By SARA HOLTHOUSE sholthouse@post-journal.com During a time when the arts are seen to be struggling nationally, Fredonia photographer, Sandra Maggio, is continuing not only her own work but to spread awareness of the importance of the arts. The Post-Journal and Dunkirk OBSERVER first spoke with Maggio about her photography business, Untouched Images, and her works focusing on nature, specifically with a camera phone and shot without the use of photoshop afterwards, in 2023. Since then, Maggio said everything “blossomed” for her. This includes her upcoming one-woman show at the Darwin R Baker Library on Thursday. See SHOW, Page A6 SHOW Located at 7 Day Street, the library will be hosting a reception for Maggio on Sept. 4 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., to help kick off her photographs being displayed at the library. The show is called “Nature Unfiltered: the photography of Sandra Ebling-Maggio” and will run from Sept. 2 to Oct. 25. Besides her upcoming show, Maggio has been able to participate in the Village Frame Shop in Fredonia’s gallery, “The West End Gallery”, in which Maggio said she is the first and only photographer to have her work featured and sold there so far. Maggio’s work is also featured in the Chautauqua County Art Trail, which she does through the North Shore Arts Alliance, and she has continued work on her poetry for her book “Finding Peace In Times Like These” that she is working on through Lakeshore Center For the Arts, that will include poems written by her that connect to her photography that will also be featured in it, at least 12 poems and photos. She said she hopes to have her book published by December. “What I’m trying to do is make sure it elicits some kind of positive feeling for the viewers to read and look at and maybe bring them down a level from stress and anxiety or something like that,” Maggio said. Maggio has also participated in a book published by the Lakeshore Center for the Arts’s Writers Group, called “Teacher Influencers”, giving every member a chance to write about any teacher or coach that influenced them in a positive or negative way. Maggio said this was her first time being published, writing about her old biology professor from Fredonia, and included photos of him as well. This also attached her to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute where she and her professor partnered together to submit photos of his fly fishing to their exhibit called “Clarity”. She has also submitted a photo in the RTPI’s “Broken Nature” show. A piece of hers has been accepted into the Erie Art Museum’s 101rst spring show. Other things Maggio has been doing is coming out of retirement to buy a house where she can open up her own gallery at home, which she called a work in progress. “I think after this show is done I will be ready to open my own gallery here,” Maggio said. “I elicited some of my friends to help me name it, so I finally came up with ‘Elemental Encounters; Unfiltered Views’. It’s just again, my hope to have soulful expressions and make a positive feeling from some of the viewers.” Additionally, she said she called her gallery Elemental as it is basic, and Encounters, because she does not take her photos with a plan, but rather her photos are things that just happen, as something catches her eye in nature. This, she said, is also why she uses her camera phone, to capture things within a second, rather than using a professional camera. In working with her groups that she is a member of, and as an artist on her own, Maggio said as funding for the arts continues to decline, she participated in a lot of classes with the Lakeshore Center for the Arts, such as on perspective, learning how to use light room to learn how to make a website and QR code to put on a business card, and more through the nonprofit that helps cut down some expenses, including advertising. She added the Lakeshore Center will also be helping her do a podcast and videography for advertising purposes, as she said they help advertise artists in the community, even though their funds are slim, using things like social media to help continue to advertise art. “We don’t want to not have art in life,” Maggio said. “Art makes the world go round and it’s really, really tough. I have applied for a few grants that I haven’t gotten so far, but more than that I am out of retirement. I am working part-time now so I can continue with my passion for this. I don’t want to have to stop because it is expensive for the framing and printing and all that kind of thing.” This is also why, Maggio said, she appreciates being able to partner with the Fredonia Village Frame Shoppe, which she said recently came under new partnership and gives her a good price for framing, and is also displaying her work for free. “You just have to be connected to some of these organizations, I think, because they’re watching out for us and they’re watching out for the community,” Maggio said. “That’s what North Shore Arts Alliance does … they go out and advertise us as much as they can. They make every dollar count of our membership money, which is also very minimal, so they can get us out into the community and they can also get the community to us.” Maggio gave an example of an art trail by North Shore Labor Day weekend, giving artists a lot of exposure. Photography is something she said she “cannot stop doing” and that it is important for her to continue to do it so both she and the community can continue to enjoy it. In her upcoming show at the Baker Library, Maggio will have 40 pieces on display, with multiple focusing on reflecting objects in water, and others focused on nature such as flowers, the sun on the lake, treescapes, creeks, other reflections on water, and other obscure nature photos. She said people should be interested in coming to see her pictures at the library as she has a variety of different things and colors in her photos, and she is looking to inspire people to put their phones away and enjoy nature’s beauty. She will also talk about using her camera phone for her photography and how framing matters for the photos as well. The library will be providing refreshments on the Sept. 4 reception day, and there will be a wine tasting from a local vineyard, Liberty Winery Vineyards. In the future, Maggio plans on continuing to do more workshops and learning more about different types of art and media at the Erie Art Museum, as she said if she learns more about other types of media it will keep her on her game and enhance what she is looking for in her photos. She has applied for fellowships at some local art museums, and is looking to get herself out into the community more. “I want my photography to be more than just an artful passion that I have,” Maggio said. “I have a purpose and a thought with the pictures that I take; I wonder about how is the viewer going to feel when they look at it, what kind of feeling will it elicit, is it going to have a helpful impact that will lead to better care for our environment?” Maggio also praised all of the groups that she participates in, along with the other local businesses and organizations that have helped her along the way. “You know how they say it takes a village to raise a child, well I think it takes a whole community of cultural differences and so on to work together and support each other and promote each other in whatever way that they can,” Maggio said.

