Art in the garage
Middlefield gallery owner showcases contemporary art from local, international artists in her garage

By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

On a country road, in a converted garage, in the town of Middlefield, some of the most amazing works of contemporary art are on display daily.

The Art Garage, owned by Sydney Waller, has spent the past 10 years displaying modern art from artists from Otsego County, as well as around the country and the world.

“It is in my DNA,” Waller said.

A Connecticut native, Waller grew up spending parts of her summers in Roseboom.

“My mom bought this old farm in Roseboom. It had no electricity and no running water,” she said. “We spent part of every summer there and we thought it was Heaven.”

After majoring in art history at Smith College, Waller moved to Otsego County. She went to graduate school at Harvard Graduate School of Education and got a master’s degree in human development, but soon returned to Otsego and the arts. Waller ran several art galleries during her career, including one in Cooperstown, Gallery 53.

However, as she neared retirement, she said she had a conundrum. She represented the estates of two local artists, Lavern Kelley from Oneonta and Alice Hudson from Norwich, and wanted to continue to represent their work. And her love of contemporary art had not subsided either.

Fate intervened in the form of garage repairs.

“So, I needed a garage,” she said. “I thought, ‘I love running art galleries,’ and I thought, ‘when I retire, I will just run a gallery in my garage and not have to commute.’”

The Art Garage opened 10 years ago and shows and sales quickly followed.

“My primary thing is not about selling,” she said. “My primary thing is about giving artists an opportunity, especially modern artists.”

Waller said she is particularly fascinated by “outsider art” by self-taught artists. Her most recent show, which opened last weekend, is a prime example. The works of Adam Masava, a teacher and social activist from Nairobi, Kenya, is the feature show in the garage’s center studio, highlighting his paint on metal works depicting every-day life in the slums of Mukuru.

“He wants people to know that these people are good people,” she said. “He feels like people think whoever lives in a slum must be horrible people.

“And it should be noted, he is painting on the same metal people use to build their houses,” she said.
Masava learned about the Art Garage when he met Waller’s nephew, who is also living in Kenya.
“That is how it happens a lot of the time,” she said, “somebody will ring me out of the blue. In fact, Adam rang me out of the blue.”

Waller’s other show features the work of Tom Nussbaum, who has a home in Burlington Flats.
Both shows are part of Waller’s 2021 theme of social justice, which she also highlighted in a recent show dealing with Black Lives Matter that featured a group of artists from East Orange, New Jersey.
“Like so many people in Cooperstown, I am concerned about justice in our society,” she said. “It was very important to my mother. It just seemed like, ‘what can I do? Well, I run a gallery, so I can show art that deals with social justice in our society.’”

Nussbaum’s show runs through Oct. 10. Masava’s show runs through Nov. 13.

The Art Garage is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m, and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., by appointment. Call 607-547-5327 or text 315-941-9607 to view the galleries or go to The Art Garage on Facebook for more information.