Thursday, October 1, 2026
Abstract artist Marcia McNair, a Westbury resident and a longtime educator, will present a solo exhibition at the Art Alcove Gallery at the Freeport Recreation Center at 130 E Merrick Road as part of a Black History Month exhibition opening on Feb. 5.
There will be an opening reception at 6:30 p.m. at the Art Alcove, which is operated by the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport. The gallery, in the recreation center lobby, regularly features Long Island-based artists in its rotating exhibitions throughout the year.
McNair said she first became familiar with the Art Alcove through earlier group exhibitions connected to Long Island arts organizations. “And occasionally I’ll go by and see what’s showing” there, she said.
Her connection to the LIAC at Freeport, she said, grew through her curatorial and organizational work elsewhere on Long Island. “I’m a board member at Westbury Arts Gallery,” she said. “I’m involved with a lot of exhibits. I curate a lot of exhibits,” she added, noting that she curated a Black History Month exhibition last year titled “The Essence of Soul,” featuring photographer Anthony Barboza, who also previously exhibited at the Art Alcove.
McNair, 69, said she has been making art for most of her life, beginning as a child in New York City. As a teenager, she was enrolled in Saturday art classes at Pratt Institute, which she described as the start of her formal training. She later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts at Hunter College.
Her work is rooted in abstraction and color theory, drawing from both modern art traditions and personal influences. “My work is all about color, color sensation, overlapping, geometric shapes, transparency, some imagery that’s found in African textiles,” she said. “I was introduced to abstraction in modern art, always influenced by Impressionists and sort of modern art themes.”
Among the artists she cited as influences are Aaron Douglas, Sam Gilliam, Alma Thomas, Claude Monet and Josef Albers.
“I like the universal message in an abstraction,” McNair said. “When someone looks at my work, I want them to focus on the colors and the emotional effects that … the art brings to them.”
She added that abstraction allows viewers to engage with her work without preconceived judgments. “I don’t want … to be judged based on that I’m a woman or person of color, but just judge my art for itself,” she said.
McNair said her early exposure to textiles also shaped her artistic approach. “So my mom was a seamstress, and I spent many, many years as a child just being around fabric and textiles,” she said. “I think that kind of led me to working in an abstract way.”
Born in Brooklyn and raised largely in Queens, she moved to Long Island about 30 years ago. She retired in 2019, after more than four decades as an art teacher — including work with elementary, middle school and special-needs students — and began focusing more on exhibiting and networking on Long Island.
“Now I’m living my best life,” she said.
McNair, who has taught at Hunter’s College, St. Peter’s College, and New York City Schools, is currently involved with several arts organizations, including Huntington Council for the Arts, Babylon Arts Council, Westbury Arts and the Long Island Black Artists Association.
In addition to her visual art, McNair is also the author of “Kwanzaa Crafts,” a book published in 1998 that grew out of her work teaching middle school students. “I discovered Kwanzaa, and we would do a lot of hands-on projects,” she said. “I put everything together and formed a book.”
She has led Kwanzaa workshops, she said, for more than 30 years in schools, museums and art centers.
Looking ahead to her Freeport exhibition, McNair said she hoped Rec Center visitors would be attracted to the energy of the work. “It draws people in,” she said. “It intrigues the viewer to stop and observe the energy that’s going on in the paintings. I hope that when people walk by, they won’t be able to walk by, they’ll have to stop and take a look at my work.”
Larry Dresner, executive director of the LIAC at Freeport, said the organization is proud to feature McNair’s work. “LIACF is thrilled that we can support and present Marcia’s great artwork during Black History Month,” he said.
In addition to the Freeport exhibition, McNair is taking part in several other upcoming events, including “Strength Through Creativity,” at Westbury Arts, Jan. 22-March 6; a group exhibition at Molloy University titled “Claiming the Sky: Art and Activism After Faith Ringgold,” through April 1; and a number of programs and exhibitions at the Oceanside Library.
The Feb. 5 opening reception at the Art Alcove is free and open to the public.
