Grand Islanders paint the town in talent

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior contributing writer

Once again, the artistic achievements of Grand Island’s artist community will be celebrated in a show at the Buffalo Launch Club.

The Island Art Exhibit showcases the talents of 12 area artists in the event from 4-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, and again from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the BLC, 503 E. River Road. The exhibit is free and open to the public, and artwork is for sale.

Exhibit co-chair Karen McDonough encourages attendees to “browse the fine and varied work of these artists.” Each one has a connection to Grand Island. Also encouraged is the idea to stay for dinner at the Buffalo Launch Club afterward, to make an evening of it, if you wish.

The event is being organized by McDonough and co-chair Maria Laurendi. Both are exhibiting artists at the show, as well.

“The artists range from a talented beginner to mostly artists who have been working a long time in their chosen mediums. Most of the artists belong to the Buffalo Society of Artists and the Buffalo Niagara Art Association. These artists have presented their work to judges to become members of their chosen organizations. They compete to show their work all the time,” McDonough said.

Some of the dozen exhibiting artists have pursued long careers in art, while others are new to the profession and come from other careers to find their niche in the arts.

Some go outdoors and paint the beauty of nature when the weather permits, as is the style in plein air.

Others work in an art studio or teach the craft to share their talent and enthusiasm. Going to the far corners of the earth, or staying right in Western New York, their inspiration comes from how they see, interpret and share their vision in paintings, sculpture or mixed media.

Their focus may be on oil paint, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil, pen, ink or pastels to express their vision.

They have the joy of creating artwork, and perhaps making a living at it, too.

Take a look at samples of their work and descriptions of their path to being professional artists below.

“Snow Laden Silver Maple KMc" by Karen McDonough

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Karen M. McDonough

Karen McDonough is co-chair of the Island Art Exhibit. She has a bachelor’s in art from SUNY-Buffalo State. She currently is working on acrylic paintings of trees. She combines her love of drawing with her love of painting. One of her pieces for the exhibit is “Snow Laden Silver Maple.”

“I developed a beautiful landscape where I utilized white space to depict snow while using color to create light and form,” she said.

While in college, she interned at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, as well as at Artpark. Her sales and marketing background positioned her well for recently being named to the board of directors for the Buffalo Society of Artists. (BSA)

In 2024-25, McDonough exhibited in the BSA’s Open Members Exhibition, as well as exhibiting regularly in the East Aurora Fine Arts Exhibit and Sale. Other notable exhibits of her work include those of the Buffalo Niagara Art Association, the Castellani Art Museum and Burchfield-Penney. Contact her at karen3667@me.com or 716-622-3667.

Maria Laurendi

Maria Laurendi, co-chair of the upcoming Island Art Exhibit, specializes in oil paintings, including landscapes and portraits.

She studied under Joan Horn at Partners-in-Art, North Tonawanda. She has won several awards at the Lewiston Art Festival, including the prestigious Purchase Award in 2025.

Contact her at MariaAldonaLaurendi@gmail.com or 716-622-7659.

Debra Meier

Debra Meier said, “The past nine years has been a journey, from retirement from teaching elementary art, to teaching adult art classes at the Jewish Community Center; and the river that carried it all along is watercolor. Just like flowing water rises and ebbs, turns and swirls, is still or stormy, it reflected my growth in the medium for that period of time.”

“I view each painting as a conversation between me and the medium – sometimes planned, often spontaneous, but always rooted in a sense of discovery. It’s a world where color and texture are not just seen, but felt, where the delicate balance of control and surrender reveals the true beauty of watercolor as a living, breathing art form.”

Meier has a dual bachelor’s degree in studio art and speech communication, with emphasis on drawing, photography, and printmaking. She also pursued a minor in public relations.

James O’Rourke

James O’Rourke is a creative director, illustrator and animation artist with more than three decades of experience developing visual stories, characters and multimedia productions. Since 1994, he has led JOR Animation Studio on Grand Island, where he has built a career on transforming ideas into engaging visual communication for print, digital, broadcast and interactive platforms.

