Chronogram June 2023

Energy-E cient, Indoor Comfort All Year Round

Whether it’s a ductless unit, floor unit, ceiling cassette, or air handler, we provide comfort and filtration to every room, with maximum energy e ciency. Get peace of mind with our 3-year labor, and 12-year parts warranty, plus we o er full service on everything we install.

Contact us today to learn more about which heating and cooling options would work best for you and your home.

DEPARTMENTS

6 On the Cover

A photograph from Frank Spinelli’s new book, Mushrooms Exposed

8 Esteemed Reader

Jason Stern seeks to open new portals to harmony within .

11 Editor’s Note

Brian K. Mahoney is listening to Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time.

FOOD

& DRINK

12 Mexican Marvel: Casa Susanna

Chef Efren Hernandez is taking the Mexican food of his heritage in an exciting and modern direction.

16 Sips & Bites

Recent openings include Pretty to Think So, Shadow 66, Butterhead Salad Company, and Pillow and Oats Brewing.

HOME

18 A-Frame Alchemy

The child of two psychistriasts, designer Olga Naiman brings a distinctive cross-take on psychology into her Garrison home.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

34 The Healing Power of Stories

Storytelling is booming in the region, with events taking place from Beacon to Tivoli to Rosendale and beyond. But sharing stories is not just about tales well told—it’s a way for people to connect, empathize, and heal.

COMMUNITY PAGES

30 Rhinebeck: In It Together

Rhinebeck’s growing popularity as a destination is not due to some monolithic design—rather, it thrives because of the individual achievements of a network of stakeholders, working in concert.

39 Pop-Up Portraits by David McIntyre

Rhinebeckers at the farmers’ market on May 7.

ARTS

46 Music

Peter Aaron reviews Live in Germany 1954-2013 by David Amram. Jason Broome reviews Between the Sandhills and the Sea: A Tribute to Vera Brittain & Winifred Holtby by Eric Starr. Mike Cobb reviews Hunk II by Hunk. Plus listening recommendations from DJ, poet, and artist Bby Waxt’a.

47 Books

Betsy Maury reviews The Puzzle Master, Danielle Trussoni’s thriller about a centuries-old riddle. Plus short reviews of The Work: A Jigsaw Memoir by Zachary Sklar; The Empty Kayak by Jode Millman; Death, Resurrection, and the Spirit of New Orleans by Ken McCarthy; Hyman by Lawrence Bush; and We Beat Back the Fascists by Spencer Kroll.

48 Poetry

Poems by Lucinda Abra, Ryan Brennan, John Duvall, Stacy Fine-Hager, Robert Harlow, Matt Moment, Will Nixon, Christopher Porpora, Geroge J. Searles, Cathryn Shea, and Matthew J. Spireng. Edited by Phillip X Levine.

HOROSCOPES

84 Racing Minds and Hearts Aflame

Cory Nakasue reveals what the stars have in store for us.

PARTING SHOT

88 Love is Love: Pride 2023

A curated list of Pride events across the region. More coverage throughout the month of June at Chronogram.com/pride2023.

A house getting an extreme makeover on Chestnut Street in Rhinebeck.

Photo by David McIntyre COMMUNITY PAGES, PAGE 30

It here.happens

Witness the Great Northern Catskills come to life before your eyes. With riverfront festivals, unique summer celebrations, and one-of-a-kind events, there’s no shortage of buzzworthy happenings. The only challenge will be penciling them all into your calendar. #FindYourCatskills

Laurence Fishburne premieres his one man tourde-force, “Like They Do in the Movies,” at New York Stage and Film at Marist College in July.

Photo by Art Streiber SUMMER ARTS PREVIEW, PAGE 50

Sporensic Evidence

FRANK SPINELLI’S MUSHROOM PORTRAITS

Frank Spinelli’s book Mushrooms Exposed reveals the hidden beauty of fungi. He stages studio shots using mirrors, black velvet and Photoshop to render vivid images that bring one of nature’s most mysterious and intriguing organisms to life.

Drawing inspiration from the forests near his Woodstock home, Spinelli became fascinated by mushrooms in the 1980s. “I began taking specimens back to New York City to photograph them in my studio. I wanted to name my subjects and because of my innate sense of curiosity, I learned all I could about mushrooms until I was able to identify them and be confident enough to even eat some species,” he explains.

A longtime resident of the Hudson Valley, Spinelli moved to New York City after college to learn still-life photography and opened Spinelli Studio in 1978. His first noteworthy assignment was a cover for New York magazine, a portrait of a red snapper for a feature on buying fish.

When asked about shooting in the wild versus the more controlled studio setting, Spinelli says, “I photographed and wrote a book in 2006

called The Glorious Mushroom. The mushrooms in that book were all photographed in their natural environment in the same forest surrounding my home. In 2006, I relocated my photo studio from Manhattan to a building beside my house with all its studio equipment and I simply continued using my still-life skills, a natural progression of what I had been doing in the city.”

Though he enjoys the inherent surrealism of black-and-white photography and created a special section in the book to make the original identification callouts look like an X-ray positive, Spinelli prefers to shoot in color. With 50 years of experience taking and looking at photos, he has developed a formula for achieving the look he wants. “The ability to ‘see’ a photograph is a complex affair. One needs to understand their feelings and sensations, the signals and markers of what visually excites oneself,” he says. “All photographs generally contain combinations of four components: ambiance (light); point of view (angle); subject (place, moment, a personality); and design, including color combinations, the S curve, and the compositional element,” he says.

Beginning his career as an advertising still life photographer, Spinelli trained his eye to make objects look iconic. He’s also a travel photographer, as interested in humans as he is the natural world and sees connections amongst all sentient beings. “I love photographing people, whether in my studio or in the street, and in a way, the mushroom photos are also portraits,” he says.

“I hope my photos can show how we are essentially all the same at our core, yet individual in our minutia, like our fingerprints. The fungal mycelial network, having existed on our planet for billions of years, likely played a role in the world’s development of our flora and fauna. The human brain acts uncannily like a mycelial network,” he adds.

This is Spinelli’s second cover for Chronogram. In 2014, we featured a photo from his Burning Man documentary project, Burning Man: Into a 21st-Century Utopia, on the cover of the December issue.

Portfolio: Frankspinelliphotography.com —Mike Cobb

Cinnabar Chanterelles, Frank Spinelli, color photograph

Honey Mushroom, Frank Spinelli, color photograph

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Brian K. Mahoney brian.mahoney@chronogram.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR David C. Perry david.perry@chronogram.com

DIGITAL EDITOR Marie Doyon marie.doyon@chronogram.com

ARTS EDITOR Peter Aaron music@chronogram.com

HOME EDITOR Mary Angeles Armstrong home@chronogram.com

POETRY EDITOR Phillip X Levine poetry@chronogram.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Anne Pyburn Craig apcraig@chronogram.com

contributors

Winona Barton-Ballentine, Jason Broome, Mike Cobb, Crystal Fraioli, Jamie Larson, Besty Maury, David McIntyre, Cory Nakasue, Sparrow, Jamie Stathis, Taliesin Thomas

PUBLISHING

FOUNDERS Jason Stern, Amara Projansky

PUBLISHER & CEO Amara Projansky amara.projansky@chronogram.com

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Jan Dewey jan.dewey@chronogram.com

BOARD CHAIR David Dell

sales manager

Andrea Fliakos andrea.fliakos@chronogram.com

media specialists

Kaitlyn LeLay kaitlyn.lelay@chronogram.com

Kelin Long-Gaye kelin.long-gaye@chronogram.com

Kris Schneider kris.schneider@chronogram.com

Sam Brody sam.brody@chronogram.com

ad operations

Jared Winslow jared.winslow@chronogram.com

marketing

MARKETING & EVENTS MANAGER

Margot Isaacs margot.isaacs@chronogram.com

SPONSORED CONTENT EDITOR

Ashleigh Lovelace ashleigh.lovelace@chronogram.com

administration

FINANCE MANAGER

Nicole Clanahan accounting@chronogram.com; (845) 334-8600

production

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Kerry Tinger kerry.tinger@chronogram.com; (845) 334-8600x108

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Kate Brodowska kate.brodowska@chronogram.com

office

45 Pine Grove Avenue, Suite 303, Kingston, NY 12401 • (845) 334-8600

mission

Founded in 1993, Chronogram magazine offers a colorful and nuanced chronicle of life in the Hudson Valley, inviting readers into the arts, culture, and spirit of this place.

All contents © Chronogram Media 2023.

Summertime in The Hudson Valley

Summer’s the best season for celebrating indoors and out, and great food is why we stock the best selection of kitchen tools anywhere in the area— More than any other store offers. It’s why more chefs come to Warren Kitchen & Cutlery for their kitchen tools! For them, it’s personal and it’s also the reason our customers keep coming back.

We carry and stock The Hudson Valley’s best selection of fine cookware, cutlery, appliances and accessories— Period! Where else would anyone shop for anything for their kitchen? Everything

• Unique and rare knives from around the world

• Cookware, bakeware and barware

• Great gifts, and gift wrapping available 6934 Route 9 Rhinebeck, NY 12572 845-876-6208 Mon–Sat 9:30–5:30 And www.warrenkitchenandcutlery.com

CATSKILL MOUNTAIN JULY 22

PLATTEKILL MOUNTAIN ROXBURY, NY

esteemed reader by Jason Stern

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed You’re gonna have to serve somebody Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you’re gonna have to serve somebody Bob Dylan, “Gotta Serve Somebody”

My left knee is on fire. Breathe. The pain is intense and exquisite. Breathe. Some attention goes to the pain. I listen and breathe. I stay with the breath. Where the pain had been now becomes a charged emptiness in my leg, and I am sitting in silence, attention fully absorbed in the breath.

The last period of sitting during a day of Vipassana meditation is a portal. It is the most painful period of the day and offers strong resistance to reconcile in the crucible of practice. Sometimes I loiter at the edge of deeper stillness, unable or unwilling to let go of the persistent attachment to experience.

Sometimes I pass through the portal and enter a silence that is joyful and profound, a state in which even the most important-seeming thoughts sizzle and disappear like droplets of water on a hot woodstove. Even the notion of self goes away, absorbed into a greater totality of awareness.

Though the periods of real meditation are poignant, I have come to understand that they are not the object. There is no object. There is only the practice. Breath. Attention to breath and bodily sensation. Attention remains with the breath even as some becomes caught in a web of associations, as though the attention has a breath of its own, it moves from deep absorption to shallow dissociation in a long, slow cycle.

Every level of consciousness has its own automatism: Thoughts carry on with a will of their own; pain in the body ebbs and flows like the swing of a grandfather clock’s pendulum; emotions swell to heights of joy and collapse into unfathomable depths of depression. Meanwhile, deeper experiences follow their own patterns. All without any decision of my own.

So where is choice? Is there any freedom at all in this human being?

More breath. More attention to the breath, and to sensation in the body. I see that there is choice, though not the ordinary kind; not a choice between this or that experience. The choice is where to place my attention at this moment. And its action is immediate, inseparable from the intention.

This is a fragile freedom, this inner atmosphere of voluntary engagement without grasping or rejection; freedom to engage with inner and outer experience as it is.

Home after the retreat, I find myself in the living room with family. My partner is talking about a book she finds fascinating, a fictional work imagining new uses of technology to solve the problems of the world.

WEDDINGS

My mind begins to argue with the premises of the book. “The problems proposed in the conventional view are not the real problems,” it says. “They are decoys.” Just as my mouth is about to open and take issue with what she is saying, something else in me remembers to practice, and I return my attention to my breath, and to her voice. She is enjoying talking, but pauses and looks at me, expecting an interjection that would fit the pattern of our conversations.

Seeing that I’m still paying attention, she continues with a deeper enthusiasm.

Again, I’m irritated by the ideas and the mind starts arguing. “Technology is not the answer to anything. Obsession with technological solutions is at the root of humanity’s problem.” Once again, the mouth moves to offer opinion, and again something deeper guides the attention to listening. The mouth remains still.

She continues. My mind pipes up a third time. “These ideas are so horizontal. They don’t allow for the action of a higher power. In this they are limited, ignorant.” My mouth tries to speak, again another authority redirects the attention.

She finishes with a smile of satisfaction at having fully expressed her line of thought. I listen to the silence and the crackling of the fire in the woodstove. Finally: “That’s really interesting,” comes out of my mouth. And I mean it.

The mind’s arguments have passed and I feel free.

A Woodstock wedding that’s uniquely yours. The Colony exudes the ambiance of a bygone era, offering your wedding a casual elegance unlike anywhere else.

This is really only half a column. Actually, it’s closer to four-tenths if I do the math. (I did the math.) I’m in the process of listening to, in descending order, the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” as determined by the editors of Rolling Stone. I started this project in early April. I average four to five albums a day, five days a week. (I take off on weekends.) I listen while I’m here at my desk at Chronogram HQ. As of May 19, I’m on Al Green’s I’m Still in Love with You (#306), which I have paused because Green’s groove is too distractingly sexy and I need to make this half a column happen before 5pm. Given the pace I’m at, I should be listening to the number one greatest album of all time by Labor Day. (I’m guessing number one will be either Sgt. Pepper’s or Pet Sounds. And no, I didn’t look—that’s my one rule. I’m trying to build suspense here!)

The reason I embarked on this sonic odyssey was threefold: I was bored of the recursive loop of my own taste, feeling alternately too busy and too lazy to seek out new music, and being nowhere near cool enough to like the uber-hip music that Pitchfork recommends. (I recently tried to listen to Dismantled into Juice, pictured above, a recent release by Berlin-based producer Blawans, but rata-tat electronica tracks like “Body Ramen” sound like they were made with dyspeptic machines in mind. Note to Blawans: Let the machines make their own music. They’ll need something to do once AI turns on us and wipes us out.)

Listening to the RS 500 is also a form of auto-didacticism. Would I ever have sat through Alice Coltrane’s dreamy jazz opus Journey in Satchidananda (#446)? Probably not. I might never listen to it again, but it’s clearly stuck in my mind like a poppy seed between a canine and bicuspid. I’ll likely dislodge it later. The list is a way to encounter old friends, like Tom Waits’s Rain Dogs (#357) and Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago (#461), as well as get schooled in artists I was never exposed to, like West Coast rap group the Pharcyde (Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde,

#482), Nigerian juju master King Sunny Ade (The Best of the Classic Years, #465), and psychedelic Kraut-rockers Can (Ege Bamyasi, #454). The list is the older brother I never had, giving me essential insider intel. I guess the internet is everyone’s older brother now. And Big Brother as well. When I started—inauspiciously, in my opinion, with Arcade Fire’s turgid Funeral (#500)—I didn’t think I’d stick with it. Admittedly, I don’t have a great track record with this kind of thing. Ten years ago, I set out to hike the 35 Catskill high peaks and become a badge-wearing member of the Catskill 3500 Club. After bagging 15 peaks that summer with my bestie Shazam, my motivation stalled out. The dog was more than willing, but I lost the desire to drag my ass up one rocky hillside after another that more often than not lacked a scenic vista at the top. I mean, why even build the thing if it ain’t got a view?

I feel like I may just see this RS 500 project through, however. For one thing, I’m not doctrinaire about it, and I’ve skipped a couple Neil Young albums because his catalog is no longer available on Spotify. (Can’t blame Neil for hating the Joe Rogan Vaccine Misinformation Experience, brought to you by Spotify.) Number two: I can’t shut up about it, and people are now keeping up with my musical journey, asking me what number I’m up to currently and what I listened to that day.

Since you asked, here’s today playlist: Wire’s Pink Flag (#310); Joy Division’s harrowing Closer (#309); Brian Eno’s first solo album, Here Come the Warm Jets (#308); and Sam Cooke’s greatest hits compilation Portrait of a Legend 19511964 (#307). A pretty typical day, the albums hopscotching genres and decades.

I should probably say something about the history and methodology of the RS 500. Originally published in 2003, the list was updated in 2012 and again in 2020. (As you might imagine, it’s a popular feature, with the list getting 63 million views in 2019 alone. Ranking

by Brian K. Mahoney

Canon Fodder

art is as silly as hats on snakes, but we love it anyway.) The magazine’s methodology: Ask 300 musicians, producers, critics, DJs, and record label execs for their 50 favorite albums of all time. Per Rolling Stone: “Votes were tabulated, with the highest-ranked album on each list receiving 300 points, the second highest 290 points, and so on down to 44 points for number 50. More than 3,000 albums received at least one vote.” Among the cognoscenti were everyone from Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan and Ani DiFranco, to David Fricke and Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman. Even the Edge and Adam Clayton from U-fucking-2 weighed in.

I’ve discovered some really delightful songs along the way thus far, like LA punk band X’s cover of The Door’s “Soul Kitchen” (Los Angeles, #320) and reggae stalwarts Toots and the Maytals covering John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” with Toots changing the lyrics from “West Virginia” to “West Jamaica.” Toots is my hero. I’ve also listened to some deeply forgettable stuff, like the Stone Roses’ The Stone Roses (#319). Sorry, they weren’t saving rock and roll. We’d have to wait for The Strokes for that. (I assume the band’s 2001 debut, Is This It is on the list.) There was also the day that I spent listening mostly to the Magnetic Field’s nearly three-hour-long 69 Love Songs (#406). Guess how many songs are on the album? Not a bad record, just a lot of one flavor, like eating a 22-ounce ribeye.

Because I’m listening on Spotify, I get to see how popular these canonical works of art are. For instance, let’s compare a track from Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin (#317) and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (#397). The lead track off Holiday’s 1958 classic has a respectable 18.5 million listens. “Bad Guy,” released by Eilish in 2019, has 2.2 billion listens. My hunch is that we’ll still be listening to Billie Holiday in a hundred years, not Billie Eilish. Or not. It may just be the machines listening to Dismantled into Juice in the 22nd Century.

food & drink

Mexican Marvel

THE INVENTIVE CUISINE OF CASA SUSANNA

By Brian K. Mahoney

wasn’t expecting the mackerel. Well, let me clarify that slightly: I was expecting the mackerel—we had ordered it, after all. Here’s what I didn’t anticipate: The fish being served head on, with all its little teeth grinning at me like a miniature demented caiman. It was a bit of a shock. What was unsurprising, however, was that the grilled mackerel—spiced al pastor-style and served with caramelized fennel, guajillo salsa, and fennel sauerkraut—was an inspired creation. It was one of the final dishes served to us that night at Casa Susanna, the last in a string of inventive modern takes on Mexican food from the kitchen of chef Efren Hernandez.

Casa Susanna is located just north of the Catskill Thruway exit in the hamlet of Leeds, just down the road from diner fetishist catnip Gracie’s Luncheonette. The restaurant is part of Camptown, a renovated motor lodge reimagined by Ray Pirkle and Kim Bucci, owners and creators of Rivertown Lodge in Hudson. (Hernandez also helms the kitchen at Rivertown Lodge’s tavern—the food was very tasty the couple of times I’ve eaten there—as well as Casa Susanna. He’s also worked in Michelin-starred kitchens like Brooklyn’s now-shuttered Faro.) Camptown has 24 guest rooms and another 26 standalone cabins. The aesthetic is rustic hipster, which carries over into Casa Susanna.

I

The 40 ounce dry aged ribeye is served with drilled ramps and fire-roasted bone marrow salsa.

Opposite, clockwise from top left: Tlayoco de Camote masa, with quelites, clothbound cheddar, and salsa negra; uni tostada with epazote crema, guajillo chile, and trout roe; grilled cactus salad with smoked queso fresco; grilled little gem with perilla, masa crisp, and coriander dressing.

Photos courtesy of Casa Susanna

You enter through the barroom, a cozy space with 16 seats around a horseshoe-shaped bar with a cognac leather top. It’s a relaxing spot to have a pre-dinner drink. The Cel-Raicilla ($16), made with Tequila and guanabana, fresh lime, and celery juice, is as refreshing a Tequila cocktail as you’re likely to have. There’s also a draft Negroni with mezcal, and a few other cocktails tweaked with Mexican ingredients—tamarind liqueur, Oaxacan rum—all $16. Natasha David crafted the cocktail program, which makes use of housemade tinctures, seasonal jarred ingredients, and garnishes from the on-site greenhouse.

The wine list is large and thoughtfully curated by Byron Bates who’s chosen an eclectic mix of natural wines, mostly from Europe and South America, including some things you don’t see every day, like a handful of Chilean whites. Bottles range in price from $48 to $188, with almost all the bottles under $100. There are 10 selections by the glass, which range in price from $14.50 to $19.75. We tried the Quarticello “Cioke” Lambrusco ($54), which prickled the tongue ever so slightly and played well with the spice that accompanied some of the dishes. Making my way

through the list will be an ongoing adventure. We started with a couple of botanas—bar snacks. The pear flavored with Meyer lemon, gochujang, and Calabrian chile ($7) is the way to go here. The sweetness of the fruit with the fermenty-spiciness of the other ingredients is an inspired meeting of flavors. Then we tried one of the masas—all the tortillas are made in-house. Get a side order for the table. Our masa was stuffed with blood sausage ($12). If you love the metallic umami bomb that is blood sausage, you’ll love this hot corn pocket topped with pickled vegetables and cilantro. Then came the uni tostada ($22). And here I must confess to not having the greatest command of Mexican cuisine outside of the Americanized fare served most everywhere. So I Googled: “Do Mexicans eat a lot of uni?” (My research was inconclusive on the gonad-eating proclivities of our southern neighbors.)

Now sea urchin is just about the fishiest fish there is, with its strong scent of low tide. But it is naturally rich and buttery as well as being briny—a combination not found in a lot seafood—and Hernandez’s tostada was the star of the meal for me. Served atop thinly sliced cabbage

and ribbons of cucumber dressed with epazote crema and guajillo chile, the uni, paired with trout roe, was ethereal in the funkiest way. I hereby nominate the sea urchin as the official fish— they’re not actually fish are they?—of Mexico. Or at least Leeds.

For mains, we shared three dishes: wood-fired veal sweetbreads ($28), the aforementioned whole grilled mackerel al pastor ($35), and smoked goat birria tatemada ($35). The mackerel was secondfavorite dish, with the chile-roasted goat very close behind. (The sweetbreads were also tasty and carried a whiff of wood smoke.) The food at Casa Susanna is bonkers good—rating it against itself is a mug’s game. It’s one of a handful of amazingly tasty and creative restaurants to open up in the past year and I’ll be back for more. I plan on eating my way through the rest of the menu as soon as possible.

Casa Susanna

800 County Road 23B, Leeds

Casa Susanna serves dinner Thursday through Monday from 5 to 10pm. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 2pm.

Casa Suanna dining room and bar room are in a rustic lodge on the grounds of Camptown, a renovated motor lodge with 50 rooms in the Greene County hamlet of Leeds. Photos courtesy of Casa Susanna

saT, july 1 marc broussard

sun, july 2 Judy Collins

SUN, july 9 Damn the Torpedoes (Tom Petty Tribute)

suN, july 23 rising appalachia

sat, july 29 Josh Ritter

sun, july 30 Long Beach Dub Allstars

sat, august 5 Big Freedia

sun, august 6 Southside Johnny

We are the Co-op Team

Berkshire Food Co-op was created by and for families in the Berkshires to bring real food to our friends and neighbors

Everything we sell is thoughtfully chosen so you can rest assured it’s good for you and for our community

www.berkshire.coop

(413) 528-9697

34 Bridge Street, Great Barrington, MA @berkshirecoop

BEERGARDEN•FOODTRUCK

sips & bites

Butterhead Salad Company

208 Main Street, Beacon

Step aside, Sweetgreen, Butterhead Salad Company’s come to town. Opened in early April, Butterhead on Beacon’s bustling Main Street offers diners customizable salad bowls with housemade dressings. Their signature mixes include the Farmhouse Caesar, which gets extra heft from the addition of sweet potato and roasted broccoli ($15); and the Asian-inspired Shroomfu, with arugula, red cabbage, mushrooms, house-marinated sesame-ginger tofu, cucumber, sunflower seeds, and a sesame-ginger dressing ($16). Looking for something less leafy? There are also warm rice bowls, quinoa bowls, yogurt parfaits, and fresh fruit lemonades. Bistro dining sets round out the cheery space with its checkerboard floors and colorful peacock wallpaper. Eat in or take away. Butterheadsaladcompany.com

Midnight Ferry

12 Front Street, Newburgh

Opened last summer, Midnight Ferry on the Newburgh waterfront brings an ever-expanding list of offerings, including hard and soft serve ice cream, milkshakes, smoothies, coffee, and, soon, grab-and-go lunch options. Owned by the partners behind Mama Roux and Ms. Fairfax, Midnight Ferry brings an accessible and tasty way to enjoy the Newburgh waterfront. A recently opened vending pad on Walkway Over the Hudson also brings sweet treats and river views to those out for a stroll or bike ride. Later this year, Midnight Ferry will debut a retro, Grand Central Station-inspired, sit-down dessert bar. Midnight-ferry.com

Shadow 66

48 S River Street, Coxsackie

The Venn diagram of Patrick Jehanno’s interests—Citroën and French fare—is proudly on display at the recently opened Shadow 66 in Ghent. Dine on classic French bistro fare in a retro-styled diner filled with automobile memorabilia. The once-agrarian space, previously dubbed The Red Barn, was patched up and painted a demure olive green over the pandemic by Jehanno to create a building that is simultaneously a museum and an eatery. Take a tour to see Jehanno’s two impeccably maintained cars along with vintage signage before sitting down to a starter of mussels—in either mariniere or saffron sauce ($17.50, $19.50)—or beef tartare with the requisite quail egg ($22). For mains, French classics like duck confit ($33) and braised beef in red wine ($34) are on offer. Phone reservations required. (518) 320-8566

Patrick Henry’s

48 S River Street, Coxsackie

As part of a $15 million project to revitalize Coxsackie’s waterfront, developer Aaron Flach refurbished the beloved Patrick Henry’s Tavern, including preserving and restoring the tin walls and ceilings and the original bar. The early 20th-century building has a long history as an eatery; before its tenure as Patrick Henry and post-Prohibition, it was Costello’s restaurant and bar. After much anticipation, Patrick Henry’s finally reopened with a bang (and a two-hour waiting list) in mid-April. Under Capitol Region restaurateur Dominick Purnomo, the eatery serves pub fare and wood-fired pizza. In addition to indoor seating, the outdoor patio seats close to 50 along with a second-floor deck overlooking the Hudson. Instagram.com/patrickhenryswt

Pretty to Think So

6417 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck

Sure, you can get oysters in Rhinebeck at Le Petit Bistro (on the half-shell with mignonette) or roasted Pernod herb butter at Willow at Mirbeau. But until now, you couldn’t get a seafood tower. At Pretty to Think So (Hemingway reference, look it up), there’s both the Royal ($175) and the Deluxe ($90). The Royal includes a dozen oysters, six Little Neck clams, six shrimp, a lobster, and 30 grams of Pacific sturgeon caviar. The Deluxe is half of that and no caviar. There’s caviar service if you want it. The Marshallberg Osetra will set you back $300 for 100 grams. This luxe dining experience is the work of chef Mark Margiotta, mixologist Madeline Dillon, and general manger Eric Mushel, the hospitality trio behind The Duchess. The entire menu is dairy- and glutenfree but fairly delicious across the board. Try the twice-baked truffle potato ($20) and follow it up with the duck for two with Calvados gastrique. Prettytothink.so

—Marie Doyon and Brian K. Mahoney

tuohcaerofyadottsebehttniapecivdadnaR enodtcejorpruoytesiht,yrruH.thgirevisulcxeg o sdnereff reffrofdilavO p erotsmorfyravyamstcudorP.remotsuctcejbuS.erotsotreliateR.ytilibaliavaotsevreserehtthgirlecnacotreffosihtynatuohtiwemittonnaC.ecitonrehtoynahtiwdenibmoceb.sreffo O seripxereff © 12/4.oC&erooMnimajneBotdesnecilskramedartderetsigereralobmys”M“elgnairtehtdna,lageR,xenneG,erooMnimajneB,neb,aruA,taocrobrA.oC&erooMnimajneB1202

In 2019 Olga Naiman had a premonition. “I knew something big was going to happen,” she explains. “I didn’t know what it was, but I didn’t want to be in the city anymore.” Naiman had lived in Brooklyn for 25 years, working as a stylist and editor for shelter magazines, and residing in a boho-chic apartment—a space that embodied the lifestyle and persona that she once loved but was outgrowing. “Separate from my magazine work, I had a spiritual practice—but the two aspects of my life didn’t co-mingle,” explains Naiman. “I was on autopilot with my styling and didn’t really feel like it was my soul work, but I also didn’t know what my soul work was,” she explains. Whether it was her own ennui, or an antenna highly tuned to the surrounding milieu—or both—that 2019 premonition proved a fateful catalyst. “I’d been wanting to leave the city and come up to the Hudson Valley forever. It helped me tear the Band-Aid off and just go.”

A-Frame Alchemy

By Mary Angeles Armstrong

Photos by Winona Barton-Ballentine

Design therapist Olga Naiman shares her Garrison cabin

Olga Naiman and her husband Mike Smith in their living room. The home’s living room, with a wall of windows and vaulted, two-story ceilings, “is like living in a church,” Naiman says. To create a luxurious space where the whole family feels comfortable and interacts, she recovered a sofa with olivine velvet and paired it with a mix of chairs to serve different purposes. “All chairs are not created equal,” she says of the mix of high backed chairs, stools, and day bed under the window.

With her husband, Mike Smith, and their twins, Naiman decided to relocate to Garrison, where the family began the gut renovation and total reimagining of a 1973 ranch home. Meanwhile, they rented a circa-1980s prefab A-frame enveloped in woods and grounded by two giant boulders sitting like serene, prehistoric sentries on the front lawn.

