In celebration of the Schweinfurth’s 35th year, the Art Center is honoring their benefactor Julius Schweinfurth by featuring four emerging artists from the central New York area. In his will, Julius Schweinfurth specified his desire for the Art Center to be a place that provided opportunities for artists, “with particular attention to be paid to those exhibiting a special talent for art in any form, and who intend to follow it as a life work.”
The artists include Rebecca Aloisio of Rochester, Madeline Bartley of Syracuse, Aweñheeyoh Powless of the Onondaga Nation, and Eeva Siivonen of Helsinki, Finland, who currently lives in Utica.
Each featured artist has been given a solo exhibition in one of the Art Center’s side galleries. All four exhibits will be on view from Sept. 2 through Oct. 16, 2016. Powless will also be combining her painting with Native American dance in a performance Oct. 7 from 5 to 8 p.m.
The artists were selected via nomination by established artists in the community. Bartley, Powless and Siivonen were nominated by Dorene Quinn and Yvonne Buchanan of Syracuse. Aloisio was nominated by Kevin Larmon of Jefferson.
Aloisio’s exhibit Static Truths is inspired by geometric anomalies and mathematical complexities such as the Mobius Strip, which is both a two dimensional and three dimensional form. In Bartley’s exhibit Unsettled Configurations she uses mixed media, drawing, painting, and collage to create installations on the wall. In her exhibition titled Dancing, Painting, Growing, Love, Powless uses traditional dance to create many of her paintings. Siivonen’s video Black River depicts reflections on water and scenes from a swamp landscape along with narration and looks at the relationship between subjectivity and corporality.
Also on view at the Schweinfurth in Gallery Julius is The Anatomy of the Spirit: A Collection of Mixed Media Paintings by Warner K. Varno. Varno currently resides in Denver Colorado, but is a native of Skaneateles.
The Schweinfurth Art Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.
Schweinfurth Art Center programs are supported by the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. For more information about the Schweinfurth Art center visit myartcent.com or call 315-255- 1553.