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Kara Hoblin at the North Fork Art Collective. (Photo credit: Lee Meyer)

Walk down Main Street in Greenport and you’ll no doubt notice something colorful coming from the Fiedler Gallery. Whether it’s whimsical — like a replica of “Chairy” from “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” — nautical or abstract, there’s always something eye-catching and curiousity-inducing to see.

The North Fork Art Collective at the Fiedler Gallery launched in December 2023 by Kara Hoblin, who took over the space and immediately made it a hub for local artists. Now, as the Collective prepares to celebrate its one-year anniversary in this space, Hoblin marvels at its success and also its potential.

“It happened very quickly and organically,” says Hoblin, an artist who works in illustrations, chalk art as well as other mediums.

The gallery has long been a Greenport staple for art lovers. The space was previously operated by the late Richard Fiedler, who died in 2018, and briefly reopened in 2022 as Natali/Keyes at the Fiedler Gallery. Hoblin lamented to her friend Morgant Fiedler, whose family owns the gallery space, that it was a shame that the gallery had fallen into disrepair over the last few years — and that’s when a lightbulb went on. She decided to make it her passion project. 

“Rich Fiedler is a Greenport legend,” Hoblin says. “He’s our most well-known and celebrated artist born in Greenport born in the present day. To be able to have a little memorial to him in this space, to keep his legacy going, I can’t tell you how many local artists come in and say he supported them. It feels really good.”

The North Fork Art Collective at the Fiedler Gallery focuses on local artists from the East End or those who have been inspired by the region. The collective — a group of local artists who came together to create a community art hub — was previously housed on Front Street from 2017 to 2020. Members of the Collective included familiar names in the East End art scene including Scott Bluedorn, Times Review contributing photographer Jeremy Garretson, Peter Treiber and Verona Peñalba, among others. The Collective has since existed as a website and Instagram page for the artists. 

The next show, which launches on October 11, is “Alt-Egos 2,” curated by Bluedorn, a sequel of sorts to a show Bluedorn curated in 2017 at Crush Curatorial in Amagansett.

“He created this concept show called Alt-Egos where the artist makes something not in their traditional style,” Hoblin explains. “It’s their ‘alter ego’ creating the work. I was one of the artists in that [first] show and now it’s cool to see it come full circle where he can have that studio in my space.”

The show will run for two months, followed by a big one-year anniversary celebration in December.

Hoblin is thrilled to be part of the ever-evolving arts scene in Greenport, which includes the new North Fork Arts Center and VEME Studios, which is owned by Collective member Peñalba.

“It’s an important part of our history in Greenport,” Hoblin says. “It feels like a good time for Greenport. We’re in this pivotal moment of change and growth and I think it’s important to preserve the arts.”

Visit the North Fork Art Collective at the Fiedler Gallery (207 Main St., Greenport, northforkartcollective.com). 

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