Past Gallery Events

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 12, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

East Village Fire Escape – Falling Red Heels – Clown Katchina by Stacy Pearl

Stacy Pearl was born in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn and attended Rhode Island School of Design, The Art Students League of New York, and Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University.  Her exhibition at the Cunneen-Hackett Art Center, the Meaningless Paintings series, was completed over the past few years, mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and consists of representational imagery. “These works incorporate imagery from ‘high’ art to popular culture, from sports to science, to food, to tools and machines, to idyllic scenery — it’s all fair game,” she relays.  “Choosing the images is intuitive, random, and fun…when a specific image speaks to me, that’s when I know it’s right.”  Previously working in an abstract minimalist style that focused on color, pattern and texture, Pearl’s current artwork removes any sort of narrative and has no secret meaning.  Her works have been exhibited at Barrett Art Center (Poughkeepsie, NY), Vestige Concept Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA), Cerulean Arts (Philadelphia, PA), Prince Street Gallery (New York, NY), Greenpoint Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), and The Art Center Highland Park (Highland Park, IL).  She has lived all over the world and now resides in New York with a model-maker husband, a perpetually knitting mother, and a great dog.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 5, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Artwork by Jane Ehrlich

Jane Ehrlich attended the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute and The Brooklyn Museum School. Her exhibition of paintings at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center are part of an ongoing series called Fragmented Transparencies that have a single “color field” activated by the addition of accumulations of transparent and opaque layers of white, straight, zig zag, and curvilinear layers. “The layers refer to the base color implying a degree of spatial context but intentionally maintain a shallow depth, creating tension within the visible field…forms are painted one at a time, each form referring to the one before as it transports its individual information, nuances and accidents of application,” she explains. “The shapes repeat and transmute as they inhabit the painting but never as pattern; as the surface is mapped some forms collide, some connect and some coalesce, and through this process, the layers of monochromatic transparencies, and tonal variations begin to resonate with light and the painting becomes activated.”  Ehrlich has exhibited in New York, Florida, New Hampshire, and Maine, with her work recently showcased at Radius 50 (Woodstock, NY), 72 A -One A Silvermine Gallery (New Canaan, CT), Hudson Eye (Hudson, NY), Lockwood Gallery (Kingston, NY), Salon Zurcher – Women of Spirit (New York, NY), Mohawk Hudson Regional (Albany, NY), and 3 Abstract Artists – Susan Eley Fine Arts (New York, NY) to name a few. A recipient of the 2022 and 2023 Community Arts Grant, New York State Council of the Arts, Ehrhlich lives and works in Hudson, NY and is the founder of the annual Open Studio Hudson.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 5, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Cerulean Duet by Rebecca Zeh

Rebecca Zeh is an interdisciplinary artist who received her BFA with a concentration in drawing from Pratt Institute in 2012. She is also an improvisational dancer who has studied movement since she was 6 years old. Utilizing mixed media and print-making techniques, she creates a visual space where dance, creative movement, nature, and artmaking intersect evoking the feeling of moving as one with the elements of the outdoors. “The imagery depicted is inspired by photographic references, video references, and recounted memories of adventures exploring movement in outdoor settings,” she explains. “My unique experiences dancing outdoors and in dance class strongly inform my artistic practice.” Ms. Zeh has exhibited her work in several art galleries and businesses throughout New York State that include The Art Center of the Capital Region, Saratoga Arts, LARAC, Albany Center Gallery, The Hallway Gallery at Second Street Studios, 344 Storefront, The Blooming Artist Gallery, Spring Street Gallery, Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts, and North Country Arts Council. Her work has been published in Barzakh Magazine and The Crit Zine by Symmetry Art Space as well as featured in The Daily Gazette and 518 Profiles Magazine.  In 2023 she was the recipient of an Honorary Mention Award at the Annual Expressions Juried Art Show at North Country Arts Council in Glens Falls, NY.  Her home, which is also her studio, is located in Ballston Lake, NY.  

