Our New Photography Exhibit in Riverdale, New Jersey!

This article also appears on our Italian Journal page.

Our current exhibit of selections from the collection Italy, Through the Eyes of Love is at the Riverdale Public Library in Riverdale, New Jersey (www.riverdalelibrary.org). The exhibit opened with a reception on November 17 and continues through January 16, 2009. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the Library.

The Riverdale Public Library is an open, light-filled space with several levels. They regularly hold art exhibitions and interesting programs on a variety of topics. Over the summer, Jefferson stopped by the Library and asked if they would display our marketing postcard, since I was a town resident. (Jefferson designed our postcard and it always attracts attention. Here it is:

The staff graciously agreed and Jefferson went on his way. A few weeks later the Library contacted us through our website and asked if we would be interested in exhibiting the photographs at the Library. We were thrilled! They also asked if we would conduct an hour-long program for them on the collection (more on that later!), which of course, we agreed to do. It’s scheduled for December 2 at 7:00 pm.


We had a small window of time in which to install the exhibit, as we had to wait for the previous Library exhibit to be dismantled. Just like in Westchester, we brought in the metal grids for the unframed works (thanks to Matt Locker!) and hung the framed and gallery-wrapped prints on the walls.
The Opening Reception would start in a few hours. As we were working on it, we noticed that the heat in the Library (especially on the second floor) caused the identifying tags on the metal grids to curl. This was an unanticipated complication that needed to be addressed. Jefferson sized up the problem and fixed it by attaching thick stock black paper to the back of each tag. He believed this would work at least through the Opening Reception, and after that we would have time to create a more permanent solution if needed.
Of course, reinforcing the tags was rather tedious and time consuming. We finally finished at 5:30, rushed home, got dressed and returned to the Library in time for the Opening Reception at 6:30.

People started arriving early and kept coming until the Library closed at 8:00. We had invited many of them, and quite a few were strangers to us who had heard about the exhibit and wanted to see it. I use the word “strangers” very loosely because common interests bring people together, and soon we all talking about the enchantments of Italy!

Taking Down the Exhibit in Westchester

This article also appears on our Italian Journal page.

Although the exhibit technically ended July 31, 2008 the wonderful staff at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center were in no hurry to take down the exhibit. They allowed the works to remain until mid-September, when we finally began the careful dismantling process. Like all endings, it was bittersweet.

The exhibit had gone extremely well for the Center and for us. It was wonderful to read the comments written in the Visitors Book in the Exhibit Halls. Here are some of them: “Wonderful eye for beautiful scenes. Thanks for this mini-vacation”; “Le fotografie sono meravigliose!”; “Absolutely breathtaking – I feel as if I am there having wine & bread sharing happiness with my friends & loved ones!” We were so grateful to the Center for the opportunity, and they treated us so well throughout the experience, that we donated a 24x36 inch canvas of “Waiting” to the Center.

A narrow totem with 3 display screens stands in the front lobby of the Center.
Jefferson had created a slideshow of selections from the exhibit that played continuously on one of the screens. As the time for removing the exhibit drew near, Evelyn Rossetti, the Center Director, told us that the slideshow was so beautiful that she didn’t want to remove it. She asked if we wouldn’t mind leaving it on display in the totem. Mind?? Not at all! The slideshow had to be reworked because it had announced the exhibit dates. Here is the streaming video version of the new slideshow:



The Center also used my photograph, “Bogliasco Cliffs” for the cover of its Fall and Winter, 2008 Program Catalogue. Bogliasco is a small town near Genoa, in the region of Liguria, on the Italian Riviera. Here it is:


I had the opportunity to give a live radio interview about the exhibit on WGHT - 1500. You can listen to it here.

We had good press throughout the exhibition.

We’re very proud of the exhibit review that appeared in the Westchester County ArtNews Supplement to the Westchester County Business Journal, June 2008:



A wonderful article also appeared in The Herald News, focusing not only on the exhibit but on our collaboration:


The Italian Tribune: