Landscapes for Landsake

Landscapes for Landsake

Landscapes for Landsake is the largest art exhibition in the region of southern Washington County, New York, drawing over 2,000 visitors from New York and Vermont in support of this annual fundraiser for the Agricultural Stewardship Association.

Serena Kovalosky was the 2012 guest curator during a turning point in the exhibition’s history. “The early exhibitions featured a formal, museum-style curation of a handful of artists,” says Kovalosky. “I saw the trend move towards an increasingly broad range of styles and artists, so I pulled out all the stops and juried in over 300 works of art and hung the show in a floor-to-ceiling style.” To prevent “visual overload” Kovalosky arranged the work thematically which encouraged visitors to pause and absorb the work, yet made sure the art wasn’t too “comfortable” in its setting in order to provoke the impulse to buy.

Kovalosky created a more traditional experience with the special and poignant “Tribute to Barns” in the downstairs gallery.  “As I toured artists’ studios to select work for the show, I asked about some of the barns that were represented in the paintings. ‘Oh, that barn doesn’t exist anymore,’ was a strikingly common response. So I curated in all these paintings of barns as a reminder of the disappearing farmland that the Agricultural Stewardship Association strives to protect.”

Curator Serena Kovalosky cohesively celebrates the rich diversity of styles and media of the artists showcased.
Susan Brink, Nippertown

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