The coming year saw her premonition manifest globally when the pandemic put the world on lockdown. But “that something big” also manifested very personally when the change of surroundings led her to reassess her career and reconsider her family life. “ When I moved up here and the pandemic happened, a lot of things fell into place,” she explains. “People were ready for the deeper conversations—and those deeper conversations correlated with the changes I was going through.”

The pandemic also slowed the ranch home’s reinvention to a very, very (very) slow crawl. The temporary A-frame would become the family’s now-going-on three-years address. However,

Naiman has come to embrace their transitional home as a kind-of personal laboratory where she’s manifested her aspirations and her design therapy practice, Spatial Alchemy.

Psychology of Good Design

Naiman’s distinctive cross-take on psychology and design began in her childhood. She was raised outside Boston, the daughter of two psychiatrists in a home where asking the deeper questions was part of daily life. “I grew up very aware of my psyche and how my perception of reality influenced it,” she explains. Naiman was fascinated by her parents’ psychological world view and at the same time was drawn to the world of design. “Every day after school I pored over design magazines and books at the local library for hours and hours,” she remembers. For Naiman’s 15th birthday, her parents gave her a small budget to redesign her room. She was thrilled, and loved the process so much she began to slowly redesign the entire family home. “I noticed how after I did that my life shifted: My self-worth increased, so did

my grades, and my social life,” she says. “It was the beginning of Spatial Alchemy but I didn’t know it then.”

Naiman studied clinical psychology at Tufts University but then decided to take a U-turn.

“Much to the dismay of my family, I got a job in the design world,” she says, of her first gig assisting at House Beautiful magazine. Five years later, House Beautiful chose one of her room designs for the cover. This led to editorial work, and a fruitful career styling and designing interiors. It was a valuable experience that taught her versatility, but for the next 20 years her dual passions for psychology and design were separate. It took one pandemic, and a change of address, to bridge the gap.

Future Self Now

Naiman was attracted to the Hudson Valley ’ s natural beauty and the open-minded, spiritual atmosphere, but what really caught her was the abundance of great design. “I love how stylish the Hudson Valley is,” she says. “It keeps my

Naiman designed the primary bedroom to enhance her relationship with her husband, despite their contrasting personalities. “I’m a pattern girl, but he’s simpler,” she says. Naiman wove both their natures into the room’s symmetrical blend of textures and patterns.

“Patterns are symbolic,” Naiman says of the vintage Rosewood chest paired with the jagged bedspread pattern, the geometric chairs, and carpet. “Some patterns make you think of animal totems, florals, or the steadiness of stripes.” Naiman designed the matching triangle vases and Smith had them fabricated out of bronze and copper. An abstract work by Colleen Herman hangs above the chest.

aesthetic side very satisfied.” That 2019 move to her Garrison A-frame triggered a redesign, first of her interiors, then her entire life. “My identity was so wrapped up in my city life,” she explains “But I needed to dissolve the parts that weren’t serving me.” She began by examining her Brooklyn furniture, with an eye towards dysfunction. “ We had these mismatched lamps and rickety nightstands in our bedroom with no drawers,” she says. “ They looked great, but they weren’t functional or reinforcing the stability and unity in our relationship. “She realized what had once energized her about city life had come to leave her frazzled and disconnected. So she threw out furniture and art that reinforced flighty feelings.

The few pieces she kept, she intended to recover when the family moved to their permanent home. But then she reconsidered. “I thought ‘Why am I waiting?’ I wanted to pull my future self into my present moment,” she says. “I’d made Pinterest boards and vision boards of my aspirations, but I don’t live online or on a wall.” Interior design, she realized, was an ideal way to bring her aspirations into the third dimension. By seeing her aspirational self in her environment every day, she’d more easily upgrade her life habits into what she wanted. “ You have to create it now,” she explains. “Live in the present moment and live beautifully. Don’t live in the waiting room of life.”

Family Cathedral

Designing the A-frame’s three separate levels became a way for Naiman to evolve her own and her family ’s lives in three different spheres. To do this, she began to draw from her parents’ example and her training as a clinical psychologist. “I wanted to translate an expanded self-worth and self-awareness that everyone looks for in therapy into the home,” she explains. “It ’s one thing to have an a-ha moment in the therapist ’s office but we have to bring those moments into our daily lives for real change.”

Top: Naiman set up a meditation altar in sight of her work desk to keep her spiritual practice central to her daily life. To strengthen her meditation practice, she filled the altar with objects that inspire her and regularly changes aspects. “It’s very important to note what effect your stuff has on you,” she says. “By being mindful of the things you surround yourself with, you can use your stuff to grow and evolve.” Hanging over the altar is the artist Mitch Paster’s dual works Untitled (Salvation) and Untitled (Genesis)

Bottom: Sitting on two acres of woodlands, the threebedroom home is spread out over three different levels. The home was originally intended to be a temporary rental while Smith and Naiman designed a permanent home nearby. The pandemic changed those plans; now Smith is handling the remodel himself and the project’s pace has slowed considerably.

Naiman started with the A-frame ’s living room, a two-story space washed in light from giant windows looking out onto the woods. “ My style is warm and inviting,” Naiman says. “ But underneath that, every choice is very deliberate.” To create a space where her family could really connect, Naiman arranged a variety of chairs in a circle, tying them together with two large matching rugs. The chairs were chosen for a variety of purposes—a straight-backed chair for guests, an enveloping “emotional regulation” chair in a corner, and a couch for togetherness. Naiman also added a daybed along the window for sky gazing. All the furniture is arranged to amplify family engagement (the television is tucked away along a wall and overshadowed by a much larger artwork) and edged by what Naiman calls secular altars. The alters are decorated with a variety of power objects representing the qualities Naiman and her family want to merge with. “ Everything in the room is designed to look up at the trees outside, while also remaining very grounded through the statuary, books, and grounding ceramics and terracotta on shelves.”

Upstairs, Naiman and her husband codesigned the primary bedroom together. They began with a custom bed made of rich orange velvet to represent the body ’s second chakra. Then Naiman added linen sheets in a mix of playful prints. “I love pattern on pattern, but the bedroom is meant to be a passive space where the nervous system can down-regulate, so I kept the color palette soft and constrained.” The couple played with the symmetry of the room to reflect their opposites-attract personalities. She chose solid matching nightstands (with drawers) to ground their relationship, and the two codesigned matching vases to create energetic resonance. On either side of the room, Naiman placed power objects to inspire her and her husband when they wake up. “I have a soft fabric that lets light in and a piece of art I love,” she says. “My husband has two strong, angular crystals because he’s renovating our new house.”

Naiman designed her first-floor office for her design therapy practice and to write her new design book, Spatial Alchemy. By adding sturdy legs to her former dining table, she created a solid workspace for herself. The backdrop behind her is designed with symmetrical, footed vases to reflect success and two asymmetrical wallpaper panels representing heaven and Earth. “My practice is right between both those things,” she explains. Nearby, Naiman has her altar for daily meditation and a view to the surrounding woods. “ What you see every day is what you will become,” she says. “For me it ’s peace, depth, and self-awareness. A vision board on a flat wall is powerful—but it ’s more powerful to bring that vision board into your environment and let your body marinate in the experience.”

Naiman elevates dinner time by lighting candles and filling the space with flowers. “To change your life, look at the things you use on a daily basis and make sure those things are deliberately chosen,” she says.

PRE-ORDERHERE

413-394-5055

380DWIGHTST.

413-650-2500

PleaseConsumeResponsibly. Thisproductmaycauseimpairmentandmaybehabitforming.Foruseonlybyadults21yearsofageorolder.Keepoutofthereachofchildren.Thisproducthasnotbeen analyzedorapprovedbytheFoodandDrugAdministration(FDA).Thisislimitedinformationonthesideeffectsofusingthisproduct,andtheremaybeassociatedhealthrisks.Marijuanausedduring pregnancyandbreast-feedingmayposepotentialharms.Itisagainstthelawtodriveoroperatemachinerywhenundertheinfluenceofthisproduct.KEEPTHISPRODUCTAWAYFROMCHILDREN.There may behealthrisksassociatedwithconsumptionofthisproduct.Marijuanacanimpairconcentration,coordination,andjudgment.TheeffectsofEdiblesmaybedelayedbytwohoursormore.Incaseof accidentalingestion,contactpoisoncontrolhotline1-800-222-1222or9-1-1.ThisproductmaybeillegaloutsideofMA.

The Porch Stories returned on April 29th after a COVID hiatus, selling out 225 seats at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli. People showed up ready to be entertained, filling the space with good energy before the storytelling started. Beth Broun, the first storyteller, went deep into the emotions behind feeling left out, running away from home (To France! Because Cher said so!) and her father’s death. The material was weighty, but the storyteller knew how and where to infuse humor, and she had the audience roaring and relating. In addition to being good medicine, laughter is infectious (in a good way!), and it tore through the crowd.

Joey Shavelle, The Porch’s producer, shifted the tone midway by sharing a video of novelist Paul La Farge telling a story about realizing our unmastered skills and the memories we savor. La Farge, who was also a professor at Bard and a beloved local storyteller, died in January.

Storytelling keeps us emotionally agile and helps us pivot between conflicting emotions, offering outlets to process grief, share joy, and metabolize the wide range of emotions the human experience dishes out on the regular. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication, and it’s how we come to know ourselves and each other. Author Joan Didion famously said, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” but we also tell each other stories as a way to connect.

In 2023, as we peel away from the COVID-19 pandemic, we have another epidemic to deal with—loneliness. In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy warned that social disconnection is as bad for our health as a daily smoking habit and possibly worse

The Healing Power of Stories

STORYTELLING IS MORE THAN A FUN NIGHT OUT— IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

By Jaime Stathis

than obesity. As it turns out, we need connection like we need food and water.

“When we are less invested in one another, we are more susceptible to polarization and less able to pull together to face the challenges that we cannot solve alone—from climate change and gun violence to economic inequality and future pandemics,” Dr. Murthy wrote.

A Break from Screen Time

Shavelle’s creative roots are in film, and he sets the stage with intention. The storyteller stands illuminated against a blue background with a white rocking-chair logo while the light in the rest of the room is dim and cozy, evocative of sitting on a porch telling stories. No phones are allowed, offering a much-needed break from screen time and an opportunity to sink into a community event that feels like a throwback to simpler times. “The Porch is the room,” Shavelle says. “It’s people getting together.”

Tivoli resident Jim O’Grady has told hundreds of stories live and is a Moth GrandSLAM storytelling champion. He’s also an accomplished reporter and editor—and he makes storytelling look easy—but on the day of The Porch, he said he spent the day memorizing his story, which is to say that despite being a pro, he’s a lot like the rest of us. “Ordinary people in the audience are watching ordinary people on stage,” O’Grady says, “So it’s easy for them to feel a connection.”

The Porch features local storytellers and one pro, while The Artichoke in Beacon features seasoned storytellers from the New York City and one local. Like The Porch, The Artichoke doesn’t have themes, but they do have a requirement.

“The stories must be funny and uplifting,” producer and host Drew Prochaska says. “I want the audience left on a high note.”

Laughter Is (Somewhat) Mandatory

“This doesn’t mean the storyteller can’t take the listener down a dark road,” says Prochaska, whose background is in comedy, “but they have to leave the listener where they found them.” In many cases, the listener will be left in a better place because through witnessing other people, we see ourselves.

The Artichoke is the most consistent storytelling event in the Hudson Valley, with shows every other month at Beacon’s Howland Cultural Center, plus an open mic the second Thursday of each month at Norma’s in Wappingers Falls. The open-mic stories are shorter—around six minutes compared to 10—but like all of the previously mentioned storytelling events, the stories must be true, they must be about the teller, and they must be told without notes.

Although live storytelling events like The Porch and The Artichoke aren’t therapy sessions, storytellers often reveal some of their most difficult and vulnerable moments, which is terrific, because stories where everything goes right aren’t very interesting. Stories with suspense and tension keep audiences engaged and invite empathy as listeners recall sticky points in their own lives.

Sharing What’s at Stake

The audience invests in a story when they understand what’s at stake for the storyteller and why the story is significant to them.

Carly Ciarrocchi at The Artichoke in Beacon on January 21.

Photo by Michael Isabell

The connection between the storyteller and the audience happens at the intersection of vulnerability and witnessing.

Karen Faith is an ethnographer and corporate empathy trainer who tells stories on local Hudson Valley stages and also presented a TEDx where she said, “I share not to set me apart from you but to welcome you in here with me.” “Here” represents the deepest recesses of our inner world or the physical “here,” where stories are told.

Faith talks about how finding the laugh in the story is cathartic. “When you’re laughing, you’re not in your victimhood,” she says, elaborating on a story she told at The Artichoke, which wasn’t a funny story at all, yet she delivered it almost as a stand-up routine. “We’re not laughing about abuse,” Faith says, “We’re laughing at everything I did getting over it.”

“If you stay silent, you stay alone,” says Eva Tenuto, executive director and co-founder of Kingston-based TMI Project, whose mission is to ignite and inspire human connection through storytelling. “Like most people, many TMI Project storytellers have been lugging around a life experience they’ve never given voice to,” Tenuto says. “They’ve been holding on to it tightly, usually in isolation, most often fueled by a sense of shame.”

Tenuto notes that she loves watching storytellers come off the stage looking taller and lighter, as if they’ve left something heavy behind. “When they can share that experience with others, the sense of community can create a crack in the protective isolation shell,” she says. Storytelling helps the storyteller realize they’re stronger and more resilient than they thought, while audiences relate and have their experiences validated. In the end, everyone feels less alone. To facilitate connection among populations that often feel silenced, TMI Project offers workshops and live performances that tackle topics such as anti-racism, gender equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, and mental health.

The sticking point is believing that the risk of exposing ourselves is worth it. Finding the courage to be vulnerable often pales in contrast to the power of the voices inside us that silence our voices, leaving us disconnected not only from other people but also from ourselves.

Finding Your Voice

Celeste Lecesne, a Kingston resident who is a 2023 Guggenheim fellow, blames the TMI project for his relocation to the Hudson Valley from New York City. Lecesne identifies most as a storyteller because it’s a synthesis of everything else he is—an actor, entertainer, and activist. “I’m not somebody who lives in one lane,” Lecesne says.

Lecesne’s storytelling won him an Academy Award for the short film Trevor, which led to the Trevor Project, a crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ youth who may be questioning suicide or need support as they navigate gender identity and sexuality. Often, what they need most is an ear, but they also need a voice. Lecesne also founded the Future Perfect Project, which helps teens develop their voices through grantfunded workshops and storytelling events that are free for everyone. There are online and inperson events not only in the Hudson Valley but around the country.

“When any one of us is doing better, we’re all doing better,” Lecesne says, speaking to the ripple effect a single story can have and the subsequent individual and collective benefits. Storytelling is one of the most effective, triedand-true ways to blast apart preconceived ideas and uncover the undeniable truth: We’re all more complex than we thought.

There’s Room for Everyone

In Columbia County, Paul Ricciardi hosts storytelling events at the Ancram Opera House, which he codirects with his partner, Jeffrey Mousseau. Real People, Real Stories,

Ancram’s storytelling series, features local storytellers.

