GO ART!

Press release:

The third ARTiculations Ability Exhibition -- a forum for artists with disabilities in Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties to display their work publicly -- will open at Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) in Batavia on Jan. 19.

Titled "8 X 10," it features the work of Chris Humel, who uses intensely hued acrylics, to depict postage stamps and other mail-related themes. Twenty years ago, he cofounded the still-active band BC Psychos; he will be teaching a five-week course, “Cartoons by Kids” for young people 10 to 15, at GO ART! (Genesee-Orleans Regional Art Council) in Batavia.

A product of a partnership between ILGR and the University Heights Arts Association (UHAA), the exhibit will be on display through March 29^th. The opening reception, featuring Humel on his guitar, is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan.19th at ILGR’s office, 113 Main St., Suite 5, in Batavia. 

In Humel's own words, "I am a person with disabilities. I am 55 years old. I have been battling schizophrenia and related depressing problems for most of my life. My work is about breaking out of isolation and 'going postal' in a good way, by making contact with artists, writers and through the Post Office."

Other artists with disabilities residing in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties are encouraged to submit their work to this juried competition, as there will be additional ARTiculations planned quarterly exhibits in the future.

For over a year, ILGR has been “art partnering” for people with disabilities with the UHAA, a group of artists in North Buffalo with a commitment to community that places art in businesses and nonprofits through an established ARTpartnering program.

The organizers are pleased to note that the ARTiculations Ability Exhibitions has “mapped” into UHAA’s system by placing a plaque with a Quick Response (QR) code scatter bar graph that can bring up information about it when scanned by your smartphone.

For questions on the event, please call Patricia AbdusSalaam at (585) 815-8501, ext. 400. 

Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) is a member of the Western New York Independent Living Inc. family of agencies that offers an expanding array of services to aid individuals with disabilities to take control of their own lives.

At GO ART! on Thursday night, there was both a cooking class and an art show opening.

Joseph Rojo, above, provided a demonstration of Asian fusion cooking. Below, Kimberly Perl and Marie Scofield get to participate in creating a chicken adobo.

For the art show below, Judy Wenrich poses with her painting, "My 3 Pets." Look closely and you'll find three ferrets. The show features work by GO ART! members on the theme of "Juxtaposition."

GO ART! also has an art sale in the main gallery featuring both current member works and works from the archives.

When was the last time you were at GO ART!? Well the Genesee Orleans Regional Art Council has been very busy over the last year. You may have noticed the Picnic In the Park on July 4^th was a little larger and had more activities. 

GO ART! has been busy behind the scenes, too. At Seymour Place, where GO ART! is located in Batavia (201 E. Main St.), they have increased the galleries from one to four, tripling the amount of art on display at any given time. Currently all four galleries are filled. 

For Christmas in the City, and throughout the month of December, GO ART! has assembled more than 150 pieces of classic and contemporary art, including sculpture and jewelry that are offered for sale.

“GO ART! has been very lucky to have had many great works donated to us through the years," Director Gregory Hallock said. “So much so that we don't have room to store it all and for the first time we are offering those without stipulations and owned by GO ART! up for sale to the public."

They have not just been busy with art. GO ART! has reworked the kitchen, complete with four new Viking ranges, for culinary classes. The ovens received a bit of a workout yesterday as they made cookies for Christmas in the City.

Starting at 5 p.m. on Friday GO ART! will be hosting a Slavic Christmas complete with Santa Claus and an accordion band; sandwiches from Red Osier Landmark Restaurant will also be sold at Seymour Place for the event.  

Photographer Eian Windham’s exhibit (pictured above with his mother) “Psychedelic Through Life” had its opening Thursday night at GO ART! It was a very well attended affair in the Rotary Room on the second floor of Seymour Place. Quite a few of Eian’s images were purchased within the first hour of the exhibit.

Eian is a 16-year-old Batavia High School student.

When asked how he got started in photography, he said “It just happened. I used to take a lot of pictures with my cell phone. My dad bought me a camera and I realized I could take better pictures with it.”

While he is still developing his style for his images, it is clear nature and family relationships are of interest and important to him. A majority of the images are from a tour of Jamaica that the family took last year.

Eian’s exhibit runs through Nov. 25^th. Go art currently has four exhibits on display. Exhibit hours are by appointment or Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11a.m. to  4 p.m., and every second Sunday of the month from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. GO ART! is located at 201 E. Main St., Batavia.

Photo courtesy of Jim Burns.

Information provided by GO ART!

