Mount Saint Mary College's CMA Gallery recently hosted the opening reception for "Becoming Visible," a photography exhibit by members of The Fix group, which will run through September 25.
"Becoming Visible" focuses on longing and emergence in the time of a pandemic. The gallery had a virtual opening earlier this year and celebrated an in-person reception on July 14.
The gallery is free and open to the public. It's located on the first floor of Aquinas Hall on campus, 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh, N.Y. The gallery is open Monday through Friday during normal business hours, or by appointment. Email cma-gallery@msmc.edu for more info.
The CMA Gallery is co-directed by Christopher Neyen, assistant professor of Art and Graphic Design, and Dean Goldberg, professor of Digital Media and Film Studies and director of the Mount's Communication, Art, and Digital Media program. Both Neyen and Goldberg are members of The Fix.
"We are exceedingly happy to be here in person and see all of you," said Neyen. "And of course, we are happy to have The Fix here – they're such a highly talented group."
George Abaunza, vice president for Academic Affairs at the Mount, noted that seeing the pandemic through the eyes of artists can help to bring new meaning and insight to recent events.
"[You] are able, as artists, to...not only interpret and react, but also provide a vision and a hope for the future as well," he said.
The Fix was founded by photographers and photo educators Stephen Mallon and Lesly Deschler Canossi. It was born from a discussion started on the Hudson River train line and has developed into a collective of lens-based artists from various disciplines in the Hudson Valley area.
The collective meets monthly to provide each other critical feedback, support, and a discussion space for topics related to their work plus other photographic subjects navigating the space between photography and life.
The Mount's CMA gallery was created in 2019 as a professional artist space to exhibit media picked by Mount faculty from among the rising population of artists who live and work in Newburgh, Beacon, and throughout the Hudson Valley.
The gallery was made possible through the efforts of Neyen; Goldberg; Maryann Pilon, executive director of Facilities and liaison for Strategic Space Planning; and Barbara Petruzzelli, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs.
"It's so important that we have a presence of art on our campus," noted Petruzzelli. "We want this to be part of our student experience."