Suffolk Reporter

Across the Pond, an exhibition featuring the work of artist Annemarie Waugh, will be displayed at the Lyceum Gallery located in the Montaukett Building on Suffolk County Community College's Eastern Campus. The exhibit runs from March 12 to April 17, 2025. A reception for Waugh is scheduled for Thursday, April 3, from 4 to 6 p.m., with refreshments available. The event is free and open to everyone.

Waugh, originally from Birmingham in the United Kingdom, delves into British culture through her artwork. Her pieces include images of tartans, animals, foliage, and well-known figures from British television. She also uses silkscreened expressions of British slang in her abstract canvas compositions. The exhibition includes original illustrations from her upcoming book "Across the Pond," which will be published this spring.

Her interest in language began in 2015 with an art installation where she chalked British phrases on a large wall with translations provided on another wall. This project led to a book exploring British phraseology. In "Across the Pond," Waugh encourages viewers to appreciate language's humor and subtleties by including sayings from English, Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, Scottish, Cornish, and Yiddish.

Waugh states: “The England I grew up in was chockablock with clotted cream... dampness... and an aversion to taking life too seriously.”

After moving to New York in 1994, Waugh settled in Setauket. She holds a BA from Central Saint Martins (1992) and an MFA from Stony Brook University (2021). Her work has been shown at various venues.

She has earned several awards such as The Prince’s Trust Scholarship (UK) and The Stephanie Dinkins Kusama Scholarship (SUNY Stony Brook). Supported by Stony Brook University’s Ashley Schiff Preserve and Office of the President sponsorships, she created "The Developer’s Midnight Fantasy" (2021), combining music, poetry, neuroscience, and dance.

Before pursuing fine art full-time, Waugh worked as a graphic designer during the 1990s for clients like Showtime and VH1. Her illustrations have appeared in publications like The New York Times.

Waugh's paintings are included in private collections such as those belonging to The Long Island Museum and VH1.

Aside from her artistic endeavors, Waugh teaches design courses at Suffolk County Community College as an adjunct faculty member.

Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed on weekends except for an artist meet-and-greet on Saturday, April 5.

Suffolk County Community College is part of SUNY system offering over 100 programs and enrolling more than 21,000 students annually.