GO ART! will present an exhibit of photography and illustration by local artist Jim Burns Nov. 9 through Feb. 3 at Seymour Place in Downtown Batavia.

Titled "Cabal and Zen," Burns says "The main portion of this exhibit was inspired by the tension of daily life and the desire for change. There are also individual images of beauty and peace."

There will be an artist reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16 at the gallery.

GO ART! at Seymour Place is located at 201 E. Main St. Gallery hours are Thursday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and the second Sunday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Editor's note: The statement by artist Jim Burns was changed at his request.)

GO ART! invites you to chalk the "Walk of Hope" on Saturday, Oct. 14 along the sidewalk at the Liberty Square Plaza.

For a $20 donation you can secure your spot along the sidewalk near Ficarella's Pizzeria's parking lot.

Artists can arrive at 7:30 a.m. and judging will happen at 2:30 p.m. You must bring your own chalk art supplies.

This is part of the (hurricane) "Harvey Festival," which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Prizes -- sponsored by Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle, Pollyanna & Dot/The Hidden Door, Charles Men's Shop, Batavia Bootery, Main St. Pizza Company and The YNGodess Shop -- will be awarded for the best design in the following age groups:

• 10 and below
• 11 to 14
• 15 to 17
• 18 and up

All proceeds of the event will go toward aid for the victims of the summer's devastating hurricanes.

For more information, contact Jodi Fisher at   jfisher@goart.org or phone 343-9313.

Wyoming County writer and photographer Barbara Knight was on hand Thursday night at GO ART! for an artist's reception featuring her photos of Ireland. Knight has worked for 25 years as a writer and photographer and she traveled to Ireland in April. The photos on display at GO ART! capture the beauty and grandeur of what she saw during her visit.

GO ART! also opened its latest member show, "Guilty Pleasure."

Alex Segouia, of Avon, with his painting, "Lust." 

Lydia Zwierzynski with "Dreams of Fortune." 

Top picture, "West of the Fields" by Kevin Hammon, and "The Fishing Shack" by Julie Lambert.

Press release:

The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council is looking for artists to participate in its fifth Members Challenge Show, which will be on display Sept. 10 through Dec. 9 at Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St. in Batavia.

GO ART! is challenging artists to create artwork that invokes the idea of, feeling, meaning or experience of "Guilty Pleasure." All levels of artists are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Artists are encouraged to submit works that interpret this theme in any way they choose. One piece per artist requested. No media restrictions. Entries must be no larger than 3’ x 3’.

Artists interested in participating can drop artwork off, along with an application (download at www.goart.org/galleries,) to GO ART! at Seymour Place. For more information or to become a membervisit www.goart.org, or contact GO ART! at 585-343-9313 or info@goart.org. Entry Fee: Members -- FREE.

GO ART! will be accepting submissions Sept. 5-9. No submissions will be accepted after Sept. 9. Selected works will be displayed in the Bar Gallery.

This will be “The Public's Choice" show with an artist reception, 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 14 with music, light fare and beverages.

Gallery Hours: Thursday, Friday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Also on the second Sunday of the month 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

For more than 100 years, there was a bar serving drinks at 201 E. Main St., Batavia, and GO ART! is looking forward to reopening the bar once the art council's application for a liquor license is approved.

"We're really excited because of our use of the old Batavia Men's Club," said Gregory A. Hallock, executive director of GO ART. "I can't wait till it's midnight and there are people walking on the street because the City applied for a DRI grant and they're hoping to get $10 million to do some arts and cultural stuff.

"So they're going to get that grant and people will be walking down the streets and they're coming here at 11:30 at night to get a glass of wine and walk around looking art. I'm really excited to have that happen."

Hallock made his announcement during GO ART's inaugural media dinner, with catering donated by Red Osier Landmark Restaurant, last night at Seymore Place.

The liquor license is just for beer and wine, but Hallock is working with an old friend, a bartender in Hawaii, to create cocktails that use beer and wine.

"We're actually going to have mixed drinks and we're going to have the bar open and we're putting in to open our back ally way," Hallock said. "It's going to be a beer garden so people can just hang out. It's just going to be incredible."

To start, the bar will just be open on weekend evenings.

Hallock's other big news of the night was an announcement of a planned showing for photographer Ryan Gustman. Hallcock discovered Gustman's working during the Sprout Film Festival and wanted to feature his work locally. Gustman has autism. He's from Winston-Salem, N.C. He also happened to be in town this week because he's doing a new series of photographs in Rochester and Buffalo.

Gustman specializes in art photos of old, decaying buildings (below, the video about him that was part of the Sprout Film Festival).

