Saturday afternoon marks a new phase in Harmony Hall’s cultural efforts as the old Jacob Sloat House hosts Rockland Renaissance, featuring Tappan resident and painter Sue Barrasi.
“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.
Barrasi won the prestigious Leeman Memorial Award for best works on canvas by the National Association of Women Artists for her work Symphony, which appeared at the 123rd Annual Members juried show at the Sylvia Wald and Po Kim gallery in New York. Symphony is one of 15 pieces included in the Rockland Renaissance exhibition, which opens at Harmony Hall Saturday afternoon, with an opening reception open to the public from 3 – 5 p.m.
“The paintings will be carefully hung in our two main historic rooms, the parlor and the dinning room,” said Welch, explaining that the exhibition is Harmony Hall’s first real foray into curated art. “Although these rooms are not yet restored, these delightful landscapes by Sue Barrasi will bring marvelous color and aesthetic beauty to the house,” Welch said.
Rockland Renaissance 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.
The show will also include 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. A selection of Barrasi’s works will available for purchse, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Friends of Harmony Hall’s restoration fund.
Originally trained as an illustrator at New York City’s prestigious School of Visual Arts, the Bronx native was awarded a merit scholarship by the internationally-famous Art Students League, where she studied with master painters Sherrie McGraw and David Leffel. Today it is Barrasi who is developing a reputation as one of the regions most gifted painters. Her award-winning works have been exhibited with the National Arts Club, Oil Painters of America, the Lorillard Wolfe Club, Audubon Artists, Salmagundi Club, Greenwich Art Association, the American Artist Professional League, and dozens of galleries and museums across the United States. She has received an Award of Excellence from Manhattan Arts International and is a proud recipient of the Pearl Paint Foundation Award among others. Barrasi was commissioned last year to design artwork for the Harmony Hall Heritage Collection, and continues to explore harmonious color stories, deliberate application of paint and exciting compositions.
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 11, 17 and 18 from 3-5, and by appointment (845.712.5220).
Suzanne Daycock contributed to this article.
