nobody is nobody: The Art + Wit of Dot Chast

Gallery – 2nd Floor

On View June 6 – July 27, 2025
Opening reception: June 6th 5-7pm

Co-curated by Jesse Pollock and Stella Yoon

Dot Chast (1924-2024)

Born in Queens, Dot Chast (born Dorothy Anna Berner) lived in Coxsackie and Athens, NY, for most of her 99 years. Dot was a lifelong artist who always kept a sketchbook in hand, and was an active member and former board member of CREATE (formerly Greene County Council of the Arts) for nearly four decades. Her many artistic affiliations included: original member of the Greene County Arts and Craft Guild, Columbia County Council of the Arts, the Woodstock Art Association and Museum (WAAM), Tivoli Artists Gallery, and the Athens Cultural Center. She frequently exhibited in juried and solo shows, particularly here in the Hudson Valley, and was honored to list among them: Prattsville Museum, Columbia Greene Community College, Congregation Anshe Emeth, Tivoli Artists Gallery, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension Center. For many years she facilitated drawing classes under the name Yes, You Can Draw, at Columbia Greene Community College and many classes for senior citizens in pencil, pastel, and oils. 

Dot started making art through the influence of her mother Mary Berner, who was also a prolific painter and had a long career in her own right. Dot started making prints in the 1970s at Athens Print Makers, a program of the Greene County Art and Crafts Guild, and took several workshops at the Woodstock School of Art under Dan Gelfand and Kate McLoughlin. In addition to her extensive work with painting and printmaking, she delved into sculpting, fiber arts, and wood carving. Her work as an artist is often described as fearless, for her ability to jump into any form, medium, or subject with joyful abandon. “I like my work to be honest and uncontrived, coming from my own heart and hands,” Dot explained. “Form doesn’t matter. What matters is that I felt something and wanted to say or express it.” She was fond of her studies on trees, and painted them frequently – though she also moved freely into sketch work, which was often infused with wit and societal observation. Her dry humor is prevalent through her expansive catalog and, regardless of the medium she used, a sense of elation is profoundly noticeable. In 2023, at the age of 98, she published a collection of her sketches and poetry under the title Poetry and Art.

Dot was the person you could count on to show up at every opening and to be supportive and kind to everyone in the community – although an elbow in the ribs with an inside joke might catch you off guard if she had a certain mischievous sparkle in her eye. Since her passing in 2024, her absence feels immense, but her positive energy endures. This show marks the first posthumous retrospective of her work.

GALLERY HOURS: FRI 4-7PM. SAT + SUN 11AM-6PM
CREATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
398 MAIN ST. CATSKILL, NY