Niagara Arts & Cultural Center winter 2024 exhibitions

Niagara Arts and Cultural Center Press Release

The Niagara Arts and Cultural Center (NACC) has announced its winter 2024 exhibitions with “Members & Friends 2024,” “Miggie Wong: Inscape of Migratory” and “Kirk Maragh: Kirk’s Nature.”

Art exhibits are free and open to the public, and run Dec. 7 through Jan. 18 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday) at 1201 Pine Ave., Niagara Falls.

An opening reception honoring the artists and artwork within all three exhibits is set for 4-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.

“Members & Friends” returns to close out 2024. This exhibit is on view in the Townsend Gallery on the first floor of the multi-arts site. This exhibition is open to current members as well as community artists, and NACC tenants.

Previously exhibited artists within this exhibition include: James Abbodanza, Mackensie Bingham, Rachelle Bisone, Jay Carrier, Laura Chenault, Stephen Conte, Mikayla Forsey, Neil Gates, Violet Gordon, Susan Harris, Cynthia Jozwik-Burge, Eileen Kineke, Jeremiah Kirby, Joan Langley Shaw, Anna McNab, Moxes Boxes, Tina Mt. Pleasant, James Neiss, Jeanette Pikturna, Ray Robertson, Jonathan Rogers, Kath Schifano, Liz Spector, Dana Murray Tyrrell and Gary Wolfe.

“Kirk Maragh: Kirk’s Nature” will be on view in the NACC’s first-floor 13th Street Gallery. Maragh is a disabled combat veteran and a self-taught artist hailing from Jamaica. After a long hiatus (since 1988), he recently rekindled his passion for painting. Maragh’s preferred mediums are oil, hard and soft pastels. He was recently featured in Ray Robertson's “Artist of Color” show at the NACC. Maragh’s work stands out for its vibrant use of color and emotional depth, capturing the essence of nature and the human experience.

“Miggie Wong: Inscape of Migratory” will be on view in the second-floor Kudela Gallery. This exhibit highlights the artist’s felt constructions of houses from across the globe – and even some drawn from imagination. This series illustrates the permeability of our constructed environment while highlighting the ways we imprint upon homes and dwellings. This interest is also reflected in the artist’s “Sewing on Houses” series, concurrently on view. These double-sided drawings are embellished with thread over ink, echoing architectural features that build into relief upon the drawing’s face.

Gallery visitors to this exhibition will also have the opportunity to work on a new, participatory artwork by the artist celebrating the facade of the NACC in its centennial year. The completed work will be donated to the NACC for permanent display, courtesy of the artist.

Wong creates situation-based performative projects. As a native of Hong Kong, living in the Netherlands, and migrating to the U.S. in the early 2000s, Wong’s intercultural experiences continue to diversify her artistic approaches and ideals. As such, she offers whimsical experiments that explore and document ideas of social interaction, cultural mutation, radical hospitality, and acts of sincerity.

Wong holds a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and a MS in creative studies from SUNY Buffalo State University. Wong currently lives bicoastal between Los Angeles and Buffalo. Visit www.miggiewong.com.

Additional information for galleries, exhibitions, and calls for artwork can be found at www.thenacc.org.