Associated Artists juried show continues in Manlius

VILLAGE OF MANLIUS – Associated Artists of Central New York is currently holding its 97th annual juried members exhibit until Oct. 26.
Featuring original work covering a variety of artistic mediums, the juried show is on display in the hallway gallery outside the community room at Manlius Library, located at 1 Arkie Albanese Ave.
The exhibit began the weekend of Sept. 7, and a two-hour, open-to-the-public reception took place the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 15.
The 21 different works were judged by Ellen Blalock, who has taught art history and studio arts at the college level. She also serves on the Syracuse Public Arts Commission and is an artist-in-residence at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn.
According to Blalock’s juror’s statement included in the reception pamphlet, she made her way through the show a few times, spending time with every piece until she found the value in each one. She goes on to say she enjoyed viewing all the work and was thankful to be entrusted with the task of selecting the top pieces.
The winner of “Best of Show” this year was Syracuse resident Carol Boyer, whose textural collage “Sea Floor” juts out from its frame. As the recipient of that grand prize, Boyer will be able to fill the library gallery with her pieces as part of a personal showcase in June.
The idea for the aquatic-looking piece came to her after she took an online embroidery class that talked about doing punch needle fabric work. Reminded of the punch needle rug she made back in high school that earned her the first art award she ever received, Boyer said she was excited to bring the idea for “Sea Floor” to fruition because it had been a while since she last broke out her punch needle.
Boyer, a retired art teacher, said she was “floored” by the fact that her fiber arts piece won “Best of Show” because she was so impressed by the other work in the gallery, enough to be convinced that hers couldn’t compete. This marks the second time she has won the Associated Artists “Best of Show” award, the first time coming in 2022.
Her in-home studio always right there waiting for her, Boyer said she likes to remain resourceful, take classes to stay inspired, and constantly have a creative outlet to rely on.
The juried show also saw awards of merit go to the piece “Plein Air Painting at Sullivan Park, Chittenango” by Ute Oestreicher and the watercolor work “Effervescence” by Kathy O’Brien.
O’Brien, whose abstract piece was her only entry, said it had a cruciform in the center as its starting point and that she was satisfied with the end result even though abstract is not her go-to style. She said she was honored to receive the merit award because she’s been a member of Associated Artists for “quite a while” but had never before received that honor.
The juried show also included two memorial awards, one named in memory of Fayetteville resident Mimi George, who passed away in April at the age of 77, and the other honoring DeWitt resident Barbara Vural, who passed away in January at the age of 86.
George was known to gravitate to acrylics and “work very precisely” using an abundance of color, over time getting more into pastels and an abstract approach. A member of the Central New York Watercolor Society and at one time the president of the regional Associated Artists group, George was a four-time “Best of Show” recipient responsible for building the bond between Associated Artists and Manlius Library during the mid-2000s restoration that resulted in the creation of the gallery as it is now.
Barbara Emmons, who won the Mimi George Memorial Award, said her acrylic piece “Nana’s Sunflowers” was reminiscent of George’s works stylistically. Emmons, a longtime resident of Manlius, said she considers George one of the great artists she’s known, making it an honor to receive an award named after her.
Emmons’ daughter encouraged her to add brighter yellows to “Nana’s Sunflowers” to make it stand out more, and its colors come out to an even greater extent under indoor light and the sunshine.
Barbara Vural, the winner of the 2014 and 2023 “Best of Show” prizes, was known as an upbeat, inventive artist intent on experimenting with a variety of techniques and trying new things. She’s remembered by the artists group’s publicity chairperson Mary Karpinski as a “warm, friendly and funny” person, an opinion she had of her ever since the two met at an Everson Museum workshop led by pastel artist Robert Carsten.
Karpinski was the member presented with the Barbara Vural Memorial Award for her pastel piece on sanded paper “God’s Palette,” which was influenced by Vural’s vivid, layered pastel work in terms of the strokes and the color. The piece originated with a reference shot Karpinski pulled from her files showing the autumn sky over a rural hillside alive with colorful foliage.
Vural, who taught for decades at Westhill High School, passed away only a few days into the run of the personal showcase at Manlius Library given to her after her juried show win. A retrospective showcase paying tribute to George will be featured in the gallery this May.
The honorable mentions this year went to Laura Dobrota for “Inside Out,” Karpinski for “Funky Chicken” and Adam Vural, Barbara’s middle son, for “Serenity Now.”
The art gallery’s ongoing juried show also includes black-and-white photography, a plexiglass piece, and paintings of everything from a wise owl to a sunset over the horizon to the first snowfall of the winter.
Karen Kozicki, the president of Associated Artists of CNY who has two photography pieces in the current show, said the exhibit is an opportunity for local creators to “flex their artistic muscles” and get a move on with their work. The pieces had to have been made within the two years prior to the show and never before shown in Central New York publicly.
Marcia Ferber, the treasurer of the Associated Artists group, said she loves overhearing people of all ages as they admire the art as well as the community involvement the show promotes.
Associated Artists of CNY has been around since 1926, when it was founded by a group of art teachers affiliated with Syracuse University. Membership is open to residents of Onondaga, Madison, Cayuga, Cortland, Oneida, Oswego and Tompkins counties.
The juried show’s pieces will be viewable during regular library hours.