When you are a muralist, it takes a village!

Muralists always need something to paint on.

The #GOSTartists were drawn together by a desire to express ourselves in our community. When we got started thinking about the diverse array of talented and creative folks who lived unobtrusively here among us, we began to realize that there really were a lot of artists here in Gardiner. Wouldnt it be great if we could just draw them out. We first began meeting in 2012 and considering what we could do to promote the arts in our town. Back then, before the first tour, before the first #GOSTdoors were painted and displayed, before our first group show, we had no inkling of our future impact.

Over the years our efforts have been embraced by many residents in the village and throughout our area. This is particularly noticeable in that there are now four large murals painted by members of the GOSTartists right in Gardiner, NY.

The murals mentioned in the attached article from the Gardiner Gazette were painted by Lady Pink, and Annie O'Neill in the Spring of 2015, and they are on Arch Street opposite Pasquales Pizza in the very center of town.

Mural by Stacie Flint, Gardiner, NY Fall 2015

Stacie Flint's mural in Gardiner was not mentioned in this article from last summer because it had not yet been painted, early Fall of 2015. It was painted in anticipation of the Fall 2015 GOST on the side of a tool shed facing Main Street  (Rte. 44-55) a few streets North of Arch Street. All three of these works are quite different in style and in expression and yet they all convey a fresh and lively feel which is adding pizzaz to our town as it develops and grows more art and visitor friendly.

More recently another mural was painted at the Gardiner Recycling Center at the very end of Steve's Lane, by Roger Smith, another member of the GOSTartists.

These works are a direct result of the work of members of the GOSTartists to engage the community and put art out in the world. That is a very important part of the mission of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour. To bring people to art and to bring art to people.

Which is also why the #GOSTdoors will be back in town this year. Keep an eye out. Lady Pink Queen of Doors is working hard to see that we have lots of new doors this year to share with one and all.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  In the Gardiner Gazette Article, it is mentioned that The Gardiner Open Studio Tour is held each Spring and Fall. While that was correct at the time of the writing of the article, it is no longer the case. There will only be one Open Studio event each year, so don't miss it. The GOST will be held each Spring on the First Weekend in May. However, the GOSTartists will be doing other things throughout the year.

JP

www.GOSTartists.org


[Thanks to the Gardiner Gazette for permission to reprint their articles.]

Painter Stacie Flint paints with colors that surprise and delight the viewer!

Stacie Flint's paintings are out in the world!

Stacie has an outdoor mural to her credit in Gardiner, NY and several wonderful #GOSTdoors that were displayed during past Gardiner Open Studio Tours. More of Stacie's cheerful Doors are coming too! Her art has been featured on the Chronogram and other magazine covers, and she has produced many commissions and works for publication. Stacie is dynamic member and recording secretary of #GOSTartists and a very active participant in the local arts scene. She recently joined ROOST GALLERY in New Paltz, a community gallery and non-profit community arts organization that should be opening soon in downtown New Paltz on Main St.

She recently published an article in the Poughkeepsie Journal, this past Feb. which is shown below. Images of her work are available on her website:  http://stacieflint.com

Come out to visit Stacie and all the other GOSTartists on the Gardiner Open Studio Tour this coming April 30 - May 1, 2016, Saturday and Sunday, 10am - 6pm both days.  More info, Artist Guide and Self-Guided Tour Map available for download at: http://www.GOSTartists.org

Also, don't miss this year's Early Bird Raffle, and your chance to win a gift certificate of up to $100 by signing in at any of the GOST studios between 10am  and 11am on either of the two days of tour.

Poughkeepsie Journal, Feb. 26th, 2016 - What Inspires Me by Stacie Flint

Artist Profile: CYNTHIA WINIKA - Pyrotechics and Mycology come together to add nature and chaos into a unique kind of mixed media work process.

CYNTHIA WINIKA


Cynthia Winika is a talented mixed-media artist whose life has given her a background in both Western and Eastern traditions.  She is also the best-known teacher of encaustic painting at R & F Paints in Kingston.  Easy, outgoing, imaginative, and very engaged, she has helped many an artist (myself included) master the challenges of painting in molten beeswax.

In her own work, Cynthia is constantly exploring ways to bring life and art together.  One literally explosive example is the use of fireworks, which she lights above a large paper.  As the fireworks die, their afterlife of marks and fired elements become part of collages to which she adds her own drawings and sketches, bits of found objects, colored papers, and transfers.   Anchored in wax, visible from two sides, the works assume a new life in a larger, created whole.  

Similarly, Cynthia brings her adventures as a serious mycologist to bear in her art.  Gathering all manner of fungi from as close by as her backyard, she experiments with making mushroom spore prints in encaustic paintings that illuminate the imagination as the stars illuminate the sky.  These natural and mysterious elements are gathered into beautiful works of art.

Cynthia’s resume is a long and rich list that reflects a life of teaching, creating, and displaying art in institutions around the United States.  Her studies took her to Hawaii and Taiwan, as well as more familiar venues closer to home.  She is a stalwart of the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale and her work has been collected by several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art.   In 2006, an exhibition of her fungi-based art in New York City was written about in the New York Times.  More recently, the International Encaustic Artists named her the best teacher of 2014.


Marilyn Perry
3/14/16

GOSTartists Block Party Opens Doors in Gardiner, NY

GARDINER GETS DOOR'ED in advance of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour

September 26th was a beautiful autumn day in the hamlet of Gardiner; people strolled the art-lined sidewalks, visiting with one another and patronized local establishments There were donkey rides and face painting. This village-wide collaboration between the artists of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour, local businesses and property owners on Main Street was an exciting moment to be part of.

 The installation of the doors had mostly taken place the days before the party, but GOSTdoors, tents and balloons were still going up all morning to make ready for this party.

Traffic slowed as drivers cruised past the 30 or so #GOSTdoors lining the village's Main street from Cafe Mio to the Gardiner Reformed Church and all around Bill Richards green lawn in the center of town.

It was the day of the GOSTartists’ block party on Main Street. As part of the festivities, local high school students from Wallkill HS joined in the spirit of the day, painting their own doors under the enthusiastic eyes of their teachers, parents, friends and GOSTartist, Lady Pink who coordinated the student project. Together they worked out on the green and painted their own doors live, for all to see. The capstone of the day was to offer visitors a chance to bid on the wonderful hand painted GOSTdoors created by the Gardiner Open Studio Tour artists.

The event was a great success.  The theme of the day was art and community. And the purpose was to bring art to the hamlet, and raise funds for the Gardiner Library. Thanks to donations from the artists and others and sales of several GOSTdoors to generous friends and neighbors, money was raised for the Gardiner Library.

The block party was also intended to raise awareness of the upcoming Gardiner Open Studio Tour. During this free event, local artists will be welcoming the public into their studios on Columbus weekend, October, 10, 11 and 12, 10am-5pm.

We would like to thank all of the GOSTartists whose art adorns our lovely town: Pam Booth, Stacie Flint, Keri Gould, Lynn Isaacson, Leonie Lacouette, Marsha Massih, Andrea McFarland, Meadow, Annie O'Neill, Jonathan Pazer, Marilyn Perry, Lady Pink, Roger Smith, Jean Tansey John A. Varriano and DM Weil.
We also had doors painted and contributed to the exhibition by friends of the Tour, including Ryan Cronin, Liz Glover Wilson, Julie Muck, and Bruce Pileggi.

We would like to thank all the following for their assistance and support in bringing the GOST-artists’ Block Party to life: Tracey Bartels, Bill Richards, Tuthilltown Spirits, Laurie Willow and Ophelia the donkey, Kay Churchill, Bill and Elaine Case, Emily Santos, Pasquale's Pizza, Docinha Sweet Shoppe, Andy Cimino, Horatio Geminiano, Carol Berman, Olivia Profaci, Francheska Geminiano, Dawn Correa, Tammy Grandolfo, Carl Zatz, Petey Hop, Debbie and Raffaela of Walden Savings Bank, Cathy Erenzo, Gable Erenzo and the art students of Wallkill HS.

The GOSTdoors of Gardiner will remain up until after the Gardiner Open Studio Tour, this weekend, Oct. 10, 11 & 12, 2015. 10am - 5pm all three days.

Artist Guide, and Tour Map available at many local businesses in Gardiner and New Paltz, NY. Also available for download on our website: www.GOSTartists.org

Finally a big thank you to visionary Gardinerite and project director for the GOSTartists' block party, Robin Hayes.

GOST Artiner

Art, Doors and Community Action in New Paltz and Gardiner,NY. #GOSTDOORS Project

GOSTDOORS lined up for their group photo before we put them out on Saturday

GOSTS Artists mount our very first art happening in New Paltz and Gardiner. GOSTDOORS pop up like spring flowers.

Twice each year for the last several years the artists of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour have worked together to raise awareness in Gardiner / Newpaltz and surrounding towns of the richness and diversity of the local artist community right in Gardiner itself.

We have organized an artist tour exclusively for Gardiner's artists. We arranged for the artists to all be available on the same weekend, and for them all to open their doors to the public.

We have created and printed an Artist Guide and Tour Map showing who the Gardiner artists are and where our studios can be found. Those who pick up a map and follow it can visit artists' studios and they may get some insight into our work and be able to observe and appreciate our enthusiasm and energy for what we do. Many of our friends and neighbors and people from far and wide, from NYC, Connecticut, and New Jersey have participated in past Tours. 

Members of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour at the  Opening for the group's art show at the
Gardiner Villiage Library in Gardiner, NY.

But this just was not enough for us. We felt that we needed to put our work out into the public realm not hidden behind our studio doors.

The #GOSTDOORS Project was a big deal for us, it was a big fun project that required a lot of hands and a lot of coordination. Thanks to Lady Pink for doing the organizing and for the inspiration for this art happeing. We had to go out and find seventeen used doors, and seventeen artists committed to paint one door each. We reached out to many people in the community in order to find the seventeen sites that would agree to host a door. While some people declined to get involved, most were enthusiastic about the project. On a recent Saturday, three crews of artists, painters and photographers donned work boots, grabbed sledgehammers and post drivers and set off to install all of the artworks throughout our the Gardiner / New Paltz area. 

Immelda shaking hands with Art-too Green-too, on her lawn
in Gardiner, NY.

Annie O'Neill's door wrapped around a tree in New Paltz, NY.

People noticed.... They walked past as we worked, and looked at the art work and said, "Cool..." and "Wow!" We saw people taking selfies with doors. The cumulative impact of these multiple installations will draw questions.

A horizontal GOSTDOOR at STS in Gardiner, NY by Craig Booth. A cool feature
of this door is that the front wheel and exhaust pipe are actual separate metal and
wire sculptural pieces that were added to the door.

Why doors? Well I touched on that in my last blog post. They are usually barriers, now they are artworks, usually they keep people out, now they are an invitation to explore.

Our goals...to encourage engagement between the Gardiner artist community and the community at large. To enliven our environment with artwork and to display the energy that we as artists bring to our participation in the social life of our little corner of the Hudson Valley.

Jonathan Pazer
Chairman, Gardiner Open Studio Tour

More info:
Gardiner Open Studio TourSpring GOST 2015 - May 2 & 3
Saturday & Sunday 10am to 5pm


Web: http://www.GOSTartists.org
Email: info@GOSTartists.org
Tel.: (845) 255-3336