Local Talent on Display at Setauket Artists' Exhibition

Residents from Three Village and the surrounding area filled the Setauket Neighborhood House on Sunday to marvel at local artistic talent at a reception for the 31st annual Setauket Artists’ Exhibition.

Forty local artists had their work featured, ranging in media from oil and acrylic paintings to paper and paper clay figures.

Irene Ruddock, a painter and the coordinator of the exhibit for the past six years, keeps the event fresh by including a mix of artists each year. While some of the artists at the exhibit are very well known, she said she makes a point of inviting brand new artists, including those who have never shown their work in a gallery before. This year, three artists were featured at the exhibition for the very first time.

“We like to make room for both established and aspiring artists,” Ruddock said.  “New artists may not get to show at other galleries, but here they are given a chance.”

The judge for this year’s exhibit was Robert Cenedella, a world-renowned artist and art teacher who teaches at the Art Students League in New York City.  Cenedella, who is known for his life drawings, was "thrilled with the level of competence" from the artists in the exhibit, according to Ruddock.

When judging, Cenedella told Ruddock that he "looks for the life and soul of a painting to come through to him."

The life and soul of the works of two artists in particular caught Cenedella's attention, as watercolor paintings by Eleanor Meier won the Award of Excellence, and oil paintings by Fred Mendelsohn won the Award of Merit. Jim Molly, Burton Woods, and Ruddock herself received honorable mentions.

This year’s honored artist was Dr. Arthur Ulrich, who has supported the exhibit for the past 31 years by offering his own labor to hang the lights and mount paintings. His watercolor paintings "Montauk Lighthouse" and "Trustees Road Memories" were prominently featured in the exhibit.

Artist and long time resident of Three Village Al Candia has been part of the Setauket Artists’ Exhibition for more than 20, and is still thrilled with the event.

“It’s a lot of fun – it’s really Americana. The art is all about small-town Stony Brook and America," he said. "It's so beautiful.  The historical roots of the area really shine in this community."

Three Village resident Susan Camenzuli, who attended the event with her husband and son, who said she likes seeing places with which she is familiar. Even her young son, Charlie, reacts to the art.

"He sees the pictures and says, ‘There’s my bridge, and there's the harbor,'" Camenzuli said.

The exhibit is sponsored by Fred Bryant of the Bryant Funeral Home, Inc. The Artists’ Exhibition will continue to be available for free to the public through Nov. 22 at the Setauket Neighborhood House from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.