Senior Project Exhibition 2023

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.

Exhibition Dates: December 16, 2022 – January 13, 2022
Opening reception: December 16, 2022 5-7pm
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Friday 2-5pm, Saturday 12-4pm (during exhibition only – the gallery will be closed 12/23- 1/2)

Featured artists:

About the Instructor: Rick Price is the chair of the fine art department at the Harvey School. He has extensive teaching experience at Buck’s Rock in CT, mural painting in San Francisco and Beacon, illustration commissions, and has exhibited his fine art work nationwide. He holds an MFA from Savannah College of Art & Design.

Senior Project Virtual Gallery

Join the Trolley Barn Gallery Youth Curatorial Team: Spring 2023

Apply today! Applications close January 27.

Want to call the shots on the next big arts exhibition in Poughkeepsie? Ever wonder how galleries or museums choose what’s on the walls? What even IS a curator? Learn to generate a theme, jury a national call for entries, and hang the work as a part of the Trolley Barn Gallery youth curatorial team!

The Trolley Barn Gallery youth curatorial team is the team of youth who will be leading the decision-making around Trolley Barn Gallery exhibitions for Winter/Spring 2023. Successful applicants will be able to commit to attending all sessions (which adds up to about 3 days per month) and will receive a $500 stipend in bi-weekly installments, as well as recognition for their leadership.

Trolley Barn Curatorial Team is responsible for:

• Theme generation
• Artwork selection
• Art handling
• Exhibition installation
• Public speaking
• Project management

Spring 2023 Session: February 6th – June 6th

Applications close January 27 and invitations for accepted students will be sent out Feb 3. The application process will be more competitive than ever before and there are only 5 slots left.

Apply now

Senior Project Student Feature: Fiona Shanahan

Featuring Fiona Shanahan, a Senior Project Student.

“These past few years I’ve been diving deep into concepts that scare me and emotions that I find difficult to describe. Examples of such things would include my fear of death, judgment, and constant distraction to name a few. I felt it would be right for me to document these experiences through art, as I cannot properly describe them on paper.” – Fiona Shanahan, Senior Project Student

The Senior Project Exhibition is on view until Friday, January 13. To view the rest of Fiona’s statement and works, stop by the Trolley Barn Gallery during gallery hours!

Senior Project Student Feature: Celia Drury

Featuring Celia Drury, a Senior Project Student.

“My theme is memories. In my pieces, these memories range from literal to abstract, from youth to my present state. When I’m able to put my memories down as art, they are untouchable. No spoken words or seeds of doubt can shift my composition or erode my colors.” – Celia Drury, Senior Project Student

The Senior Project Exhibition is on view until Friday, January 13. To view the rest of Celia’s statement and works, stop by the Trolley Barn Gallery during gallery hours!

Senior Project Student Feature: Julie Woods

Featuring Julie Woods, a Senior Project Student.

“In this body of work I explore the unspoken yet deeply connected relationships between the lives of strangers, along with the unique experiences which unite us as a people who believe we are divided. My first pieces are my most literal; the awkwardness of an elevator and mundanity in the supermarket. These began my journey into the human experience and acted as a necessary foundation for how I would later develop as both an artist and creative thinker.” – Julie Woods, Senior Project Student

The Senior Project Exhibition is on view until Friday, January 13. To view the rest of Julie’s statement and works, stop by the Trolley Barn Gallery during gallery hours!

Wonderland International Juried Exhibition

Wonderland reimagines the Trolley Barn 3,000 square foot gallery as an otherworldly empire of wonder, illusion and surprise. We invite work that disrupts standard notions of reality through sensory excess (texture, color, light, sound) and/or unexpected visual mischief. We ask, and wonder, how can this kind of art help us reimagine our reality and create positive change in our community?  

The Wonderland International Juried Exhibition is the point of entry to the PKX Wonderland Festival, September 15-17, 2022. The PKX Wonderland Festival will feature the unveiling of original public art commissions, performances, and creative activities in and around the Trolley Barn Gallery. 

