Art Along the Hudson – 7 Cities, 7 Celebrations kicked off the 2008 summer season with a media reception at Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries on June 12. Many came early and saw Dia:Beacon - a world class art museum right here in the Hudson Valley. For information on Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, visit www.diaart.org.

Seven Evans, Benjamin Krevolin and Linda Hubbard

Nancy Billman and Karen Heroy greet the attendees

In its fifth year, Art Along the Hudson announced its expansion from four to seven cities.  In addition to the initial four – Kingston, Beacon, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh - new this year are Hudson, Catskill and Rhinebeck.  Through a cooperative media campaign, this regional collaboration promotes arts and cultural activities in each of these seven Hudson River cities.  The reception included light refreshments and live music. The event provided an opportunity to meet the artists and creators of this regional initiative, along with city officials actively working to revitalize their cities through the arts. 

Benjamin Krevolin, President Dutchess County Arts Council, welcomed everyone to the special event - our fifth year - and the exspansion to seven cities.

At the event, Steven Evans, Director, Dia:Beacon talked about the heritage of the Hudson River School of Arts and the importance of the artists and galleries working together to keep that spirit alive.

Art Along the Hudson celebrations are anchored by rotating Saturdays that spotlight each of the cities.  Kingston and Hudson share First Saturdays; Beacon has Second Saturdays; Catskill, Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck celebrate Third Saturdays; and Newburgh highlights Last Saturdays.  Although activities happen year-round in all of the participating communities, a focus of one Saturday each month helps to strengthen and build awareness of each city’s arts initiatives.  Programs feature a variety of art forms - from gallery and museum exhibits to music, dance, theatre and poetry.  Special events range from sculpture exhibits, street fairs and parades, to art and history tours. Representatives from the seven cities spoke.

Kathy Janaczek from the Office City Clerk of Kingston and Vindora Wixom of the Art Society of Kingston.

Steve Gold - Beacon Mayor and Carl VanBrunt spoke about the Beacon revitaliztion and the importance of regional marketing. The cities working together give people more reasons to come to the Hudson Valley and to stay awhile.

Patrick Milbourn, Catskill Gallery Association

Kelly Thompson, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie

Julie West, Rhinebeck Chamber of Commerce

Sue Valentine, Karen Heroy and Kendall Henry - Newburgh

In addition, this website, www.artalongthehudson.com, provides more detail about each city’s special events and is updated on a regular basis when new offerings become available.  Through the brochure, the website and an extensive media campaign, promotional information about Art Along the Hudson reaches hundreds of thousands arts consumers and cultural tourists in the greater Hudson Valley, and in parts of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Connecticut.

Carl Van Brunt, Catherine Welshman, Doug
Berlin, Jennifer Mackiewicz - Beacon

A special thanks goes to Carl VanBrunt of VanBrunt Gallery for designing and creating the brochure. 

“The art organizations of the 7 cities have all worked hard to bring our 2008 program together” says Linda Hubbard, chair of Art Along the Hudson.  “We also thank the participating municipalities, businesses, organizations and artists who make our program possible.”  By pooling our money, we have print advertisment in the Hudson Valley Museum Guide, the Seasonal Pallette, Artworks in the Daily Freeman, the Ulster Publishing Summer Guide, the Art in America Annual Guide and the NY Press Hudson Valley Summer Guide. And listen for us on WAMC radio!

Jim Gibbons, Season Pallette publisher talks with Kelly Pelluzzi, DCAC Board member.

All Photographs from the kickoff event are by Mary Ann Glass, Wedding and Event Photographer www.maryannglass.com and co-owner of RiverWinds Gallery www.riverwindsgallery.com.

Thanks go to Homespun Foods for donating the light refreshments. They are located on 232 Main St Beacon, 845-831-5096 - a specialty food store and cafe offering salads, sandwiches, gelato, importaed cheeses and more.

And thanks also to the Artisan Wine Shop, 180 Main St, Beacon 845-440-6923 www.artisanwineshop.com.

They donated and served Hudson Valley Wines from

the White Cliff Vineyard www.whitecliffwine.com

the Warwick Valley Winery www.wvwinery.com

and the Millbrook Winery www.millbrookwine.com

Music was by Neil Alexander on the synthesizer and Rachel Evans on the violin www.nailmusic.com

Thanks also to Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union (HVFCU) www.hvfcu.org for helping to sponsor the brochure. Kathy Feursi was on hand to accept a photograph of the Poughkeepsie Bridge by Linda Hubbard

And thanks to the additional sponsor of the brochure Associated Aircraft Group www.flyaag.com. Sarah Hubbard was on hand to accept an aerial photograph of Bannerman's Island by Linda Hubbard.

Thanks also go to Lithography by Design for their great job printing the brochure. They will be receiving a watercolor by Ktherina McKenna, artist, gallery owner and President of the Board of Directors of ASK, shown here in this picture with the painting.

The eye-catching, four-color brochure lists the participating venues in each city, and is widely distributed to tourism sites throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond. 

Joanne Klein and Franc Palaia from Poughkeepsie

Veryal Zimmerman, Katy Belle and Florence Northcut - Beacon

Mary Kay Verba, Hudson Valley Tourism and Julie West, Rhinebeck Chamber of Commerce

to see the 2007 kickoff in Kingston... click here