Exploring art and environment with friends at ODETTA Gallery

Ellen Hackl Fagan and Ellen Kozak
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Just as the Hudson inspires artists, artists help to inspire all of us in our shared work for the river. On Sunday were pleased and honored to visit the River Woman exhibition running through Sunday at ODETTA Gallery in Brooklyn to talk about Riverkeeper’s work.

Our good friend, artist Ellen Kozak, a founding member of Riverkeeper’s Leadership Council is one of the artists whose beautiful, river-inspired work is on display. ODETTA gallery director Ellen Hackl Fagan joined us for a discussion exploring the intersection of art and the environment.

“River Woman” features exceptional artists including Nancy Cohen, Fritz Horstman, Kathleen Vance, Caetlynn Booth, and Deborah Freedman, and was inspired by a motif in James Joyce’s “Finnegan’s Wake” and by local waterways. The gallery explains:

“Elemental, universal, sustenance, beautiful, dangerous, the river and the woman merge and become one entity. Sharing a deep passion for the River Woman, our artists express their awe while raising awareness of the fragility and the amazing resilience of the rivers in our lives.”

As Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay said: “These rivers are too important to leave on life support. There’s too much opportunity here.”