war, her accounts of government abuses, forced child recruitment, and harrowing escape resonate in her work. As an artist, Dennis explores themes of identity, culture, and personal history, creating pieces that are both intimate and universal. Kimmah’s dedication to her craft and her powerful storytelling through art is notable. She was recently awarded the American Academy of Rome 2024-25 Terra Foundation Rome Prize Fellowship.

Marielena Ferrer is an artist dedicated to exploring the human condition through her intricate and emotive works. She engages in dialogues about identity and community,  and was recently honored at the Ulster County Executive’s Arts Awards as this year’s Artivist. She chairs the Kingston Arts Commission, directs Humanamente, and sits on several boards. Marielena holds a BFA and MFA in Sculpture from SUNY New Paltz and is now the Executive Director of Unison Arts in New Paltz.

About the Guest Curator: Indira A. Abiskaroon
Joining us as the guest curator of The Duo Show, Indira A. Abiskaroon is the Curatorial Assistant of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum. In her position, Abiskaroon has served a central role in all aspects of the Museum’s contemporary programming. Most recently, she helped organize the back-to-back blockbuster exhibitions Spike Lee: Creative Sources and Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. Prior to joining the Brooklyn Museum, she worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She holds a BA in Art History and Classics from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College and an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Upcoming Special Events:

Artist Workshop: Friday, November 1 | 4–7 PM
Exhibiting artist, Marielena Ferrer, leads a Butterfly Tearing workshop that continues her practice of community engaged art making. Ferrer will walk participants through her tissue paper tearing techniques and enlighten the community on the significance of each individually precious object – and by extension – the human spirit. Each participant will take home their own paper butterfly.

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 10 | 6–8 PM Click here to see photos and learn more about the evening.
Guests and artists will experience the Trolley Barn Gallery’s fall flagship exhibition, co-curated by the Youth Arts Empowerment Zone Curators and guest curator, Indira A. Abiskaroon. Refreshments will be provided. Meet the artists and curators and hear the youth curators speak about their process and the research that lead to this impassioned exhibition of art tackling themes of childhood, displacement, loss, and hope.

Open Studio: Friday, October 18 | 2–5 PM
Exhibiting artist, Marielena Ferrer, will be continuing her studio practice of block printing butterflies onto tissue paper in the Trolley Barn Gallery during our Friday gallery hours from 2-5pm. Ferrer is individually printing 200 new butterfly prints in preparation for her Butterfly Making Workshop on November 1, from 4-7pm.

Artist Talk: Saturday, October 19 | 2:30–4 PM
Exhibiting artists Kimmah Dennis and Marielena Ferrer engage in conversation with guest curator, Indira A. Abiskaroon, about The Duo Show exhibition, their creative processes and the difficult themes that their works embrace with inspiring imagery.

Teen Visions: 2024

Filed under

Gallery Hours: August 24 – September 6, 2023

Thursdays – Fridays: 2 – 5pm | Saturdays: 12 – 4pm

Experience art through the eyes of talented teens who created an impressive collection of artworks, including drawing, painting, photography, digital animation, film, mixed media, and more!

Teen Visions is a culmination of the hard work and dedication of selected young artists from The Art Effect’s 2024 summer programs including Summer Art Institute, Junior Art Institute, MADLab, Spark Studios, and D-LIT. It is an incredible accomplishment to be chosen for the Teen Visions Exhibition. Teaching artists and staff choose more than 65 artworks of exceptional technique to be included in the exhibition taking place at the beautiful Trolley Barn Gallery.

Visual works in the show – which always proves both richly varied and exciting, as well as a demonstration as to why nearly all of The Art Effect’s Art Institute students get into the nation’s top visual arts programs – include paintings, drawings, mixed media, photography and sculpture by students from many Mid-Hudson school districts, counties, towns, villages and cities. The exhibition will be on display through September 6, 2024. Gallery hours are listed above.

Family, friends, and the community are invited to join us for the Opening Reception and End of Summer Program Celebration on Saturday, August 24 from 2–4 PM. Enjoy face painting, activity tables, and a scavenger hunt. Information about upcoming classes and events will be available as well.

We invite exhibiting student artists back on Saturday, September 7 from 12–4 PM for art pickup and a pre-portfolio day. Students will have the opportunity to have photographs taken of their work as well as receive pre-portfolio reviews in preparation for Portfolio Day on October 4. Teen Visions’ artists will be able to take their artwork home with them at the end of the evening!

Exhibition Events:

Opening Reception & End of Summer Program Celebration: Saturday, August 24, 2–4 PM
Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie NY 12601
• End of summer program celebration!
• Activity tables for upcoming classes
• Face painting and activity tables, and scavenger hunt

Art Pickup & Pre-Portfolio Day: Saturday, September 7, 12–4 PM (for exhibiting student artists only)
Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie NY 12601

Earth’s Reflection: International Juried Exhibition

Filed under

When the Earth sees its reflection, will it be proud or scared of what it’s become?

For this exhibition, the Trolley Barn Gallery brought together a compassionate roster of artists who specialize in work that brings attention to pollution prevention in a way that offers solutions for one of humanity’s most pressing global crises. This exhibition focused on artistic interpretations of pollution prevention including themes of environmental justice and climate change activism. Artists explored themes inspired by the Earth; translating the sciences of ecology and geology to an experiential art. This exhibition featured artists working in 2D and 3D mediums of upcycled materials, sound, video, and performance.

We are looking back at our mistakes, looking forward to solutions, and holding space for our present circumstances. And with the education and support of local artists and activists, the youth curators have equipped themselves with the skills to think outside the box and inspire collective action in Poughkeepsie.

Special Events

Opening Reception | Friday, June 14 | 6 – 8PM

UPSTATE ART WEEKEND: July 19 – 20 

• Community Clean Up | Friday, July 19 | 12 – 2:30PM
• Sustainability Lecture | Friday, July 19 | 4 – 5PM
• Upcycled Art Workshop | Saturday, July 20 | 12 – 4PM

Community Clean Up | Saturday, August 3 | 12 – 2:30PM

“Stewards of the Water” Panel Discussion | Saturday, August 3 | 3 – 5PM

Funding provided by the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of Rochester Institute of Technology and its NYS Pollution Prevention Institute or the State.

