Genesee Valley 100 Now Open

This week marked the opening of the Genesee Valley 100: A Community Painting Project.  Viewable online and in person, this project had only two simple directives for artists: use the provided 12×12 canvas and paint something inspired by the Genesee Valley.

Organized by Genesee Valley Conservancy, a local non-profit celebrating thirty years of protecting habitat, open space, and farmland within the Genesee Valley, this project aims to capture the beauty and undefinable essence that the organization has been working to protect. 

In creating such a collection of work and exhibiting them to the public, the organization hopes to inspire people to recognize the importance of the local lands and natural resources that surround and benefit us.  Lands that future generations will be grateful if we properly care for them today.

Agricultural lands provide jobs and local food, supporting a large part of our rural economy.  Lakes providing drinking water depend on the open spaces and forests surrounding them to naturally filter runoff so it is clean and safe to drink.  Thriving habitat provides unique places to explore, recreate, and enjoy fresh air while breaking from screens and devices.

A range of diverse styles are on display and artists of all levels of experiences participated.  High school students and amateurs have pieces hung next to lifelong and professional painters.  This is another unique part of this show.  No one is juried to get in.  Everyone interested is welcome to submit their painting, no questions asked. 

The goal is to see what inspires people about the Genesee Valley and, in turn, present those images to the public to inspire others to recognize what a beautiful and special place we live.

The collection of works is on display at Silver Lake Brewing Project in Perry.  While each individual piece warrants up close inspection, hung together at the brewery the collection is an impressive mosaic that is a work of art itself.

In trying to reach a broad audience for the project, the show is intentionally hung in a non-traditional space for art, that is to say, not in a gallery.  The hope is people not seeking art out will be confronted by the project and be exposed to some great local artists and to images of our beautiful landscape. 

Paintings represent locations within the Genesee Valley from the headwaters of the Genesee River in Pennsylvania all the way to the shores of Lake Ontario, and everywhere in between. 

The entire collection is also viewable online where all sales take place.  Sales benefit both the local artist and the Conservancy.

Forty-three communities are represented by painters this year.  Fifty-one artists are first time participants in the Genesee Valley 100.  Thirty-four return from 2018, the first year of the project, that also featured original paintings.  Eighteen artists this year are returning from last year’s project which was oriented just to photographers but held the same 12×12 requirement and that the photograph be of the Genesee Valley.

The Genesee Valley 100 exhibit of photography is open at Silver Lake Brewing Project in Perry during their regular business hours through the end of the year.  The project can also be viewed online on the Conservancy’s website.  www.geneseevalleyconservancy.org

Genesee Valley Conservancy is a nationally accredited non-profit conservation organization working to protect the habitat, open space and farmland in the Genesee River watershed.  Over 21,360 acres of natural habitat and productive farm and forest land have been conserved by Genesee Valley Conservancy and private landowners.  The organization also owns nature preserves open to the public year-round for recreation and education.  For more information visit www.geneseevalleyconservancy.org