Past Programs 2021 – 2025

the Center for the Digital Arts Gallery at SUNY Westchester Peekskill Presents Exhibition by Multimedia Artist Katherina Jesek

The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery at SUNY Westchester Peekskill, in partnership with the Kinosaito Art Center, is pleased to present an exhibition of video, photography, and animated GIFs by acclaimed multimedia artist Katherina Jesek, known online as Kate the Cursed. Jesek’s work explores the intersection of analog and digital media, reimagining antiquated technologies such as cathode ray oscilloscopes through a contemporary lens. Her practice draws inspiration from early 1990s GIF culture, early modernism, and the emergence of internet subcultures.

A highlight of the exhibition is a selection of Jesek’s newest photographs—never before exhibited—featuring abstract, Art Deco-inspired compositions in glowing amber phosphor. Jesek’s work has been shown at notable venues including The Museum of the Moving Image, SuperRare, NASDAQ, Frieze Week LA, and RGBMTL in Montreal.

Curated by Megan Meadowlark of the Kinosaito Art Center, the exhibition will be on view from September 2 through December 8, 2025, at the Center for the Digital Arts Gallery. An opening reception will be held on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The public is warmly invited to attend.

For more information about the artist, please visit: https://katethecursed.com

Art & Media Exhibit

Digital Photography certificate and advanced Certificate programs

Barbara Thomas, ‘Coffee Shop Reflections’, Digital Photography

The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery of SUNY Westchester Peekskill is hosting an Art and Media Exhibition featuring the work of Digital Photography Certificate and Advanced Digital Photography students. The exhibition is open to the public July 21 through August 25, with an opening reception scheduled for Tuesday, August 12, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The exhibition aims to showcase the professional-level portfolios developed by students enrolled in workforce development non-credit certificate programs. Digital Photography students focus on enhancing their technical skills and storytelling abilities through photography practice.

Visit centerforthedigitalarts.gallery for information about The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery. For more information about art and media certificate programs, call 914-606-7300 or visit www.sunywcc.edu/interactive-design-digital-arts.

This exhibition promises to be a stimulating showcase of artistic and technological innovation, highlighting the creative achievements of the students involved.

GALLERY HOURS. Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m

IDENTITY by Kara Wilson

Kara Wilson, Mike

EXHIBIT DATES:

February 4 – April 25, 2025

RECEPTION: Thursday, February 27, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery of the Peekskill Extension of SUNY Westchester will exhibit Kara Wilson’s work, Identity, from February 4 through April 25, 2025. The opening reception will be on Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; the public is welcome.

Her visions are influenced by human nature’s inherent ability to qualify, identify, and label for its own needs. Perhaps we can also find comfort and familiarity through reordering. This body of work invites you to look for new connections between spaces and unfamiliar forms. 

GALLERY HOURS

Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

To contact us, please email peekskill@sunywcc.edu and include your name and phone number so we can respond to your inquiry efficiently. For more information, please call 914-606-7300.

3D Animation Certificate Student Exhibition

EXHIBIT DATES: December 3, 2024 – January 30, 2025

RECEPTION: Tuesday, January 7, 2025, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Come join us in celebrating our 3D Animation Certificate Program Graduates!

Featured graduates include:

The 3D Animation Certificate is a non-credit certificate program. It is an intensive course of study over two semesters beginning in the fall. Visit www.sunywcc.edu/3d-cert for more information on the certificate.

GALLERY HOURS

(Subject to change)

Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

EXHIBIT DATES:

September 3 – November 24, 2024

In the mid-nineties, Marcy B. Freedman took an Adobe Photoshop class at the Center for the Digital Arts in Peekskill. Immediately thereafter, she was able to use her newly acquired skills to produce promotional materials for exhibitions of her drawings, paintings, collages, and videos. Decades later, she began to use those same digital tools to make art! In 2020, during the Covid quarantine, Freedman created more than 400 digital collages, in which she merged her love of art history with her passion for surrealism, abstract art and … the empowerment of women. At first, she output her digital files as inkjet prints, which were exhibited in local art museums. Eventually, she decided that it would be fun to put some of these images onto tee shirts, mugs, blankets, sweatshirts, and more. Now, the artist sees the distinction between her “art” and the merchandise as superficial. She has concluded that her original digital file—usually a .jpg—is the true work of art! In order to allow the public to ponder this issue, her exhibition will feature inkjet prints, assorted manufactured objects, and a PowerPoint display of the artist’s original .jpgs. Let the debate begin! marcybfreedman.com

GALLERY HOURS

Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Visit centerforthedigitalarts.gallery for more information about the Center for the Digital Arts Gallery.

