Art Reception: Defaced and Defined: A Photographic Journey Through Great Neck by Christy Orquera

The Great Neck Library invites you to view the latest exhibition, on display from September 1^st to September 25^th in the Lower-Level Art Gallery at the Main Branch (159 Bayview Avenue). A special Artist’s Reception will be held on Wednesday, September 9^th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

"Defaced and Defined: A Photographic Journey Through Great Neck" explores the intersection of nature and urban expression. This exhibit captures the raw, often overlooked artistry found in unexpected places around the Great Neck Peninsula. From intricate tree carvings to vivid graffiti, stickered road signs, and other signs of defacement, the collection invites viewers to reflect on how these marks disrupt and transform the environment. Among the featured works is a poignant tribute found on the bridge over Udall’s Pond, where graffiti memorializes those who perished in the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, adding a layer of collective memory to the urban landscape.

Christy Orquera serves as the head of reference and local history custodian at the Great Neck Library, and previously served in the U.S. Navy, where she spent three years traveling the world aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz during the Gulf War era in the 1990s.

A longtime photography enthusiast, Orquera has been capturing moments for nearly 50 years, a passion she inherited from her father, whose own artistic eye for composition and subject was an early influence. Orquera's first camera was a Kodak 110, which she received as a child at the age of four. Her formal photography education began in high school at Elizabeth Seton Academy in the south suburbs of Chicago, where she studied under Ms. Choi in an art-intensive curriculum.

She later pursued photography more seriously, taking a class through Nassau Community College’s Continuing Education program. There, she studied under Rick Recard, a renowned New York-based photographer and professor. She has also attended numerous Nikon classes and certification courses for personal enrichment.