Chronology

1972

Born, Long Island, New York.

1977

Received first camera - a Kodak Instamatic, beginning a love affair with photography.

1987 - 1990

Took first classes in photography at Shoreham Wading River High School with teacher, Karen Peterson - acquiring camera and darkroom basics. She suggested we photograph whatever interested us, encouraged experimentation and provided support for my early efforts.

1989

Attended exhibition, Personal Exposures, the work of Magnum photographer, Elliott Erwitt at the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York. At an intimate accompanying talk and slide show met Erwitt who offered me enthusiastic words of encouragement.

Photographed the Parrish Art Museum’s permanent outdoor collection The Caesars, two rows of marble busts copied from originals displayed in the Vatican, Rome.

1990

Entered Long Island high school student photography competition. Won scholarship to the summer photography program at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York.

Traveled to Nassau, Bahamas; photographed local fishermen at the port.

Entered Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA to study photojournalism. Frequented Washington D.C.; worked on a photo essay about the homeless problem in the city.

1991

June; photographed 'Operation Welcome Home,' the ticker-tape parade for Persian Gulf War troops in New York City.

Transferred to Syracuse University to study photojournalism at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Attended talk at Syracuse University by Philadelphia based documentary photographer, David H. Wells, who discussed his recent documentary projects.

1991-1994

Worked at Light Work while studying at Syracuse University. Light Work is a renowned artist-run nonprofit photography organization founded in 1973 to support international, national and local photographers. Assisted with exhibitions and publications at Light Work and Robert B. Menschel Galleries, as well as with visiting Artist-in-Residence photographers. Assistant at Light Work’s Community Darkrooms where I was also a member. 

The Light Work community of photographers provided an important environment for self discovery; an alternative to a certain kind of oppressiveness I found in my academic education. Assistant Director, Amy Hufnagel, became a supporter of my photographic journey that continued beyond Syracuse. 

1992

Met and photographed, Patricia Ireland, president of NOW (National Organization of Women), for Syracuse University's independent newspaper, The Daily Orange. Ireland was in Syracuse attending a fundraiser for NOW's "Elect Women For A Change" campaign.

April 5; traveled to Washington D.C. to photograph a Pro-Choice march and rally organized by NOW and generated by a case before the U.S. Supreme Court many feared might overturn Roe v. Wade. It was one of the largest protest marches on the capital in the nation’s history.

Summer; interned at Impact Visuals, New York, New York, an international cooperative photo agency dedicated to social change through documentary photography. Mel Rosenthal, Artist-in-Residence at Light Work and a co-founder of Impact Visuals befriended and assisted me in securing the internship. Tasked with organizing images from archive of Afrapix (1982-1991). Afrapix, was a South African documentary photographers' collective and photo agency,  established in 1982 by a small group of political activists and 'black' and 'white' photographers. Afrapix played a seminal role in the development of a socially informed school of documentary photography in apartheid South Africa - the period was known as the “struggle years."

At Syracuse University, studied with visiting journalism professor, J. Bruce Baumann, photo editor for The Pittsburgh Press.

1993

Attended Master of Photography Workshop with photographer, Professor Yoshi Higa at Long Island University’s Southampton College, Southampton.

Summer; worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory photography department, Upton, New York. Toured world renowned RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) with photographer, Roger Stoutenburgh, who was documenting the facility.

Late August; traveled to Europe; studied at Syracuse University’s London Centre with Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, John Kaplan.

September-December; photographed London street scenes, British Middleweight Boxing Championship at York Hall and worked on a picture story about gay and lesbian Londoners that included the Stonewall organization protesting age of consent laws at Parliament.

Photographic daytrips to Stonehenge, Amesbury, Brighton, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and toured Royal Photographic Society Museum in Bath (founded in 1853). Extended photographic trip to the Cornwall Peninsula: Mousehole, St. Ives, Penzance and the tidal island, St. Michael’s Mount. Fall break; visited Ireland and France.

October 15; visited the recently completed facilities of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium with a small group of fellow political science students and distinguished Professor Cathune Cape. Accompanied by her husband, British Ambassador Donald Cape, who introduced us to members of the EU Commission for a sit-down.

December; included in an exhibition of work from the semester with fellow photography students at Royalty Studios in Kensington: Rob Curtis, Tracy Gitnick, Paul Hu, Kevin Jacobus, Evan Kafka, Jessica Mann, Ian Martin, Jenn Poggi, Rebecca Soderholm, Helene Steinberg, Sara Trueblood, Stephanie Welsh and Amy Woods (Williams).

Frequented art and photography bookstore, Zwemmer’s, a Charing Cross Road institution, where I discovered the photography of Eugène Atget thanks to Berenice Abbott’s, The World of Atget.

September-December; frequently visited The National Gallery, Tate Modern and the British Museum. Attended performance of the London Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House (built in 1732) and weekly classical music concerts at the Royal Festival Hall - one featuring mezzo soprano, Cecilia Bartoli; Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre; Royal Albert Hall and St. John’s Smith Square boys choir concert commemorating the 250th anniversary of the death of Thomas Archer, architect of St John’s Smith Square.

1993-1994

Traveled and photographed solo throughout Scandinavia and Continental Europe including; Copenhagen, Bruges, Berlin, Prague, Vienna; visited the Louvre and Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; Florence’s Gothic, Il Duomo and the Uffizi Gallery with Giotto’s stunning Ognissanti altarpiece. Walked most of Venice on Christmas Day, spent New Year’s in Interlaken in the Swiss Alps, explored Rome - the Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain (à la Fellini) and the Mouth of Truth.

1994

Early spring; returned to United States.

Late spring; visited the San Francisco Bay Area to see a friend from my travels in Europe.

May; graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science in photojournalism and dual minors in art history and French.

Prepared for a summer trip to Haiti to document a Syracuse University educational excursion with anthropology Professor William ‘Bill’ Waters and a small group of students - cancelled due to violence ignited by an erupting political crisis connected to a military coup in 1991. The situation was resolved in the fall of 1994, when the U.S. negotiated a peaceful settlement, entered the country (Operation Uphold Democracy) and restored Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power.

Late summer; set out on a month long cross country road trip with a London roommate. Upon arriving in San Francisco in the fall I decided to stay. In subsequent road trips, I criss-crossed the United States. In the course of my travels visited nearly all fifty states.

Fall; attended Revolving Histories exhibition at San Francisco Camerawork that included photographer, Yuri Marder whom I befriended when he was Artist-in-Residence at Light Work in Syracuse; Shirin Neshat at Haines Gallery and Garry Winogrand: The Sixties at Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Attended John Lee Hooker performance at an Oakland blues club.

1995

Assistant; New Image Stock Photo Agency / Sports Chrome, San Francisco Bay area. Managed the agency while owner was on safari in Africa. Clients included: Nike, Bay Area advertising agencies, McCann Erickson and BBDO Worldwide.

Freelance location scout/assistant to travel, nature and wildlife photographer, Christi Carter. Traveled and photographed California extensively: Bay Area, Anza-Borrego Desert, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, Santa Cruz, Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Mendocino County.

March; attended Lee Friedlander: The Little Screens at Fraenkel Gallery.

Spring; invited to a performance at the University of California, Berkeley, by friend and dancer, Larry Keigwin, who was performing The Whispers of Angels with the experimental dance company, David Roussève/REALITY. In 2003, Keigwin founded the dance company, Keigwin + Company in New York City.

October 12; attended Métis exhibition and slide presentation at San Francisco Camerawork, curated by Jane Levy Reed, critic and historian of photography. The exhibition highlighted eleven French photographers from the Paris based fine art and documentary photography collective, Agence Métis.

1994-1996

Member: Friends of Photography, Ansel Adams Center; Mother Jones Photo Documentary Fund and San Francisco Camerawork, a nonprofit center for photography founded in 1974 whose mission is to encourage and support emerging photographers.

Frequented San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and photography galleries; Fraenkel, Haines and Robert Koch.

Solo Photographic trips to: Big Sur, Bodega Bay, Chico, Yosemite National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore and Napa Valley. Frequently visited friend from London, Paul Hu, staff photographer for the Long Beach Press Telegram in the Los Angeles area.

Developed and printed personal photographs at Harvey Milk Photo Center public darkroom in San Francisco.

Feelings of dissatifaction with my choice of photojournalism spawn a period of reexamination. Something essential was missing. I felt an incompatibility with my early aspirations and a sense of unfreedom. There was another path I was seeking.  The photographer, Brassaï once said, “Artists…have to undergo a protracted apprenticeship of 'unlearning'.”

1996

March 28; attended Tina Modotti: Photographs exhibition at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

August; returned to the East Coast.

Had lunch in New York City with London photography friends Evan Kafka and Paul Hu with pilgrimage to photo bookstore, A Photographer's Place, on Mercer Street in Soho.

Visited with London and Syracuse friend, photographer, Jenn Poggi. Toured her workplace, the Associated Press offices in Rockefeller Center, NYC where I was contemplating a position. Poggi went on to serve as White House Photo Editor and Deputy Director during the Obama Administration.

1996-1997

August 1996; secured a position at the fledgling Yancey Richardson Gallery in Soho. The gallery would become one of the preeminent dealers of fine art photography in the country. Assisted at AIPAD (The Association of International Photography Art Dealers). Gallery stable artists, Bruce Cratsley and Andrew Moore, gave support to my photographic search.

Freelance U.S. representative for Assignment Asia - Hong Kong based international photography agency headed by photographer, Paul Hu. Edited reportage film, developed contacts and promoted Hu's work through meetings with photo editors of Paris Match, Der Spiegel, New York Times and other publications in New York City. Resulted in a notable photo story in the New York Times magazine. August 10,1997, "Robert McNamara and the Ghosts of Vietnam" written by David K. Shipler and photographs by Paul Hu on assignment in Vietnam.

1997

March; invited to the opening of Emerging Photographers at the Sag Harbor Picture Gallery, Sag Harbor, New York by friend Evan Kafka who was included in the exhibition. The narrow brick walled gallery was packed with artists, writers and musicians; among them, actor and writer, Spalding Gray, engaged in a Swimming to Cambodia style monologue accompanied by a saxophonist wearing a black beret. This vibrant community seemed like a good place to be, while contemplating the next step of my journey.

May; secured a position at the Sag Harbor Picture Gallery directed by photo editor and photojournalist agent, Jocelyn Benzakin. Benzakin founded the SIPA photo agency and JB Pictures in New York City. Assisted with installation of exhibition, Views of Mexico that included works by Abbas, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Graciela Iturbide, Paul Strand and Mariana Yampolsky.

June 1; met my future husband the painter, Patrick Mealey in Sag Harbor. Began a conversation about art and life that continues to this day. Drawn to its historic art community, Patrick moved to the Hamptons in 1984 after receiving his MFA from the University of Minnesota.

Patrick introduced me to his former professor, mentor and longtime friend, New York School painter, Raymond Hendler. After retiring as a full professor from the University of Minnesota, Hendler relocated to East Hampton with his wife, Mary Rood in 1986, with the hopes of re-entering the New York art world.