“In addition to hands-on creative work, I manage production teams, supervise freelance artists and oversee multimillion-dollar budgets and schedules,” he said. “This combination of artistic skill and production leadership allows me to deliver work that is both creatively strong and professionally executed.”

Contact O’Rourke at joranimation@roadrunner.com or 716-603-3174.

Fritz Proctor III

Fritz Proctor III grew up on Grand Island and always felt a connection to the rural beauty of New York state. He enjoys painting in acrylic, watercolor and oil, but favors acrylics.

After high school graduation, he spent decades working as a truck driver.

“While my career kept me busy, I always found a little time for painting, sketching or playing guitar,” Proctor said.

He said he has painted murals in homes, cars and all mediums.

Proctor has been married for 33 years and has three children.

“Their encouragement continues to inspire me,” he said.

Deborah Rice

Deborah Rice is a member of the Buffalo Niagara Art Association. She has been an artist for more than 26 years and has won several awards for her work.

After raising four children, her studies became serious. Her training includes colored pencil, charcoal, pastel, oil and watercolor. Most of her current work consists of watercolor, pastel, ink and mixed media. She has shown work in several local galleries.

Her mentors and art teachers have been Joan Horn, Sean Patrick Daley, Jody Ziehm and Kathy Giles.

She lives on Grand Island with her husband of 47 years.

Terre Santospirito

Terre Santospirito is a trained realist artist with watercolor as her first and lifelong medium.

“In 1983, a six-week watercolor course changed the direction of my life, giving me the confidence to step fully into my calling as an artist,” she said. “That same year, two of my paintings were selected for an art auction, leading to a summer exhibition and the sale of nine of my watercolors.”

Santospirito began her formal studies at the University of New Hampshire that year, as well. She graduated in 1993 from Christopher Newport College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with dual minors in fine arts and economics.

“Since them, my work has been shown in over 20 exhibitions and collected across multiple mediums, including watercolor, oils, pastels, pencil and dyes on silk,” she said. “In 2013, I created 100 silk-screened silk scarves as a fundraiser for Roswell Park Cancer Institute, honoring the resilience of cancer survivors – in one of the most meaningful projects of my artistic life.”

Santospirito is a longtime member of the Kenmore Arts Society.

“My current body of works is inspired by my recent travels to Sicily,” she said. “Drawing from my heritage, these pieces explore the influences of architecture and Sicilian culture.”

Paula Sćiuk

Paula Sćiuk, a multidisciplinary artist, said she began refining her visual and conceptual vocabulary at Buffalo State University of New York. There, she studied design, painting and sculpture, completing a BA in design.

Her large-scale photographic images have been shown in many exhibitions, including the Louvre in Paris; Times Square, New York City; and Scope, in Miami.

Sćiuk explores and captures what she calls “our vanishing world” through her lens-based, field sound work.

“I have been very fortunate to travel and to experience true wilderness and pockets of our incredible planet untouched by the hand of man,” Sćiuk said.

She added, “Often, unplanned moments occur when in the field – a pink Amazon dolphin splashing our drifting wooden boat, signaling we were too close for comfort to her baby,” among other encounters with wildlife.

“My work is deeply influenced by these random yet significant encounters,” Sćiuk said. “The beauty of wildlife thriving in their natural habitat inspires profound awe, while the destructive consequences of human actions evoke deep concern. Recognizing the vulnerability of our planet's resources, emphasizes the urgent necessity for eco-art, environmental advocacy, activism, and outreach – all working towards a common goal: the protection of landscapes, seascapes, wildlife and their habitats in our natural world.’

She has been awarded residencies at the Gullkistan Center for Creativity, Laugarvatn, Iceland, and the Arctic Circle Residency, Svalbard, Norway. Her works are included in the permanent collections of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute, among other public, corporate and private collections. Contact her at: paulasciuk.com and www.instagram.com/inmyfabulousness.

