suns along the Mohawk

. . click here to see our 2025 Outdoor Art Show presentaiton . .

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Note from the Editor (10 P.M. Monday, Sept. 12, 2024) Thank you to each visitor for stopping by for a look at the 2024 Stockade Outdoor Art Show. And, a sincere thank you to the Committee that works so hard to plan and produce the Show every year for its Lawrence Circle home, in the Schenectady Stockade district. I am grateful to SOAS for linking to this website’s “coverage” of the Show through the Gallery link in its website.

. . . . . the above image is the 1st Prize winner, by Julia Durgee, “Novare Res“

Traditionally, I photograph the winners and the art at the award ceremony at Lawrence Circle as the core of my SOAS posting. Because I was late to the rushed, rain-avoiding Award Ceremony this year, I have been scrambling to get web-worthy photos of the winning artists and their paintings and to complete this posting, so it is available to the public while it is still news. Several people have graciously helped me with that task, especially Susannah Hand, Steve Kowaski, Lorraine Cox, and John Cehowski.

OVERALL WINNERS (Grand Prizes)

• 1st Place: Julia Durgee . .
  • winning painting is at top of this posting
• 2nd Place: Peter Watrous [seen below with his winning painting]
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•  3rd Place: Barbara Lennox – see below for her painting.

. . Above: 2nd Place art by Peter Watrous.

Below: The 3rd place winning piece by Barbara Lennox.

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HONORABLE MENTION WINNERS 

 . . Val Robert

 . . David Fingerhut

 . . Maryanne Rappaport 

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 . . George Dirolf . .

  (source; thank you, George)

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 . . Lisa Burton

. . thank you for the photo file, Lisa. . 

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[help: I’m still seeking a higher quality image to post of Becca Cain’s winning piece (below); if you can help, please contact David Giacalone – leave a comment, or email:  David@giacalonephotos.com]

                                       . . Becca Cain . .

                       

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YOUNG ARTISTS CATEGORY

 1st Place: CLAIRE SYTA .   

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  .  2nd Place: CARLEY WALSH .

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  . 3rd Place: ROSEMARY OTTATI .

. . scroll down the page for larger versions of the YA winners . . 

SPECIAL AWARDS  [click here for official award names, sponsors, and prizes]

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. . BEST FIRST TIME EXHIBITOR: CLAIRE SYTA (a/k/a Carla Fleur)

   . . she can sew & draw! 

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. . BEST DEPICTION OF THE STOCKADE: JOHN CEHOWSKI (many thanks to John for the next two photos)

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Historical Aside/Tangent:        I asked John whether that building wasn’t actually in the GE Plot, where a very similar one exists.  He replied his piece is based on a painting circa 1894, when it was Union Academy (high school) located at Church and Union Streets. That reminded me that in 2015 I wrote about “Union College’s Stockade Roots” and, checking it, I saw that the posting has a sketch [seen to the right] that appears to be the building in question (at 112 Union Street, where I can now see the resemblance, despite changes), plus a collage of the various early Union College structures along Union, N. Ferry, and College Streets.Z

..  BEST DEPICTION of the HUMAN FORM: RICK SACCHETTI

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. . AWARD FROM THE OAKROOM ARTISTS (for entire exhibit): MARYANNE RAPPAPORT

 . . photo from artist 

. . above: “Jazz”, oil on wood . .

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. . “PEOPLE’S CHOICE” AWARD: LINDA STARR (for favorite artist, selected by public ballot)

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. . Linda moved her exhibit aross the street, and her fans still found her! . .

. (2015) . . . 

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. . . A CLOSER LOOK: The WINNING ART of the YOUNG ARTISTS 

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STROLLING THE SHOW . . fine art and artists in addition to the above Awards-winners . .

PLEASE NOTE: My apologies, as always, to equally valued artists and well-crafted art not included in my selected images.

“Repeat Exhibitors“. For me, one of the very best aspects of the annual Stockade Outdoor Art Show is knowing that I will see some of my favorite art and artists again. They almost all have a rewarding mix of past favorites and styles plus something new.  Of course, exhibitors who are new to me are also highly valued, and I will focus on them soon.

Here are some examples:

PINA CALABRO  

I’ve never been to my ancestral home of Sicily, but Pina’s painting and warm welcome make me miss it a lot – even when Vesuvius is acting up. 

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PETER WATROUS

The Watrous family helped create the Stockade Villagers Outdoor Art Show, more than 70 years ago. But, Peter did not have to be a nepo-baby to be a serial winner of SOAS awards, such as his 2nd Place Prize this year. He puts a lot of life into his art. A lot of color, too.

