Directors

Serena Bates - Sculpture Co-Chair

Over 40 years ago, Serena Bates started her journey of exploration and interpretation of the world around her through art.  Beginning probably at the age of 8 or 9, she started with pencil and paper and went on to study traditional figure painting and anatomy at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design.  

Over the years she has explored many mediums including charcoal, pastel, oil and acrylic paint to name a few, but when she discovered clay, she went over to the "Dark Side" as she likes to say.  She had finally found her soul mate and companion saying, "When you find a material that you can work with tirelessly for hours and think minutes have passed, and your excitement still bubbles over when you leave the studio for the day, you have found home." The artist describes herself as a story teller with an affinity for portraits and animals.  "Life’s stories plant seeds in my mind, take shape in my soul, and are born through my sculptures." 

Clay, Bronze and Stone are her mediums of choice. Being non-traditional in her approach, she does not take measurements, but instead relies on her eye and sense of observation to interpret a subject.  Trusting intuition and a connection to the subject are more important to her than static measurements. This approach breathes life into her work and produces what she calls a “wabi-sabi” affect, the Japanese term that literally means the beauty found in imperfection or “imperfectly perfect.”

Serena has exhibited in nationally known exhibitions and galleries across the United States and Canada.  She has won many prestigious awards and honors during her career from the American Artists Professional League, Allied Artists of America, the Salmagundi Club, the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Club, the Academic Artist Association, Mystic Museum of Art to name only a few.   

The artist is also a member of the American Society of Marine Artists, Artists for Conservation, Allied Artists of America, American Artists Professional League and Salmagundi Club. The artist's studio is located at 194 Potter Hill Rd, Westerly, RI. www.serenabates.com

Kate Faust - Social Media

Kate Faust is an award-winning painter and photographer.  She lives in Chelsea, NYC.  Kate has exhibited work throughout New England and the Tri-state area.  She is currently a member of  Salmagundi Art Club of NYC, Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts and the Ridgewood Art Institute. She serves on the board as Communications Director of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club and on the Art Committee at the Salmagundi Club.

Lee Hutt - Sculpture Chair

Lee Hutt studied painting in Belgium where her love of classical traditions in art was encouraged. She earned an MS in science from Columbia University, and studied art at the New School and sculpture at Mount Holyoke College and at Lyme Academy. 

Lee Hutt combines psychological insight with an intuitive response to her subjects. Ongoing study of “classical realism” is evident in her great skills as a sculptor. Her work ranges from straightforward portraits of people and animals to figurative compositions.

She has exhibited extensively and received numerous awards.

Hutt is a Fellow and member of the board of the National Sculpture Society, she is on the board of Sculpture Review Magazine. She is a member of the board of The Allied Artists of America and is co-chair of the Sculpture division of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club.

Re: “The Portrait”: A Portraits resonate in cultures all over the world.  People are interested in other people: from cultural icons to the gaze of the everyday person on the street. By sculpting a portrait I learn about the other as well as about my own nature. This process, resulting in an ambiguity… allows…invites the viewer in. It becomes a fascinating dialogue.

Flo Kemp - Painting Co-Chair

I am a “local” artist (I live in Setauket) and although I do work in oils, I specialize in soft ground etchings that have a “painterly” effect.  I work full time as an artist- especially with the etching process. I market my etchings at art festivals from Maine to Florida.

Jane McGraw-Teubner - Members Exhibition Co-Chair

Jane is a Signature Member/Master Pastelist, Pastel Society of America and a Master Circle Recipient, International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS). She will be receiving her “Eminent Pastelist” status from IAPS in June, 2022. Jane was chosen as “Member of the Year” by the Catharine Lorrilard Wolfe Art Club in 2019, ath their Annual Juried Show held at the National Arts Club, NYC. She was on the cover, Plein Air Magazine, with 5 page article, Oct/Nov, 2017. She is included in “Pure Pastel” a nationally published book about pastels released in 2019. In 2014 and 2015, she was invited to be a demonstrator and a field artist at the Plein Air Convention held in Monterey, CA, hosted by Plein Air Magazine. Jane’s artwork has been featured on the cover of the 2013 December issue of The Pastel Journal along with an 8 page article. 

