Tivoli Artists’ Gallery Anniversary Show opening on Saturday

Detail of Collage by Pat Hart “Lute”

The Tivoli Artists’ Gallery, formerly the Tivoli Artists’ Co-op, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a monthlong exhibit highlighting the work of seven current members and 30 artists who were members over the past 20 years. Ten of those former members are also original founders of the Co-op, which began with a holiday craft fair back in 1989 and became a year-round artist-run gallery in Tivoli in 1993.

The Anniversary Show will run from Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 28. It presents a selection of sculpture, paintings, printmaking, drawings, photography, mixed media and fine crafts. The Gallery will host an opening reception for the exhibit on Saturday, April 6 from 6 to 8 p.m., with former member Steven Pague (of Rhinebeck’s Winter Sun & Summer Moon boutique) performing.

Mary Untalan, current member and co-curator of the exhibit along with Marie Cole, says that the Tivoli Artists’ Co-op was founded by a group of friends “with the goal of providing a space where artists, writers and performers would feel encouraged to take risks and produce new work.” At that time, membership included those in the performing arts, and the group offered poetry readings, performances, lectures, workshops and exhibitions. Membership in the Co-op was so desirable, says Untalan, that there was even a waiting list to join. Today, she says, the Gallery is primarily about the visual arts. While the focus has changed along with the name, and the group is in the process of becoming a not-for-profit organization, it’s still very much a cooperative effort.

The Tivoli Artists’ Co-op was, until recently, the only artists’ cooperative gallery in the area. Untalan says that the Anniversary Show is meant to highlight the diverse styles of the Co-op artists and to celebrate the longevity of the group by focusing in particular on work by past members, many of whom have gone on to wider recognition.

The show will feature the work of sculptors Mark Bennett, John Corcoran, Rita Dee, Jennifer Harris and Fay Wood. Also on view will be photographs by Susan Fowler-Gallagher and Lila Pague, digitally altered photos from Donald Mender, mixed-media work from Roberta Andersen, Dea Archbold, Frana Baruch, Virginia Dow, Barbara Eichin, Grace Gunning, Janet Jappan and Joy Taylor. Liza Donnelly, known for her New Yorker magazine cartoons, is contributing paintings to the show, and Betsy Jacaruso will exhibit some of her luminous watercolor landscapes. A number of painters will exhibit still-life or floral work, including Diane Bauer, Marie Cole and Joan Schwartzman, and landscape painters include Sally Lyon, Mary Untalan and Nancy Yu. Former member Denise Saint-Onge will show her prints, and Pat Hart is exhibiting collage works.

There are currently 27 members in the newly named Tivoli Artists’ Gallery, with membership determining the calendar schedule for the following year. There are a number of annual shows, including the February Erotica Show and the November/December Holiday Show. Individual members can elect to have a solo exhibit or propose a group show theme. For each exhibit, the curating artist designs the postcard and posters, writes and sends out press releases, hangs the show and organizes the opening reception.

Many join for the opportunity to show their work with other artists in an exhibition space run by the artists themselves, says Untalan, and the Gallery promotes its members with a mailing list of over 1,500, drawing customers from the Hudson Valley area and beyond.

The Tivoli Artists’ Gallery is open on Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m., on Saturdays from 1 to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.

Opening reception for anniversary exhibit, Saturday, April 6, 6-8 p.m., free, exhibition open April 5-28, Tivoli Artists’ Gallery, 60 Broadway, Tivoli; (845) 757-2667 (757-COOP), www.tivoliartistsgallery.com.