The 14 Guild members are inviting everyone to come and celebrate with them that evening at the gallery at 52 Main St., Saranac Lake, from 5-7 p.m..

On that date in 1997, a group of five artists opened the gallery’s doors, beginning the organization’s quarter-century history. Mark Kurtz, Corey Pandolph, Ralph Prata, Eleanor Sweeney and the late Ray Jenkins, with the impetus and support of painter Tim Fortune, had banded together and created the Artists Guild.

A special 25th anniversary show will be on the back wall of the gallery during the month of December, with work by all the Guild’s current members and the founding members. Currently, the artists in the Guild are Jacqueline Altman, Meg Bernstein, Nancy Brossard, Jeanne Danforth, Georgeanne Gaffney, Sandra Hildreth, Suzanne Langelier-Lebeda, Barry Lobdell, Karen Morris, Anastasia Osolin, Burdette Parks, Toos Roozen-Evan, as well as Kurtz and Sweeney.

For the anniversary show, Sandra Hildreth is showing “In Memoriam 9/11,” an oil painting she made especially for an exhibit the Guild hosted in the fall of 2001 in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. She writes, “Like many, I had an almost overwhelming sense of grief after Sept. 11 … Then I happened to go canoeing on the Bog River Flow on Columbus Day, just a month after 9/11. The first snow of the season had dusted the trees … Right near the put-in, there is this magnificent rock outcropping and I paused to take photos. There was something about the towering white pines and the ancient broken rocks that made me think of the twin towers crashing down. But it was also serenely beautiful. As I worked on the painting, I felt my grief fade.” Other members have put up works they showed long ago at the gallery, and there are several new pieces.

In Memoriam 9/11, oil painting by Sandra Hildreth (Photo provided)

Returning to pre-pandemic traditions, the Guild will provide refreshments, including dozens of cupcakes baked by Guild members.

In addition to the anniversary show, the featured exhibit for the month of December is “Lumos,” a collection of ceramics by Karen Morris. She is displaying a collection of small lanterns as well as ceramic snowflakes, bowls and mugs.

The Adirondack Artists Guild is a cooperative retail art gallery representing a diverse group of artists residing and working in the Tri-Lakes region of the Adirondack Park. The gallery is located at 52 Main St., Saranac Lake, 518 891-2615. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.