The Opalka Gallery | Past Exhibitions

Spring 2024

March 12 – April 13, 2024

25th Annual High School Regional Juried Exhibition

APRIL 7th ONLY! Special Sunday Hours!
The HS Regional Exhibition will be open from 12 to 5pm on Sunday, April 7.

The annual High School Regional exhibition is a showcase of the best artwork from the New York Capital Region’s high school students from 27 public districts or private schools. The High School Regional was organized in collaboration with the New York State Art Teacher’s Association, Region 6, and the Capital Area Art Supervisors. In-kind support from Collar Works and McGreevy ProLab.

AWARD WINNERS!

Juror’s Choice Award: Amber Dong, Emma Willard School, Family Dinner, color pencil and markers
Juror’s Choice Award: Willa Larsen, Troy HS, Mountain & Sky, felting
Juror’s Choice Award: Jolin Yang, Shaker HS, Yang Zi Xing, acrylic on canvas
Juror’s Choice Award: Chloe Pascoe, Albany Academies, The Same on Paper, oil on board
Juror’s Choice Award: The Lori Tansky 3D Award: Samantha Bouyea, Doane Stuart, Head Study, clay
Arlene’s Artist Materials Award: Jasmine Zhang, Emma Willard School, Magnolias in Bloom, Collaged digital photograph and thread
Alacrity Frame Workshop Award: Casey Gao, Shenendehowa HS, Tianghulu Seller, acrylic on canvas
Russell Sage College Art+Design Department Award: Solomiia Valihunda, Shaker HS, Made Unwound, Hand cut paper, blockprinting ink on fabric and paper, beads, yarn, secured on cardboard
University at Albany Art & Art History Department Award: Ally Dheeradhada, Emma Willard School, Clean, inkjet print
The Opalka Gallery Award: Graziella Hartman, Berlin HS, The Journey, sewn fiber collage
Opalka Gallery Membership Award: Clara Law, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake HS, A Conversation at Home, acrylic on canvas
Collar Works Emerging Artist Award: Solomiia Valihunda, Shaker HS, Made Unwound, Hand cut paper, blockprinting ink on fabric and paper, beads, yarn, secured on cardboard
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Lily O’Farrell, The Charlton School, Contour, watercolor and pen
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Stella Meek, Emma Willard School, You’ve Got Mail, inkjet print
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Liam Hazard, Niskayuna HS, Curling Comic, digital art, inkjet print
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Sierra Iwaneczko, Averill Park HS, Contemplating, conte crayon
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Eddie Harris, Albany Academies, Time, archival pigment print
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Caleb Wood, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake HS
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Natalie Bullington, Shaker HS, Overload, video
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Z’Andre Wilkinson, Albany HS, Untitled, inkjet print
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Addison Brannock, Columbia HS, Rain through Sunshine, inkjet print
Albany Center Gallery Membership Award: Simon Katzman, Shenendehowa HS, Extended Educator, acrylic and charcoal on paper

Thanks to the the following exhibition award sponsors:

Russell Sage Visual & Performing Arts Department
University at Albany Art and Art History Department
Albany Center Gallery
Arlene’s Artist Materials
Alacrity Frame Shop
Collar Works Gallery

