BUILT is Historic Albany Foundation’s charitable auction and fundraiser, and I’ve participated in the fundraiser for the past two decades. It’s a personal sense of pride for me – to be able to take my photography and other crafts, and create artwork whose sales will help preserve the amazing and unique architecture that populates the Capital Region.
Yesterday, I received news that my two submissions for BUILT were accepted, and will be part of the upcoming November 7 BUILT charity art show and auction at Emmanuel Baptist Church in downtown Albany. Again, very happy.
BUILT’s rule is that the artwork must encompass history, architecture or culture of the Capital Region, and all that that entails.
So with that, here are my two entries that will join the many other artists’ works at BUILT 2026.
WHAT TIME ARE THE FIREWORKS AT THE EMPIRE STATE PLAZA?
This was from my Fourth of July fireworks shot – the one I took back in July from East Greenbush. You know, the one where I shot from the overhang at the Holiday Inn rather than deal with the thousands of people in the Plaza itself.
I took my original photo capture, and printed it so that it could be incorporated into this old bar clock. The hope is that this will end up in some patriotic art lover’s man-cave or rumpus room.
And here’s the original blog post that chronicles how I created this art piece.
And then for a classic oldie but goodie … I dusted this print off.
INSTAMATIC L-KEN’S
I forgot that I took this picture – it was during a time when I experimented with vintage Kodak Instamatic film. You know, the stuff that came in those little plastic cartridges and you popped the cartridge into a camera, took twelve shots, then took the cartridge out and shipped it to the local Fotomat? Yeah, that stuff.
This shot layers two Instamatic rolls in a parallel line, and you can see the frame marks and guidelines as the barrier between that classic Googie architecture sign with the waving chef on top that looked like a cartoon version of Mario Cuomo.
Thankfully, my memory can use an enhancement – and after searching my blog archives, I discovered that I captured this little image way back in 2015. ELEVEN YEARS AGO.
Yeah, that sign was in rough shape. One year later, it was disassembled and taken away; the land where the eatery once stood is now a Verizon call center. Ugh.
Both pieces are now part of BUILT’s 2026 show. And there’s plenty of other artworks and creations at BUILT that might attract your artistic dollar, so do not pass this by.
Yeah. Very happy for this.
you have reason to be proud
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