November 3, 2023 – December 29, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 3, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

June Pond Fall 2022 by Arlene Seymour

Arlene Robin Seymour is an expressive semi-abstract artist whose colorful landscapes and figures are based on her photography and inner imagination. Using watercolor, gouache, ink and acrylic, her work is intuitive and spontaneous. “I believe creation is a core response humans possess to express emotions,” she explains. “My work is inspired by my years as a creative arts therapist, seeing the progress people are capable of when they are encouraged to express themselves. I believe each work of art I create is infused with emotions that others can relate to.” Arlene Robin Seymour was born in New York City and traveled to the Hudson Valley region in her youth eventually moving to the area in 2000.  Her exhibition, Ponderings, at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center is comprised of representational paintings of the pond at her home through the seasons as well as imaginative abstract pieces.  Arlene Robin Art

November 3, 2023 – December 29, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 3, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Red Bike 2 by Lijah Friedman

Native New Yorker and Ulster County resident, Lijah Friedman, has been a life documentation photographer since her early 20’s.  Attending the International Center for Photography in the early 1990’s, she honed her craft specializing in black and white film photography and printing.  Ms. Friedman’s exhibition at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center features images that were photographed during the pandemic.  “Riding around for days in search of being creative, I found the beauty without having contact with people,” she remarks.  Ms. Friedman currently uses digital photography to capture her images but occasionally uses film.

November 3, 2023 – December 29, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 3, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Perfect Morning by Rachel Williams

Rachel Williams, a resident of Orange County, NY, has been painting for over 20 years creating works of art on a variety of surfaces such as canvas, burlap, wood, paper doilies, library cards, sheet music and vintage paper.  Using a restrained color palette that lends a soothing aspect to her subjects, she captures calm, introspective moments that humanize and personify emotions of daily life. “The figures in my paintings are people I know and the images are glimpses into their lives,” relays Ms. Williams. “Although these pieces are very personal, they convey the thoughts and emotions to which many of us can relate at certain times in our lives. They can be transitional moments where the person has come to a realization or encountered a major shift in life.”  Ms. Williams is a full-time Art teacher who has studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Orange County Community College, The School of Art and Design at Alfred University and SUNY New Paltz. Her work has been exhibited in Jersey City, New York City and throughout the Hudson Valley region.

Saturday, September 9, 2023 from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm & Sunday, September 10, 2023 from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm / 9 and 12 Vassar Street

Poughkeepsie Open Studios presents a free self-guided, all-inclusive art tour of local artist studios and art spaces showcasing regional artists. Free family-friendly art-making activities, artist demonstrations, and interactive experiences are part of this fun-filled event!

Visual Artists featured at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center

Visit Poughkeepsie Open Studios for complete Tour Roster. 

July 5, 2023 – August 31, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 8, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

9/11 Book Cover (Photo taken on the day of the attack on 9/11/2001) by Frank Ritter

Frank Ritter, whose photographic exhibition 9/11 Remembrance Renewal Hope: A Twenty Year Journey featured in the Hancock and Reception Galleries, showcases a collection of visually stunning and sensitive photographs from his highly-acclaimed book of the same name. He has dedicated the past 20 years to photographing and documenting the rebuilding efforts at the World Trade Center site as well as the events commemorating the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. His work functions as a visual timeline of the catastrophic day and its aftermath, along with the various ways in which it has been memorialized. “In my photo journey, I wanted to put a face on the brave first responders and the heroism they displayed never to be forgotten,” explains Ritter. “What began as a commission by the American Institute of Architects to photograph the commemorative events of the first anniversary of the attacks, led me on a journey to record these solemn ceremonies every year since.“  For much of his career, Ritter has photographed architectural interiors for leading design publications, including Interior Design Magazine, e-Oculus, and Art in America, and was profiled by American Photographer Magazine for his work in hotel advertising. His work has been exhibited at the National Arts Club, the New York Design Center, Guild Hall in East Hampton, and the Barrett House in Poughkeepsie, and a number of his 9/11 limited edition photos have been purchased by private collectors. Frank Ritter

