The Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Thursday 10  AM – 2 PM
Friday 10 AM – 12 PM

Fiber Artist – Peg McDade

Opening November 11, 2023

Peg McDade is a self-taught fiber artist living and teaching at her studio in Clarks Summit, PA. She is also a teacher of fiber arts. She is a natural and synthetic fiber artist, practicing hand-weaving with supportive arts of off-loom weaving, stitchery, knitting/crochet, basketry, machine-sewing, hand-sewing, and pattern-making.

As a child, she stood for hours alongside her grandaunt Mame’s foot treadle sewing machine fascinated as she sewed gossamer mesh dresses and lace ruching. 

“Auntie Mame made many of my first dresses. My grandmother, Anna Louise, embroidered silk taffeta placemats with fine silk thread. While in high school, my father enrolled his three daughters in Singer sewing classes on basic machine sewing skills and how to use patterns. I loved the classes and took two more sessions – Tailoring and Home Decor. (My two sisters bailed after the first class). I made and wore, though crude, my first two-piece pink linen suit while a high school junior and continued to design and make my own suits, coats and dresses through college, early teaching, while raising a family. One day, I bought four looms and four station wagon loads of yarn at an estate sale. I gave away 3 lap looms and some of the yarn. I put the remaining yarn and the 36” four shaft loom in the storage room. I didn’t know how to weave – but I knew I would.”

Peg’s earlies artistic influences beyond her treasured family memories came from early visits to an array of museum collections and gallery exhibition visits: the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art textile collection and exhibitions in 57th Street and SoHo galleries; the Philadelphia Fine Arts Museum folk art collection; the Textile Museum in Washington, DC; the Textile Department of The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; and Annie Albers weavings at Yale University Art Gallery. During these early years, Peg was also reading everything she could get her hands on regarding traditional fiber and weaving arts – as well as seeking out instruction from the top teachers in her field.

“I taught myself to set up the loom using the early seminal books of Edward F. Worst 1918; Mary Meigs Atwater, 1928; Marguerite Davison, 1944 and Berta Frye, 1958. At that time, while teaching in college full-time and raising a family, I decided to study every other summer with the fiber artists/authors I admired and whose books I cherished. Some of the workshops I attended included: Tapestry at Peters Valley with Nell Znamierowski, who was an artist/teacher at FIT in NYC; Multi-shaft Weaving at the Carnegie Museum Scaife Gallery with Else Regensteiner, an artist/teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago; Rug Weaving Techniques with Peter Collingwood, the British master weaver at The Mannings; Weaving Theory taught by Madelyn van der Hoogt, editor of Handwoven; Basketry at Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, MI; and The Business of Art at The University of Colorado, Ft. Collins. Over time, I taught myself the English method of knitting and am especially indebted to the Mon Tricot, Paris, compendium of knitting patterns. I learned Stitchery and appliqué methods through the indispensable stitchery encyclopedia of Mary Thomas.”

With such a hunger to learn and to engage in that which brings her joy, Peg continues to knit or crochet almost every night. Far from feeling that she has “mastered” fiber arts, she feels that each fiber learning leads to a more complex or new, fascinating technique which spurs her on to the next. She feels that the way to attain “mastery” is through healthy self-criticism and sheer doggedness to continue learning. “It is easy to commit to lifelong wonder,” she notes.

---

Artist – Virginia P. Sosik

Opening September 8, 2023

Artist’s Bio

Virginia Pinto Sosik is an award-winning artist, art educator, presenter and art advocate holding fine art degrees from Marywood University, Scranton, PA. Her works and acquisitions are found in public and private collections in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States and have been selected for exhibition in various regional and national art exhibitions.

Virginia is an inducted member of Kappa Pi, an acclaimed international honors art fraternity and past president of the Zeta Omicron chapter, whose members include esteemed modern-day artists, Andy Warhol and Phillip Pearlstein. She has more than thirty-five years of experience working in art education, graphic design and visual art within Northeastern Pennsylvania. Virginia has taught at Marywood University in the School of Continuing Education, the Everhart Museum, the North Pocono Community Education Program and Penn Foster, formally ICS Correspondence School. Virginia has been guest artist, juror and presenter at the Wyoming Valley Art League, The Endless Mountain Art League, The Calligrapher’s Guild of Northeast Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County’s Art in the Park program, the Northeast Photography Club and Scholastic Art and Writing Contests on both local and state levels. In addition, she served as Artist-in-Residence for St. Mary’s of Mt. Carmel School, Dunmore, PA and served on the Executive Board of the Calligrapher’s Guild of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Locally, Virginia’s work has been selected for juried exhibitions at ArtWorks Gallery, Scranton, PA and the AFA Gallery, Scranton, PA. the former Community Medical Center, Scranton, PA “Mending Hearts” program, Marywood University, Meals on Wheel Charity Auctions, Scranton Tomorrow Art Auctions, Scranton’s First Fridays, Voluntary Action League Charity Auctions and Exhibits, Glenburn Art Exhibitions, Glenburn, PA, the Chamber Gallery, Carbondale, PA, Providence Pregnancy Center Auction, Scranton, PA, and St. Joseph’s Center Charity Auctions and Festivals, Scranton, Pa.  

