Past Gallery Events

Friday, September 5, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

• Victorian Gallery @ 9 Vassar Street – Valerie Berner, Acrylic Paintings
• Reception Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Inna Ivanovskaya, Photographer/Documentarian & Tatiana Rhinevault, Painter
• Hancock Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Lisa Weinblatt, Painter (School Lunch Series)  

Live Music @ 12 Vassar Street provided by Leonid & Sofia Poleeschuck

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 11, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Award-winning visual artists Semine Hazar, Fatma Kadir and Ilhan Sayin, whose global collaborations include museums and United Nations Conferences, bring their “I Love New York” group art show to the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center. This exhibition highlights each artists’ area of expertise and offers unique perspectives of New York.  Semine Hazar is a celebrated oil artist known for her lighthouse paintings such as Lighthouses of the Hudson River as well as her exploratory themes of climate change and the environment as captured in her piece The Lighthouse at the End of the World inspired by her experience witnessing ice melting in Argentina.  She has exhibited her work in numerous juried shows and museums, including the National Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island, NY.  Fatma Kadir, who is also a renowned oil artist specializing in avian paintings, brings her works of Hudson Valley’s trees and birds to the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center and will unveil her painting Flaco, the male Eurasian eagle-owl (March 15, 2010 – February 23, 2024), who escaped his long-time enclosure at Central Park Zoo in New York City after someone cut the protective netting. Also featured in her exhibition are three paintings of the first American flamingos of New York.  Acclaimed botanical artist, Ilhan Sayin, will present his floral paintings and gives homage to New York State with paintings of the Rose – the state flower. More than just a symbol of beauty, the Rose “is a testament to resilience and cultural significance…it is an iconic emblem of the Empire State,” he explains. Ilhan Sayin has shown his artwork in Havre de Grace Maritime Museum and Environmental Center (Maryland, USA), The Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change (Hong Kong), and the Pinelo Art Gallery (Turkey), to name a few.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 11, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Jenny Sweeney

Jenny Sweeney is an exceptionally skilled and prolific visual artist specializing in realistic drawings using colored pencils and watercolor paints. She pursued her artistic passion by taking art courses at Spackenkill High School and at Dutchess Community College all the while bravely serving in the Air National Guard.  As Jenny’s family expanded, she discovered profound inspiration for her recent series of drawings entitled “Through the Eyes of a Child” that will be on display at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center.  This exhibition reflects the innocence and curiosity of children.  Her artwork is a testament of her love for humanity and each emotional connection is captured in her portraits. “My children and the vibrant community around me are not just subjects but the essence of my art; their presence fuels my love for color and emotion, which I strive to infuse into my drawings and paintings,” explains Jenny. “Through my art, I aim to transport viewers to a time of simplicity and beauty, urging them to cherish the memories we create and to see how precious life truly is.”  Jenny and her “lively” family, that also includes beloved pets, reside in the Town of Poughkeepsie where she actively collaborates with esteemed local organizations on many projects and artistic endeavors.  In addition to exhibiting her work at various locations that have included the Boardman Library (Poughkeepsie, NY), she also utilizes her creative skill set as a highly sought-after professional face painter for various events and parties.  

Friday, July 11, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

• Victorian Gallery @ 9 Vassar Street – Jenny Sweeney, Painter
• Reception Gallery & Hancock Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Group Exhibition featuring Fatma Kadir, Ilhan Sayin and Semine Hazar  

Art Opening Reception: Friday, May 9, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Mari Keeler Cornwall – Portraiture Artist

Mari Keeler Cornwell is a classically trained artist from Caracas, Venezuela who draws inspiration from her vibrant homeland and the remarkable women in her life. Growing up surrounded by strong female figures, Mari was mentored by her artist aunt who helped her hone her artistic skills and the resilience of her grandmother, Venezuela’s first female aviator, who instilled in her a deep appreciation for the strength and power of womanhood. After earning her BFA from Laguna College of Art and Design in 2001, she explored a career in advertising while continuing to showcase her art in New York City exhibitions. “My journey as an artist is a constant exploration of the connection between color, pattern, and emotion with a goal to enrich the tradition of portraiture,” Mari conveys. “By infusing intensity into depictions of women, I use pigments and textures to breathe life into my subjects that celebrate their resilience, brilliance, and individuality.”

