VARGA Gallery & Studio
presents the 4th Annual 

Phoenicia Festival of the Arts  
Friday, August 21 - Sunday, August 23, 2026  

Featuring  
HYDROSYMPHONY
The Children of the River 

in conjunction with the 
 Foundation for New American Art

Announcing our 2nd Annual 
Film Screening Series  
at the Phoenicia Playhouse 
and launching the 

Phoenicia Film Festival 
 as part of the 
Phoenicia Festival of the Arts 


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VARGA Gallery  
 Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
Phoenicia Film Festival
  

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 VARGA Gallery 
 Phoenicia Festival of the Arts 
 Phoenicia Film Festival 

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About VARGA Gallery & Studio and the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
VARGA Gallery & Studio
Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
Main Street  -  Phoenicia, NY 12464

phoeniciafestivalofthearts@gmail.com


VARGA Gallery & Studio is the creative studio and workspace of artist Christina Varga established in Woodstock, NY in 2003 and moved to Phoenicia, NY in 2019. The Phoenicia Festival of the Arts launched in 2023 and is now in its 4th year of presenting art, music, film, dance, performance and more. We celebrate self-taught, outsider and visionary artists, luminaries and pop icons and operate on a global scale through connection and community with high visibility, attention grabbing creatives of all levels. We seek a global platform and connection with art lovers everywhere. Our visibility is global, our platform local. 

Christina Varga, VARGA Gallery and the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts strive to create inspiring art happenings and connections through community art and togetherness. We make 3rd spaces that are fun, creative, inclusive and inspiring.  Our exhibitions and events are mixers and co-work pop ups that serve the community and tourism alike. We work to support and uplift the local economy by bringing people together at art events that bring local enjoyment, employment and prosperity. We work to create local resilience through community and creativity and support all residents in an inclusive and productive environment that provides inspiration, motivation and materials.

Coming Soon: The Fifth Dementia - an Arts, Culture and Media broadcast available online and on streaming platforms. 

VARGA Gallery & Studio 
Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
Christina Varga is a self-taught visionary artist based in the Hudson Valley. Her work blends diverse materials—including upcycled and discarded objects, vintage ephemera, holographic mylar, tissue paper, and mixed media such as paint pens, pastels, acrylic, and oil paints. Varga’s vivid, layered compositions explore pop culture, interdimensional patterns, and repeated pixelated motifs. In 2003, Varga founded VARGA Gallery in Woodstock, New York. For over a decade, she showcased an eclectic roster of cutting-edge artists, curating hundreds of exhibitions and producing the weekly cable access show Apocalypse VARGA—a bold, experimental variety program spotlighting artists, musicians, speakers, and creatives. The show, described as a “visual concoction of transitions, video effects, and improvisation,” reached an international audience via live webcasts during its five-year run.

Varga's artwork has been exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum’s 13th mega-exhibit All Faiths Beautiful, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, and Kunsttiendaagse in Bergen, North Holland. Her pieces are in the collections of Uma Thurman, Grace Potter, Dweezil Zappa, Kate Pierson, and Dave Wakeling. Varga’s work has appeared in The Sufi Journal, Resurgence Magazine, The New York Times, and more. Her piece Golden Mosaic Buddha was featured on the cover of Chronogram Magazine (December 2006). In 2023, she launched The Phoenicia Festival of the Arts, a town-wide celebration of creativity held each August in Phoenicia, NY. The festival spans Main Street with a vibrant market for artists and artisans, family-friendly events, and performances that promote diversity and cultural richness in the Catskills and Hudson Valley.

Varga lives and works in Phoenicia, NY, where her studio at 60 Main Street is a fusion of art, gardening, and motherhood. She is a proud mother of two and a self-proclaimed Art/Garden/Life-ist. As a self-taught artist, Varga brings an intuitive, process-driven approach to art-making, rooted in curiosity, experimentation, and a reverence for the overlooked and discarded. Her creative practice centers around the transformation of found, foraged, and upcycled materials into vibrant, meaningful works of art. In her workshops, she invites participants to explore their own innate creativity using humble materials—encouraging personal expression, environmental awareness, and the joy of making something from nothing. Whether you're an experienced artist or a curious beginner, Varga’s workshops offer an inspiring, hands-on journey into the limitless possibilities of found object art.

To sign up for workshops, studio tours, private lessons or to commission artwork please email phoeniciafestivalofthearts@gmail.com.