Harmony Hall ventured a bit more into becoming the place for cultural activities and events in Sloatsburg, with an art opening Saturday afternoon for Rockland Renaissance, a traveling exhibition featuring Tappan resident and painter Sue Barrasi.

The show will continue at the Jacob Sloat House for another weekend showing on November 17 and 18 from 3 – 5 p.m.

Many Friends of Harmony Hall were in attendance, including president of the non-profit organization Barbara Berntsen, Village Historian Harrison Bush, artist Sue Barrasi, Suzanne Daycock, and Geoff Welch. Bush, along with his wife Gretel Bush, were elected by as the organization’s first lifetime members during in April.

The Friends of Harmony Hall is focused on the preservation of the Jacob Sloat House, as well as supporting arts and cultural and historical programs that promote the rich and varied history of New York’s Ramapo River Pass and Highlands.

Barrasi won the prestigious Leeman Memorial Award for best works on canvas by the National Association of Women Artists for her work Symphony, which appears at the art show, along with 15 additional pieces. The Rockland Renaissance exhibition is a traveling exhibit celebrating the impact of the county’s natural vistas on America’s first art movement ~ the Hudson River School, and how those vistas continue to inspire artists today. The show is the product of an individual artist’s grant awarded in December 2011 to Barrasi by the Arts Council of Rockland County.

“This is our first gallery show hung at Harmony Hall and I am excited as we add a new dimension of culture at the site,” said Harmony Hall Curator Geoff Welch.

The show also includes a comparison and contrast with past masters by presenting Barrasi’s work side-by-side with prints of the landscape paintings of some of the most prominent Hudson River School artists of the mid- and late 19th century, including Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church and Jasper Francis Cropsey among others.

An opening reception for Rockland Renaissance takes place  Saturday, November 10 from 3-5 PM at Harmony Hall. The exhibit will also be open to the public on November 17 and 18 from 3-5, and by appointment (845.712.5220).

Photos courtesy of Geoff Welch.