37th Avenue Art Gallery
From June 10th through June 27th local merchants will be displaying works of local artists. For a down-loadable list of stores and artists click here. For a slide show and even more about the gallery visit Community Communicato.
Here's a Map you can use to help find all the great works of art:
*All addresses are on 37th Ave. unless otherwise noted.
Tina Seligman @ La Porteña (74-25)
Tina Seligman @ La Porteña (74-25)
Tina Seligman is a mixed media artist, curator, art educator, and writer, who has lived in Jackson Heights for 50 years. Her artwork is represented by Cheryl McGinnis Gallery in New York City, and has been exhibited and acquired by private, public and corporate collectors in Saratoga Springs, NY, Manhattan, Wellfleet, MA, and Queens. Tina has worked as a teaching artist-in-residence at Flushing Town Hall since 2000, facilitating multi-sensory workshops for adults and young people through CASA, Parents as Arts Partners and NYSCA grants. From 2001 through 2006, she contributed a regular column to Magazine.ART and to Art of the Times during 2005. Her poetry and illustrations have been published by several art and literary periodicals including Prehensile Pencil Publications (formerly The Feral Press), Art Times, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center website, Pudding Magazine, Prayers to Protest and Cicada Haiku Quarterly. After earning a B.A. in Art from Queens College, she has continued her education with several forms of music and dance classes, which often inspire her work. To see more work, you can visit www.tinaseligman.com
Laura Schiavina @ Armando's (74-27)
Laura M. Schiavina has lived in Jackson Heights since 1951. Included in the Who’s Who of American Art, her award winning work has been collected and exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Islip Art Museum, NY; Sumner Museum, Washington D.C.; DuPont Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Citicorp Gallery, LIC; Eleftherias Park Art Center, Athens, Greece; National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, NY; New York City College of Technology, CUNY; and Ringel Gallery at Purdue University, IN. One of the first female members of the Salmagundi Club, Laura was chosen by Cynthia Maris Dantzic for her book “100 New York Painters,” published in 2006. She is member of N.A.W.A, National League of American Pen Women, National Art League, Jackson Heights Art Club, Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, and Audubon Artists. Laura came to New York in 1944 from Springfield, MA to become a fashion illustrator, completing evening courses at the Traphagen School of Fashion, while working in business. Deciding to continue in business, she studied fine art weekends, evenings and vacations from the late 1950's through 1980 with artists including Will Barnet, Carl Molno, Joseph Caine and Paul Puzinas.
Edith De Chiara @ 37th Avenue Photo (76-07)
My active involvement as an artist began in 1996 with my retirement from college teaching as a professor of art education. I have always made art, but prior to my retirement as Professor Emeritus from Lehman College of the City University of New York, it was interspersed with writing in the field of art education.My teaching experience includes 25 years at Lehman College, maintaining a private art school for nine years when my children were very young and six years teaching art in Junior High school and then High School. As art educator, I have written numerous articles and the book Art for exceptional children. (1984)
Bertine Lafayette @ Isabel's (76-11)
Bertine Lafayette has studied drawing and oil painting at the Art Students League in New York City. She is now working in her current love, watercolors. She enjoys paintin various subjects especially landscapes and animals. She has been studying this medium at the Jackson Heights Art Club, at the Brookfield Crafts Center, and with Jairo Toro at the Latino Arts Council. She exhibets in different venues in Connecticutt and some of her work may be found in private collections.
Elliot Bassman @ Maram Pharmacy (77-01)
Artist, author and curator, Elliot earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from City College of New York and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University. Elliot, who also studied at the New York Studio School, mentored by Philip Guston and Jack Tworkov, studied as well at the Skowhegan School, mentored by Brice Marden and Gabriel Laderman.
Elliot is a versatile painter who works in a variety of scales with artwork in numerous private and public collections, including David Brown Enterprises, Health & Hospitals Corporation, The Library of Congress, The Robert Cohen Library at City College NY, Bergdorf Goodman. Elliot includes an abundant range of themes: innovative still-lifes, landscapes, geometric abstraction, reinventions of the ancient world in a contemporary light, jazz and cityscapes. He enjoyed international success on Sotheby’s website.
His studio is a joy to visit and his presentations are entertaining and engaging. For more information, you can contact him at elliotbassman@hotmail.com or visit www.elliotbassmancom
Matt Pych @ Lety Bakery (77-07)
Matt Pych is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights in New York City. He was born the youngest of four children and was raised in large suburban town in northern Connecticut where he was surrounded by strip malls, parking lots, and tobacco fields. He was fortunate in his youth to have the opportunity to take classes from a local sculptor, Barbara Scavotto-Earley, where he was exposed to a diverse range of artists and approaches to creating art. During this period, Matt Pych received several awards including the top prize for his portfolio from the Connecticut Scholastic Art Awards as well as early admittance to his first choice in art schools, Pratt Institute.
