The Batavia Society of Artists is hosting artist Jody Ziehm on Tuesday, April 9 at Go-Art/Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St., Batavia starting at 7 p.m. Jody will be demonstrating watercolor painting.
Non-members are welcome for a $5.00 fee. Accepting new members, all medium and skill levels. 2024 memberships are $30 per person, $50 per couple, and $10 for students or veterans.
Light refreshments will be served. Tavern 2.o.1. will be open for cash purchases.
Jody Ziehm
Jody Ziehm
Residing in the town of Wheatfield, I am a full-time watercolor artist. I have a love of painting and am devoted to watercolors. Inspired by my surroundings. I enjoy plein air (painting outside on site) and whenever possible, work from live models.
Much of my work is done in my studio from photos taken. My work is distinguishable by its vivid colors and dynamic compositions. I also enjoy teaching and hold weekly classes at both Partners in Art in North Tonawanda and the Amherst Museum.
I also travel extensively throughout the summer months to outdoor art festivals throughout New York I am a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists, Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society, Buffalo Niagara Art Association, Fine Arts League of Buffalo, and Tonawanda Council of the Arts.
I am represented by Kittenger Gallery in Williamsville, Finger Lakes Gallery, and Frame in Canandaigua, Gallery Morada in Islamorada Florida, Barton Hill Resort and Spa in Lewiston, and The Mansion in Buffalo.
The Peruvian Outreach Project (POP) is a local 501(c)(3) non-profit working in Tarapoto, Peru for two major initiatives, the Hogar Hermelinda Home for Young Women and the Aldea Infantil Virgen del Pilar.
This project is hosting its second annual Dinner and Basket Raffle fundraiser April 6 at the Genesee Orleans Council on the Arts located at 201 E. Main St., Batavia to help support these initiatives.
There will be a cash bar and basket raffle as well as a delicious meal. The meal includes authentic Peruvian cuisine, including chicha Morada ( a drink made from purple corn), Causa Rellena ( potatoes layered with chicken and avocado), lomo saltado ( beef with rice) and suspiro limeña ( a delicious custard).
The Hogar Hermelinda is a home for young women established by POP in 2022. It is a safe home for six young women who come from rural areas of the Amazon who otherwise would not have the opportunity to study after high school.
POP provides room and board for these young women who are all studying to become nurses. They will graduate next year! The second focus for POP is to improve the quality of life for the children living at the Aldea Infantil Virgen del Pilar Orphanage.
Recently POP has provided a music workshop and a sewing workshop. Also POP purchased three new computers to replace the computers the children were trying to use in their school. They also received new school uniforms, school supplies and an annual Christmas Celebration.
Organizers of this event have come to realize that this is a busy weekend with the upcoming eclipse, and they promise that the meal is worth it as an authentic and enjoyable experience.
Tickets must be pre-purchased for $25 per dinner at www.wnypop.org or by check, sent to: Peruvian Outreach Project, P.O. Box 234, East Pembroke, NY, 14056.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., dinner starts at 7 p.m., and basket raffle winners chosen at 8:30 p.m.
Please consider joining us to celebrate with a delicious and unique Peruvian meal.
GO ART! announces a call for artwork for its 7th annual juried exhibition, Art of the Rural. This year, organizers have added a twist with the theme, ‘Total Eclipse of the Art.’ Artists are encouraged to explore the theme through their interpretation and are welcome to think outside the box.
The exhibition is open to all artists. All work must be original, created by the submitting artist, and not previously exhibited at GO ART! All media is accepted. Artwork must be properly wired, ready to hang, and no larger than 36 x 36.”
GO ART! members may submit up to 5 works for $30, $5 for each additional work. Non-members may submit up to 3 works for $30 and $5 for each additional work. Artists can drop off submissions at GO ART! located in Seymour Place, 201 East Main Street, Batavia.
Artwork will be accepted from March 20 - 23 and March 27 -29 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. No entries will be accepted after March 29.
Art of the Rural: Total Eclipse of the Art will be on display from April 3 – June 1. The winners will be announced at the artist reception, which will take place April 6 from 5 - 8 p.m.
For a complete list of rules and entry forms, visit www.goart.org/galleries. Contact Mary Jo Whitman at mjwhitman@goart.org with any questions.
The Batavia Society of Artists is hosting artist David Burke at GO ART! Seymour Place on Tuesday, March 12 starting at 7 p.m.
David will be demonstrating a more intuitive painting for this demo, using a new squeegee technique with dots of paint to easily create cool designs. Light refreshments will be served.
The 2.o.1. Tavern will be open for cash purchases. Non-members are welcome for a $5 fee. New members are always welcome, all mediums and skill levels. The yearly Single membership is $30, Couples $50, and Students/Veterans $10.
GO ART! Seymour Place is located at 201 E. Main St. Batavia.
GO ART! is hosting a Creative Arts Camp during April Break Eclipse Themed(April 1 - 5).
This camp is tailored to students in grades K-6. Grade school students will create and maintain positive connections while enjoying hands-on exploration of various disciplines including culinary arts, visual arts, performing arts, and literary arts.
Participants will work on a variety of Eclipse-themed projects using different mediums and art forms. They will build upon problem-solving and critical thinking skills while increasing their knowledge about different mediums and forms of art in a safe, inclusive, and structured environment.
In the past we have done visual arts projects while learning about famous artists and art movements, created puppets and put on plays, played in the musical garden, learned about different styles of dance, as well as various arts and crafts projects.
Please drop off your camper between 8:45 and 9 a.m. and pick them up between 2:45 and 3 p.m. GO ART! will provide snacks and water but don’t forget to send your camper with lunch.