Art Opening Reception: Friday, May 9, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Aurora by Kate Masters

Kate Masters is a painter based in Saugerties, NY and founding member of CIRCLE24collective.  She began painting in earnest in her late 50s with her recent work of abstract compositions and landscapes inspired by local settings done in oil. “I am interested in the ‘vibe’ of sweeping romantic scenes, exploring how distance, weather and atmosphere impact the scene, and where land and sky merge, rather than a focus on details,” she remarks. Masters has participated in the Mohonk Preserve Plein Air Art Walk and Auction and The Hudson Valley Plein Air Festival, and her work has been shown in the ArtBar Gallery, Arts Society of Kingston, Emerge Gallery, The Muroff-Kotler Gallery, WomensWork.Art, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, and Woodstock School of Art. She also serves on the Board of Advisors at Woodstock School of Art. 

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Windmill No. 2 by Sylvia Mueller

Sylvia Mueller studied photography at the School of Visual Arts and worked for several years in advertising and magazine production in NYC. Moving to the Hudson Valley from Brooklyn, NY, she embarked on another creative journey whereby enlisting magazines and art books to create analog (hand-cut) collages reflecting her love of nature. Her collages are made up of images, often iconic or historical, and mixed with more recent imagery. “My inspiration is drawn from nature, not only in the cuts I use, but in the intricacies, you can see in any landscape – the macro down to the micro.” explains Mueller. She has exhibited her work in many juried shows that have included New York’s Upstream Gallery in Hastings on Hudson, Emerge Gallery in Saugerties, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum in Woodstock, and Muroff Kotler Gallery to name a few. She is also a founding member of CIRCLE24collective. 

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The High Life by Jacqueline Oster

Jacqueline Oster is a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Technology who has worked for various advertising agencies as a Graphic Designer and Art Director in New York City. When she moved to the Hudson Valley region to raise a family, she furthered her career as a Freelance Graphic Designer crafting successful design projects from her homebased Studio for a diversified roster of tri-state area clients. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jacqueline revisited her love of watercolor focusing on ordinary common objects, animals, nature and people. “I believe that every object has a story to tell and I try to capture that in my watercolors,” she relays. “Even the most mundane household item has movement and flow which can be transformed into a work of art. You just need to look at the object and think of its function to actually ‘see’ the movement.”  When describing her watercolor technique, Jacqueline says, “I allow the water to move the paint and I follow along guiding it with various tools and my sense of design…a hairdryer, toothbrush and magic eraser all work in unison with my assortment of brushes.” Jacqueline is an Active Member of Woodstock Artist Association and Museum, a member of Create Council on the Arts, and a member of Arts Mid-Hudson. Her work has been exhibited at local businesses, libraries and galleries including WAAM Gallery, ASK Gallery, Emerge Gallery, Jane Street Gallery, Olive Free Gallery, Create Gallery and Cornell Creative Arts Center of Kingston. She is also a founding member of CIRCLE24collective.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, May 9, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Jim Smith, Jr. – Photographer

Jim Smith, Jr.  was born and raised in South Africa, Pietermaritzburg, KZN and moved to Hyde Park, NY with his family during his childhood years. Upon graduating from FDR High School, he enrolled at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where he is completing his BFA in Photography with two concentrations in commercial and documentary photography with a minor in fashion photography, a minor in Film & Television, and a minor in Art History. An avid outdoorsman, Jim enjoys photographing wildlife and landscapes along with traveling the globe exploring the frontiers of possibilities the world and nature have to offer.  “Nature and the world are my inspirations along with being able to show how nature is always changing and mirrors the world,” he relays. “The unpredictability of nature has always fascinated me and how the world is never standing still…when fusing nature, the world, and photography you never know what kind of interesting, beautiful things that the world and nature will show you.”  In addition to his prolific forays into the world of photography, Jim is also an Eagle Scout member, a Free Mason in the Grand Lodge of the State of New York of Free and Accepted Masons, a 32° Scottish Rite Mason in the Valley of the Hudson, and an 18-year volunteer firefighter.

