Fall 2024
Sept. 3 – Oct. 12, 2024 Painting at Night
Above: I’m not me I’m just mom, by Francena Ottley, 2023, Yarn on monks cloth
In collaboration with Collar Works and Artist/Mother Podcast, we are pleased to present the fourth Painting at Night open-call exhibition featuring 38 artists from around the world. Curated by Sean Desiree & Alisa Sikelianos-Carter, the exhibition celebrates artists who are also caregivers, with all the joy, frustration, and ambivalence that comes with balancing the two.
- Written, directed and performed by both artists, the full production of this play is an irreverent look at two very different sides of caregiving. Michael recounts the time immediately following her daughter’s diagnosis, when Seneca was hospitalized for a year at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Steve recounts his experiences of caring for his mother at home for years and then while she was at the end of her life in a nursing home. The play is about seeking solace, about the twists and turns of fate that surprise and sometimes sustain us, as well as the redemptive and transcendent quality of art. For this evening, Michael and Steve will perform the opening scene and their closing monologues from Michael and Steve Talk About the End of Life As They Knew It, followed by a talkback with the audience.
Michael Kennedy is a playwright, director, producer and actor, and the Founder and Artistic Director of Creative Action Unlimited, a film and stage company dedicated to creating original productions about social issues. Michael holds degrees in human development and community psychology and worked in the Human Services field for over 35 years, providing direct client services and designing and developing programs for members of disenfranchised populations. She has been a caregiver for her daughter Seneca for 28 years, following her daughter’s diagnosis with cancer and subsequent liver transplant at age 5.
Steve Swartz’s film Never Leave Nevada opened at the 1990 U. S. Sundance Festival. Steve is a four-time finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s annual playwriting competition, has served as Poet Laureate of Schenectady County for six years, and won first prize in the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual Green Eyeshades competition for Excellence in Arts Criticism. Steve was the caretaker for his mother for twelve years at the end of her life
This exhibition brough to you in part by a grant from Arts, Thrive and Grow. Arts, Thrive and Grow is funded by New York State, Kathy Hochul, Governor. We thank Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins for her extraordinary commitment and leadership, and our elected officials who represent our grantmaking region: Senators Jake Ashby and Neil D. Breslin; Assemblymembers Scott H. Bendett, Patricia Fahy, John T. McDonald III, Angelo Santabarbara, Phil Steck, and Mary Beth Walsh. 
Nov. 1 – Dec. 7, 2024 The Voracious Eye
Above: A Simple Arrangement of works from Nancy Shaver and Wolf.
Curated by Joan Grubin, with artists Molly Heron, Nancy Shaver & Wolf, Ilene Sunshine, Christopher Werner, and Allan Wexler. Through discrete installations, each artist’s work is presented in dialogue with artifacts rich with personal meaning that they’ve curated from their private lives, offering a glimpse into each artist’s visual thinking.
FRI Nov. 1 FIRST FRIDAY, Reception 5:30 to 7:30pm.
SAT Dec. 7 2pm, Conversation and closing reception with The Voracious Eye curator and artists
Jan. 21 – Mar. 1, 2025 Screenprint Biennial
- FRI Jan. 24 Reception, 5:30- 7:30pm
- FRI Feb. 4 Pecha Kucha, 6:30-8:30pm
- FRI Feb. 7 Open for First Friday 6:00 – 9:00pm, Performance by Owls Quartet Performance/Capital Region Classical, 7:30-8:30pm