New Albany Art Show Opens at the Foyer Gallery: "Feeling, Form, and Color" by Michele Bachmeier

The Foyer Gallery at the Albany Community Center and library was full of music and color on Sunday as dozens of people took in the opening reception for a new art exhibit in town. 

Michele Bachmeier's "Feeling, Form, and Color" began in the gallery on July 9, but Sunday was the exhibit's opening reception. The show will run until Oct. 3.

(See the photo gallery of the event here.)

Visitors to the library enjoyed music by a three-piece band called Shrinkwrapped, who played what they described as a traditional Brazilian style of music that originated in the 1920s called choro. The trio, on clarinet, ukulele and drums, and sometimes accordion, filled the warm, well-lit lobby as guests chatted, snacked on a free buffet and looked at Bachmeier's paintings.

Albany resident Tony Caine said he makes a point to attend local art openings.

"I always come to these events," he said. "I like to support local arts. It's tough to be an artist, and any encouragement you can give them, they deserve. Without art, it would be a pretty boring existence, so I give it all the moral support I can."

Jeffrey Curreri, who lives near the library on Evelyn Avenue, said he and his son, Lewis, were just coming to the library to return some books when they came upon the event. 

"It's wonderful the library offers events like this," he said. "As I look around, I see a lot of Van Gogh, a lot of Rembrant."

Lewis, 10, who will be a sixth-grader at Albany Middle School in the fall, said he enjoyed the music and free snacks. Two tables were stacked with cookies, vegetables, chips, crackers and cheese, as well as lemonade and wine.

"It's nice to have it. It brings the community together," Lewis, a saxophone player, said. 

Kathryn Washington, who recently moved to Washington, D.C., from San Francisco, said she came to support the artist, who is a long-time friend.

"What I love about events like these is that there are people Michele knows, but also people she doesn't know, who are enjoying it. They're staying around and looking at the art. That's always nice to have at a debut," she said.

About 20 of Bachmeier's paintings hung on the gallery walls. Their bright colors and elongated figures captivated some of the onlookers.

"She uses a lot of purples and that catches the eye," said Sugare Murrell of Kensington. "She's really nice and her work is good too. It's really enriching to get to meet an artist who's personable."

Ben Montpetit came to the library with his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Stella, to return some books. 

"We were just coming through but it's great for a child. She just loves the music," said Montpetit, who lives in the neighborhood and is a biochemistry post doc at UC Berkeley. "There's nothing better than this on a sunny day." 

Ronna Min, 10, who will be going into fifth grade at Cornell Elementary in September, was reading a book on a bench below some of Bachmeier's paintings. 

"It's sort of like a party," she said. "I like seeing all the pictures on the walls and listening to the music."

Anne Maris, a member of the Albany Arts Committee, which selected Bachmeier's work for the show, said one of the goals is for exhibits to engage children.

"It's a place where a lot of children come, so we want it to be kid-friendly. They might not understand the details, but we want them to be able to relate to it on some level," she said. "I always say, 'If you want a cookie, you have to look at two paintings.' They actually do go and look."

Maris said the gallery has hosted four shows a year since 1994 when the space opened. Artists apply to have their work shown, and members of the arts committee visit them to see if the work is suitable. The committee looks for Albany artists, or those who live nearby, and tries to exhibit different media forms throughout the year. 

Bachmeier, a psychotherapist and long-distance runner who coaches Little League in Albany, said it was her first full-on show, though she has had a few paintings hung in other spaces. The Albany mom said she's been painting for 14 years. 

"I've always been interested in the creative process, and wanted to create paintings that are interesting for me but also that somebody else would be able to relate to," she said. "I like to experiment with color and shapes and let a painting unfold like a story."

One of her 20 paintings in the gallery sold on Sunday, and the others, all of which are acrylic works, are for sale. She said she counts Marc Chagall and Edvard Munch among her influences. Most of the paintings in the exhibit are from 2003 to the present and she said she has "about 20 more" at home, including one she started last week.

"I want people to feel inspired that they can be creative in their own lives," she said. "And maybe something they see in one of my paintings will help them make a connection they wouldn't otherwise have made."

See the photo gallery of the event here.