Friday, May 9, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

• Victorian Gallery @ 9 Vassar Street – Jim Smith, Photography
• Reception Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – CIRCLE24collective featuring Kate Masters, Sylvia Mueller, and Jacqueline Oster
• Hancock Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Mari Keeler Cornwell, Acrylic Paintings  

Friday, March 7, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

• Victorian Gallery @ 9 Vassar Street – Ulana Salewycz, Marianne Crans, Vitalia Deriabina, and the late Catherine Zadorecka Gorham (Ukrainian American artists from the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America)
• Reception Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Kate Hoekstra, Realistic Painter
• Hancock Gallery @ 12 Vassar Street – Ian Hutton, Photography and Selva Ozelli, Painter

Art Opening Reception: Friday, March 7, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Ulana Salewycz, Vitalia Deriabina, Marianna Crans, and the late Catherine Zadorecka Gorham are four Ukrainian American artists from the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America. Through their multitude of creative endeavors, they have dedicated themselves to fostering the organization’s goals of educating and empowering women, keeping alive and flourishing the Ukrainian arts and culture for generations to come in America, and to aid Ukrainians in need.

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Artwork by Ulana Salewycz

Ulana Salewycz has lived in the Hudson Valley for over 30 years and has shown her works in area galleries and local arts and crafts fairs most notably at the Ukrainian Institute of America (NYC), Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center and Arts Mid-Hudson.  She studied Fine Arts at the Art Students’ League (NYC) and Rutgers University in Newark, NJ where she obtained her BA along with a Museum Training certificate. She also holds an AA degree in Applied Science from the NY School of Interior Design, has enjoyed a decade-long career as an Interior Designer and has received an MA in Art Therapy from the College of New Rochelle. 

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Sunflower Power by Vitalia Deriabina

Vitalia Deriabina is a Ukrainian-born artist, political consultant, and cultural ambassador who now resides in Poughkeepsie, NY. In 2024, Vitalia Deriabina co-authored an art therapy program based on petrykivka art as part of a UNESCO-funded initiative in Ukraine designed to help individuals affected by the war find healing and empowerment through creative expression, using the traditional Ukrainian folk art of petrykivka as a therapeutic tool. Through her artwork, Vitalia aims to share the beauty, energy, and resilience of Ukrainian culture with the American community. “Through my paintings, I seek to connect people from diverse cultures, inspiring them to embrace their own creativity and empowering them to see beauty in the world around them,” Ms. Deriabina explains. “My art is not just a personal expression; it is a celebration of life, tradition, and the power of artistic expression to unite us all.” Before moving to the U.S., Vitalia had an extensive career in political consulting holding a BA in Pedagogy, a BA in Political Science, and an MA in Development Studies.

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New Moon of the Winter Solstice by Marianna Crans

Marianna Szczawinsky Crans, who resides in Ulster County, NY, is Ukrainian by heritage and by ethnic pride. She began formal art lessons at the age of 8 years old and developed her artistic talents throughout her school years earning an AA Degree in Liberal Arts from Ulster County Community College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from SUNY New Paltz. “I work in varied mediums that encompass watercolors, oils, pencil, pen and ink, acrylics, pastels, and scratchboard with colored pencil and watercolor,” relays Ms. Crans. “Over the years, my love of art blossomed into landscape and wildlife painting, a leaning partially influenced by the Hudson River School of Landscape painters.” 

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Artwork by Catherine Zadorecka Gorham

The late Catherine Zadorecka Gorham was a graduate of Poughkeepsie High School and SUNY Dutchess and, in addition to being an accomplished artist, worked for IBM, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the Professional Culinary Academy in Poughkeepsie. Cathy, as friends and family called her, had the soul of an artist whose many interests led her to cultural arts, photography, basket making, gardening, sewing, quilting, and crafting. Ms. Gorham’s love of traveling to locations that included Alaska, Canada, across the U.S. and the American Southwest, particularly New Mexico, resulted in her photographic images being transformed into silk-like images that captured the colors and play of light.  

