Art with heart: Alumni display their talents at annual art show

Rendered with stunning realism in oil, St. Anthony cradled a baby. Across the room, an elder from Papua New Guinea peered out from under an elaborate headdress woven of his own hair. Abstract swathes of color danced across a large canvas, while flowers bloomed in all their painted glories.

A wide range of talent is only display at SUNY Broome’s Alumni Art Show, on display until May 9 at the Gallery @ SUNY Broome, located on the first floor of the library.

An opening reception was held during Alumni Weekend on April 28, and drew members of both the campus community and the larger community.

Exhibiting artists include: Alex Stella, Richard Nolan, Milan Kadlecik, Conrad Steigerwald, Cheryl Kurosky, Eli Foote, Anthony Hanakovic, Gerald Newby, Eileen Snyder, Kayla McCoy, Ashlyn Kelley, Dexter Holmes, David Meeker (In memory of), Jessica Petrylak, Kevin Campbell, Ashley Skinner, Gloria McCormick, Patty Harlow, Rebecca Inman, Anna Shafer, Diana Lenzo, Carol Young, Regina Losinger, Sharon Slilaty, Terry Ryan, Maria DeRosa, Nicholas Timko, Grace Solano, Stephany Griswold and Theresa Haynes.

The many paths to art

Some of the alumni studied art at SUNY Broome and continue to pursue the field.

Maria DeRosa, a 2016 graduate, took painting classes with SUNY Broome Professors Hall Groat and David Zeggert. She is now finishing up a degree in art and communications at SUNY Oneonta.

Her large painting of lavender flowers dominated the wall, bestowing a chilly day with a vision of springtime. She typically paints flowers and enjoys the shapes found in nature, she said.

“I like bright colors. I usually do a deeper color in the background,” she said of her art. While she doesn’t know what the future holds, she definitely plans to

continue painting, she said.

Others have followed a different course. Richard Nolan, a 1979 graduate, spent his career as a mechanical engineer, designer and business owner, turning to art after retirement. His abstract sculptures are made from wood and feature seamless joins and sinuous shapes.

Regina Losinger, a 1978 graduate who served as SUNY Broome’s Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs before retiring in 2016, also has an artistic side few know about. Her intricate drawings of nature are on display beside her daughter Ashlynn Kelley’s oil painting of the Eagle Nebula. Ashlynn is a 2016 LAAS graduate from the college.

“It usually hangs in our dining room. The depth of it is incredible. It really draws you in,” Losinger said about Ashlynn’s painting.

A member of the Broome Community College Foundation’s Board of Directors, Cheryl Kurosky is a 1976 graduate of the college. She is also a world traveler who takes incredible photographs of her many journeys, and can tell you the cultural details behind each image.

“I’ve been to all seven continents and 90 countries so far,” said Kurosky. That includes a 1993 jaunt to Antarctica and a 1994 journey to Laos, soon after it first opened to tourism. This year’s planned journeys include Spain and Portugal.

While 1959 graduate Milan Kadlecik always loved art, he followed a career path into engineering. Retirement has brought new life to an old hobby, and two of his oil paintings are on display in the exhibit.

One of his paintings depicts the historic Ely Tower, which once accorded an incredible five-county view from the top of Mount Prospect. It toppled over in December 1908, just 15 years after it was built. Kadlecik reconstructed the landscape by viewing historical photographs.

“I started experimenting and I came up with some techniques,” said the self-taught artist. “I just enjoy it; it’s relaxing.”