Artists to present workshop in Carpenter’s Barn

By kAtE Hill Staff Writer

On Saturday, Feb. 25, professional exhibiting artists Jen Pepper and Pilar Figueira will encourage community members to ignite their inner artists through a creative, mixed-media workshop inside Carpenter’s Barn at Lakeland Park in Cazenovia.

Open to ages 16 and older and all artistic levels, the program will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a snow date of Saturday, March 4.

“The guided workshop will introduce artistic materials and techniques to all, whatever their level, from [beginner] to advanced students,” said Pepper. “We will work with collage, stencils, and a variety of acrylic mediums and paint on stretch canvases.”

All supplies will be provided, and each participant will leave with a 12x16-inch canvas ready to hang on their wall.

“This opportunity will not only set fire to the participants’ creative souls, giving each new techniques to continue to explore beyond the workshop, but it will also be a morning to meet other like-minded people and make new friends,” said Figueira.

Carpenter’s Barn was originally built in 1889 as a carriage house for the former Lakeland estate (now Lakeland Park). Through the efforts of CazArts creative alliance, in cooperation with the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association, the Village of Cazenovia, and Cazenovia College, the stone building has been refurbished and repurposed to serve as a dynamic arts hub and “welcoming gateway” to the village.

The barn’s main room has been transformed into a multi-purpose Community Arts Hall, which is available for classes, meetings, workshops, performances, and programs.

The stables have been redesigned into a large, shared art studio with six workstations for artists who want to rent their own dedicated space and work around other artists.

Pepper and Figueira, who both work out of The Artist Studio at Carpenter’s Barn, plan to bring their unique artistic skillsets and instructional experience to their upcoming workshop.

Figueira (pilarfigueira.com) is a Portuguese artist who, according to her website, “creates period paintings of scenes that feel strikingly familiar with brush strokes of oil and nostalgia.”

“By representing common experiences shared in old photographs, her paintings transform old memories into new narratives, creating figurative portraits that are both anonymous in nature but also very personal,” the website states. “. . . Women play a crucial pictorial role in her work.”

Figueira’s work has been exhibited at the Blaffer Art Museum, the Lawndale Art Center’s “The Big Show” in Houston, Texas, and the Vignette Art Fair at The Women’s Museum in Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. She currently has an exhibition titled “Recollection” on display in the Cazenovia Public Library Gallery through Jan. 31. Born in Canada, Pepper (jenpepper.com) is a visual artist who works in both two- and three-dimensional media. She has exhibited in solo and group shows internationally since 1990. Her work has been reviewed in “Sculpture” magazine among other journals, and she has been an artist in residence at institutions throughout the world.

Pepper holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art & Design and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Connecticut. She is a professor of art and art history at Cazenovia College and the director of the Cazenovia College Art Gallery in Reisman Hall.

Figueira and Pepper’s Feb. 25 workshop is limited to 25 participants. Sign up by emailing pilar.figueira@gmail.com

The cost per participant is $60, which includes four hours of full instruction and all materials. A registration fee of $30 is required to be paid by Feb. 18.

To learn more about CazArts and Carpenter’s Barn, visit cazarts.com/carpenters_barn

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