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Greetings!
Welcome to the Blue Door Artist Association. We have been a cultural presence in Yonkers for the last six
years and are dedicated to bringing the arts to local communities
throughout Westchester that are currently underserved by art programs. We do this through exhibitions, public art
projects, workshops, mentoring programs and special events. Please join us to help us bring art to our
community.
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| Membership
The Blue Door Artist Association is the only not-for-profit art gallery in Yonkers. We invite you to join us in our efforts to serve both the artists and the public in our community.
Member benefits include: - An artist gallery page on our website
- Inclusion in a yearly members-only exhibition
- Opportunities to organize exhibitions and programs
- Listing on our Arts Calendar
- Notification of special art opportunities
Yearly membership dues are $35.00
For more details, go toBlue Door Artist Association
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Community Outreach
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
for the
Yonkers Green Wall
June 13, 2008
3:30 pm
outside the Yonkers Riverfront Library
We are honored to announce the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 3:30pm. Representatives and Delegates from the Yonkers community will be there to honor students for their dreativity and dedication to spread environmental awareness.
Please join and support the efforts of students from your neighborhood. We will honor our youth for their creativity and dedication to spread environmental awareness.
Murals will be displayed at:
Metro-North Railroad
Larkins Plaza
St. Johns Church
41 Main Street
The Yonkers Green Wall is a project created by students in our local high schools dedicated to the social awareness of the environment in which we live. It was made possible by a grant from Domino Sugar and the support of Blue Door Artist Association.
Students from five schools were invited to design and paint murals depicting environmental and conservation themes on plywood panels, which will be exhibited in downtown Yonkers. Over the last several months, these young artists were educated in the environmental concerns of today. Their messages of hope are vividly expressed on these panels.
Students worked under the guidance of their own art teachers and a professional artist, Ann Ladd Ferencz, who has worked with school children on mural projects for many years.
Blue Door Artist Association has been working with the Yonkers School System officials, art teachers, professional artists, and officials of the City Government to implement the creation of the design and the execution of the mural. We are proud to have the support of Domino Sugar as a community neighbor focusing on bettering our neighborhood.
Celeste Walls-Kepler |
Public Arts
Ascending Arcs
Sculpture by Al Landzberg
Yonkers yet again expands it vision for the visual arts in our community. Al Landzberg's sculpture, "Ascending Arcs," portrays an ever-changing artistic landscape in the downtown area of Yonkers. "Ascending Arcs" embodies more than just an art form but a representation of how we move forward in building a creative and evolving community.
Click on the following link to read more about the opening and response from Luis Perelman, Director of the Blue Door Artist Association.
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Community Outreach
Yonkers Riverfest
September 8, 2007
"Piecing Together Creativity in Our Community"
The Blue Door Artist Association reached out to the community with an interactive art project as part of the Yonkers Riverfest 2007. Local artists supported this event and used their creativity to inspire those of all ages on this special day.
As artists we have so much to offer the community surrounding our lives. Riverfest provided us with the opportunity to reach out and share our passion for the arts. We can help others explore how creativity within a group can be an inspiration. What better way to spread the word than to engage others in the excitement of expressing ourselves and creating art!
"Piecing Together Creativity in Our Community" involved individuals placing found objects, painted works, fabrics, etc. to a panel. The art was based on the overall process that evolves over a course of a day. As we have all experienced, a piece of art morphs into many shapes over a course of time embracing the experiences and rewards in the act of art-making rather than the product.
community. The success of a community art piece strengthened
not only the ties within our own membership but also those who will participate in the art process.
Celeste Walls-Kepler |
| Young Members
Kidz Corner
Kids and summer camp go hand in hand, but one unique way to spend summer is in an arts camp. Last year I attended the Rivertown Arts Camp in Hastings-on-Hudson and explored many art forms in a creative and fun environment. The Rivertown Arts camp provides unique options like music, mosaic, architecture, fine art painting, performing arts and many more. What I enjoyed most about the camp was that local artists who are practicing and working in their art form are engaged to teach the art classes. We were able to learn and explore new art forms in a relaxed and supportive environment. There are sharing activities and plenty of pressure-free times for fun.
