art

The roads leading into the Village of Corfu will soon be spiffed up with new gateway signs, designed and created by a group of talented Pembroke High School students under the guidance of Art teacher Eric Johnson.

The village has been working with Johnson's students since February 2014 on the design and selection process for the new signs, said Trustee Ken Lauer. 

"They did many sketches, redesigns and adaptations of their concepts," Lauer said.  "The final selection was very difficult since all the concepts were unique and professional."

The village is currently getting the signs clear coated and should have them up in a week or two.  

Pictured are Sabrina Sanner, Nikita Harding, Emily Verdaasdonk, Morgan Smykowski, Nicole Franclemont and Bailey Groth.

Submitted photo.

All of the entries in the Landmark Society's annual architectural drawing contest have all been hung in the children's room at the Richmond Memorial Library.

Local artist Brandi Bruggman is the contest judge this year. There will be winners announced in a ceremony at the library Tuesday night for first, second and third place, along with 20 honorable mentions.

Five schools are participating this year: John Kennedy, Pavilion, Oakfield-Alabama, Elba, and Byron-Bergen. Every year, the fourth-grade students from each school in the county are invited to submit entries.

Landmark Society Board Member Barb Miller is coordinating the contest with Elba Art teacher Stephanie Rudman and B-B Art teacher Melissa Condidorio.

Press release:

Centennial Arts Fest, Tuesday, June 16th, 4-8 p.m., in Downtown Batavia, will feature artists and crafts people exhibiting their art work in celebration of the City of Batavia’s 100th Year. This will take place in historic Jackson Square. Rain date: Tuesday, June 23rd.

This is free to all artists and crafts people who wish to be a part of our outdoor gallery. We are hoping to have 100 participants to make this a grand celebration of arts and culture in our community. The B.I.D. Promotion Committee is offering a "$100 Prize" based upon the “People’s Choice” award for the best all-around artist. Deadline for applications: Monday, May 18th!

Applications and info are available at: Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District, 200 E. Main St., Suite 12, Batavia NY 14020

585-344-0900

visit: www.downtownbataviany.com

Sometimes canvas and an easel just isn’t enough for an artist with a big idea. Sometimes, you need to search out a different medium, something bigger, like a building. Brian Kemp is spearheading an effort to connect commercial business owners with artists of all genres to create the “Batavia City Canvas Art Trail.” Brian envisions this art trail as 20 to 30 works of art painted directly on a building or weatherproof art hung on a building. The art trail will incorporate existing works, such as those in Jackson Square, as well as planned new works.

Brian is asking for volunteer business owners to donate a specific portion of an exterior wall for the art trail. Artists are asked to donate their time and talents for creating these works on the buildings.  Artists interested in participating are asked to submit representative samples of their original works so the building owners can be matched with suitable artists.

Below, Brian readies the side of his building for future paintings by local artists.

Much like the Le Roy Barn Quilts, Brian plans on printing free maps for a self-guided tour. The maps will be available available for the patrons of the establishments that are participating in the Batavia City Canvas Art Trail as either a cash sponsor or donation of wall space. 

Kemp says, “This is a creative project between building owners and local artists. Just a grassroots effort to place art into our community with the goal of making Batavia a more vibrant place to live and work.”

For more information or to participate in the Batavia City Canvas Art Trail please contact Brian Kemp at 585-345-1993 or bataviacitycanvasarttrail@gmail.com

To learn more about the LeRoy Barn Quilts go to: http://www.leroybarnquilt.org

Local artist Larry Buckley gave an oil painting demo Tuesday evening at GO ART! for members of the Batavia of Society of Artists.

Other events coming up for the society:

• Spring Show, opening reception 6:30 to 8 p.m., May 7, Richmond Memorial Library;
• Steve BonDurant, plein air demo and picnic at Kiwanis Park, 6 p.m., July 14;
• Joint event with Batavia Players at Jackson Square, free and open to the public, where the players will practice parts and also serve as models for artists, 6 p.m., Aug. 11;
• Kevin Feary, oil-graisalle demo, Sept. 8;
• Brian Kemp, acrylic abstract demo, Oct. 13;
• Dennis Wood, perspective drawing, Nov. 10.

For more information on the Batavia Society of Artists, e-mail bsa.bataviasocietyof artists@gmail.com.

The 2015 Congressional Art Competition winner and honorable mentions were announced today at Genesee Community College in the Roz Steiner gallery.

The competition was open to high school students to enter their visual art. Oil paintings, photographs, works in pencil, paints, pastels and mixed media where hung in the gallery. All created by our very own, very talented, local high school artists. 

The Roz Steiner Gallery at GCC was filled with happy visitors admiring classical and modem works. The gallery had the look and excitement of an opening at MoMA in Manhattan.  The exhibit runs in the gallery April 23 through May 18. If you are at all interested in art you should try and see this impressive exhibit. 

Rep. Chris Collins was on hand to announce winners and congratulate all the students involved. But before the award announcement, Collins also took time to personally and privately tour the exhibit and admire the truly impressive works.

UPDATE: Here are the winners:

Winner -  Mallory Showalter, Clarence High School
1st runner up – Kazuki Kanehira, Clarence High School
Honorable mention – Danielle Saeva, Clarence High School
Honorable mention – Cheyenne Ernst, Batavia High School

During his opening comments Representative Collins renewed his support of the Arts in schools.

The winner’s work will be exhibited with the winners from all of the rest of the congressional districts at the U.S. Capitol for a year. For more information on the Congressional Art Competition please visit: http://www.house.gov/content/educate/art_competition/

To see more picture go to: http://jimburns.org/p694578929#h41e007ef

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins encourages local high school students in New York’s 27th District to participate in this year’s Congressional Art Competition.

