Click here for the 2020-21 Program Calendar:

New -  The Bethlehem Art Association has established a new Art Challenge for members.  We provide a new reference photo each month. Artists can produce a new work of art based on it and the new work is be shown on the Art Challenge page.
The Annual Critique of Member Artwork will happen at the April Monthly Meeting. Member artists are invited to show a piece of artwork to be evaluated and commented upon by a professional artist. Theresa Somaio will conduct the event this year. Theresa is a well known local artist and has appeared before our group several times before. She has conducted many classes through the continuing education program of the Bethlehem School District, local colleges and local museums.  Theresa has a Master of Fine Arts degree from SUNY Albany and undergraduate degrees in art and history.
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Click here for instructions on 
The March Monthly Meeting presenter was Takeyce Walter.  Takeyce is an award winning contemporary painter and instructor who lives in upstate NY. Her paintings often depict rural landscapes. She is especially drawn to and inspired by bodies of water.  Takeyce has been a presenter at BAA events in the past and made a presentation on pastel painting at the meeting.  To learn more about Takeyce and to see her artwork, click here:
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The February 2021 Monthly BAA Meeting was a Mardi Gras Party.  This was a ZOOM meeting in which members celebrated Mardi Gras by discussing and showing works of art that they have created that reflect a Mardi Gras theme. 
 
Those works are all included in a Mardi Gras Gallery that can be see by clicking here: 
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Cynthia Rosen joined us for the January 2021 Meeting.  Cynthia is a contemporary post-impressionist painter who specializes in palette knife painting. Her work has evolved to focus on color rather than detail.  An advantage of ZOOM is that Cynthia was able to do her demonstration from her studio in Dorset Vt. and we were able to see close up how she controls splashes of color.  The finished version of the painting that was begun at the meeting is shown at the right.  You can see more of Cynthia's by clicking here:
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Cynthia recommended a plein air workshop in the Adirondacks this summer. Click here for more info: 
The Holiday Meeting on December 17 featured a mixed media presentation by BAA member Michael Joyce.  Michael was born in Albany and now lives and works in Glenmont.  He began his art career as a photographer and was a photographer with NYS for over 30 years. 
Michael provided a fascinating slide show that gave us insights into the many steps involved using acrylic paint, epoxy resin and polyurethane foam to create works that leap off the canvas as 3D abstract sculpture.
Click here to go to a page that shows more of Michael's mixed media work as well as his photographs: 
 
Fall 2020 Show - The show was set up in November and was conducted as a virtual show.  A virtual reception was held on November 16 and comments were provided by the juror, Jon Christopher Gernon. The Best in Show painting, "2020 Marathon Bouquet" by Christine Capuano, appears to the left.
Since viewership was curtailed because our usual venue, the Bethlehem Library, was not available, we have decided to keep the show online in order to allow more people to enjoy the works created by BAA member artists.  
October 15 BAA Monthly Meeting - The presenter was Michelle Bowen who will also conduct the November 15 BAA Fall Workshop.  Michelle is a Troy native and an accomplished acrylic painte rwho has created a language: the Huelitic Code where she has assigned the 26 letters of the alphabet distinct shades of color and she spells out words in blocks of color.  Michelle terms her work hard-edge geometric abstract.  It merges language and visual art.  Michelle demonstrated the extreme care that must be taken in measuring and lining out the paintings in order to achieve the desired effect.
The September BAA Meeting presenter was Dr. Melody Davis, who shared her expertise on the subject of Impressionism.  She began with an image of Claude Monet's "Sunrise". This painting is credited as the beginning of Impressionism which stresses color and brushstrokes.  There is no particular focus and all details are equal.  The artists were driven to understand light and the total environment.  Artists often painted the same subject over and over under different conditions of lighting.
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Spring 2020 Member Show
This year's May show was able to continue, despite the temporary closure of the library, as a virtual show. Entries were submitted online and the show is presented on this website.  Hillary Raimo deserves applause for designing the system that made this all possible. The juror, Jessica Hansen not only made the prize selections, but joined us on May 14 for an online reception/meeting to provide detailed commentary on the show.  A shot of the audience is on the right. Jessica is the Immediate Past President of the Albany Center Gallery's Board of Directors and sits on the NYS Council on the Arts Decentralization Grants panel for Saratoga County. Jessica has an MA from the University of San Francisco.
 
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The May meeting was attended by this year's recipients of the BAA Scholarships for Bethlehem High School students. Eliza Whalen and Zachary Pokat joined us and were able to show several of their artworks to the audience.  Click here for:
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April 2020 Virtual Meeting
This was the first BAA virtual meeting.  Eden Compton did the annual critique of member artwork.  Eden is a pastel artist with a gallery and studio in Saratoga. Her work can be seen at www.edencomptonstudio.com
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The slides to the right show a sample of the works that were reviwed.
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The Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce hosts a perpetual exhibit of work by Bethlehem Art Association members. The exhibit is normally rotated every three months.  However, because of COVID, the current show remains in place.
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