He soon began his studies at Pratt Institute where he expanded further on his diverse approaches to creating art. While in attendance his work developed under the guidance of several influential professors including: Julia Heyward, Ann Messner, John Monti, Marsha Pels, and William Sayler. The experience of being situated within New York City proved to be extremely beneficial due to its status as a cultural capital. He completed his BFA focusing in sculpture in 2001. Although he appreciated his experience at Pratt Institute, he also found his time there to be confining. After finishing school he felt that it would be most beneficial to advance his work outside of an academic environment, where he lacked a safety net and a predetermined audience. This proved to be extremely difficult during those first few years, however his determination and ability to adapt to any given situation has brought him more focus than ever before.
Matt Pych has devoted much of his time working in photography in recent years. He has taken several technical classes focusing on printing and lighting due to his interest in working with film as way to record transient events. His vast and diverse interests, as well his belief that art serves as a catalyst for change to our society, continues to push his work forward, into the unknown.
Greg Stowell @ City Coffee (77-17)
Photography grabbed hold of Greg when he was a teenager, opening his eyes to the marvels to be found in the mundane, ordinary, everyday life. Much of the work he commenced to do exploited the potential offered by the aesthetic virtues of black & white images (and yes, he still uses film), allowing viewers to be readily transported to another place in our color world. Neighborhood defining venues such as small businesses, coffee shops, and the like have been warmly enthusiastic hosts to his indirectly referential style of documentary photography. Through his work, they have enjoyed tantalizing allusions to their own immediate experience that readily draw them to places in their minds they have not regularly been. Early years of life in the working class, bedroom community of Olathe, Kansas found Mr. Stowell was compelled to migrate to New York City, where today he is a resident of the borough of Jackson Heights, New York.
John Cebollero & Bill Kresse @ Novo (78-23)
John Cebollero was born and raised in New York City. He attended the High School Of Art & Design and School Of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
John has been a colorist, inker, and illustrator for DC, Milestone, Black Bull, Marvel, and Event comics. He has also created art for such clients as the Cartoon Network, Eternalcollector.com, Revolver magazine, Forbidden Zone magazine, the Topps Company, and BOOM! Studios.
He has been interviewed and featured in CreepMachine.com and JUXTAPOZ Magazine!
John has resided in Jackson Heights for over 40 years.
William Kresse studied at the high school of art and design, and went to work with Terrytoons in New Rochelle upon graduation. He then designed and drafted conveyor belt systems before working in the art department of Associated Press. Kresse eventually became a longtime illustrator and cartoonist for several New York City daily newspapers, including the Daily News and the Herald Tribune. With his friend Rolf Ahlsen, he created the comic strip 'Super Duper', which ran in the Daily News. Together, they often signed with Krahlsen.
He has been interviewed and featured in CreepMachine.com and JUXTAPOZ Magazine!
John has resided in Jackson Heights for over 40 years.
William Kresse studied at the high school of art and design, and went to work with Terrytoons in New Rochelle upon graduation. He then designed and drafted conveyor belt systems before working in the art department of Associated Press. Kresse eventually became a longtime illustrator and cartoonist for several New York City daily newspapers, including the Daily News and the Herald Tribune. With his friend Rolf Ahlsen, he created the comic strip 'Super Duper', which ran in the Daily News. Together, they often signed with Krahlsen.
Today he produces editorial cartoons for the Queens Courier Newspaper and designs the annual Jackson Heights Halloween Parade Posters. His illustrations have been used to create frames, souvenirs and snow globes. Bill is married to the lovely and wonderful Lorraine Kresse who is a member of the Queens Community Board 3 and President of their JH Co-op for 24 years. Bill is a recipient of the prestigious National Cartoonist Society Advertising and Illustration Award for 1974.
Claudia Schellenberg @ The Make-up Shop (79-02)
I am interested in both photography and pastel painting. My interest in pastel painting started with my love of outdoors and encompasses both plain air and indoor work. I continue to explore the medium through courses and workshops. I am a self-taught recreational photographer. I have been shooting in earnest since the winter of 2006, when my cousin and I set out on our first photo expedition to the Adirondacks. I am a Board member of the Sierra Club Photo Committee and have a special interest in nature photography.
