Every year since 2009, SUNY New Paltz’s Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art has crowned one artist as the winner of the Hudson Valley Artists Purchase Award. Award-winning multimedia artist Aki Goto is this year’s recipient.
The annual Hudson Valley Purchase Award is given to contemporary artists in the region who demonstrate exceptional work, with the overall goal of “nurturing local artistic talent.”
Goto’s pen ink and colored pencil drawing on paper, “Roomie Shots,” was acquired by the Dorsky for display following the announcement of her award. The piece was added to the Hudson Valley Artists 2024: Bibliography exhibition, an annual exhibition that celebrates the creativity and diversity of upstate New York artists, which ran between Feb. 4 – April 7.
Sophie Landres, curator and exhibitions manager for the Dorsky, was responsible for the curation of the Hudson Valley Artists 2024: Bibliography exhibition and also took a special liking to Goto’s work.
“‘Roomie Shots’ is a stunning example of how Aki infuses her drawings with psychological intrigue, humor and unnerving beauty,” said Landres. “We are thrilled to have it join the Dorsky Museum’s permanent collection, where it will continue to rivet audiences for generations to come.”
Goto, born in 1978 and raised in Japan, has shown work at galleries around the world, from Tokyo to Los Angeles to New York City. A true multimedia artist, Goto uses video, sound, textile, performance, drawing and painting methods in her craft. She currently lives in Catskill, NY, where she has been garnering attention in the regional art scene.
Unfortunately, “Roomie Shots” is no longer on display at the Dorsky, but the closing of the Hudson Valley Artists 2024: Bibliography exhibition means the opening of their next big attraction: the spring Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis exhibitions.
The BFA and MFA exhibitions are a biannual event for SUNY New Paltz that gives the opportunity for fine arts students, on both Bachelor’s and Master’s levels, to display their thesis projects in The Dorsky.
SUNY New Paltz advertises the exhibitions as an event to “give graduating student-artists the opportunity to display their work in a professional environment, meet with their audiences, and discuss their work and future goals.”
Exhibitions are split up into four week-long sections, two for the BFA program and two for the MFA program. Each section commences with an opening reception on a Friday, with the exhibits being highlighted until the following Friday.
This year, the BFA section’s first opening reception will be April 26, 5-7 p.m., and the second will be May 3, 5-7 p.m. The first MFA section’s opening reception will be May 10, 5-7 p.m., and the second will be May 17, 7:30-9 p.m.
With over 40 artists displaying work between the two programs, this year’s BFA and MFA exhibitions are set to impress.
To keep up with current and upcoming exhibitions at the Dorsky, check out their website, https://www.newpaltz.edu/museum/.