June; attended opening at historic Elaine Benson Gallery in Bridgehampton with Raymond and Patrick. The exhibition, Old Friends included Warren Brant, Robert Dash, Jane Freilicher, Fay Lansner, John Opper and Larry Rivers. Met the legendary gallery owner, Elaine Benson. The gallery established in 1965 was a Hampton's institution even before it was 'the Hamptons.' Through the years Elaine exhibited New York School giants who summered in the Hamptons, as well as lesser known and emerging artists.

Accompanied Patrick and Raymond to annual summer party at the Springs home and studios of Raymond's longtime friend, Robert Richenburg and his wife Margaret Kerr. In attendance were figures from the New York School, as well as members of the Hamptons art community.

Attended Aaron Siskind: Photographs 1944 -1963, an exhibition curated by Andrew Roth at Glenn Horowitz Bookseller in East Hampton (catalogue essay by Peter C. Bunnell). Among the selection were images that Siskind chose for the first monograph on his work published in 1959 with text by art historian and critic, Harold Rosenberg. Experienced first-hand Siskind's, "things felt as things seen."

July 14; assisted at the Bastille Day opening, Sag Harbor Picture Gallery; Gilles Peress: Europe in the 70's. Patrick and Raymond attended.

Filmed by actor, Roddy McDowall as he toured the exhibition at the Sag Harbor Picture Gallery with a hand held video camera.

August; attended opening for the Dealers Choice exhibition, at the East Hampton gallery of Arlene Bujese with Raymond and Patrick. Introduced to painter, Mary Abbott; jewelry maker, Ruth Nivola, the widow of sculptor, Costantino Nivola and painter, Athos Zacharias - Willem de Kooning's first studio assistant and longtime friend.

August 31; attended intimate talk, "Jackson Pollock: Man, Beast and Nature" given by the painter, Paul Brach and hosted by curator, Helen Harrison at the Pollock Krasner House in Springs. Raymond Hendler introduced me to friends, Brach and his wife the painter, Miriam Schapiro, as well as painter and former gallery owner, David Porter. In the 1940's Porter famously exhibited Willem de Kooning, Jimmy Ernst, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko in his Washington D.C. gallery. Also visited with artists Robert and Marggy Richenburg and sculptor, Ibram Lassaw and his wife Ernestine.

September; attended James Brooks: Works on Paper, 1947-1979 exhibition at Glenn Horowitz Bookseller. Catalogue essays by Mike Solomon and Irving Sandler.

November; attended opening Long Island Photography at Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton with Patrick and Raymond.

Raymond wanted to give me a drawing. I chose, Living in the Woods, 1996 because it reminded me of his home and studio in Northwest Woods, East Hampton. He inscribed it, To Joyce, For being. Raymond H.

1998

Attended reading at Book Hampton, by Helen Gee from her memoir; Limelight: A Greenwich Village Photography Gallery and Coffeehouse in the 50's. Introduced to the legendary pioneer, Helen Gee by Raymond - the two were old friends from Greenwich Village days.

June; attended exhibition Old Friends at the Elaine Benson Gallery with Patrick and Raymond. The annual exhibition highlighted well-known East End artists whose careers were linked to the gallery's 30+ year history. Exhibitors included: Sidney Butchkes, Rae Ferren, widow of the painter John Ferren, Roy Lichtenstein, Charlotte Park, widow of James Brooks, Raymond Parker, David Porter and Saul Steinberg. Met Rae Ferren.

June 20; Raymond Hendler sadly passed away. In one short year we spent significant time getting to know one another. I found in him a kindred spirit. Ray became a dear friend who has had a profound and incalculable impact on my life and work. I will never forget his powerful voice, indomitable spirit and the ethical way he lived. He had an uncanny ability to say just how he felt, in a most succinct original way. One of the last things he said to me was how much he loved all my "Joycean things."

July 11; attended with Patrick, Ray's memorial at his home in Northwest Woods. Also in attendance: Mary Rood Hendler, Beatrice Hendler, Mary Abbott, Fay Lansner, David Slivka, Ibram and Ernestine Lassaw, Miriam Schapiro, Paul Brach, Regina Cherry, widow of Herman Cherry and Ray's old friend and former student, John Plume.

July 12; attended annual Richenburg summer party in Springs with Patrick and John Plume. Robert Richenburg paid tribute to his friend of 50 years with a moment of silence. He also wrote a eulogy for Ray's obituary, in the East Hampton Star; "With Ray Hendler's passing we lose a rare and tough individualist who insisted on seeing things his way. He has left us a legacy both harsh and profound. He was an astonishing designator who made marks that enable us to enter his vision of the world. I will miss him."

Fall; spent a month in New York City with Patrick. Attended the Jackson Pollock: Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art; Mark Rothko exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art with highlights: the Temple of Dendur, 'The Rembrandts' and David Smith's impressive stainless steel sculpture, Becca.

Purchased Omega enlarger and darkroom equipment at an East Hampton garage sale and a circa 1949 vintage Rolleiflex (my camera of choice) from the East Hampton Star classifieds. Set up my first personal darkroom in our East Hampton home.

1999

Spring; moved into an 1810 Greek Revival on Madison Street in Sag Harbor.

June 1; married Patrick Mealey at Barcelona Neck Beach and small reception at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor.

Two week honeymoon camping trip through New England - destination Mt. Katadhin in Maine's Baxter State Park. Photographs include; lobstermen in Stonington, Maine and the historic and colorful seaside resort town of Salisbury, Massachusetts.

A photograph I took in Salisbury, "Weird Town" spoke in ways - new to me. The enigma it presented would inform the direction of my journey for many years. It was a first real 'glimpse' of the content I was chasing.

Late June; attended exhibition, Old Friends at Elaine Benson Gallery. Exhibitors included: Mary Abbott, Paul Brach, Herman Cherry, Connie Fox, Miriam Schapiro and Saul Steinberg.

