‘Darkness/Light’ event helps the homeless

This photo by Cindy Wian is part of Spring Street Gallery's 'Darkness/Light" event.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Spring Street Gallery will host a “Darkness/Light” event to benefit Code Blue Saratoga, a cold-weather shelter for homeless people in Saratoga Springs.

During January, the Saratoga Springs gallery issued a free, open call for artists to submit work in all media. Musicians were also invited to participate.

This will be the gallery’s second open-call exhibit. In January 2015, “The Blue Show” brought together more than 100 artists and musicians. That show raised thousands of dollars in supplies and funds for Code Blue.

“We’re using our creative talents to brighten our own lives and to help people in need this winter,” says Maureen Sager, the gallery’s executive director.

Admission to the event is pay-what-you-will. Attendees can also bring donations of the following items: new men’s underwear (boxers and briefs in sizes medium to extra-large); meal replacement drinks like Boost or Ensure and paper plates, cups and bowls.

Fabric art

The Fenimore Quilt Club 2016 Show opens Saturday 6 at the Cooperstown Art Association.

More than 50 quilts will be exhibited plus smaller quilted items made by members.

The show runs through Feb. 21, with the galleries open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

You’ll find the CAA on Main Street in downtown Cooperstown in the Village Building, with its colonnade of white columns.

For a peek at some of the quilts in this year’s show, visit the Cooperstown Art Association on Facebook.

Nutcrackers

Artist Marion C. Leap will be exhibiting her watercolor and gouache paintings this month at the law offices of Higgins, Roberts & Suprunowicz at 1430 Balltown Road in Niskayuna.

The show, titled “Nutcrackers,” opens Tuesday with a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and runs through Feb. 29.

Leap, a Niskayuna resident, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education from The College of Saint Rose.

She taught art in Albany city schools and the Coxsackie-Athens School District, and since retiring in 2013 has focused on her own artwork.

Leap’s work is inspired by nature and everyday objects.

At Skidmore

The Tang Teaching Museum & Art Gallery at Skidmore College opens the exhibits “Alma Thomas” and “Borrowed Light” with a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Before the opening, at 5 p.m., the annual Dunkerley Dialogue will be a panel discussion about Thomas, an African-American Expressionist who died in 1978.

“Borrowed Light” features 150 images from the collection of Jack Shear that trace the history of photography.

Shear, a photographer who lives in Columbia County, was married to artist Ellsworth Kelly, who died on Dec. 27 at age 92.

Reach Gazette reporter Karen Bjornland at 395-3197, [email protected] or @bjorngazette on Twitter.