She was featured Artist December 2017: Huntington Times News, NY.

Jane is a resident artist in the Salmagundi Art Club, New York, NY and is on the Board of Directors for The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. She is a former instructor at The Teaching Studios of Art in Oyster Bay, NY and presently teaches in her home in East Northport, NY and at the Atelier at Flowerfield in St. James.

Recent Accomplishments:

• Gold Medal Award at IAPS Convention Annual Juried Show 2019

• “Member of the Year”, 2019, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club

• Second Place for “Sea Thru” at the Atelier Juried Art Show, 2019

• Purchase Prize, $2500 to be in the Permanent Collection of the Salmagundi Art Club, 2019

• Juried 5 times into “Easton Plein Air!”

• Invited artist to Olmsted Plein Air, Atlanta, GA

• Board of Directors Award, CLWAC, 2018

• Wayne Plein Air Competition, Plein Air Magazine Award 2017• Jane Impastasto Award, Salmagundi Art Club Members Show, 2016 and 2017• Bronze Award, Master Circle IAPS Show, Albuquerque, NM, 2017

• “Best In Show”, Neighborhood House Annual Art Show 2016

Andrea Placer - Advertising

Andrea Placer is a multi-award-winning artist whose colored pencil and graphite drawings have been exhibited in numerous galleries and in national and international juried shows in New York City and State, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Minnesota, and Quebec, Canada.  Her drawings have received many 1st and 2nd place awards, and 3 “Best in Show”.   Other juried awards include those from the Colored Pencil Society of America, Salmagundi Club, American Artists Professional League, Audubon Artists, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Manhattan Arts International, Stamford Art Assoc, Hudson Valley Art Assoc., Art Center of Northern NJ, Ringwood Manor Art Assoc., Light, Space & Time Competition, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Mn,  and the Paint the Parks Mini50 Competition. 

Professionally, Andrea has been awarded signature status (CPSA, CPX) from the Colored Pencil Society of America, is a Fellow Maxima Cum Laude of the American Artists Professional League, an elected member of the Salmagundi Club, NYC, and the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, where she serves on the Board of Directors.  She has been represented by the Piermont Fine Arts Gallery, Piermont, NY. 

Andrea’s drawings have appeared in several publications, including CP Treasures, Vol. II, III, IV; CP Hidden Treasures; The Richeson 75 International Landscape, Seascape & Architecture 2014,& 2016; The Richeson75 International Still Life & Floral 2015; The Richeson75 International Figure/Portrait 2015; The Richeson75 International Small Works 2016; several issues of CPSA’s “To the Point” magazine.  She was the “Featured Artist”, in the May, 2015 issue of Colored Pencil Magazine

Karen Tighe - Awards Chair

Karen Tighe PSA  IAPS/MC is a nationally recognized artist, painting primarily in pastels. Before returning to painting full time, she previously had a career as a graphic designer working in the toy industry. She holds a BA in Early Childhood Education from Catholic University of America as well as a BFA in Design from William Paterson University. 

Karen has achieved Master Circle status with IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies) in addition to reaching Signature Artist stature in the Pastel Society of America.  Karen is also a Signature Inaugural member of the Pastel Society of New Jersey and former board member; and a juried member of the Degas Pastel Society and Connecticut Pastel Society. Currently she is a member of the IAPS Education Committee.

While exhibiting her work in many statewide and national shows, Karen has recently won awards in the following shows: The Pastel Society of America 42nd Annual Exhibition Enduring Brilliance, The Degas Pastel Society 15th Biennial Exhibit, The Connecticut Pastel Society Renaissance Exhibit, and several Best in Show awards at PSNJ exhibits.

Karen currently works of her studio at Artspace Studio in Morristown, NJ., also giving private instruction and demonstrations in pastels.