Thursday – Friday, 2–5pm
Saturday, 12–4pm

Earth’s Reflection: Virtual Gallery

  • Mary Ann Agresti • human nature 3 • reclaimed pine, paint, nylon webbing, aluminum, magnets • 12” x 31” x 1.5” • Yarmouth, MA • $1,200 • Bringing a visual and interactive element to thinking of how the world interacts, this work is an invitation for viewers to challenge themselves to think about how humans and nature are complements, opposites, and competitors with one another. Looking at the different ways to compare the two provides an interesting and necessary thought on how nature should be interacted with. The piece can be changed to say “human nature”,” human human”,” nature nature”, or” nature human”.
  • Destiny Arianna • "What's In The Water?" • Window, curtains, wood, crochet blanket, newspaper, plant, glass, ceramic, digital photograph • 80” x 96” x 48” • Wappingers Falls, NY • NFS • Arianna explores her connection to the island of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard), where her Indigenous ancestors lived for years - now home to America’s first large-scale offshore wind farm. What’s In The Water? engulfs viewers in the warm feeling of home and the detachment that can be experienced after significant changes occur. A rocking chair with Arianna’s late great-grandmother’s crochet blanket drapes beside a wooden table where a photograph of Noepe - untouched and pure - sits. The window depicts the first hundred “eco- friendly” wind turbines outlined in white in the distance, ready to take over the entire landscape. Every aspect of the room has an ongoing conversation on the waters before and after the wind project. This work tells the story of a forgotten history as Arianna holds space for memory, nostalgia, and legacy.
  • Brandin Barón • Concept Drawing for the Relocation of Miami Beach • collage with mixed media • 17” x 21” • San Francisco, CA • $1,000 • Baron collages vacation images together to depict a man-made island floating, designed to recreate the forgotten paradise. This work is a comical illustration of the way humans will laugh in the face of tragedy and go on in their relaxed, distracted bliss. Voluntary obliviousness is the face of a horrible but predictable situation as the Miami Beach is no longer able to naturally hold itself up.
  • Barbara Bose • Inheritance • Oil on canvas • 24” x 30” • West Palm Beach, FL • $2,500 • One of the few things I noticed first was the tractor and the tank. War and revolution. Slavery. The drum is a reminder of a lot of things that have affected American history. Farming, loss of crops, war, and famine still happen everywhere else, but we don’t talk about that. Certain cultures all over the world use drumming for war, for celebration, for cadence.
  • Harrison Brisbon-McKinnon • Bottom Feeder I • Collected Trash • 36” x 36” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS • This piece represents the responsibility that people should have with their own creations. We make waste that can easily spread and create chaos around the area, but we must take responsibility and clean our mess. This piece is a plastic mop bucket full of plastic trash; the trash can be knocked over but the litterer is obligated to clean after themselves. The title “Bottom Feeder” further represents this by helping one think of what we are making ourselves when choosing to live in our own filth.
  • Phineas Cashman • 罪人的解剖：腐烂 (anatomy of a sinner: decay) • ink, charcoal, and found objects on paper • 70” x 36” • Worcester, MA • NFS • This work will constantly decay over time. The artist has revived the work for this exhibition so the changes and disintegration of the work will be more observable - the work will slowly die adn fall apart over the length of the exhibition. Cashman displays all the horrible things we consume then dispose of. We’re slowly killing ourselves and the Earth from the inside, hence the name of this piece: “anatomy of a sinner: decay”.
  • Gail Chapman • Rising Water • Clay • 7” 27” 12” • Philadelphia, PA • $450 • Chapman is a person that loves to work with the environment around them. Clay is one of the artist’s favorite materials because she enjoys working with her hands. In “Rising Water” the water appears suspended between ebbing up and flowing away. It is inspired by decay and erosion.The artist is referencing the impact that climate change has on the planet - gentle and destructive.
  • Grace Davies • Reef Fish • Ceramic, wood, wire, epoxy resin • 24” x 12” x 12” • Brooklyn, NY • $1,000 • Davis uses recycled and discarded materials whenever possible. Using them for these sculptures as a reminder of what we are losing and what that could lead to. "Reef Fish" represents ecosystems that have been in constant danger. While on the other side is "Camelaffe," a representation of what that could lead to with all ecosystems endangered. A look into the future of the loss of animals, ecosystems, and the dystopian path humanity could take with the loss of vital resources.
  • Grace Davies • Camelaffe • Scrap metal • 12” x 15” x 5” • Brooklyn, NY • $500 • Davis uses recycled and discarded materials whenever possible. Using them for these sculptures as a reminder of what we are losing and what that could lead to. "Reef Fish" represents ecosystems that have been in constant danger. While on the other side is "Camelaffe," a representation of what that could lead to with all ecosystems endangered. A look into the future of the loss of animals, ecosystems, and the dystopian path humanity could take with the loss of vital resources.
  • Amy DiMare • Removing the Residue of Yesterday's Existence • Layered InkJet print • 17” x 22” • Moab, UT • $650 • Over time silos can mold and decay; it's a finite balance that must be maintained otherwise it can collapse, fold over, and decay and mold away. In Removing the Residue of Yesterday's Existence DiMare places the remnants of human construction in the background and depicts the planet's future in the foreground with the overgrowth of tomorrow.
  • Serena Domingues • Interruption • Multi-media ( video, found objects, metal, plants, wood) • 5’ x 5’ x 3’ • LaGrangeville, NY • NFS • This work gives you multiple perspectives of a single video using obsolete viewing technology. Some TVs have devolved to the point where nature has reclaimed them entirely. Domingues seeks “to reconcile our modern existence with the ecological balance we've disrupted.” With all these different vantage points, the artist begs the question “Why watch so many views of nature when you can go outside and experience it yourself?”
  • The DIRT Project • Trolley Barn DIRT organism • Interactive Wall Installation • 80” x 120” • New Paltz, NY • NFS • The DIRT Project invites viewers to examine their own positionalities and psyches within the climate crisis. How does one reimagine the systems we inherit that are rooted in the devaluation and exploitation of the land? Through the interactive exhibition, the project seeks to slow down the transactional relationship we are forced into with land, natural resources, and dirt itself to reimagine a connection based on reciprocity and care with the land that nourishes us. Take a minute, think, and imagine the future world you wish to live in.
  • Jenniffer Farley • Come sit with me beneath the willow tree • Linocut • 18” x 12” x 12” • Orem, UT • $400 • Farley’s prints focus on offering new perspectives of natural phenomena, creating dynamic compositions that ask the viewer to think about the complexity and interconnectedness of themselves and the world around them. In Come sit with me beneath the willow tree, Farley chose to depict a beautiful tree that lives far beyond the people who plant them. Willows are the monument and testament of the strength and gentleness of the earth. They have long branches that can grow into even stronger trees once they pass. This endurance is another testament to the hidden powers of the earth.
  • Jenniffer Farley • This Keeps Happening • Reduction relief • 12” x 9” • Orem, UT • $100 • Farley’s prints focus on offering new perspectives of natural phenomena, creating dynamic compositions that ask the viewer to think about the complexity and interconnectedness of themselves and the world around them. This Keeps Happening captures the fleeting moments of raindrops hitting the ground. Blotches of blue flow throughout the reductive print, the rain flourishing in ripples that contain the movements of abstraction. This replenishing of the Earth, purifying and washing away impurities, signifies the Earth's replenishing itself from toxins.
  • Erica Frisk • Decisions for Eternity • Archival Inkjet Print • 20” x 24” • Somerville, MA • $500 • These otherworldly images are disturbing and fantastic. They are images of Earth, taken around the globe for a 2021 series, “The Terra Series”, which “showcases scenery that is distorted, unknown and mysterious”. The artist is fascinated by how little we know about time, space and our futures and revels in the knowledge that no matter how much we imagine, we are still tethered to this Planet and our own experiences.
  • Erica Frisk • Mysterious Mound • Archival Inkjet Print • 20” x 24” • Somerville, MA • $500 • These otherworldly images are disturbing and fantastic. They are images of Earth, taken around the globe for a 2021 series, “The Terra Series”, which “showcases scenery that is distorted, unknown and mysterious”. The artist is fascinated by how little we know about time, space and our futures and revels in the knowledge that no matter how much we imagine, we are still tethered to this Planet and our own experiences.
  • nic galloro • Cut the Flow of single-use plastic water bottles • Mixed media - found objects • 77” x 15” x 12” • Havre de Grace, MD • $1,200 • Macroplastics abound! Single-use water bottles tumble in a seemingly unstoppable flow out of the faucet in the wall. Water is so important to us all as a vital component of life and survival, but our use of this unending tide of plastics is contributing to a toxic imbalance in our water.
  • nic galloro • Foamberg Fish • Mixed media - found objects • 20” x 20” x 14” • Havre de Grace, MD • $315 • The Susquehanna River runs by Galloro's home and a piece of foam he found floating along it serves as the base of his piece. Functionally it supports a fish constructed of CDs, aluminum foil, and wood. Conceptually it pulls us to think about how along with the materials that create the fish, this foam is part of the modern environment that fish and other aquatic animals must inhabit and navigate.
  • Ilene Gold • Leaves in the Stream • Photography • 12.5” x 15.5” • Baltimore, MD • $125 • This is a reflection. One piece, "Reflections in Paris", is a reflection of the work humans have done to make the Earth livable and comfortable. The other piece, "Leaves in the Stream'', is a reflection of the Earth and what the planet has done to make itself livable and comfortable. Gold highlights how humans refract their environment - distorting the beauty of nature to make it more orderly and segregated from its Earthly inspiration. Windows reflect more windows, more buildings, more people; while the water reflects the Sun.
  • Ilene Gold • Reflections in Paris • Photography • 12.5” x 15.5” • Baltimore, MD • $125 • This is a reflection. One piece, "Reflections in Paris", is a reflection of the work humans have done to make the Earth livable and comfortable. The other piece, "Leaves in the Stream'', is a reflection of the Earth and what the planet has done to make itself livable and comfortable. Gold highlights how humans refract their environment - distorting the beauty of nature to make it more orderly and segregated from its Earthly inspiration. Windows reflect more windows, more buildings, more people; while the water reflects the Sun.