“I want to provide a platform for people who haven’t done this before,” Ricciardi says, adding that he offers each storyteller up to five hours of guidance as they craft the story they’ll tell on stage. Ricciardi also holds twice-yearly storytelling workshops for those who want the experience of storytelling but aren’t sure they’re ready to hit the stage. The next Real People, Real Stories is Saturday, June 24th, at the Hilltop Barn in Hillsdale.

Ricciardi also leads storytelling workshops at Taconic Hills Central School for all 4th, 5th and 6th graders, helping them develop and compose personal narratives. The benefits range from building creativity to improving memory to helping kids with learning differences. “Kids who struggle with writing are finding success through the spoken word,” he says.

What Storytelling Does for Us

Although storytelling is cathartic and therapeutic, O’Grady says the storyteller must remember it’s not about them. “There are a few ways to ensure you’re not going to do well, and one of those things is to think it’s all about you,” he says. “Our job is to make the audience understand what we went through—what a person just like them— went through.”

What storytelling does for individuals and communities—cultivates empathy, builds trust— scales for public health. “We’re not changing the world with a single story,” says James Hamblin, MD, MPH, a lecturer at Yale School of Public Health, “but it’s easier to believe what we can see.” The ability to empathize and occupy another person’s perspective is a skill that needs to be practiced. “If we’re more expository and less declarative, we can make people feel something, and, hopefully, they’ll learn to trust more,” Dr. Hamblin says. “It’s one of our only hopes.”

Jane Brien onstage at a Porch storytelling event in 2023 at Kaatsbaan in Tivoli.

EMBRACE THE KNOWING OF NATURE

A spiritual retreat center in the New York Catskills, o ering powerful antidotes for healing: nature, sacred fire, indigenous wisdom traditions, community and connection. To help people experience the beauty of the living world.

www.bluedeer.org

Take Back Your Health with Acupuncture, Detox, Nutrition, & Herbal Medicine

Specializing in Lyme, EBV, chronic fatigue, Fibromyalgia, pain/injury, auto immune, digestive disorders, migraines, neurological disorders, & skin issues

Dr. Erika S.Gabriello DACM L.

www.holisticnaturalmedicine.com

347.988.0178

New Paltz 169 Main St.

Ac

community pages

In It Together

Rhinebeck

By Jamie Larson Photos by David McIntyre

At home in the historic Rokeby estate, just north of Rhinebeck, celebration artist Jeanne Fleming is busy building a colony of paper ants. In December, they’ll take over the village during Rhinebeck’s signature winter event—the Sinterklaas festival and parade—held the first weekend of December each year.

Fleming, who created the event, says designing the smaller puppets and the yearly star for the parade keeps her sane as she fundraises and wrangles a new generation of organizers for the extravaganza, which sees the community dance through packed streets, surrounded by illuminated paper-craft animals, great and small.

“The honored animal this year, the ant, is very appropriate for this time in the village. They reflect community unity,” says Fleming, who also helms the New York City Village Halloween Parade (now in its 50th year). “Sinterklaas was made for Rhinebeck. It’s a celebration of new life and spring in the darkest time of the year.”

Fleming and her collaborators have been inventing

traditions and mixing symbologies from the old Dutch holiday since 2008, and the result is an expression not of any one ideology but an amalgamation of Rhinebeck’s creative spirit. “I think Rhinebeck is a magical place,” she says. “It’s beautiful and the perfect petri dish for this kind of thing. The community is filled with wonderful, creative, and passionate people.”

The Colony of Rhinebeck

At first blush Rhinebeck’s “unity” can come across to some as an over-preened postcard version of a small Hudson Valley locale. But, as Fleming points out, Rhinebeck’s growing popularity as a destination is not due to some monolithic design—rather, it thrives because of the individual achievements of a network of stakeholders, working in concert. Businesses and restaurants collaborate with farmers, local makers and artists, and local government is toiling away over a new comprehensive plan to support growth, while trying to address major issues like housing, cost of living, inclusivity, and sustainability.

Fire Chief Bryant Knapp with firefighters John Imperato, Sheldon Tieder, and Jeff Cotter in front of new rescue equipment at the Rhinebeck Fire Department.

Opposite, top: Erik and Jerilyn Hrycun vending at the annual flea market at the the Church of the Messiah on Montgomery Street.

Bottom: The dining room of Pretty to Think So, a restaurant that recently opened in the space formerly occupied by Liberty Publick House on Montgomery Street.

“The comprehensive plan committee has lead the biggest community input project we’ve ever had,” said village mayor Gary Bassett. “The main point is not to write a plan for today but for 10, 20, 30 years from now. Housing and use of space is a big issue that is being prioritized.”

The hottest issue in town recently was the fight over the creation of a composting facility at the Village Highway Department. A boisterous clash between environmentalism and NIMBYism broke out at municipal meetings for months. In May, town officials came down in opposition to the village board’s proposal, after feeling the pressure from a group of neighbors who live near the proposed facility. According to reporting by Hudson Valley Pilot, the group threatened to sue the town and village into bankruptcy if they had to. The project is now on hold indefinitely—a blow to organizers who saw an opportunity for Rhinebeck to be a leader in local environmental sustainability.

While neighbors may be divided on compost, Bassett says by and large Rhinebeck excels at teamwork, using its response to Covid as an example. During the pandemic the village made outdoor dining and shopping a priority, creating a level of security for businesses that has carried

on. “We created an even more vibrant community coming out of that experience,” he says.

With so much new coming to the village, some of the old is falling away, however. The Thompson House senior living facility went under this spring, Astor Services for Children and Families closed its residential services, and one of the village’s legacy businesses, the A. L. Stickles variety store, closed its doors in May, after 76 years in operation.

“It’s definitely bitter sweet. I think there’s a reason you don’t see five-and–dimes anymore,” says Matthew Stickles, the shop’s third-generation owner. “People’s shopping habits have changed. My family heritage goes back to the settlement of Rhinebeck. This store was my grandfather and grandmother’s life. I’ve worked here since I was a teen. The kind words people have been saying since we announced we are closing have meant a lot to our family, and we thank everybody who came through our doors.”

Village businesses, old and new, have their patronage greatly boosted by the thousands of visitors who come to Rhinebeck throughout the year and for events at venues like the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, and Omega Institute. The upstate migration during

the pandemic likewise brought many new faces to the area.

Historic architecture and well-curated shops like Hammertown, Rhinebeck Department Store, and Winter Sun & Summer Moon make the streets of Rhinebeck eminently walkable. Tourists stay at one of the oldest inns in America, the Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn, or the village’s newest hotel, Mirbeau Inn and Spa.

A Village Expressing Itself

There’s so much going on in Rhinebeck these days it’s even found need for its own digital news outlet, the Hudson Valley Pilot. Publisher Mark Fuerst, who also led the Rhinebeck Responds community aid nonprofit through the pandemic, saw an opportunity for a town-specific news source and hired village resident Eric Steinman, former editor of Edible Hudson Valley. They both felt Rhinebeck deserved a dedicated voice to showcase what’s new and bring residents the information they need.

“Mark was convinced that the community would come out in favor of something local and homegrown,” Steinman says. “As Rhinebeck residents, we’d had too many experiences where we didn’t know what was going on. It’s an exciting

Martha Tobias and Sinterklaas founder Jeanne Fleming with some of the ant puppets they are creating for this year’s Sinterklaas festival.

DINNER | BRUNCH | PRIVATE EVENTS

Elevated Farm-to-Table Fare, Craft Bar & Worldly Wine List

Reservations Recommended

6380 Mill Street, Rhinebeck, NY 845-516-5033

Lovetheamsterdam.com

time, but there’s a downside to every upside. There’s a new comprehensive plan for the town in the works. A lot of it has to do with housing. Entry-level homes are few and far between, and the reality of being a renter right now is bleak.”

One thing that keeps things a little less bleak is the focus Rhinebeck puts on its arts community. Betsy Jacaruso Studio, Art Gallery 71, Albert Shahinian Fine Art, T Space, Hudson Valley Pottery, and a handful of other galleries are year-round fixtures, and events like the Art Studio Views, Porchfest, and of course, Sinterklass give visitors opportunities to interact with the many artists who call Rhinebeck and the surrounding area home.

“We really love it here,” says Paul Sturtz, co-executive director of Upstate Films, which opened its Rhinebeck location in 1972. “I think the reputation of Rhinebeck as this fancy, slick tourist destination misses the details. There are so many talented artists and businesses here with real integrity, some really great down-home spots, and a super-supportive village board. It’s a very intimate and friendly place.”

While Sturtz admits that the rise of home streaming makes running an independent movie theater more complicated, the distinctive programming of Upstate in Rhinebeck is an experience you just can’t replicate on your TV. “The working theory is that people still have a desire to leave the house,” he said. “What Upstate can do is provide this town hall experience. I think we provide something that’s totally unique. Our programing is reflecting the wide and varied world of cinema right now.”

This June Upstate Films will show a science fiction series, “Otherworldly,” in advance of the release of the Wes Anderson film Asteroid City. The series will include screenings of classics like The Man Who Fell to Earth, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing, and more. On June 21, Upstate will hold a fundraiser featuring two famous regional residents, actress Frances McDormand and director Joel Coen. In conjunction, the theater will screen The Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Cohen and staring McDormand.

A Food Community

Restaurants are another big draw in Rhinebeck. While it’s a true local experience to eat with the ghost of George Washington in a dark wooden booth at the Beekman Arms Tavern or the slightly younger Foster’s Coach House (circa 1890), the number of new dining options in Rhinebeck has increased dramatically as of late. Other popular eateries include Bread Alone (which just underwent major renovations), Terrapin (newly expanded outdoor seating), Market Street, Gigi Trattoria, the Amsterdam, Bia, and many others.

There is a high level of cultural diversity in the local restaurant industry here these days. You can get falafel at Aba’s, Thai cuisine at Aroi, Japanese at Osaka, and mofongo at Cafe con Leche. The latter has been a major standout since opening in May and locals have been raving about the massive sandwiches and sides from the Puerto Rican restaurant.

From top: Emma Thomas, co-owner of the Bottle Shop at Astor Square; Eric Steinman (editor) and Mark Fuerst (publisher) of the recently launched Hudson Vally Pilot, a digital news outlet covering Rhinebeck; Beth Anne Caples, co-owner of Irwin Garden on West Market Street.

Next door to Upstate Films is another new joint, Pretty to Think So. Named after the last line in The Sun Also Rises, the restaurant takes inspiration from the Bohemian style of American expats in Europe during the early 20th century. The menu includes classically inspired entrees, a raw bar, even caviar service. The bar keeps the theme alive with a robust cocktail menu and an absinthe fountain.

“We are definitely trying to create an inclusive space and are leading with a lot of whimsy,” says co-owner Madeline Dillon. “We are prioritizing diversity and want to make sure everyone feels welcome.”

Just down the road, the Bottle Shop at Astor Square, which has been in Rhinebeck for 27 years, was taken over by Emma Thomas and J. P. Sabia this past November. The pair see working directly with local farm distilleries and beverage makers as a major part of their mission.

Over the past decade, the local offerings of wines and spirits have increased greatly in quantity and quality, and the shop has a dedicated local section featuring bottles from Branchwater, Slow Fox, Rose Hill, and others. They recently hosted Rachel Petach, who just moved her brand, C. Cassis, to Rhinebeck from Catskill.

Back on Market Street, even Jean Michel, founder of Megabrain Comics, is entering the culinary game, with the help of new business partners Ayumi Tomaru and Martin Resnick. Tomaru will cater the new Cafe Manju gaming cafe in the back of the comic book store with Japanese pub fare and whipped coffee. Michel hopes the café will entice customers to hang out and game and provide a comfortable and safe afterschool option for local youth.

“We are looking to have a fully functioning space operational by summer,” Michel says. “We want to make sure that students know this is a safe space for them no matter who they are.”

Megabrain celebrated free comic book day on May 6, and the store was loud with the buzz of conversation and `90s jams. Tomaru brought a sampling of her baking and the organization Trans Closet of the Hudson Valley tabled, giving out information to support to local trans youth.

Businesses all over Rhinebeck wear their support for inclusivity on their sleeves and in their window. There has also been a big project in town to support those with neuro-divergence. “Our goal is not just to welcome people with neuro-divergence into our community but also bring those people into jobs,” says Mayor Bassett. “We created a model and now Astor is sharing that model with other communities. Fifty percent of the proceeds collected during the recent Taste of Rhinebeck event went to supporting that.”

Rhinebeck might seem idyllically unified at first glance but through the magnifying glass, it’s really a colony of individuals and small groups who care deeply about the sense of place they’ve created. The community’s cohesiveness may be well represented later this year by Sinterklaas’s ants, but the people who make up this community are anything but drones. captions tk

Top: Megabrain Comics owner Jean Michel behind the shower curtain hiding the construction of the store’s new gaming cafe.

Bottom: Matthew Stickles, the third-generation owner of A. L. Stickles on East Market Street, which closed in late May.

Rhinebeck

Pop-Up Portraits

Photos by David McIntyre

On May 7, Chronogram held a community portrait shoot at the Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market. The weather was glorious and over 2,300 people showed up for the market, a record for its opening day.

Thanks to all the Rhinebeckers who showed up to represent their town and to Market Manager Andrea Bartolomeo for hosting us, as well as all the market volunteers who helped throughout the day.

Join us for the June issue launch party at The Amsterdam, 6380 Mill Street, on Wednesday, June 7 from 5-7:30pm.

Top row: Dorothy Crane, Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market board member; Nikolaus Schutbeck, musician and Rachael Stollar, architect; Valerie DeMaria and Angelo DeMaria with Emma and Xavier; Shiwanti Widyatahna, owner Cinnamon Indian Cuisine.

Middle row: Austin Pullman, heavy machinery operator and Taylor Farino, registered nurse; Vicki L. Haak, wealth manager; Sam Cohen, co-owner, Matchbox Cafe; Senator Michelle Hinchey; Todd Young, Living Edge Designs; Lee Courtney and John Verner, photographers.

Bottom row: Dimitra Tsachrelia and Steven Holl, architects and founders of T Space, with Thevos and Io Holl

This page, top row: Jon Lawson, Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance; Katherine Killeffer, senior designer, Pentagram; Kim Hand, crime victim advocate; Joanna Hess, artist and gallery owner; Philip Milio, retired. Middle row: Rachel Hyman-Rouse, owner House + Co Real Estate; Sumya Ojakli, creative consultant; Tariq Mahmud, retired; Tommy Zurhellen, Marist College instructor; Whitney Druker, secretary to Rhinebeck School District superintendent. Bottom row: staff of Our Daily Bread: Simona Cohen, Eva Parsons, Gavi Cohen, Amalia Parsons, and Mischa Parsons; staff of Oblong Books: Nicole Brinkley, Suzanna Hermans, Ian Taras.