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. . an encore favorite from 2023 SOAS

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RITVIK SHARMA

  Ritvik always has paintings I can image on my own walls or on walls of friends with excellent taste, i.e., taste like my own. And his choice of subject matter ends up broadening my taste in coloring and subjects. I’ve always liked his urban architecture and rainy streets, and small boats on water, plus an occasional portrait. Here are three that were new to me and brightened my visit to his exhibit this year.

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.. bonus: a bit of Ritvik’s 2022 exhibit ..

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. . . more Repeat Exhibitors:

   . . .  . by CC Moses-Rogowicz

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. . . Several other “veteran exhibitors” also gave us enjoyable images. Here are a few examples (click on a tile for a larger version and name of the artist):

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. . BONUS: Barb Lennox from 2019: . .

. . Another BONUS: Anping Liu’s 2021 Exhibit:

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. . perennial artists Mary Occhigrosso, Rick Sacchetti, Laura-Le Lipski, Meg Dalton, and Hal Robert also made my SOAS stroll a treat again (click on a square tile for artist name and larger image):

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 . . Bonus: a favorite oldie from Val Robert:

  

. . naturally, “new to me” artists caught my eye, too – a few examples:

. . Gena Semenov

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. . Dani Morette . .

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 . . Sherri L. Mackey . .

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. . Sebastian Bateman . . . .

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  . Elaine Thuener

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  . . Byron Cortez

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Running into neighbors and friends I do not seem to see often enough is another bonus of my SOAS Day activites. A good example is Bob Lemmerman (above on Left), who can often be seen in colonial costume and with a banjo on Stockade Walkabout days.

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. . JEFF LEAVITT was back in front of 29 Front Street, where he was a 1st-timer last year. This year’s exhibit has smaller, but still photogenic, works of art:

. . and, he brought along many of the little toys he is known for:

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ELAINE THUENER was nextdoor, at 31 Front Stree. She’s a SOAS first-timer who was easy for me to talk with, especially since she seems to bemoan the lost shade-trees in front of St. George’s Church as much as I do. She also has opinions about reducing the disfiguration of our street trees with utility company “trimming”. I hope Elaine will have a piece or two featuring mature shade trees next year.  Her display this year was pleasing to the eye even without trees in the forefront.

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  . . Elaine searching for photos of well-trimmed trees to share . . 

 

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. . a Rick Sacchetti painting worth seeing again . .

 

For a short while Saturday night, I thought Rick won the Best Depiction of the Human Form with the above painting. I spent a long time trying to decide whether there are two people in the middle of the painting walking across this fog-covered bridge. They might be there, but this was definitely not the winning painting. That’s another good reason for me to get to the Award ceremony on time each year. [The actual winner can be seen near the top of this posting.]

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GENA SEMENOV

This was my first encounter with Gena Semenov paintings. I wish I had time to walk around the exhibit asking her questions, or just letting her tell me about each piece. Instead, I settled for a few shots of her mystical animals.

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Gena strongly encouraged me to take a look at this side of her exhibit tent:

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HELGA PRITCHARD returned this year with her usual trove of quality art. Here are a few from her 2024 exhibit:

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HERE ARE A FEW INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS I’M GLAD I TOOK

 a fun rabbit by Linda Grimmick . . .

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. . . tulips from an artist I need to identify . . . . please let me know who this is. . 

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. . bold colors by Ms. . . . Rivera . . 

. . . two DSS staffers were friendly and informative. .

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. . I love “Andy’s Art” little sign, with its apt description of the artist’s intentions & motto; spot on!

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.. . . another gem from David Fingerhut . . 

. . and one from the web without outdoor glass-glare::

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. . a beautiful flowerbox just outside the Show boundary – 17 Front St. . . 

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JULIA DURGEE 

  This webposting coverage of SOAS 2024 started with a painting by Julia Durgee and will now end with her spirit and art.

Julia gave us a big smile of joy at the Winners Circle when she won Best 1st Time Exhibitor in 2021. 

And she repeated a joyous smile this year upon winning our First Place ribbon.  

Art and community both need that attitude, which shows enthusiasm and gratitude. Let’s hope we see Julia often at the Stockade Outdoor Art Show as the years flow by.  Here are three more of Julia’s paintings that shared an old wooden easel at her exhibit in 2024. The first one below found its way to the Winners Circle in 2021 for the First-Timer Award.

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Next year, I predict, the skies will be blue and the clouds white and puffy,* with a slight breeze, over 100 exhibitors (like in the not-so “old” days), and a festive flair. See you there.

*Like it was in 2021, as captured in the photo below featuring a painting by Sherry Xu and the steeple of St. George’s Church.