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See Inside: A for Artistic PDF - Spring 2024 
From the Ground UP
Lillian's Gallery Submission: Margaret JohnstonAmerican history is fraught with cultural wounds — and contemporary art is filled with those who dig deep within it to tell current and future stories of healing and hope. Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, the current Artist-in-Residence at Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, activates the exhibition space with a series of installations and events that honor the Black people buried in Newburgh’s “Colored Burial Ground.” Active between approximately 1832 and 1867, the cemetery was built over by a school in 1908. In 2008, renovations to convert the site into a courthouse led to the uncovering and disinterment of the remains of more than 100 individuals that are still awaiting reburial. Curated by Superville Sovak and Gallery Director Alison McNulty, this evolving exhibition, entitled From the Ground UP, currently includes commissioned works by Lillian Alberti, Michelle Corporan, Stevenson Estime, Donna Francis, Shani Richards, and Edwin Torres. This selection of artworks, along with archeological documentation and more recent records, is a living memorial that has inspired an expressive display of offerings and messages from the community in Newburgh. Ann Street Gallery (annstreetgallery.org) 104 Ann Street, Newburgh, New York Through March 31  
Margaret Johnston was an obscure indentured woman whose voice was never heard. Her life is depicted here through an article of clothing imposed upon her, beginning in childhood.
The smaller white pinafore represents Margaret’s innocence; displaying evidence of small tasks she performs as a child in the household where she was indentured. The second pinafore is soiled with more responsibilities, as Margaret grapples with the reality that she labors while the other household children are free to play. 
The first apron exhibits how, as a young woman, Margaret carries the shame, burden, and hardship of her daily life.
The second apron, torn and deeply stained, reveals the life Margaret endured, accepting the fact that old age offers her no comfort.
The diaphanous fabric symbolizes that eternal peace and rest that comes in death: she is free at last. Each stain, each rip, was strategically placed and layered onto the apron to indicate the difficult tasks that Margaret would’ve struggled with on any particular day. Each mark was indelible, not just on the surface of the apron, but deeply into the fabric of her life. 
Dolls Magazine November/December 2023      Lilian with co-curators of the Show, Jonette O’Kelley Miller, (2nd from Left), and Karen E. Gersch (far right).  Lillian with Director of the Ann Street Gallery, Alison McNulty (far right)
 "HOT!" 3-D multi-media denim jacket designed for a silent auction to benefit a local library    Strategically placed surprises meet the casual visitor on the first trip around the Gallery at Port of Call in Warwick...a secondary exhibit, consisting of papier-mâché sculptures by Lillian Alberti. The artist calls her work "Character Dolls," but they are not the kind of doll you would give to a child. There are only five pieces in this collection. We wish there were more. These "dolls" are quite adult, although two of them are inspired by nursery rhymes. "Happily Ever After," inspired from "Hey Diddle Diddle," presents the dish running away with the spoon. In another sculpture, an eggheaded little man sits on top of a wall in "Before the Fall." He is obviously Humpty Dumpty, and in this piece the artist displays a humorous visual aside. There is a small crack in the figure’s head, a pre-existing condition, so to speak. As a common theme, the slant the artist has given all of these images is that of caricature, where certain features are exaggerated to enhance the character of the subject. One would have to harken back to the heyday of marionette makers Bil and Cora Baird to witness this kind of stark and captivating imagery. —March 17, 2005 Times Herald-Record Middletown, New York
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