The highly popular “Cat Art Show,” which has been known to bring out the largest number of art lovers to any opening at Beacon’s Howland Public Library, will return to the library with a gala opening on Saturday, July 8, 2023 from 5 to 7 pm. This year’s “Cat Art Show,” which will include a wide variety of cat-themed artworks, will once again be curated by its founder and local artist, Jean Noack.

According to Noack, “We not only had a great turnout at the 2017 opening, many quality pieces were purchased by attendees. And we look forward to even higher attendance and sales at this year’s show.”

The 2023 “Cat Art Show” will feature work by new and returning local artists utilizing everything from paint and canvas to cameras to something called “wet-felted” cat fur employed by Noack herself. Says Noack, “I took a week-long class on wet felting of wool at the Fletcher Farm School for the Art and Crafts in Ludlow, VT, and have applied the method to cat fur to create framed artworks.”

Another popular local artist participating in the 2023 “Cat Art Show” is Anna West of Beacon. West not only paints cats but has contributed to their welfare by holding a fundraiser in 2022 where she accepted "commissions" to paint people's cats then contributed the funds to Talk To Me About Cats of Newburgh, NY.

West, whose paintings are currently on display at the Emerge Gallery in Kingston, NY, is representative of the many active artists who make up the thriving Beacon-area arts community and whose work will celebrate our feline friends at the 2023 “Cat Art Show.”

Other artwork will be provided by Markie Baylash, Jennifer Sarah Blakeslee, Tom Conroy, Jan Dolan, Cindy Gould, Mary Fetherolf, Stephanie Fogarty, Mary Ann Glass, Susan Keiser, Mandy Kelso, Philomena Kiernan, Barbara Lipp, William A. Loeb, Peter McGivney, Jean Noack, Rosemany Braghieri Rednour, Noah Rosaler, Chris Sanders, Eleni Smolen, Anna West, Bill Winter, and Trisha Wright

Artists whose work sells will donate a portion of the sale price to an animal charity of their choice.