Art Opening Receptions: Liliana Washburn and Barbara Todd’s curated Group Exhibition “What Comes Back: Renewal and Resilience” on Friday, September 11, 2026 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Grace Smith House “The Clothesline Project” on Thursday, September 22, 2026 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Liliana Washburn – Victorian Gallery @ 9 Vassar Street from 9/1/2026 to 10/30/2026
Artwork by Liliana Washburn
Liliana Washburn is a Brazilian-American painter and illustrator based in the Hudson Valley whose work is rooted in clarity, emotion, and the expressive power of simplicity. While her practice begins with clean, intentional line work, color plays an equally vital role. “I use color as a sensory guide — a way to lead viewers into their own inner landscapes”, she explains. Washburn’s visual language reflects a sensitivity to nuance…subtle shifts in line weight, rhythm, and hue work together to shape atmosphere and emotion. The interplay between sparse, deliberate marks and thoughtfully placed color creates images that feel both quiet and resonant, offering space for personal reflection. Whether exploring figures, mood, or natural forms, she distills complex experiences into compositions that feel personal, contemplative, and expansive. Liliana Washburn’s art has appeared in national and international galleries and private collections, attracting viewers drawn to its elegance and emotional clarity. Through the harmony of line and color, she invites others to pause, look closely, and discover the depth that lives within the power of simplicity. Liliana has received several prestigious art residencies, including the Brashnar Creative Project residency in Northern Macedonia and the Goluchow residency in Poland. Additionally, she is the recipient of the Voices of Pawling Award from Pawling Public Radio and the Exploring Vassar Transfer Scholarship from Vassar College. Liliana graduated summa cum laude from SUNY New Paltz with a B.S. in Visual Arts.
“What Comes Back: Renewal and Reslience” Group Exhibition curated by Barbara Todd – Reception and Hancock Galleries @ 12 Vassar Street from 9/1/2026 to 10/20/2026
Barbara Todd is a freelance photographer, fine art photographer, and digital artist based in the Hudson Valley. Her curated group exhibition, What Comes Back: Renewal and Resilience, explores sustainability through contemporary art and brings together artists working across various mediums to examine how ecosystems, communities, and materials recover, adapt, and endure. “The exhibition takes its title from a simple observation: after loss, disruption, or depletion, something inevitably returns — a forest regrows, a community rebuilds, a discarded object finds new purpose,” explains Ms. Todd. “This group exhibition gathers artists whose work embodies that idea in different ways with some pieces confronting environmental urgency addressing themes such as resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, and a changing climate and other works of art that are built entirely from reclaimed, recycled, or repurposed materials.” Barbara Todd is a founding member of the Artists’ Collective of Hyde Park, where she currently serves as Vice President, overseeing marketing, website maintenance, and social media for the organization. She is a Board Member of Arts Mid-Hudson chairing the Development Committee, is Program Manager for Sustainable Hudson Valley and was Secretary for Art Along the Hudson. Since 2012, she has exhibited her work in numerous group and solo shows, several juried, throughout the Hudson Valley. She is a two-time participant in the juried Art in the Loft show in Millbrook, NY, and was the first artist to exhibit in the Poughkeepsie Common Council Chambers—an ongoing exhibition space made possible through Arts Mid-Hudson’s partnership with the City of Poughkeepsie. In 2024, she co-curated a sustainability themed art show called Our Only Planet at Tivoli Artists Gallery with Elisabeth Barnett, Peggy Farrington and Dan Shornstein, and recently co-exhibited with Semine Hazar at the National Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island.
Grace Smith House “The Clothesline Project” – Reception and Hancock Galleries @ 12 Vassar Street from 10/22/2026 to 10/30/2026
The Grace Smith House Clothesline Project is a powerful visual display of t-shirts created by survivors of domestic violence or their loved ones. Each shirt is designed to represent a particular victim’s experience. This emotional expression is part of a national movement to bear witness to these experiences, help those impacted with the healing process, and educate document, and raise our community’s awareness of the extent of domestic and sexual violence problems. Grace Smith House is the custodian of the largest collection of t-shirts in Dutchess County. There are over 400 shirts spanning back over the past 40 years. In the past, shirts have been displayed at the New York State Police Troop K headquarters; Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office; Poughkeepsie Galleria; Betsy Jacaruso Gallery in Rhinebeck; and Gallery 40 in Poughkeepsie. The Clothesline Project is not suitable for children due to the explicit sexual messages on some of the t-shirts being displayed.