Opposite, top row: Allison Chawla, therapist and host of “Talk to Allison” podcast; Elizabeth Grammaticas, artist and writer; Teobaldo Perez Almaraz, farm worker at Breezy Hill Orchard; Betsy Jacaruso, artist and gallery owner; John Medica, barista and Gillian Pelkonen, audio engineer and musician. Second Row: Carrie Wasser, Willow Pond Sheep Farm; Cathy Naor, Aba’s Falafel; Harry Huck Hill, realtor; Dana Boisson, BKMC, the Hat Shop owner; Joseph and Jenna Malcarne, Malcarne Contracting. Third row: Michael Nickerson, event manager Bardavon Presents and Kate Menconeri, Thomas Cole Site curator; Jeffrey Sceles, Rhinebeck Famers’ Market volunteer; Michele Edel, the Southlands Foundation; Martin Fuentes Europa, Breezy Hill Orchard farm manager; Matthew Carnicelli, literary agent and Brian Lange, fashion product design and development. Fourth row: Clara and Henry Shuminov; Michel “Mickey” Haggerty, retired attorney and Green Owl Farm farmhand; Lila Pague, owner Winter Sun & Summer Moon; Edmond Roberts, Town of Rhinebeck councilperson; Mary-Kay Lombino, deputy director Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and Eric Steinman, editor of Hudson Valley Pilot; Anne Moffat, editor, with Charlie Moffat.

Top row: Jean Michel, owner Megabrain Comics and Alexandra Michel; Joanne Engle, gardener and teacher; Loran Tyre, Retails Details and Becky Tyre, retired; Jeremy Monaco, Rhinebeck Bagels owner; Joan Carbonaro and Laura Wolf, retired. Middle row: Alice Barrett, Julia BarrettMitchell, filmmaker and actress, and Stan Mitchell; Carli Fraccarolli, state policy coordinator for Scenic Hudson; Doug Maxwell and Christopher Dierig, Upstate Modernist; Emma Thomas, the Bottle Shop at Astor Square co-owner; Kenna Hawco and Lorrie Kruger, owners of Rhinebeck Mercantile.

Bottom row: Elizabeth Bradley and James Wilson; Cynthia Fennell, realtor and Bob Fennell, zoning enforcement officer.

Opposite, first row: Anthony Ferri, construction worker and Adrienne Ferretti, private investigator; Beth Zysberg, Upstate Films; Gary Bassett, Village of Rhinebeck mayor and Brenda Bassett; Brett Snider, realtor; Maureen Gates, photographer. Second Row: Charlotte Olver, Willow Pond Sheep Farm; Nicole Lawson, Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market board member; Kara Martin, self-employed; Kira Manso Brown, event marketing director; Frank Marquette, actor and director with Theatre on the Road; David Gelb. Third row: Elizabeth Spinzia, Rhinebeck Town Supervisor and Leo Stevenson, woodworker; Dawn Hopper, managing director tourism market development Dutchess Tourism; Jon Wilson, Rhinebeck police officer; Bruce Lubman, Hummingbird Jewelers owner, and Peggy Lubman; Cathy Reinis, retired.

Fourth row: Bryce Lianna, wine rep; Emily Wallshein, firefighter and teacher and Laurèn H, finance; Frank Gaglio, Barn Star Productions; Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market crew: Andrea Bartolomeo, Dorothy Crane, Betsy Sarles, Jeff Perry, and Georgia Dent; Elena Rose, Land of Oz Toys and Gifts.

Northern Dutchess Guide

From the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Home to Bard College, Northern Dutchess County is known as a place of historic and cultural significance. It’s no wonder, then, that so many businesses and organizations dedicated to creative expression have made the area their home.

Tivoli Merchants + Artists

Tivolinow.com

A collective of business owners, artisans, and community leaders, TM+A works to grow and spotlight Tivoli. One of the region’s premier destinations in small business, art, and lifestyle and situated at the top of Northern Dutchess County Tivoli is described as “charming and unpretentious” (Chronogram). TM+A promotes the Tivoli experience: a lively village with world-class restaurants, a vibrant arts scene, distinctive shops and studios, professional talent, comfy accommodations, outdoor activities...and more. Hotel Tivoli, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Santa Fe, and Tivoli Artists Gallery all call the historic village of Tivoli home.

TIVOLI = ILOVIT!

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park

120 Broadway, Tivoli, NY (845) 757-5106, Kaatsbaan.org

A 153-acre multidisciplinary artist sanctuary in the heart of the Hudson Valley. With state-of-theart facilities that include indoor and outdoor stages, Kaatsbaan presents world-class performance and incubates creativity. Join us for biannual festivals, seasonal events, and educational programs.

Available Items

64 Broadway, Tivoli, NY Availableitems.com

An interiors-focused, multi-concept space in Tivoli. The store features a curated mix of vintage and contemporary furnishings with a folk, modern, and left-of-center aesthetic alongside an extensive selection of art and design books. It’s complemented by a shop-able short-term rental, art exhibitions, and DIY classes.

Thrift 2 Fight

48 Broadway, Tivoli, NY Thrift2fight.com

A bright, accessible, queer-owned thrift shop with clothing for all genders and sizes: from exclusive designer and vintage to an Everything-Is-$8 room! We raise funds for grassroots racial, disability, and queer justice organizations. See @thrift2fight on Instagram and visit us in Tivoli—you won’t miss the hot-pink door!

The BQLP is a new Bachelor’s degree program designed to elevate LGBTQIA+ students and college graduates into leadership roles in school and across the workforce.

Turnkey estate in Willow, a coveted hamlet of Woodstock, surrounded by mountains, on 16+ acres with pool, barn and guest house. A picture-perfect 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath main home, reimagined 2 BR guest house, and ultimate live/work barn studio. A one of a kind retreat to decompress and enjoy the serenity of nature. Recently updated with unrivaled craftsmanship by a talented design team. There’s a beautifully sited in-ground swimming pool and entertainment area, designed to take advantage of the mountain views. Lush, mature and unusual trees and plantings, park-like grounds and expansive bluestone patios all contribute to the tranquil feel of the property.

David Amram Live in Germany 1954-2013 (After the Fall Records)

Still very much with us and creating at the beautiful age of 92 is Beacon-based musician and composer David Amram. The genius multi-instrumentalist has a staggering resume of collaborators that no one else in American music can touch: Jack Kerouac, Charlie Parker, Jackson Pollock, Aaron Copland, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie, are just a few of the giants he’s worked with during his incredible career. Live in Germany 1954-2013 pairs music from two great concerts co-led by Amram that were taped 60 years apart.

The 1954 set was recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Network and stars Armam alongside trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, a pioneer of European free jazz, and the Jazzkellar Band, a quintet that also includes the great pianist Jutta Hipp. Rescued from a rare transcription disc, the historic performance bounces with the bop of the era and has Amram and Mangelsdorff blowing joyously on standards (“Blue Skies”) and the original “Dave’s Blues.” The 2013 concert finds him trading in his earlier French horn for piano, pennywhistles, Middle Eastern shepherd’s flute, and vocals. With alto saxophonist Emil Mangelsdorff deputizing for his departed brother, it’s a classy program that features the composer’s tender score for the 1961 film Splendor in the Grass and yet more rapturous romps through standards, this time “Take the A Train” and Monk’s “Straight No Chaser.” As the maestro so sagely scats on the latter, “Be creative each and every day / because that is the jazz way.”

—Peter Aaron

sound check Bby Waxt’a

Each month here we visit with a member of the community to find out what music they’ve been digging.

Hmmm…yes yes y’all. The weather is getting warmer, which means fewer clothes and more dancing (consensually, of course!). Being two-legged freaks does not exonerate us from these more-than-human transitions happening. Luckily though, we have music.

“Ascendant (Mother Fxcker)” by Yaya Bey: This is a song that can pick me up and reminds me that everything is gonna be okay. Over a beat that resembles a zooted Casio preset, YaYa Bey speaks from a place of radical honesty. “Thunder” by Duendita: Not to be that guy, but I was obsessed with Duendita before 2018. Since entering the end of my 20s, I have come back to her first full album. Duendita, a Queens baby by way of the Dominican Republic, gives us godspeak and unconditional femme love as she contemplates life’s direction. “A Estos Hombres Triste” by Almendra: [There’s] something about Latin American poets from the ’70s that gets my heart moving. Latin American funk. The way the song is composed takes us on a journey of death and rebirth. Think Queen but add more of a poet’s mystery.

Bby Waxt’a is the radio moniker for Aru Apaza, a visual artist and poet processing the world around them in Kingston. Their work is for their lineage, past, and future. Aru is committed to dialogue in uncomfortable situations, abolition in our hearts and in the state, and learning/growing together in softness and patience (slow but steady). Find them on Radio Kingston’s “The Intergalactic Boogie Down” on Fridays 5 to 7pm.

Eric Starr

Between the Sandhills and the Sea: A Tribute to Vera Brittain & Winifred Holtby (Bronx Bound Records)

Cold Spring composer Eric Starr’s tribute to two heroic and impactful women of the early 20th century is a provocative and heart-wrenching celebration of perseverance. One of the women, Vera Brittain, a nurse who cared for British and German soldiers at the front lines, lost her brother, her fiance, and her grief-stricken father in World War I. Winifred Holtby’s prose of life and loss and work in South Africa is equally intense and compelling. Their seductively vulnerable thoughts and shattered hearts are interspersed throughout the movements of this eloquent and melancholy chamber music. The compositions, narrated by accomplished actor Sonya Cassidy and performed by violinist/ cellist Hannah Holman and pianist Michelle Alvarado are intensely resolute and reflective, alternatingly pensive and probing; a meditation on the completely unreasonable and somewhat unhinged will to do good and carry on in the face of unthinkable suffering.

—Jason Broome

Hunk Hunk II

(Old Soul Records)

Alternative rockers Hunk present 12 tunes on their new album, Hunk II, which was recorded in Catskill at guitarist and producer Kenny Siegel’s Old Soul Studios. “Clouds” kicks things into high gear with hard-hitting, Zeppelin-y riffs and bluesy harmonica. “Lost It All Today” features tasteful slide over an infectious groove. “Forgive Me God” has a pumping, McCartney-esque bass line that keeps toes tapping. “Can’t Get You” blends heavy fuzz with synthpop and handclaps. “Why Don’t We Talk Anymore?”and “Lost at Sea” recall Queen. “Start Over” lays down a dark drone and arresting, dissonant guitar a la “Kashmir.” “Protect Your Love” recalls George Harrison’s Traveling Wilburys work. Hunk wear their influences on their sleeves and know how to blend hard rock with bubbly pop. They’re inspired by the classics and brew a blend that’s familiar and fresh. Bop along to their contagious, radio-friendly vibe.

—Mike Cobb

The Work: A Jigsaw Memoir

Zachary Sklar

OLIVE PRESS, 2022, $19.95

Olivebridge author Sklar’s childhood as the son of a father on the Hollywood blacklist nurtured a passion for integrity and fairness. The essays in this collection illuminate seminal adventures: living among the Gullah people on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina as a college kid in 1969, picking coffee in the Nicaraguan mountains in the era of the contras, editing the works of CIA whistleblowers for Sheridan Square Press, which led to writing the script for Oliver Stone’s JFK, which landed him on an unwritten blacklist himself.

The Empty Kayak

Jode Millman

LEVEL BEST BOOKS, 2023, $16.95

An engaged couple go kayaking on the Hudson and only one returns—a familiar scenario to those who recall the story of Angelika Graswald (known in the tabloid press as the Kayak Killer), whose fiance, Vincent Viafore, drowned in 2015. Poughkeepsie lawyer and author Millman takes the case as broad inspiration for the third in her award-winning Queen City Crimes series, crafting a juicy, fast-paced page turner rich in you-are-there procedural detail and intermingled motivations, played out by a lively ensemble cast of cops, lawyers and miscreants.

Death, Resurrection, and the Spirit of New Orleans: Jazz on the Tube Conversations

Ken McCarthy

JAZZ ON THE TUBE BOOKS, 2023, $9.99

When catastrophic flooding devastated New Orleans in 2006, much was rightfully made of the government’s shamefully slow, fumbling efforts to be of use. Not much was said of the locals who stepped up to do the real work of breathing life back into the city. In a compilation of his conversations with those who lived it, Tivoli author McCarthy, publisher of the vast Jazz on the Tube video library, sheds light on that aftermath and the pivotal role of the city’s unparalleled musical culture in its revival.

Hyman

Lawrence Bush

BEN YEHUDA PRESS, 2023, $18.95

Accord resident Bush, editor emeritus of Jewish Currents magazine, has created an unforgettable character in Hyman, a charismatic rabbi whose spiritual roots and social conscience have crystallized into what some might call a cult, others a wellspring of spiritual refreshment. At 83, he’s confronting the aftermath of guerilla shenanigans, radical pronouncements, and assorted sexual adventures. In Bush’s capable hands, it’s a laugh-out-loud comedy of manners coupled with an insightful look at Judaism in the latter half of the 20th century.

We Beat Back the Fascists

Spencer Kroll

KROLL, 2022, $16.95

In 1949, as Paul Robeson was preparing for his third annual show in Peekskill, the US was sliding into the icy waters of the Red Scare, and the Peekskill Evening Star was one of several influential players stoking hatred and fear among local combat vets. The concert was postponed after violent attacks; the second attempt drew thousands of supporters and still further viciousness, and the authorities sided with the attackers. Kroll’s novel blends historical sources with fictional reconstruction to underscore the dangers of fear and division.

—Anne Pyburn Craig

The Puzzle Master Danielle Trussoni RANDOM HOUSE, 2023, $27

Fans of thrillers with a touch of history will enjoy Danielle Trussoni’s latest puzzle-within-a puzzle page turner, The Puzzle Master, out this month. The intricate plot takes readers from a women’s prison in the Adirondacks to 19thcentury Prague and back farther to the writings of a Jewish mystic in the 1200s. The action revolves around Mike Brink, a widely admired puzzle maker with a reputation for clever and challenging puzzles who is urgently called to Ray Brook, a women’s correctional facility in upstate New York by Dr. Thessaly Moses, psychiatrist to convicted criminal Jess Price. Though Price has barely communicated with her shrink, she has a puzzle she desperately needs Mike Brink to solve.

Brink’s talent as a master puzzle solver (and creator of New York Times puzzles) comes from an unexpected high school football injury that left him with a rare condition—sudden acquired savant syndrome—which gives him synesthesia and an uncanny ability to see patterns not only in puzzles but in words and images as well. Though Mike’s post-high school life has included remarkable professional success and a breeze through MIT, he’s connected with few people, and almost no women. Price’s request intrigues him. Her incarceration stems from a highly publicized crime that left a man dead in an historic mansion in Columbia County where Price was house sitting at the time. Price was an unlikely suspect, as she had been an up-and-coming darling of the literary world only weeks before. She has summoned Mike Brink to Ray Brook to show him a mysterious puzzle she found in the house and when they meet, they form an intense connection neither quite understands.

What follows is a complex plot that sees Mike followed by a paid thug who’s set on using him for his puzzling powers but determined to keep him far away from the treasure the puzzle holds. Along the way, the reader meets some bad actors at the intersection of art and technology and is treated to a colorful backstory of European porcelain dollmaking and more than a few details about Kabbalah.

