Virtual Exhibit: “Black and White” from the Rotunda Gallery
The New Rochelle Council on the Arts (NRCA) invites you to enjoy a virtual exhibit, ”Black and White: The Absence of Color” on its YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/oQikXkmlQgU
The exhibit features monochromatic works by four local artists including ink and graphite drawings on paper as well as manipulated book sculptures.
The virtual exhibit format was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has New Rochelle citizens sheltering at home and City Hall – site of the gallery — closed to the public. “NRCA feels the arts are more important than ever right now, but we also knew we would need to retool our programming for this “new normal,” says NRCA President Theresa Kump Leghorn. “So when Rotunda Gallery chairperson Linda Tarrant-Reid proposed the idea of making this exhibit a virtual one everybody was on board.”
“The Rotunda Gallery mounts three to four exhibits a year,” explains Linda Tarrant-Reid. She says “the Coronavirus-19 pandemic created a challenging space — we had to figure out how to continue to support the arts community on a digital platform.”
Working with graphic designer Susan Nagib and videographer/photographer Nick Carter, Tarrant-Reid and Weber worked out all of the “moving parts”, combining the artists’ works with graphic design and narration.
The resulting 6-minute video allows viewers to join curator Judith Weber as she guides them through works by four artists, Jennifer Cadoff (ink drawings on paper), Suzanne Montresor (graphite and watercolor giclee prints), Richela Fabian Morgan (altered books) and Maxine Nodel (graphite and ink on paper). “United by their monochromatic palette, each of the artists explores distinctively different techniques, dramatically rendering work of amazing depth and complexity,” observes Weber, a former President of NRCA who is a well-known ceramicist. “From water color to pencil, paper to book-art, each artist speaks directly to not only what inspires them but to how their own personal techniques bring clarity to their work.”
The NRCA Rotunda Gallery in City Hall was created in 2012. The idea came from NRCA, which recognized the need for more public exhibition space in the city, and received enthusiastic support from Mayor Noam Bramson and City Manager Charles Strome. The Rotunda Gallery takes advantage of City Hall’s spacious atrium to create opportunities for a broad range of visual arts to be seen on a regular basis, and encourages the public to visit City Hall.
The Rotunda Gallery exhibits are curated by NRCA’s Rotunda Gallery committee, chaired by NRCA Board member Linda Tarrant-Reid. The committee determines the themes of the exhibits, issue “Calls for Artists”, hangs the submitted works and hosts receptions. Current committee members include Barbara Bock, Cynthia Reid, Billie Tucker and Judith Weber.
The New Rochelle Council on the Arts (NRCA) was created by the New Rochelle City Council in 1975 to stimulate and encourage the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts. For four decades NRCA has worked to fulfill that mission by sponsoring art exhibitions, theatrical productions, dance recitals, film screenings, lectures, and concert series. In addition, NRCA has sponsored public art – including the NRNY Murals — and created ArtsFest, a weekend long celebration of the arts, while helping to build relationships between the arts, the business community and city government. The NRCA website www.newrochellearts.org is the “go-to” place for information about the arts. Membership in NRCA is open to artists and non-artists alike. For more information visit NRCA on the web at www.newrochellearts.org. NRCA’s programs are made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester with funds from Westchester County Government, the City of New Rochelle, and the support and participation of NRCA’s membership.
About New Rochelle Council on the Arts
The New Rochelle Council on the Arts mission is to stimulate and encourage the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and the public\’s interest and participation therein. It has been exemplified by our sponsorship of a vast number of exhibitions, theatrical productions, dance recitals, film screenings, lectures, and concert series. To create opportunities for the public to encounter and explore art and increase access to the arts in New Rochelle.
NRCA has been in existence for nearly 40 years — it was created by a resolution adopted by the New Rochelle City Council on April 8, 1975. Our mission is to stimulate and encourage the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and the public’s interest and participation therein. This is exemplified by our sponsorship of a vast number of exhibitions, theatrical productions, dance recitals, film screenings, lectures, and concert series.