  • Danielle Jones • Slowly Rapid • Handmade paper, ink, Mississippi River water, resin • 10.5” 12” x 16” • Tucson, AZ • $3,000 • Jones works in deconstructed materials like paper - exploring themes of protection, strength, and vulnerability. Through turning this delicate material (one easily ripped and torn into a strong piece), Jones touches on the cycles of preparation, breaking, and mending - a cycle that is never finished. As water levels rise and storms become more frequent, the cycle is becoming shorter and shorter - but it is after the disaster that we can recover and create something anew. "Slowly Rapid" glimmers with the possibility of breaking beyond the boundaries and imagining a politics of repair and renewal.
  • emily koch • In The Slithy Toves • Acrylic, oil pastel and charcoal on paper • 44” x 34” • Newton, MA • $770 • Koch's images give the aura of a darker toned mythology based wonderland. Holding similarities in color and imagery, the archways in both "Mone Rath" & " The Slithy Toves" seem like open passageways to "Untitled." This trio gives a familiar yet somber feeling, much like the double nature of the two-Headed God Janus of Greek mythos. He looks over passages like the ones that accompany the two-headed woman of "Untitled."
  • emily koch • Mome Raths • Acrylic, pastel and charcoal on canvas board • 14” x 11” • Newton, MA • $310 • Koch's images give the aura of a darker toned mythology based wonderland. Holding similarities in color and imagery, the archways in both "Mone Rath" & " The Slithy Toves" seem like open passageways to "Untitled." This trio gives a familiar yet somber feeling, much like the double nature of the two-Headed God Janus of Greek mythos. He looks over passages like the ones that accompany the two-headed woman of "Untitled."
  • emily koch • Untitled • Oil on masonite (repurposed) • 18” x 24” • Newton, MA • $720 • Koch's images give the aura of a darker toned mythology based wonderland. Holding similarities in color and imagery, the archways in both "Mone Rath" & " The Slithy Toves" seem like open passageways to "Untitled." This trio gives a familiar yet somber feeling, much like the double nature of the two-Headed God Janus of Greek mythos. He looks over passages like the ones that accompany the two-headed woman of "Untitled."
  • Catherine Lavoie • Journey • Textile - Mixed • 36” x 36” • Bethlehem, CT • $5,000 • Lace, a beautiful, intricate material - made by humans - here saturated in black reminiscent of an oil spill; ruining the earth just like the fabric. This work is circling the acknowledged feeling that people will never be able to purge the Earth of the effects of using and transporting this substance, no matter how creatively humans attempt to dispose of it. The emotive darkness touching the light entices the viewer. The collectivity of the interwoven - yet neglected cotton, pipes and plastic - make viewers seek the mystifying answers hidden beneath.
  • George Lorio • Ghost • Painted fabricated wooden wall relief • 15” x 8” x 7” • Rockville, MD • $3,200 • “Ghost” depicts a stump that was once a thriving tree - giving off oxygen and absorbing the CO2 humans exhale. Now it's just a shadow or husk, with only a burned shadow on the man-made wall behind it to acknowledge its existence.
  • Kristen Martin-Aarnio • Feathery Undergrowth • mixed-media sculpture • 23” x 19” x 11” • Bayonne, NJ • $650 • Recycled trash and found objects are made into extravagant mixed-media sculptures. Martin-Aarino uses materials such as dried flowers, wire, fabric, and cardboard, granting these items a new purpose instead of leaving them to pollute and rot away the environment. These sculptures transform the material into delightfully chaotic pieces that twist and turn thin material that blossoms into something beautiful. These pieces challenge the perception of what is valuable and what is not.
  • Kristen Martin-Aarnio • Party Pulp • mixed-media sculpture • 28” x 23” x 13” • Bayonne, NJ • $600 • Recycled trash and found objects are made into extravagant mixed-media sculptures. Martin-Aarino uses materials such as dried flowers, wire, fabric, and cardboard, granting these items a new purpose instead of leaving them to pollute and rot away the environment. These sculptures transform the material into delightfully chaotic pieces that twist and turn thin material that blossoms into something beautiful. These pieces challenge the perception of what is valuable and what is not.
  • Kristen Martin-Aarnio • Carnival Crash Aftermath • mixed-media sculpture • 35” x 19” x 33” • Bayonne, NJ • $750 • Recycled trash and found objects are made into extravagant mixed-media sculptures. Martin-Aarino uses materials such as dried flowers, wire, fabric, and cardboard, granting these items a new purpose instead of leaving them to pollute and rot away the environment. These sculptures transform the material into delightfully chaotic pieces that twist and turn thin material that blossoms into something beautiful. These pieces challenge the perception of what is valuable and what is not.
  • Jen Mecca • Uchikake I • Silk, recycled clothing fiber, netting • 60” x 60” x 4” • Boston, MA • $5,000 • Mecca uses fashion as a presentation of human trends and their destructive impact on nature. The artist uses recycled material to create a deeper meaning in a mainstream way - taking human habits and throwing it back at humanity - using fashion to tell society to do better with its harmful norms and turning waste into something delicate and usable.
  • Edward Mills • Vineyard Fire • Oil on Board • 26.5” x 38.5” • Brooklyn, NY • $10,000 • Beautiful but destructive in nature, at nature, to nature. Completely devastating. These fires are a product of humans continually making things worse, no matter if they try to rectify their mistakes. Patches of land previously luscious and thriving are now sparse and barren.The forest fires are devouring trees faster than humans can possibly save them. Fire, all consuming and unforgiving, continues on as a lone firefighter persists to make a difference.
  • Kellyann Monaghan • Signs of Resilience III • oil on paper • 22” x 30” • Brooklyn, NY • $2,000 • Altering climate conditions have inspired Monaghan’s path of painting. Weather carries a sense of reflection, urging us to notice its significant impact on the planet. The energetic orange merging with a moodier blue are the destructive but abrupt beauties of nature that Monaghan adores. By using dynamic expression, texture, and gestural brushwork, the creation of her landscapes captures the effecting weather events caused by climate change.
  • Lala Montoya • Heal The Land So She Can Grow Our Medicine • Woodblock Print • 55” x 12” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $350 • Abundant with historical meaning and connections to nature, this piece represents the connection between humans and plants and how beauty can come from us. It shows a hand with roots intertwined around it that continue to grow into far-reaching flowers. It reminds us that with effort we can make great change.
  • Franc Palaia • "When Will We Learn" • tempera on metal car hood • 45” x 54” x 5” • Rhinebeck, NY • $5,000 • Inspired by old cave art of the Paleolithic period, Palaia painted "When Will We Learn". Similar to the predominant theme of animals in paleolithic cave art, weapons have become more adaptable to human beings, making gaining power over their environments easier. Reclaiming an old rusty car hood, Palaia paints the violence and oppressive control people of this world have upon our countries as it is embedded into history.
  • Franc Palaia • Gleaners • color photographs, wood, foam rubber, straw • 48” x 40” x 5” • Rhinebeck, NY • $4,000 • In this piece, Palaia, compares two images. The bottom images are of gleaners collecting leftover grain; a surplus which will nourish themselves and their families. The hay bales in the background symbolize abundance and hardwork. But the work above is of workers or volunteers - picking up trash and discarded materials in an abandoned lot. In the past we did hard labor picking up natural resources to feed and celebrate our lives but now we're picking up trash and non-natural pollutants as we desperately try to save ourselves from the disaster we created.
  • PalmSun • Lake reflecting back • paper, clay and forgotten mirror • 38” x 32” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $300 • PalmSun uses found objects and clay to create both a calm and almost peaceful landscape and fractured chaotic warning pieces, exploring different elements of natural reflection.Trying to convey what reuse can look like from an artistic standpoint, PalmSun aims to merge the gap between art, artist, and viewer. Viewers are encouraged to take a photo within the rounded mirror piece and reflect on where the mirrors have been and how they change with time.
  • PalmSun • the mirrors often forgotten • clay and forgotten mirrors • 17.5” x 20.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $70 • PalmSun uses found objects and clay to create both a calm and almost peaceful landscape and fractured chaotic warning pieces, exploring different elements of natural reflection.Trying to convey what reuse can look like from an artistic standpoint, PalmSun aims to merge the gap between art, artist, and viewer. Viewers are encouraged to take a photo within the rounded mirror piece and reflect on where the mirrors have been and how they change with time.
  • Jack Straton • Crescent arising from the Holiday Farm Fire, Blue River, OR • Archival Lucia Pro pigment ink print • 19” x 13” • Portland, OR • $290 • A fire spread throughout a community destroying homes and structures over 173,393 acres of land. Smog and smoke plagued a community and two counties. But Straton’s photo captures something found in the aftermath. It conveys fire in a way that isn’t usually seen in the media and the damaged indents in the metal remains look like stars illuminating a dark night sky.
  • Naomi Teppich • Liking the Lichen • Glazed stoneware wall sculpture • 20” x 21” x 3.5” • Damascus, PA • $1,200 • A nature-inspired clay piece made through environmentally friendly methods. It recreates a plant called the Lichen that has great natural power. A lichen is actually a symbiotic partnership of a fungus and an algae, which has the ability to dissolve rock and turn it to soil. The green covering of the piece shows how the organism covers a surface to break it down. This represents the power that natural things can have on their own.
  • Nathaniel Udell • Comes with the Territory, Invasive #12 - Perennial Pea • Color Photograph • 36” x 24” • Jeffersonville, NY • $1,200 • An invasive beauty that was taken from nature and has become unsoiled and idealistically displayed. This plant can be easily found in a backyard but little people know of its intrusive history. It is a long vine-like plant that grows an attractive flower that catches the eye. It is important to remember that beauty can hide the nature and past of things.
  • G.E. Vogt • Going going gone… • Collage: Magazine and found images on kitchen cutting board • 21” x 18” • San Diego, CA • $750 • Vogt creates the triptych Going Going Gone…, which depicts the fleeting moments of the world ending as a spaceship is sent off to space. The collage brings elements of old and new magazines that tell a story of external factors, such as socioeconomic class in society, which deeply connect to an individual’s outlook on the world. The rich can buy a whole spaceship and fly off, avoiding the nightmare, preserving what little of Earth is left, reinforcing the physical and psychological gap between our Earth and its people.
  • Elena Zotova • Kairos • Textile • 60” x 44” x 2” • Saco, ME • $750 • Zotova created this piece, "Kairos" using the meditative SAORI hand-weaving technique and attaching the textile to a piece of driftwood. The free-flowing hand weave process is one of connection - connection to the craft, to the creative, to others, and in Zotova's case, to our planet, our home. "Kairos," Greek for 'right time,' confronts people's responsibility in taking climate action. Inspired by Zotova's reaction to the words "Time & Temperature," the piece speaks to the urgency of increased temperatures and environmental disasters, inspiring a call to action. Will you pick up the loose threads?

