Fishers Island Art Gallery and Studio Changes Hands
Fishers Island artist Charles Thomas O’Neil recently purchased the Red Barn Art Gallery, formerly owned by his neighbor and fellow painter Charlie Ferguson. O’Neil and Ferguson were neighbors with a life-long friendship. While very different in painting styles, themes, and mediums, the two Fishers Island artists shared a relationship of mutual respect and admiration.
The Red Barn was built in the 1880s as a stable for the historic Lyles Cottage and was located across from the Fishers Island Post Office. It was subsequently moved to its current location and used as a paint shop for the Fishers Island Farms. Ferguson and his wife Alice purchased the building in 1950. Ferguson owned and operated the Red Barn Art Gallery for 67 years, exhibiting his paintings, etchings, and drawings every summer. In addition to being a painter, he was a teacher of Fine Art and Art History, as well as the director of the New Britain Museum for American Art.
O’Neil states; “It is an honor to continue making art in the iconic Red Barn Art Gallery.” He will have an open working studio and exhibition space where visitors can stop in to see finished paintings that span his 30-year career, as well as see works in progress.
Over the last thirty years, O’Neil has exhibited nationally and internationally with over 15 solo shows around the country. O’Neil was most recently featured in his second one-man exhibition at Howard Scott Gallery in New York City in 2017. His work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Hallmark Art Collection, Kansas City, MO, Paul Allen, Seattle, WA, Time Warner, NY, NY, Smith Barney Collection, NY, NY, Altana, Wesel, Germany and the Portland Museum of Art, ME.
The Red Barn Art Gallery will open its doors this summer, with a grand opening celebration set for Saturday, July 6th from 5pm-8pm.
Contact:
Charles Thomas O’Neil
Red Barn Art Gallery
342 Crescent Avenue, #622
Fishers Island, NY 06390
413 446 3613
mail@charlesthomasoneil.com
www.charlesthomasoneil.com