Art Opening Reception: Friday, March 7, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Alabaster Bouquet by Kate Hoekstra

Kate Hoekstra is a self-taught painter influenced by the 19th and 20th century American Impressionists who worked in and around the New England area. With flowers, portraits, still life and nature as her subjects, Ms. Hoekstra emulates the style of Charles Benson, Thedore Robinson, and Henry Twachtman in their mastery of drawing, composition, and color to create her inspirational works of art. “I grew up in the heyday of abstract painting but have always felt more in tune with traditional painters,” she explains. “So, when I decided to teach myself to paint, the classical and Impressionist painters were my models.” Ms. Hoekstra, whose career spans 30 years, is the founder and artist in resident of Lilac Inn Gallery in Putnam Valley, NY.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, March 7, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

World-renowned photographer Ian Hutton who is the curator of Lord Howe Island Museum, Lord Howe Island, Australia, and award-winning oil artist Selva Ozelli from the Hudson Valley team up to bring a taste of Lord Howe Island Group to the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center with their show entitled, “Paradise.”  Ian Hutton is a gifted photographer who has recorded the raw beauty, birds, marine life, and plants of Lord Howe Island. These photographic works have been published in over twelve books and field guides. “Living on Lord Howe Island is like living inside a David Attenborough documentary,” he explains. “From the beginning, I set out to emulate the great naturalist, exploring and documenting the Island’s diverse habitats, marine life, plants, birds, and weather patterns…there is little I enjoy more than the chance to share my passion for the island and its environment with others.”  Selva Ozelli is an award-winning artist whose paintings have been acknowledged in nineteen international art contests and exhibited in over 120 art shows by numerous museums, the United Nations, ministries, and Non-Governmental Organizations across the world. Her artwork has been cataloged by the United Nations, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, and the Berlin University of Art as part of the project titled “Climate Summit Art, Art and Political Event, 1972 – 2022”. Additionally, her three art shows “Reef Dwellers,” “Orcas & Reefs” and “Healing Waters” are endorsed by UNESCO OCEAN DECADE. Ms. Ozell is also the author of “Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally”, published by Wiley, and is a member of the Climate Heritage Network, Global Resilience Partnership, as well as an ambassador to Oceanic Global. 

Jessica Licciardello, Videographer 8 Minutes to Freedom – Friday, January 3, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Reception and Hancock Galleries @ 12 Vassar Street / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

Melanie Gonzalez, Fine Art Photography – Friday, January 10, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Reception Gallery / Free Admission / Refreshments will be served

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 10, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Hut on Bartow Pell Grounds (Double Exposure) by Melanie Gonzalez

Melanie Gonzalez is a fine photographer artist who creates multimedia films, wearable arts and textiles, photographic prints, and community art productions. Born and raised in the Bronx, her professional practice in the arts stems from an upbringing engaged in music, theater, sculpture and nature all in the heart of NYC. “As an artist photographer, I consider the medium to be my foundation, as I then have used my library of images to create video projects, jewelry, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu apparel, large format printed banners, photogravure prints, tiny books, studio pictures, and printed material,” she explained. “My practice involves my visual beautification as historical archive, and the wide web of physical collaborations that take place behind every image, whether to work with others to purchase the materials to create the work, or joining with others to visit sites of interest, commerce, learning, and transforming.” Gonzalez holds a Bachelor of Arts (Studio Art/Photography) from The City College of New York and has been the recipient of the 2023 Women’s Studio Workshop Summer Intensive Scholarship and the 2022 Creatives Rebuild NY Grant, and the 2015 Bronx Council on the Arts Grant, to name a few. In 2019, she founded Suzanna Productions operating in New Paltz, NY as a way to professionally present the multimedia creative solutions derived from her photography-making.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, January 3, 2025 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Artwork by Jessica Licciardello

Jessica Licciardello has built a diverse 20-year career as an artist, designer, composer, and musician whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, collected in over 15 countries, and featured in Forbes magazine. Holding a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Marist College, her creative journey includes collaborations with National Geographic photographers and serving as Creative Director and Arts & Culture Journalist for BELLA Magazine. Ms. Licciardello’s exhibition at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center entitled “8 Minutes to Freedom”, made possible with funds from the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson, was inspired by her decision to leave an abusive relationship and by the courage of others who had shared their own stories. “8 Minutes to Freedom marks the moment I decided to leave an abusive relationship that I had been trapped in for far too long,” she expressed. “It had taken me a while to get to the point of making that decision, and when the opportunity presented itself, I was in the basement of my apartment building, doing laundry, with eight minutes left on the dryer’s cycle, and seeing that number, I realized I had only this brief window to act…I told myself, ‘That’s it, this is the moment’ and I gathered my clothes, and with them, I took my first steps toward freedom. That was the beginning of my healing process.”  Ms. Licciardello’s work is driven by her passion to inspire, spread positivity, and connect communities through the transformative power of art. She currently works as a freelance Art Director and Producer for live events around the world, combining her artistic vision with organizational expertise to create impactful experiences as well as shares global art exhibitions on her robust Instagram, inspiring followers to explore diverse artistic practices worldwide.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 8, 2024 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