September 5, 2023 – October 31, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 8, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Artwork by Morgan Kennedy

Morgan Kennedy, a mixed-media artist, brings her Haunt Couture exhibition to the Victorian Gallery at 9 Vassar Street that reflects on her experience as a late-in-life diagnosed Autistic woman. Born and raised on Long Island, she attended Adelphi University (New York) as an undergraduate studying psychology and photography and received her MA in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University (New York) in 2006.  Parallel to the beginnings of her career in mental health treatment, Morgan began freelancing as a photographer focusing on fashion editorial, nightlife and press kit development.  “My body of work, The Dark Side of Nightlife, was exhibited in 2008 at Stereo NYC,” she remarked.  “My exhibit in 2009, The Study of Androgyny, explored gender non-conformity.”   Morgan shifted focus to travel photography in 2010 documenting moody locations in the Scottish Highlands and English countryside.  She also began expanding her artistic mediums to include painting, film and sculpture and in 2016 she displayed a sampling of these works in her exhibit, The Rise From Rock Bottom: A Multimedia Exhibition of Mindfulness. Morgan Kennedy

July 5, 2023 – August 31, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 7, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

The artistry of the Parker-Benjamin family will be on display in a diverse and visually engaging group exhibit.

Onaje Benjamin, whose career spans five decades, is a natural creative serving as a community activist committed to social justice and human rights. In 2022, he was awarded a Creatives Build New York Guaranteed Income Award and in March of 2023 completed the Participatory Photography Training offered by PhotoVoice (London, England). He was also the first recipient of the Leilani Claire Outstanding Achievement in Photography awarded by the Woodstock Artist Association and Museum.  Onaje is currently the Artistic Director of Ujamaa Studios located at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center and displays his work extensively as well as designs custom picture frames. Ujamaa Studios

Band of Brothers by Onaje Benjamin

Shirley Parker-Benjamin is an interdisciplinary artist creating work across the genres of sculptural mixed media, assemblage, and installation. She explores the intersection between ancestral, spiritual, and metaphysical African/African Diasporic traditions and the feminine integrating found objects, natural materials, metals, minerals beadwork and fiber to convey her ideas. Shirley’s work has been exhibited regionally and internationally and her studio, Ezili Arts, is located at the Cunneen Hackett Arts Center. Ezili Arts

Artwork by Shirley Parker-Benjamin

Omar Parker is a photographer based in Queens, New York who captures urban life’s essence through a lens. For 30 years, he has been drawn to all aspects of the urban environment—from graffiti’s vibrant expression to the interplay of people on the streets, including himself. “I document the raw energy and hidden beauty, seeking to immortalize the transient art of graffiti and the intricate stories behind human interactions,” comments Omar. “Through composition and timing, I aim to evoke emotions, challenge perceptions, and reveal the allure of urban life. Join me as we uncover the captivating narratives that shape our urban world.” 

Photo by Omar Parker

July 5, 2023 – August 31, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 7, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Painting by David Vorves

David Vorves is a self-taught artist living in the Hudson Valley, and has been painting for seven years. His work explores themes such as perception, memory, self-consciousness, and humanity, and is characterized by bold color, twisted form, and turbulent brushwork. “My ‘alla prima’ paintings evoke a feeling of fleeting permanence, and often take on a sort of sentience of their own,” comments Mr. Vorves. “I strive to create artwork that forces the viewer to look deeper within themselves, and to notice the people around them.”  His exhibit at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, entitled “Tainted Nostalgia”, explores the memories we love to remember but hate to think about, the people and places that inhabit them, and how such memories ultimately are responsible for molding us into who we are today. 