Registration is required to attend Creative Arts Camp and spots are limited. https://goart.org/programming/exlporeart/exlporeart-children/, call (585) 343-9313 or email Jodi at jfisher@goart.org.
Learn How to Audition with Maryanne Arena at GO ART!
GO ART! is hosting a ‘Learn How to Audition Workshop’ with GCC Director of Fine and Performing Arts Maryanne Arena on Saturdays in April (6, 13, 20, and 27) from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Classes will include: Picking appropriate material, contrasting monologues, cold readings, and improv). Nail that next audition by working with Maryanne and learning the essentials!
The class will cost $180 for the 4 week session but the knowledge you will come away with will serve participants for years to come. Pre-registration is required and spots are limited. This workshop is for high schoolers to adults only. To register and reserve your spot visit www.goart.org/programming/exlporeart/exploreart-adult/.
Professor Bio: Maryanne Arena is a professional entertainer who has taught acting and other theatre subjects for over 30 years. She has been the Director of Fine and Performing Arts at Genesee Community College for twenty years. Maryanne holds an M.F.A from Brooklyn College where she was mentored by Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham and has studied with some of the world’s greatest professionals. Maryanne has won the prestigious SUNY Chancellor’s Award twice.
She is a published author and has won awards for her acting and directing. She is a judge for the KCACTF organization and has participated in and conducted workshops for The Theatre Association of NYS. She is a voting member of the Screen Actors Guild, and before embarking on a teaching career, she was a professional actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director. Maryanne was a resident member of the LORT Company P.A. Stage and performed many leads in professional summer stock. Her students are currently performing on Broadway, nightclubs, children’s theatre touring, cruise ships, television, and movies. She knows what it takes to successfully nail that audition for any venue (conservatory auditions, Broadway, touring, improv, and community theatre.
GO Art! Executive Director Gregory Hallock shares the good news of receiving more grant money during the Human Services meeting this week, along with the caveat that some of the online community complains about taxpayer dollars being spent. "We're excited they're being spent here, as opposed to everywhere else in the state," he said. Photo by Joanne Beck
Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council received the second largest funding in New York State, falling only behind Manhattan, of $336,000, which will be dispersed to artists in both counties, Executive Director Gregory Hallock says.
He considers that a pretty major deal, and rightly so. The money will go somewhere, and he figures it might as well go into the hands of local people for their creative projects.
“So we were pretty ecstatic about that. Hoping to continue to increase that. When I came in, we were about $47,000 that we were giving out, so we've jumped up dramatically. And last year was $210,000. So we did a big leap from last year to this year. We had nearly $400,000 in requests this year, so I would like to give credit to the community for jumping up to put on more stuff, but a big credit goes to our statewide community regrant coordinators at GO Art,” Hallock said while presenting his annual report to legislators this week. “We have two of them now that the state funds. We stressed that in our area, it's not just about putting an advertisement out there that people might not necessarily see, but even if they see that, grants scare people. They see grants, and they run. So our coordinators basically hold hands all the way through. They answer every question that anybody has, they basically help with anything but write the grants. But if you write the grant, they will review the grant afterward and give you suggestions and all that.”
He said the nonprofit’s goal is to continue asking for more money and “make more of that happen out here,” which has recently also meant a spate of responses online.
“We'll continue to get more of the negative comments on social media and everywhere else. And we're okay with that. It was a harsh year for that for us. But, people getting upset saying ‘our dollars being spent, our tax dollars being spent,’ but we're excited they're being spent here, as opposed to everywhere else in the state,” he said. “So we're gonna keep pushing for that to happen here. We really like to stress, I don't think most people know that if they're going to something that's arts related, that generally GO Art! is funding that. The $336,000 doesn't go a long way, but it goes quite the way out here, so we will continue to do that.”
He said the agency had more than 100 events this past year in Genesee and Orleans counties and is planning to do the same volume with new types of programs, such as a capital campaign that will draw more use out of the basement. The basement has an entrance and will include an emergency exit that will open up into the music garden portion of the building at 201 E. Main St., Batavia. That expansion will add about 4,000 square feet to GO Art!’s use, he said.
“We’ll be putting a whole bunch of studios and space down there. We just got a grant called black space. We’ll be working with the community and Black architects out of Brooklyn to bring in the Black community to help them help us design something that will be inviting to them to come into our space,” he said. “We’re putting in a dark room, pottery studio, wood shop, and a whole bunch of other studios to expand our happenings and our classes. Our classes have been doing really well; the last four that we’ve offered have all completely sold out. And we’ve had to add additional classes that have also sold out. So we’re really finally starting to get up there, and people know about us.
“We’re really excited about the expansion. It includes an elevator, somebody who can’t get up and down the stairs … I think that’s our major thing.”
He also mentioned The Harve, where artists MaryJo Whitman and Brian Kemp “took a space and artified it” to make use of an industrial building by painting and decorating walls directly or using them as backdrops for exhibits and live musical performances. “We’re going to keep doing cool things,” Hallock said.
It takes money to do those cool things, and the agency runs on a budget of nearly 62 percent public support, or $601,050; $200,661 in Foundation support; $107,334 from individual and corporate donations; and $64,272 from events and earned income. Expenses for the year were $225,800 for grants, $166,190 for programs and events, $16,773 toward fundraising efforts, and $324,744 for administration costs.
The Batavia building includes dance, podcast, film, and music studios, a library and cabaret theater, a darkroom, a pottery studio, a cultural culinary kitchen (used for demonstrations), a gallery with seven exhibition spaces (maintaining a collection of donated and permanent on loan works by highly esteemed local artists), and a bar area that is also used as a small gallery space.
