Chris is a multimedia artist living in New York. At an early age, Chalfant won a local award for line drawing which was shown in a city-wide art show. In High School Chalfant represented her school to co-curate the “Come-and-do-it-to-it” interactive art exhibition in a mall with the Akron Art Institute (now Museum.) She received her BA in Music at Kent State and MM at New England Conservatory. Chalfant received an award for composition in 1990 and has had residencies at Atlantic Center with Joan LaBarbara and Music Omi. Chalfant was featured at the Leukerbad International Composers Conference and numerous International Society of Improvised Music (ISIM) conferences where she combined music and art and film.

Early in her career, Chalfant spent much of her time working with dancers, poets, and painters. She did solo work called “sound-movement-poetry” and created numerous performance art pieces. In 1993 Chalfant moved from Cambridge to New York and spent twenty-five years in the Avant-jazz scene, working with Joseph Jarman of Art Ensemble fame. She has a number of recordings as a composer and leader and has performed internationally. Chalfant published “Book of Unstandards” a collection of her original works in 2006 and produced “Looking Through Trees” multimedia project in 2010. Since 2015 Chalfant has focused much of her creative time in composition, photography, and singing gospel music. Chris Chalfant has presented her work in a number of shows at Blue Door Art Center since 2019. You can also check out Chris on Facebook, Youtube, and Spotify.

Website: creativemusicart.net

“After the Storm there is Light” - Photograph
“Look to the Sky” - Photograph
“Love Waits” - Poem

Semi-Realist Visual Artist
Karen Harris is happy to be showing two new acrylic works for the Marble Collegiate Church on December 9, 2020, Advent Winter Waiting online exhibition.

2020 - Has been a challenging year for all of us like never before; yet the silence, the quiet has led Karen to create these bold and inspiring winter landscapes that convey both a meditative as well as a joyful state of mind.

"Divine Procession" will stop you in your tracks to contemplate the meaning of life; whereas the second painting will bring family memories to the forefront of your thoughts. Karen's love for storytelling and her longing for family gatherings sparked "Winter Holiday". Both are 12" x 24" panoramic in essence. The colors seem magical and devoted to leaving one with a nostalgic memory or two.

“Divine Procession”
“Winter Holiday”

Email: KarenHarris998@gmail.com

Curator, Artist
Painting to me is a life force, not a career. My work consists mostly of figurative and portrait paintings, however, I do experiment in various art movements; pure abstract, abstract expressionism, minimalism, symbolism, and conceptualism.

All art movements interest me. I have studied portraiture and human anatomy at the New York Academy of Art, the Art Students League of New York, and FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). My work has been exhibited extensively in New York and Maryland galleries, and in June of 2005, one of my paintings was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. On May of 2011, I was exhibited in Cuba at the invitation of the Ministry of culture. My work is collected throughout the United States, Europe, Morocco, Canada, and the Caribbean. My work is also in the library of Congress, the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, AK, the Ministry of Culture in Bucharest, Romania, the Museul de Art in Cluz-Napoca, Romania, Royal Collection of Morocco, and the royal collection of HRH King of Greece.

I have been published in NYArt magazine, Boheme magazine, Paris, France, Brooklyn Fine Art magazine, and various newspapers such as Caribbean News, The Brooklyn Eagle, and the Brooklyn Currier. I have participated in art camps for cultural exchanges in Morocco, Romania, Cuba, and Haiti.

Important portraits that I have painted are for actors Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis, fashion designer Valentino Garavani, US Senator Roland Borris, His Majesty, Mohammed VI King of Morocco, HRH King Constantine of Greece, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Harry Belafonte, Ultra Violet ( Andy Warhol’s Superstar.) and Minister of Culture, Port Au Prince, Haiti.

STUDIO 149, Brooklyn, New York

Website: LeonKalas.com

“Angel with Guitar” – oil on canvas
“Christmas Tree” – oil on canvas

Victoria Pepe is a lifelong multimedia artist and musician. As a self-taught artist, with a wide range of skills and talents, she creates fine line complex, harmonious, geometric drawings, paintings, sculptures, photography, and video art and music. She works in both analogue and digital media. As a fine artist, Pepe's foundation for her images is her free hand unique style of sacred geometric drawings and paintings. She is also adept in computer art programs. She lives and creates in Manhattan and is the founder of LuminSonics Inc.

