Waller To Discuss Legacy Artists at the Art Garage Sept. 12

COOPERSTOWN—Art Garage founder/director/curator Sydney Waller will discuss the three legacy artists featured in the exhibit “CrazyCool!!!”—self-taught artists Lavern Kelley, Louis Sherry and Sulton Rogers—on Thursday, September 12 at 5 p.m.

The gallery will open at 4 p.m. with light refreshment. Seating is limited and reservations are recommended via leartgarage@gmail.com or by texting (315) 941-9607. CrazyCool!!! also features outsider artists Lucia Phillips (Hartwick), Zena Gurbo (Gilbertsville/Brooklyn), and George Hymas (Pierstown), and guest artist Lewis Danielski (London/Middlefield). Visitors are reminded to park on gallery lawns rather than on the town road.

This is the last talk associated with the show, which closes Saturday, September 14 on “Last Chance, Last Glance” day, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Both Kelley and Sherry lived in Upstate New York, while Rogers, a long-time resident of Syracuse, returned to his home state, Mississippi, for the last years of his life. The legacy of two of the artists to be discussed is already assured: Works by Lavern Kelley and Sulton Rogers are in numerous museum collections, including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. Locally, Fenimore Art Museum boasts the largest museum collection of Kelley’s work. The museum has also acquired a Louis Sherry piece for its permanent collection. The Baseball Hall of Fame owns a number of ballplayers Kelley carved in the 1980s.

“All three legacy artists are self-taught, visionary outsider artists who work with wood, and have developed their own unforgettable ‘brand’ with accomplished craftsmanship,” Waller said. “The show is dedicated to the memory of Louis Sherry, whose joyous wooden constructions enliven both galleries.”

Waller knew all three artists personally and will discuss their work informally on September 12.

An art history major with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College, Waller also holds a master’s degree in human development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She grew up in South Kent, Connecticut, and has taught at both Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School and Cooperstown Central. Following an internship at the Whitney Museum, Waller embarked on a career founding or leading various arts-related organizations in Cooperstown and around New York State.

The Art Garage was established in 2012 in Waller’s new garage, and has since produced dozens of exhibitions that mainly highlight the work of local and regional artists—“and once, even an artist from Kenya,” Waller said. Works exhibited are contemporary, most by formally-trained artists. The Art Garage also represented the estate of Alice Hudson until recently, which is now at home at the Chenango County Historical Association in Norwich. The gallery continues to represent the estate of farmer folk artist Lavern Kelley, about whom Waller wrote a monograph, working closely with local designer Doreen DeNicola and Lin Vincent, editor.

The Art Garage is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and every day of the week with a call or text. For more information, e-mail leartgarage@gmail.com or call (607) 547-5327.