Through his discovery of photography and abandoned buildings, Gustman has found a way to focus and better manage his autism. Since then, he's been able to move out of his parents' home and take a job in IT with a company in Winston-Salem.

The process started when Gustman wandered into an abandoned building and sat for 30 or 40 minutes watching old lead paint fall from a ceiling like snow.

"There was this utter silence and I found out with the silence that I can actually calm down," Gustman said. "I'm not sure you understand how the autistic mindset works. There's always something clicking and everything --  that sounds a little crazy -- and normally and you can't basically focus. I was able to calm down and I took that feeling and I started taking pictures with it."

Hallock said he's hoping to draw wide attention for the show, bring in other autistic artists at the same time, and Gustman said he wants to use his newfound notoriety as a photographer to help other autistic artists.

"There's not enough programs or creative avenues for people with autism," Gustman said. There are plenty of classes you can go to for 30 minutes. But then there's nothing to show. So I'm trying to use this platform reaching out and actually helping these people."

That show should be in September.

Hallock also laid out a series of ambitious plans for the coming year, from a 1940s themed Picnic in the Park, more member shows, including one with theme of "Guilty Pleasures," a tea for children, a puppet show, a show by local artist Sean Madden (who has a regional following), and a return of the popular juried art show (which got 130 entries in its first year this year).

He's also very ambitious about what to do with Seymore Place. His goal is to get art on every wall.  

There are currently two shows at Seymore Place, one by Mary Ann Fritz, from Delavan, of her work of painted and sewn cloth, and Stacy Kirby's show of en plein air paintings and illustrations.

Mary Ann Fritz

Ryan Gustman

From 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, at GO ART! 'twill be teatime for "children of all ages" with special guests the Queen of Hearts and the one and only Mad Hatter, fresh out of Wonderland for the afternoon to enjoy desserts and game playing.

The location is 201 E. Main St. in Downtown Batavia.

There will also be crafts and more, including a Selfie Station for taking divine photographs.

Attendees under age 8 must be accompanied by an adult but at no additional cost.

Cost to attend this high tea is $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers.

For more information and to register please visit www.goart.org/teainwonderland

Do feel free to dress up just for the fun of it. Hats are de rigueur; gloves optional.

(The Queen has tentatively promised not to shout "Off with their heads!" for the two hours she will be present, but we're keeping our fingers crossed just in case...you know the saw about "old habits." Predictably, we have little to gainsay re: the Mad Hatter's lack of lucidity. It is what it is...)

Press release:

GO ART! would like to extend an enormous thank you to all who attended our 39^th Annual Picnic in the Park presented by the Red Osier. Mother Nature blessed us with amazing weather allowing us the liberties to gather and enjoy the festivities from morning until early evening.

We cannot emphasize enough how much we enjoy having the kids participate in the parade nor how much we enjoy seeing family and friends visiting and laughing as they relaxed in their lawn chairs.

Michelle Cryer and team worked tirelessly to schedule and commit the artisans, vendors, non-profits, stage delivery, trash cans and everything your eyes and ears took in on Tuesday. A big job well done by all.

And how about those bands?! The feedback on the bands has been fantastic. We didn’t expect the headliner Britishmania to take as long as they did to set up, but the wait was worth it. Everyone loved them and they played longer than scheduled to make up for the extra time they took getting into their Beatles mindset.  It was the biggest crowd after 4 pm in over a decade.

Once again… thank you everyone for spending your morning, afternoon and evening with us.

And a big thank you to all our sponsors: The Original Red Osier Landmark Restaurant, Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union, City of Batavia, Rotary Club of Batavia, Pinnacle Manufacturing Company, Inc., Quality Inn, Stephen M. Hawley & Assoc. LLC, Turnbull Heating & Air Conditioning, Julia Garver & Joseph Ruh, Freed Maxick, Batavia Kiwanis Club, Arc of Genesee Orleans, Bob & Linda Knipe, Carrotman Productions, City of Batavia DPW, CY Farms / Batavia Turf, Diane & Hirman Kasten, DRH Construction, Max Pies Furniture, The Porter Family, Valle Jewelers, WBTA, Bouchard Financial Services LLC, McGinnis Excavating & Plumbing Inc.

The 39th annual GO ART! Picnic in the Park was Tuesday, starting at 11 a.m., featuring music, food, arts and crafts, and family fun at Centennial Park in Batavia. 

Britishmania, a Beatles Tribute Band, was the headlining act on the stage, promoting the "Summer of Love" theme.