Peekskill Arts Alliance Presents

This show will run in conjunction with the 25th Annual Peekskill Open Studios Event, Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, 2023, from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm. 

GALLERY SUMMER HOURS                                                                                                                                                                         Monday – Thursday, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm.                                                                                            Friday, 10:00 – 11:30 am
Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2, 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm

The year 2024 marks the 30th Anniversary of the SUNY Westchester Peekskill Center for the Digital Arts, and the Center for the Digital Arts Gallery is pleased to present a Student Showcase in celebration of this momentous occasion. Artists and designers have been coming to the center for 30 years to train in our industry grade post-production facility and develop their skills in the latest technologies. The center continues to support aspiring artists and students of all kinds in the purposeful use of arts technology.

During the Thursday, February 22, 2024 reception, student artists will receive juried awards. Awards will be given in four categories: 3D, Illustration and 2D Animation, Digital Photography, and Fine Arts. This year’s jurors include faculty members: Joseph Thomas, 3D; Emmanuel Jaquez Reyes; Illustration and 2D Animation; Gerry Katzban, Digital Photography; and Laurel Shute, Fine Arts. There will also be four levels of awards given: First, second, third, and honorable mention.

2023 FACULTY AND STAFF EXHIBITION

September 11 – November 27, 2023

The SUNY Westchester Peekskill Center for the Digital Arts Gallery is presenting work of the center’s very own faculty and staff. The Faculty & Staff Exhibition is a group show dedicated to the work and efforts of the people who make the arts at the Center for the Digital Arts possible. The gallery will showcase the faculty who teach the courses in the Art & Design A.A.S., ITECH A.A.S., non-credit workforce development certificates, and the Youth Arts Technology program. 

All of the Center for the Digital Arts staff are practicing artists who train heavily in arts technology, and several also teach at the center. The exhibition is a great reflection of the talent behind the curriculum and educational experience at the center as it turns 30 years old.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Presented by the Peekskill Arts Alliance

Works in all media by PAA members
with studios outside the Peekskill
downtown arts district, or those
who can’t have studios open during
Open Studios weekend.

The Center for the Digital Arts
Gallery is pleased to host the
exhibition, “Off the Beaten Track.”
This group show will exhibit exciting
works in all media by professional
artists with studios located outside
the Peekskill downtown artists district,
or those who can’t have studios open
during Open Studios weekend.

Exhibition Dates
June 2 – June 28, 2023
Reception
Thursday, June 8, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

This show will run in conjunction with the 24th Annual Peekskill Open Studios Event,

Saturday and Sunday, June 3 and 4, 2023, from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm

Faculty & Staff Exhibition

The SUNY Westchester Peekskill Center for the Digital Arts Gallery is presenting work of the center’s very own faculty and staff. The Faculty & Staff Exhibition is a group show dedicated to the work and efforts of the people who make the arts at the Center for the Digital Arts possible. The gallery will showcase the faculty who teach the courses in the Art & Design A.A.S., ITECH A.A.S., non-credit workforce development certificates, and the Youth Arts Technology program. 

All of the Center for the Digital Arts staff are practicing artists who train heavily in arts technology, and several also teach at the center. The exhibition is a great reflection of the talent behind the curriculum and educational experience at the center as it turns 30 years old.

ARC OF THE MORAL AND VIRAL UNIVERSE NOTEBOOKS

Carla Rae Johnson

February 1 – April 26, 2023

Reception, Thursday, February 16

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice. — Theodore Parker, 1853

Deeply concerned about the trajectory of justice in our country in 2018, I found Theodore Parker’s words recurring in my mind. Does it indeed bend towards justice?

I put out a call for participants in a notebook project to address the “Arc of the Moral Universe.” That yielded more than 60 volumes filled with drawings, sketches, writing, lyrics, photos, montages, cut-outs, fold-outs, and abstractions documenting one year in each of their lives. 

