Visions and Voices features a range of works by seven mixed media artists who are members of the group nextactART. The group functions by its members inspiring and energizing one another through discourse, the motivation to keep creating work, building community, showcasing their work, and gaining recognition. The artists include Barbara Brier, Rena Diana, Ronnie Grill, Judy Kaplan, Madeline Farr, Madlyn Goldman, Patricia Miller, Stephanie Suskin, and Sheila Wolper. The participating members have created mixed media pieces measuring 36 x 48 inches in their own individual style for the exhibition. Rena Diana presents the work Oasis, which highlights her interest in the underlying geometric shapes and linear patterns of both the natural and urban worlds. She states, “They enkindle my imagination and a reverence for the elegant beauty that surrounds us in the most humble, ordinary spaces as we walk through village and city, forest and field.”
The artists featured in the exhibition are the original members of nextactART. The group is the brainchild of kindred spirits who found great meaning and satisfaction in pursuing visual arts as a second, third, or “umpteenth” career. The vision of nextactART’s founders, Barbara Brier, Madeline Farr, and Stephanie Suskin, is to inspire later-in-life creatives to build community and realize the value of artistic expression. They exhibited as a group at Ashawagh Hall in East Hampton in May 2016 and July 2019, at Cerces Gallery in December 2017, and an ongoing charity show for God's Love We Deliver in NYC. Several members of the group have participated in both solo and juried group shows in New York City and across the United States.