PKX International Teen Art Exhibition

Filed under

April 18 – May 17, 2024

The 3rd Annual PKX Festival presents the International PKX Art Exhibition, opening its doors on April 18th. The International PKX Art Exhibition serves as a platform for young artists to display their creativity from around the globe. This exhibition is a tribute to the extraordinary artistic talents of teenagers aged 14-19. The PKX Art Exhibition showcases imaginative and original artworks created by young people who have a passion for their medium and a desire to share it with young artists around the world.

This year’s PKX Festival, “Droppin’ Jewels” celebrates the richness of Poughkeepsie’s community, highlighting its assets, heroes, and the intergenerational creative energy that defines the city. Throughout the free, 3-day festival, families, friends, and the community will participate in family-friendly art and media activities, teen art exhibition opening reception, short-film screenings, food trucks, vendors, and more. All components of the festival are free and open to the public. Click here to learn more about this 3-day community festival!

The Art Effect is proud to present this juried exhibition as part of the annual PKX Festival, a building block to the development of the Youth Arts Empowerment Zone — a youth-led arts district in Poughkeepsie, NY. This show features 23 young painters, sculptors, photographers, and digital artists aged 14–19 as a vibrant testament to the transformative energy of youth creativity and community impact. The PKX Festival is a symbol of community and unity while celebrating the creativity and talent in and around Poughkeepsie. During this three-day festival, carefully curated films take the spotlight in a compelling showcase, thoughtfully selected 2-D and 3-D artworks grace the walls of The Trolley Barn Gallery, and artistic activations from local businesses and artists empower guests to incorporate placekeeping into daily adventures. The PKX Festival is created by youth for everyone.

EXHIBITION EVENTS

Opening Reception & Pop Up Fashion Show: Friday, April 18, 6–9PM
6:00 PM Festival Kick-Off & Refreshments
6:30 PM PKX Art Scavenger Hunt
7:00 PM Opening Remarks
7:15 PM Pop-Up Fashion Show
7:40 PM Youth Art Exhibition Awards

  • Juliana Woods • A Spill • collage and acrylic on board • 47” x 47” • Warwick, NY • Warwick Valley High School • 18 years old • $600
  • Juliana Woods • Can We Stay the Same? • Acrylic on canvas • 25” x 35” x 1” • Warwick, NY •Warwick Valley High School • 18 years old • $600
  • Juliana Woods • Teddy • Acrylic on canvas • 19” x 20” x 1” • Warwick, NY • Warwick Valley High School • 18 years old • $400
  • Juliana Woods • Buy 1 Get 1 Free • Acrylic on canvas • 39” x 23” x 1” • Warwick, NY • Warwick Valley High School • 18 years old • $1,000
  • Selah Wolfe • The Echo of Muffled Sobs • Photography • 19” x 13” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 16 years old • $200
  • Angelica Doble • Sinking World • Charcoal • 9” x 12” • Ossining, NY • Ossining High School • $200
  • Nicholas Vazquez-Ponce • Destruction for Desire • acrylic on canvas • 20” x 16” x 1” • Wingdale, NY • Dover High School • 15 years old • NFS
  • Kacey Thurman • Student Portrait • Photography • 8” x 10” • Baltimore, MD • Chesapeake High School • 18 years old • NFS
  • Uzziah Archie • Student Portrait • Photography • 10” x 8” • Baltimore, MD • Wide Angle Youth Media/City Neighbors High School • 16 years old • NFS
  • Anouk Sethi • Vale of Cashmere I • oil and acrylic on wood panel • 12” x 12” x 1” • Brooklyn, NY• Dalton School • 16 years old • $100
  • Anouk Sethi • Look Back and Remember to Fly • oil paint and acrylic paint on canvas • 20” x 16” x 1.5” • Brooklyn, NY • Dalton School • 16 years old • NFS
  • PalmSun • Omate Chaos • cardboard, acrylic paint, dried leaves, and acorn tops • 14” x 18” x 1” • Poughkeepsie, NY • Poughkeepsie High School• $175
  • PalmSun • Artist Creativity • painted cardboard scrap, found objects, beads, and hot glue • 16” x 20” x 1” • Poughkeepsie, NY • Poughkeepsie High School • $200
  • Tyler Ripel • DC Supermarket • Oil on Paper Grocery Bag • 17” x 24” x .3” • Brooklyn, NY • Rhode Island School of Design • 18 years old • $1,000 *GRAND PRIZE WINNER*
  • Tyler Ripel • What Really Matters • Oil on Paper Grocery Bag • 17” x 24” x .3” • Brooklyn, NY • Rhode Island School of Design • 18 years old • $1,000
  • Tyler Ripel • Customary Visit • Oil on Paper Grocery Bag • 17” x 24” x .3” • Brooklyn, NY • Rhode Island School of Design • 18 years old • $1,000
  • Chanel Reed • Baby I’m a Star • Printmaking • 16” x 10” • Poughkeepsie, NY • Dutchess Community College • 19 years old • $260
  • Chanel Reed • Run Through My Mind #4 • mixed media - gouache and acrylic paint • 10” x 8” • Poughkeepsie, NY • Dutchess Community College • 19 years old • $150
  • Chanel Reed • Run Through My Mind #3 • mixed media - gouache and acrylic paint • 10” x 8” • Poughkeepsie, NY • Dutchess Community College • 19 years old • $150
  • Jolyn Prescott • The Thinkers Collection • collage, ink, charcoal • 36” x 48” • Poughkeepsie, NY • Vassar College • 18 years old • NFS
  • Elena Nygard • Clarence • Ceramic, Glaze, Iron Oxide • 6.5” x 5” x 3.5” • Omaha, NE • $570
  • Elena Nygard • Everything In Sight: Hidden • Oil Paint, Sharpie • 32.5” x 22.5” x 1.5” • Omaha, NE • Metropolitan Community College • 18 years old • $1,300
  • Sienna Baron • Broken By Thy Own Hand • Acrylic paint • .5’ x .5’ x 1” • Syracuse, NY • West Genesee High School • For Sale by Best Offer
  • Sienna Baron • Deep Unspoken Thought • Acrylic paint • 2’ x 2.5’ x 1” • Syracuse, NY • West Genesee High School • For Sale by Best Offer
  • Sienna Baron • Enlightened Maple • Acrylic paint • .5’ x .5’ 1” • Syracuse, NY • West Genesee High School • For Sale by Best Offer
  • Sienna Baron • Eccentric Waves • Acrylic paint • 1.5’ x 1.5’ x 1” • Syracuse, NY • West Genesee High School • NFS
  • Leroy Zackary Manrique • am i, WORTH THE WAIT • 10” x 10” • Poughkeepsie, NY • 18 years old • $200
  • Leroy Zackary Manrique • YOUTH • Acrylic Paint • 11” x 14” • Poughkeepsie, NY • 18 years old • NFS
  • Luna Liriano • Melt • Acrylic on canvas • 26” x 20” x 2” • Boston, MA • Boston Arts Academy • 17 years old • $300
  • Luna Liriano • Lifeline • Multimedia • 14” x 11” x 2” • Boston, MA • Boston Arts Academy • 17 years old • $350
  • Luna Liriano • Eye of the Beholder • Multimedia • 4” x 6” x 2” • Boston, MA • Boston Arts Academy • 17 years old • $260 *THIRD PLACE WINNER*
  • Isabel Klish • Novel Shade • Oils • 22” x 31” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 18 years old • NFS
  • Isabel Klish • The Balance • Acrylic • 28” x 17.5” x .5” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 18 years old • NFS *SECOND PLACE*
  • Isabel Klish • Papule, Pustuels, Nodules, Cystic • Acrylic, fake hair, face wax, makeup brush • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 18 years old • NFS
  • Caelin Hatcher • Streetlight • Oil paint on canvas paper • 20” x 24” • Washington, DC • 19 years old • $2,100
  • Shreya Golleonda • The Irony of Advocating Online and Actions in Real Life • Multi-color Pen • 7.5” x 4.75” • Highland, NY • Highland High School • 16 years old • $100
  • Henry Farthing • Winnebago • Photography • 14” x 22” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 17 years old • $250
  • Henry Farthing • Arizona • Photography • 16” x 20” • Lawrence High School • 17 years old Lawrence, KS • $250
  • Henry Farthing • This Is Robin’s Couch • Photography • 11” x 14” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 17 years old • $250
  • Elizabeth Caragh • girlhood adjacent • Acrylic on canvas • 36” x 36” x 1.5” • Mahopec, NY • Westchester Community College • 19 years old • NFS
  • Juliana Chavis • Journey Of A Road Highly Traveled • Ceramic, fishing wire, and tape • 11” x 12.5” x 8.5” • Scarsdale, NY • Scarsdale High School • 17 years old • $750
  • Lola Brown • Preserved Serenity • Photography • 11” x 17” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 15 years old • $200
  • Lola Brown • Family Roads • Photography • 8” x 10” • Lawrence, KS • Lawrence High School • 15 years old • $200
  • Ollie Barker-Duncan • Inner chaos • Digital • 24” x 24” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Ollie Barker-Duncan • Beautiful Blur • Digital • 24” x 24” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS

The Episode Where A Gallery Exhibits Anime Art: International Juried Exhibition

Filed under

Exhibition: February 23 – March 22, 2024

In this episode, the Trolley Barn Gallery called artists from all over the globe to celebrate anime, manga, and comic books through a vibrant exhibition of art inspired by Japanese animation, manga and comic books. The youth curators accepted a diverse array of art including: figurines, character designs, sketches, photography, collage, digital art and cosplay props to explore how anime is a language that articulates our unique identities.

In the last 30 years there has developed a unique exchange between youth in Black American communities and youth in urban Japanese cultures. The most obvious evidence of this exchange is in the influx of popularity in anime and manga in the US and in hip hop music and fashion in Japan. This summer the youth curators from the Trolley Barn Youth Curatorial Team investigated that exchange on a field trip to the Brooklyn Museum to view Oscar yi Hou’s exhibition “East of sun, West of moon”. Yi Hou, a British-born Cantonese artist now living in Brooklyn, usesd common Japanese and Chinese, Japanese and East Asian motifs to adorn portraits of his ethnically diverse American friends as an exploration of “Asia America.” The youth curators were inspired by this style and wanted to create an exhibition that also playsed with the influence of using Japanese pop culture onto explore the deeper questions of representation.

EXHIBITION REVIEW
Collecting inspiration for this exhibition, the Trolley Barn Curatorial Team traveled to the Brooklyn Museum to see Oscar yi Hou‘s exhibition, East of sun, west of moon.
Read Chanel Reed’s exhibition review here!

EXHIBITION EVENTS

Opening Reception: Friday, February 23, 6–8PM

Costume Contest: Friday, March 1 from 5–8PM
• Judged by local artists and anime lovers
• Includes over $200 in prizes
• Goodie bag worth $138 in comics books, trading cards, and graphic novels from Megabrain Comics!
• $50 certificate from Darkside Records!
• Enjoy free snacks and refreshments
• Connect with local anime and cosplay enthusiasts

Creating Comics Workshop: From Concept to Completion: March 9 from 12–4PM
• Brainstorm story concepts
• Learn about storyboarding and storytelling from Local Comic Bookstore owner Jean David Michel
• Learn drawing and composition from exhibiting artist, Cy Hinojosa
• Leave with the tools to create your own comic book from start to finish

Virtual Gallery

  • Norman Aragones • Growing Up • Acrylic • 16” x 20” • San Jose, CA • $300
  • Norman Aragones • Junkfoodimus Tron II • Metallic • 15” x 20” • San Jose, CA • $450
  • Norman Aragones • Food Wars • Acrylic • 16” x 24” • San Jose, CA • $500
  • Maka Arnold • RWBY - Crescent Rose Prop • Cardboard, duct tape, string foam, nerf gun • 73” x 15” x 6” • Bronx, NY • NFS
  • Camillia Bailey • One Summer’s Day (Spirited Away Screencap Redraw) • Digital • 8” x 10” • Ruston, LA • $50
  • Camillia Bailey • Screencap Redraw (Kiki’s Delivery Service) • Digital • 8” x 8” • Ruston, LA • $50
  • Sienna Baron • Marvel's Last Supper • Acrylic paint • 20” x 24” • Syracuse, NY • Best offer
  • James Biordi • Iggy and The Fool • Polymer clay, epoxy, metal wires, acrylic paint • 7” x 5.5” x 7” • Massapequa, NY• NFS
  • Lindsey Blais • My Samurai Academia (Inspired by The Samurai School) • Digital • 8” x 11” • Woonsocket, RI • $200
  • Lindsey Blais • Aizawa fights Nomu • Digital • 8” x 11” • Woonsocket, RI • $200
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #1 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #2 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #3 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #4 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #5 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #6 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #7 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Amber Cole • The Fungi Friends #8 • Pen and pencil in card protectors • 3.5” x 2.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Doug Dabbs • Kusanagi Motoko, Ghost in the Shell • Digital • 10” x 8” • Murfreesboro, TN • $175
  • Doug Dabbs • Lucy, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners • Digital • 10” x 10” • Murfreesboro, TN • $175
  • William Ettinger • Issa's Toads • Tempera on texture laid paper • 18” x 24” • Covington, LA • $2,000
  • William Ettinger • Dreams in Pastel • India Ink and tempera on texture laid paper • 18” x 24” • Covington, LA • $1,500
  • William Ettinger • 大谿山豪徳寺の写真 (Daikeizan Gōtoku-ji no shiyash) • Digital photograph • 12” x 16” • Covington, LA • $100
  • Cy Hinojosa • Should We Go Out Tonight? • Acrylic paint and neon pastels on canvas • 42” x 36” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $1,500
  • Cy Hinojosa • Well I Tried • Acrylic paint on wood panel • 16” x 20” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $950
  • Cy Hinojosa • Just Skimming The First Ten Pages • Acrylic paint on canvas • 24” x 18” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $700
  • Cy Hinojosa • One More Chapter Before Bed • Acrylic paint on canvas • 24” x 18” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $700
  • Cy Hinojosa • Oh, You Shouldn't Have! • Acrylic paint on canvas • 42” x 36” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $1,500
  • Jennifer Jackowitz • Star Lite n' Sweet • Collage and mixed media drawing on paper • 14” x 11” • Saugerties, NY • $450
  • Jennifer Jackowitz • Home Birth • Collage and mixed media drawing • 14” x 11” • Saugerties, NY • $450
  • Joseph Kosdrosky • Stellar Startdust for All • Acrylic on canvas • 14” x 12” • Novato, CA • $575
  • Georgia Lloyd • Sailor Moon Locket • Photograph • 20” x 20” • Los Angeles, CA • $500
  • Georgia Lloyd • PS 1 Controller • Photograph • 12” x 12” • Los Angeles, CA • $500
  • Georgia Lloyd • Anime Figures • 35mm Photograph • 8.5” x 11” • Los Angeles, CA • $150
  • Rebecca Mutrux • Triggered • Mixed media (collage and gouache) • 37.5” x 12” • Glenwood, IA • NFS
  • Rebecca Mutrux • Sugimoto Saichi • Fabric and plastic • 13” x 8.5” x 5” • Glenwood, IA • NFS
  • Rebecca Mutrux • The Floating World • Collage and pastel • 20” x 15” • Glenwood, IA • NFS
  • Taylor Nevins • Untitled • Digital • 8.5” x 13.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Taylor Nevins • Ghosts of the Past • Digital • 8.5” x 17” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Taylor Nevins • Dissociated • Digital • 12” x 9” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Chanel Reed • Graduation: Triple Threat • Digital illustration • 30” x 20” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $200
  • Chanel Reed • Sketchbook #2 • Graphite, mixed media • 8” x 5.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Crystal Serino • Sent To See God • Cardboard, wooden panels, India ink • 16” x 20.5” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Zakiyah Stewart • The Fleet • Oil on canvas • 48” x 60” • Philadelphia, PA • $1,200
  • Zakiyah Stewart • Peaking through light • Oil on canvas • 20” x 15” • Philadelphia, PA • $250
  • Zakiyah Stewart • PS 111x • Oil on canvas • 20” x 12” • Philadelphia, PA • $260