Virginia holds distinction as a People Choice Award recipient at ArtWorks Gallery, Scranton, PA Earth Day Juried Exhibition and is a Penn Security Bank Acquisition Award Recipient. She also participated in the juried Route 6 Initiatives Art Tour. Her corporate commissions have been acquisitioned through Air Products Corporation, the former Digital Computer and Bethlehem Steel, and Mirabelle Kennels, Melbourne, Australia. Virginia was awarded a partnership fine art grant through ArtsEngage. She is a Scranton Times newspaper Northeast Woman recipient with recognition in the arts within northeastern PA. 

In addition to her volunteer efforts and participation in local art endeavors, Virginia provides private and group fine art instruction, art portfolio development and consultation, and home school fine art instruction from her studio in Dunmore, PA, and is currently the teaching artist/art educator at Maria Kaupas Academy, Scranton. PA. 

Artist’s Statement

Idyllic Perception is a collection of recent works depicting landscape and still life paintings that capture what I perceive when I look at nature. 

Since I was young, I was always fascinated with the formation, movement and diversity of color and value of clouds…a dominate element in many of my landscapes. I am also intrigued by nature in general.  The various hues reflected in my choice of palettes are emphasized in cast shadows and highlights within my subject matter and depict aerial volume and depth perspective. 

My hope for the viewer looking at my art is that an emotion is evoked…be it an experience…or a reflection of a moment in time. I’m delighted when I receive what I consider the greatest compliment from an on-looker who states, “I feel I can walk into your paintings”. 

---

---

“Here & There”

Artist Mickey Campbell

Campbell has exhibited at various galleries among them aFa Gallery in Scranton,PA, Butternut Gallery and Pink Arrow Arts in Montrose, PA and DVAA in Narrowsburg, NY.

He lives with his wife, his dog and cat in Northeastern, PA.

---

March to May

Finding Directions

Mark Ciocca holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the State of Pennsylvania, a B.S. in Art Education from Kutztown  University  and  an  Associates  of  Arts  Degree  from  Keystone   College.  He  has  completed additional  graduate work  at  Ohio State University,  Moore  College  of  Art,  Marywood University, and other institutions. He presently teaches the Cyber Art K-12  program at Pocono Mountain School District and previously Art Adjunct at Keystone College.

Professional endeavors  have  included  participation  at  the  local,  state  and  national levels  in  art exhibitions  and education.  He was  awarded the  Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s “The Lab School of Washington,  D.C.  He  was  accepted  at  the  National Art  Education Association’s Distinguished Fellows Multicultural Art Education Institute at Ohio State University,  The Teacher  Institute in Contemporary Art and Design at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and four programs with The Teacher’s Summer Institute on Public Art at Moore College of Art and Design.

Mark served as Vice President, Gallery Chair and board member of Afa Gallery,  Scranton,  PA. He has also juried several local and state exhibitions.

As a prolific  artist his work has been widely exhibited in solo and juried exhibitions. He has shown in the 4th, 6^th  ,7^th, and  8^th NBC Meshtec International Invitational Screen Print Biennial,  Tokyo,  Japan  and received Honorable Mentions.  For a  number of years,  he has  ongoing  exhibitions with the  New Arts Program’s “International Invitational Salon of Small Works”.  It was a proud achievement when he was invited for a solo exhibition in Germany “Kunst Macht Druck, Art Made with Pressure” as the only American among several European printmakers.

 Mark has had his work published in “Art for Aleppo Postcards to Humanity” book, the cover of the San Diego Reader  and “Images of America,  Taylor,  PA”.  In fall  2021, his  Lackawanna  County  illustrations were  placed  throughout  the  new Lackawanna County Government Office Building. The silkscreen and linocut  image  “Engine #6039”  was  chosen  from  more  than  three hundred entrants  to  be one of ten selected for the Great Wall of Honesdale mural exhibition. He has several public  commissions and his art in many private collections. 