July 5, 2023 – August 31, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 7, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Tail by Jill Ziccardi

Jill Ziccardi’s artwork is influenced by nature and symbolism, domesticity, satire and American slang language that calls attention to our own absurd and harmful associations about being “female” and “male”. Mocking past and present stereotypes with humor and irony, her images expose the disconnect between the sexes, and the bias that is embedded in our common language and in our psyche.  “As a young artist, I was inspired by a seemingly unremarkable 20 second experience when, one day, I stepped into an elevator full of men and one of them was discussing his affections for a woman he enthusiastically referred to as a ‘hot little tomato!’, Ziccardi recants. “The image of a sexy woman as a tomato amused me, offended me and ignited my sassy sense of humor…I grew up in an ethnic Italian family and the image of a tomato was especially meaningful for it was a term used to objectify and devalue ‘the female’.” This chance encounter opened up a Pandora’s box of ideas that Ziccardi is still executing and sourcing from today, and likely indefinitely. Her arsenal of images is commonly known and quite varied (Chick, Skirt, Bombshell, Prick, Nuts, Bunny, Tail, etc…) and is reappropriated from slang language and reclaimed as her own. Jill Ziccardi

May 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, May 5, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

ArtEast Dutchess, whose goal is to bring awareness to the art being made “east of the Taconic”, brings together nine talented visual artists of varied mediums and techniques for their Group Exhibit in the Reception Gallery.  On display will be works by Gretchen Hoffman Abene, Donna Castelluccio, Shelly Dell, Michael Gellatly, Susan Hennelly, Carol-Lee Kantor, Doreen O’Connor, Jeanne Plekon, and Tilly Strauss. ArtEast Dutchess

May 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, May 5, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Robert Goldwitz is an award-winning photographer who has been featured in one-man and group shows from New York City to Key West.  A long-time Hudson Valley resident, his passion for the visual arts has carried him through a forty-year career in photography, film and video. With a keen eye for light, composition and detail, Rob’s subjects range from the purely realistic to the evocatively abstract. His fine art photography is in private collections from Norway to Brazil, Japan to South Africa and his stock photography can be found in periodicals as well as textbooks, journals and other print media.  A monumental mural of one of his Brooklyn waterfront photographs was recently installed in the lobby of the Brooklyn Fairfield Inn and The Rose Center of Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York features some of his video work. Robert Goldwitz Photography

May 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, May 5, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Susan Angeles is a mixed media artist whointegrates silk, gauze and other fabric into her paintings. She explores organic and inorganic materials such as crushed minerals, paper and found objects for their robust textural qualities and applies her keen visual sense and tactile ability to combine smooth and rough textures, organic and geometric shapes, and figurative and abstract compositions. Susan’s passion for art began at an early age when she would copy some of the paintings in her parents’ varied art collection. She took private art lessons with celebrated Filipino artist Sofronio Y. Mendoza (SYM) in the 1970’s that influenced her early drawings and oil paintings which were largely representational. Susan has channeled her artistic interests by co-founding Anderson Center for Autism’s art program, Expressive Outcomes, providing individuals with autism and developmental disabilities opportunities for artistic expression and has purposed her art to fundraise for the organization. She is also a proud mother of two boys – one with special needs who is a long-time resident of the Anderson Center. Susan Angeles

March 2, 2023 – April 28, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, March 10, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Penny Dell is a printmaker who enjoys making woodcuts, etchings, and monotypes and many combinations using these modalities. “My decades of drawing, painting and printmaking are coming together these days in works that combine all three with other adventurous mediums,” she comments. “Presently, I use collage, encaustic, handmade paper and gilding to layer over a print—building pattern and color. Hexagons cut from the decorative interiors of envelopes have been a driving force. I layer tirelessly and final works with very different appearance and impact are the result.” Dell was born in Mexico and grew up in Mexico City and Acapulco, before coming to the US at age thirteen. The artist Francisco Dos Amantes and the zoomorphic figures of Aztec friezes influenced her early work. She studied English and French Literature at Simmons College and the Sorbonne, and painting at the Triveni Kala Sangam Akademi in New Delhi, India.  Dell’s work is regularly exhibited in the Hudson Valley and in NYC as well as regionally and can be found in many corporate and private collections including Cablevision, Rutgers University and the New York Public Library. From 2005-2007 she served as President for the National Association of Women Artists. Dell lives and works in Poughkeepsie, NY. 