The Members Show: 2023

Filed under

Exhibition: December 15 – January 26, 2024

For our Members Show, the Trolley Barn Gallery brings together a notable roster of local creative voices, presenting thought-provoking artwork that reinvents the Trolley Barn Gallery’s industrial space – the hub of Poughkeepsie’s thriving arts scene. After merging with Barrett Art Center in 2022, The Art Effect membership includes a combination of formerly Barrett Art Members and Art Effect Alumni. We are excited to see how The Art Effect Members continuously contribute to the ever-evolving legacy of Hudson Valley art. 

The Members Show is one of the Trolley Barn Gallery’s annual exhibitions and is curated by the Trolley Barn Curatorial Team. This membership exhibition will be open to the public December 15 through January 26, 2024 at The Art Effect’s Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie, New York, with an Opening Reception Friday, December, 5-7 pm. Every gallery exhibition expands the curatorial knowledge of the gallery’s youth curators – teaching them necessary skills for professional development and community building in the heart of Poughkeepsie. 

GALLERY CLOSED: December 25 – January 2, 2024
Opening Reception: December 15, 5-7pm
Membership Forum: January 18, 5-7pm
Closing Reception: January 26, 2023, 5-7pm
Art Return/Pickup of accepted artwork: January 26 – February 10; Tuesday through Friday 12-5pm, Saturday by appointment

EXHIBITION EVENTS

Opening Reception – December 15, 5-7PM: At the opening of the exhibition, on December 15 from 5-7pm, the Trolley Barn Gallery will host an opening reception for the Members Show to highlight the work of our artist members. This event is free and open to the public, where light refreshments will be served and Members will have the opportunity to view the work of their peers and neighbors and share information about their past and upcoming exhibitions. 

Membership Forum – January 18, 5-7PM: The Membership Forum is an opportunity for current and future members to share their expectations and ideals for Art Effect Membership on January 18 from 5-7pm. In this town-hall style event, members can give the Trolley Barn Gallery staff advice on how to build on successful events and replace outdated programs that may not suit the next generation of members. Audience members will have the chance to suggest initiatives that grow and support artists and ask questions about the current membership benefits. 

Closing Reception – January 26, 5-7PM: At the conclusion of the exhibition, on January 26, 2024, the Trolley Barn Gallery will host a Closing Reception from 5-7pm. The Closing Reception will be open to current Art Effect Members and prospective Art Effect Members. The event will include light refreshments, art trivia and a chance to mingle with current members to understand their perspective on being a part of Poughkeepsie’s growing artistic community. 

BECOME A MEMBER

To become a member before the Dec 1, 2023 deadline click the link: BECOME A MEMBER or email trolleybarn@thearteffect.org for assistance. The Art Effect’s Individual Artist and Senior Artist Memberships included artists who are residents of New York at every stage of their artistic careers, representing an array of mediums, methodologies and identities. An Individual Artist Membership at The Art Effect includes the following benefits:

  1. 50% Discount on submission fees for International Juried Exhibitions
  2. Automatic acceptance into the Trolley Barn Gallery’s Annual Members Show
  3. Early and exclusive Invites to Trolley Barn Gallery exhibition events and workshops
  4. The opportunity to support the education of the next generation of curators and community organizers, local teens age 16-22

Thank you to The Art Effect’s gallery sponsor, FastSigns of Wappingers Falls.

The Members Show: Virtual Gallery

  • Oli Boyer • Drains • yarn, plastic tubes, latex gloves • 13” x 130” • Philadelphia, PA
  • Oli Boyer • Body • yarn • 79” x 19” • Philadelphia, PA
  • Oli Boyer • You Are What You Eat • wood and mirror • 23” x 16” • Philadelphia, PA
  • Lauren Clark • Schoodic #1 • photograph • 8” x 11” • Wappingers Falls, NY • $110
  • Lauren Clark • Schoodic #2 • photograph • 8” x 11” • Wappingers Falls, NY • $110
  • Lauren Clark • Schoodic #3 • photograph • 8” x 11” • Wappingers Falls, NY • $110
  • Hanna Rose DeMarco • Quickened • oil painting on pastel • 12” x 6” • Wappingers Falls, NY • $1,300
  • Hanna Rose DeMarco • Germinated • oil painting on pastel • 10” x 10” • Wappingers Falls, NY • $1,500
  • Donna Faranda • In the Wink of an Eye • digital painting, micro-pointalism • 28” x 22.5” • Lagrangeville, NY • $1,200
  • Donna Faranda • Ornothology • digital painting, micro-pointalism • 20.75” x 24.75” • Lagrangeville, NY • $1,200
  • Donna Faranda • Garden Party • digital painting, micro-pointalism • 22” x 26” • Lagrangeville, NY • $1,200
  • Paul Gillis • In the Garden • acrylic, color and graphite on burlap • 10” x 8” • Port Ewen, NY • NFS
  • Paul Gillis • Medusa's Brush • acrylic, color and graphite on burlap • 10” x 8” • Port Ewen, NY • NFS
  • Paul Gillis • Wild Hair • acrylic, color and graphite on burlap • 10” x 8” • Port Ewen, NY • NFS
  • Omri Goren • The Kiss • mixed media • 11.5” x 8.25” • Tel Aviv, Israel • $150
  • Omri Goren • Woman • mixed media • 11.5” x 8.25” • Tel Aviv, Israel • $150
  • Cy Hinojosa • Should We Go Out Tonight? • acrylic paint and neon pastels on canvas • 42” x 36” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $1,500
  • Cy Hinojosa • Should We Call Someone? • neon pastel and white charcoal pencil on black canvas • 12” x 16” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $550
  • Cy Hinojosa • Well I Tried • acrylic paint on wood panel • 16” x 20” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $950
  • Dan McCormack • Grid-Black-Metal-Grill • cell phone 3x3 • 20” x 16” • Accord, NY • $750
  • Dan McCormack • grid-blue-airplane-toy • cell phone 3x3 • 20” x 16” • Accord, NY • $750
  • Dan McCormack • grid-blond-haired-doll • cell phone 3x3 • 20” x 16” • Accord, NY • $750
  • Lou Patrou • Clemintine, Cornelius • unique print on canvas • 11” x 14” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $300 (each)
  • Heather Ann Pitcher • Illness vs Wellness: A Expression of Mental Illness • acrylic paint • 11.5” x 12” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $100
  • Heather Ann Pitcher • Darkness: A Expression of Mental Illness • acrylic paint • 12” x 24” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $150
  • Heather Ann Pitcher • Calm Mind on Fire: A Expression of Mental Illness • acrylic paint • 11” x 14” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $100
  • ARClips • Hoop Dreams • stone slate • 8” x 6” • Poughkeepsie, NY • contact artist for price
  • Lynne Marie Rosenburg • step outside + raise your hand • pen on notebook paper, thumb tacks • 10” x 16” • Brooklyn, NY • $500
  • Lynne Marie Rosenburg • Swingset • ink on paper, thumb tacks • 5.5” x 9.75” • Brooklyn, NY • $500
  • Hudson Segnit • untitled • pastel • 18” x 23.5” • Cornwall on Hudson, NY • $100
  • Hudson Segnit • Autum Harvest • acrylic paint • 8” x 10” • Cornwall on Hudson, NY • $50
  • Hudson Segnit • Sunset Dreams • watercolor, acrylic, gauche • 9” x 6” • Cornwall on Hudson, NY • $50
  • Joe Serino • Down the Street • acrylic • 12.5” x 15.5” • Germantown, NY • $700
  • Joe Serino • Gramps • scratchboard • 10” x 11.5” • Germantown, NY • $450
  • Joe Serino • Off Lasher • acrylic • 12” x 10” • Germantown, NY • $500
  • Cory Spraker • Flora: Stampie Dear • graphite on paper • 24” x 30” • Holmes, NY • $3,200
  • Jerry Wein • Foundry • photograph • 20” x 30” • Milton, NY • $400
  • Jerry Wein • Sleepwalker • photograph • 20” x 30” • Milton, NY • $400

Senior Project Showcase: 2023 at Convey/or/er Gallery

Filed under

January 5 – February 9, 2024

Convey/ER/OR gallery | 299 Main St, Poughkeepsie, NY
Gallery hours by appointment only. Contact 845-452-5240 to schedule.


