Meet Your Neighborhood Artists: 2016 Park Slope Windsor Terrace Open Studios Weekend
We all need art. Especially now. The experience of viewing creativity can soothe, challenge…and remind us of our culture’s generosity.
Enter the annual Park Slope Windsor Terrace Open Studios which begins Saturday, November 12 and runs through Sunday, November 13 from 12pm-6m each day.
During the upcoming weekend, you have an opportunity to view a variety of artwork in Park Slope and Windsor Terrace. And you also have a chance to have an experience you just can’t get at MoMA or the Met — spending time with the artists themselves.
Take a stroll through the neighborhood and visit the artists who also are our neighbors. 35 of them will be showing their work. And every visit is free.
“We’re really not a formal group,” says Joy Makon, one of the artists who will be showing their work this weekend. “Artists come in to the group and artists leave. We have new members, as well as the ones who are stalwarts.”
As in previous years, there will be a range of work on display. And the artists come from a variety of backgrounds.
“A lot of people in our neighborhood are working hard to make a life out of being an artist,” adds Makon. “Some are women who have raised their kids, and now those kids are old enough for them to start spending more time creating. People are working out of spaces in their homes — partially out of necessity and partially because they can and enjoy doing so.”
The second half of 2016 only accentuates what Makon is saying. With the recent impressive Gowanus Open Studios as well as ArtSlope, it’s hard to walk past even a few doors without being near our local, creative talent.
The tour map lets you either plot out your visits or simply wander throughout the weekend from artist to artist.
Here are some samples of the artistic works you can view and artists you can meet throughout the weekend. (All descriptive text via Joy Makon / Park Slope Windsor Terrace Open Studios)
“Her minimalist work combines traditional and digital techniques along with unusual materials (this is lint from the dryer). She wants her work to reveal the intimacy and tenderness of family relationships. Her work unapologetically uses the experiences of marriage and motherhood to reflect on tender moments. She is motivated by the need to discover an antidote to the chaos of today’s culture.”
“Walking a thin line between fine and applied art, ceramic artist Robin Roi works with clay to make utilitarian items—bowls, mugs, pots, vessels with lids—all while respecting the sculptural shapes and patterned surfaces that she loves so much. To hold one of Robin’s pieces in your hand is to take delight in the process and thought that goes into each piece.”
“Howard Skrill’s Anna Pierrepont series combines essays with drawings of public statuary. Howard explores through his writings and artwork the NYC monuments and statues that have been destroyed or removed due to neglect or political reasons. He often reimagines the monuments in other locations while asking the viewer to consider the memory and purpose of the monument.”
Here are some highlights that will take place during the weekend:
• At letter T on our map, Bernette Rudolph’s wall sculptures are crafted from wood reclaimed in Prospect Park and along the Hudson River shore line. She is known as a Great Grandma with a band saw in her living room. She is 87 and has been making art all her life. She will be showing a mini-retrospective at this year’s open studio.
At letter P, is painter Alise Loebelsohn. After 30 years of running a decorative painting business—with lots of scaffold climbing–she has realized her dream and is creating and selling paintings as an artist full-time. In only one year’s time, she’s shown work at several big-ticket art shows and galleries, and her work is being printed on silk scarves in Japan. She says “I just feel that there is some validation in holding on to a dream, working hard, and not giving up.”
• Ceramic Artist Caryn Kreitzer, letter N, has worked with clay, specifically terra cotta, for many years and has recently started doing watercolors and pastels to inspire her ceramic pieces. She will be demonstrating hand-building clay techniques during the Open Studio.
• Nancy Doniger and Eric Jacobson, at letter H, have quite a creative household. Nancy is working on a new series of monotypes. She will be doing a demo of monotype and intaglio printmaking on Sunday, to compliment prints made from her illustrations for the NY Times and from her published children’s books. Eric is showing a series of Wall Mobiles made of metal and stained glass. In the street-level entry of their home on Windsor Place, Eric has created a fountain that runs on solar power.
• Nancy Lunsford’s art, at Z, is informed by memoir and the art forms of her Appalachian heritage, including quilt patterns, story telling and music. She’s making things specifically for the tour and will be creating a piece of art during the Open Studio.
• Jules Peemoeller, at S, is showing a series of illustrations that he recently finished titled “Brooklyn Stories. He’s also showing a series about interesting NYC parks. His work is whimsical, funny, and very iconic NYC. (note: I believe that Jules is a retired NYC teacher)
• Simon Dinnerstein, letter G, has a special drawing on display this year—one that he began in 1997, put aside, and returned to this year. Simon generally shows a lifetime-worth of classic paintings, drawings and pastels, and his accolades include the Rome Prize Fellowship, American Academy in Rome, Fulbright Fellowship, Elected Member of National Academy of Design, and a very long, impressive CV.
• Janie Samuels, letter V, will be showing mixed media work, including video, that is inspired by political or moral concerns.
• Joy Makon, letter O, is showing watercolor landscapes from a beautifully hot and sunny spring/summer in NYC (Prospect Park, Wave Hill, Central Park, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens) and from absorbing the gorgeous light and history during a visit to the Brittany Coast of France.
• Joy Walker, at letter W, wrestles with form vs content with her abstract painting with added realistic photographs and landscape drawings.
The Park Slope Windsor Terrace Open Studios Rundown
Where: All over the Windsor Terrace and Park Slope neighborhoods. Use this map to guide you to see the artists.
When: Saturday, November 12 and Sunday, November 13, 12pm-6pm on both days