GO Art! has hired a consultant to put out a request for proposal as part of a GLOW region cultural plan, he said. He submitted a grant application last year for $150,000 that was turned down for a larger scope of Western New York that he fine-tuned down to opening a new space in Medina, expanding in the space currently in Batavia, and adding a cultural garden. Hallock hopes to receive a more positive response to the request this year.
“This is possible by the relationships we have already forged and the ones we hope to build. Through ourarts education initiatives, workshops, events, and outreach, we continue to establish new and growing community relationships,” he said in his annual letter. “The accomplishments of the past year make our members, board of directors, and dedicated staff excited about the thriving and diverse arts in Genesee and Orleans Counties. Together we will continue to ‘Make Art Happen.’
"We already have everything ready to get that moving, so that we can put together our cultural plan and figure out how we're going to progress, and bringing tourism into the glow region for arts and culture, and continuing to expand upon what we have for our region,” he said.
County Manager Matt Landers, in his yearly allocations request for GO Art!, asked for $7,500 — the same amount as for 2023 and 2022. That total was increased by $1,000 from 2021, when it was $6,500 since 2018. Funding for the nonprofit was at all-time high in 1997 of $10,000, including a $4,000 matching funds state grant. Before that, county funding was $2,500 in 1993, but it took a big leap four years later and has hovered around the $6,500 to $9,000 mark.
Genesee County Legislature is to vote on the request during its meeting on March 13.
GO ART! is hosting a Creative Arts Camp during February Break (Feb. 19 - 23). This camp is tailored to students in grades K-6.
Grade school students will create and maintain positive connections while enjoying hands-on exploration of various disciplines including culinary arts, visual arts, performing arts, and literary arts.
Participants will build upon problem-solving and critical thinking skills while increasing their knowledge about different mediums and forms of art in a safe, inclusive, and structured environment.
In the past, we have done visual arts projects while learning about famous artists and art movements, created puppets and put on plays, played in the musical garden, learned about different styles of dance, as well as various arts and crafts projects.
Please drop off your camper between 8:45 and 9 a.m. and pick them up between 2:45 and 3 p.m. GO ART! will provide snacks and water but don’t forget to send your camper with lunch. Registration is required to attend Creative Arts Camp and spots are limited. https://goart.org/programming/exlporeart/exlporeart-children/, call (585) 343-9313 or email Jodi at jfisher@goart.org.
During his talk Tuesday evening at GO Art! in Batavia, artist Bryan Wright shows how he uses a plasma cutter for precision cuts in metal to create pieces of artwork. Photo by Joanne Beck
Of the sundry tools that artists gravitate toward, from chalk and colored pencils to watercolor and acrylic paints and brushes, Bryan Wright has chosen a lesser-known and more expensive pursuit.
Wright, a Batavia resident who was first introduced to his ever-increasingly favorite method to create art during a BOCES basic-advanced welding class 15 years ago, has fallen for the plasma cutter.
"I got this machine in 2008. I made mostly Christmas gifts for family and have been making things for people, I was just kind of giving a lot of the stuff away,” Wright said to a group of about 15 people that attended his Batavia Society of Artists talk Tuesday evening at GO Art! in Batavia. “So, just this last year, I've started putting stuff in exhibits and trying to make some money, because this is not cheap. It's not cheap.”
He made a major investment with his first plasma cutter — a heavy-duty welding torch that can cut through steel, aluminum, and similar materials with precision — for $1,000, and said that related supplies of a cap and electrodes go for $10 and $15 each, respectively.
Parts of the torch include the electrodes, a narrow piece of copper that receives the electrical current, a retaining cap, and a shield cap. Batavia Society of Artists hosted him for a demonstration that didn’t pan out due to the cold, snow, and wind, Teresa Tamfer said.
He instead offered a video that illustrated what he did and how he did it, followed by a question and answer session with many of his supplies and pieces of equipment on hand.
An audience member asked how long his materials last.
"So what I have found is that it's really up to you to determine when you think you need to replace this. But I would probably say, I could probably go through … in a five pack, it probably maybe lasts like six or seven months, I don't know, maybe once a month you might go through a new set," he said. "But the problem that you have is when you don't have a new end and a new electrode, the cut is a little more dispersed, it's kind of, it's not a very clean, precise cut. And you just can'tcompare a used one to a brand-new one right out of the box. So you’ve really got to be picky and choosey on when you want to change this, and when is it appropriate to just need to make that change?
“If I'm cutting something purely on the outside, it really doesn't make a difference. But if you want to cut like an eyeball out or something in the middle, you really want to make sure that cut isn't just splattering out and kind of making a mess. So there's an appropriate time to replace it,” he said.
Other considerations are having a compressor, which goes "hand in hand" with the plasma cutter, and the height of the materials because that can distort your cutting line, he said.
“Because if you pull back, you're not really sending that amount of heat directly to that material. So if you're not back far enough, you're not really going to have a nice precise cut, but the closer you are to that material, you will get that nice cut,” he said.
Samples of his work are on display and available for purchase through March 30 in the 2.o.1 Tavern Gallery at GO Art!, 201 E. Main St., Batavia.
Bryan Wright with his plasma cutter and several materials on display. Photo by Joanne Beck
Bryan Wright artworks at the GO Art! gallery through March 30. Photo by Joanne Beck
Bryan Wright artworks, here and below, on display at the GO Art! gallery through March 30. Photos by Joanne Beck
Artwork by Bryan Wright Photo submitted by Batavia Society of Artists
The Batavia Society of Artists is hosting artist Bryan Wright on Tuesday at Go-Art/Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St. Batavia starting at 7 p.m. He will be showing how to do his metal artwork, which is said to be “very unique!”
