“A Day in the Country”

Mary Mugele Sealfon

and Dennis Fanton

-Introducing Thomas Bolger in a solo exhibit-

Spring blooms at the Wallkill River School with colorful Impressionist depictions of Orange County by regional artists Mary Mugele Sealfon and Dennis Fanton. Both fine artists will greet visitors on Sat. May 8^th from 5pm-7pm. Wine and hors d’oevres will be served, event is free and open to the public. Exhibit runs from May 1-31, Tues.–Sun., 9am-6pm. Introducing emerging artist Thomas Bolger in a solo exhibit in the workshop room.

Entranced by the Hudson Valley, Mary Mugele Sealfon enjoys plein air painting, portraiture and still life in pastel and oil. She teaches at SUNY Orange and The Wallkill River School.  Her work has been featured in several shows at the Wallkill River Art Gallery, Montgomery NY and many other regional venues.   Recently, she was in “Majestic Hudson” show at the Paramount and is currently showing at the Flatiron Gallery in Peekskill, NY.  One of thirty Orange Country artists interviewed for the FreeArtinNY.org website, she was videotaped painting the quadracentennial replica of Henry Hudson’s “Half Moon” while it docked in Newburgh in November 2008.

In New York City she pursued a career as Art Director and designer for various publications and companies.  She also studied at the School of Visual Arts, the Art Students League and with noted regional artists including John Osborne at the Ridgewood Art Institute, NJ.  Her paintings and prints have been exhibited nationally and internationally and won numerous awards.

Her painting of children on the beach “Beach Memories” was used on the August 2008 cover of “Natural Awakenings” and a pastel, “Baird’s Cows” was featured on the 2004 Warwick Valley Telephone Cover.

Dennis Fanton trained at Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, Ducret School of Art, and had private instruction in oil painting, pastels, botanical illustration, and portraiture.  His style is strongly influenced by the impressionistic painters with a focus on color relationships and interesting, varied brushwork.  The balance of light and shadow are a frequent theme and his personal relationship with the changing seasonal landscapes of the Hudson Valley is reflected in his work.  Painting in ever-changing light has resulted in a focus on the emotional impact of the piece rather than simply attention to detail.  He is affiliated with Kent Art Association, Middletown Art Group, Garret Society, and Wallkill River School.

Every month, the Wallkill River School introduces an emerging artist in the workshop room. This is an artist who has never had a solo show in Orange County, and is ready to make the leap from a beginner to a semi-professional or emerging artist. This month, Thomas Bolger of Cragsmoor is our emerging artist. Bolger has been working in oil and acrylic since 1970, and has studied at the Art Student’s League, Wallkill River School, and with other artists in the region. He has exhibited regionally in group shows, and is showing  his large-scale landscapes in a solo exhibit this month.

In this exhibit, seven different artists explore the relationship between our physical environment and the creative and psychological reactions to the natural landscape. The works in Sensing Space range from the imaginative to the fantastic, all expressing the idea that the landscape does not have to be about any particular physical location. Rather, we see works that are not so much about the visual representation of the landscape as subject matter, as they are about investigating the concept of landscape environments through individual interpretations. This may include the analyzing of an experience or even a memory. Using the notion of landscape and geography, spaces are transformed into environments that shape ways we interact with nature, as well as the artists expressing their own subjective responses to the environments they observe.

Artists featured in the exhibit include: Gail Biederman, Robmat Butler, Matthew Cox, Chad Curtis, Barron Hall, Tricia McLaughlin, and Leah Wolff.

The exhibition runs through Saturday, May 29.

The Ann Street Gallery is a nonprofit gallery located in the City of Newburgh specializing in contemporary emerging and established artists. The gallery hours are Monday through Thursday 9 AM to 5 PM, and Friday through Saturday 11 AM to 5 PM.

For more information regarding Sensing Space: Contemporary Interpretations of the Landscape and the Ann Street Gallery, contact Virginia Walsh, Director at (845) 562-6940 x. 119, vwalsh@safe-harbors.org, or visit www.annstreetgallery.org.