Orange Hall Galleries opens season with two exhibits
Middletown Two exhibits highlighting local scenes opens the 2008 calendar, on Sunday, Jan. 27, in Orange Hall Galleries, at Orange County Community College: “Early to Rise Orange County Working Farms,” a photography with antique farming implements exhibit and Seasons of Change an artist perspective by Dennis Fanton in oils and pastels. A reception will be held on Jan. 27, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. From 1 to 3 p.m. music will be provided by Judith Hosmer Garrett, pianist, of Montgomery. Then, within the gallery exhibit space from 3 to 4:15 p.m., a presentation will take place entitled Succeeding in Farming TodayDiversification and Niches, a panel presentation and discussion by Orange County Farmers Al Buckbee, Guy Jones, and Mark Roe with moderator Lucy Joyce. Al Buckbee is a dairy farmer whose farm is Bellvale Farms, Warwick; Guy Jones is an organic vegetable farmer. His farm is Bloominghill Farm, Washingtonville. Mark Roe is a fruit and vegetable farmer who owns Roe’s Orchards, Chester. Lucy Joyce is Agriculture Issue Leader, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County. “Early to Rise Orange County Working Farms” is a show which was put together by the Orange County Citizens Foundation Gallery Committee and displayed this past fall in the Seligman Studio at the foundation’s site in Sugar Loaf. Now the show is on tour with its first stop being Orange Hall Gallery. Present day and historical photographs of twenty-six farms demonstrate the diversity of farming in Orange County. In addition, antique farming implements from the collection of the Mount Hope Historical Society complement the photographs. The modern photos were done by thirteen volunteer photographers. The exhibit tour is sponsored by Marshall and Sterling. A solo show of pastels and oils, Seasons of Change - an artist perspective by Dennis Fanton, hangs in Orange Hall Gallery Loft. Many of the twenty-six paintings in this show are, in fact, of Orange County farms. Fanton, who is a resident of Middletown, enjoys painting in plein air during different seasons with the balance of light and shadow being a frequent theme. The two shows are on view simultaneously through Feb. 14, Monday Thursday, 9 a.m-8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. The exhibit and reception and panel discussion are free and open to the public. Orange Hall is universally accessible and is located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview Avenues, Middletown. For more information, call 341-4891, cultural@sunyorange.edu; and www.sunyorange.edu/lyceum.