September 2023 in the Crowell Gallery
Nancy Calicchio
“Reflection” – Vermont Landscapes
September 1 – 30, 2023
Artists Reception, Saturday, September 9, 2023, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Nancy Calicchio returns to the Crowell Gallery with her new collection of 24 paintings appropriately titled “Reflection”. This timely body of work seeks to evoke introspection and appreciation for the delicate balance between Vermont’s changing landscapes and the timeless beauty of nature’s reflections. While there are paintings of hills, and fields, it is Vermont rivers that dominate the canvas.
Calicchio starts her paintings plein air, “I’m drawn to the illusive quality of reflected light on streams and ponds. I believe the greatest challenge for a landscape artist is to capture the ineffable beauty of our natural world in flux, for me rivers offer the greatest challenge.”
Four of the paintings feature the site of the old mill in the center of Putney village. “It is easy to imagine this same mill pond when it was the vibrant center of a community. Reflecting on change over time leads me to consider a future landscape which can provoke a strange ‘future’ nostalgia for the natural world we now enjoy in Vermont.”
Nancy Calicchio moved to Vermont in 1963.She enjoyed work as an independent school educator until she retired when she embraced painting as a second career. Calicchio is primarily a self-taught artist who began to paint in workshops with Diane Rath at the Putney Village Arts in 2007. Following her work with Diane, she continued to participate in workshops, the most recent with George Van Hook in 2023 at the Bryan Gallery in Jeffersonville, Vermont.
2023 Gallery Schedule
- January – Closed for construction
- February – The Crowell Art Collection
- March – Julia Duke – Fiber and quilt art
- April – School Children
- May – Saxtons River Art Guild
- June – Karma Kitaj and Sharon Myers – Fiber and quilt
- July – Nancy Libby – abstract art
- August – Leonard Ragouzeos
- September – Nancy Colicchio – Oil painting, landscapes
- October – Gianna Robinson
- November – Southeast Chapter of the VT Pastel Society.
- December – Carol Schweigert – Landscape art
Interested in exhibiting your art at the Crowell Gallery? Email crowellartgallery@gmail.com for information.
Gallery History
The Crowell Gallery at the Moore Free Library in Newfane, VT was opened to the public on September 2, 2000. It houses an outstanding collection of contemporary Southern Vermont artists. The permanent collection is on view each winter (usually in January and/or February). For the rest of the year, the gallery hosts special monthly exhibits by local artists. The gallery also serves as a venue for public programs and meetings.
Robert and Muriel Crowell funded the renovation of the Moore family’s 1890 post and beam barn. The work was performed by local artisans Dan and Gary MacArthur. A gift in 2004 from the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation provided tensor lighting for the gallery.
About Robert L. Crowell
Robert L. (Bob) Crowell, former head of the Thomas Y. Crowell Company (which later became part of Harper Collins Publishers), was the grandson of the company’s eponymous founder. Thomas Y. Crowell began publishing books in 1876 and was the first U.S. publisher of Tolstoy and Gogol. Bob joined the company as a salesman in 1931, was elected treasurer in 1937, and rose to head the company in 1938. Under his leadership, the company published Roget’s International Thesaurus, the Frank Heller detective series and numerous art and children’s books.
Bob served as a trustee of the Moore Free Library from 1976 to 2001 and was President of the board for five of those years. As the Moore Free Library’s primary benefactor, he funded scholarship programs, literary awards, and library renovations. He passed away June 29, 2001.