Keene Arts

Keene Arts Keene Arts is a multi- purpose art center serving the community of keene, keene valley and the high peaks.
(1)

Offering venues in cinema, theater, music, art and lectures, Keene Arts brings people together to experience all forms of artist expression

Circular Jazz Trio Concert ( new time)Sunday, August 30th
08/24/2026

Circular Jazz Trio Concert ( new time)
Sunday, August 30th

Keene Arts & East Branch Friends of the Arts present Divergent Spectrums IV curated by Ali Della Bitta. Opening Thurs, S...
08/24/2026

Keene Arts & East Branch Friends of the Arts present Divergent Spectrums IV curated by Ali Della Bitta.
Opening Thurs, Sept 10th 5-7pm

Come hear the "Suns" (Harry & Josh) of Paul Matthews play a tribute surrounded by his artwork this Friday, 8/28 at 7pm
08/24/2026

Come hear the "Suns" (Harry & Josh) of Paul Matthews play a tribute surrounded by his artwork this Friday, 8/28 at 7pm

Paul Matthews opening Thurs, Aug.6th, 5-7pm
08/01/2026

Paul Matthews opening Thurs, Aug.6th, 5-7pm

Its HPA time and the show is fantastic!
08/01/2026

Its HPA time and the show is fantastic!

Curator Jason Andrew talks about Bill Evansprocess while giving tour of the exhibit
07/26/2026

Curator Jason Andrew talks about Bill Evans
process while giving tour of the exhibit

The Matthews family and Keene Arts are excited to present the Portraits & Landscapes of Paul Matthews. Please join us at...
07/26/2026

The Matthews family and Keene Arts are excited to present the Portraits & Landscapes of Paul Matthews. Please join us at he exhibit opening on Thursday, August 6th from 5-7pm

Curator Janson Andrew talks about Bill Evans work, process and career on Saturdat July 25th at 4pm.For five decades, Bil...
07/15/2026

Curator Janson Andrew talks about Bill Evans work, process and career on Saturdat July 25th at 4pm.

For five decades, Bill Evans (1947–2025) rendered the American landscape with a realist's patient eye, carrying his easel from the granite shoreline of Monhegan Island, Maine, to the brick streets of downtown Utica, to New York City in the 1970s, and the high peaks of his beloved Adirondacks — all forty-six of which he climbed twice in his lifetime.
After finishing degrees from the Hotchkiss School and Yale College, Evans went on to study fine art at The Muson-Williams Proctor School of Art, Utica (1974-1977), L'École des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, France (1978) and a summer session conducted through Parsons School of Design in Lake Placid (1985). He was an instructor at the Munson-Williams-Proctor School of Art in Utica while running his own John Street Studio and Gallery in town, building an impressive and celebrated body of work executed so warmly observed it feels less painted than remembered.
This exhibition offers a different entry point into that body of work: Evans's abstract landscapes, made alongside his representational paintings but rarely exhibited and never treated as central to his practice. Where the realist canvases ask the eye to recognize and record a place, the abstractions ask the eye to rest. Color and form loosen from topography; the horizon dissolves into gesture and field. Freed from the work of identification, the mind takes over — doing its own subconscious rendering of the landscape, standing memory and association in for granite and birch, mountain and sky.
“I use the natural world in my own way.”
– Bill Evans, 1996
“I live somewhere in the middle of realism and pure abstraction
… a bifurcation of style and place.”
– Bill Evans
Presented as a companion to his celebrated realism rather than a departure from it, this exhibition argues that Evans's abstractions were never a side door in his studio. They were where his looking began. The exhibition will include the artist’s virtuosic assemblage works, some, like this survey of paintings have never before been publicly exhibited.
About Jason Andrew:
Jason Andrew an independent scholar, curator, and producer who splits his time between Jay, NY, and New York City. He and his husband Norman Jabaut are the owners of the Ausable Theater in Au Sable Forks, NY.

Photo of Bill on steps courtesy of Jim Morley

If you didn't make the opening, come see the Bill Evans Exhibit this weekend (closes 7/26). In addition to the work on ...
07/15/2026

If you didn't make the opening, come see the Bill Evans Exhibit this weekend (closes 7/26). In addition to the work on the walls, we have added a selection of works on paper that are available for $350ea.

There will also be an discussion about Bill's career/work by curator Jason Andrew on Saturday, July 25th at 4pm.

ENGLAND vs NORWAYPop up screening today 5pm
07/11/2026

ENGLAND vs NORWAY
Pop up screening today 5pm

Address

10881 NYS RT 73
Keene, NY
12942

Opening Hours

Friday 1pm - 5pm
Saturday 1pm - 5pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm

Telephone

+19143097095

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Keene Arts posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Keene Arts:

Shortcuts

Share

Category