The 2025 Southern Tier Biennial runs Saturday, September 20th through October 18th 2025
Reception and Awards Ceremony, Saturday, September 20, 3-6 PM
Peg Bothner Gallery at the Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, NY.
Reception and Awards Ceremony, Saturday, September 20, 3-6 PM
Peg Bothner Gallery at the Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, NY.
Since 2005, the Southern Tier Biennial has given rural artists the opportunity to take part in a juried professional art competition and gallery show. Every two years, artists from across New York State’s Southern Tier region submit their work to be juried by a new panel of top art professionals. The result is a stunning array of work showing the vitality of the visual arts in rural New York!
The 2025 Southern Tier Biennial Artists
The 2025 STB Artists are: Rebecca Austin, Elizabeth Booth, Colette Chermak, Bernard Aaron Dolecki, Susan Doran, Jodie Estes, Barbara Fox, Laura Glenn, Ronald Gonzalez, Joseph Grice, Jessica Griffin-Cobb, Aaron Harrison, Maxwell Harvey-Sampson, David Higgins, Jodie Hooker, J.W. Johnston, Medis Kent, Elsa Kettinger, Mark Kirsch, Sara Kramer, Jill Lavetsky, Emilia Lineman, Alexis Magera, Tom Makovitch, Janet Mandel, Mary McCague, Emily Neiswonger, Catherine Panebianco, Emily Payne, Lily Quinones, Liora Redman, Genevieve Smith, Geraldine Smith, Ivy Stevens-Gupta, Ivy Vallely, Marsha Van Vlack, Natalie Wadin, Ken Weir
Download the Catalog
Some artwork from the Southern Tier Biennial is available for purchase.
Please visit the Tri-County Arts Council Market Page for pricing and availability.
Download the Catalog
Some artwork from the Southern Tier Biennial is available for purchase.
Please visit the Tri-County Arts Council Market Page for pricing and availability.
The 2025 Southern Tier Biennial Award Winners:
The award winners were selected in person by our 2025 jurors. One best in show, one Juror's Choice, and three Honorable Mentions were given out.
Best in Show
Best in show receives $1,000, plus a solo show in 2026 with a $2,000 stipend
David Higgins
"Brand Park”
Oil on Board 24”x36”
"Brand Park”
Oil on Board 24”x36”
Juror's Choice
The Juror's Choice receives $750
Aaron Harrison
"Big Year"
Stoneware cone 10 reduction with under glaze, copper, brass
20”x12”
"Big Year"
Stoneware cone 10 reduction with under glaze, copper, brass
20”x12”
Honorable Mentions
Each Honorable Mention receives $500
Mark Kirsch
“Memento Peoni” Gelatin Transfer Print 16"x12" 
Marsha Van Vlack
“On the Wave” Clay 14"x10" |
Joseph Grice
“Sovereign” Oil on Canvas 30"x15" |
The 2025 Jurors:
BARBARA RÄCKER
Barbara Räcker is the Director/Curator of the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery at SUNY Fredonia. With over 35 years of experience in curatorial roles across museums and university galleries, she has produced more than fifty exhibition catalogs and curated major shows including Eyes as Big as Plates, Imagined Histories, and Truppe Fledermaus. She has received support from the NEA, NYSCA, and other key institutions. Räcker also teaches ARTS 400: Senior Exhibition at SUNY Fredonia.
Barbara Räcker is the Director/Curator of the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery at SUNY Fredonia. With over 35 years of experience in curatorial roles across museums and university galleries, she has produced more than fifty exhibition catalogs and curated major shows including Eyes as Big as Plates, Imagined Histories, and Truppe Fledermaus. She has received support from the NEA, NYSCA, and other key institutions. Räcker also teaches ARTS 400: Senior Exhibition at SUNY Fredonia.
MARIA FERGUSON
Maria Ferguson is Director of the Bruce Gallery and an adjunct professor at PennWest Edinboro. She has curated over 20 exhibitions including Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds, Art that Matters to the Planet, and Hope is the Thing with Feathers: Contemporary Women Nature Artists. Formerly Curator at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and Registrar at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Ferguson holds an MA in Art History and a Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Memphis.
Maria Ferguson is Director of the Bruce Gallery and an adjunct professor at PennWest Edinboro. She has curated over 20 exhibitions including Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds, Art that Matters to the Planet, and Hope is the Thing with Feathers: Contemporary Women Nature Artists. Formerly Curator at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and Registrar at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Ferguson holds an MA in Art History and a Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Memphis.
GLENN ZWEYGARDT
A master sculptor known for merging natural and industrial materials, Glenn Zweygardt is Professor Emeritus of Sculpture at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. His work, composed of bronze, glass, marble, steel, and stone, has earned international acclaim and membership in the Berman Group. Zweygardt continues to produce large-scale works from his workshop in Alfred Station, NY.
A master sculptor known for merging natural and industrial materials, Glenn Zweygardt is Professor Emeritus of Sculpture at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. His work, composed of bronze, glass, marble, steel, and stone, has earned international acclaim and membership in the Berman Group. Zweygardt continues to produce large-scale works from his workshop in Alfred Station, NY.
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About the Southern Tier Biennial
Founded in 2005 to make a measurable and positive difference for rural artists, the Southern Tier Biennial affords artists an opportunity to take part in the process of a professional art competition and be rewarded for those efforts. Past shows were tremendous successes, with hundreds of artists entering, creating exhibitions that showcased the vitality and diversity of visual art in the region. Each biennial is juried by new jurors and, therefore, the shows they create are different in tone and scope yet equally true to the definition of "a regional survey of visual art.” Accepted works are exhibited in the stunning Peg Bothner Gallery at the Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, NY. This project is produced by the Tri-County Arts Council (Formerly the Cattaraugus County Arts Council), the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation, and made possible by an endowment from the estate of F. Donald Kenney. |
F. DONALD KENNEY
F. Donald Kenney was a graduate of Olean High School and Holy Cross College. He went on to earn Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration degrees from Harvard University. Kenney, who died in 1997, devoted his life to international investment banking and served as chair of Harriman Ripley International and Merrill Lynch International prior to becoming chair of Goldman Sachs International Corporation from 1976 until his retirement in 1984. Kenney served as chairman of the Board of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts as well as on a number of international arts boards including the International Council of Museums, the Finnish Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Ireland–America Arts Exchange, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. |
