Posted October 25th, 2024 — Filed under Uncategorized
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Guests and artists experienced the Trolley Barn Gallery’s fall flagship exhibition, co-curated by the Youth Arts Empowerment Zone Curators and guest curator, Indira A Abiskaroon, Curatorial Assistant at the Brooklyn Museum. Guests delighted in the opportunity to meet Kimmah Dennis and Marielena Ferrer, the artists behind “Capturing Echoes” and “Broken Monarchs.”
Dennis describes Chasing Echoes as “fusing inherited memories with [her] encounters of mobility, displacement, and assimilation, exploring diverse visual languages—painting, drawing, collage, and installation—and delves into personal, familial, and global storytelling.” Her pieces capture the delicate interplay between strength and vulnerability in young people, depicting their experiences with striking emotional depth.
Broken Monarchs by Ferrer creates a similar sense of immersive storytelling by inviting viewers to step into the fragile and resilient reality of the more than five thousand migrant children and infants separated from their parents. “As an immigrant myself, I believe in cultivating forms of everyday activism to contest social exclusion, so my art practice seeks to seize opportunities to educate others about migration,” Ferrer explains. “Broken Monarchs best showcases my thematic and methodological direction as an artist,” Ferrer adds, emphasizing the critical role of art in bearing witness to these harrowing events.Together, Dennis’ and Ferrer’s work sparks an essential dialogue about the roles humans have in nurturing or inhibiting the growth of the next generation. The Duo Show trulytransforms the gallery into a space where themes of childhood, displacement, loss, and hope converge through Ferrer’s immersive installations and Dennis’ evocative mixed medium paintings. Each artist delves into the complexities of youth through selected mediums to explore how external forces shape identity and resilience in young people. The exhibit will run from October 10 – November 8, 2024.
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!
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.
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.
Teen Visions will be open from August 24–September 6, 2024
Posted April 9th, 2024 — Filed under Uncategorized
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18 Abril – 17 Mayo, 2024
El Art Effect se llena de orgullo al presentar esta exhibición jurada como parte del Festival Anual de PKX el cual es un pilar fundamental para el desarrollo de la Zona de Empoderamiento de las Artes Juveniles al establecer un distrito de arte liderado por los jóvenes en Poughkeepsie, Nueva York. Como testimonio vibrante a la energía transformadora de la creatividad juvenil y su impacto en la comunidad, la exposición presentará 24 pintores, escultores, fotógrafos, y artistas digitales de 14 a 19 años de edad. El festival de PKX es un símbolo de comunidad y unidad al celebrar la creatividad y el talento dentro y alrededor Poughkeepsie. El enfoque del festival de tres días será una presentación cautivadora de películas cuidadosamente seleccionadas; además de obras de 2D y 3D elegidas con mucha consideración para adornar las paredes de The Trolley Barn Gallery; y las activaciones artísticas de empresas locales y artistas que empoderan a los invitados a incorporar el placekeeping, o mantenimiento del lugar, en sus aventuras diarias. ¡El Festival de PKX es creado por los jóvenes para todos!
PKX International Teen Art Exhibition April 18 – May 17, 2024
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 establishing a youth-led arts district in Poughkeepsie, NY. This show features 24 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.
Posted March 20th, 2024 — Filed under Uncategorized
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When the Earth sees its reflection, will it be proud or scared of what it’s become?
Call Opens: March 18, 2024 Call Closes: April 22, 2024 Exhibition Dates: June 14 – Aug 9, 2024
Deadline to Submit: April 22, 2024
The Trolley Barn Gallery is pleased to open the call for Earth’s Reflection, an international juried exhibition that recontextualizes the Trolley Barn Gallery’s 3,000-square-foot space into a progressive and thought-provoking landscape. This exhibition will focus on artistic interpretations of pollution prevention including themes of environmental activism and urban revitalization. Artists exploring themes inspired by the Earth, ecology, geology and biology, regreening, native lands, and community stewardship are encouraged to apply.
Earth’s Reflection is open to all visual media: interdisciplinary, multimedia, installation, contemporary, crafts, video art, soundscapes/sound art, performance art, and design in 2D and 3D. Artists working with trash, sound, video, and/or performance are encouraged to submit. For this exhibition, the Trolley Barn Gallery will bring 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.
