Join us for Upstate Art Weekend 2025

As an official venue for Upstate Art Weekend, Weird Specialty Studio brings together two distinctive artistic voices examining the boundaries between personal connection and environmental presence.

Melissa Messer

Close Ties

A Painting Exhibition by Melissa Messer

Seattle-based artist Melissa Messer presents her color-forward figure paintings that explore human connection and intimacy. Messer describes her work as "if Rothko's daughter were obsessed with form," blending vibrant color fields with distinct human figures.

Artist Statement: "I paint the people in my life: friends, collaborators, doula, partner, son. Studying intimacy and making it material through painting has been the center of my exploration the past few years. I'm curious at this inflection point in culture and technology if we are witnessing the end of intimacy as we know it. I try to look as closely as I can at the resonance of color and shape to evoke the characteristics of these relationships. Sometimes the figures end up looking like landscapes. I love that because I'm looking at closeness but I'm feeling expansion."

Amanda Russo Rubman

Untitled Narrative of Nature

An Installation by Amanda Russo Rubman

Local artist and Weird Specialty Salon Member Amanda Russo Rubman presents an immersive installation combining film, fashion, and sculpture set against the backdrop of the Hudson Valley landscape.

Artist Statement: "An expression of film, fashion, and sculpture— set in the landscape of the Hudson Valley. An invitation to invoke imagination through light and texture; this living installation will evolve throughout the weekend, shaped by your touch from the outside in."