February Galleries Opening Reception: Pat Jacoby Harris | Maria Mijares | Marilyn Hedlund’s Students

On Display: February 5 – 27 Opening Reception: January 5, 5:00-7:00 p.m. Pat Jacoby Harris A Retrospective Exhibition Patricia Jacoby Harris was born in Peekskill, NY, September 15, 1940, and grew up in this Hudson River Valley area, 40 miles north of New York City. She was an art major at Hendrick Hudson HS, Montrose, NY. In 1959, Jacoby Harris enrolled in SUNY College of Art Education, Buffalo, NY, and spent a semester in Sienna, Italy. Studies included fresco painting, sculpture, pottery, art history, and Italian culture. She lived in New York City during the 1960’s and has divided subsequent years between Buffalo and Peekskill. In Peekskill 1986-1997, she opened PJH Showroom Gallery and had a studio in The Dempsey Flatiron Building in Peekskill’s Downtown Historic District. Jacoby Harris is currently living in Southwest Florida. She has exhibited widely in New York State, Pennsylvania, and the Western New York Area, receiving many awards and Best of Shows for her work. Watercolors painted with unconventional techniques reach dimensions of between 4 to 6 feet. The brushstrokes and washes compose highly animated imagery using transparent colors and opaque gouaches. She also works in acrylics on canvas, board, and paper, but another favorite medium is colored pencils and sticks. This medium is also used in a nontraditional manner. Abstract imagery is heavily built up of layers of pigment and burnishing which results in a highly glossy and rich surface. In recent years the linear signature of these abstract paintings have found expression in fiber crafts and “Specious Artifacts”. The expression is in the creation of strands of fiber made from reclaimed and unraveled wools, mohairs, linens, cottons, silks, and acrylics of sweaters that are from all over the world. Hundreds of artifacts (mostly hats) have been sold at stores in Buffalo and New York City. Jacoby Harris is a longtime member of The Buffalo Society of Artists and has exhibited in many of their juried shows. _____________________________________________________________ Foulds Theater Gallery Selected Works by Maria Mijares Maria Mijares is a contemporary realist painter who focuses on producing rich visual narratives through meticulous encapsulations of her lived experience. She draws on the connections of her life in New York, New Jersey, and her family’s ancestral Santander, Spain to create artworks that highlight the details of her outdoor life. She refers to this intense care for detail as “psychedelic precision.” Her work exists as representations of identity, place, and memories while highlighting the simplicities of everyday life. Internationally exhibited and represented in numerous museum collections, Mijares brings together realism and storytelling in paintings that resonate through intimacy and contemplation. _____________________________________________________________ Member Gallery Marilyn Hedlund’s Students’ Exhibition This exhibition features original acrylic paintings created by students of Marilyn Hedlund’s Fine Art Acrylics Class. The works reflect a vibrant, critique-driven studio environment where experimentation, thoughtful feedback, and individual growth are central. Guided by Marilyn’s one-on-one instruction and group discussions, students explore composition, color, form, and contrast, resulting in a diverse collection that showcases both technical development and personal artistic voice. _____________________________________________________________ Featured Artworks: “First Panorama” by Pat Jacoby Harris, “Twilight Boats” by Maria Mijares, “Dreaming of Lavender Trees” by Vicki Baker