The cast of supporting characters is rich—the Howard Hughes-like Jameson Sedge, a man desperate to find an elusive God Puzzle hidden in an ancient text that “when used properly, will alter the way mankind sees the past, present, and future”; Cullen Withers, the overworked director of the Morgan Library; and Conundrum (or Connie), Mike’s beloved emotional support dog—and all play a role in solving the book’s mystery. The setup is fresh, the historical puzzle idiosyncratic. The novel’s focus on the double back stories—of the God Puzzle created by 13th-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia and the 19th-century French doll maker who discovers the power of the puzzle and its potential for destruction—occasionally obscure the present-day plot.

As the book gets deeper into the intricacies of Kabbalah and Abulafia’s manuscript, the reader loses sight of Price a bit and why all the others are driven to solve her puzzle. The history of Lilith, a Judeo-Christian demon spirit at the heart of the mystery, proves to be the reason Jess Price is in danger.

Among my favorite characters is Aurora Sedge, a deceased spinster aunt whose reclusive life in a creepy Hudson Valley estate among porcelain dolls is vividly rendered. The scenes of Jess Price’s short stay at Sedge House and her discovery of Violaine, a one-of-a-kind porcelain doll with the “scent of powder and dust and old silk” are riveting. The book includes a few scenes in a remote Hudson Valley hideaway and a turn on the campus of Bard College, adding local color.

Overall, readers who like historical thrillers will enjoy The Puzzle Master. Mike Brink is a worthy hero with well-defined and distinctive characteristics on which to hang a suspenseful story. The book demands an interest in the historical tension between human and divine for the reader to feel a real payoff at the end.

Danielle Trussoni will speak with Will Shortz about The Puzzle Master at the Beacon LitFest on June 17. A preview of the event can be found on page 62.

—Betsy Maury

Dust

The government was handing out 160-acre parcels. Determined, Samuel insisted we head west after hearing a real estate agent brag on the guarantee of the rain following the plow. By pushing the farrowed soil deep, moisture was created. It was a scientific fact.

We hoarded every precious penny for a fresh start.

Plenty of land was just waitin’ to be conquered with dig and seed. One of those Oklahoma plots had his name right on it.

His name

My husband often opined how the vast expanse of grain took on a purple hue at dawn. That’s the closest that man ever came to being poetic. About wheat!

I birthed babies.

Four died at childbirth.

Franny made it to five before the consumption took her.

Nearly killed me, burying my little ones.

The ground demanded everything, even the entombment of hope.

All this was the before times, not the after.

Then came hell on earth.

The heavens did not, would not, offer one drop of rain.

Samuel took to staring at cloud patterns, citing to no one, except maybe the emaciated horse, that he was sure that the vault of heaven was just about to open.

During a two-day dust storm, the barn disintegrated as it was plummeted by the tempest. Millions of pounds of earth we had so toiled upon blew from our aspirations to as far away as Chicago.

Then like the tale of Job, our suffering only increased.

The earth heaved and thrashed.

I could not see my husband, though we stood only feet apart. An enduring hunger left us empty with longing.

Samuel put salt on his boot and shoved it greedily into his parched mouth. They killed him, those farm shoes.

Dirt coursed through the papers ma had sent me. As I read those recipes, my fingers traced aside the fine particles of blowing turmoil, imagining satisfying tastes like that of a baked potato. I ate them papers, chewing them slowly.

Uselessly I worked my broom in a dreamish frenzy, resolved to conquer the warrior terrain. Finally, one corner of the house was left standing, along with a chair, my broom, and the good book. The land was as barren as I was. From dust, we all return.

—Lucinda Abra

On Writing Poetry

To bring something of value out of the dark is a good and terrible, exacting work.

—Christopher Porpora

Daughter

If you wish to clip her wings, deprive her of her restless joy, then you should want the kind of things that leave a girl like her destroyed. But if you toss her to the air, for all the world to see in flight, you will have found the strength to share with all the world your heart’s delight.

—John Duvall

Clocks

As the windows of the house tell me the time of day in light her vase set on the dining room table tells me the time of season in flower

—Ryan Brennan

Necessary Things

She said, if you need a glass in a corner, then I’m your girl,

the one waiting for you under the bright cup of wind bending around the moon’s wrist, braceleting the moon as you bracelet me, filling and filling the cup, the glass, me and all that I hold.

—Robert Harlow Blue Sky

for

Sylvia Degiez Lopes

Walk the mountain

Everyday Blue Sky

New snow

On branches

Don’t have to go

We stay

Life happens

Everything is Surprise

—Stacy Fine-Hager

To the Eyes Drawn by Piper Levine

These eyes have sipped the light out of the moon. These eyes have chosen an eye shadow the color of dawn. These eyes have answered the thousand tiny eyes of the birds singing the dawn chorus with a silence never before heard by the birds or by anyone else, a silence learned on the dark side of the moon, where silence has been preserved across the unbroken eons of time, where one word spoken aloud would be an earthquake. Two, forget about it.

Two words like, Hi Mom Or three like, See you later.

It’s true, these eyes have never spoken a word, but they are not silent. They make a sound like the molten core of the earth boiling but muffled beneath our feet, A sound like sunlight ping ponging through the atmosphere to give us a blue sky, A sound like our minds in that rare moment we don’t know what to say next. Then we do.

We say, Quit staring, please, it’s not polite.

These eyes are too large, they know too much, they’ve seen everything we do: Our first kiss & our last, our weddings & divorces, our forgotten passwords, Our cross-eyed lives that haven’t turned out as we planned.

Maybe you’ve seen these eyes in cartoons or on marble statues, But you haven’t. These eyes are unique. Angry, intrepid, unblinking. They won’t stop until the sun burns out. & they can finally see everything in darkness. Then they’ll be free to find a new home in the universe.

—Will Nixon

Lent in Late Capitalism

I’ve gone and sold the space between my cortex and my skull, the tulips in my garden—and my soul is damned to hell— the marrow from my tibia, the gate guarding my grass. Heaven help, me even pawned a portion of my ass! The dust out of my wallet, for I’ll forfeit every speck and donate to Him tendons where my body intersects. And even though I’m married, I’ll abstain from having sex! I haven’t had the time for much except the holy text. But if it pleases God to watch me give him even more, I’ll fast for forty days and nights as Jesus did before, and once I’ve went and bartered with the devil on my own, then God will surely help repay the interest on my loan.

—Matt Moment

While I Meditate I Write This Haiku

the insides of my hips trembling where you said you wanted to kiss them

—chelsea rae

Full submission guidelines: Chronogram.com/submissions

You Know

This is about, you know, those times you’re listening to the, you know, radio and someone is being interviewed who, you know, says “you know” so often during the interview, you know, you start noticing it and, you know, you get so distracted by it you start, you know, counting the “you knows” and, you know, you have no idea what they’re saying because, you know, it’s become all about, you know, how often they say “you know,” and, well, you know, you know what I mean.

—Matthew J. Spireng

Spring break. I crack open the window for fresh air. Facing the north. Wind carries off all the tears. Butterflies on a limb. Gathering for a photo shoot.

—Frances Greenhut

Quarry

Magnificent hungry mouths to feed. The prey and ours, two parents, five daughters. I think of nature roasted and stewed. My father used red nail polish to paint the sights of his rifles. Their gunstocks he spent hours checkering, the grip and forearm, with cutters and fine files. He would finish the stocks with linseed oil and wax. I was a kid. All I knew was this was his craft and he loved deer hunting.

—Cathryn

Shea

Correction

My friend Ralph always complains about life’s routine vexation. “It never ends,” he whines.

But he’s wrong. It does. It ends.

—George J. Searles

SPONSORED BY

Music in the mountains: A trip to Tanglewood opens a world of possibilities. Create a summer concert line-up that’s all your own, with performances by the BSO, Boston Pops, and some of the biggest names in classical music, jazz, folk, and more. Official Tickets only at Tanglewood.org.

SUMMER ARTS PREVIEW

It’s another glorious summer here in the Hudson Valley. And once again, the hills are alive with, that’s right, music—along with theater, dance, and arts happenings of all genres and temperaments.Starting this month and continuning into September, artsrelated festivals, exhibitions, series, and sensational one-off events are taking place throughout our picturesque fields and meadows, wooded havens, charming small towns, bustling bigger ’burgs, and breathtaking river-view sites. The region’s outdoor performance sites, dedicated theaters, museums, dance facilities, sculpture parks, multi-arts centers, and pop-up spots are aglow with beloved returning activities and an explosion of intriguing new events that are making their 2023 debuts.

—Peter Aaron

Sandmen I by Margaret Innerhofer, from her exhibition "Shadowland" at KuBe Art Center in Beacon.

POP + FOLK

Over Yondr

June 16-18

Marking its third year, the Over Yondr festival, in Greenville, is famously phone-free: During the event, all attendee phones and smartwatches are privately secured in special Yondr pouches that will remain in the attendees’ possession but silenced throughout the festivities. And how about that lineup, then? For 2023, it’s U.S. Girls, Madison McFerrin, Melt, Kweku Collins, Kate Davis, Miss Grit, Jeremy and the Harlequins, Kendra McKinley, Charlie Sztyk and Seamstress, Camp Saint Helene, the Eugene Tyler Band, Cyote, Moonrocka, and 30 Rack. Plus there’s camping, yoga, lawn games, vendors, trivia, a lending library, tie-dying, kids’ fun, and more.

Old Songs

June 23-25

Described as “a family-friendly festival of folk, traditional, Celtic, and world music and dance,” the campingencouraged Old Songs happens at the Altamont Fairgrounds near Albany. This year promises Guy Davis, Jake Blount, Low Lily, Rum Ragged, Beppe Gambetta, Cantrip, Tret Fure, Bruce Molsky, Anne Hills and Al Power, Scott Ainslie, Windborne, Grosse Isle, Gangspil, Steve Gillette, Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman, the Gaslight Tinkers, Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys, Evie Ladin, Sara Milonovich and Daisycutter, the Vox Hunters and Flannery Brown, Andy Cohen, Rev. Robert B. Jones and Matt Watroba, Forty Degrees South, and a lot more.

Bethel Woods

Through September 1

The site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival rocks again! This month bites down hard at the outset with the Hollywood Vampires (June 1) and flies on from there with James Taylor (June 29), Robert Plant and Allison Krauss (July 1), the Steve Miller Band with Joe Satriani (July 2), Tears for Fears (July 5), Boy George and Culture Club (July 22), the Outlaw Music Festival with Willie Nelson, Gov’t Mule, and more (July 29), the Chicks (August 3), the Cat Bird Music Festival with the Lumineers and others (August 19-20), Rod Stewart plus Cheap Trick (September 1), and more.

Opus 40

Through September 7

Thanks to Chosen Family Presents, the brains behind the much-missed venue BSP, the beatific Saugerties sculpture park Opus 40 is back with its second season of sagely programmed outdoor music and other events. Already underway, the lineup has the Ulsterados (June 2), Juma Sultan’s Aboriginal Music Society (June 3), Laura Stevenson (June 10), the Mammals (June 11), Mystic Bowie’s Talking Dreads (June 17), Sessa with Pulso de Barro (June 25), Etran De L’Air (July 1), Craig Harris, Neil Clarke, Mala Waldron, and Christopher Dean Sullivan (July 8), Wild Pink (July 14), Clare and the Reasons (July 15), Deerhoof (September 7), and much more. Saugerties.

Meadowlark

September 8-10

How does some fine live music amid the apple trees sound? Still another fresh, young festival on the map is Meadowlark, which here lands for its inaugural incarnation at Stone Ridge Orchard. The three-day, indie-/roots-minded soiree stars DeVotchka, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Jolie Holland, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Chris Smither, Lizzie No, Chris Staples, Babehoven, Beccs, Cloudbelly, Kaia Kater, Ryan Lee Crosby, and several more still to be announced. For the campers-welcome, all-ages weekend, the naturally beautiful surroundings will also feature a farmers’ market, local artisans selling their wares, and a full complement of food trucks.

Drom 30

September 15-17

Marking the 30th anniversary of indie label Dromedary Records, this multi-venue wingding will kick off with Feelies offshoots Yung Wu and Speed the Plough at Tubby’s in Kingston (September 15) and continue with Antietam, Sleepyhead, Flower, Cathedral Ceilings, and others at the Avalon Lounge and Left Bank Ciders in Catskill (September 16) and Lotion, Monsterland, the Mommyheads, Jenny Toomey, and more at the Avalon Lounge and Spike’s Record Rack in Catskill (September 17). See venue and Dromedary Records websites for prices and schedules.

Deerhoof play Opus 40 September 7

Photo by Martin Schumann

POP + FOLK

A jam session at the Old Songs festival in 2019.

Chris Smither plays Meadowlark September 10.

Photo by Joanna Chattman

Jenny Toomey plays Drom 30 September 17.

discover your next favorite artist at caramoor!

June 4 – August 18

2023 Summer Season

Over 40 Concerts!

Featuring / Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Knights, Miró Quartet, Dover Quartet, The Crossing, Cécile McLorin Salvant, DakhaBrakha, Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher, Caccini’s Alcina, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Arooj Aftab, Sandbox Percussion, Pekka Kuusisto and Nico Muhly, and Much More!

Plan your summer at Caramoor!

Before the concert, explore our Sound Art, tour the historic Rosen House, or pack a picnic to enjoy with family and friends in our gardens.

Free Shuttle from the Katonah Train Station Plus! Free Parking & No Ticket Fees!

Audra McDonald

Garrick Ohlsson

Hélène GrimaudSamara Joy Alisa WeilersteinDavóne TinesMary Chapin Carpenter

Feeling much like a reward for our getting through the lockdown years, the summer calendar continues to pop with newly minted outdoor music festivals around the region. One of the coolest-looking new gatherings this year is the Cave Mountain Catskills Music Festival, which will take over the scenic peaks of Windham Mountain ski resort on September 15 and 16. Headlining the eclectic event are pop punk paragons Weezer (September 16) and jam-band drummer Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (September 15). Stacking the rest of the bill across the two dates are Dinosaur Jr., the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Albert Hammond Jr., Lee Fields, Courtney Marie Andrews, Sheer Mag, Channing Wilson, Charlotte Rose Benjamin, Elijah Wolf, Matt Sucich, the Bones of J.R. Jones, and Thunderstorm Artis.

The occasion also marks the first Hudson Valley visit from country singer-songwriter Channing Wilson, on the road to promote his 2023 debut album, Dead Man. The road to making the album has not been short or easy for

MUSIC

Wilson, taking him from his native Georgia to the cutthroat Nashville music scene and back. But the sublime songs that he’s written and recorded along the way are seasoned with the kind of character that just couldn’t have been made without living the real, raw life they reflect, or from learning from listening deeply to masters like Guy Davis and Steve Earle (two big early influences) or the ones he namechecks in Dead Man’s powerful “Blues Comin’ On”: Hank Williams (I and II) and Howlin’ Wolf.

