1. Artists find creative sanctuary in The Church
“I feel like I can be a little braver here because I can shut the door, it’s just me. I don’t feel like there [are] all these eyes on every decision that I make,” Baxter explains. “It’s nice to have that privacy so you can make a really ugly painting and not worry about it. There’s a freedom here that I really like.” 

2. The man behind the mural Samson Contompasis

Artist Samson Contompasis adds figures to his portrait of Henry Johnson, on Henry Johnson Blvd, Albany. Photo by Richard Lovrich.

3. Life as collage: inside the mind of Michael Oatman

“I kind of like having a house that’s equal parts studio, school, storage facility and, I don’t know, lair in the super villain sense,” Michael Oatman. Photo by Richard Lovrich.

4. In Ply celebrates the art of local skate culture

“The show itself is not so much about just skateboarding, but about the community of it and how there are so many creators and artists involved in the skate community,” curator Belinda Colón says.

5. Tabitha Spectra’s room of wonders at Albany Barn

“This bat skull will become a necklace pendant soon,” she says. Photo by Richard Lovrich

6. Permanent sketching with tattoo artist Courtney Covino

Asked to sum up her life, Courtney says simply, “I create.” Photo by Richard Lovrich.

7. Capital Walls is transforming Albany and empowering artists

“This piece is called ‘Journey.’ It is about immigrants. I wanted to show the positive side of immigration as a whole journey because I feel like the image we get is very negative that doesn’t paint the whole picture for me. There is hope, there are dreams, there is some beauty there and I wanted to communicate that here,” Arzu Fallahi. Photo by Richard Lovrich

8. Parappa artist brings his characters and creativity to Catskill

“It’s been tremendously inspiring,” says Greenblat on living in Catskill. “I think in New York City there is so much pressure there from every angle and you don’t even notice it.  Photo by Richard Lovrich.

9. Exploring Thom Breitenbach’s art castle

Painter, architect, playwright, composer, writer Thom lives in a castle, he built with his own hands in Altamont New York. Photo by Richard Lovrich.

10. Alex Waters and the art of control

Despite his efforts at control in his work, there is the sense that a random moment in a process has been frozen, its progress stayed by his intent. Photo by Richard Lovrich.