Opening Reception: January 5, 2024
Private Reception open only to Senior Project students and their families: 5 – 6 PM
Public Reception: 6 – 8 PM

Hosted at CONVEY/er/or Gallery, the Senior Project exhibition showcases the work of The Art Effect’s most intensive capstone program. High school seniors and gap year teens in Senior Project complete a 12 week program to create a high quality, unique and portfolio ready, series and exhibit those works in a local commercial gallery. The opening reception is open to the public, light refreshments. Senior Projects students will speak about their experience in the Senior Project program, their hopes for the future and answer questions about their inspiration and process. 

Instructor:
Morgan Suter

Artists:
Sirena Fitzgerald
Julie Woods
Jessica Byars

Youth Curators:
Chanel Reed
Crystal Serino
Jayden Thomas

Youth Volunteers:
Keith Reed Jr
Leroy Manrique
Joshua Walker
Iasiah Williams

Senior Project: Virtual Gallery

  • Jessica Byars • Skirt • Procreate on iPad • 16” x 24” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $500
  • Jessica Byars • Death By Masculinity • Procreate on iPad • 16” x 24” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $500
  • Jessica Byars • More Than a Toy • Procreate on iPad • 24” x 18” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $550
  • Jessica Byars • Just In Time • Procreate on iPad • 30” x 12” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $550
  • Jessica Byars • Wait • Procreate on iPad • 24” x 24” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $700
  • Jessica Byars • Shock • Procreate on iPad • 18” x 36” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $850
  • Jessica Byars • I’m So Tired • Procreate on iPad • 24” x 16” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $550
  • Jessica Byars • Fencing • Procreate on iPad • 36” x 18” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $850
  • Jessica Byars • Hobby • Procreate on iPad • 24” x 16” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $500
  • Jessica Byars • Seeing, Wishing, Believing • Procreate on iPad • 24” x 20” • Hopewell Junction, NY • $600
  • Sirena Fitzgerald • Are These Butterflies? • Watercolor on Paper • 24” x 18” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Sirena Fitzgerald • You Didn't Notice? • Watercolor on Paper • 24” x 18” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Sirena Fitzgerald • Your Memory Succeeds My Needs • Watercolor on Paper • 24” x 18” • Poughkeepsie, NY • $480
  • Sirena Fitzgerald • Since I was 8? • Watercolor on Paper • 18” x 24” • Poughkeepsie, NY • NFS
  • Julie Woods • Reunion • Acrylic on Canvas • 32” x 18” • Warwick, NY • $500
  • Julie Woods • Like Father • Acrylic on Canvas • 25” x 44” • Warwick, NY • $700
  • Julie Woods • Can We Stay The Same? • Acrylic on Canvas • 35” x 25” • Warwick, NY • $600
  • Julie Woods • Sweetest Fruit • Acrylic on Canvas • 45” x 50” • Warwick, NY • $900
  • Julie Woods • Teddy • Acrylic on Canvas • 19” x 20” • Warwick, NY • $400

quiet as it’s kept: Contemporary Black Art Exhibition

Filed under

“quiet as it’s kept” at theTrolley Barn Gallery
Exhibition of Black Contemporary Art in Downtown Poughkeepsie

QUIET AS IT’S KEPT is an exhibition of contemporary Black art that explores the depths of Black expression, translating its complex aesthetic dialect and demonstrating that Black art is as unique as Black people. We are healing by recognizing ourselves as art, as worthy of art, and as part of an indelible system of artistic excellence. This is an opportunity to illuminate voices that established art systems have previously ignored. Black people have always had a place in the art world, but the magic of our practice has been as quiet as they’ve kept it. For this exhibition, we are QUIET NO MORE.

Exhibition Dates: October 6–November 10
Opening Reception: Friday, October 6, 6–8pm
For a full list of related events, click here.

As part of The Art Effect’s youth workforce development programs in creative fields, the Trolley Barn Gallery uses an innovative mentorship model to train youth to curate the gallery’s exhibitions and develop new initiatives for community engagement and placekeeping. “An exhibition like this is so important to Poughkeepsie because fostering that community relationship, and the familiarity of it, allows for peace and comfort within a group of people beyond familial lines”, says Mary Boatey, youth curator and exhibiting artist. 

Support for this exhibition is provided by Humanities NY and Dutchess Tourism through a grant administered by Arts Mid-Hudson. Additional support comes from the New York State Council on the Arts. 

Award Winners

Guest Curator’s Award: London Ladd, Perish
Youth Curator’s Award: Destiny Arianna, NO TRESPASSING: SACREDLAND
Honorable Mention Award: Imani Jones, The Sphinx and the Water Bearer || Luke 22:10

About Guest Juror: Janice Bond

Janice Bond is a cultural architect, art advisor, and gallerist based in Houston. She has led art collectives and provided invaluable insight in developing multidisciplinary programming and communications strategies for independent artists, municipalities, and brands. In 2020, Bond assumed the role of deputy director at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. In 2023, she opened ART IS BOND, a contemporary art gallery and project space with a mission to amplify the voices of diverse artists and provide a platform for their work. 

quiet as it’s kept Artwork as Installed

quiet as it’s kept Virtual Gallery

Destiny Arianna
NO TRESPASSING: SACRED LAND
Installation (digital photography, sand, grass, and wood
20” x 69” x 1.5”
Wappingers Falls, NY
NFS
As a Black and Chappaquiddick Wampanoag woman, my cultural experience has been shaped by a unique intersection of identities. Often, people’s perceptions only see me through the lens of my dark complexion, reducing me solely to being Black. This erasure of my Indigenous heritage has been a recurring challenge in my life, compelling me to continually prove my native identity to others. However, I have channeled the pain of this struggle into my art, using it as a powerful tool for self-expression and empowerment. Through my creative endeavors, I passionately focus on celebrating and amplifying my Black and Native identity, seeking to increase visibility and representation for Black Native people. My art is a vehicle for reclaiming my narratives, breaking stereotypes, and proudly embracing the richness of my heritage.

Mary Boatey
Loose
Digital
27” x 21”
Hopewell Junction, NY
$200

Mary Boatey
The Bluest Eye
Digital
27” x 21”
Hopewell Junction, NY
$250

Harrison Brisbon-McKinnon 
Crystal Twinning 
Photography 
16” x 40” 
Poughkeepsie, NY 
$700 
The race “Black” was created “ugly” and “unnatural” have been invisibly attached to it. Black skin mirrored in the mineral plagioclase feldspar. Both display trophies of tremendous growth. A reminder that black is organic. This diptych announces what has always been true: Black is beautiful.

Vernon Byron
To Kill a Mockingbird 2 (Walter Scott)
Folded Inkjet print and corrugated plastic on wood box
18” x 35.5” x 3”
Modena, NY
$1,200
My geographic experience living in Rockland county and later the Mid-Hudson Valley has forced me to look at culture and identity through a different lens. In living in the Newburgh area, and working as an artist, I came to be aware of how systems inform our culture and how culture reshapes itself in response to different conditions. Seeing how local government had failed the Newburgh community, and the influx of predatory real estate developers, I was inspired to create a community driven framework to produce public artworks, while also creating value for local youth in Newburgh. Between 2020 and 2022, I founded and directed 2 large scale community focused art installation projects where I redirected grant funding to pay local youth to make art and participate in the process of creating public art. Through this work, I demonstrated how public art should act as a vehicle to empower those who experience the art and live with it on a daily basis.

Melissa Small Cooper
Freesia
Oils on canvas
20” x 16”
Beacon, NY
$875
I was born in the Bronx but grew up in Ossining. I was raised to be a people-pleaser, and to always go above and beyond. My father had countless experiences of racism and my mother made it very clear that we had to navigate through the world a certain way. This thinking brought about my “layers of vanity” series, which comments on ways people accentuate or conceal who they are. As a mother of 3 biracial kids, I encourage them to unapologetically be who they are. Their experiences will be very different from mine, but I hope they nurture who they are above anything else. Recently, I’ve become quite the gardener, and truly enjoy caring for plants. It’s tricky to figure out what each type of plant or flower needs to flourish. This feels so symbolic of many things in my life. Whether it is figuring out the balance between motherhood and work, nurturing a biracial family with complex roots, or addressing generational traumas, I am embracing the journey of connecting, nourishing and healing.