“I lived in Nashville off and on for about 10 or 11 years,” says Channing. “I had a lot of preconceived notions about [the Tennessee city] before I went there, when I was 35. It was good for the first couple of months. I landed a publishing deal and hit a lick. But I have kind of a punk rock attitude, even when it comes to country—I’m not really a fan of Top 40 country. So I ran into some dead ends here and there. But I did meet a lot of really cool people.” Indeed he did, sharing bills with Earle, Billy Joe Shaver, Tony Joe White, and

Top Billing

CAVE MOUNTAIN CATSKILLS MUSIC FESTIVAL September 15-16

Cavemountainmusicfest.com

others; writing songs for hitmakers like Luke Combs; and grabbing a slot on the 2012 Country Throwdown tour.

On top of the enticing music, Cave Mountain promises a wide selection of food and beverage and local craft vendors as well as panoramic skyline rides on the resort’s chairlift and daytime yoga sessions.

“I hope people get a sense of connection, feel like there’s someone else like them who has a lot of the same hopes and dreams and fears they have,” says Channing when asked what hopes people get from hearing his songs. “I just hope they feel like they can relate to me. And that maybe we can meet up and talk after the set.”

The Cave Mountain Catskills Music Festival will take place at Windham Mountain ski resort in Hunter on September 15 and 16. Tickets are $125 for each day or $199 for both days. See website for lineup schedule and more information.

—Peter Aaron

Weezer headline the Cave Mountain Catskills Music Festival at Windham Mountain in September.

The Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood

Photo by Fred Collins

Dominique Labelle as Medea in Handel's "Teseo"

Photo by Theodoro da Silva

CLASSICAL + JAZZ

PS21

June 2-September 30

The musical component of multi-arts PS21 festival in Chatham is chock full of engaging acts, to match the content of the other artistic disciplines it encompasses. New York’s NEXT Festival of Emerging Artists presents world premieres by Yvette Young, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Che Buford, Peter Askim, and Matthew Evan Taylor (June 2) and the lineup also boasts the Resistance Revival Chorus (June 17), Plena Libre (July 2), La Banda Morisca (July 14), and Susie Ibarra (July 15). The “House Blend” chamber music mini-series has Miranda Cuckson, Eric Huebner, and Adrian Sandi (July 16), the Ulysses Quartet for two different programs (August 5), and Gerard Grisey, Angelica Negron, Johann Beyer, and Annea Lockwood (August 25).

Aston Magna

June 22-July 22

The Great Barrington, Massachusetts, music series Aston Magna is celebrating its 50th year in 2023. For the milestone summer, the celebration opens with “The Devil’s in the Tales” with Alessandro Scarlatti’s “Humanitá e Lucifero” and Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” (June 22 and 24) and continues with “Robert Levin’s Mozart” with Robert Levin on fortepiano and Daniel Stepner on violin (June 29 and July 1), “The Art of Dominique Labelle” with music of Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi, Handel, and Rossi sung by soprano Dominique Labelle with ensemble (July 6 and 8), and “Baroque Celebration I” with selections by Corelli, Vivaldi, Rosenmuller, and Bach (July 13 and 15) before closing with “Baroque Celebration II” featuring the works of Bach, Villa Lobos, and Purcell (July 20-22).

Tanglewood

June 23-August 27

The world-famous festival at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Berkshires kicks off with the Steve Miller Band and Bruce Hornsby (June 23) and unfurls with the Emerson String Quartet and Emanuel Ax (June 28); Elvis Costello plus Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets (July 1); Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (July 2); a “Ragtime” symphonic concert (July 8); Andris Nelsons conducting Brahms, Habibi, and Montgomery with soprano Julia Bullock and violinist Hilary Hahn (July 9), Ravel, Stravinsky, and Debussy (July 10), and Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” (July 15); Pamela Z (July 9); Train (August 24); “Star Wars: The Story in Music” (August 27); and more. (Festival staple James Taylor on July 3 and 4 is sold out.)

Maverick Concerts

June 24-September 10

America’s oldest continuous summer chamber music (and more) festival is back, filling its historic hand-built hall outside Woodstock with exceptional music, just as it has since 1916. The 2023 season brings Brahams Requiem (June 24-25), the Pablo Ziegler Jazz Tango Trio (July 1), the Miro Quartet (July 9), Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams (July 15), the Escher String Quartet (July 16), Jeremy BarIllan and his Dragonfly 13 R&B Ensemble (July 21), the Danish String Quartet (July 30), Arturo O’Farrill (August 12), the Dali Quaret (August 12-13), the Bill Charlap Trio (September 2), Happy Traum and Cindy Cashdollar (September 9), among others.

Hudson Valley Jazz Festival

August 9-13

The name of this ambitious event is literal: The 14-years-and-running jazz summit Hudson Valley takes place at various venues throughout the Hudson Valley. Check the website for newly added artists locations, but at press time the program finds such hot-and-cool players as the Sean Crimmins Heart Stings Band (August 9), the Bill Pernice Trio (August 10), Judi Silvano and Friends (August 11), the Soul Jazz Collective with Steve Raleigh (August 11), David Amram (August 12), the Nancy Tierney Trio (August 12), Jeff Ciampa with Chris Pasin (August 12), Billy Stein, Joe Giardello, and Harvey Sorgen (August 13), Bob Shaut and Sax Life (August 13), the Analog Jazz Orchestra (August 13), and more.

Caramoor

Through August 18

Held at the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts on the grounds of the historic Rosen family estate in Katonah, is the Caramoor Summer Season. A schedule standout is Brooklyn-based singer and composer Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani female Grammy winner, who will perform with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and multiinstrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (July 29). Other highlights include Audra McDonald on opening night (June 17), Brandy Clark (June 24), Francesca Caccini’s opera “Alcina” (June 25), DakhaBrakha coming (July14), Oumou Sangare (July 15), the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s with Yue Bao conducting (July 16), Cecile McLorin Salvant (July 22), Samara Joy (August 4), Mary Chapin Carpenter (August 5), and Alisa Weilerstein (8/6).

“Penelope” at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

September 3-17

Despite its moniker, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival doesn’t only feature Shakespeare. This world premiere of “Penelope,” composer and lyricist Alex Bechtel’s reimagined telling of Homer’s “Odyssey.” Bechtel began working on the play as a writing project at the start of the pandemic, when he was forced to quarantine from his romantic partner and found comfort and healing in writing songs from the point of view of Odysseus’s waiting wife. See website for times.

Arm-of-the-Sea (various performances)

Through August 30

Making magic with masks and puppets since 1982, the Saugertiesbased Arm-of-the-Sea theater company is one of the Hudson Valley’s most precious cultural jewels. This summer the group takes its guiding themes of experimental hybrid performance, art, ecology, and social action around the region with three all-ages-appealing productions: “Dirt: The Secret Life of Soil,” “A Riparian Rhapsody: How the Forest Sings to the Stream,” and “The Panama Suitcase Show.” Check the website for show locations, dates, and times.

Above: The cast of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's 2019 production of “Into The Woods.”

Photo by T. Charles Erickson

Left: A performance of “Mama Water” by Arm of the Sea.

Photo by Jim Peppler

Opposite: Mitchell Winter and Matt Sullivan in Berkshire Theater Group's “Dracula, 2022.” Photo by Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware

“Just Another Day” at Shadowland Stages

June 2-18

Making its world premiere at Ellenville’s Shadowland Stages is this new play written by and starring Dan Lauria of TV’s “The Wonder Years” alongside Emmy and Tony Awardwinning acrtess Amanda Plummer. A comedy writer and a sophisticated poet in their 70s meet daily on a park bench to exchange wits and barbs, and wax nostalgic about old movies. All the while trying to figure out how they know—and love—each other. At least for that day. Visit the Shadowland Stages website for performance times and other information.

“Off Peak” at Great Barrington Public Theater

July 6-23

Written by Brenda Withers, the train-set comedy “Off Peak” makes its July arrival at the McConnell Public Theater on the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. This production stars Peggy Pharr Wilson and Kevin O’Rourke and is directed by James Warwick. The New York Times said it was “so close to life that you expect a conductor to come in at any second.” Thursday through Saturday shows at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm.

“The Smile of Her” at Berkshire Theater Group

July 12-29

Also making a world premiere this season is Christine Lahti’s one-woman play “The Smile of Her.” Presented by the Berkshire Theater Group at the Unicorn Theater in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, “The Smile of Her” stars the playwright and features direction and dramaturgy by Robert H. Egan. Set in the 1950s and focusing on Lahti’s “perfect” American family, it “takes the audience on a sometimes funny, always deeply personal, journey of denial, neglect, abuse, understanding and by the end—maybe possibly, hope.” See website for show days and times.

“As You Like It” at Catskill Mountain Shakespeare

July 15-30

To quote the play itself, “All the world’s a stage.” But to be more specific, the stage for the Catskill Mountain Shakespeare company’s interpretation of the English icon’s 1599 pastoral comedy is outdoors and under the tent at the Red Barn in Hunter. The beloved tale follows the follies of Rosalind and her cousin Celia amid their hilarious encounters with Jaques, various shepherds and shepherdesses, and others in the Forest of Arden. Website has showtimes.

“The Lucky Few” at Ancram Opera House

July 22

Being presented by the Ancram Opera House live at the nearby Circa 1799 Barn in Ancram, is “The Lucky Few,” a new musical written and performed by Todd Almond and Kate Douglas. The story takes place on New Year’s Eve in 1959, when the postwar prosperity of the 1950s transitioned into the tumultuous 1960s: “The US has entered the space race; Lenny Bruce appeared on NBC for the first time; Miles Davis began recording Kind of Blue; and somewhere in South Dakota, Jane is making music nobody has ever heard before.” 7:30pm.

“I Am Barbie” at Bridge Street Theater

August

31-September 10

Enjoying its regional premiere at the Bridge Street Theater in Catskill this summer is Walton Beacham’s “I Am Barbie.” The clever comedy finds the iconic doll on her 60th birthday, “reminiscing about her countless careers, her relationship with Ken and with other characters from her life, including GI Joe, She-Ra, and her creators, Ruth Handler and Jack Ryan. A hilarious and surprisingly touching look at what it’s like being a Barbie girl in a not-so-Barbie world.” Thursday through Saturday shows at 7:30pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm.

JESSE COOK

MULTI AWARD-WINNING GUITARIST

sat jul 29 at 8pm

Lauren Yee LaurenYee Heather Christian HeatherChristian & Princess Lockerooo PrincessLockerooo

Joe Iconis JoeIconis

MAY 27 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Experience more than 160 works from one of the world’s most recognized artists, M.C. Escher. Infinite Variations chronicles the Dutch artist’s entire career including iconic works such as Day and Night, the fourteen-foot-long Metamorphosis, Ascending and Descending, Drawing Hands, and many others.

of Paul and Belinda Firos of Athens, Greece. This exhibition was provided by PAN Art

Sponsored in part by Robert and Esther Black Family Foundation, The Clark Foundation, Nellie and Robert Gipson, Joseph and Carol Mahon, Mr. Tom Morgan and Ms. Erna J. Morgan McReynolds, NYCM Insurance, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O. Putnam, and Richland County Foundation.

Bond of Union, 1956, M.C. Escher (1898 – 1972). Lithograph. M.C. Escher images are copyright of The M.C. Escher Co.

A place to go. Somewhere where you can just be and express yourself—with no hassles. Maybe meet others kind of like you. When you’re a little bit different, a place like that can feel truly heaven sent. Such a place, an underground dance club and LGBTQ+ safe haven in West LA during 1970s, is the fictional setting of “Paradise Ballroom,” a new musical in development that was cocreated by visionary dancer and choreographer Princess Lockerooo and will be presented by New York Stage and Film on August 4, 5 and 6 at Marist College for the launch of the company’s new “Stories That Move” series of dance-driven musicals.

The internationally known Lockerooo (born Samara Cohen in New York) is revered as “the Queen of Waacking” and has collaborated with such famed names as Madonna, Jody Watley, and Icona Pop. Waacking is a frenetic, dazzling style of street dance created in LA’s gay clubs in the ’70s that was nearly wiped out in the 1980s by the AIDS crisis that felled so many of its originators. “Waacking is very expressive, very confident—it makes you feel free when you do it,” says Lockerooo, who takes her name from locking, one of the 1980s street styles she specialized in before being mentored in waacking by one of its pioneers, former “Soul Train” dancer Tyrone Power. “Paradise Ballroom” centers on the character of Teddy, who escapes his oppressive hometown to find freedom and community as a club dancer. But when a dubious producer promises him fame in exchange for turning against his sincerity and newfound family, he finds himself faced with some tough choices. The show’s

book and lyrics were written by Lockerooo, while its music penned was by composer Harold O’Neal.

Lockerooo is by no means the only big name involved in this year’s NYSAF summer season. July 28 and 29 will bring the world premiere of “Like They Do in the Movies,” a one-man show written and performed by the award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do with It?, The Matrix trilogy, Apocalypse Now, “Thurgood, ” “Two Trains Running”) and directed by Leonard Foglia (“Master Class,” “Wait Until Dark,” “Thurgood”). The season will begin on July 14 with a kickoff concert and reception starring Tony-nominated musical theater writer and performer Joe Iconis (“Be More Chill,” “Love in Hate Nation,” “Broadway Bounty Hunter”) and his family of performers. The evening will feature new numbers, works-in-process, and favorite Iconis tunes. And “A Wrinkle in Time,” a new musical adapted from the Madeleine L’Engle novel by the team of Lauren Yee (book), Heather Christian (music and lyrics), and Lee Sunday Evans (director), is being workshopped by NYSAF and will be staged on July 21 and 22.

“I want people to feel empowered, to explore their own self-expression,” says Lockerooo about her contribution to the series. “To feel connected, curious, and understanding toward others.”

The New York Stage and Film 2023 Summer Season will take place from July 14 through August 6 at Marist College in Poughkeepsie. See website for schedule, tickets and ticket prices, and other information.

—Peter Aaron

Waack Attack

NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM 2023

SUMMER SEASON AT MARIST COLLEGE

July 14-August 6 Newyorkstageandfilm.org

Princess Lockerooo will perform in her new musical, “Paradise Ballroom,” August 4-6, part of New York Stage and Film’s summer season at Marist College.

BOOKS

Paging Greatness

BEACON LITFEST

AT THE HOWLAND CULTURAL CENTER

June 17 and 18

Howlandculturalcenter.org

On the corner of Main Street and Tioronda Avenue in Beacon stands the Howland Cultural Center, the city’s first library. Commissioned by Civil War General and former New York State Treasurer Joseph Howland, the building was the first in Beacon named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and it remained a library until 1976. Though it no longer houses books, the Howland Cultural Center is keeping the building’s literary heritage alive with the inaugural Beacon LitFest on June 17 and 18. The two-day festival boasts award-winning writers, poets, and playwrights with appearances by New York Times Puzzle Editor Will Shortz and actor Emily Mortimer.

“Our plan with this festival is to highlight Beacon’s growing literary community and expose audiences to fresh and thought-provoking work,” says Dr. Hannah Brooks, Beacon LitFest co-producer and Howland board member.

