A TIME FOR REFLECTION, Juror, Barbara Applegate

A Time for Reflection
Juror, Barbara Applegate
November 19 – December 18, 2021

*Featured image “Changing Front” by Syd Glasser

Congratulations to the artists accepted into the exhibition: GRAAL, Chris Ann Ambery, Tiffany Asadourian, Ron Becker, Susan Buroker, Pauline Chiarelli, Erica Cirino, Anne Cognato, Caryn Coville, Aleta Crawford, Stephen Davis, Grainne de Buitlear, Ellen Difazio, Julie Doczi, Jim Finlayson, Cori Forster, Andrea Fortunoff, Kathleen Gerlach, Syd Glasser, Margaret Henning, Ron Janssen, Stefanie Kane, Mary Krebs, Katheryn Laible, Linda Lopez, John Lynch, Adam Macchia, Melissa Maiello, Norma Malinverno, Celeste Mauro, Mary McDonald, Mary McGrane, Liza McPherson, Kristen Memoli, John Micheals, Sue Miller, Carissa Millett, Maureen Moody-Theinert, Judi Musaro, Allan Nafte, Gail Neuman, Ann Parry, Howard Pohl, Nicholas Ramer, Alice Riordan, Lori Sklar, Christine Squitieri, Susan Sterber, Jack Tenenzaph, Mary Jane Tenerelli, Roseann Valletti, Mary Jane van Zeijts, Amy Goodfellow Wagner, Nancy Wernersbach

From the Juror, Barbara Applegate “Ralph Waldo Emerson provides the guiding principle for this exhibition in the quote:

“To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. The tradesman, the attorney comes out of the din and craft of the street and sees the sky and the woods, and is a man again. In their eternal calm, he finds himself.”

Luckily, Emerson doesn’t leave us there. He writes directly to artists and art enthusiasts in many of his essays and offers another central idea. “He has conceived meanly of the resources of man, who believes that the best age of production is past.” This viewpoint ignites contemporary artists because his position suggests that artists need to take risks, to blaze their own trail, and realize that the best works of art have yet to be made.

So, it is this inspiration that speaks with the loudest voice. While many of the works submitted consider truthful representation of their subjects, it is the works that push the envelope of modernity where we can feel the fire of the artist’s need to create.

Emerson suggests that nature can restore our tone and serve a healing purpose. This is certainly a viewpoint shared by the artists who submitted works to this call. What a remarkable group of works. Across all of the submissions, one can see the ways in which these artists are nurtured by their relationships with nature and the landscape.

The works submitted, and ultimately those chosen for exhibition, show us that artists are interested in returning to the sample place over and again to view the changes in the landscape and to consider the changes in their own perspectives. Artists use both local and applied color to describe the vistas and to transport the viewers to these locations. Modifications of the horizon line, perspective that shifts between linear and climbing, and overall consideration of viewpoint will surely invigorate viewers of this exhibition.

Ultimately, artwork is not created from a passive viewpoint. Rather, these artists are active participants in the process. They view a landscape and return to the studio to rework not only what they have seen in a singular moment, but also to take the whole of their experience in nature and synthesize it – from macroscopic and microscopic perspectives – for the viewer. This is where the landscape is transformed; in its transmission.”

Congratulations to the following artists for receiving the following recognitions:

Best in Show
West Meadow Afternoon – Mary Jane van Zeijts

Honorable Mention
Carmel Sunset – Nicholas Ramer
The Sisters Sanctuary – Pauline Chiarelli
Cold Spring Harbor #4 – Amy Goodfellow Wagner
Icy Strait Point Alaska – Ron Becker

For more information on the artists and their work, click here.

About the Juror: Barbara Applegate loves art and, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, knows that many artists respond to a special call to create works about the landscape. Ms. Applegate has taught Art History to college students over the last eighteen years and served LIU’s Steinberg Museum of Art, as Coordinator and later Director, for more than twenty years. She seeks opportunities to engage viewers with works of art across all media.

Our Main Street Gallery, 213 Main St. Huntington, NY 11743 is open to the public Tuesday – Friday, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, and some weekends. We require social distancing and face coverings at all times. Please call 631-271-8423 in advance.

With additional support from Main St. Benefactor Members
Beth and Charles Levinthal
Dr. Kay Hutchins Sato  
Bette and Paul Schneiderman