Pepe's drawings, paintings, photos, animations, and multimedia productions have been exhibited nationally, including numerous art galleries, festivals, expos in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and California. As an accomplished composer, she creates the music that accompanies many of her art/music videos. She composed music for educational and documentary videos for museums, universities, galleries, and TV. She has been a music director and has performed her original and known piano pieces. She has sung opera in Vienna. As a photographer, she has exhibited at museums, galleries, and various photo exhibits.

Considered a truly multidisciplinary visionary artist, Pepe's lifelong spiritual quest forms a foundation for her artistic expressions and concepts. Concerning her art and music, she states, “Creating connects me to something beyond myself. It is a meditation and a timeless place of profound peace and transcendence. I connect to a higher Source which creates through me. It is hoped that this transcendent transformative energy is conveyed to those who view and hear my work." In the Philadelphia City Paper art review of Pepe's virtual video painting on exhibit at the LG Tripp Gallery, Robin Rice writes that her video art is "a truly artful night light". Victoria hopes her creative expressions help spread the Light.

Email: PepeArts@gmail.com
Website: LuminSonics.com


"Joy Becoming" - Fine Art Print
 11" x 14"
“A Dialogue with Jesus”
Poem

Susan Barbre Ceely Philips
Susan -my given name from my mom and dad
Barbre -my mom’s family nameCeely -my dad’s family name
Philips -my chosen family nameAll together, it’s the name for me.

I have been a speech therapist and teacher, a television advertising producer/production coordinator, a church member, and a seeker -not necessarily in that order. Now, I ‘seek’ to find and share all that has brought me to this point in my life and I’ve begun to offer some of my writings and photography. Poetry through both, for now.

“Hope” - Poem and Photograph

Photographer
Pope Francis recently described artists as “Apostles of beauty.” That phrase resonates deeply within me. I see natural beauty in the many places I encounter when I’m out and about commuting or just walking around. “Waiting for the Sunset” is a result of one of my walkabouts.

This photograph depicts the birds waiting for the world to sleep, for the night, and the stars to shine.

“New Journey” - setting out on the water, waiting to see what lies ahead.

I have done my job as an artist if these photographs bring you a feeling of beauty.

Email: dmp124@icloud.com


Haiku Poet
A beloved member of Marble Church and the Arts Ministry, Jim passed away on February 29, 2020. He was a classics scholar and anti-war/anti-racism organizer. His career was in family and group therapy.

“Advent Haiku”

Photographer
Joan did not actively pursue photography until her retirement. By contrast, her father, an educator, was an independent film producer documenting the culture of Mexico and screening his films in the United States for ten years.

In her 35-year career with McGraw-Hill (now S& P Global), Joan held various management positions. Her last post was as Director of Advertising & Promotion for two magazines in construction - ENR (Engineering News-Record) and Design-Build. Unfortunately, the position did not involve the taking of photographs.

Joan recently exhibited her photographs at the Center on the Square's Art Exhibit. She previously showed photos at two Greenwich House art competitions, and she participated in last year's Marble Summer Arts Festival. This year some of her work could be seen at Marble's Wall of Hope, Inspiration and Healing, and the 4th Annual Marble Summer Arts Festival. She is proud to participate in the 2020 Advent art show.

“Flor de Noche Buena”
“Solemnity”

Photographer
As a teenager it was fun to experiment with an old camera of my Dad’s, creating double-exposure photos. Serving as the candid photographer for the yearbook in high school was also enjoyable.

Photography remained just a hobby until the age of thirty-seven when I found out I had a 25% chance of losing my remaining 50% of hearing due to Meniere's Syndrome. With that scary possibility, I became intent on building my photography skills. During work vacations, I would take week-long classes with established professional photographers all over the country, creating images of pets, people, or locations and studying composition, lighting, posing, and marketing.

When my full-time merchandising position was moved to South Carolina in the late 1990s, an SBA sponsored class on starting a small business was helpful. I joined the PPA (Professional Photographers of America) and attended monthly meetings of the WPPA (Westchester PPA). Marketing myself for 5 years as a portrait photographer, I specialized in Pets, Children, and Families.

Now retired, my iPhone is my camera of choice, and my subject is whatever captures my eye. However, four-legged subjects will always be my favorite.

Email: mwestinpix@aol.com

“Longing for the Sun”
“Waiting”
“Walk Through the Storm”