‘Art of the Garden’ Opens June 11 in our Lazarus Gallery

Opening on June 11, “The Art of the Garden,” a juried show, organized by United Hebrew of New Rochelle, will feature 50 beautiful and evocative paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media by 33 emerging and established artists from across the New York metropolitan region and beyond, depicting nature in all its glory.

The exhibition was organized by Robin Zane, Curator, and Jodi Moise, Gallery Advisor for United Hebrew. Zane said they received over 100 submissions, ultimately selecting a mix of pieces that ooze color and beauty in an array of textures designed to engage viewers, according to Zane. “Gardens have long been a place for us to experience beauty, to reflect, to heal. We expanded upon that idea and included single blooms, landscapes, birds and butterflies. The idea was to expose viewers to a smattering of images from the region and around the world,” said Zane.  

The Artists

The artists whose work will be shown include Judith Aronow; Lois Bender; Mary Ann Balco Berry; Karen Silver Bloom; Nina Birnbaum; Arnold Breisblatt; Tatiana Ferraro; Lynne Friedman; Sarah Harding Glickman; Michelle Golias; Claudia Gorman; Alice Harrison; Lydia Hassan; Simone Kestelman; Corinne Lapin-Cohen; Linda Lighton; Tina Link; Sharon Linsker; Carla Lobmier; Angela Manno; Claire Marcus; Monique Michaels; Harvey Milman; Terri Olson; Yangyang Pan; Lesia Prokopiv; Renee Pasquale; Aija Sears; Annie Shaver-Crandell; Regina Silvers; Dennis Thornton; Mitchell Visoky; Liliana Washburn.

About the Art 

What can you expect from The Art of the Garden? A riot of colorful flowers fronting a beach town shop, an endless path snaking through the woods, and a sun-dappled rose garden in a New England village are in three of the selected works.

• There’s a painting called “Topiare Flower Shop,” a watercolor of a Sag Harbor flower shop by New York City-based artist, Lois Bender. The daughter of Flora Bloom (really!), Bender said she loves the idea of translating nature through art. “Nature has tremendous force and vitality and has a power to heal. Life is vivid and colorful and I like to bring that out through art,” she says. The exhibition also features her mixed media “Pond Tableau” and her painting, “Flower Squiggle Grid,” with a repetition of flowers reminiscent of Andy Warhol. 
• Internationally acclaimed multi-media artist, Simone Kestelman, who has shown her work in South America, Greece, and the US, has two sculptures featured in the show. Her work is influenced by her childhood in Brazil, where she says she was exposed to the city’s beauty and its dark side. Striking landscapes, architecture, music and food were often in the shadow of violence and extreme socio-economic inequality, according to Kestelman, who strives to create art that reflects both beauty and pain. “My work is a way to talk about the human condition: life, death, love, hate, beauty, violence. Art has the power to heal,” she says. 
• “Rockport Garden,” a painting by artist Michelle Golias, reflects several summers she spent as part of the Rockport Arts Association, the active and nationally-known artists’ colony in Massachusetts. Her goal as an artist is to relate, through painting, a heightened sense of consciousness to the viewer. Says Michelle: “Painting from life is an amazing experience. Nature is fleeting and so it is exciting to translate it with color and brushwork. Whether it is through color, or mood, or atmosphere, a painting can change the energy of the environment, and the viewer. Art can be more than oil on canvas, it can be tranquil beauty that enhances our lives.” 
• “Dawn of a New Day,” a three-dimensional photographic work is by Monique Michaels, whose professional work is an “exploration and combination of organic, botanical, textile art and light boxes.” A regular contributor to The New Yorker, Manhattan, Angeleno, C, Los Angeles, and Pasadena Magazines, she often uses “a visual narrative through the seasons, winter, spring, summer and autumn, while combining elements, air, fire, water, earth and ether as imaginative three-dimensional story telling embarking on a journey through timelessness using the magic of mother nature.”

And, there’s so much more!

According to Rita Mabli, President and CEO of United Hebrew,  “When you see these works, you feel transported to a sunny day from your past or a far-away land you’ve yet to see. We always look for works that connect viewers to the art and each other—residents in our care, their families, and visitors. “For some of our residents, for whom going outside is difficult, the artwork brings the outside in, for them to enjoy.”

The Art of the Garden will be free and open to the public daily, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at United Hebrew’s Lazarus Gallery. A portion of the sale of artwork will support United Hebrew’s expert services and enriching programs. For more information contact Linda Forman, Senior Advisor to the President, United Hebrew, 914.632.2804 x1224 or lforman@uhgc.org.