Summer; composer Marvin Hamlisch moved in next door. His wife, Terre Blair, introduced herself to us as our new neighbor. While working in my garden was treated to a serenade by film legend, Lauren Bacall, accompanied by Hamlisch on the piano during a back yard fundraiser.

August; attended opening of the Annual Artist Springs Invitational at Ashawagh Hall in Springs.

2000

August; attended Willem de Kooning exhibition, In Process at Guild Gall, East Hampton.

November 18; attended Parrish Art Museum talk by photographer, Graciela Iturbide, in conjunction with her exhibition, Taking to Heart the Mexican Soul. I first learned of her work while hanging the 1997 exhibition, Views of Mexico at the Sag Harbor Picture Gallery.

2000 - 2001

Assisted friend, Mary Rood Hendler, providing consultation and support with her new gallery, Gallery Rood, in Eastport, New York.

September; attended opening of the gallery's inaugural exhibition, Avant-Garde of the Fifties and Now. Featured in the exhibition were artists who were involved in the historic Ninth Street or Stable Gallery exhibitions in New York City. Included were artists: Mary Abbott, James Brooks, L. Alcopley, Elaine de Kooning, Robert DeNiro Sr, Jimmy Ernst, Peter Grippe, Salvatore Grippe, Raymond Hendler, Albert Kotin, Ibram Lassaw, Conrad Marca-Relli, Fred Mitchell, Costantino Nivola and Joseph Stefanelli. In attendance were exhibitors: Mary Abbott, Peter Grippe, Ibram Lassaw, Fred Mitchell and Joseph Stefanelli, as well as Regina Cherry, Ernestine Lassaw and Dallas Ernst, the widow of artist, Jimmy Ernst. The show was reviewed by Helen Harrison for the New York Times and Eric Ernst for the Southampton Press.

This exhibition was conceived in conjunction with the publication of the book, "New York School Abstract Expressionists: Artist's Choice by Artists" edited by Marika Herskovic who was also in attendance. Herskovic, an art collector and historian, would later become a support and sounding board throughout my mission to help ensure Raymond Hendler's contribution to modern art would not be forgotten.

2001

Interested in learning more about my friend, Raymond Hendler - began listening to hours and hours of audio tapes of classes, talks and symposiums to better understand his thinking. Though he was gone, I found that through his words and art I would get to know him better.

March; visited Patrick's hometown of Minneapolis. Photographed surviving mills of the city's flour milling heyday.

Spring; our honeymoon experience inspired us to make a permanent move to coastal Down East Maine.

June; house hunting in Maine. Photographed the Hampton Beach, New Hampshire area and other sites along the way - produce the Cape Henlopen triptych.

July; exhibition, Mary Abbott: Selected Works at Gallery Rood, provided consultation and assisted New York School Abstract Expressionist painter, Mary Abbott.

July 28; attended opening, Charles W. Taylor at Gallery Rood.

Summer; met and chatted with new next door neighbor, photographer, Cindy Sherman, at our respective yard sales. She wished us well on our impending move to Maine, likening us to pioneers.

Photographed the vanishing Hamptons.

September 22; attended talk at Gallery Rood; Charles W.Taylor. Attendees included: curator, Barbara Hollister, who published the catalog Charles W. Taylor (1922-1997); art collectors and historians, Marika and Dr. Thomas Herskovic and painter, Jean Cohen, former wife of painter, Alex Katz.

November; assisted with the exhibition, Fifties and Sixties at Gallery Rood. Exhibited: L. Alcopley, Bob Blackburn, Herman Cherry, Raymond Hendler and Fred Mitchell; reviewed by Phyllis Braff for the New York Times and Eric Ernst, Southampton Press.

December 1; left behind an increasingly hyper-gentrified Hamptons for a rural antique farmhouse on 8.5 acres bordering Boyden Lake.

2002

Began to restore our c.1890 landmark home establishing his and hers studios.

2003 - 2004

Feeling stalled with my work spent a period exploring painting. Dissatisfied with this avenue for myself, I returned to photography further convinced that it was my way. I was reminded that David Smith began as a painter but soon found that he was better suited to the 3 dimensions of sculpture.

2005 - 2009

Photographed in and around rural Down East Maine. In 2009, produced the series, Far From the Madding Crowd - a turning point in my search.

2005

In tandem with my photographic search began researching the sixty year career of Raymond Hendler (1923-1998), starting with his time in Paris, New York and Philadelphia in the 1950's. Mindful that his friends and colleagues were quickly passing away and concerned with the legacy of my friend, I felt an urgency to find and document what was still out there. Conscious of renewed interest of mid-century American artists and a potential for reexamination, I wished to leave no stone unturned. 

Reviewed numerous rolls of microfilm from the Smithsonian Institution's, Archives of American Art collections related to Hendler Galleries, Rose Fried Gallery and Raymond's time in Paris, New York and Philadelphia. Started a search to locate paintings sold in private and public hands - supplying collectors with current information and activities of the estate.

Recreated Hendler Galleries exhibition calendar using Art Digest and Art in Focus magazines, as well as ephemera. Hendler ran the ground breaking avant-garde gallery in Philadelphia from 1952-1954. Artists exhibited include: Paul-Émile Borduas, Willem de Kooning, Sam Feinstein, Sam Francis, Philip Guston, Shirley Jaffe, Franz Kline, George McNeil, Stephen Pace, Dimitri Petrov, Jackson Pollock, Melville Price, Milton Resnick, Robert Richenburg, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Ludwig Sander, Joseph Stefanelli, Yvonne Thomas and Jack Tworkov.

