Making the most of the arts - by David Ambro for The Smithtown News
After more than a decade building her business as an artist in Smithtown, Susan Buroker has added a finishing touch - a gallery.
Ms. Buroker opened the bblg gallery in the office building at 22 Lawrence Avenue in Smithtown seven months ago, transforming her studio into a fine arts showcase. It is a space where visitors are welcomed by Ms. Buroker's Little Fish Scuppets on display in the lobby. On the gallery walls is the artwork of Ms. Buroker and seven Long Island artists represented by the gallery: Sal Moccia, Helen Grimm, Pete Hocking, Joe Harrison, Suzette Lebenzon and Susie Frost. The gallery schedule and more information about the artists is available at bblggallery.com.
HEADS UP: The owner of the bblg gallery Susan Buroker (left) and gallery assistant Hayley Jackson (right) with Scuppets (from left) nitrogen, yellow perch and blue gill in the lobby of 22 Law- rence Avenue in Smithtown. The Scuppets are made by students in Ms. Buroker's studio and used in an educational program, one of her many endeavors in the arts.
In addition to the gallery, Ms. Buroker has a studio in the Lawrence Avenue building, as well as classroom space where she provides private lessons. In the classroom space, she creates interactive large-scale sculpted puppets (SCUPPETS) of which three of the 10 characters, nitrogen, blue gill and yellow perch, are on display in the lobby. They are used in the Little Fish multidisciplinary show created and directed by Ms. Buroker and performed in schools through Western Suffolk BOCES.
Susan Buroker in her gallery
It is a performance that brings together art and science in a dynamic demonstration of the impact nitrogen pollution has on aquatic life. The show, which is performed in local schools and includes a question and answer session, is based on Miller's Pond on Maple Avenue in Smithtown.
Ms. Buroker also works with the Smithtown School District on the storm drain program, When it Rains it Drains, which is intended to raise awareness about the damage that can be caused by dumping the wrong things down street drains. She and art students from local schools paint area storm drains to make them stand out in the public eye.
She also does public installations of sculptures, the most recent at the Heckscher Museum of Art's Dove/Torr Cottage in Centerport. It is a stainless steel kinetic sculpture inspired by the artwork of Helen Torr to celebrate the Heckscher's 25th anniversary as stewards of the historic site on the Titus Mills Pond. She called the Huntington-based Heckscher Museum a "sleeping giant" and said the sculpture installation at the Dove-Torr Cottage was a lot of fun to work on.
Originally from Sayville, Ms. Buroker married a Smithtown man and they moved here 46 years ago. "I absolutely love it," she said, during an interview in the gallery last week. Ms. Buroker has worked in the arts all of her life. She moved into the Lawrence Avenue space about 10 years ago.
Ms. Buroker said she was busy working on multiple interesting projects in the arts when the COVID pandemic struck. She said the Smithtown Youth Bureau called her during the pandemic and asked if she would do art classes on Zoom. "I did it for them during COVID and now I still teach Zoom classes," she said. "I would send them a Zoom link, tell them the supplies they needed, and we would do a painting. It was really, really wonderful and it grew. It made a wonderful experience for children during COVID."
During COVID Ms. Buroker's advisor for a master's program she's involved with started an art group. She joined and that led her to start painting more and more and selling her work. As the pandemic abated, she started to think about having shows. She began in a space at the Suffolk YJCC in Commack, which was a successful and wonderful experience.
"It just seemed natural after that to turn this into a gallery," Ms. Buroker said.
In the beginning it was the only space in the building she had, so it was both a studio and a gallery. She would paint in the space and then roll all of her paint supplies and materials out and use it as a display space for an opening.
"Now, it's just a gallery. For seven months now it has been just a gallery," Ms. Buroker said.
There will be an opening March 22 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for a show by Mr. Moccia. "It is a great community experience. People come in, they meet the artist and it is exciting," she said. Mr. Moccia's show will be highlighted but the work of the other represented artists will also be on display.
There will be a show by all of the bblg artists that will open April 26, Joe Harrison May 10, Ms. Buroker July 12... all from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and open to the public.
"It's been going great," Ms. Buroker said about the gallery. "The community has been so supportive. It has been really exciting. I love the events because it brings the community together and people have an opportunity to learn about the arts."
In addition to shows by the artists represented by the gallery, Ms. Buroker holds artist talks at the gallery featuring artists from all over Long Island. She also sells a lot of art online.
The gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is also open by appointment. Call 631-672-1316 for information or email bblg.gallery@gmail.com.
"People should come and visit us. We are friendly people. We have a lot of great art. The art is contemporary, but we have some realism, too. We have something for everyone," Ms. Buroker concluded. "And the gallery is always open online."
David Ambro
The Smithtown News - March 7, 2024