It’s time again for ArtWalk in Oyster Bay. It takes place on Thursday, May 6. Art will be everywhere. Local restaurants will be exhibiting art and are offering a percentage off on meals, wine tastings, and more. Live music entertainment is scheduled. Cafes and restaurants will remain open late for dessert and coffee.
The evening begins on the east side of town, with Chase Edwards Gallery with a preview of artist Megan Sirianni Brand’s work (15 East Main Street); then Atelier Gallery (9 East Main Street); and Art That Matters (55 West Main Street). You will see exhibitions featuring contemporary art from around the world, 7 to 9 p.m.
The Teaching Studios of Oyster Bay (115 Audrey Avenue) will be open and presenting the first of the Sundown Series concerts – this one featuring John Bruschini (former OB-EN resident; nylon string guitar) and Dale Kleps (flute and reeds) who will present fresh interpretations of traditional jazz and classical music. Refreshments will be served.
Additionally, the Theodore Roosevelt Association gallery features TR and the Water (20 Audrey Avenue) and the Friends of the Bay offices also has art on exhibit (2 Townsend Square- on South Street, next to The Homestead Restaurant).
Art Reception May 8
On Saturday, May 8, there will be an Art Opening as the Chase Edwards Gallery presents: “Le Voyage”; A journey through color, form, thoughts, and memories, by Artist Megan Sirianni-Brand. Ms. Brand grew up in Oyster Bay and went on to live in Paris for many years. All are welcome. The opening will be hosted by Bistro Citron Restaurant and Supreme Wine Company served from 6 to 9 p.m.
Artist Megan Sirianni-Brand embarked on her voyage by doing what many creative travelers do: reaching inward early-on for the resources necessary for a life’s journey. Drawing and poetry were her mainstay in childhood, leaving behind a paper trail of many folia and volumes by the time she hit the road at 15. The counsel of her young friend Jimmy Breslin (son of newspaperman Jimmy Breslin) was sufficient encouragement for Megan to seek a formal education, for a time at least, in New York City. But then, the summons came to move beyond the familiar as well as the safe; and, by 20, Megan had left for France .
For Megan, the past—exemplified by artisan practices found in the Old World—needed to be examined for its own merits. In this way Megan received a much-needed education in the demanding studio of Meuble Peintre in Paris . The rigors of this work, in combination with becoming fluent in the French language, is likely one source of the solidity and persuasiveness of her expression, whether it be in paint or in person.
Megan Sirianni-Brand began to observe her painter’s gift not strictly as a job, but rather in a more fundamental relation to the soul.
The shock, several years ago, of her older sister’s untimely death, served to prioritize Megan’s emotional response to life as she had known it in Europe. Balancing this deep loss is the renewing presence of her young son in her life, and the single parenting responsibilities she now enjoys.
The artist’s present mastery emanates from such half-concealed places, as hidden messages and frank disclosures are to be imagined and discerned among the layers of paint and brush-strokes in her art.
Chase Edwards Gallery is located at 15 East Main Street in downtown Oyster Bay. You may RSVP for this event on their Facebook fan page.
