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Melanie Rothschild: Paint & Air

June 21 - August 17, 2014

Melanie Rothschild is a self-taught artist and a native of Los Angeles.  For over two decades her functional pieces have been sold in galleries and museum stores across the U.S.  In 2007, she began the Paint and Air series, which heralded a major shift in her work.  The series was born from a mistake, when a gallon of spilled paint dried and came up in one glorious piece.  Just paint and the air transformed the spilled mess from liquid to solid, creating an entirely new starting point for Rothschild.

This "mistake" fed what was already a deep interest in the nature of the creative process and resulted in Rothschild pursuing a graduate degree in the study of creativity and, specifically, a focused interest in the role of mistakes both in the creative process as well as our perceptions about mistakes in our greater life experience.  “We miss out on so much potential when we obsess about mistakes. Understanding which things require perfection and when the freedom from worrying about mistakes can greatly enhance our lives, is critical.” 

Her strong beliefs about art and creativity being an inherent right of all human beings and not something which is accessible only to an elite few propelled her to write. The Art of Mistakes: Unexpected Painting Techniques and the Practice of Creative Thinking is being published by F+W Media and will be out in October 2014.

She considers moxie, an irreverent nature and respect for mistakes to be the tools of her trade. Melanie has a master's degree in the Study of Creativity from Buffalo State College and a bachelor's in Ethnic Arts, with an emphasis in anthropology, from UCLA.

Kris Burns: Chasing Edward Hopper

July 11 – August 31, 2014 in the Hopper Hallway Gallery
Reception: Friday, July 11, 2014, 6-8 pm

Artist-in-Residence Kris Burns will exhibit a selection of photographs and video capturing "Hopper Happens," her multi-media celebration of Edward Hopper's lasting influence.  In addition to images and video of the flash mobs, pop-up projections and performances Burns staged on the streets of Nyack during Hopper Happens, she will present the entire series of original short films she created for her QR coded Digital walking tour. 

Josephine Nivison Hopper: Tree Studies

April 13 - October 19, 2014 in the Sanborn Gallery
Curated by Elizabeth Thompson Colleary

Early in her career, while studying with American Impressionist Ambrose Webster in Provincetown, MA, Josephine Nivison Hopper began to paint en plein air (outdoors), as the French Impressionists had.  It was a practice she continued throughout her life, often with her husband, Edward, painting by her side.  The Sanborn Collection has preserved an important body of these plein air watercolors, and they are presented in the Sanborn Gallery at the Edward Hopper House from April 19 through October 19, 2014.  

This series of tree studies, with their rich colors and fluid brushwork, show Jo Hopper at her best.  Jo wrote about her painting process as she worked on her tree studies and "bonded" with her subjects, often naming specific trees as she described their attributes and characters.  These ruminations by Jo will provide new insights into her work and her contributions to the focus on process that was so key to the development of American Modernism.

Mark Attebery: Twist and Shout

Sculpture in the Garden
Spring/Summer 2014

Twist and Shout is a new work by multi-media artist Mark Attebery.   Inspired by biological sources and the graceful naturalism of the material, the forged and welded steel sculpture, entitled Twist and Shout, reveals Attebery’s interest in exploring slow growth, the world beneath surface skins and life energy coursing through metal.  

Before moving to New York, Attebery worked in California in professional photography and stained glass. He has over one hundred glass works installed throughout California.  

In addition to working in the visual arts, he has had a busy career as a composer. He received commissions from the Oakland Ballet and Malashock Dance Co., one garnering an EMMY from a PBS documentary from a work premiered by the Arioso Wind Quintet.  He received awards from Meet the Composer Inc., the San Diego Arts Commission and the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation. His flute collection from around the world often makes its way into his recordings and live performances. His recordings of experimental clay instruments are included in a CD and book titled From Mud to Music by the American Ceramic Society.  He currently teaches at the Fieldston School in New York. 

Ongoing exhibitions

Early work by Edward Hopper and Hopper memborabilia

Early drawings and paintings, created while Hopper was living in the Nyack home, together with memorabilia, including model boats made by Hopper, paintboxes, and an easel, are presented on an ongoing basis.

A Photographic Journey through Hopper's World by Charles Sternaimolo

Ongoing upstairs at the Edward Hopper House
By searching through Josephine Hopper’s meticulous notes, studying the work of fellow Hopper scholars, checking with local residents and historians, and even walking through an area in search of a “Hopper scene,” photographer Charles Sternaimolo has identified and documented well over 150 places painted by the artist, culminating in a visual comparison through photography of Hopper’s painted locations.