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Panel Discussion On Making Her Mark
Panel Discussion on
Making Her MarK:
50 Women Artists of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony
The Historical Society of Woodstock presents a panel discussion on our current exhibition, Making Her Mark: 50 Women Artists of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony, on Saturday, August 9, 2025, at 2:00 p.m., at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock, N.Y. The panel, moderated by Deborah Heppner of the Board of Directors of the Historical Society, will feature Karen King, Melinda Rohland Meister, Jenne Currie, and Paula Nelson, all of whom have deep connections to artists represented in the exhibition. Admission is free.
Karen King, a long-time visitor and current resident of Woodstock, first visited the area in 1980 with her husband Jason King. Jason is the great-grandson of Florence Ballin Cramer and Konrad Cramer. They live in the farmhouse that they purchased in 1923. Florence and Konrad left behind a wealth of information about their lives, so it’s been interesting wading through all this information. Some of her interests include genealogy, house history research and learning about Woodstock’s history. Prior to moving to Woodstock, she enjoyed a career as a counselor and academic advisor at a community college in Maryland.
Melinda Rohland Meister holds two degrees in English literature, a University of Maryland BA and a University of Chicago, MA. She is author of two monographs and catalogue raisonnés on Woodstock artists Paul Rohland and Caroline Speare Rohland: Paul Herman Rohland, Woodstock Artist, and Caroline Speare Rohland, A Bohemian Bostonian 1885–1964. She is a grandniece of the artists. Prior to her research on the Rohlands, other than art reference entries, little was known about them. Encouraged by Bruce Weber and author Avis Berman, she pieced together family stories, auction records, images, exhibition records, letters, and newspaper articles, creating detailed narratives for these 20th century Modernists. She has made the monographs available to all institutions and museums interested in or housing their works. After six years in New York, Meister and her family spent ten years in Latin America. On her return to New Jersey in 1981, she began non-profit work in the arts and historic preservation. She is presently serving on boards for the National Society of Colonial Dames of America.
Jenne Currie is the daughter of longtime Woodstock artists Bruce Currie and Ethel Magafan and an artist in her own right. After living a bohemian lifestyle in New York City for 35 years, she settled back in Woodstock in 2011. In 2023, Jenne was invited to have a two person exhibition in Venice, Italy at the Castello 925 Gallery. She has exhibited widely in prestigious New York City venues such as Salander O’Reilly Gallery, Seligmann Galleries, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as institutions such as the Schenectady Museum, Munson Williams Proctor Institute, Columbus Museum in Ohio, Silvermine Guild in New Canaan, Connecticut and Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Jenne is a multidisciplinary artist who works with welded steel, wooden wall constructions, mixed media, collage and painting. She is currently an instructor at the Woodstock School of Art.
Paula Nelson is an artist who has lived in Woodstock since 1966, having studied with Robert Angeloch at the Art Students League Summer School. She eventually became the League’s Registrar and subsequently worked with Angeloch and others to form the Woodstock School of Art. Nelson held key positions at the WSA – serving as its first Vice-president and Registrar, and later Executive Director and President. Nelson has been an Active Member of the Woodstock Artists Association since 1968, and for six years the resident director of WAA’s Jane Burr House. Throughout her years of involvement with Woodstock’s art community, Nelson continued her own studio work in oil, watercolor, etching, lithography and block printing. She received various honors including the Yasuo Kuniyoshi Award and the Sally Jacobs/Phoebe Towbin Award, and has juried and curated exhibitions throughout her career.
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.