March 2, 2023 – April 28, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, March 10, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Archil Pichkhadze received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NYC where he studied illustration and his MFA in Painting from Brooklyn College. While at Brooklyn College, Pichkhadze was profoundly influenced by his instructor, the esteemed realist painter, Lennart Anderson. “I am in love with the visual world,” he states. “For me, the most important part of making a painting is the act of looking. I want each painting to hold the viewers gaze, let him or her enter and wonder around a bit, making their own personal connections and discoveries along the way.” Pichkhadze’s painting presents him with the task of balancing its many elements and equates it like lines in a poem where the parts of the painting have to support and play off of each other in order for the whole to succeed. The implied narratives in his work over the last decade have floated much closer to the surface with these images attempting to balance the visual and emotional complexities found at the borders of observational realism, fading memories and lost dreams.  His exhibit at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center presents a selection of these paintings for viewers to experience a touch of wonder. Pichkhadze resides in Ulster County, NY.

March 2, 2023 – April 28, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, March 10, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Logan Lesley is a visual artist who uses acrylic, oil and spray paint along with organic materials to create colorful and vivid abstract pieces of art that sometimes include portraits. “I started creating art that hopefully when others see it they see something they can connect with,” remarks Lesley. “In my art I want to captivate the onlookers attention by pulling them in with my vibrant use of colors that can evoke a sense of connection.”  Logan Lesley originally hails from Cleveland, Ohio and is currently based in NY.

January 2, 2023 – February 28, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 6, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Renee Samuels’ exhibit, Yes, You, in the Victorian Gallery of Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center at 9 Vassar Street, comprises mixed-media diptych collages in which there is a photo on one side and on the other, an abstract work based on that photo. “You could say I’m an artist’s artist,” says Samuels, “but in this show, I’m aiming at an audience that doesn’t understand abstract art, trying to show that abstraction can be as simple as drawing a vertical line to represent a tree trunk. If you’ve come to understand that basic concept from these collages, you may see things in a new way.”  A native of the Boston area, Samuels has resided in Woodstock, NY, for 35 years. Her work has been shown recently at Athens Cultural Center (Athens, NY), Spencertown Arts Academy (Spencertown, NY), the Arts Society of Kingston (Kingston, NY), Andes Academy of Art (Andes, NY) and Pause Art Gallery (Troy, NY). This exhibition is in honor of the artist’s sister, Sharon. Renee Samuels Studio

January 2, 2023 – February 28, 2023

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 6, 2023 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Frank Rapant is a commercial-and-art photographer from Castleton-On-Hudson, New York who has been exhibiting photography and sculpture for 15 years.  His exhibit, Ode to Duane, in the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center’s Hancock Gallery at 12 Vassar Street marks the third time he has had a solo exhibition in Upstate New York and is an homage to artist Duane Michals.  “The images are existing photographs I made over the years for other purposes, mostly commercial, paired intentionally with my handwritten writings,” explains Mr. Rapant. “Most of the written work is fiction, but some is poetry, and some is autobiography.”  Frank Rapant is a first-place award recipient of the 38^th Annual Photography Regional, juried by Dan Burkholder, for selections from his body of work “After The Fire” and is the Photo Lab and Exhibitions Technician for the Union College Visual Art Department. His work has been on display regionally most notably at the Albany Center Gallery (Albany, NY), Fulton Street Gallery (Troy, NY), Burns Atrium Gallery (Schenectady, NY) and The Kirkland Art Center (Clinton, NY). Frank Rapant Photography