Light refreshments will be provided, and the 2.o.1. Tavern will be open for cash purchases. Non-members welcome for a $5 fee. We are always open to new members, all skill levels and mediums! Dues are single $30, couple $50, veteran or student $10.
Bryan Wright was born and raised in Charleston, S.C., and lives in Batavia with his “amazing wife and two beautiful children.” As a child he would spend countless hours drawing, and says that “if I had a pencil and paper, the sky was the limit and I was content.”
“As I grew older I developed a love for tinkering with computers and digital art and went to college to pursue this new passion and still unsure about my future career I saw that BOCES had a basic-advanced welding class, and signed up immediately,” he said in a press release. “Totally unsure what to expect, all I knew was I loved working with my hands and kept an open mind for this, was the first time I was introduced to a Plasma Cutter and as the class ended I started saving up my hard earned money for a used one.
“Over the past 15 years I have been using this same machine and collecting scrap junk metal as my new blank canvas,” he said. “At the end of a busy work day or week, I can't wait to get out to the garage, even in this ridiculous WNY weather and create something special.”
Wright is even more excited to be able to demonstrate his craft and extend this invitation to others who might be interested or are just looking to learn about something new, he said.
GO ART! is seeking submissions for an upcoming exhibit, This Art is Garbage which provides artists an opportunity to explore the possibilities of garbage and waste as a medium for creativity. Artists are asked to redirect items that would normally be thrown away, into works of art.
Open to artists of all skill levels, we are actively seeking submissions from students, emerging artists, and professionals. Garbage is a theme that connects us all and we hope to showcase a wide variety of skill levels and perspectives.
Location:
Oliver’s Gallery, GO ART! Seymour Place, 201 E Main Street, Batavia.
Dates:
Work Drop Off: Feb 7 - 10, 2024, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
On View: Feb 14 - Mar 30, 2024
Artist Reception: Feb 15, 2024, 5 - 8 p.m.
Theme:
This Art is Garbage
Eligibility:
Open to all levels of artists: students, emerging, and professionals
Guidelines:
Works of art may include a component of garbage in the finished piece, garbage may be used in the art making process (for example, creating texture and pattern), or garbage as the subject of the piece (for example, creative photography of discarded objects). “Upcycled” items, such as painted furniture, are not accepted.
Work must not exceed 36”x 36”
Artwork must be wired and ready to hang (GO ART! reserves the right to turn away any submitted work that is not properly wired and ready to hang.)
Entry:
There is no entry fee
Each artist may submit up to two works.
Exhibit applications can be found here: https://forms.gle/QSzPYNLg2xe3h2fC6
For more information visit goart.org/galleries.
This exhibition is organized by Leigh LeFevre and Rebecca LeFevre. Feel free to reach out with any questions or follow us on Instagram for updates. Contact Leigh at leighlefevre@icloud.com or @takeastepback_podcast. Contact Rebecca at lefevre.studio@gmail.com or @rebeccalefevre.art.
Genesee Valley Wind Ensemble (GVWE) invites the public to join them at GO ART! for their Winter Small Ensemble Recital on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 4 p.m.
The purpose of the GVWE is to serve and to provide the Greater Genesee Valley audience with new and familiar live music, to serve its membership with the opportunity to perform challenging wind ensemble literature, and to create the opportunity for the conductor and musicians to grow their collective musical talents.
Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (55 and older) and veterans, $5 for students (with ID), and children 5 and under are free.
Tavern 2.0.1 will be open during the event with beverages available for purchase. This program is made possible, in part, with the support and collaboration with the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council. For more information please contact geneseevalleywindensemble@gmail.com or visit www.geneseevalleywindensemble.org.
Artist David Burke with a past mural at The Goose in Oakfield funded by a GO ART! grant, and 2024 SCR recipient. Submitted File Photo
After a thorough and time-consuming process that involves a peer review panel of dozens of applications, the first round of 2024 statewide community regrant program recipients for 2024 have been chosen, Educator and SCR Director Mary Jo Whitman says.
GO Art! will be regranting $336,000 to artists and nonprofit organizations for projects and programs throughout Genesee and Orleans counties, with the first round wrapping up in November, and the second round opening up just after Christmas and closing Feb. 17.
While the SCR program is not new, the grant funding sometimes gets mistaken for GO Art! money, which is not the case, Whitman said. The Genesee-Orleans Council on the Arts (GO Art!) acts solely as administrator of the funds to disperse them to the grant recipients chosen by the panel.
"I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about the programming. A lot of people kind of mistake the idea that we get the funding, which we do not, we're not allowed to use any of the funding toward our programming. So much of the programming that we do is completely separate from this,” Whitman said during an interview with The Batavian. “We may administer it, and we have to make sure that it goes into the hands of the nonprofits and artists. So things like Picnic in the Park, for example, is one thing we got a lot of flack on as, you know, when we weren't getting as much funding for Picnic in the Park, and it just wasn't feasible for us to host it anymore. We've definitely heard a lot of comments about that — a backlash of how we're funding all these other projects.
“But we can't fund Picnic in the Park, we can't use the money for Picnic in the Park; it’s a completely different strain of money. We're not allowed to use that."
The Statewide Community Regrant Program (SCR) is a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts that was developed in 1977 to ensure that the state’s cultural funding would reach every part of New York State. The cornerstone of SCR is its focus on local decision decision-making through a transparent and competitive peer review panel process, she said. Local artists and nonprofits submit their projects for consideration and are reviewed, chosen and submitted to the GO Art! Board.