Junko Yamada @ Rudy Volcano (79-07)
By applying modern subject matter and vibrant colors to a traditional Japanese art form, Junko Yamada creates truly unique works of art on rice paper. Her collages compose with thousands of pieces of fine paper in the tradition of “Harie”, a style of art that dates back several centuries in Japan.
Born in Kyoto, Japan, Junko grew up along the pacific coast outside of Kyoto where she was impressed and influenced by spectacular scenery. Her academic training includes the Art Institute of Boston in the late 1980’s and the Art League in Alexandria, Virginia throughout the 1990’s. Now having come full circle, her Japanese origin is reflected in her American training just as the natural beauty of the Japanese seashore is reflected in her choice of color and style.
Junko Yamada hopes that, like the ocean and mountains of her youth, her work instills a sense of tranquility and inner peace, a visual escape from everyday life. Junko was selected as the design finalist of 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. www.junkoyamada.com
Maria Bonilla @ Table Wine (79-14)
Maria has attended local schools in Jackson Heights and went on to explore art and design at Queens College. She received her degree in arts education and has taught locally at IS 145 and IS 230 for over 13 years. While inspiring her students to explore cultures and techniques, she also helps them craft lifesize puppets for the annual Jackson Heights Halloween Parade.
Maria's son EJ is also an artist and a student at The Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
Maria focuses on landscape painting, drawing and pastels, have captured scenic views from the gardens of the Chateaus right in Jackson Heights to the coast of Newfoundland.
Maria's son EJ is also an artist and a student at The Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
Maria focuses on landscape painting, drawing and pastels, have captured scenic views from the gardens of the Chateaus right in Jackson Heights to the coast of Newfoundland.
Anowar Hossain @ Inner Peace (79-24)
Anowar comes from a family of artists, scholars and supporters of the arts and other cultural events. Early on, his parents discovered that he had a gift for art and encouraged him to explore his talent. As a young man Anowar participated in art shows and competitions; he won many prizes and awards for his work. Growing up in Bangladesh, Anowar was strongly influenced by the vibrant Bengali creative community, which included the writer Ravindrath Tagore, film maker Satyajit Ray and musician Ravi Shankar. He currently resides in Jackson Heights and has a studio in Long Island City, Queens.
The young artist came to the U.S. in the 1980's and became involved with the flourishing New York art community through his art study and training at the School of Visual Arts and The Art Students League of New York. His works have been shown in many galleries and exhibitions both nationally and internationally and have won many awards. Anowar has sold many artworks and is represented in many private collections around the world, including the United States, England, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany.
Anowar is very philosophically minded. He believes human life is fully intertwined with nature and the universe; “Every thing we do in our life has a result and we have to remember this.” Anowar has been traveling internationally since an early age and has met many diverse individuals. Along the way, he has gathered knowledge and wisdom and this has influenced his canvases. www.anworart.com
Afzal Hossain @ Eyecare Center (80-07)
Afzal Houssain received his Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute and worked as a designer at Robert A.M. Stern Architects. He later founded BANG Architecture and Design, focusing on small architecture, art, furniture and graphic design projects. Afzal and his wife Julie Nymann recently moved to Jackson Heights and wanted to create a space for people to meet and express their art. They opened Espresso 77, an artisanal coffee bar in Jackson Heights which hosts the Gallery 77 program, a series of exhibitions of work by local artists and provides a venue for acoustic performances. Afzal works explores memory and emotion searching for a universal truth. Early work evoked the nostalgia for family and life in Bangaldesh. Recent works define his new life in New York, the fascination with the way the human condition is affected by natural and cultural forces. Afzal’s paintings offer reflections on being an immigrant, infused with personal history and inspired by new surroundings and possibilities. www.afzalhossaindesign.com
Helen Quinn @ Happy Kitchen (80-12)
Helen Quinn was born in Washington DC in 1969. She received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Detroit. Her moving sculptures, drawings and animations have been exhibited internationally. She currently lives with her family on 83rd Street in Jackson Heights. Helen’s practice consists of making sculptures and drawings that investigate the beauty and magic of movement and the elusive presence of grace. She is fascinated by how movement and gesture (be it implied or actual) can remind, startle and delight a viewer. It is this unexpected, sometimes child-like reaction that she wants the work to evoke.
The gouache drawings began as studies for her kinetic machines and have evolved dramatically over the past few years. The subject matter grew from diagrams and problem solving plans to illustrations of impossible fantasy contraptions. From there the floodgates opened as she frequented libraries to study subjects such as fair rides, alchemical images, antique toys, calliopes, illuminated manuscripts, font books, and mythologies of all kinds.