He  is a registered Roster Artist for Pennsylvania Council on The Arts and NEIU #19 Arts in Education, Northeast Pennsylvania. Mark continues to work from his studio.

For more on the artist visit his website at www.markciocca.com

---

December

A local group of artists who work together as the Plein Air group will exhibit their work from Dec. 9 until mid-January.  The artists’ reception is December 9 from 6 to 8 PM. The public is invited to attend the reception or enjoy the work of these artists in the gallery, which is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 to 2.  Members of the group are Joanne Benson, Phyllis Rennie, Charlotte Dickinson, Terry Proctor, and Maryann Williams.

This group have been working with en plein air style of painting, a French term for painting in the open air.  It is a challenging way to paint, as the sun and shadows change throughout the day which means the scene changes as one is working.  The painter must deal with weather, wind, blazing sun, bugs, changing skies, etc. It is a genre that has become extremely popular around the world and there are many groups and festivals throughout the US that meet to paint together to capture the scene in the moment, recording the current light and weather conditions. If a painting cannot be completed within the allotted time (about 2 hours), the artist usually returns another day when the weather conditions are similar.  Minor studio work to finish is permitted but the bulk of the painting is done outside to truly qualify as en plein air painting. 

These artists met first to paint together about 15 months ago, then decided to spend this year painting at several different locations.  Part of the fun is that each painting develops differently even though we are all in the same location.  The locations to be shared in this exhibit are titled as a group. They are “Backyard Still Life”, painted at Bridge St. Tunkhannock; “On Campus” painted at Clarks Summit University; “Floral Expressions” painted at Constantino’s ; “Path to Debi’s Creek”  painted at the Cumen’s Property in Springville ;”Enjoying Hillside Park”;  “Lots of Lavender” painted at Mountain Sprigs Farm;  and “Bridges and Blossoms” at South Abington Park.  Each painting within the group reflects the uniqueness of the artist’s vision and talent. Even though they are painted at the same place, the works of art are very different. 

The Plein Air group plans to continue painting together and  welcome other plein air artists.  It is an informal group with each artist making arrangements for the locations.  They do not have regular meetings as the genre is “weather sensitive” which makes flexibility critical.  

The Artists

---

---

November

About Austin Burke

Scranton and Lackawanna County enjoy unique architecture, inspiring churches, inviting landscapes and joyful ethnic celebrations which are legacies of generations of immigrants who brought their special talents, beliefs and creative energies here.
Wave after wave came for the opportunity to build America, to turn the steel rails that spanned our continent, to mine the coal that fired our furnaces and to serve under arms to secure our freedom and protect our liberty.

Their energy, enthusiasm and skills built a community and created iconic architectural wonders that continue to serve our churches, schools, governments and arts. Their ethnic pride also enlivens our many festivals, parades and holiday gatherings that preserve the traditions and pride of many heritages.

Austin Burke is a product of the region and of proud, hard-working immigrant ancestors. Burke has worked to record the pride of the populace, their creations and their celebrations through a series of paintings he produced over the past two decades. Now retired after a forty-year career as former president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, Burke is making his work available to friends and admirers who have requested it and to the residents, visitors and alumni who share a love for this Northeastern Pennsylvania community.

---

October

Artist’s Reception Friday, October 14 from 6 -8 PM

Kym’s creative focus is the intuitive process of painting and how to depict the inspiration she gains from emotion and music. Her oil and cold wax paintings are brought to life by building and excavating grungy, textural layers until the history of each painting’s journey is revealed and the final layer of wax is applied.

Kym has taught at The Gathering Place and is teaching once again this fall.

Artist’s Statement

Truth be told – I’m a Type “A”, bona fide control freak, and my illustrations alluded to that point. I was structured and precise, deadline-driven, and accustomed to having concepts and design already laid out for me. Becoming an abstract painter forced me into an unfamiliar and uncomfortable space of unpredictability and playfulness. While many aspects of painting are under my control, what emerges once the oil and cold wax is laid down is often surprising. The freedom I’ve given myself to explore and create art that’s solely mine is both exhilarating and challenging. By building grungy, textural layers and then working back into them with tools and solvents, I’m allowed to learn and make mistakes and to grow as an artist for the first time in a long while. You’ll still find remnants of my illustrative past with the incorporation of sharp lines and collage, but it’s the push and pull of creating an oil and cold wax piece that motivates me to witness what emerges by the time the final layer of wax is applied.