Corresponded and/or spoke with many individuals and organizations including:

Artists: Louise Bourgeois, Rae Ferren, Sanford Greenberg, Burt Hasen, Ben Herr, Shirley Jaffe, Paul Keene, Stephen Pace, Pat Passlof, Philip Pavia and his wife Natalie Edgar, Robert and Marggy Richenburg and Joseph Stefanelli.

Estates or family: Beatrice Hendler; Yseult Riopelle, Estate of Jean-Paul Riopelle; Rufus Zogbaum, Estate of Franz Kline; Lori Austin, Estate of Sanford Greenberg; Daniel Hantaï, Estate of Simon Hantaï; Jason Andrew, Estate of Jack Tworkov; Helen McNeil, Estate of George McNeil; Patricia Stark, Estate of Sam Feinstein; Barbara Price, Estate of Melville Price; Gwen Thomas, Estate of Yvonne Thomas and Nina Klippel, former wife of Robert Klippel.

Foundations: Debra Burchett-Lere, director, Sam Francis Foundation; Helen Harrison, director, Pollock Krasner Foundation; Valerie Hellstein PHD, researcher, Willem de Kooning Foundation.

Museums, historians, curators, institutions etc.: Martin Friedman, director emeritus, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Diane Mullin, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis; Christina Strassfield, Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton; Terrie Sultan and Trudy Kramer, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton; Sid Sachs, Director of Exhibitions at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia; Lynn Gumpert, Grey Art Gallery at New York University; Pepe Karmel, art historian and curator, NYU; Dr. François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas scholar; Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal - Borduas collection; Bill Scott, painter, art curator/critic; Barbara Hollister, curator and art historian; Deborah Edwards, senior museum curator, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, author of sculptor, Robert Klippel monograph; Amy Rule, archivist at the Center for Creative Photography, New Mexico; Ted Walbye, The Getty Research Institute Special Collections (Harold Rosenberg papers), Los Angeles; Naomi Nelson, Special Collections, Emory University, Atlanta; David Cohen, art critic/curator, Art Critical; Fred W. McDarrah, photographer; Nathaniel Kahn, filmmaker; Magda Salvesen, art historian and curator and wife of painter John Scheuler; Marika Herskovic, art historian and collector and Philip Von Blon, collector.

Galleries and private dealers: David McKee, McKee Gallery, NY; Louis Newman, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, NY; Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster Fine Arts, CT; Thomas McCormick, Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago; Vivian Bullaudy and Hollis Taggart, Hollis Taggart Gallery, NY; Dorsey Waxter, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, NY; Anita Shapolsky, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, NY; David Cowan, Acme Fine Art, Boston; Ro Lohin, Lohin Geldud Gallery, NY; Franz Freidrich, Studio 18 Gallery, NY; Elodie Rahard, Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris and Carlos Zeitschel, Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich.

Collections: Gwen Bitz, Walker Art Center; Weisman Art Museum; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Cynthia Hendricks, Minneapolis College of Art and Design; Markus J. Löw, Ciba Geigy; Joanne Del Rio, curator, Novartis (formerly Ciba Geigy); Alan Reed, curator, St. John's University, MN; University of New Mexico; University of Notre Dame, Indiana; Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India.

Provided information, material and ephemera to estates and institutions to strengthen historic record and highlight Raymond's involvement with artists that include: Willem de Kooning, Sam Francis, Franz Kline, Robert Klippel, Jackson Pollock, George McNeil, Milton Resnick, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Jack Tworkov.

February; wrote letter to art historian, Stephen Foster, inquiring about any information he might have about Franz Kline's relationship with Raymond Hendler. The two had a close decade long friendship until Kline's death in 1962. Foster was working on a Kline monograph and curated the 1994/95 European exhibition: Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity, one of the most important exhibitions of Kline's work to date. He was aware of Hendler's relationship with Kline from his research and interviews with surviving friends and Dan Rice, Kline's studio assistant.

Foster was also a private art dealer, Stephen Foster Fine Arts. His stable included: Ana Mendieta, Knox Martin, Kenneth Noland and the estate of New York School painter, Stanley Boxer. In the course of our discussions he inquired as to the status of the estate and expressed an interest in representing Raymond's work.

April 10; phone call from Martin Friedman, director emeritus, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. He described Ray as, "the spokesman of his generation."

July 24; visited Stephen and Pam Pace at their summer home and studio in Stonington, Maine. Shared fond memories of Ray.

August 1; Patrick and I met with Stephen Foster and wife, art historian, educator and curator, Estera Milman, at their restored Tudor mansion in New London, CT. Made arrangements for them to meet Mary Rood Hendler and see Raymond's work. Discussed possible approaches for Hendler's reintroduction.

August 12; we met with Foster, Milman and Mary at her home/gallery on Long Island.

The estate of Raymond Hendler was represented by Stephen Foster Fine Arts from 2005-2007.

2006

Spent the winter in the Hamptons.

Began an inventory of the body of work in the estate including some 300 paintings and over 3,000 works on paper. Preserved works on paper in archival sleeves. Digitized slides and began to photograph paintings that had never been photographed. Copied/scanned estate ephemera, as well as letters from Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Abe Ajay, Robert Klippel, Harry Gaugh, Thomas B. Hess, Harold Rosenberg, Dore Ashton, George McNeil and notes from Ray Parker, Louise Bourgeois, May Natalie Tabak (author and wife of art critic, Harold Rosenberg) and Malcolm Myers.

February; visited with Robert Richenburg and Marggy Kerr at their home in Springs. They generously shared ephemera related to the Hendler Galleries.

April 15; visited with Foster and Milman in New London on the way back to Maine.

November; trip to the Hamptons. Visited with friend, mystery writer, Harriet LaBarre, in her 1797 Sag Harbor whaling captain's home.

