April 1, 2019: The creative response of folk artists to Catskills natural resources results in a wide variety of artistic works.  Catskills bluestone, as a resource, is no exception.  On Saturday, April 13 from 4-6pm Catskills Folk Connection and the Catskill Center will open an exhibit of two extraordinary folk carvers in stone with an artists’ reception at the Erpf Center 43355 NY Route 28 in Arkville, NY 12406.  

Mark Swanberry, Fulton, NY, and Richard McCormack, Schoharie, NY, will meet guests and informally discuss their works.  Each will have brought to the exhibit examples of bluestone carving, including works that combine stone with other media such as copper or the artist’s own acrylic landscape paintings.  “It’s a contemporary legend that folk artists are not sophisticated and don’t know the value of what they create,” says Catskills Folk Connection’s folklorist, Ginny Scheer. “These two artists know their bluestone resource. They know how to fabricate items that fulfill their artistic vision and they know how to market their work.”  The result is an exhibit that gathers carved stone objects, large and small, where you can see them together, perhaps for the first time, and learn about the stone carving process from the artists. 

The exhibit opens with a reception on Saturday, April 13 from 4-6 p.m. and remains open for public viewing through June 7. The Erpf Gallery is located at 43355 State Route 28 in Arkville, NY and is open Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 4:30 pm.

For more information visit www.catskillsfolkconnection.blogspot.com or contact Ginny Scheer, Folklorist, at vscheer@juno.com or 607-326-4206.