MARGARETVILLE — Longyear Gallery will open two exhibitions Oct. 16: “Colors of the Year,” a solo show by featured artist Sheila McManus, and a members’ group exhibition. An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 3 to 5 p.m.
McManus began the paintings in summer 2025 after visiting the Thomas Cole House in Catskill. Inspired by the vivid carpets, wallpaper and decorative borders in the restored interiors, she shifted from her recent landscape work toward experimenting with color and pattern.
For an initial series of 16 paintings, McManus used a carpet design as a starting point and selected six colors at random from a collection of colored pencils. She then explored how colors of similar value interact, including how differences in hue and saturation can make colors appear to advance, recede or nearly disappear into one another.
The resulting works combine patterns and graphics encountered over the past year, creating a visual record shaped by chance and experimentation.
Longyear’s next exhibition, the Holiday Invitational, “Artists Choose Artists,” will run Nov. 20 through Jan. 3, 2027, alongside another members’ group show.
Longyear Gallery is located downstairs at The Commons, 785 Main St. The gallery is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit longyeargallery.org, email info@longyeargallery.org or call 845-586-3270 during gallery hours.