Youth employed in The Art Effect’s curatorial training and community engagement programs are venturing into youth-led climate change activism and placekeeping. To support the continuous exchange of ideas and resources, youth will collaborate with community organizations and Hudson-Valley-based artists who utilize unconventional and up-cycled materials in their work. Youth Arts Empowerment Zone Liaisons and the Trolley Barn Curatorial Team will host a number of community clean-ups throughout the exhibition. Poughkeepsie youth will promote, educate, and create community discourse around the ideas of pollution prevention through a public art exhibition and related environmental educational programming. With the support of local artists and community leaders, the youth curators will equip themselves with the skills to become environmental leaders who can think outside the box and inspire collective action and upkeeping in our local community.
This exhibition will be open during the Hudson Valley’s Upstate Art Weekend – June 18 through 21 – for educational, family-friendly exhibition events and activities. Upstate Art Weekend is a connective annual event for locals and tourists to celebrate the cultural vibrancy of upstate New York. With 145 participants and thousands of visitors in 2022, the Trolley Barn Gallery is excited to, once again, be one of many fascinating organizations, galleries, and creative projects to join Upstate Art Weekend.
This international juried exhibition will be held June 14 through August 9, 2024 at The Art Effect’s Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St., Poughkeepsie, New York, with an Opening Reception Friday, June 14, 6-8pm.
Artists will be notified within approximately 2-3 weeks after the deadline in an email about the selection status of their entries.
Deadline to Submit: April 22, 2024
Become a member and enjoy exclusive benefits all year including no artwork submission fee!
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.
Posted February 16th, 2024 — Filed under Uncategorized
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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 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 • 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
In this episode, the Trolley Barn Gallery is calling artists from all over the globe to celebrate anime, manga, and comic books through a fun, vibrant exhibition of art inspired by Japanese anime and manga.
We want artists to embrace that “main character energy” and show us what your anime universe would look like. We are accepting art in every medium including: short animated films, comic strips, comic books, sketchbooks, pages torn out of sketchbooks, original concept art, tattoo designs, digital art, illustrations, nondescript amorphous blobs that remind you of your favorite anime hero … and anything else that is 2D or 3D. But!! We are not taking any NSFW content. No gore, no sexual content – just good, clean cartoon fun.
Art of all ages welcome! This exhibition will come with a series of ‘side quests’ events: a cosplay contest, an anime movie night, and a “How to Draw Comics” workshop.
Who will exhibit in the show? Will the youth curators overcome societal norms and change the gallery world forever? And what’s that thing?! For answers to these thrilling questions and more, tune in this Spring for the newest Trolley Barn Gallery International Juried Exhibition!
Posted May 15th, 2023 — Filed under Uncategorized
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Deadline to Submit: May 20, 2023
Introducing “The Highs of Life,” an international juried exhibition now accepting submissions with a focus on deconstructing synthetic joy.
Beyond the black mirror of instagram-worthy moments and snapchat filters, is our real life – our real smile. We are interested in the moments that never made it to social media. This exhibition seeks to decipher sacred and treasured art from images where people are hiding behind their “happiness”. Social media is often a sparkly, pink fog; a false reality of love, adventure and interest. Help us understand the intentions behind the real and imagined highs of life.
We are not only accepting photographic images, but any visual representation of joy; based in fantasy or reality. “The Highs of Life” encourages artists to submit art in an array of media, including digital, film, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, video, and installation art. For our juried exhibitions, the Trolley Barn Gallery brings together an international roster of vital voices in art and culture, presenting thought-provoking artwork and ideas in a renovated industrial space that is the hub for the area’s thriving arts scene.
Posted May 15th, 2023 — Filed under Uncategorized
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The International Teen Photo and Film Festival strikes again.
Thank you to all who attended PKX Reel Exposure Festival last weekend! It was so great to celebrate the best of youth creativity from around the world, right here in downtown Poughkeepsie.
Special thanks to our event sponsors for your essential support: Central Hudson, McCabe & Mack, Hudson Valley Credit Union, VISITvortex, FastSigns, Chronogram, Rhinebeck Bank, Hudson Valley Magazine, Adams Fairacre Farms, Poughkeepsie Galleria, and La Voz.
Posted May 9th, 2023 — Filed under Uncategorized
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Deadline to Submit: May 20, 2023
Introducing “The Highs of Life,” an international juried exhibition now accepting submissions with a focus on deconstructing synthetic joy.
Beyond the black mirror of instagram-worthy moments and snapchat filters, is our real life – our real smile. We are interested in the moments that never made it to social media. This exhibition seeks to decipher sacred and treasured art from images where people are hiding behind their “happiness”. Social media is often a sparkly, pink fog; a false reality of love, adventure and interest. Help us understand the intentions behind the real and imagined highs of life.
