Summer art shows at the college

Middletown — Two art shows will be opening this month in Orange Hall Galleries, located on the campus of Orange County Community College in Middletown. The River Valley Artists Guild Summer Show and “Applied Vision,” artworks by Joan Kehlenbeck and Rosalind Hodgkins, will be shown at the college through July 31. The River Valley Artists Guild show will feature 60 works in many media. The Guild was started by the late Bernie Kilbourn, along with Matilda Grech, Paul Horsman, Elaine Tedesco, and Elizabeth Hayes, all of Port Jervis. The president and show chairwoman is Joan Kehlenbeck. Although most of its 60 members come from communities bordering the Delaware River, many come from Middletown, Poughkeepsie, and Monroe as well as Branchville, N.J., and Milford, Pa. The two-woman show, “Applied Vision,” demonstrates how artists interpret what they see through pastels and oils, in Kehlenbeck’s work, and watercolors, in Rosalind Hodgkins’ work. Both artists live in Cuddebackville. Their paintings feature many local scenes. Kehlenbeck has an associate in arts degree from Orange County Community College. Hodgkins holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute and has done further study at the Art Students League, the New School, the University of California, and Hull College of Art, England. Exhibit hours for both shows are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, plus Sunday, July 22, from 2 to 8 p.m. A reception for both exhibits will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 8. Beverly Poyerd, a pianist from Washingtonville, will perform. In addition, Clayton Buchanon of Newburgh will lead a demonstration, “The Portrait in Pastel,” starting at 3:15 p.m. Buchanan received the Best in Show award at the Orange County Art Federation’s Annual Members Exhibition at the Lycian Centre Galleries in Sugar Loaf. Orange Hall is located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview avenues in Middletown. The two shows are Lyceum events presented by the college’s Cultural Affairs Department. For more information call 341-4891 or e-mail cultural@sunyorange.edu.