Jim Moore / June 28, 2026
PENN YAN – As the summer heat settles over the region and the lakes fill with boaters and vacationers, a different kind of regional magic is being captured indoors. The Arts Center of Yates County has officially opened its highly anticipated annual exhibit, “Art in the Finger Lakes,” turning its downtown gallery into a sanctuary for local landscape appreciation.
Running through August 8 at the Main Street facility’s Flick Gallery, the seasonal showcase is widely considered a premier destination for both year-round residents and visitors who have lost their hearts to the area. This year’s installment centers on a pair of master painters who look at the familiar vistas of Western New York through entirely distinct, yet equally charismatic, creative lenses.
Sharing the spotlight are two prolific creators whose backgrounds shape the unique energy they bring to the gallery walls:
- Barbara Doyle: Honored as the Arts Center’s 2024 Artist of the Year, Doyle’s creative path took a vibrant turn after years of raising a large family. Initially focusing on precise pen-and-ink house portraits, her discovery of Impressionist color theory during a Cape Cod study entirely reshaped her vision. Today, her primary medium is watercolor, a choice she embraces for its fluid unpredictability, allowing water and pigment to forge their own paths across the canvas.
- Maureen Church: A lifelong Rochester resident and former art educator, Church’s work translates the raw vitality of local nature into tangible form. Her creative process begins directly on the terrain, mapping out intimate sketchbook studies along vineyard vistas and wooded trails to capture fleeting shifts in ambient light. These initial sparks are then evolved inside her studio into expansive, immersive oil and encaustic (hot wax) paintings that mirror the region’s shifting atmosphere.
Whether you are looking to bring home a permanent memento of the Finger Lakes or simply want to experience a familiar landscape through a fresh perspective, the exhibit offers a deep dive into local geography.
The Flick Gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at 127 Main Street in Penn Yan. Admission is free, and select artwork on display is available for purchase.
