Past Gallery Events

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, 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

January 1, 2023 – February 28, 2023

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

Adrian Lee is a mixed media painter who will be presenting his exhibit, Biographical Mimesis, in the Reception Gallery at 12 Vassar Street. Originally from Seattle, Washington, he challenges the notion of what a “realistic” image truly is by utilizing convincing modes of representation and idiosyncratic motifs that portray the natural world based on his experiences within it. “My paintings act as memoirs and are imbued with urban undertones that originate from my background as a graffiti writer,” Mr. Lee points out. “Utilizing thousands of reference photos that I have compiled over the years, I map out compositions that are then broken down into sections of painting, drawing, and collage…I correlate my experiences and memories by transcribing them through mark-making to create a vulnerable sensation that the viewer can connect with.”  Adrian Lee received his Associate of the Arts degree from Seattle Central College in 2015, his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Central Washington University in 2018, and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University at Albany, SUNY in 2021. He is the recipient of the 2016 CWU Chair’s Choice Award and the 2018 Rachel Kirk Book award, and currently resides in Albany, NY. Adrian Lee Studio

November 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 4, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Marie DiPerri is a Mixed Media artist and will display her Psycle exhibit in the Reception Gallery. “Psycle explores the abstractness behind individualized evolution, an evolution that’s in constant flux because life is in constant flux,” explains Ms. DiPerri. “These mixed media paintings push boundaries into the sculptural world in order to reflect how one evolves and navigates their world through memories and experiences.” Ms. DiPerri is a New York artist based in the Hudson Valley whose focus is on creating mixed media works utilizing collage, painting, found objects, and objects from nature.  Receiving her BFA in painting from The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University and her BS in Art Education from SUNY New Paltz, she has exhibited her work in Boston and throughout the Hudson Valley, most recently in the Po+P Up Kingston 2020 O+ Festival.  Ms. DiPerri has also served as a Teaching Artist for non-profit organizations such as The Art Effect (formerly Mill Street Loft), Arts Horizons, and The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies as well as co-owned and operated Gallery Fifty5 with her partner from 2018-2020.

November 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 4, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Erin Ann Koch, whose artwork will be on display in the Hallway Art Gallery at 9 Vassar Street, is a painter and photographer residing in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Inspired by the trees, rivers, highlands and grasslands of the Hudson Valley as well as Buddhism, mythology, and collaboration with her community, Ms. Koch believes in the value of art to uplift our lives, bring beauty into our homes, and stimulate imagination.  “I attune to nature, the landscape, the weather, and the effects of light…my goal is to bring happiness to others through my art,” she comments.  Ms. Koch has taught art to children for the past 20 years and currently teaches Middle School students at the Oakwood Friends School in Spackenkill, NY.  She has also been a studio assistant for award winning artists Graham Nickson and Martin Puryear, and has worked for NY Studio School, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Studio in A School and Experience Arts Project (Seattle).  

November 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, November 4, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Kat Spontak is a self-taught, Hudson Valley-based self portrait photographer and mixed media artist. Ms. Spontak’s exhibit, The Dichotomy of Love, is an exploration of her experiences in love.  “It’s the most important thing in the world…what makes it go ‘round – getting to love and be loved in return, in all forms of the word,” she relays. “The feeling of peace on earth or the fall of Rome, everything and nothing, together, separate or not at all; yet forever, always.”

September 1, 2022 – October 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 9, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Kristen Lowe is a New York based artist and educator specializing in oil painting. Her work is inspired by deep connections to her environment and the many layers and stories each place holds, whether they be physical, historical or metaphorical. “I was fortunate enough to grow up in a region of New York with beautiful landscapes and rich history,” remarked Ms. Lowe. “My paintings reflect my interest in the natural world and appreciation for the scenery and life surrounding me.”  Holding a BFA and MS in Art and Design with a concentration in painting from Pratt Institute, her training encompassed traditional methods, such as using the grisaille technique, to paint the figure as the old masters did.  She incorporates this classic method with contemporary practices to blend the past and present in her paintings that represent the human interconnection to our world. Ms. Lowe has exhibited her work at the Limner Gallery, Bannerman Island Gallery, Arts Society of Kingston, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, Olive Free Library, and Unframed Artists Gallery. She has taught art at a variety of institutions in New York City including the Guggenheim and is currently teaching at a public high school in the Hudson Valley.

