What is the Yonkers Artist Showcase?
The Yonkers Artist Showcase is an annual, multi-disciplinary showcase hosted at the Yonkers Art Space. The goal of the exhibit is to offer artists who live, work, or are otherwise connected to Yonkers a space to showcase a piece of art that represents their body of work.
Yonkers Artists
The exhibit features works from over 40 artists from Yonkers and the surrounding areas. A few of the Yonkers artists include:
Ariana Cardenas
Ariana Cardenas is a self-taught traditional and digital artist born, raised, and based in Yonkers, who works across multiple mediums, including painting, drawing, digital art, and tattooing. Her work encompasses themes of self-empowerment and healing, and this is especially true of her tattoo artistry, which she views as symbols that represent each individual’s journey. Whether creating art on paper or skin, she aims to create a space for self-reflection and authentic connection.
Ed Casteneda
“Untitled” by Ed Castaneda, 2023, Photography, 8”x10” framed. Via YonkersArts.
Ed Castenada is a Fine Art and Street Photographer based in Yonkers. He has a background in Design, Painting, Drawing, and Art History, and graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from Parsons School of Design in 1981, followed by post-graduate study/work at The Art Students League of New York.
He has participated in various art exhibitions throughout the years, including “The Art of Rebellion” exhibition at the Yonkers Arts Space in 2024, which delved into the unique culture and community of skateboarding. Ed’s photographs are layered and more than just the image presented; the deeper subject matter is the duality of dark and light, straights and curves, and the shapes and movements they create.
Julie Cousens
Julie Cousens is a photographer/visual artist and the Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Blue Door Art Center. Her photography work is eclectic, and her tools range from her DSLR to her camera phone, where she captures unique compositions of people, architecture, street scenes, and landscapes. Her favorite aspect of photography is lighting, and she believes that photography is not about the camera, but about the tools acquired in using it.
Elizabeth de Bethune
Elizabeth de Bethune is a Yonkers-based representational painter who captures the essence of everyday life, familiar people, places, and things. She works from both observation and personal photo references, and explores the connection between the ordinary and the iconic, weaving her unique perspective into the fabric of culturally constructed human experience. She received a BA in Fine Art from Yale University in 1979 and an MFA in Painting and Drawing at SUNY Purchase in 1991. She was also an inaugural member of the Bronx River Art Center Artist Studio Program and a part of the YoHo Studios community. A former NYCDOE Art Teacher, she currently teaches at the Pelham Art Center.
“Renee and Joan” by Elizabeth de Bethune, 2022, oil on canvas, 48” x 36”
de Bethune’s work often addresses queer representation, reflecting her identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. She employs paint, drawing materials, collage, and printmaking within a painterly realist style. Her recent exhibitions include “Intimate and Ordinary” at the Rye Art Center (May 2024), and “Out in Yonkers, Portraits from the Yonkers LGBTQ Community” at the White Plains Public Library Museum Gallery (January-February 2024), with future showings planned for the Riverfront Library Art Gallery (June 2025) and the Garrison Art Center (September-October 2025).
Emmanuelle Hernandez
A French American collage artist based in Yonkers, Emmanuelle Hernandez primarily finds her materials in magazine pages, standalone flyers, mail pieces, and packaging. Her main interest is in depicting the human figure in challenging environments, and is often inspired by world news, local concerns, and social justice. Her handmade collages offer a chance to engage deeply with the narratives that shape our world.
Hernandez’s work has been featured in Contemporary Collage Magazine, and displayed locally at the Riverfront Art Gallery, Yonkers Arts gallery, and at the Blue Door Art Center as the 2024 Black History Month challenge winner.
Katori Walker
Katori is a self-taught multi-media artist, poet, playwright, spoken word performer, muralist, art educator, and writer with three published children’s books. She was born in New York City and raised in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. Katori feels that her Caribbean background contributes to her love of bright colors and textures.
“The Art of Dance” Katori Walker, 2015, mixed media via 320Arts.com.
Her “Katori Kids Happy Art” pieces are created to remind people to love and embrace their inner child and brighten up spaces. Along with her partner, Evan Bishop, art is created to empower people and beautify communities through the arts in New York City as well as Westchester County.
Gallery Information
The 16th annual event was curated by the Yonkers Arts team, and is open to the public from April 10 – May 18th, and gallery hours are Wednesday – Friday from 3 -6 pm, and Saturdays 12-4 pm. Address is: 216 Lake Ave, Yonkers, NY
