ALFRED: To usher in its 4th year on Main Street , The Cohen Center Gallery opened to the community with a show curated by Sandy Greiff and sponsored by the Allegany Arts Association.
The Cohen Center, a gift of Michele and Martin Cohen, serves Alfred University in many ways. Freshman Foundations classes are taught in the barn at the rear of the complex while the house holds 2 apartments for visiting artists on the second floor and a gallery ready to accommodate a visual or performance exhibition on the first floor.
Kevin Jacobs, director of the Cohen Center, said that an important mission of the space is to give undergraduates real world experience in the commerce of art. Sharon McConnell, Director of the Fosdick Nelson Gallery, teaches an Exhibition Design Class in which students conceive, install and de-install shows in the gallery.
Generally these shows have involved members of Alfred University but Leslie Bellavance, Dean of the School of Art and Design, heartily supports community based art programs and so approved the use of the Cohen Center by the Allegany Arts Association for this invitational show featuring local work.
Jacobs said, “As the director of the Cohen Center, I felt no hesitation in trusting Sandy Greiff’s judgment and know that this show will be an elegant success.”
Greiff enlisted two other members of the board of directors of the Allegany Arts Association to help her with the show.
Joanne Allen stopped moving work to speak for a moment about Joe Tecza’s photograph of an aging home entitled Sentinel.
“The piece is about our rural location. When I first came to Allegany Country there was a house just like that on Elm Valley Road. Every time I passed it I thought of the pioneers who made a living here in the not-so-distant past. “
“This photo captures what I felt every time I saw that house. The angle of the photo intrigues me and holds my eye and my mind. It’s a wonderful photograph.”
Also on hand was Patty Sherman of Wellsville. Patty spoke about two watercolors. “I really like Karen Dickerson’s piece, Dature-Trumpet Vine, maybe because I’m a nature lover and a gardener. I think that the painting catches that one moment when the light is on the blossoms in a way that makes them live.”
“I also like Karen Lang’s piece, Dream in Lilac. It’s the colors. They are subtle and relaxing. She often focuses on the subtleties in nature and I find her pieces calming and enjoyable. Her work gives me a feeling that I need in my life just now.”
When all the work was hung and the gallery quieted, Greiff sat to look at Hope Zaccagni’s painting, Salt Mine with Yellow Train Car.
“I do like this very much,” said Greiff. “The colors are muted but the sky is vibrant to draw one’s attention. I like the architectural lines and shapes, the geometric sense of the composition. The piece is Hopperesque to me with a feeling of solitude or isolation.”
“The triangles, edges and rigid shapes are fascinating to me. I have driven past this scene many times but I never saw it as art. Hope’s work is like that. She sees what others do not see.”
Also presenting work in the show are Thor Bueno, Val Cushing, Wanda Dean, Alice Deres, Barbara Elsenheimer, Elaine Hardman, Wayne Higby, Bea Jevremovic, Caroline Littell, Stephen Myers, Amanda Parry Oglesbee, Tom O’Grady and Mario Prisco.
The Allegany Arts Association thanks Barbara Greil for assistance in hanging the show and invites the public to this free exhibition. Hours are in July from 11:30 to 4:30 on Thursday and Friday and 5-7:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday with an artist Reception July 19 from 5-7:30.