Exhibiting Artists

The Albany Academies: Cora Kunchala, Eddie Harris, Katherine Lamica, Chloe Pascoe
Albany HS: Jo Wunderlich, Ariana Barreto, Rowan Hoehn, Z’Andre Wilkinson, Aleshanee Sharpe
Averill Park HS: Isabella Clerico, Sierra Iwaneczko, Spencer Sweet, Carly Walsh, Cameron Daley
Berlin HS: Graziella Hartman, Elaine Savaria
Bethlehem HS: LuLua Umar, Avery Lobban, Harlow Kung
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake HS: Carlianna Ewing, Clara Law, Dakota Harris, Samantha Lorenc, Aimon Anderson, Caleb Wood, Kendall Clark
Cairo-Durham HS: Dezaray Riley, Anthony Panicola, Elexzandreah Desmarais
The Charlton School: Lily O’Farrell
Columbia HS: Madison Wagoner, Addison Brannock, Aeris Corrodore
Emma Willard School: Stella Meek, Jacey Koh, Amber Dong, Suki Zhang, Jasmine Zhang, Ally Dheeradhada, Annie Pang, KiKi Ye
Greenville HS: Evelyn Corcoran, Shealyn Miller, Payton Benjamin, Julia Herbek, Avonlea Parrish, Laila Overbaugh, Mikaela, Crawley, Anna Styer
Guilderland HS: Theodore Brown, Shruthika Manga, Jade Sun, Jacky Nguyen, Ari Choi, Emmelyn Freedman
Hoosic Valley HS: Josephine Schmidt
Ichabod Crane HS: Sophia Karic
Greenville HS: Alexa Meza
Mohonasen HS: Rachael Bencze, Amber Warner, Blehsynn Cabrera-Robinson
Niskayuna HS: Isabella, Sonnik, Liam Hazard
Shaker HS: Niharika Lumb, Solomiia Valihunda, Trinity Pitts, Hans Gupta, Natalie Bullington, Jolin Yang
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk HS: Allison Kennedy, Carl-Hanee Coquillon
Schalmont HS: Jacob Sawyer, Michaela DiCocco
Schenectady HS: Lilly VanWormer, Rook Taylor
Scotia-Glenville HS: Savannah Swiatocha, Shealyn Bendt, Emma Klejsmyt
Shenendehowa HS: Rachel Chen, Casey Gao, Simon Katzman, Sophia Emerle,Maria Kokkinides, Artemis Fang, Timothy Looby, Rowan Filbert, Sunny Cao, Oliver Modany, Megan Perkins
South Colonie HS: Estella Zoe, Jade Eddings
Troy HS: Willa Larsen, Jade DeJesus
Voorheesville HS: Elizabeth Spencer
Doane Stuart School: Olivia Ledtke, Samantha Bouyea, Samantha Culliton, Filip Amzallag
Watervliet HS: Abdullah Mazhar

Jurors: artist/educators Tara Fracalossi, Leah Rico, & Nuveen Barwari.

Nuveen Barwari was born in Nashville, TN and grew up in Duhok, Kurdistan. She received her MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2022 and her B.S in Art from Tennessee State University in 2019. Barwari has shown at Zg Gallery (IL), NGBK Gallery in Berlin, Germany, Duhok Gallery, in Duhok, Kurdistan, Ortega y Gasset Projects (NY), Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery (TN), and Art Toronto Canada’s Art fair. Barwari was the 2023 fellow in the Skidmore Art’s Department’s Workspace Residency Program. Her work has been featured in the Nashville Scene, New American Painting, Yahoo Nachrichten Deutschland, Gazete Duvar, and Botan Times. Barwari currently resides in Albany, NY.

Tara Fracalossi’s photographic work has been exhibited widely including solo and group exhibits in New York City, Philadelphia, Houston, London, Vienna, Bratislava, Slovakia and Belgium as well as Woodstock, New Paltz, Kingston, Hudson and Albany, NY.

She has received two Photographer’s Fund Fellowships from the Center for Photography at Woodstock, a Fulbright-Hays grant from the US Department of State, several grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Mona Ruth Brickman Memorial Artist of the Year Award from Albany Center Gallery, Albany, NY.

Born in Jersey City, NJ, Fracalossi holds an MFA from the University at Albany, SUNY and a BA from the University of Vermont. She has curated and organized exhibitions in galleries and museums for more than twenty-five years and is the founding director of the Teaching Gallery at Hudson Valley Community College, SUNY where she is a full Professor. She lives and works in in Kinderhook, NY.

Leah Rico is an interdisciplinary artist and designer whose practice explores language as its subject matter. Leah uses sound installation, experimental audio, drawing, print and graphic work to examine the embodiment of voices as words and gestures, and language as a metaphor for worldly experience. Her latest body of artwork uses the experiential nature of sound in her audio installations to investigate the experience of spoken language. Leah believes that the field of design is not only concerned with function and form, but includes a responsibility for the production of feelings and experiences at a massive scale, and encourages young designers to explore new practices and methodologies to address current societal challenges.

THUR March 14 Student, teacher, family, and guardians’ reception:

5:30-7:30 p.m. (Awards at 6:00 p.m.)

THURS March 21 Panel Discussions on Art School and Creative Careers. Read more

6pm Art School Confidential–Get your questions answered about applying for and going to college for art

7pm Creative Careers–hear about the creative careers regional artists are pursuing

SAT March 23 Kids Art Workshop

1:00pm All Ages Kids Art Workshop led by Russell Sage College MAT Art Education students. Free but space limited. Please register in advance at opalka.sage.edu. Students under age 13 must be accompanied by a parent.