POUGHKEEPSIE, NY.- The initial exhibitions in the James W. Palmer III Gallery at Vassar College this fall will focus on work by current and recent students. The initial exhibitions in the James W. Palmer III Gallery at Vassar College this fall will focus on work by current and recent students. The opening reception for the first exhibition will be on Thursday September 3, from 5 to 7pm. This exhibition will be on view through September 12 and will highlight work created by three alumnae/i during a Catwalk Arts Residency this summer. The second exhibition of summer work by current Studio Art majors will be on view from September 14 to 27, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 17, from 5 to 7pm. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, Sundays from 12:00 to 6:00 pm. All exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.

The Catwalk Arts Residency Exhibition
The selected work by the three alumnae/i from the class of 2009 awarded the 2009 Catwalk Arts Residencies—Mary Catherine Halfpenny, Sacha Ingber, and Christopher Manchester—are represented in this exhibition in a variety of media. The exhibition opening reception with the artists will be on Thursday, September 3, from 5 to 7 pm.

The Catwalk Arts Residency was established in 2004 by James and Purcell Palmer (no relation to the James W. Palmer family) at their historic residence in Greene County, which was originally the home of Hudson River School painter, Charles Herbert Moore. The 60-acre property, now known as Catwalk, is on the Hudson River directly across from Olana, home of Frederick Church, and directly north of Cedar Grove, Thomas Cole’s home in Catskill, New York.

The mission of the residency is to establish Catwalk as a special retreat for art making, collaborative projects and scholarly discourse in a visually stimulating part of the country that has historically provided and continues today to provide significant inspiration to artists, cultural historians, writers and scholars.

This is the first year that Vassar graduates have participated. The Palmers envision this as a developing concept and intend for participating institutions to have wide latitude in developing the program in a manner that is meaningful for the participants and enhances the recognition of excellence of the institutions involved.

The Summer Work by Vassar College Studio Art Majors Exhibition
The exhibition of summer work by Vassar College Studio Art Majors will feature work in a broad range of media done over the summer outside of Vassar classes by some of the art studio majors. The opening reception will be on September 17, from 5 to 7pm.

Vassar College’s program in Studio Art offers classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, computer animation and printmaking. Studio art majors produce independent work culminating in a senior thesis and exhibition.