SUNY Adirondack alumni showcase artwork in 'Making It!'

QUEENSBURY, New York (September 23, 2021) — Years after leaving SUNY Adirondack, five alumni artists return for “Making It!,” an exhibition in the college’s Visual Arts Gallery.

The show — which features the works of Joseph Eggleston, Vinny Otto, Anthony Richichi, Jes Turcotte and Hannah Williams — runs through Oct. 28 and displays a wide variety of styles.

“Seeing how far these SUNY Adirondack alumni have taken their art is inspiring,” said Rebecca Pelchar, assistant professor of art history and director of the Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY Adirondack. “Each artist’s successes are a testament to the opportunities available for working artists.”

Eggleston is a 2008 SUNY Adirondack graduate who studied painting and drawing under Fine Arts professor John Hampshire and art history with Pelchar. 

“The work for ‘Making It!’ is a collection of vibrantly colorful figures and emotional portraits from the past two years,” Eggleston said. 

He transferred to Fashion Institute of Technology and earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. He lives in Philadelphia, where he works in set design and commissions works. “Making It!” Includes eight of his oil and acrylic paintings. 

Otto graduated from SUNY Adirondack in 2018 with a degree in Media Arts. His cosmic-like landscape photographs are inspired by nature. He is a freelance photographer for media companies, photographing high-profile concerts and musicians. Eight of his photographs are included in “Making It!”

Richichi presents five acrylic paintings from his diverse oeuvre. Since his time at SUNY Adirondack, Richichi has published and exhibited in many galleries throughout New York. He has won several awards and holds illustrating positions at Penny Dreadful Press, Killustrator Comics, 1Die Games, The Observation Post, AJ Woodworks, Adirondack Theater Festival and Adirondack Film Festival, for which he is also gallery director and curator.

He is also a board member and lead artistic designer for Art In the Public Eye, a Glens Falls-based nonprofit art organization. He serves as art director and curator of GEMfest and Rock Gallery. 

“It is a huge honor to represent SUNY Adirondack alumni in this way,” Richichi said. “It was surreal walking through campus knowing I’m going to an art exhibit of mine — this was very freeing and rewarding to come full circle.”

Turcotte is a 2016 SUNY Adirondack graduate pursuing a degree in Environmental Science and Ecology from Empire State College. The multimedia artist works primarily in illustration and painting, as well as world- and character-building, experimental three-dimensional work, and various methods of printmaking. She self-released an artzine, “Cumulus,” in 2020. Five of her works are included in “Making It!”

Williams took specialized art classes at SUNY Adirondack, to which she received the Glens Falls Foundation Art Scholarship. Her work has been shown in multiple galleries, art publications and magazines. She was a scenic artist at Adirondack Studios in Argyle, painting large-scale murals for 20th Century Fox World in Malaysia.

Today, she is a freelance artist who has painted several murals in her community as well as "live paintings" in front of audiences at various music festivals.  Williams focuses mostly on portraiture, merging women figures with natural/spiritual subjects. Five of her paintings are included in the exhibition.

SUNY Adirondack’s Visual Arts Gallery in Dearlove Hall is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.