What belongs in a gallery? For many people, galleries can feel intimidating. Spaces reserved for polished masterpieces, formal quiet, or artwork that feels distant from everyday life.
Visitors often walk in expecting to see the extraordinary: large-scale paintings, rare objects, or works that feel removed from their own experiences. But some of the most compelling exhibitions are the ones that challenge those expectations entirely.
For nearly 50 years, Women’s Studio Workshop in Kingston has built its mission around expanding those ideas of what art can be and who it is for.
Founded in 1974, the organization has become internationally recognized for supporting artists through residencies, exhibitions, education programs, and publication opportunities, while remaining deeply rooted in the Hudson Valley community. At its core, Women’s Studio Workshop encourages experimentation, accessibility, and the belief that meaningful art can emerge from unexpected places and materials.
That philosophy is on full display in “Rock, Paper, Sister,” a new two-person exhibition featuring artists Kate Bingaman-Burt and Elizabeth Saloka opening on June 5.
A can of beans. A glue stick with a price tag. A pile of rubble from the street. A hand-drawn record of everyday purchases. At Women’s Studio Workshop, these ordinary objects become something much bigger.
Curated by Faythe Levine, special collections and public engagement manager at Women’s Studio Workshop, the exhibition brings together two artists whose practices are visually different but deeply connected beneath the surface. “Their work speaks to one another,” Levine shared. “There’s this bright, colorful accessibility to both practices, but underneath that is a conversation about consumerism, memory, identity, and the things we surround ourselves with every day.”
The exhibition title is layered with meaning. “Rock” references Saloka’s painted rubble sculptures, while “Paper” points to Bingaman-Burt’s print-based practice and decades-long drawing archive. “Sister” is both a nod to Women’s Studio Workshop and the collaborative spirit between the artists. For more than 20 years, Bingaman-Burt has documented every item she purchases through quick daily drawings. Turning receipts, snacks, office supplies, and mundane purchases into a sprawling visual archive of everyday life. What began as personal accountability evolved into a meditation on habit, consumption, and memory.
Saloka’s work transforms discarded rocks and construction debris into painted sculptural objects inspired by familiar American brands and products. Bright packaging and recognizable logos wrap around imperfect surfaces, creating work that feels playful at first glance, but more complex the longer you spend with it. Both artists invite viewers to reconsider what deserves attention.
“These are objects and materials that normally wouldn’t be put on a pedestal in a gallery,” Levine explained. “But through their work, they become reflections of who we are, what we consume, and what we value.”
That familiarity is part of what makes the exhibition feel so immediate. Visitors may recognize a box of foil, a can label, or the visual language of products they grew up with.
Those everyday references become memory triggers, pulling viewers into personal reflection through objects that might otherwise go unnoticed. And perhaps that’s the lasting invitation of “Rock, Paper, Sister”: permission.
Permission to notice the overlooked. Permission to create from the materials around you. Permission to see the ordinary as meaningful. Because sometimes the smallest, most familiar objects tell us the most about ourselves.
If you go
What: “Rock, Paper, Sister,”
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday June 5 – Sept.18.
Where: 722 Binnewater Lane, Kingston.
More information: 845-658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org, wsworkshop.org
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Art from everyday items takes center stage in Kingston show
Reporting by Melissa Dvozenja-Thomas, Special to the Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
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