The Art Effect is pleased to announce Allison M. Glenn as the guest curator for the international juried exhibition, Wonderland. The exhibition will take place at The Art Effect’s Trolley Barn Gallery at 489 Main Street in Poughkeepsie from September 15 through October 20, 2022.

Glenn worked collaboratively with The Art Effect’s Youth Curatorial Team to curate the Wonderland exhibition, selecting artworks from submissions from around the globe. The Art Effect’s dynamic youth curatorial program brings together established arts professionals and local youth to present high-caliber international art exhibitions and opens pathways for youth to pursue educational opportunities and careers in museums and professional art galleries.

“As a curator and writer deeply invested in working closely with artists to develop ideas, artworks, and exhibitions that respond to and transform our understanding of the world, Allison is a wonderful fit to collaborate with our youth to curate Wonderland,” notes Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt, The Art Effect’s Executive Director. “By collaborating with curators like Allison, young people in our curatorial program create exhibitions that bring together vital voices in art and culture from around the globe and present thought-provoking exhibitions for the community in the center of Poughkeepsie.”

Glenn received substantial critical and community praise for her curatorial work in the groundbreaking exhibition at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky titled, Promise, Witness, Remembrance, an exhibition that reflected on the life of Breonna Taylor, centered on her portrait painted by Amy Sherald. The New York Times selected the exhibition as one of the Best Art Exhibitions of 2021.

This year, Glenn was listed as one of the 2022 ArtNews Deciders and on the 2021 Observer Arts Power 50 List. She is one of the curators for the Counterpublic triennial, opening April 2023 in St. Louis. 

From 2018-2021, Glenn was Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, where she shaped how outdoor sculpture activates and engages Crystal Bridges’ 120-acre campus. Prior to working at Crystal Bridges, Glenn was the Manager of Publications and Curatorial Associate for Prospect New Orleans’ international art triennial Prospect.4: The Lotus in Spite of the Swamp. 

Click here or more information about the PKX Arts Festival

Oaxaca Week: July 29 – August 5, 2022

Oaxaca Week in Poughkeepsie celebrates our city’s connection with traditions from the diverse Mexican region from July 29 – August 5. Click here for more more information and a full lineup of events. At the center is an exhibition of authentic Oaxacan textiles in “Tlazotl, Weaver’s Wings,” showcasing actual indigenous garb, on display at the Trolley Barn (489 Main Street, Poughkeepsie). 

It’s sister exhibition, “Art in a Suitcase: Women Creators of the World” at the MASS Design Group (289 Main Street, Poughkeepsie), features six Oaxacan female artists in a variety of media: photography, ceramics, oil and watercolor painting. 

The public is invited to the joint opening of these exhibitions at the Trolley Barn on Friday, July 29 from 4 pm to 6 pm, where food will be served that highlights the diverse culinary traditions of the Oaxacan region. The curator, Nora Isela Ortiz Muro, will present a talk at the Trolley Barn on Wednesday, August 3 at 5 pm.

Gallery Hours
Wed-Fri 2-5 PM • Sat 12–4 PM
(during exhibitions only)

Call for Entry: Wonderland

Wonderland International Juried Exhibition
Juror: Allison M. Glenn in collaboration with youth from The Art Effect’s Curatorial Program
Exhibition Dates: Sept 15 – Oct 20, 2022
Deadline: May 27 2022

Wonderland reimagines the Trolley Barn 3,000 square foot gallery as an otherworldly empire of wonder, illusion and surprise. We invite work that disrupts standard notions of reality through sensory excess (texture, color, light, sound) and/or unexpected visual mischief. We ask, and wonder, how can your art help us reimagine our reality and create positive change in our community?  

Reel Exposure Film Festival

Reel Exposure Film & Photo Festival features photography and youth-produced short films – animations, documentaries, dramas, horror, and comedies – created by talented young artists from across the world.

Reel Exposure encompasses all of The Art Effect’s goals: to encourage youth creativity, to invigorate our local community through the arts, and to showcase the incredible work done by this next generation of media-makers.

The Art Effect’s annual event encourages youth creativity, invigorates the local community through the arts, and showcases the incredible work done by the next generation of artists from around the globe and right here in Poughkeepsie!

High Contrast International Juried Exhibition

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