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Renee Bonagura's pumpkin oil pastel

Lee Bush and Renee Bonagura, students from the C. J. Hooker Middle School in Goshen, will have their original artwork featured in the Wallkill River School’s Orange County Bounty Cookbook.

The Orange County Bounty Cookbook was created from recipes of local restaurants, farm stands and farm to promote local dining. The cookbook is also filled with artwork from 41 local artists.

“I submitted Lee Bush's farm drawing and Renee Bonagura's pumpkin oil pastel because I felt they were excellent artworks that fit the theme of the cookbook,” said Christina Pahucki, art teacher at the C. J. Hooker Middle School. Pahucki and fellow art teacher Karen Schoonmaker attend plein air (outdoors in French) art classes and from May until October and both have paintings in the cookbook as well.

Lee Bush's farm drawing.

The Wallkill River School is an Orange County-based art movement that combines plein air painting with environmental activism to save small farms, historic sites and open spaces. This art movement was started by artist Shawn Dell Joyce and others, and is similar to the Hudson River School art movement from 150 years ago in its desire to paint American landscapes in the hopes of raising awareness to protect the land.

For more information, visit www.wallkillriverschool.com.