It’s not every day that you find ballerinas, alpacas, and nuns in the same room, but they’ve all been brought together in an exhibit featuring the photography of Elizabeth Nida Obert and Dawn Sanborn. The two artists are sharing one of the quarterly shows hosted at the Parkside Gallery located within Charter House. The show is called "Through the Lens: Photographic Perspectives."
The show opens on April 19, and will include wine, hors d’oeuvres, a gallery talk, and music from the e-Cello String Trio. Andrea Costopoulos has been the gallery coordinator at Parkside since 2016. She strives to include artists whose works are complementary. Along with Ruth Weispfenning, Costopoulos attempts to find artists who create two-dimensional art that Charter House residents would enjoy.
The Parkside Gallery opened in January of 2015 as part of the Charter House’s mission to give back to its community. The gallery provides residents with a venue that is dedicated to nurturing an appreciation of art and culture. Frequently, Charter House residents greet community members who attend openings.
Since its inception, more than 23 artists have exhibited their work at the gallery. They have included several Charter House residents, and one show included art from area youth. Costopoulos thinks the gallery is important because it "brings people together from different parts of the community to share the experiences of local art," she said.
Though Nida Obert and Sanborn’s photography styles are visually complementary, their themes are divergent. Nida Obert’s work is centered in the thousands of images she’s taken as a photo journalist over the past 20 years. "My camera is a tool that opens the door into people’s lives; sometimes when they are joyful and sometimes when they are in the depths of despair," she says. She credits her sense of adventure and curiosity as key elements to her photography.
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Nida Obert, who has her own freelance photography business in addition to working as a photographer for the Rochester Post Bulletin, focuses on "eccentric" subjects like pot-bellied pigs.
Sanborn’s photography will feature photographs from her recent Italian exploration. She’ll show her "Doors of Assisi, Italy" series on large canvases. She says the series explores contrasts between modern America’s circle of building and destroying, and the desire of ancient cities to maintain their historic structures.
At four years old, Sanborn was already using her own camera. Her father, a photography buff who had his own dark room, piqued her interest in the art form. Later, she earned a degree in photography from Columbia College. "I like to work in the realm of ‘real-life art,’" Sanborn says. "Not just taking an image but creating an image, just like Ansel Adams would say."
It’s often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so don’t let the several hundred words in this article stand in place of your experience of "Through the Lens: Photographic Perspectives."
The show is slated to run into July, so there is plenty of time to admire the photographs and the thousands of unspoken words they’ve captured.
What: "Through the Lens: Photographic Perspectives" opening reception
When: 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19
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Where: Parkside Gallery in the Charter House, 211 2nd St. NW, Rochester
Admission: Free