A Romantic Bouquet by Logan Lapointe

Logan Lapointe is a Hudson Valley artist who attended SUNY New Paltz studying Visual Arts. Since 2015, she has been honing her painting technique with exhibits at Greenpoint Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Universal Preservation Hall (Saratoga Springs, NY), Rogal Gallery (New Paltz, NY), People’s Cauldron (Stone Ridge, NY) and Peace Nation Cafe (Kingston, NY), to name a few. Inspired by the outdoor environment of her childhood, she “just can’t seem to leave the mountains and waterfalls,” she remarks. In addition to painting, Ms. LaPointe has been the Animal Care Manager at the Ulster County SPCA since 2013.  She resides in High Falls, NY with her dog, Bubba.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 13, 2024 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Clover Wings by Emily Marchesiello

Emily Marchesiello is a graduate of the MFA program at Queens College CUNY and specializes in fine point line drawing, oil painting and watercolor painting.  She derives her inspiration from the natural world and the fantasy realm.  “The process of intentional mark making is a meditation,” she explains. “Each line and dot is a physical manifestation of thought, while at the same time a product of mindless release.”  Ms. Marchesiello uses vibrant hues to convey joy, freedom, and endless possibility. She currently resides in the Hudson Valley, NY region with her family.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 13, 2024 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

South of the River by Carol Loizides

Carol Loizides, who studied Art Education at SUNY New Paltz (receiving 34 graduate credits), is inspired by the concept of “painting your childhood” to paint pieces using color and color relationships as they are found in nature and beyond. During her time at SUNY New Paltz, she was greatly influenced by her professors George Wardlaw and Illya Bolotowsky, and in ensuing years studying under Bernard Steffen, Franklin Alexander at the Woodstock Art Students League, and most notably Bruce Dorfman who influenced her approach to painting the most. “(Bruce Dorfman) emphasized that artists must have a much more focused goal than wanting to ‘express themselves’ and explained that there is ‘something the artist must want to see…a goal one must work towards’; I find that color, color relationships, as they are found in nature and beyond are what motivate me,” she recants. “This includes the Chemung River Valley in the Southern Tier of New York where I spent my elementary school years, and Central New York, where I spent my high school years. Most of the work in my exhibit, entitled Upstate and More, reflects this focus.” Ms. Loizides is a founding member of the artists cooperative LongReach Arts that formed in 1982 in Poughkeepsie as summergroup but now encompassing artists from both sides of the Hudson River. Her work can be found in both private and public collections.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 13, 2024 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Artwork by JJ Kathe

JJ Kathe hails from New York’s Capital region and creates art and music based on her profession in the fields of forestry and climate change adaptation. “The intent of my artwork is to illustrate correlations between spatially or conceptually related variables, and many of my pieces are artistic representations of real data relating to a subject: maps which I’ve processed using GIS, or graphs from published works and others integrate photographs of one location over time to highlight land use changes…almost all works with a spatial component relate specifically to New York State,” she relays. “My hope is to amplify an underused lens to observe scientific evidence that actually ties the information back into meaning and feeling; without imagining the real-life outcomes of phenomena – like climate change, gentrification, or habitat loss – that is conveyed through facts and figures, it’s impossible to gain a sense of what is being lost by inaction.” Ms. Kathe holds a BA degree and an MS degree in Geography and spends time exploring New York’s forests and sailing the Hudson River.

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 12, 2024 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Amphibious Nature by Collin Douma

Collin Douma is a mixed media artist whose career spans fine arts, illustration, animation, and digital art as well as other creative mediums. Hailing from the Woodstock area of Ontario, Canada, he studied traditional animation at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada and established a decade-long career in advertising while living in Toronto.  Moving to the United States in 2011 with his wife and son, he took up residency in Brooklyn, NY then relocated to the Hudson Valley in 2017.  Mr. Douma, who “started drawing as soon as he could lift a crayon but never stopped”, has exhibited his work in both of the Woodstock locations, across the United States and Canada, and in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.