By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Viewers of the Genesee Valley 100 community art project might recognize the name of one of their neighbors: Stacey Pope, a Baldwinsville-based painter, has contributed two paintings to the project.

The Genesee Valley 100 is an annual exhibit of paintings and photographs held by the Genesee Valley Conservancy in Geneseo.

“It’s a great program. I learned about it from one of my fellow painters. It helps fund their programs conserving the natural environment,” Pope said.

Pope taught art for 30 years at Liverpool High School and the LHS Annex after spending the first year of her career at Whitesboro Junior High School.

“I retired a few years ago. That enabled me to pursue my own art full-time,” Pope said. “Being an artist is a lifelong journey for sure — you’re definitely a lifelong learner.”

Pope focuses on landscapes and still life paintings. She painted two 12-inch-by-12-inch pieces for the GV 100.

“Right now I’m working with oil paints,” she said. “Working in a square format is not what I typically do. Working in a large format was challenging. I had trouble with the composition.”

Pope is member of Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters. “Plein air” painting takes place outdoors.

“Plein air … is challenging on its own because after a couple of hours the light starts to change,” she said. “If you’re painting clouds you really have to block in your shapes quickly because those clouds move fast.”

For the GV 100, Pope scouted out a few locations in the Genesee Valley, snapped some photos, and returned to her B’ville studio to paint.

“If I’m working from a reference photo you have to be careful because … the camera leaves out the nuances of shadows and textures. It’s not necessarily what the eye sees, it’s what the camera sees,” she said. “I’m not just doing what the photograph says — I’m using it as inspiration for my piece.”

Among Pope’s influences are the 19th-century painters Albert Bierstadt, Jasper Francis Cropsey, George Inness and John Frederick Kensett.

“A contemporary local artist that I really like is Wendy Harris. She works with pastels. Her work is fabulous,” she said.

The exhibit is available online, but visitors of the Silver Lake Brewing Project in Perry, New York, can also spot the display in person through Dec. 31.

“While each individual piece warrants up close inspection, hung together at the brewery the collection is an impressive mosaic that is a work of art itself. In trying to reach a broad audience for the project, the show is intentionally hung in a non-traditional space for art, that is to say, not in a gallery. The hope is people not seeking art out will be confronted by the project and be exposed to some great local artists and to images of our beautiful landscape,” reads a press release from the Genesee Valley Conservancy. “Paintings represent locations within the Genesee Valley from the headwaters of the Genesee River in Pennsylvania all the way to the shores of Lake Ontario, and everywhere in between.”

“It’s a community painting project that really brings attention to the beauty of the Genesee Valley area,” Pope said. “If people haven’t been to that area of the state they should really take a drive there because it’s really a beautiful part of our state.”

Visit geneseevalleyconservancy.org/gv100 to see an online gallery of the paintings and photographs featured in the Genesee Valley 100.

To see Stacey Pope’s artwork, visit staceypope.com. Pope is also participating in the Syracuse Peace Council’s 50th annual Plowshares Craftsfair and Peace Festival, which runs virtually through Jan. 31, 2021; visit plowsharescraftsfair.org to learn more.