New art exhibit showcases 3 local farms with unique ‘greeters’
Friendly dog, antique Chevy trucks and Sasquatch part of farm ambiance
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Valerie Collins, an artist from Clarendon, is shown with a picture of a Sasquatch in an apple orchard. Collins has this painting and two others on display through November at Hoag Library in Albion.
She created three paintings at local farms and wanted to highlight an unusual feature that the farms use to connect with the public.
At Robert Farms Market in Medina, the family has two very big Sasquatch statues at the market, 11170 Maple Ridge Rd. The Roberts family has a sense of humor. They also make their own apple cider and sell 20 varieties of apples, other produce and flowers from their garden center.
Valerie Collins on Wednesday hangs a painting of a 1950s Chevy truck at Panek Farms on West County House Road in Albion. The Panek family has several classic trucks and vehicles on display at site, where they sell pumpkins, strawberries, Christmas trees and other products.
The old trucks are in great shape and featured in the Albion Strawberry Festival parade each June.
Lenny, a German Shepherd, is a fixture at the Gardens of Colehill in Holley. Alana and Chad Fabry welcome families to the farm for blueberry picking. They strive to not use any pesticides at the farm, where they also produce honey and garlic. The farm is located at 3569 North Main Street Rd.
Collins received a state grant administered through the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council for the project, which she calls, “Keepers of the Land.” She wanted to highlight family farms that she said are the backbone of the community.
“This is one of the nice things about Orleans County,” she said about the agricultural landscape. “We’re still rural and we have family farms.”
She worries about the loss of farmland to solar facilities and the potential impact of data centers on agriculture.
She will have a reception at the library from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday if people want to meet her and hear more about the oil paintings, which are 16 by 20 inches.
Collins retired in April as the coordinator of the Ogden Senior Center in Spencerport. That has given her more time for her paintings and artwork.
She also has paintings featured in upcoming art shows at the Gillam Grant Community Center in Bergen and Eli Fish in Batavia.
Collins said she enjoys unwinding in the evening by working on her paintings.
“There is a drive to make it look like what’s inside my head,” she said. “It’s like magic.”
Collins said she would like to do more paintings of farms in Orleans County, focusing on ones in the northern part of Orleans.