Melissa Small Cooper
Thistle
Oils on canvas
20” x 16”
Beacon, NY
$875
I was born in the Bronx but grew up in Ossining. I was raised to be a people-pleaser, and to always go above and beyond. My father had countless experiences of racism and my mother made it very clear that we had to navigate through the world a certain way. This thinking brought about my “layers of vanity” series, which comments on ways people accentuate or conceal who they are. As a mother of 3 biracial kids, I encourage them to unapologetically be who they are. Their experiences will be very different from mine, but I hope they nurture who they are above anything else. Recently, I’ve become quite the gardener, and truly enjoy caring for plants. It’s tricky to figure out what each type of plant or flower needs to flourish. This feels so symbolic of many things in my life. Whether it is figuring out the balance between motherhood and work, nurturing a biracial family with complex roots, or addressing generational traumas, I am embracing the journey of connecting, nourishing and healing.

Steven M. Cozart
Pass/Fail Vol. X:Latenja
Acrylic, Charcoal, Pastel, and Collage
12” x 12”
Greensboro, NC
$1,700

Dellis Frank
Cosmopolitan Cone
Mixed Media, fiber, styrofoam
9” x 7” x 7”
Lomita, CA
$300
A mix between cotton candy, a Cosmopolitan and ice cream, this piece attacks the senses of your memory through the fluffy top to the textured bottom.

Tyrone Geter
What Goes Around…
Oil on board in old mirror frame
35” x 45” x 1”
Elgin, SC
$20,000

Dondre Green
Dreams Sold Separately
Photography
30” x 20” (each)
Bronx, NY
$600 (for each)

Stella Hendricks
An Answer of Embrace
Kozo paper, mulberry paper, hemp, string, and wire
22” x 19” x 13”
Cockeysville, MD
$800 
My Black experience is one of multitudes and layers, learning and expansion. My geographic experience has frequently made me hyper aware of myself, but also offered such a deep sense of joy communally. Life is such a miraculous, varied experience and I witness this every time I take a look around in nature. When I think of diversity, I think of ecosystems and how important it is to have variation in order for true harmony to occur. When I think of my experience of blackness, I feel how much depth and love there is for us to persist with creativity and magic, despite the odds.

Stella Hendricks
Rage Seed
Assorted Fabric, tulle, foam, mesh gutter guard
48” x 42” x 25”
Cockeysville, MD
NFS 
My Black experience is one of multitudes and layers, learning and expansion. My geographic experience has frequently made me hyper aware of myself, but also offered such a deep sense of joy communally. Life is such a miraculous, varied experience and I witness this every time I take a look around in nature. When I think of diversity, I think of ecosystems and how important it is to have variation in order for true harmony to occur. When I think of my experience of blackness, I feel how much depth and love there is for us to persist with creativity and magic, despite the odds.

Clarence Heyward
BYPRODUCT
48” x 30” x 2.5”
Clayton, NC
NFS

Tylear Jefferson
Allostatic Overload
Acrylic on canvas
24” x 24” x 1.5”
Garden City, MI
$600
Growing up as a Black military child in predominantly white spaces, my exposure to Black beauty was limited. But because my mother was a photographer, I didn’t feel an absence.Through my mother’s eyes, I was able to see myself as beautiful.  But I knew a lot of the world didn’t see me the way she did. Growing up and traveling, I noticed the attributes attached to Black women and simply certain expectations that weren’t easy to escape from. I learned that the reason people view Black women through this monolithic lens is because of their lack of exposure to Black women. With my work, I aim to break down that lens of expectation and show the beauty and diversity of Black women and their emotions. In Allostatic Overload I touch on the emotion of anger, which has always been highly attributed to Black women. But this anger is far more subtle and calm. This piece defies stereotypes and is about being completely checked out of a situation.

Imani Jones
The Sphinx and the Water Bearer || Luke 22:10
Oil on canvas • 32” x 4’
Poughkeepsie, NY
$5,000

As a Black woman with Jamaican heritage and U.S ancestral roots that connect to America’s triumphant and yet sorrowful history of slavery, in my teen years I became aware of the individual and unique experience of blackness in the 21st century of America.

I battled  with my own psyche on the conventions and ideologies that were taught to me as a child by institutions that aimed to feed me a false perception of myself, of my own people and culture. As I deprogrammed what was fed to me, and I re-learned and read my history, I became aware of the horrors and the beauty of my culture and of my own inner self. My aim was to always showcase paintings that tell the story of our inner worlds, of my own inner world and experiences of horrors and beauty. Through the act of painting, I want to broaden the idea of Black experience, figurative painting, and psychology.

London Ladd
Perish
Mixed Media on Illustration board
10” x 7”
North Syracuse, NY
NFS
Black representation will always be a subject for me to contemplate because of my desire to understand what it means to be a Black person. As someone who didn’t grow up in a predominantly Black community, it is a topic that fascinates me. I’ve always felt like an outsider desiring to be included in something I believe to be special. I feel a sense of comfort in being connected to the joys and pains of the black experience. It fills me with pride knowing that I come from strong, intelligent people who have endured so much and persevered through struggles that continue today.

Samantha Modder
Wearer of All Socks
12’ x 20’
Tampa, FL
$8,000
Growing up as a little Black girl in South Asia, I was a spectacle. The finger-pointing, jokes, and stares were a constant reminder that my Blackness was not only different but supposedly inferior. In my work, I reclaim being this spectacle, drawing self-portraiture that takes up space unapologetically. My self-portraits tell new narratives that go beyond the here and now. For me, this is the power of the imaginary within the Black diaspora. For a people whose “here and now” has often featured the worst forms of physical, mental, cultural, and spiritual oppression, the Black imaginary enables moments of relief, pleasure, and breakthrough, even while speaking to those difficult realities. In this safe creative space, I join those that work toward a reality that might one day imitate narrative.

Ari Montford
Black Indians in Space
Mixed media collage on paper with oil crayon
41.5” x 29” (unframed)
Beverly, MA
NFS

Ari Montford
Black Indians in Space: The Great Creator Giving Seed
Mixed media collage on paper with oil crayon
13” x 13”
Beverly, MA
NFS

Ari Montford
Black Indians in Space: The Annunciation
Mixed media collage on paper with oil crayon
13” x 13”
Beverly, MA
NFS

Emmanuel Ofori
Mamme ni Abofraa III
Mixed media
40” x 30”
Wappingers Falls, NY
$1,600

Emmanuel Ofori
Nsu Bura
Mixed media
32” x 22”
Wappingers Falls, NY
$1,000

Ashley Page
Nigreos Seminbus (Black Seed)
Mixed media: paper, steel, and Spanish moss
48” x 72” x 36”
Portland, ME
NFS

Ransome
The Block #3
Acrylic and collage on wood
92” x 23” x 23” (with stand)
Rhinebeck, NY
$15,000

Mark A. Reed
Wild Geese Flying Over Mountain Peak
Sculpture
17.5” x 16” x 13”
Park Forest, IL
NFS
This ‘Silent Bonsai’ is a full-cascade style bonsai conforming to ‘Art of Bonsai’ guidelines and fashioned with soil of the American Southwest Colorado Plateau region. Its artistic expression represents an unpretentious human heroic tenacity over hardships in the face of extreme adversity.

Mark A. Reed
Let Our Rejoicing Rise
Sculpture
27” x 12” x 22”
Park Forest, IL
NFS
This ‘Silent Bonsai’ is a windswept Literati style bonsai conforming to ‘Art of Bonsai’ guidelines and fashioned with soil of the American Southwest Colorado Plateau region. Its artistic expression represents an unpretentious human heroic tenacity over hardships in the face of extreme adversity.

Theda Sandiford
All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go
Vintage hat, shoes and bag, 3 ply cotton rope, pearls, rhinestones, wrapped rope, yarn, trim, beading on steel structure
72” x 56” x 24”
Jersey City, NJ
NFS

Raven Smith
Trick-shot
Oil paint on stretched canvas
36” x 48”
Evergreen Park, IL
$7,500

Jean-Marc Superville Sovak
3 Letters to Toussaint
Video installation on fabric
Runtime: 02:00 each, 3 videos
Wallkill, NY
NFS

Stephen J. Tyson
Offbeat
Acrylic on canvas
30” x 24”
Saratoga Springs, NY
NFS

Lisa Diane Wedgeworth
20 Aura (20 Women)
Mixed media
26” x 73”
Los Angeles, CA
Price upon request

X