“What’s Now” and “What’s New” in the Hudson Valley’s Visual Art Scene to be Featured in Spring Exhibition, “The ArtsWestchester Triennial”

First Exhibit of its Kind to Open to the Public May 6

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (April 25, 2018) – Showcasing the vanguard of the region’s arts community, an upcoming exhibition The ArtsWestchester Triennial will offer a snapshot of “what’s now” and “what’s new” in contemporary visual art throughout the Hudson Valley region. The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday, May 6 with an opening reception in ArtsWestchester’s downtown White Plains gallery.

The Triennial, which will run through July 28, will coincide with the celebration of ArtsWestchester’s 20^th year in its historic downtown White Plains building. Since the organization acquired 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in 1998, it has been hard at work restoring and creatively adapting the use of the nine-story cultural treasure into an arts incubator and multi-use arts center, while preserving the landmark building. The organization transformed the building into a cultural destination filled with creative energy and arts programs serving the greater Westchester market area.

ArtsWestchester’s Triennial, a once-every-three-years art exhibition, will become a mainstay of ArtsWestchester’s exhibition programming.

“The Hudson River Valley has long been a muse to artists, and still today many artists in the region look to the natural environment as their source of inspiration. The ArtsWestchester Triennial is a coming together of diverse artists from the region who employ a variety of media to mine a range of inspirations,” said Janet T. Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester.

The following 15 artists will be featured in The ArtsWestchester Triennial:

Natalia Arbelaez of Port Chester (Westchester County)
Michael Barraco of Putnam Valley (Putnam County)
Michael Brown of Wappingers Falls (Dutchess County)
Gary Burnley of Bronxville (Westchester County)
Peter Bynum of Garrison (Putnam County)
Karlos Carcamo of Wappingers Falls (Dutchess County)
Eric Gottesman of Purchase (Westchester County)
Carole Kunstadt of West Hurley (Ulster County)
Barry Mason of Mount Vernon (Westchester County)
Nancy Egol Nikkal of New Rochelle (Westchester County)
Lotte Petricone of Nyack (Rockland County)
Stephen Schaum of Sparkhill (Rockland County)
Pamela J. Wallace of Germantown (Columbia County)
Mansheng Wang of Dobbs Ferry (Westchester County)
Jayoung Yoon of Beacon (Dutchess County)

Museum curators, gallerists, collectors, and independent arts professionals nominated more than 90 artists from Westchester, Rockland, Ulster, Rensselaer, Putnam, Orange, Greene, Dutchess, Columbia, and Albany counties for inclusion in the exhibition. The final roster of artists was selected by curators Marc Straus of Marc Straus Gallery and Paola Morsiani of the Brodsky Center at Rutgers University.

Straus founded MARC STRAUS in 2011, a contemporary art gallery on the Lower Eastside representing 18 artists from 12 countries. Straus and his wife, Livia, are lifelong art collectors who have mostly focused on emerging artists. Their collection has been the subject of nine museum exhibits. In 2002, Marc and Livia founded the Hudson Valley Center of Contemporary Art, in Peekskill, NY, a museum that has helped to substantially revitalize an economically challenged area. Marc has written regularly for a number of art magazines. He is also a noted poet with four published collections. Marc is a medical oncologist and former Professor of Medicine having practiced in the Hudson Valley almost 30 years. He is the author of approximately 100 scientific publications and three textbooks on lung cancer.

Morsiani is Acting Director at Brodsky Center, Rutgers University’s artist-in-residence program, which is dedicated to the printed image, handmade paper and editions in contemporary art practice. As a curator of contemporary art, Morsiani’s twenty-year curatorial practice has been inspired by close association with living artists. Working at some of the country’s most significant art institutions, she has enabled museums to evolve into vibrant artistic centers where both tradition and innovation promote and sustain learning. Prior to joining Rutgers, Morsiani was Director of the Neuberger Museum of Art of Purchase College, SUNY (2012 to 2014), where she worked on expanding opportunities for curricular development and interdisciplinary learning.

Morsiani said, “Artists based in the Hudson Valley and surrounding regions now have yet another venue to showcase their work, ArtsWestchester, whose high-quality, multi-disciplinary programming is well connected to audiences. The newly created ArtsWestchester Triennial provides a unique occasion for coming together to discover the rich variety of backgrounds and ideas that inform processes, projects, and artworks by up-and-coming and established artists.”

The ArtsWestchester Triennial will open at ArtsWestchester on Sunday, May 6 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. and the exhibit will run through Saturday, July 28.

ArtsWestchester is located at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains N.Y. Admission is free to the public. Docent tours of the exhibit are available to the public and for private groups with a suggested per person donation. ArtsWestchester gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information, visit artswestchester.org/artswestchester-2018-triennial

About ArtsWestchester

For more than 50 years, ArtsWestchester has been the community’s connection to the arts. Founded in 1965, it is the largest, private, not-for-profit arts council in New York State. Its mission is to provide leadership, vision, and support, to ensure the availability, accessibility, and diversity of the arts. ArtsWestchester provides programs and services that enrich the lives of everyone in Westchester County. ArtsWestchester helps fund concerts, exhibitions and plays through grants; brings artists into schools and community centers; advocates for the arts; and builds audiences through diverse marketing initiatives. In 1998, ArtsWestchester purchased the nine-story neo-classical bank building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue which has since been transformed into a multi-use resource for artists, cultural organizations, and the community. A two-story gallery is located on the first floor of ArtsWestchester’s historic building on Mamaroneck Avenue.