Attended exhibition, Twentieth Century Abstraction: Works on Paper, Spanierman Gallery, East Hampton. Artists included: Jimmy Ernst, John Graham, Gertrude Greene, Charlotte Park and Betty Parsons.

2007

Launched website, Fine Artist Research, to facilitate my work with the estate of Raymond Hendler and other artists. Included a selected retrospective of Hendler's paintings and brief biography. Invited collectors, friends and former students to contribute.

Fall; began a gallery representation search for the estate of Raymond Hendler. Corresponded with top New York City galleries.

Fall; trip to the Hamptons. Conceived, curated and promoted Raymond Hendler retrospective at Gallery Rood.

September; attended exhibition Women and Abstraction Then and Now at Spanierman Gallery. Exhibitors included: Mary Abbott, Perle Fine and Charlotte Park.

October - December; fielded phone call inquires and set up appointments with museums and gallery owners to see the work including: Mark Borghi, Mark Borghi Fine Art, New York and Bridgehampton; Christina Strassfield, Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton; Diane Mullin, Weisman Museum of Art, Minneapolis; Louis Newman, David Findlay Fine Art, New York City and Joan Washburn, Washburn Gallery, New York City.

2008

January; phone call from New York City gallery owner, Katharina Rich Perlow, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery. She expressed an interest in Hendler's work. Arranged meeting with Perlow and Mary Rood Hendler to see the work. Consulted through the entire process. Composed contract and secured representation for the estate of Raymond Hendler with Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery in the historic Fuller Building.

Hendler was included in a group exhibition while his reintroduction was planned. I aided with the consignment of artwork to be included in Hendler's debut exhibition with the help of: Marggy Kerr, Yseult Riopelle and Helen Harrison of the Pollock Krasner Foundation.

June 3 - July 16; Raymond Hendler and Artists from his 'Avant Garde' Circle. Artists included: Willem de Kooning, Sam Francis, Philip Guston, Shirley Jaffe, Franz Kline, George McNeil, Stephen Pace, Jackson Pollock, Milton Resnick, Yvonne Thomas, Ludwig Sander, Jack Tworkov, Robert Richenburg and Jean-Paul Riopelle. It was reviewed in the New York Sun by art critic/historian, David Cohen.

June; spent a month in New York City and attended the exhibition with Mary Rood Hendler.

June 25 - September 1; Exhibited at Gallery Rood, Joyce Jackson in 2 1/4: photographs from the last ten years and Chasing Paper: recent drawings by Patrick Mealey.

2009

Conceived, designed and launched a comprehensive website, raymondhendler.com. Included an essay written by Patrick about his friend and mentor entitled, "Raymond Hendler: Hero."

September; trip to the Hamptons. Conceived, curated and promoted exhibition, Raymond Hendler: Suitcase Paintings: Paris/New York (1949-1951) at Gallery Rood.

Sent announcements to prominent NYC galleries. Fielded inquiries and set up appointments for interior designers, collectors and galleries to see the work at Gallery Rood.

2010

Launched a nationwide campaign, contacting art historians and scholars in an effort to raise awareness of Raymond Hendler's work in hopes of generating a reexamination of the face of the New York School.

November; trip to the Hamptons. Conceived, curated and promoted exhibition, Raymond Hendler: Iconography at Gallery Rood.

Thanksgiving dinner at Mary Rood Hendler's gallery/living space with Mary, Patrick, painter (and first wife of Alex Katz), Jean Cohen; art consultant, Ed DiGuardia and Bertram Seides, architect and president of the Ketcham Inn Foundation. 

2010 - current

Continued to advance my photography. Found myself drawn to places that spoke to me, returning again and again to mine the possibilities. In his essay for Places: Aaron Siskind Photographs, art historian and critic, Thomas B. Hess, mirrored my experience:

"There is a photographer's need to return season after season, to certain specific subjects, just as Ingres would go back, over and over again, for a lifetime, to certain poses of the nude, to certain turns of the neck, undulations of the spine...there's an intuition by an artist that he's left something precious unaccounted for, some sapphires still are list in the mud of quotidian [everyday] experience."

2011

Launched campaign to spread awareness of Raymond Hendler to curators at museums in New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Paris (locations where he lived and worked).

November; trip to the Hamptons. Conceived, curated and promoted exhibition, Raymond Hendler: In Black & White at Gallery Rood. Compiled a large email list to aid the estate's activities that consisted of galleries, directors, collectors, architects, interior designers and curators.

Purchased an iMac, professional archival printer and a high quality scanner to scan my Rolleiflex 2-1/4 negatives, creating a digital darkroom.

2012

February; conceived, curated and promoted exhibition, Raymond Hendler: The Fifties Revisited, at Gallery Rood. The exhibition coincided with the 60th anniversary of Raymond's ground breaking, Hendler Galleries, Philadelphia's first 'avant-garde' gallery.

Contacted by Sid Sachs, Director of Exhibitions at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He was seeking a grant and wanted to discuss the possibility of an exhibition surrounding Hendler Galleries.

In connection with the potential exhibition began new research. Contacted painter, Ben Herr (Melville Price's assistant in the 1950's). Through our many phone conversations, Herr recounted memories of those halcyon days in Philadelphia, where he knew many of the New York School painters. A kindred spirit, he has become a friend and enthusiastic supporter.

Learned from Ben about Philadelphia based Art in Focus magazine published by Dorothy Grafly. Reviewed microfilmed copies of the magazine from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art from 1949-1980. Discovered Raymond Hendler was co-founder/member of Group' 55 (established in 1955), an art discussion group of some thirty Philadelphia painters - the goal was to show their work and have discussions and forums (open to the public). Ben described it as Philadelphia's counterpart to "The Club" in New York City. The inaugural exhibition, January 1956, included a forum with speakers: architect, Louis I. Kahn, composer, George Rochberg, painters, Sam Feinstein, Sam Fried, Raymond Hendler and Doris Staffel.