In 2020, I confronted the reality of a world-wide viral pandemic and the “Arc of the Viral Universe” was begun. I invited participants from the first notebook project, plus 100 creative individuals from all walks of life. This resulted in over 30 bound volumes documenting daily lives, unease about the future, concerns for the planet, outrage at the effects of systemic racism, apprehensions about threats to democracy, and glimmerings of hope in the midst of the most challenging of times. They confirm my belief that “Creative people are among the ones to register these events and respond in hopeful, compassionate, and positive ways.” carlaraejohnson.org

PHOTO OF CARLA RAE JOHNSON BY HOWARD GOODMAN

CENTER FOR THE DIGITAL ARTS GALLERY HOURS

Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

REIMAGINED ELEMENTS

By Christine Knowlton

Christine Knowlton’s reflective art brings the viewer contextually into each piece: shifting with context and light, the art interacts with time and place, adding a fourth dimension. The palette includes mirror shards, auto glass fragments, mica, iridescent textured paint, and intricately collaged images.This exhibit includes a cathartic fishing net installation, and colorful mixed media collages and canvases. Ten mixed media collages evoke characteristics of the Zen Elements of Nature (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water), the essences that comprise our universe and all of life and flow between. The photography series brings a mirror-shard canvas in places outside to capture the intersection of reflective art and seasonal moments.ChristineKnowltonArt.comInstagram: christine.knowlton.1

Off the Beaten Track

June 2 – June 29, 2022!
Reception: Thursday, June 2nd, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Tagged Art Gallery, Arts, Gallery, Peekskill, Peekskill Arts AllianceEdit”Peekskill Arts Alliance Presents:”

CREATE BY PHILIPPE SAFIRE

Posted on March 21, 2022 by MyronMockYen

February 1 – April 27, 2022

Among the earliest records of art making are hand prints outlined in color on cavern walls created by people thirty thousand years ago. We might consider these early cave paintings the “new media art” of prehistoric times. Inspired by these pieces, Philippe Safire designed a digital version in the form of a custom application displayed on a multi-touch screen. If the viewer puts their hand on the screen, an animation of colored pixels encircles the fingers and palm. Once the hand is removed, the outline continues sparkling before disappearing. Safire invites the public to collaborate in generating unique artwork. As part of the series, the exhibition also includes a set of lenticular prints, projected animation, an internet installation and social media component. Conceived as a participatory event, CREATE features hand prints created by participants — to enjoy within and beyond the gallery space. The exhibition explores the creative process and the ephemeral quality of the digital medium.Edit”CREATE by Philippe Safire”

CELEBRATIONS

Posted on November 19, 2021 by MyronMockYen

Peekskill Arts Alliance

November 15 – December 15, 2021

Reception Thursday, November 18, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

The PAA welcomes the 2021 holiday season with its pop-up members’ show at Westchester Community College Center for the Digital Arts Gallery, Peekskill.Edit”CELEBRATIONS”

GRASS + ROOTS: PEEKSKILL TO POUGHKEEPSIE

Posted on October 2, 2021 by MyronMockYen

October 2 – November 7, 2021

This exhibition, a partnership between the Putnam Arts Council and the Center for the Digital Arts Gallery, Peekskill Extension, Westchester Community College, will connect and showcase the grassroots talent of artists across the Hudson Valley, from Peekskill to Poughkeepsie, in the partner galleries. The opening will be at the Putnam Arts Council while the closing will be at the Center for the Digital Arts Gallery, Peekskill Extension, Westchester Community College. A Digital Flip Book of the show can be viewed HERE.

Under the theme of Grass + Roots, the exhibition will survey and celebrate the beauty, strength, and resilience of the art and artists of the Hudson Valley.  All genres, media, and technology will be considered. The show will be juried for exhibition and awards by Patricia Miranda.Edit”Grass + Roots: Peekskill to Poughkeepsie”

SKETCHES OF SPAIN

Posted on August 27, 2021 by MyronMockYen

The Global Art and Activism of Paul Robeson

August 26 – September 27, 2021

This exhibit celebrates artist Paul Robeson and challenges artists to search for their source of inspiration. Artists’ illustrative studies of Robeson photographs from the Burt Glassberg collection will be shown. The artists are challenged to select from among the collection one photograph to research and sketch. Their work will be displayed alongside the original photograph with their specific artist statement of their process, discovery, inspiration, and conclusion. The photographs reflect Robeson’s worldwide influence as artist, scholar, individual, and peace advocate. “I have never separated my work as an artist and my work as a human being.” — Paul RobesonEdit”Sketches of Spain”

RE-EMERGENCE

Posted on July 1, 2021 by MyronMockYen

June 12th – July 21st, 2021

Join us as the Peekskill Arts Alliance launches its first live exhibition this year at Westchester Community College Center for the Digital Arts Gallery with the theme “Re-emergence” to celebrate this momentous occasion. Safety measures will be undertaken including limited capacity (eight per viewing), social distancing, and mask required.

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 24th 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Please RSVP to peekskill@myronmy