To See her work and learn more you can go to her website https://www.kbfetsko.com/home

Instagram k.b.fetsko

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4wmcELHKx8TtsQ31vcE41g

September

Artists’ Reception Friday, September 9 from 6 – 8 PM

Tradeoffs

The Artists

August

Community Artists

Local artists submitted their works and shared them with the community.

Our exhibiting artists: James Zieger, Danielle Lehtinen, Tim Butler, Lori Jewett, Maureen Van Nostrand, Sue Riviello, Miki Drutchal, Mel Wolk, Kim Simmel, Kristi Greider, Cindy Gillotti, Jill Wetzel, Sethany Alongi, Emily Rancier, Mary Hodel, Peggy Gladys, and Dori Waters

July

The Artist Reception is Friday, July 8 from 6 – 8 PM .

The Jasper Trees

Artist Joe Kluck

I have been involved with art ever since I can remember. As a kid I was always filling out those “Draw Me” contests I saw in the Sunday newspaper magazines.   As a student I always drew in my notebooks and textbooks and as a result spent several hours in the Principal’s Office drawing the people and objects I found there. Ironically, I became a teacher and for 33 years I used art as a bridge to reach my students. 

In the 1980’s, I created a comic strip that was circulated in several small weekly newspapers in the United States, South Africa, and the Philippines.  Consequently hundreds of students in Northeastern Pennsylvania have an  “Onionhead” drawing on their kitchen refrigerators.  It was fun walking into a classroom, grabbing a students’ paper, and drawing a personalized cartoon.  

For over 30 years I have owned a sign business Signs Around Town. Currently I specialize in hand carved gold leaf signs.  My signs that have found homes all over the United States.  My recent passion has been to explore my creative energies through the use of pastels.    I enjoy the ability to capture the innocence of a little girl feeding a bird, the spirit of a summer afternoon at a lake, or the curvature of light around objects.   My curiosity with pastels led me to discover the works of Elizabeth Mowry, Jane McGraw Tubner, and of course Albert Handell.   I have found their work spectacular, their color selections captivating, and their perspectives refreshing.   

Recently, I have been exploring the amazing works of Brian Bailey, G. Daniel Massad, and many others. My fellow pastel society members also continue to be a source of marvel and inspiration for me. When I grow up  (you know the rest).

June

May

Marylou Chibirka was born March 5, 1956 in Scranton, PA., and spent her childhood in Dalton, PA. She went on to study at Indiana University of PA, and has degrees in both Painting and Art History.  After formal schooling, she continued her artistic studies with various artists at the Arts Student League in New York City, and privately with a number of renowned portrait artists. 

Since opening the new Chibirka Gallery in 2007, she has been commissioned to paint over 500 portraits and was awarded several grants to paint members of the Northeast Pennsylvania community in her PORTRAITS FROM LIFE projects. 

Her work is known regionally from her solo exhibitions at the Everhart Museum, Lizza Gallery, Misericordia University, Wyoming County Courthouse and the Federal Building in Scranton, PA. Most recently her portraits were on exhibit at ARTWORKS at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A recipient of the 2008 NE Regional Award she exhibited “A Retrospective with ‘Art&Soul ’” at Keystone College.  She is known to approach her portraits with high enthusiasm and excitement and a fresh technique to painting, striving more to capture the essence of a sitter rather than just a likeness. As a result, her paintings are known both for their freshness and the immediacy that characterizes her work.

She currently is a full time professional portrait artist and resides on the family farm in Dalton, PA.

April

Artist Al Pierce

Originally from New York City, Al now resides in Waverly, Pennsylvania. His paintings draw from strong themes of abstraction by using shapes, colors, textures, and space to form visual impressions. His posters use graphic designs combine with his paintings and photography to tell a story, while his installations address subjects relevant to the American experience.

---

March

The Work of Floyd Ingraham

Finger Lakes Photographer 1900-1920

Over a century ago amateur photographer Floyd Ingraham captured hundreds of images of a Finger Lakes hamlet in upstate New York. After Ingraham’s untimely death in 1920, he left behind boxes of glass negatives. Those negatives were discovered in an old shed the late 1970s and sold. Miraculously the collection stayed together, until they resurfaced in 2019 when they were sold on eBay. The largest number of Ingraham glass negatives were purchased and restored by Paul Holbrook, a collector from Ohio. Many of these rescued pictures have been researched and identified by Julie Manwarren of South Abington Township, who worked with Holbrook to preserve the pictures as a collection and share the history behind them. 