So, instead of giving GO ART! money for its own programs, creative as they may be, this money goes to many individual artists and nonprofits for various projects, including outdoor murals, musical concerts, dramatic presentations, festivals and light displays.
The panel selected 46 applications for up to $5,000 each in categories of Community Arts (Reach) and Arts Education (Spark), and $2,500 for Individual Artist Commissions (Ripple). The categories and recipients are as follows:
REACH -- The GO ART! Community Arts Grants (Reach Grants) provide seed grants to individual artists, collectives and arts organizations for projects and activities that enable Genesee and Orleans County communities to experience and engage with the performing, literary, media, and visual arts.
Each year the program supports arts projects, including concerts, performances, public art, exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, readings, and more.
REACH Recipients:
Batavia Concert Band - $5,000 for 2024 Music in the Park Summer Concert Series
Haxton Memorial Library - $5,000 for Talented Thursdays
Alexander Volunteer Fire Department Band - $4,837 for Community Performances
The Elba Betterment Committee - $4550 for EBC Presents ...
Oakfield Betterment Committee Inc. - $5,000 for Oakfield Labor Daze
Genesee Chorale Inc. - $5,000 for 2024 Genesee Chorale Season
Village of Bergen - $2,300 for the Hickory Park Concert Series
Rebecca A. O’Donnell with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY Inc. - $4,000 for Creative
Community Connections at the Goose
Batavia Business Improvement District - $5,000 for Jackson Square Concert Series
David F. Burke with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY Inc. - $2,500 for Wings Mural for The Goose
Heather Kathleen Davis with Community Partner, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church - $3,100 for Opera on the Oatka
Genesee Symphony Orchestra - $5,000 for The Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s 78th Season
Byron-Bergen Public Library - $5,000 for Arts in our Community
Amanda M. Taylor with Community Partner, City of Batavia Fire Department - $5,000 for Main Street
Fire Hydrant Murals
Bergen Business and Civic Association - $5,000 for Bergen Park Festival
Woodward Memorial Library - $4,979 for Art All Year, Take Two
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church - $2,415 for Music at St. Mark’s
Kathlyn Baker with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY Inc. - $5,000 for Art Exploration Project
Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming OUT!, Inc.- $5,000 for GLOW OUT! Pride Festival 2024
Village of Corfu - $5,000 for Corfu Farmers Market 2024 Music Series
GLOW YMCA, Inc. - $1,000 for GLOW Corporate Street Beat
Gillam-Grant Community Center - $4,640 for A Spectrum of Art
The Batavia Players, Inc. - $5,000 for the 2024 Season
Marianne Skye with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY - $5,000 for Groovy Moves-Family
Music and Movement
Lee-Whedon Memorial Library - $5,000 for Finally Fridays! 2024
Yates Community Library - $5,000 for Yates Community Library - More Than Just Books
Friends of Boxwood Cemetery - $5,000 for Boxwood at Night 2024
The Cobblestone Society - $5,000 for The Cobblestone Museum Arts Series for 2024
Lyndonville Lions Club - $5,000 for I Hear the Music
Village of Holley - $3,000 for Village of Holley Canal Concert Series
Community Free Library - $5,000 for Continuation of Myron Holley Erie Canal Mural
Care Net Center of Greater Orleans - $5,000 for Artists and Their Styles
C. W. Bill Lattin with Fiscal Sponsor, The Cobblestone Society - $5,000 for Architecture Destroyed In
Orleans County, N.Y.
Village of Holley - $2,000 for Festival Series 2024
Canalside Radio Inc. - $5,000 for Harmonizing Communities: The Canalside Radio Initiative
William Schutt with Community Partner, Village of Albion - $5,000 for Lighting the Erie Canal
Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association - $5,000 for 2024 Hoag Music Series
Michelle Cryer with Community Partner, Town of Carlton - $5,000 for Carlton Mural at the Cove
RIPPLE -- The GO ART! Individual Artist Commission (Ripple Grant) supports local, artist-initiated activity, and highlights the role of artists as important members of the community. The Commission is for artistic projects with outstanding artistic merit that work within a community setting.
RIPPLE Recipients:
David F. Burke - $2,500 for the Extension to Harvester Center Hallway Mural
Thomas Jennings - $2,500 for the Missing Man - The Vince Welnick Story
Joshua Lang - $2,500 for the Suite de Ballet Mvt 3
Eric Weatherbee - $2,500 for The Humble Bard Presents
SPARK -- The Arts Education Program (Spark Grant) supports arts education projects for youth and/or senior learners. Emphasis is placed on the depth and quality of the creative process through which participants learn through or about the arts. Projects must focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process.
SPARK Recipients:
Linda Fix with Fiscal Sponsor, BCSD Foundation Community Schools - $5,000 for #It Takes A Village
Bart Dentino with Community Partner, Oakfield-Alabama Central School District - $4,815 for The Spaces Between the Leaves
Judd Sunshine with Community Partner, Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School - $4,200 for Erie Canal Songwriting Project
These projects go way beyond one piece of artwork, Whitman said, as it draws community members to a locale and that can spur an economic and social ripple effect.
“We just really want to see as much art programming as possible in our community. We go to audit events. For example, there'll be a concert series, we're going to the concert series, we'll be talking to some of the audience members, and they talk about how they come to see this concert series every week, and when they're there, they go, ‘everybody eats at this restaurant all the time.’ So it really forms a sense of community, that helps get people out, penetrating these different local establishments," she said. "And it's much bigger than just funding a little project, it really helps with economic development, it helps bring people to the area, being situated right between Rochester and Buffalo. There's no reason why we can't have people coming into the area from both sides of the city to enjoy the programming that is being offered.”
