Port Artists Exhibit at Asian Festival

In conjunction with the Library/Landmark May 1 Asian Festival, there will be an exhibit of thematic art in the library's Community Gallery throughout May. Exhibitors include Port Washington residents Victoria Selbach and Barbara Stein, as well as Virgina Herstfield, Marc Josloff, Rhoda Lowinger, Akira Shimizu, Grace Su and Virginia Uvino.

From an early age, Victoria was drawn to faces and was highly aware of individual characteristics and anomalies that bring life and individuality to interesting characters. Victoria studied drawing and pastel at the Carnegie Mellon Museum of Pittsburgh and continued with art classes at Carnegie Mellon University. Her years at CMU provided a broad range of course work including drawing from live models and studying anatomy at the Pitt Medical School Morgue.

Victoria moved to New York City and graduated from Parsons School of Design with a degree in Fashion Design. She has traveled extensively abroad and is indebted to all the amazing faces that have fascinated and inspired her. In 2008, Victoria's work exploded into strikingly modern, larger than life heads that capture the depth of the individual. Her work in this is exhibit is from her 2008/2009 series, Friends," where larger than life portraits capture each individual's visual strength and subtle inner beauty.

Barbara Stein has been teaching and doing art for most of her life. Her work in batik, pastel, watercolor and clay has been shown in New York City, Long Island and Vermont. She is a representational painter, yet enjoys experimentation with different ideas and media and is interested in understanding the effect of color and light on objects and natural forms.

Ms. Stein studied Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, where she received a B.F.A. followed by an M.A. degree in Art Education at NYU.  She has served on the Board of the Art Guild of Port Washington and   Through her role as President; she was instrumental in founding an Art Center at the historic Elderfields Preserve in Manhasset.

Teaching adults and children of all ages has been a way of sharing her love of art and her belief in its importance. She taught batik at The University of Vermont , taught outreach workshops through The Museum of Contemporary Crafts and The Jewish Museum in New York City. She also worked as an Artist in Residence through the Studio in a School Association and while teaching at a  Brooklyn School.

Currently she teaches art to children and exhibits works in oil, watercolor and pastel.