Julie Jeffery Manwarren is the author of the book, Floyd Ingraham’s Springwater: A Finger Lakes Hamlet published in 2021 by Arcadia Publishing. In the book, Manwarren shares the stories behind the faces and history of Ingraham’s photographs. Restored Floyd Ingraham photographs and Manwarren’s research and writing resulted in an engaging piece of Americana and rich visual history. 

Floyd Ingraham’s pictures reveal the early 1900s landscape, places and people of Springwater, New York and surrounding western Finger Lakes’ communities. Many of the buildings and landmarks that appear in Ingraham’s photographs remain. The Ingraham photographs provide an exceptional look at life in America at the turn of the 20^th century.

A sampling of the Ingraham collection will be shown at The Gathering Place during the month of March, 2022. Author and researcher Julie Jeffery Manwarren will give a presentation and talk about the images on March 12th at 2:00 p.m. Floyd Ingraham’s Springwater: A Finger Lakes Hamlet will be available for sale and a portion of the proceeds will benefit The Gathering Place.

JULIE JEFFERY MANWARREN is the author of Floyd Ingraham’s Springwater: A Finger Lakes Hamlet, published by Arcadia Publishing in 2021. A life-long resident of northeast Pennsylvania, Julie has lived in the Abingtons for over 26 years where she makes her home with her husband Phil and their two children. Julie has been a journalist for local newspapers and currently works as a content creator and freelance writer. Her blog, found at juliemanwarren.com, features her latest research projects and tells the stories behind old photographs, homes, and family histories. A lover of research, history and writing, she enjoys uncovering the stories behind the people and places of the past.

---

---

January
The Gallery featured  two artists –
Emily Rancier, fiber artist.

Felt “Skins”

Emily Rancier’s medium is fiber and my materials are wool and silk fibers. She uses carded wool batts, yarns and rovings; and silks of all descriptions – mawata caps, threads, fiber pieces, yarns and fabric. Her process is strictly intuitive.

She begins by folding a piece of white batting (containing several fine layers of fiber) to the size of an oblong dyeing pan. Then she pours 3 or 4 different dye colors over the surface which simmer for a half hour or more. When this batt has been rinsed and dried, opened up and pulled into a shape she has a canvas on which she builds up a design. When she is satisfied with the design she felts the piece by massaging and rolling inside a curtain and grip mat until it has integrity; and then she gives it a title.

The pieces that will be exhibited “were created pre-election and during covid – as therapy you might say.”

 

 

December 9 – January 9
Josh Rivaldo

Concept Art

Josh is a graduate of Ringling College of Design and Art in Sarasota, Florida. He works in several mediums and media platforms. His talents cover many areas: Portraits that Josh creates to “convey a unique story that can be treasured for a lifetime”; custom paintings of homes; personalized realtor/closing gifts; new/first home gifts; logos to strongly identify companies, organizations, products or brands; and gift cards, along with his signature works in conceptual art.

Josh’s work as a concept artist is vivid and dynamic.His passion for his creations is stated in his words: “I live and breathe the illustration/concept art lifestyle.”

---

November Exhibition
Featuring the Work of Bill Teitsworth
November 8 -December 8

---

October Art Exhibition
Featuring the Recent Work of artist Michael Lambert
October 2 – 31st

---

September Art Exhibition

---

August Art Exhibit
Artist Jon Harcharek

---

Bears in the Summit Show – July 2021

Robin La Cicero

I have been a professional photographer since 2006. For almost 15 years I have gotten up early to meet the sunrise and see what the day will bring during winter, spring, summer and fall. I run out before the sunsets too. Life is always an adventure with so much to see every day. I love living in the Northeast of Pa.

I have grown into an award-winning photographer with awards ranging from Endless Mountain Art Studio to the Weather Channel. I love all wildlife shots from our area and have great respect for Mother Nature.

My photos are made to look beautiful – I am a digital artist. I use the software of Photoshop and Lightroom and I have camera gear which helps me to shoot from a distance so as not to disturb the wildlife. I belong to Northeast Photography Club and have learned so much from the club.

At this time I am in two galleries Milford Artistry Exchange in Milford, Pa, and the Art Factory of White Mills, Pa. I want to tell a story as your eye is drawn into the photo.

You can follow me on Facebook – Robin LaCicero – for the latest, greatest shots from Maine to Florida. My work will look great in your home or office, or as a special gift.

Robin’s work is at The Gathering Place from
July 1 to July 31.

 

---

 

The Gathering Place Art Gallery features
the work of established and emerging artists
working or living in NEPA.