The Trout Swims Joyfully in a River Pool of Toluene Paint Thinner
© 2012 Ron Throop

Hailing from Oswego, New York, Ron Throop is a prolific expressionist painter. This exhibition is selected from his on-going Fracking Series. Throop began painting on the subject in 2009, concerned that the process of hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale for natural gas has the potential of poisoning the groundwater for hundreds of thousands of people for many generations.

Since 2009, hydrofracking has become a worldwide health and environmental threat and activists across the globe are working for bans. After years of campaigning, activists in New York State achieved a statewide ban on December 17, 2014.

Throop writes, “The Finger Lakes region has breathed a sigh of Christmas relief. The Route 20 corridor will be more July beautiful than it has ever been…. Nobody need sicken their kids with vanadium lemonade. The false promises of economy have finally lost a round. Dingding! Back to its sweaty corner where executives will lick their sour-puss wounds and find many new ways to hit below the belt…Game ain’t over yet.” He continues, “Art and artists must take up the moral torch. We have the ability to create an imagined memory before it’s too late to turn back. The 21st century artist has a mission to make sense common once again.”

Organizational Co-Sponsors:

Thanks to our SPECIAL BENEFACTORS Walter Putter and Marilyn Smith