We are not only accepting photographic images, but any visual representation of joy; based in fantasy or reality. “The Highs of Life” encourages artists to submit art in an array of media, including digital, film, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, video, and installation art. For our juried exhibitions, the Trolley Barn Gallery brings together an international roster of vital voices in art and culture, presenting thought-provoking artwork and ideas in a renovated industrial space that is the hub for the area’s thriving arts scene.
Posted January 20th, 2023 — Filed under Uncategorized
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As we age we change both externally and internally; we transform and metamorphosis. We inevitably ask ourselves: “Is this who I am now? Who was I before? Is this me?” We find beauty in the confusions and the transformations. We are inviting artists that meditate on the disturbing reality of their own potential. Is It Me? invites art that unveils the roadblocks that impede self-actualization. We question whether the oasis of maturity is actually a mirage – a hazily reconfigured reality, distorted by the sweltering heat of generational expectations. This exhibition is about self and health, wellness and worry — as we examine our skin, our fears, and our personal growth.
Is It Me? challenges artists to submit art in an array of media, including digital, film, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, video, and installation art. For our juried exhibitions, the Trolley Barn Gallery brings together an international roster of vital voices in art and culture, presenting thought-provoking artwork and ideas in a renovated industrial space that is the hub for the area’s thriving arts scene. Is It Me? is the most recent exhibition from the Trolley Barn Curatorial Team.
This international juried exhibition will be held March 10 through April 14, 2023 at The Art Effect’s Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St., Poughkeepsie, New York, with an Opening Reception Friday, March 10, 6-8pm.
Opening Reception Events 6:00: Opening Reception with light refreshments 7:00: Welcome and Awards 7:30: Open Mic
Open Mic Details In order to allow the community of Poughkeepsie to fully engage with the difficult themes presented, the opening reception will also include a half hour Open Mic session. Gallery visitors will be encouraged to sign up for a short slot where they are free to read poetry, speak honestly, perform music or dance and continue the conversation about wellness and aging in real time. The opening reception is 6 -8pm. At 7pm Trolley Barn Awards will be presented to the winners of the “Guest Juror’s Prize”, the “Youth Juror’s Prize” and the “Honorable Mention Prize”. After the awards the open mic session will start at 7:30pm. This opening reception is free and open to the public, like all Trolley Barn Gallery openings.
About the Curator Emilie Houssart is a Dutch American artist and curator based in Poughkeepsie, New York. Her performance and installation works explore ideologies and ecologies of landscape, rupturing toxic norms in public spaces, and generating dialogue about alternative ways of being. As The DIRT Project, she leads experiential, collaborative workshops for all ages that nurture our relationships with invisible life forms inside the body and underfoot.
Houssart’s work recently featured in Metabolism of Cities for the Urban Soils Institute, curated by Margaret Boozer, LMCC Arts Center, NYC. Her 15-month evolving installation Co-co-codac! was part of Owning Earth at Unison Arts Center, NY, an outdoor exhibit curated by Tal Beery. As 2021 Artist in Residence at the Samuel Dorsky Museum, NY, she curated the exhibition DIRT: Inside Landscapes and led a series of interactive public projects, including DIRTdoors at Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary for Rooted: Art + Land with the Dorsky Museum and Walkill Valley Land Trust. Previous residencies include Women’s Studio Workshop, NY, Frans Masereel Centrum, Belgium, and Print to the People, UK. She co-curated an/aesthetics: Rosekill, Rosekill Art Farm, NY; pop-up show EARTHBOUND, NYC; and international exchange show EXPORT 19 at Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn, NY.
Originally from Norwich, UK, Houssart gained a BA Hons. in Modern Languages from the University of Durham, UK, and studied drawing, painting and sculpture at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy. She is Adjunct Professor of Art, Sustainability Faculty Fellow and member of experimental collective Eddy at SUNY New Paltz, where she completed an MFA in Sculpture with Printmaking in 2022. Houssart has taught at Vassar College, Women’s Studio Workshop, West Point Military Academy, the Woodstock School of Art, Fall Kill Print Works, the Charles H. Cecil Studios and the British Institute of Florence.
Gallery Hours Exhibition: March 10 – April 14 Wednesday-Friday: 2-5PM • Saturday: 12-4 PM (during exhibitions only)
