GROUP EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES

TAC is pleased to present five group exhibition opportunities in 2024.

1. A Show of Support: The 12th Annual Supporters Exhibition: (October 2024)

2. Collaborations: A Group Exhibition: One of the driving forces of TAC is to build programs aimed at building a community of artists—making connections, sharing ideas, working together, and forming friendships that results in a more vibrant and creative community. In that spirit, TAC invites artists of all media to team up to create and display an original piece of work in Collaborations: A Group Exhibition in December 2024. For submission guidelines and details, click HERE.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Main Gallery

Tioga Arts Council (TAC) is honored to announce its September exhibition, Form & Feeling: Works by Ethel Vrana and T. Benjamin Hobbs. The exhibition opens on First Friday, September 6, from 5 – 8 p.m. in the Main Gallery located at 179 Front Street in Owego. Join us for an Artist Talk with Vrana and Hobbs at 6:00 p.m.

About Ethel Vrana.

Ethel Vrana is an abstract painter from Ithaca, New York, whose work has been exhibited regionally in both solo and group shows. She is also represented by several international online galleries. Her work is owned by collectors in the United States, England, Austria, Sweden, Australia and Japan.

Ethel knew, even as a child, that she wanted to be a painter. After spending many hours drawing and painting at age ten, her mother bought her a complete set of professional oil paints.

“The set was in a beautiful wooden box, with everything I needed to learn oil painting,” said Ethel. “It was no surprise that later when I went to the University of Rochester, I majored in art and philosophy.”

After completing her bachelor's degree, Ethel went on to earn a permanent certification to teach art in public schools. Whenever she could, between raising her three children and teaching art, Ethel would go out into the beautiful natural areas around the Finger Lakes region and paint impressionistic landscapes. About twenty years ago, her interest in abstract art blossomed after she participated in a workshop, Water Media Collage, given by the well-known abstract collage artist, Carrie Burns Brown.

“I loved the freedom it gave me to experiment with new materials and to create abstract images from my imagination using line, form, and color,” Ethel explains.

Ethel’s abstract works are spontaneous and created using experimental techniques such as acrylic collage, painting in layers, and transparent inks. Some of her recent works are entirely non-objective, while other canvases include symbolic representations and realistic imagery. This includes a wide range of geometric, amorphous, and organic shapes. Often, these shapes are distorted, which adds to their mystery. Sometimes, she adds fine lines to enhance the compositions. Ethel hopes her abstract paintings create thought provoking and emotional responses for her viewers. Of her current painting, Ethel says, & quot; I am inspired by the endless variety of compositional structures and evocative arrangements of shapes, lines, and colors.” Her paintings are shown at: ethelvrana.com.

About T. Benjamin Hobbs & Stanton Hill Studios

Becoming a furniture designer evolved from a melding of the family tradition of running a sawmill with the influences of my father, an engineer, and my mother, an artist.

 After graduating from The School of American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology, with a degree in Furniture Design and Woodworking, I returned home and set up my studio in a vintage barn on our property. My father and I later designed and constructed a timber frame in addition to the barn that doubled the size of the studio. My wife, a fiber artist, and my mother, a sculptor, also have their studios in this building.

 At RIT, I acquired the techniques and skills I needed to create my vision of originally designed furniture. I take pride in being the sole designer and craftsman for all my furniture, it may take more time this way, but it is worth the wait. Through all stages of the furniture making process, I pay close attention to detail; from hand picking the hardwoods used in each piece to applying many coats of a traditional hand rubbed oil finish. Each new piece of furniture is a statement of my original style. This style incorporates contrasting wood species, angles and curved elements, and refined hand detailing to make each piece of furniture unique. To learn more about Hobbs and Stanton Hill Studios, go to: stantonhillstudios.com.

Dates
• Opening Night: Friday, September 6, 2024, at 5 - 8 p.m.
• Exhibit Duration After Opening: September 7 - 28, 2024, Wednesday - Saturday, 12 – 4 p.m.

The Tioga Arts Council is committed to showcasing emerging and established artists in and around Tioga County. The exhibitions change on a monthly basis. TAC welcomes submissions from artists on a continuous basis. We are interested in all contemporary media including drawing, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, experimental media, sculpture, quilting, etc.