AJ Arts & Entertainment

Joan Mead-Matsui Abington Journal Correspondent

Carbondale’s premier and only art gallery, The Main Street Gallery, will celebrate its first anniversary with an upcoming exhibition that will include the art of more than 35 regional artists.

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’Red poppy.’ pastel, by Joe Kluck

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A work by Mike O’Neill, 48’ x 48", oil on canvas.

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Joseph Kluck spearheads a committee known as the Carbondale Crayons, a group comprised of regional artists entrusted with the role of maintaining The Main Street Gallery and planning exhibitions. Kluck assigned the name to the group because in his own words, “We think outside the box.”

“We have an exhibition on March 26 and currently have over 35 artists participating,” said Kluck. “I’m thrilled at the amount, the variety of artists and the variety of works they have submitted. .”

The First Annual Anniversary Juried Exhibition will be held at the gallery’s home in the Historic Carbondale Chamber of Commerce building, located on Main Street in Carbondale Friday, March 26. An artists’ reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. If you attend, expect to find an evening of art, musical entertainment by the Jazz Assassins and light refreshments. The Main Street Gallery was established in the spring of 2009 and is located in the heart of Carbondale and housed in the historic Dime Bank building. Built in 1903, the building was donated by Penn Star Bank to the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce.

“I feel the call to artists’ format was immensely successful,” said Kluck. “It went out to a larger variety of individuals that we have not been able to contact in the past and it brought a broad spectrum of artists, young and old, near and far and trained and professional artists.”

The anniversary exhibition at the gallery represents the first time the committee has reached out to the region’s artists by using a “formalized” process known in the art world as a “call to artist” format. Artists interested in participating in the show are required to submit slides or images and a jury reviews and accepts or rejects the images. According to Melissa Petrini, program director of The Greater Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, the gallery idea evolved as a means to utilize space in the lobby of the former bank. Much needed renovations to the historic structure were funded in 2005 through a state grant in the amount of $650,000.

“Initially it started with our board of directors,” said Petrini, who has been with the chamber for four years. “One of the ladies on the board, Gabby Spano, had decided that with all of the extra space we had downstairs in our lobby, that it would be a great idea to turn it into a gallery. Then, as it became bigger, she brought in more local artists to take over and really take the gallery in a much more professional direction. The chamber’s role with the gallery is that it’s housed in our building.”

Exhibits will be held once every two months, consisting of five exhibits in 2010 and six in 2011, and Kluck noted the gallery would be having themed shows down the road.

Committee members include Joe Kluck, Melissa Petrini, Ruth Ann Jones, Virginia Sosik, Bill Kupiec, Tony Pachick, Tom Noone, Jerry Swendsen, Gabby Spano and Judy Gretzula. The First Anniversary Juried Exhibition will run through the beginning of May. For details, contact Joseph Kluck at 570.282.3439.