Stacey Creem Art Exhibit At Library Will Benefit Hunger Task Force

LARCHMONT, NY — Westchester residents will have the unique opportunity to view the community's special character reflected in art by a local artist and at the same time join to help their neighbors with food security issues in the most fundamental of ways.

From May 3 to May 27, the Oresman Gallery at the Larchmont Public Library will showcase the work of artist Stacey Creem in the "Victory Farmers" exhibit, a collection of large and small oil paintings and photos depicting men and women in Larchmont and Mamaroneck and their work in a community project sponsored by Victory Farms at the Grange.

"Victory Farmers" focuses on community members who, in 2021, took part in a local effort to plant home vegetable gardens and donate the produce grown to the Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force. The artworks tell a story of hope and inspiration, along with an urgency to preserve the land and feed each other. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of Creem's artwork will benefit the Hunger Task Force.

“We are so thrilled to showcase Stacey’s work because it not only highlights a local artist but also how the community came together for a singular purpose during a difficult time,” said Laura Eckley, director of the Larchmont Public Library. “There is no better place to exhibit this message than the beautiful gallery at our public institution.”

This will be Creem's first solo show. After a 25-year career as an attorney, she then returned to art school at the New York Academy of Art in 2019 to pursue a lifelong interest in painting. While Creem's paintings are representational, they combine 3-D form with bright color and abstraction to create a dream-like quality that seems to transcend reality at times. The subjects in her artworks confront and challenge the viewer to look beyond physical forms to what lies at the heart of the motivation to farm.

"For me, this project is an attempt to tell a story of a community coming together during a difficult time," Creem said in a release announcing the installation. "The pandemic was so isolating, and people seemed divided politically and ideologically on many levels. I tried to convey the farmers and their landscapes through color and form that demonstrate both unity of the effort and the individuality of each participant. My hope is that my portraits highlight this community achievement and make people realize that individuals have the ability to make a positive impact on the world."

The project began in the spring of last year, when Creem approached Lisa Chase, the founder of Victory Farms at the Grange, with her idea to create a series of portraits highlighting the project.

"I had seen Creem’s work and loved the idea of telling the story of the Victory Farms project through pictures of the gardeners who participated,” Chase said. “I saw Stacey’s project as a way to broaden the community element of the project by partnering with a local artist."

In 2020, Chase founded Victory Farms at the Grange with 40 Larchmont/Mamaroneck families planting vegetables and herbs in raised beds in their yards. Last year, the project expanded to around 150 families, as well as local elementary schools, churches, the Sheldrake Nature Center and the library.

In 2021, through a collaboration with the Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force, the produce from Victory Farms at the Grange fed more than 800 families. The Task Force was faced with an increase in demand for food in a struggling community, due to both the pandemic and the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida.

"My hope is that people in Larchmont and Mamaroneck and beyond will see this exhibit and think about participating or, even better, starting their own victory farming project in their own communities," Chase said.

The display was made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the Support of the Governor's Office and the New York State Legislature, administered by ArtsWestchester.

The "Victory Farmers" will be on view from May 3 to May 27 at the Oresman Gallery at the Larchmont Public Library (121 Larchmont Ave, Larchmont, NY 10538). The exhibit opening (May 5 from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.) and an artist talk (May 7 at 2 p.m.) are free and open to the public.