September 1, 2022 – October 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, September 9, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Diane Christi is a mixed media abstract artist who uses pencil, pastel, ink and oil paint on paper to create contrasting textual designs. “As a former dancer, I attempt to capture the timeless energy of movement in my painting approaching each new piece as a new choreography,” she states. “Saturation of color amidst intricate lines and shapes is my medium of transmission whereby juncture and intersection of line frequently inform me alongside motion, division of space, and observation of light.” Ms. Christi is a graduate of Queens College, NY receiving a BA in Theater and Dance and studied at the Woodstock School of Art. Her works have been on display in numerous galleries throughout the Hudson Valley including ArtBar Gallery in Kingston, NY, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY, and the Twilight Park Gallery in Haines Falls, NY where she was awarded Judges Choice in 2018 and 2019. https://www.dianechristi.com/new-works (Ms. Christi’s artwork will be on display in the Reception Gallery at 12 Vassar Street.)

Stacie Flint is an award-winning painter/portrait artist and illustrator of the children’s book Ten Pigs Fiddling by Ron Atlas (2005 Amberwood Press). Known for her colorful style and the use of imagery, Ms. Flint embraces Expressionism’s sense of freedom to paint vibrant and colorful portraits of people and pets as well as objects and landscape. “The color, energy, accessible imagery and good mood are consistent and distinctive to my work, which I call ‘Love Through Art’,” she explains. “My work has evolved from a graphic narrative to a painterly process.  I infuse my art with love of life, and hope it inspires others as it does me.”  Ms. Flint has exhibited extensively throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley, New York City, and beyond. Her acrylic and oil paintings and portraits are owned nationally and internationally, and her art is in the permanent collection of Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY, and in Catskill Regional Medical Center, Harris, NY.  She also has a commissioned public art exhibit on permanent display at Ulster County Area Transit in Kingston.  Ms. Flint studied art at SUNY New Paltz and received a BPS degree from SUNY Empire State College. Her art has been featured on many magazine covers including Chronogram, The Valley Table, The Ulster County Community Guide, HITS Program Guide and The Van Wyck Gazette and has appeared in various issues of The New York Times, Spotlight International Contemporary Art Magazine, Hudson Valley Magazine, Poughkeepsie Journal, New Paltz Times and other publications. Her illustrations for music CD covers include Grenadilla, Betty and the Baby Boomers, and Ellie Wininger. Stacie Flint (Ms. Flint’s artwork will be on display in the Hancock Gallery at 12 Vassar Street.)

July 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 8, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 9 Vassar Street

Ivone Milani, a Bronx, NY native, studied photography at Parson School of Design in Manhattan and specializes in photographing nature.  The Secret Garden exhibit at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center is Ms. Milani’s first solo show and encompasses images set in nature taken in the Hudson Valley, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other surrounding areas.  “The idea is to capture hidden beauty that maybe found even in your own backyard,” she states. “To see a beautiful sunset, an Eagle with her young or a seal bathing in the sun…you see things differently and appreciate them.”  Ms. Milani has participated in group exhibitions at Bethany Arts Community, OAC and Beacon Arts with her most recent showing at Arthouse NYC in 2022.

July 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022

Art Opening Reception: Friday, July 8, 2022 / 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm @ 12 Vassar Street

Ted Dixon is an acrylic and mixed media artist who uses a variety of applications on canvas, paper and board to create his compositions that are influenced by his efforts to capture moments in time, and a certain feeling and meaning.  He paints without a set road map but has a desired destination. “My goal is to create images that speak to a point in time that someone will enjoy, be moved by, and cannot live without,” he remarks. “My work reflects a ‘less is more’ attitude in times of visual and verbal overload…sending the viewer on a journey of clarity across the painting surface.”  Ted Dixon was born and raised in New York City and moved to the Hudson Valley in 1992.  He has exhibited his work at the Rosendale Café, Olive Free Library, Lace Mill Gallery, Artbar Gallery, Rhinebeck Arts, and Trans-N-Dance-N-Drum Gallery. Ted Dixon