Another example of how a project can impact more than just the artist and a small segment of spectators are the workshops offered to the public that provide opportunities for folks who otherwise would not be able to partake in that form of art medium, she said.
“And it really gives the community a chance to really learn about different mediums or just even have the opportunity to take the workshop. I know for myself, I grew up in Orleans County, and as a child, I was always interested in arts, but we never really had the opportunities to take these workshops," she said. "These classes will now, you know, they're able to provide them, and most of them are free. If there's any cost to them, they're very minimal, so it makes the arts accessible, I guess, is the easiest way to put that.”
She is happy that not only is GO Art! one of the partnering organizations with the state agency, but it is “actually one of the top-funded organizations in the state.”
Artists, nonprofits, and municipalities seeking funding for arts-related projects, programming, and events in Genesee and Orleans Counties are encouraged to apply to the second round of SCR funding through GO ART!.
For more information on applying for the program, go to: www.goart.org/grants or contact Mary Jo Whitman at mjwhitman@goart.org. These grants are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
File Photo of Conductor Shade Zajac of the Genesee Symphony Orchestra, a recipient of a 2024 SCR grant for its 78th season.
This class is designed for children ages 2 through 5, alongside their parent or favorite person. This session will have class on Saturday mornings from 10-10:45 a.m. in January (6, 13, 20, 27) at GO ART! in Batavia.
We will focus on seasonal song, play, motor and locomotor movement, instrumental exploration, vocal and rhythmic call and response, listening activities, storytime, and fun! The curriculum is designed to engage young learners through play and exploration while providing a safe and nurturing space for them to discover and grow important skills, such as language, cognition, and physical development, as well as support and encourage social and emotional learning.
Chelsea Miller is instructing this session and she has been teaching music in various capacities since 2015. She has received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia, as well as a Master’s Degree in French Horn Performance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Currently, Chelsea teaches instrumental music to grades 4-12 at Elba Central School. To register your little one for this amazing class please visit https://goart.org/programming/exlporeart/exlporeart-children/, call (585) 343-9313, or email Jodi at jfisher@goart.org.
Game Night
Grab a friend and come on in to GO ART! on the first Wednesday of each month for our Game Night! Game night runs from 6-9 p.m. so bring your favorite game or see what we have to offer. From classic board games, and strategy games to card games there is something for everyone. Tavern 2.o.1 will be open.
Do you have any (board, strategy, or card) games you never play and are in good to excellent condition you don't want cluttering up your house anymore? We would be happy to take them off your hands and add them to our collection. Please call (585) 343-9313 or email info@goart.org.
GO ART! is asking the community to submit stories for our antique photos in our new Bethany Arts & Antiques Gallery.
Our executive director has painstakingly procured many antique black and white and reverse colored photographs in antique oval frames, numbered them and put them on display in our newest gallery. We are asking the community members to stop in to GO ART! check out the photographs and if you are so moved submit a story about one or more of the photos.
After GO ART! staff reviews each story we will publish one for each of the photographs to our website. These stories can be created in your imagination or a memory about a relative. Either way, visit our website at https://goart.org/baagallery/ or come in and scan the QR code in the gallery to submit your story.
Want to try out a new routine? Always wanted to try comedy? Read a poem? Come in for the 4th Friday Open Mic Night at GO ART! Sign ups start at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.
Open Mic is followed by a comedy performance hosted by Dave Mollahan with headliner Alex Mallory. Tickets are only $10 at the door (free if you participated in the open mic) per person for an evening full of laughs. Grab your friends, grab a drink and get ready for a fun night.
The Batavia Society of Artists is hosting artist Julie Lambert on Tuesday, Nov. 14 starting at 7 p.m. at Go Art!/Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St., Batavia. She will be demonstrating papermaking art.
Non-members are welcome with a $5 fee. Light refreshments will be provided. The Tavern 2.o.1. will be open for cash purchases.
Eric Zwieg of Batavia looks through the bannister at GO Art!, where his first staged reading, "Passenger: A Billion Little Pieces," will be presented at 7 p.m. Nov. 9. Photo by Howard Owens
A native of Rochester who has lived “everywhere” before settling down in Batavia eight years ago, Eric Zwieg could easily be described as a journeying artist.
Zwieg, who has more recently racked up academic degrees with no stopping in sight, spent his childhood in his grandmother’s cultural Chautauqua Institute surroundings, where he saw great jazz legends, later pursuing music performance in college before quitting after a year to indulge in the real thing — hitting the road for the next several years, forming his own bands, writing songs, recording albums, and scoring acting gigs for Indie movies.
“I really wasn’t getting out of it what I wanted. My mother had been an opera singer in college, so she really wanted me to get the schooling, but it wasn’t meant for me. I’d rather hang in the bars,” Zwieg said during an interview with The Batavian. “I worked really hard. I was very industrious,” he said, adding the piece that most aspiring artists can relate to. “I was a personal trainer, did restaurant jobs, gallery jobs, I used to light shows for galleries, anything to make a buck here and there. And it all added up to put food on the table and pay rent.”
He dabbled in writing by drafting his own audition scripts for the theater “to help me stand out a little bit, you know, instead of the same old, same old stuff they hear.”
“So I was always trying to be creative in that respect. That got me the Indie film parts," he said. "They didn’t pay anything, but you’re working, and you’re doing what you really want to do.”
