The Pop Up Gallery Group began as an idea to get students involved in mid-town, through the arts. Thanks to the generosity of the City of Kingston and the Kingston City School District, an after school program was formed, to teach students the ins and outs of gallery management. Students are tasked with installing Pop Up galleries, in empty storefronts on Broadway, in Kingston. The Goal is to highlight our homegrown art scene, by showing the artwork of Kingston High School alumni, who continue to make art in our area. Our first Pop Up highlights the work of Amy and Scott Ackerman. Both brother and sister graduated from Kingston High School. Scott graduated in 2000, Amy in 2003. Both were art majors at KHS.
Scott and Amy Ackerman
self-taught artist living and working in Kingston, NY at his new studio known as 'The Church'. For the last 15 years, Scott has shown his artwork extensively throughout the Hudson Valley and New York State, in addition to numerous shows across the country. His paintings have also been exhibited internationally with shows in both Germany and Holland.
Bright demons, playful poetry, and the wild nature of humankind are frankly expressed on Ackerman’s canvases of old wood, glass windows, and large found doors. A self-taught “outsider” artist, his paintings are celebrated for being honest and relatable as well as colorful and aesthetically pleasing. Although he continues to develop as an artist, he still delivers the spiritual and emotional impact his early work is known and loved for.
Living in Kingston at his newfound 'Church' space has only had a positive impact on his creative spirit. He asserts that working in a large and beautiful space, gardening, his three cats, and his gal are what inspire him to paint.
Amy Ann Ackerman was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and moved to New York in 1993. She has been painting and drawing since her earliest recollections. Her father, who also taught her older brothers to draw and paint, introduced her to the wonderful world of art. Those three men are her guides.
Her Artistic process is heart centered; never planning the outcome feelings serendipitously emerge out of faces and clouds, expressing exactly what she feels at the moment. Amy’s artwork is both somber and up-lifting. Adrift in a watercolor-washed atmosphere, her illustrated figures float skyward out of everyday humdrum, with weightless magic. She is inspired by nature and particularly by the sky. “The sky is the most beautiful thing to me. Even a rainy day is beautiful in its own way.” Her work expresses the mystery and magic of nature.
Amy has exhibited her work throughout the Hudson Valley. Currently, She is illustrating children’s books. “if my books bring a smile to a child’s face, then I have succeeded in my goal.” Her heart is set on touching children’s imaginations, and offering hope through her stories and art.