Kath Schifano

Kath Schifano is a plein air and studio artist.

“My plein air paintings capture the environment wherever I travel,” she said. “Artwork that captures outdoors communicates the sparkle and nature of the day it was created, the weather, the light and memories of the location.

“Stormy days are opportunities to bring the lessons of plein air indoors to larger compositions. I enjoy challenges of studio commissions as well as experimenting, still life, and working from my drawn or painted references.

“The act of mixing and choosing pigments to create paintings frees me from distractions. I can paint alone for hours, listening to rustling leaves, birds and distant train whistles, podcasts or music. Whether a composition interprets a crowded city scene or the natural environment, the art expresses what I observe.”

Schifano is a board member of International Plein Air Painters, Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters and Buffalo Niagara Art Association. Her oil and pastel art is in public and private collections in 37 states and on five continents. She maintains studios and gallery space on Grand Island at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center.

"The Cedars" by Clyde Smith

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Clyde Smith

Born in Northern Ontario, Clyde Smith is a self-taught artist whose creative path is inseparable from the rugged landscapes and northern spirit that shaped his early life. A member of the Long Lake First Nation with deep roots in Ontario, his cultural heritage remains a powerful influence, grounding his work in a sense of place, identity and connection to the land.

For more than 25 years, Smith has made his home on Grand Island, where he continues to refine his craft and expand his artistic vision while returning to the North many times each year to reconnect with nature. His preferred mediums are acrylic on canvas and watercolor paper. While he began by using acrylics in a delicate, watercolor-like style, his technique has evolved to embrace richer textures, layered washes and traditional brushwork.

Smith’s extensive body of work – spanning hundreds of landscapes, portraits and large-

scale wall murals – reflects his enduring appreciation for the North, the natural world, and the environments that surround him. His paintings capture not only what he sees, but the stories, memories and cultural threads that continue to inspire his art.

Mark Tollner

Mark Tollner’s sculptured work “is welded steel – both larger commissioned pieces and smaller sculptures displayed in galleries throughout the country and in private collections,” he said. “Each piece begins as a thought, image or memory. I create many preliminary sketches when planning a piece and, through my sketches, I decide on the structure, movement and size of the piece.”

“My larger sculptures are created over many hours of welding, twisting and shaping the steel. I then create a metal framework that serves as the foundation to the welded steel of the final piece,” Tollner said.

“Many of my subjects represent outdoor activities that I have enjoyed all my life, including hunting, fishing, nature and wildlife. I live on Grand Island, one of the largest freshwater islands in the county. I also spend my time in the Thousand Islands. These locations inspire my current pieces.”

Tollner said he also creates military-themed metal sculptures that are often based on memories of his father talking with his friends about military life and war.

Jack Whiting

Jack Whiting was born and raised on the Lower West Side of Buffalo.

“While creativity was always part of who I was, I didn’t begin creating art seriously until later in life,” Whiting said.

“I don’t have any formal art education and didn’t attend art schools, but I believe the chance meeting of one person would open a whole new world for me.

“I began painting while working at the Buffalo Launch Club, creating my first works on Aug. 17, 2025.”

Whiting said that on that day, a server at his workplace asked him if he would like to paint with her. Some wine and “a few shots of tequila later, we started painting.”

Whiting said of his artwork, “I thought they were just OK at the time; the next day, I realized something had clicked.”

He said his co-worker “had awakened a creative part of me that I didn’t know existed.”

Since then, Whiting has created a growing body of work, selling several pieces and having many more displayed in homes throughout the area.

“My work is abstract and rooted in pareidolia – the phenomenon of seeing faces, animals and forms within clouds or random patterns. My paintings reveal different images, depending on distance, lighting and angle. When viewers zoom in or step back, they often discover faces and figures hidden within the layers.”

Biographies edited by Karen Carr Keefe