As a result my research I was able to contribute material to curator (and painter), Bill Scott for a chronology in the catalogue for the upcoming July exhibition, Doris Staffel: Painter, Teacher at Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia.

Summer visit to the Hamptons.

Contacted by Carlos Zeitschel of Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich, Switzerland in connection with an exhibition on Robert Klippel. Shared research and archival material with Galerie Gmurzynska that was included in their 2013 catalog, Robert Klippel: The American and European years. Material included photos of Klippel's work in progress and letters written to Raymond Hendler during their 50 years of correspondence. Letters and audio tapes reflect their art thinking and provide a unique and revealing glimpse into a friendship that began in post-war Paris.

Shared same material with longtime contact, Deborah Edwards, senior museum curator, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and scholar of Robert Klippel, Australia's most important sculptor.

July 7; attended reading by longtime friend and former Cosmopolitan editor, mystery writer, Harriet LaBarre, of her latest novel, Isabel, at the John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor.

July 23; conceived, curated and promoted exhibition, Raymond Hendler: Three Decades at Gallery Rood.

June-July; attended the Artists Alliance of East Hampton Member exhibit at Ashawagh Hall, as well as art fairs: ArtHamptons, Art Market Hamptons and Art Southampton at Nova's Ark Project.

August; attended exhibition at Mark Borghi Fine Art, Bridgehampton that included: John Chamberlain, Elaine de Kooning, Alex Katz, Mercedes Matter and Georgia O'Keefe; and Masterworks of European and American Art for the 21st Century at the Vered Gallery, East Hampton. Exhibit included; Milton Avery, Willem de Kooning, Romare Bearden, Jean Dubuffet, Perle Fine, Sam Francis, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Pablo Picasso and Man Ray.

August; arranged a meeting with Carlos Zeitschel and Mary Rood Hendler for an interview about her time studying art with Robert Klippel at Minneapolis Institute of Art in the 1960s.

2013

Spring; contacted by Daniel Hantaï who was preparing a catalogue to accompany the exhibition, Simon Hantaï : Retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. He was attempting to discover more about his father's involvement with Galerie Huit in the 1950's. While in Paris on the GI Bill, Raymond Hendler was a founding member of this, the first American Cooperative gallery in Europe. Members include: Sam Francis, Sidney Geist, Al Held, Shirley Jaffe and Jules Olitski. The Hungarian born, Hantaï, was the only non-American to exhibit. Daniel invited me to the opening in Paris and graciously sent a copy of the impressive accompanying 320 page catalogue that included my contributions about Raymond Hendler and Galerie Huit.

July 19; Art dealer, Martha Campbell contacted me and expressed an interest in Raymond Hendler's work. She and fellow art dealer, Christine Berry had both worked for many years as Directors at Spanierman Modern and Spanierman Gallery in New York City. Ira Spanierman was retiring and they were starting their own gallery. I had been in contact with Ira who previously expressed an interest. Martha and Christine became aware of Raymond Hendler as a result of my promotional efforts beginning in 2009 and from materials and resume I provided that were in the Spanierman Gallery files.

Spoke with Martha Campbell by phone - arranged a meeting between Martha, Christine and Mary Rood Hendler to see Raymond's work.

October; Consulted with contract, suggesting revisions that were implemented and Berry Campbell began representation. Provided inventory of available works, photographs, historical material, related documents, ephemera, reviews and a substantial email list that included collectors, interior designers, architects, art historians and curators.

October 17; Christine Berry and Martha Campbell opened Berry Campbell Gallery in the Chelsea art district of New York City.

Fall; create L'oiseau sculpture from materials found on our farm (granite block and a twisted, rusted remnant of fencing).

2014

March; created my final send-off, an illustrated email announcement, to assist Berry Campbell in their promotion of Raymond's first solo show in New York City since his one man exhibition at Rose Fried Gallery in 1967.

March 20; Raymond Hendler: Swinging Heart opened at Berry Campbell Gallery.

After a decade-long labor of love, Raymond's oeuvre had finally found a new beginning. I had done what I could for my friends and gained an extraordinary education along the way.

Spring; Patrick and I visited friends in Sag Harbor.

April 11; toured the new Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, New York and saw the exhibit, Changing Views: Painting As Metaphor. Of particular interest; early work of Fairfield Porter reflecting his time in New York City and group of small, monumental oil paintings by John Marin from his 1916, Weehawken, New Jersey Series.

April 17; attended Raymond Hendler: Swinging Heart exhibition at Berry Campbell Gallery.

While in the city visited other galleries in Chelsea - a standout, Romare Bearden: Insight and Innovation, a collage exhibition at DC Moore Gallery. Also attended Paul Gauguin: Metamorphoses exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Other highlights: Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Barnett Newman's Onement, de Kooning's Woman I and Matisse's, The Red Studio.

Summer; created Consea sculpture made of a rusted piece of rebar from the ruins of the Consea factory in Eastport, Maine. The location is a site that I have photographed since discovering it on our honeymoon in 1999.

2015

Contacted by Valerie Hellstein, Ph.D., researcher for the Willem de Kooning Foundation. She was researching de Kooning's time in Philadelphia in the 1950s for the catalogue raisonné. Supplied her with leads, information from my research and put her in touch with artist, Ben Herr. Hellstein visited Herr in Pennsylvania - both were effusive about their meeting.

January; began to design a website for my photography debut. A growing confidence in my photographic voice encouraged me to put myself 'out there' - to engage a larger art world community.