Since all of that, for the last seven years, he’s been in school full-time, earning a bachelor’s degree in writing in 2016 and his master’s in writing four years later. And “that’s where my writing really started to take on some importance in my life,” he said.
He then obtained his master’s in fine arts at Goddard College this July, which is when he completed the thesis he is using as the basis for his staged reading of “Passenger: A Billion Little Pieces.” It debuts at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at GO Art!’s main gallery, 201 East Main St., Batavia.
“It’s a fully hybrid memoir, which is important that people understand that, and it’s based on postmodern writing disciplines and elements, and postmodern literature, having started after World War II … I’m using all the literary elements, I really wanted to pull a card trick off here, not only on my mentors but on the readers,” he said. “I really want to fill it chock full of all this stuff that, it’s aesthetically beautiful to read, but they don’t know what’s going on. And so it kind of takes one to know one. So there’s so much hidden, but it’s stylistically very academic.”
This presentation was made possible with Zwieg’s fifth Ripple grant award through GO Art!
“Passenger: A Billion Little Pieces—postmodern reflections in an attempt at several literary sensibilities, attitudes, and genre” is a hybrid of prose, poetry (Haiku, prosaic, anaphoric, repetition, lyric, narrative), definitions, quotes, lists, font variations, cut-and-paste, liberal punctuation, foreign language, dramatic and film dialogue insertions, homage, pastiche, text colorization, watermarks, absurdum, images, page breaks, use of whitespace, academic annotations, object blocks, postmodern concepts (metafiction, unreliable narration, intertextuality, anti-authorism, rejection-embracement of high and low culturalism, nonlinear storyline), embedded dramaturgical direction, irony, metaphor, existential thought, epistemology, naïve realism, philosophical skepticism, parody-satire, unrealistic narratives, paradox, sarcasm, humor, multiple POVs, dreams within dreams, stories within stories, nonuse of page numbers, contractions, quotation marks, and a bit of memoir, be it faux, pragmatic or idealistic.
Those are a lot of varying elements. Given the academic basis of the reading, and you say so much is hidden, will the audience get it? Maybe not. They might not fully understand the big picture, he said, but will get the vignettes.
“They’ll get the chapters, and they’ll see this guy Henry Grace’s character,” Zwieg said. “He’s an everyman. He’s kind of an island.”
As Zwieg described Grace, and his own existence over the last number of years, one might wonder if there’s also some autobiography in here as well. There is some loneliness.
Passenger is a professional reading with paid performers featuring Richard Ferris, Stephen VanValkenburg and Zwieg. While there are no costumes or sets, and perhaps because of that, it’s the words — their nuance, their lilt, their palpable meaning, their pronunciation and embrace as delivered by the performers — that make this show, Zwieg said.
He pays homage to his favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, David Foster Wallace, and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who founded City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.
“I love these writers so much, you’re paying homage to them,” he said. I’m not trying to compare myself to them. I have my own twist on it too.”
Vonnegut is an American writer well known for his “Slaughterhouse-Five,” which Zwieg specifically referenced, and Foster Wallace is a postmodern novelist. His other muse, if it can be called that, was rock band Television’s album “Marquee Moon,” of which he painstakingly rifled through all eight tracks to pull references, quotes and footnotes that have significance for him.
“There's a section when Henry falls in love with music as a teenager, right? And he goes to see that live band for the first time. So that's where this concept comes from Television. Unless you're a real music nerd, not a lot of people know about it. But this was at CBGBs in the mid-70s, which blew up with Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, on and on and on. It was just, that was the passion of music,” he said. “And so that's the connection to music for me. So the eight chapters, you know, See No Evil, Marquee Moon, whatever on down, are the track listings on that album. And there are quotes. There are footnotes throughout … there are seven or eight pages of footnotes that relate back to the photos, quotations, movie quotes, movie dialogue, all that stuff.
"So I give credit to all those people. But there are a number of quotes from the lead singer and main songwriter on Television, who actually passed away just this year, Tom Verlaine. And so that's that energy I was trying to, you know, that element really means a lot to me.”
While working on each chapter, he would key in on one song and listen to it, he said, some 20 times in a four-hour period, to “define and pick a line out here that I can include in my prose texts somehow to make it that more of a convoluted postmodern type of experience.”
So there’s a lot going on, he said. An easy understatement. However, that’s the beauty of art and poetry and words, as Passenger’s own script states:
You. You are. You are you. You have been.
You are. You will be forever. Breathe deeply. Listen. Allow life to be. Simple as a moment.
Fulfilling. The end is what you make it. Who are you? but existence without answers surrounded by suffering.
Reaching for clarity in all things. Survival dependent upon the balance of randomness, choice, and the process of process.
Journeys yet unfulfilled.
There will be a second show at 2 p.m. Nov. 11 at Pub Coffee Hub, 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia. There is no admission fee, and it is suggested for mature audiences only of age 17 and older.
GO ART!’s Preschool Music and Movement class is back and open for registration. The cost for the four-week session is $40 (Non- Members) or $36 (Members). For more information and to register go to goart.org/programming/exlporeart/exlporeart-children/.
Do-Re-Mi will focus on seasonal song, play, motor and locomotor movement, instrumental exploration, vocal and rhythmic call and response, listening activities, storytime, and fun for children ages 2 through 5, alongside their parent or favorite person!
The curriculum is designed to engage young learners through play and exploration while providing a safe and nurturing space for them to discover and grow important skills, such as language, cognition, and physical development, as well as support and encourage social and emotional learning. We are so excited to provide this opportunity and instill a love of music and the arts in our youngest community members!
