Christiana Exhibits the Work He Loves
Edward Christiana is a prolific painter who loves teaching, enjoys competition and likes to exhibit his work.
His current show at SUNY College of Technology Gannett Gallery in Marcy is one of several Christiana exhibitions this year. The artist also is seen in many juried shows and at business locations. But viewing a large assortment of his work at any time is a delight.
Called "Edward Christiana, Fifty Years of Watercolor." the title actually is a misnomer — Christiana stopped painting in that medium for 16 years, when he delved into the mysteries of the more traditional oils and the newer acrylics.
"In 1964, I suddenly became involved in oil. I was called a watercoorist. Nobody called me an artist and that bothered me," he said.
He produced few watercolors until 1970. Then, things changed. He suddenly was painting watercolors once again. He says he doesn't know why.
Today, the hazy distinction between types of artists doesn't bother Christiana at all since "watercolor's prestige has risen considerably."
The show contains 50 watercolors, beginning with a delicate still life Christiana painted when he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and ending about 1986, with a seascape from Maine, where he has spent many summers painting.
The lanky, white-haired, bearded Christiana lives in Holland Patent, where his main recreation and relaxation is pitching horseshoes with The Floyd Horseshoe Club.
Born in White Plains in 1912, he came to Ilion with his family at the age of 2. His father, Isaiah, was in the construction builder and Christiana worked for him handling the pick and shovel for up to 14 hours a day to help pay for art school.
It was art that saved him in high school.
"I had a tough time in school with mathematics. I was almost ready to quit. But when I became a freshman-at Ilion High School, I got into the art department, and that changed my life."
When he attended Pratt, Christiana was studying pictorial illustration. His ambition was to become a magazine illustrator. While there, he became involved in portraiture and began to learn more about the fine arts.
After graduation, he returned home to find the Depression in full swing. The market was sparse, so he spent summer as a scenic designer for a home Room and board was recompense. And one summer, he was a trail sign painter.
When the School of Related Arts Sciences, the predecessor to the present School of Art at the Munson-Williams Proctor Institute, opened, Christiana became a student-teacher.
Three years later, he began his own school in a studio, on top of Fr Photographic Studio on Genesee Street.
"After a year, I ran into financial difficulties and I had to work for photographer to pay back my rent."
The Institute's school closed after years and the late William Palmer arrived from New York City to begin current School of Art.
Palmer brought two other artists with him for staff, so when Christiana applied for a job, he was told none was available. Instead, he enrolled in Palmer's class monitored it for him. He eventually became the first children's art instructor at the Institute and he began teaching adult classes.
He retired in 1979 but still is active teaching.
For him, painting is only one end of the creative process. The other is communication. That's one reason he tries to have his art on display as much as possible.
"A painter who does not exhibit is a composer who composes music but never has it performed," he said.
Art and teaching is his life, he said.
"I like working with students. I enjoy working with people and seeing them develop and progress."
"In fact, if I quit teaching. I really would have a problem."
The exhibition will be at Gannett Gallery through July 15. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday thru Friday.