Beginning in April; photographed at a local scrap metal yard, returning frequently. Produced Vernissage, David Greybeard and Walkabout series, as well as the On the Road and Secret Inner Tweetings triptychs. They are significant for me. I felt I had reached a new consciousness - the bar had been raised.

August; visit to the Hamptons.

August 7; attended reception at the Jackson Carriage House/Amagansett Historical Association for Amagansett Art: Across the Years, highlighting the role of the East End art colony. Exhibitors were past and present residents including: Ralph Carpentier, Elliot Erwitt, Claire Nivola and Vincent Longo. Visited with Marggy Kerr at the opening.

August 8; attended opening at Guild Hall, Roy Litchtenstein: Between Sea and Sky. Visited with Christine Berry of Berry Campbell Gallery.

2016

Artist Member; Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, Maine.

Artist Member; Aperture Foundation, New York, NY. Aperture is a not-for-profit arts institution, founded in 1952 as a “common ground for the advancement of photography"  by a group of photographers and writers that included Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren.

March 17; Raymond Hendler: Paintings from the 1970s opened at the newly expanded Berry Campbell Gallery.

April 25; Launched fine art photography website, joycejjackson.com.

Fall; photograph at local metal scrap yard creating images for the Walkabout series. They follow a long-standing thread of interest in my work, 'involuntary sculptures' - a nod to Brassai and his photo-essay, "Sculptures Involontaires" from the avant-garde magazine Minotaure in 1933.

Acquired the vintage Francois Carré French cafe chair seen in the photograph, Walkabout VII (Homage to Brassaï) and vintage bottle capper mounted on a block of wood seen in the photograph, Walkabout XV (Le nez). The now sculpture, Le nez, is a fixture in my studio.

2017

Artist Member; Tides Institute & Museum of Art, Eastport, Maine.

Spring; interviewed by Virginia Wright, Senior Editor of Down East magazine for a feature on our landmark home. Photographed by Michael D. Wilson in my studio. Before moving to Maine, Wilson worked in New York City where he was an assistant to photographer, Martin Schoeller, best known for his celebrity portraits. Schoeller himself had been an assistant to photographer, Annie Leibovitz.

July; create the sculpture, Civilisé Édénique from an antique wooden homemade clamp that reminded me of a carved African totem or a personage. The title was inspired by a conversation I read recently between art critic, Harold Rosenberg and painter, Philip Guston in 1965. The following excerpt is from Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations edited by Clark Coolidge with introduction by Dore Ashton:

"I imagine wanting to paint as a caveman would, when nothing has existed before. But at the same time one knows a great deal about the culture of painting and one is conscious of the culture." Rosenberg offers what would become for Guston a key concept. "You know Mallarmé's formula for the poet? He calls him 'un civilisé édénique,' a civilised first man."

Fall/Winter; take last photographs at Pessikapskiyak site and produced the To Bear Witness series and the following statement:

I find myself drawn to places that somehow speak to me, returning again and again to explore the possibilities. Several years ago, I began photographing at a local lobster yard that contained boats, ropes, nets and the like. It was a productive experience for me. On one of my most recent visits I was disheartened to find that the yard had been dismantled with much that formed the fabric of my previous pictures carted away. Only remnants and scraps, scattered on the asphalt, remained. They caught my attention and reinvigorated me. I photographed them as I found them, without touching or adjusting them - framing them intuitively. The title of the resulting series is an homage to the painter, Phillip Guston, who believed that it is the function of art “to bear witness” to a better vision of reality. 

September; trip to the Hamptons. Attended Jackson Pollock: The Graphic Works and Avedon's America at Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY. Of particular interest; Pollock's 1944-45 engravings.

2018

Spring; visit to the Hamptons. Attended Parrish Art Museum, Watermill and Guild Hall, East Hampton. Standout in Guild Hall's exhibition,The Artist Curated Collection: Toward Abstraction curated by Bryan Hunt, was Willem de Kooning's, Untitled c.1970-72 oil on paper mounted on canvas.

Photographed The Caesars, two rows of marble busts of all the Roman Emperors copied from originals displayed in the Vatican, Rome at The Southampton Center (formerly the Parrish Art Museum). Last time I photographed The Caesars was 1989.

Produced the Gnossiennes series and added images to the Walkabout series. They bring to mind Camille Pissarro's quote: "Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble spaces where other people see nothing."

May; invited to exhibit in 2019 at PhoPa Gallery, Portland, Maine by the gallery director. The gallery features photography and works on paper by Maine-based artists with a focus on emerging photographers; in addition to showcasing work by members of the Maine Media community. The non-profit gallery was co-founded by, Bruce Brown, curator emeritus at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (1988-2006). PhoPa is a collaboration among independent curator and collector Brown, photographer Jon Edwards and Maine Media Workshops + College.

2019

Continue to photograph at local scrap metal yard. June 7th acquired metal wire - an undulating line that reminded me of my dear old friend, Raymond Hendler. Created the sculpture, "Raymond". Hendler's work frequently included the undulating line.  The first known example is in his 1950 painting, "Big Moon No.15." It was initially inspired by Van Gogh's brush strokes and would become part of his vocabulary of forms.

2020

March - create the sculpture, "For Being" that is related to my 2017 sculpture, Civilisé Édénique 

Contribute material from my research of Raymond Hendler with curators  and art historians Patricia Stark Feinstein , Barbara Wolanin, and Sid Sachs about Raymond Hendler's art involvement in his hometown of Philadelphia during the 1950s.  Exhibitions will be held in 2020 at the Woodmere Museum, 'Group '55 and Mid-century Modernism in Philadelphia' and University of the Arts Rosenwald–Wolf Gallery, 'Invisible City: Philadelphia and the Vernacular Avant-garde' in Philadelphia, PA.