In this session, we will have two different classes. One class will meet Monday evenings (November 6, 13, 20, 27) at GO ART! in Batavia from 6 - 6:45 p.m. and the other will meet Tuesday evenings (November 7, 14, 21, and 28) at the Hoag Library in Albion from 6 - 6:45 p.m. Pre-registration is required and space is limited.
Batavia native Barb Toal with her book, "Friends of the Batavia Peace Garden," at GO Art!, where she will have a book signing from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Photo by Joanne Beck
People kept asking Barb Toal what Batavia Peace Garden was all about, and it was too great a concept for her to explain, so there was only one thing for her to do.
Write a book about it.
“The story is too big to tell, you know, it’s too hard to explain to people what it’s all about in five minutes,” said Toal, co-founder of the garden nestled around Holland Land Office Museum on West Main Street in Batavia. “And lots of people were asking me to tell them a little bit here, a little bit there. And I finally said, you know, if we don’t start documenting this, nobody’s gonna know what this is all about.”
And the "Friends of the Batavia Peace Garden" was born. There will be a book signing event, with light refreshments served, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at GO Art!, 201 E. Main St., Batavia.
The garden’s evolution began with Toal’s idea and the vision being outlined in paperwork in 2010. “We had to build the integrity of our organization,” Toal said, and earn the respect of the community, as those early members forged ahead with their plans to be on and in the grounds of the museum.
“And without this community, we could have never been in there,” she said. “This community is incredible. The people, the donations, and how they care about the families who care about the community are just amazing. Because every cent that has ever gone into that garden is from this community.
“All these years later, 13 years later, we got our first grant tool to enroll … to do the mural on the water tank, and the path to the second phase of the garden, because the first phase is completed and full. And the second one has partially started, and the third has been designed.”
Whoa, hold on there Barb Toal. Folks need to know much more about the beginning phase. After all, that’s why the book was written. They wanted to know what this Peace Garden stuff was all about, right?
It originated after Toal visited International Peace Garden founder Paula Savage at her home. Toal was watching footage of peace gardens on a laptop and saw one in Italy and then one in Ireland. As it happened, she had seen both of them in person during prior trips.
“I thought it was meant to be,” Toal said. “I bought into it. I wanted to get this garden put where it is, I fought like the devil. I wanted to get people to the museum. I was born and raised in Batavia and I wanted to show it off.”
Savage is also from Batavia, and “we both love our community” Toal said. She felt that Savage, with her International Peace Garden clout, could literally bring the idea home.
Savage came up with the idea for a garden in 1990 as a way to honor the United States and Canada as the only two countries in the world that shared the longest undefended border for more than 200 years, and her vision was accepted and installed in Washington, D.C. in 1991.
Gardens were then presented worldwide, first to Poland, and then Germany, and Hungary, and one by one, 20 countries honored one another by choosing the next one in line for an international peace garden as a token of goodwill and, of course, world peace.
There was the eventual development of a trail of peace gardens for the bicentennial commemoration activities for the War of 1812 along Lake Ontario and the U.S. and Canadian border, aptly named the Bicentennial Peace Garden Trail.
Toal had just retired, and Savage asked her to carry out a dream to create a memorial garden to honor their community. They both knew it would take “a large amount of creativity to connect world peace to our very own small hometown community,” Toal said.
An initial planning design phase began with a committee and volunteers, as they began to work toward their goals. Batavia became a site for an honorary International Peace Garden as part of the 400-mile War of 1812 Bicentennial Peace Garden trail from Buffalo to Plattsburgh.
There was a garden groundbreaking in 2011. The book captures much of the progress before and since then with lots of photographs of volunteers and people who were integral to it all coming to fruition. There were those first three paying members. A cool metal globe crafted and installed by local businesses. Dignitaries, a drum and bugle corps. Scenes of digging up the earth and planting future growth. Painting benches and placing bricks. Flying flags, hands in cement, and solemn ceremonies. The Statue of Liberty. Smiles and celebrations. Re-enactment demonstrations, tours, and lessons. Fundraisers, and hotdog sales. A new shed, and longtime old friends.
Now that the first phase has been completed, which includes a painted mural on the water tank, Phase II of a soon-to-be installed arbor at the entrance, along with flags for more countries joining in spreading world peace are in the works. The second phase will also include interpretive panels that members are planning to dedicate some time next June, she said.
A third phase not quite so mapped out as of yet, is to potentially connect the ongoing garden trail to the city’s plans to develop Creek Park property behind the ice arena, she said.
But for now, the book is on a shelf to tell the story that Toal wished to tell.
“Because everybody goes, ‘I know the flags are there, what are they there for?’ They don’t know. But each one of those countries has an actual Peace Garden in it. And then, you know, so every year or two, or however the board chooses, another garden is added,” Toal said. “So that’s why when we designed this, to begin with, we knew that the first garden would be full of the flags we had to start with. So for the next stage of the second phase … there are flags on hold to go in there. But we can’t do anything until we get all the permissions from everybody. And then we’d add a flag each year to add more countries of the world trying to make peace, the countries that are trying to work peacefully together.”
And rest assured, that garden members will continue to raise money to keep the effort going, from bricks and T-shirts to a seasonal hotdog stand, pins, and local flags. Even when they have a holiday get-together, board members pay their own way, she said, so as not to take money away from what’s to be spent on essentials for the garden.
“When you love what you do it makes life so much easier; it’s a labor of love, more than a chore,” Toal said. “And we take pride in the garden.”
Proceeds from the book will go to Batavia Peace Garden. They may be purchased at GO Art!, Oliver’s Candies, and Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia.