“Each day, members of Congress and hundreds of visitors to the Capitol walk by the award winning artwork submitted by high school students from around the country,” Collins said. “I look forward to another year with excellent submissions from NY-27 students and the opportunity to welcome our winning artist to Washington this summer.”

Last year there were more than 80 submissions. The winning artist will receive a round-trip flight to Washington, D.C., to see their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol, where it will be on display for one year.

Now in its 33rd year, the Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students in New York’s 27th Congressional District. Submissions are due to one of Congressman Collins two district offices by Tuesday, April 7.

A reception and award ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 11, at Genesee Community College in Batavia. Local high schools have been notified regarding contest rules and submission guidelines. Interested students should see their art teacher for details or contact Chris Catt from Congressman Collins’ office at (585) 519-4002.

Press release:

Genesee Community College invites visual artists to submit their work for possible exhibition at GCC's Rosalie "Roz" Steiner Art Gallery located in the Genesee Center for the Arts on the Batavia campus. This call for work is open to individual artists and group exhibitions in all media interested for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The deadline for consideration is May 1, 2015.

The Steiner Gallery's mission is to foster community involvement in the arts while enhancing the learning experience for all GCC students, faculty and staff. Proposals are selected by the GCC Gallery Committee, which seeks out exhibitions rich in content and quality craftsmanship.

According to gallery docent Mary Jo Whitman: "Our gallery attracts both artists and visitors from throughout Western New York. We are currently averaging about 300 visitors each month. Our committee is always looking for artists that can contribute meaningfully to the education of our students while participating in the larger discourse of the contemporary art world."

The Roz Steiner Gallery opened in Spring 2011 and offers 1,700 square feet of outstanding exhibit space featuring 25-foot walls, moveable island walls, bamboo flooring and multimedia capabilities. See more at the Gallery's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/gccgallery.

Artists interested in submitting their work can do so via the submission process available on the Gallery Web site at http://www.genesee.edu/campuslife/arts/gallery/submissions.cfm

Madeleine Rusch, with her painting "Cat Fancy," won Best of Show in the Batavia Society of Artists 2014 Winter Art Show, on display now at the Richmond Memorial Library.

FIrst Place went to Dennis Wood for "Winter Scape," second to Kevin Feary for "Hustled Again," and Feary also got third for "Snow in November."

Honorable mentions went to Karen Crittenden, Rusch, Nicole Tamfer, Bryan Kemp, Lorraine Gluck and Ed Adams.

Beth Kemp snaps a picture of Bryan Kemp with his Honorable Mention award.

Michael Messerly, right, publisher of the Batavia Daily News, attended the event.

Joan D'Alba gets her picture taken under her painting, "Snowy Barn."

Local, award-winning artists Terry Webber and Bernice Yunkers have a joint exhibit at the Richmond Memorial Library now through the end of August.

Jennifer Gray uses chalk to create a drawing of a cow on the sidewalk outside Batavia city Hall this afternoon. Gray was drawing to help promote the city's first Sidewalk Painting Festival this weekend. The event starts next Friday and will run concurrently Saturday with Summer in the City. So far, 15 artists have signed up and as many as 15 more are expected to register when they show up Friday. The artists will use chalk to transform the sidewalks around City Hall. The event is sponsored by Vibrant Batavia.

CORRECTION: Added "next" in front of Friday. The event is next weekend, not this weekend.

Congressman Chris Collins met with some of the 81 students from the 27th District who submitted original works of art in the annual House of Representatives art contest. The reception was held at Genesee Community College in the lobby of the Genesee Center for Arts. Above, Collins with Melanie Perkins, of Warsaw, and below, Makennah Aquino, of Batavia.

The winners are:

• First place: Hailey Kilian from Iroquois HS
• Second place: Jacob Weed from Kendall HS
• Honorable mentions: Siena Pullinzi from Batavia HS and Alphonso Butlak from Lake Shore HS.

The work of Pamela Dayton, a local artist who chronicled daily life through a series of photographs in a Syrian refugee camp, can be seen at The Gallery at Blue Pearl Yoga beginning today. The exhibit will be on display through June during normal gallery hours. The public is invited to a free opening reception on May 9.

Dayton traveled to Lebanon in 2013 with a short-term mission group from the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg. She became involved with a compassionate ministry to Syrian refugees while spending three weeks in a tented settlement in the Bekaa Valley, Beirut. Embedded with a team of doctors and nurses, she chronicled a “day-in-the-life” of a refugee in an attempt “to validate their existence and document their experiences for the wider world,” she explains. “My photographs illuminate the life of war refugees: the tragedy, sorrow, and tedium of living within a refugee settlement, as well as the beauty and strength of the Syrian people.”

Using a Sony a300 camera, Dayton took nearly 16,000 photographs -- or about 2,000 per day. Choosing which images make the cut has been “difficult” but Dayton hopes that people who visit the gallery will be able to identify with her subjects.

“There is one photograph of a mama holding a toddler that wanted no part of sitting on her lap. People are so similar, whether you’re in a makeshift tent in a Third-World nation or having coffee in my living room,” she says.

Pamela, who lives in Batavia with her husband Jon and their four children, plans to return to Lebanon this summer with the mission group. Then she will begin studying at Kilns College in Bend, Ore., to obtain a graduate degree in Social Justice and Theology in September.

“My heart is broken for refugees and families stuck in the cycle of poverty. There is an enormous refugee community in Buffalo, and poverty is a big problem in Genesee County and the Western New York area,” she says, “so I feel confident that I can make an impact here.”

An opening reception is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 9, on the third floor of Blue Pearl Yoga, 200 E. Main St., Batavia. Gallery hours are Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call Blue Pearl Yoga at 585.230.5430 or contact Ms. Dayton at thedaytontime@gmail.com.