To learn more about the Rivertown Arts Camp go to:
Rivertown Arts Camp
Isra Abdo
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Call for Artists
July Members' Exhibition
This will be open to all current members. Each artist will have a 60"x72" panel to display works of his or her choice. There are also two vertical and two horizontal display cases that can accommodate small works. Sculptors will be able to display two works on pedestals. All participating artists should email information about their works to Luis at eselpe@optonline.net. There will be an artists' reception on Saturday, July 12, from 2 to 4:30pm.
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Artists
Fine art portraits from photos, OK.
But from snapshots?
So
you're going to have your portrait painted. That means you'll sit in a
studio for hours on end while the artist paints you, right?
Well,
it used to mean that. But click "Procedures" on almost any portrait
artist's website - including those who get $10,000 and up for a
portrait. You'll find that these days the "portrait sitting" is often
a photo shoot that happens before the artist's brush ever strokes
canvas. After the shoot, the client and the artist select a photograph
on which to base the portrait. Then the client can disappear while the
lengthy work of the actual painting is accomplished.
When the
painter is a terrific artist to begin with, painting from photographs
can create exquisite portraits, the kind of art you want to gaze at
forever.
Look at this beautiful little boy - his eyes appeal to you
emotionally. Every detail of his background creates a very unusual
atmosphere, tinged with mystery. (For a larger view, click on photo.)
There are good reasons
why portraitists have shifted to using photos. Clients don't want to
take time or energy to travel repeatedly to the artist's studio and sit
motionless for the endless hours it takes to paint a portrait. A
subject who poses gets tired and bored as time passes. The head
droops, shadows shift, angles change, new wrinkles appear in clothing,
creating problems in painting them. So artists have always seized on
technological tools as fast as they're invented, to develop new ways of
capturing their subjects in paint.
Of course, portraitists who
successfully use photographs are able to do so because they have
trained endlessly in drawing from life, observing and painting the
myriad elements of color, line, human physique, and so on. When
portrait artists paint from photographs, they are drawing on all their
experience of working from life.
But can art grow from snapshots?
Many
in the art world insist that portraitists who paint from photographs
use only photos the artist takes him or herself. Many portrait
competitions stipulate this. The reason is to prove that the artist
isn't using some one else's vision, some one else's composition,
lighting, color choices, and so on. Rather, the artist must make all
these choices, based on their own artistry and technical skill.
However,
I believe that, treated properly, personal snapshots taken by some one
other than the artist can actually be central to a work of art. To
read more about this out-of-the-box perspective, please go to my
newly-launched blog, blog.AnneBobroffHajal.com
Anne Bobroff-Hajal
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Local Shows
Celebrate Art 2008
Hastings-on-Hudson
 If you are in Hastings-on-Hudson anytime during the month of June, look up! Printed representations of artwork, created by Barbara King, Vicky Youngman and 70 other Hastings artists of all ages and skills, will be displayed on 30 by 45 inch banners hung from downtown area light poles. As part of Celebrate Art 2008, the brainchild of Tracy Allan, the artwork was chosen by the village arts commission after a competition involving nearly 500 submissions from about 150 local artists. The originals, in two-and three-dimensional mediums, were displayed at the James E. Harmon Community Center in Hastings on May 31.
For more information, see Celebrate
Art by Vicky Youngman
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Public Art Opening of Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Elm Street Park
Haifa Bint-Kadi, a local public art artist and Blue Door member has designed a public art project in the form of an interactive park. The park features transportation- themed equipment, mosaic, a chess table, and fantasy fencing. The park, located on Elm Street, off Nepperhan, opens June 18, at 11:00 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony by Mayor Amicone and the Yonkers City Council, Legislator José Alvarado, Bob Miller, President of Westhab Incorporated, Ms. Bint-Kadi and the community members and youth of Nodine Hill who helped design the park with the artist. The park was funded by Westhab Inc. in conjunction with County Legislator, José Alvarado. All are invited to participate in the festivities.
Haifa Bint-Kadi | |
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Newsletter Management Team
Celeste Walls-Kepler
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