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Join us for Community Insights, where community members relate their work and experience to the art on view at the Buffalo AKG.  This month, Carrie Marcotte, Program Director at Starlight Studios, and artist Larell Potter will share the work of Starlight Studios in relation to Clyfford Still: A Legacy for Buffalo. 
  
Starlight Studio and Art Gallery
Starlight Studio and Art Gallery is a cooperative environment that supports adults with disabilities in their artistic development. Through technical assistance from professional artists, on-site and off-site exhibitions, and other opportunities for representation and sales, the Starlight artists hone their artistic interests and become stronger advocates and better integrated citizens. 

Carrie Marcotte

Arts and working with others are themes running through Carrie Marcotte’s life.  She is the founding director of Starlight Studio and Art Gallery, which is a division of Beyond Support Network.  With an emphasis on supporting choice, independence and self-expression, the studio and gallery opened in Downtown Buffalo in 2005.  At Starlight, adults with disabilities work in an open-art studio environment to make the art they want to make.  

All aspects of Starlight Studio are strengthened by its involvement in the broader community. 

Exploring the city feeds the always curious Starlight artists. Their travels may take them to museums, galleries, parks, beaches, thrift stores, farmer’s markets, libraries, or architectural walks to name a few destinations. The public is invited into its on-site gallery for art openings, sales, and weekday viewing hours. The artists also enjoy showing their work at various locations in the community from galleries and offices to restaurants. Starlight also invites artists from the community to conduct workshops, show their art, and talk about their art. 

Carrie has a Master of Arts degree in Art Therapy. She worked as an art therapist in addiction treatment settings before accepting a job in the Education Department at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery as the coordinator of the Matter at Hand program.  There she worked with individuals across the life span with a range of disabilities in the museum setting.  She led interactive tours of the museum that were individualized to address the needs of the group members.  These tours were followed by art-making experiences.  Carrie also led efforts to employ universal design concepts to achieve greater museum access. While at the Albright-Knox she was involved with the Museum Access Consortium based in New York City and Art Beyond Sight Around the World.

 

Larell Potter

“Life is art, art is life.” This is Larell Potter’s philosophy. Gifted with the ability to refresh the overlooked tidbits of everyday life, Larell reclaims the discarded. Adding images influenced by TV or embossing these castoffs into glistening treasures, he revitalizes the world into a distinct narrative that is completely his own. “Everything has the possibility to be turned into art.”

The opening reception for Potter's current exhibition, Larell Potter: Our Better Angels, will take place on December 1, from 7 to 9 pm at BICA.

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