The Post-Journal and Dunkirk OBSERVER first spoke with Maggio about her photography business, Untouched Images, and her works focusing on nature, specifically with a camera phone and shot without the use of photoshop afterwards, in 2023. Since then, Maggio said everything “blossomed” for her. This includes her upcoming one-woman show at the Darwin R Baker Library on Thursday.

Located at 7 Day Street, the library will be hosting a reception for Maggio on Sept. 4 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., to help kick off her photographs being displayed at the library. The show is called “Nature Unfiltered: the photography of Sandra Ebling-Maggio” and will run from Sept. 2 to Oct. 25.

Besides her upcoming show, Maggio has been able to participate in the Village Frame Shop in Fredonia’s gallery, “The West End Gallery”, in which Maggio said she is the first and only photographer to have her work featured and sold there so far. Maggio’s work is also featured in the Chautauqua County Art Trail, which she does through the North Shore Arts Alliance, and she has continued work on her poetry for her book “Finding Peace In Times Like These” that she is working on through Lakeshore Center For the Arts, that will include poems written by her that connect to her photography that will also be featured in it, at least 12 poems and photos. She said she hopes to have her book published by December.

“What I’m trying to do is make sure it elicits some kind of positive feeling for the viewers to read and look at and maybe bring them down a level from stress and anxiety or something like that,” Maggio said.

Submitted photo Three of Maggio’s photos that will be included in her upcoming show at the Darwin Baker Library.

Maggio has also participated in a book published by the Lakeshore Center for the Arts’s Writers Group, called “Teacher Influencers”, giving every member a chance to write about any teacher or coach that influenced them in a positive or negative way. Maggio said this was her first time being published, writing about her old biology professor from Fredonia, and included photos of him as well.

This also attached her to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute where she and her professor partnered together to submit photos of his fly fishing to their exhibit called “Clarity”. She has also submitted a photo in the RTPI’s “Broken Nature” show. A piece of hers has been accepted into the Erie Art Museum’s 101rst spring show.

Other things Maggio has been doing is coming out of retirement to buy a house where she can open up her own gallery at home, which she called a work in progress.

“I think after this show is done I will be ready to open my own gallery here,” Maggio said. “I elicited some of my friends to help me name it, so I finally came up with ‘Elemental Encounters; Unfiltered Views’. It’s just again, my hope to have soulful expressions and make a positive feeling from some of the viewers.”

Additionally, she said she called her gallery Elemental as it is basic, and Encounters, because she does not take her photos with a plan, but rather her photos are things that just happen, as something catches her eye in nature. This, she said, is also why she uses her camera phone, to capture things within a second, rather than using a professional camera.

In working with her groups that she is a member of, and as an artist on her own, Maggio said as funding for the arts continues to decline, she participated in a lot of classes with the Lakeshore Center for the Arts, such as on perspective, learning how to use light room to learn how to make a website and QR code to put on a business card, and more through the nonprofit that helps cut down some expenses, including advertising. She added the Lakeshore Center will also be helping her do a podcast and videography for advertising purposes, as she said they help advertise artists in the community, even though their funds are slim, using things like social media to help continue to advertise art.

“We don’t want to not have art in life,” Maggio said. “Art makes the world go round and it’s really, really tough. I have applied for a few grants that I haven’t gotten so far, but more than that I am out of retirement. I am working part-time now so I can continue with my passion for this. I don’t want to have to stop because it is expensive for the framing and printing and all that kind of thing.”

This is also why, Maggio said, she appreciates being able to partner with the Fredonia Village Frame Shoppe, which she said recently came under new partnership and gives her a good price for framing, and is also displaying her work for free.

“You just have to be connected to some of these organizations, I think, because they’re watching out for us and they’re watching out for the community,” Maggio said. “That’s what North Shore Arts Alliance does … they go out and advertise us as much as they can. They make every dollar count of our membership money, which is also very minimal, so they can get us out into the community and they can also get the community to us.”

Maggio gave an example of an art trail by North Shore Labor Day weekend, giving artists a lot of exposure. Photography is something she said she “cannot stop doing” and that it is important for her to continue to do it so both she and the community can continue to enjoy it.

In her upcoming show at the Baker Library, Maggio will have 40 pieces on display, with multiple focusing on reflecting objects in water, and others focused on nature such as flowers, the sun on the lake, treescapes, creeks, other reflections on water, and other obscure nature photos.

She said people should be interested in coming to see her pictures at the library as she has a variety of different things and colors in her photos, and she is looking to inspire people to put their phones away and enjoy nature’s beauty. She will also talk about using her camera phone for her photography and how framing matters for the photos as well. The library will be providing refreshments on the Sept. 4 reception day, and there will be a wine tasting from a local vineyard, Liberty Winery Vineyards.

In the future, Maggio plans on continuing to do more workshops and learning more about different types of art and media at the Erie Art Museum, as she said if she learns more about other types of media it will keep her on her game and enhance what she is looking for in her photos. She has applied for fellowships at some local art museums, and is looking to get herself out into the community more.

“I want my photography to be more than just an artful passion that I have,” Maggio said. “I have a purpose and a thought with the pictures that I take; I wonder about how is the viewer going to feel when they look at it, what kind of feeling will it elicit, is it going to have a helpful impact that will lead to better care for our environment?”

Maggio also praised all of the groups that she participates in, along with the other local businesses and organizations that have helped her along the way.

“You know how they say it takes a village to raise a child, well I think it takes a whole community of cultural differences and so on to work together and support each other and promote each other in whatever way that they can,” Maggio said.

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