A wallpaper pattern built for a confessional, a clawfoot tub and a plate of breakfast are among the subjects of Pressed & Inked, a solo show of prints by Long Island printmaker Christine Baum now hanging in the Claire Davidson Siegel Gallery at the Patchogue-Medford Library. The exhibit runs through Sunday, January 4, 2027, and the library will hold a free reception with the artist on Sunday, November 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Main Library on East Main Street in Patchogue.

What is on the walls

Baum works mostly in monotype and linocut, two printmaking methods that produce very different results. A monotype is pulled from an inked plate that is worked by hand and yields a single print, so no two are alike. A linocut is carved into a block of linoleum, inked and pressed, and Baum stacks colors and layers to build up each image. According to the library, the work in this show takes up stories of girlhood, obedience and faith, and gives weight to the small, ordinary scenes of daily life that usually go unrecorded.

The library has posted more than a dozen of the pieces online. Most are intimate in scale, roughly 10 by 11 inches, with titles such as Clawfoot Tub, Wardrobe, Breakfast and Bough Breaks. Two larger works, Lost and Found Wallpaper and Confessional Wallpaper, each measure 25 by 37 inches. There are also travel and shoreline subjects, including Sinking Venice, Gondolas and Montauk Morning, as well as a pair of prints titled Tangle 1 and Tangle 2 and a 23-inch square piece called Contour.

About the artist

Baum is based on the North Shore of Long Island. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Binghamton University and a master's degree in library science from Queens College. Her work has been shown at the Memorial Gallery at Farmingdale State College and the Huntington Arts Council on Long Island, and farther afield at the Kai Lin Art Gallery in Atlanta, the art galleries at Austin Community College in Texas and the Webber Gallery at the College of Central Florida.

Her own portfolio site shows a wider range of series beyond what is in Patchogue, including a body of wallpaper designs that repeat Catholic motifs in patterns imagined for specific rooms, monotypes of lotus flowers seen from below the water line, and landscapes in which ink is lifted away with cloth and brushes. She also lists carborundum collagraph, drypoint, etching, aquatint and woodcut among the techniques she uses.

The reception on November 22

The Sunday afternoon reception is a chance to meet Baum and see the prints with her in the room. The library lists it as an adult program running from 2 to 4 p.m., held in the gallery and Meeting Room A at the Main Library, with light refreshments. There is no fee and no registration; the library's event listing says all are welcome.

About the gallery

The Claire Davidson Siegel Gallery sits on the lower level of the library. It is named for Claire Davidson Siegel, an artist and arts advocate who served as president of the Patchogue-Medford Friends of the Library, and it took her name in 2018. Library staff run the space and mount six professional exhibitions a year by local artists and Long Island arts organizations. Artists who want to show there can send a proposal through the gallery's page on the library website.

The Patchogue-Medford Library serves Patchogue, East Patchogue, Medford and surrounding communities from three buildings: the Main Library on East Main Street, the Carnegie Library at 160 West Main Street and the Medford Branch at the Medford Athletic Complex on Horseblock Road. Pressed & Inked is at the Main Library.

How to go

  • What: Pressed & Inked, prints by Christine Baum
  • Where: Claire Davidson Siegel Gallery, lower level, Patchogue-Medford Library Main Library, 54-60 East Main Street, Patchogue, NY 11772
  • When: On view now through Sunday, January 4, 2027, during regular library hours
  • Artist reception: Sunday, November 22, 2026, 2 to 4 p.m., with light refreshments
  • Cost: Free; no registration needed for the reception
  • Phone: 631-654-4700
  • Hours: Check the library's hours and locations page before you go, particularly around the Thanksgiving and winter holidays

Sources