“Faces of Artspace: Kathy Seff”

Welcome to our new series profiling the creative artists who call Artspace home. Located at 20 Terry Street, Artspace Patchogue held its last summer with the goal of attracting artists to Patchogue Village. We will use this series to introduce you to some of the talented faces behind its doors.

Kathy Seff

Age: 36

Hometown: Blue Point

Q&A

Patch: What is your art, and how long have you been doing it?

Seff: Glass. I’ve been working with the medium since I was about 11. My mother is a glass artist and had a home studio, aka the dining room table! My father converted the two car garage into a studio for her and I negotiated to get out of my dishes chore to work in the studio helping my mom. It’s great starting at such a young age. The only draw back is I have no “first piece”, neither myself nor my mom can remember what my first completed piece was!

Patch: What drew you to Artspace?

Seff: About 8 to 10 years ago I was looking at Artspace’s in other areas of the country. I found out about them online when researching artist relocation programs. I didn’t feel that I could afford to stay on Long Island. I ended up moving to Brooklyn for about five years. I moved to Patchogue in 2006 and shortly after showed up to one of the first public Patchogue Arts Council (PAC) meetings at the where I heard it announced that Artspace was coming! I thought to myself, can I hold out on Long Island til it gets built?! And now we know the answer to that!

Patch: What benefits have you found by living in an artist community?

Seff: It’s amazing to live in a creative environment. Being around so many artists working in such a variety of media is indescribable! You’re inspired to think about other avenues of creating.

I’m always amazed when I walk down the hallways by the art on the walls, what the other artists visions are! Even the building itself, the architectural design by HHL Architects in Buffalo is, hands down, amazing. The angles, the concrete, the colors, the red piping, it’s all so enlivening! The window composition of the units were the inspiration for new installation works in glass I’ve been working on. People may have seen the window installation most recently at for the by PAC.

The architecture of the stairwells are even inspiring to me! The stairwell on the east wing is my favorite, I try to take that as much as possible, it’s a great way to start my day! Yes, I’ve given tours of the building using all the stairwells!

Patch: What is your favorite aspect of living in the Patchogue area?

Seff: It reminds me of the great aspects of living in Brooklyn and the great aspects of living on the south shore of Long Island! It’s a perfect medium. But my favorite aspect of living in Patchogue is the volunteer spirit that permeates! So many people in this Village have volunteered oodles of time and all for the improvement of the community as a whole. It’s a wonderful, giving town and it is beautiful to be a part of it.

Patch: What are your future goals?

Seff: I love art, I love volunteering and I love traveling. I’ve been able to combine two of those at any given time, my future goal is to combine all three somehow, someway.

Kathy Seff’s work is on display and for sale at , 813 Montauk Hwy, Bayport. The store’s website is https://www.cvglassart.com/ and Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/CVGlassArt. Kathy’s own website featuring her installation work is https://www.kathyseff.com/

Live at Artspace and want to be featured on Patchogue Patch? Email michael@patch.com. All of the Artspace profiles are together on the Faces of Artspace Topic Page.

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