FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13, 2025
Media Contact: Gina Hyams, PR Consultant (713) 930-7554 ginahyams@gmail.com
Spencertown Academy Arts Center Presents “Art as Memoir: Regional Juried Art Show” September 27 – October 26
Spencertown, New York–Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents “Art as Memoir: Regional Juried Art Show.” The exhibit was juried in a blind process by guest jurors Ian Berry (director of the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College) and Sienna Patti (founder of Sienna Patti Contemporary Art Gallery in Lenox, MA). It opens on September 27 and will remain on display through October 26 with gallery hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. In addition, there will be an opening reception and awards ceremony with the artists on Saturday, September 27 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. Admission is free and artworks are for sale with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Academy.
Artists living in Columbia County and nearby counties in New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut submitted works based on a personal memory or memories. The subject could be people, places, objects, or events from one’s past, and work submitted could be in any artistic style (representational or abstract) or medium. The juried exhibit features 72 works by 48 artists in a range of media, including oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings, graphite and charcoal drawings, mixed media and collage, fiber art, printmaking, digital media, photography, ceramics, and sculpture. After the jurors made their selections, Spencertown Academy Curatorial Committee members Munya Avigail Upin, Meryl Enerson, and Alice McGowan curated the show.
“It was a pleasure to jury “Art as Memoir. I was struck by the honesty and variety in the work—some pieces felt like confessions, others like quiet reflections or fragments of memory,” says juror Patti. “Each artist approached the theme in their own way, using their materials to tell stories that were personal, layered, and deeply felt. Choosing was not easy, but it was meaningful. I’m grateful to have spent time with this work.”
The featured artists include Fern Apfel (Kinderhook, NY), Alison Bachorik (Albany, NY), Dorene Beller (Great Barrington, MA), Daisy Benardo (Lee, MA), Brian “Scout” Buono (Chatham, NY), Joan Burkhard (Stockbridge, MA), Robert Calame (Great Barrington, MA), Rebecca Katherine Conroy (Hudson, NY), Ellen Crimmins (Salt Point, NY), Stephen Dallmus (Shutesbury, MA), Krista Edlund Dalton (North Egremont, MA), Mary Delaney Connelly (High Falls, NY), Julia K. Dixon (Julia K Dixon, MA), Sarah Domoff (Albany, NY), Melissa J. Forbes (Philmont, NY), Tom Fox (Albany, NY), Tara A. Fracalossi (Valatie, NY), Peter Nicholas Fritsch (Copake, NY), Amy Gavaris (Chatham, NY), Douglas Gilbert (Williamstown, MA), Tom Gladd (Rensselaer, NY), Laurie Goodhart (Cambridge, NY), Betsy Jacks (Chatham, NY), Jude Kallok (Monson, MA), Irina Kaplan (Niskayuna, NY), Christine Kingery (Clifton Park, NY), Sue Muskat Knoll (Great Barrington, MA), Bruce Laird (Lee, MA), Judith G. Levy (Rhinebeck, NY), Monica Miller Link (Malden Bridge, NY), John MacGruer (Great Barrington, MA), Meagan Mason (Troy, NY), James McNamara (Stockbridge, MA), Linda McNutt (Hudson, NY), Nancy L. Meissner (Canaan, NY), Moira O’Grady (Chatham, NY), Philip James Palmieri (Loudonville, NY), Katherine Patterson (Chatham, NY), Andrew Pellettieri (Kinderhook, NY), Aleksandra Scepanovic (Woodstock, NY), Joel Schiller (Chatham, NY), Lizbeth Shelley (Copake, NY), Janelle Sing (Hillsdale, NY), Kara Smith (Sheffield, MA), Randy Swann (Hurley, NY), Betty Wilde-Biasiny (Olivebridge, NY), Nancy Wood (North Adams, MA), and Kenneth Young (Ghent, NY).
Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please see www.spencertownacademy.org.