Carla Lombier @ Ultima Floral (81-02)
I was born a reader in central Illinois where the reading is good. There is a large influence of literature in my work; all pieces are titled and often contain my words or are sometimes amended with short passages from literature. Poets are permitted the pursuit of the lyrical, the metaphor, the emotional connection. The very structure of a poem and what can be communicated in such a small form is surprising, yet graceful. Can images do the same? Visual pleasure is a criticism of images lacking in visual pleasure. The notion of surprise as part of visual pleasure stuck. In contrast, a resting of the mind - to invite contemplation - seems part of my visual equation. Reading + poetry + metaphor + Illinois landscape + shadowy interiors + living looking and asking questions = pictures critical of art without visual pleasure.
Norma Markley @ Jahn's (81-04)
“It is the clash or intersection of sex and Americana that she paints with cut paper, draws with thread, embroiders on towels, or writes with the glow of neon tubing. She coaxes these incongruent elements until they sit well together, creating works that have been described as ‘thoughtful symbols of throwaway culture.’ ” Norma lives in Jackson Heights and works in her Greenpoint, Brooklyn studio. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art (1983) and was awarded an MFA in painting from Columbia University (1985). markleyn@aol.com
Eung Ho Park @ Gothic Cabinet (82-18)
As a Korean transplant to New York, I ponder the notion of identity and continuously question racial and ethnic divide. My work evolves through a gradual thought process beginning with the selection of ordinary objects used in routine daily consumption. These manufactured goods, like items in a time capsule, represent and preserve ideas of culture. Based upon my observations of social relationships and my personal experiences as an immigrant, I transform groupings of these mundane objects, whether spoons, bottle caps or bowling balls, into installations that depict contemporary narratives of humanity.
Eung Ho Park @ Gothic Cabinet (82-18)
As a Korean transplant to New York, I ponder the notion of identity and continuously question racial and ethnic divide. My work evolves through a gradual thought process beginning with the selection of ordinary objects used in routine daily consumption. These manufactured goods, like items in a time capsule, represent and preserve ideas of culture. Based upon my observations of social relationships and my personal experiences as an immigrant, I transform groupings of these mundane objects, whether spoons, bottle caps or bowling balls, into installations that depict contemporary narratives of humanity.
I was born in Woon Chun, South Korea and received my BFA at Pratt Institute. I exhibited at Exit Art, NY, the Drawing Center, NY, the Sculpture Center NY, Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Queens Museum of Art, NY, Long Island university, Dartmouth College, Wake Forest University, Skidmore College, ADA Gallery Richmond, VA, Montserrat College of Art, MA, Randolph Macon College, VA, Wave Hill Bronx, NY, Islip Museum, West Islip, NY, Korean American Museum LA, CA, DM Contemporary, Maxwell Davidson Gallery NY, Y Gallery NY, Sideshow, Williamsburg, NY, Chelsea Art Museum, NY, Defrost Galerie Cent, Paris, France, Jamaica Center for Art and Learning, Queens, Pierogi 2000 Brooklyn NY, and Sabina Lee Gallery, LA, CA. I also created a permanent sculpture for PS 270 in Queens, NY. My works have been reviewed in the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe and other publications. I live in Jackson Heights Queens and maintain a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
William Seifert @ Eye Vision (83-25)
After graduating from Pratt Institute, William worked as a graphics designer and as an illustrator in publishing, advertising and design firms. He is an original member of the former Alliance of Queens Artists. He is enjoying retirement and has devoted himself to creating art work incorporating design and color in unique ways. William’s work has been featured in various publications, including Photographers’s Forum Best of Photography Annuals of ’89,’90, 91 and ’97. Additional work was selected for the International Library of Photography in 1998 and 1999.
Marcus Woollen @ Slim's II Bagels (85-30)
Marcus Woollen @ Slim's II Bagels (85-30)
Marcus grew up in Seattle, Los Angeles, Belgium and New Hampshire and now lives in Jackson Heights, where you're likely to find him over at the new dog park. Marcus’ career as an actor has taken him across the United States three times, and throughout western Europe. Tours include 42nd Street, Zorba, Meet Me in St. Louis, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In New York, he has performed Moliere’s The Miser, Shaw’s Candida, Strindberg’s Dream Play, and Euripides’ Medea. He has appeared on HBO, MTV, and in several independent films and has created and produced a number of original plays. Now he's settled at a theatrical licensing agency and builds and maintains their websites and social network presence. He has enjoyed taking photos ever since he borrowed his father's old Spotmatic when he was 7.
