Art Spiel Photo Story
Back in about 2009 friends invited artist Sunny Chapman to a gallery opening in their apartment, a gallery of tiny art in an about 1 x 2 foot rectangular inset in one of their apartment walls. Sunny Chapman loved the idea and wanted to do one in her own apartment too but since they lived close by she thought it would be disrespectful. Yet, the idea of making a tiny gallery was always nagging at her.
Some years later, after visiting friends in Florida who had built a little free library from a kit and installed it in front of their home, she decided she would use the library model of a large birdhouse structure for her future gallery—that needed to wait until would have a house.
A Certain Blue, the first show. Artists: Gary Duehr, Joanna Epstein, Brandy Gonzalez, Sharon Horvath, Amanda Kelly, Caridad Sierra Kennedy, Katerina Lanfranco, Kerry Law, Jeannie Rhyu, Mollie Thonneson
In September 2019 she bought a property with two dilapidated houses in Hancock NY to use as a vacation home studio. That is where she and her partner found themselves working when the WHO announced that Covid was a world pandemic. The next day they drove to clear her studio in Bushwick, stop by their apartment in Williamsburg to get the plants, and left. “I don’t need to describe how the next year went, it was pretty terrible for most people,” says Chapman.
Breaking The Frame. Artists: Sunny Chapman, Joanne Lobotsky, Christina Massey, Dennis Tomkins, Jeanne Tremel, Kelsey Tynik
The living room became her studio and the rest of the house turned into The Catskills Art BnB, an air bib house filled with her art, hosting New Yorkers fleeing the city for months. The idea of a tiny gallery revived only in the following winter as Chapman felt the need to connect to other artists, while aiming to help them in whatever small way she could. Her partner built the gallery, and she opened the first show in May 2021. Since then she has had monthly themed group shows. The last show for the season will open October 2nd ,but before that, Chapman brings together the work of 26 artists to a popup in Brooklyn, featuring multiple pieces from most of the artists. Chapman says, “Brooklyn Art went to the Catskills for the summer, now it’s coming back to roost in Brooklyn.”
Ocean Garden. Artists: Lauren Skelly Bailey, Sunny Chapman, Mary DeVincentis, Carol Diamond, Cathy Diamond, Nancy Erickson Dutmer, Seren Morey, Jackie Shatz, Fedele Spadafora
Selfie. Artists: Carly Haffner, Georgia Elrod, Jennifer Macdonald, Sunny Chapman
All photos: Sunny Chapman 2021
Remade in Brooklyn will be hosting a one day pop-up by the Birdhouse Gallery in Williamsburg for one day only on Saturday September 25, 2021 from 12-6 663a Driggs Ave , Brooklyn, NY 11211
Remade in Brooklyn is an open, airy space, masks required for entry, limit of 10 visitors at a time.
The Birdhouse Gallery is a tiny gallery of miniature contemporary art located in Hancock NY and soon in Brooklyn NY. Most of the artists are NYC based, many right here in Brooklyn. Contact: Sunny Chapman 917-721-3365 sunnychapman@gmail.com
The featured artists; Gary Duehr, Joanna Epstein, Brandy Gonzalez, Amanda Kelly, Caridad Sierra Kennedy, Katerina Lanfranco, Kerry Law, Jeannie Rhyu, Mollie Thonneson, Lauren Skelly Bailey, Sunny Chapman, Mary DeVincentis, Carol Diamond, Cathy Diamond, Nancy Erickson Dutmer, Seren Morey, Jackie Shatz, Fedele Spadafora, Christina Massey, Dennis Tomkins, Melanie Delgado, Joanie Flickinger, Jeanne Tremel, Carly Haffner, Georgia Elrod., Jennifer Macdonald