Beacon LitFest features readings and authors discussing their work on Saturday and workshops (limited to 12 participants each) on Sunday. A highlight on Saturday will likely be best-selling author Danielle Trussoni discussing her highly anticipated thriller, The Puzzle Master, with Will Shortz. Trussoni worked with Shortz to develop the puzzles central to the plot of the novel. (Read Betsy Maury’s review of The Puzzle Master on page 49.) Other writers reading on Saturday include Donna Minkowitz, author of Growing Up Golem: How I Survived My Mother, Brooklyn, and Some Really Bad Dates; Jamie Price, author of Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver; and Ginger Strand, who most recently authored her third work of narrative nonfiction, The Brothers Vonnegut: Science and Fiction in the House of Magic. Laura Sims will read from her newest suspense novel, How Can I Help You? Afterward, she’ll be joined by award-winning actor, screenwriter, and producer Emily

Mortimer to discuss developing Sims’s critically acclaimed novel Looker for television.

Poets will take the stage to read from their recent works as well. Indran Amirthanayagam will share Ten Thousand Steps Against the Tyrant, a collection of works expressing the emotion stemming from the 2020 US presidential election and the political and social events that followed. Martine Bellen will read from her 10th book, An Anatomy of Curiosity. Her works explore the curious mind, recounting anything that pops into view. Patricia Spears Jones, poet, playwright, anthologist, educator, and cultural activist will recite pieces from A Lucent-Fire, Pain Killer, and other works.   Playwriting is also celebrted at Beacon LitFest. Award-winning UK and US playwrights Nigel Gearing and Charlotte Meehan will discuss language form and function in drama. Gearing is the author of Dickens in America, The Queen of Spades, and others, and Meehan is the artistic director of the award-winning Boston-based multimedia theatre company Sleeping Weazel.

Day two of Beacon LitFest consists of three limited writing and storytelling intensives. Join poet and curator Ruth Danon for “Live Writing: A Poetry Project.” Danon is the founder of Creative and Expository Writing program NYU School of Professional Studies. Journalist, memoirist, and author of the national bestseller, The Dogs Who Found Me, Ken Foster will teach “Is It Memoir? Is It Fiction?” The last workshop will focus on drama. “From Stage to Page: Adding Drama to Narrative” with Shane Bly Killoran, dramaturg, writer, and producer. Celebrate literature, engage with acclaimed writers, and honor Beacon’s literary legacy at the Howland Cultural Center’s inaugural Beacon LitFest—a testament to the power of words and the thriving literary community in Beacon.

—Crystal Fraioli

Left: Actress and producer Emily Mortimer.

Photo by Peter Ash Lee

Right: New York Times Puzzle Editor Will Shortz at the 2023 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.

Photo by Legoktm/Kunal Mehta

Friday July 1: 10am-6pm Saturday July 2: 10am-6pm

July 3: 10am-5pm

Book a guided tour of our campus including the new Architecture Archive and Research Library and the Installation Trail on our 30-acre nature reserve.

Gallery open Sundays 11 AM - 5 PM and by appointment

Leading support for the 2023 ‘T’ Space programs is provided by Elise Ja e + Je rey Brown and Steve Pulimood. Support is provided by the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Leica Geosystems, The Pratt Family Fund, the Al Held Foundation, Archive Fine Art, Inc. and its a liates Art Crating, Inc. & ACLA, LLC.

We are grateful to all of our contributors who help to make 'T' Space possible.

The Ann Hamilton and Torkwase Dyson exhibitions are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

June 4 – July 9, 2023

22YEARS

July 16 – August 20, 2023

September 3– October 15, 2023

Jennifer Cranna Cahalan

Shauna Burke

Randy Herold

DANCE

PS21

June 1-October 21

Between the international music, theater, art, and dance events being staged in PS21’s open-air Pavilion Theater, lush meadows and fields, and affiliated local spots, there’s no shortage of offerings from Chatham’s PS21. In the latter discipline, there’s Czech dance company Cirk La Putyka’s “Runners” (July 22), the Paul Taylor Dance Company performing three of the master choreographer’s works (July 22-23), Italian choreographer Alessandro Sciaroni’s “Save the Last Dance for Me” (July 29), French visual artist and photographer Noemie Goudal’s “ANIMA” (September 2-3), and French director Gisele Vienne’s “L’Etang” (October 13-14).

“Illinois” (Bard SummerScape)

June 23-July 12

Based on the Sufjan Stevens album of the same name and featuring its music and lyrics, “Illinois” premieres to the world this month at the Sosnoff Theater of Bard College’s Fisher Center. Commissioned by and part of the Bard SummerScape festival, the production of storytelling, theater, dance, and live music is a collaboration between the indie folk singer-songwriter himself, director/choreographer/writer Justin Peck, and writer Jackie Sibblies Drury. Echoing the overarching concept of the acclaimed 2005 record, the show depicts colorful places, people, and events related to the Land of Lincoln. Performances at 2pm and 7:30pm.

“Mikhail Baryshnikov at 75” at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park

June 25

Tivoli’s 153-acre Kaatsbaan Cultural Park presents topflight artists working in dance, theater, spoken word and literature, and visual and culinary arts. This event has the facility partnering with New York’s Baryshnikov Arts Center to honor the 75th birthday of that institution’s founder and director, the great Mikhail Baryshnikov. The afternoon will feature a concert by Laurie Anderson, Diana Krall, Regina Spektor, and North America’s leading practitioner of Japanese shinobue and taiko drummer Kaoru Watanabe; a musical performance by choreographer Mark Morris; and an appearance by actress Anna Baryshnikov. 2pm (gates at 11am). $150 and $500.

RAWdance at Senate Garage

July 1

Another of the many arts entities making its Hudson Valley debut this summer is the West Coast-based company RAWdance, which here brings its “CONCEPT Series” to the historic Senate Garage in Kingston. A long-time institution of the San Francisco dance scene, RAWdance began the intimate and informal contemporary dance salon series in 2007. The series serves high-quality dance art with an informal, living-room vibe—complete with popcorn. The pay-what-you-can event is described as “a welcoming antidote to the stuffiness that can surround concert dance.” Performers include Cory Nakasue, DOCKDANCE, Chris Black, and more.

Dutch National Ballet at Jacob’s Pillow

July 5-9

Founded in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Jacob’s Pillow has been called “one of America’s most precious cultural assets” by no less than Mikhail Baryshnikov. For this early July residency, the esteemed Dutch National Ballet launch its much-anticipated debut at the center. The engagement’s works will include “Variations for Two Couples” (Hans Van Manen), Two & Only” (Wubkje Kuindersma), “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude” (William Forsythe), “Grand Pas Classique” (Victor Gsovsky), and “Five Tangos” (Hans van Manen; music by Astor Piazzolla). WednesdaySaturday performances are at 8pm; matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. $60.

“Agua Viva” at Hudson Hall

August 26-27

This homage to Ukrainian-born Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector’s feminist novel Agua Viva by choreographer and dancer Jodi Melnick and collaborator Maya LeeParritz in Hudson expands upon the author’s “notions of virtuosity, sexuality, and the spectacular, probing the limits of spontaneity through intricate movement.” Melnick has been called “one of the most beautiful dancers there ever was—full of delicacy, lucidity, sensuality, mystery, and ferocity, which gives her an indelible sense of drama” by Dance magazine. Lee-Parritz has shown her work at the Center for Performance Research, the Brooklyn Ballet, and other luminous venues. August 26 at 7pm; August 27 at 4pm. $15-$35.

Czech dance company Cirk La Putyka will perform “Runners” at PS21 in Chatham on July 22.

Dutch National Ballet will perform “Grand Pas Classique” at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, which runs June 28-August 27.

Photo by Hans Gerritsen, courtesy of Jacob's Pillow.

Rehersal for “Illinois,” (left to right) Gaby Diaz, Byron Tittle, Jeanette Delgado, Jonathan Fahoury. Bard SummerScape presents “Illinois” at the Fisher Center June 23-July 2.

Photo by Maria Baranova

As the runner-up on the first season of the reality television show, “The Amazing Race,” Frank Mesa helped introduce audiences to the exciting sights and sounds of cultures of almost a dozen different countries. With this month’s opening exhibition at ChangoLife Arts, a new Cuban art gallery housed in Ethan Cohen’s expansive, internationally focused KuBe art center in Beacon, Mesa has reignited his long-held passion for international cultural exchange. “I loved being such a large part of facilitating exposure to new cultures for people who were watching ‘The Amazing Race’ from home,” Mesa says. “ChangoLife Arts is all about creating a dialogue between the people of Cuba and the Hudson Valley.”

Mesa, a first-generation Cuban American whose parents immigrated to New York City in 1960, was born and raised in Queens and moved to the Hudson Valley in 2016. “My parents were the only ones in my family who came to the US, and they instilled a very strong sense of the culture in me,” says Mesa.

After meeting his wife, Asia, in Beacon, she encouraged him to find a way to bring Cuban culture to their favorite Hudson Valley city. The two quickly landed on the idea to open an art gallery. “There is a very vibrant arts scene in Cuba. With the embargo, there’s so much

From Havana to Beacon

ChangoLife Arts Provides a Platform for Cuban Artists

that doesn’t make it to the US about the Cuban people,” Mesa says. “They have so much to offer, but they’re just so closed off from the world.”

The name for their new gallery, ChangoLife Arts, is a reference to the Yoruba warrior god Chango, who was merged with the image of the Catholic Saint Barbara by Africans who were enslaved in Cuba so they could continue practicing their religion. “ChangoLife is a representation of the strength of Cuban culture, and how it’s been able to survive through all of its adversities,” Mesa says.

With its strong focus on international art, Ethan Cohen’s KuBe in Beacon seemed like the natural choice for a gallery space. Located in the former Beacon high school, the art center is currently home to over 60 artist studios, 10 gallery spaces, and two libraries, plus outdoor grounds, and roof areas for sculpture. “Mr. Cohen is famously known for working with artists from America, Africa, Iran, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, Pakistan, and Thailand, and welcomed the opportunity to have Cuba added to his center,” Mesa says.

To start building the gallery’s collection, Mesa worked with one of his cousins in Cuba to search for local artists whose works were representative of the country’s contemporary art landscape. On his next visit to Cuba, Mesa met with three of the artists—Sheyla, Mijail Ponce, and Eddy—

and purchased a collection of their works to bring back and exhibit in the Hudson Valley.

“Sheyla is an incredibly talented 19-year-old artist who was educated in the best art school on the island,” he says. “She ran out of material for her paintings and was primarily working in pen on cardboard. We helped purchase more materials for her and set her up with a studio, and the pieces she’s working on now are outrageous.” Mijail Ponce’s realist works are painted on bed sheets instead of more expensive canvas, and Eddy’s watercolor and acrylic paintings have Cuban newsprint peeking out from behind the brushstrokes. “One of the things about Cuban people is that they have so much ingenuity. They use whatever they have available to them,” Mesa says. “They lack resources but not resourcefulness, and they’re not discouraged from continuing to pursue their passion.”

ChangoLife Arts’ first exhibition, “Seres Imperfectos” (Imperfect Beings), will run from June 24 through December 27 at the KuBe art center in Beacon. An opening reception for the public is scheduled for June 24 from 6 to 8pm. A portion of all proceeds from gallery sales will go to humanitarian aid for the Cuban people through the Centro Martin Luther King in Havana, Cuba.

Changolifearts.com

From left: Meditation, Mijail Ponce, oil on canvas, 2022 Asere Q Vola, Eddy, watercolor on newspaper, 2022 La Chica de Las Perlas, Sheyla, pen on cardboard, 2022

From High School to Art Haven

MULTIPLE

Ecfa.com/kube

The dynamic arts scene in the Hudson Valley is thriving, and Ethan Cohen is one of the tenacious arts professionals cultivating ever-greater opportunities for experiencing contemporary art in the region. An active figure in the international art world for over 40 years, Ethan’s enthusiasm for art is tangible and his sprawling, multidisciplinary KuBe art center in Beacon— pronounced “cube” as in Kunsthalle Beacon—is an exciting place for encountering world-class art. (A Kunsthalle is a space where short-term exhibitions of contemporary art are held.)

I first met Ethan in 2002 as an intern at his gallery on Walker Street in Manhattan and I went on to manage Ethan Cohen Fine Art for nearly half a decade. During those years, Ethan was consistently imaginative and downright fun. It was a thrill to assist Ethan in organizing and hosting exhibitions, projects, and events—not only at his gallery downtown, but also at art fairs and locations all over the map. Now 20 years later, I visited KuBe last month and Ethan welcomed me with his enduring warmth and charm. I was blown away as we toured the former high school while Ethan shared story after story about the various activities at KuBe. “I was inspired to activate the old Beacon high school into both a profit and nonprofit arts space where I could create different types of art shows from my gallery in New York City,” Ethan says.

The engine behind KuBe is the Ethan Cohen Gallery housed within, and the entire building is a magnificent reflection of Ethan’s vision and generosity. Closed in 2002, he purchased the building in 2010 and opened KuBe to the public in 2011 with his co-creator Zhu Ceng. KuBe has promoted an ambitious schedule since. The facility is buzzing with energy and is currently home to over 60 artist studios, 10 gallery spaces, and 2 libraries,

plus outdoor grounds, and roof areas for sculpture. KuBe makes the gymnasium available to local athletic teams and regularly hosts an improv theater group. The auditorium holds special events year-round, including lectures and performances. Every inch of KuBe is infused with Ethan’s spirit, and director Joseph Ayers— also an artist, curator, and professor at Parsons School of Design—oversees the robust KuBe calendar.

Speaking of the mission behind the KuBe atmosphere, Ethan says “the community in the Hudson Valley is fabulous and we are here to support its growth.” KuBe is doing just that while contributing to an increasingly diverse arts ecosystem upstate. Recent past shows at KuBe have included Ron English’s “Beacon Bigfoot,” an outrageous sculptural installation of an imagined Yeti family, and “Under the African Sun,” a group exhibition of colorful works by leading African and African-American artists.

Three exhibitions will be on view this month, including a solo show of interactive photography and sound: “Margaret Innerhofer: Shadowland” (through August 29) as well as the group show “A Fine Line: Graffiti and the Power of Dissent” (curated by Cohen and Ayers, through July 2) and a retrospective of large-scale mixed-media paintings and drawings by celebrated contemporary African artist Aboudia (through July 16). KuBe has a full calendar of live performance events this summer in addition to a distinguished artist lectures series in collaboration with BeaconArts.org, community critiques with leading art critics, and a group exhibition of the Beacon Open Studios group during the annual Upstate Art Weekend (July 21-24) as well as additional events this fall.

—Taliesin Thomas

SHOWS AT KUBE ART CENTER IN BEACON

Installation view of the Aboudia retrospective at KuBe art center in Beacon.

Photo by Joseph Ayers

ART

When the Springtime Comes Again by Azadeh Nia from the Wassaic Project exhibition “Counting the Seconds Between Lightning and Thunder” through September 16

caption tk

ART

Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones, Edvard Munch,color woodcut, 1899. on paper. Private collection, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York From the exhibition “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth” at the Clark Art Institute

June 10-October 15

“In the Room” at Center for Photography at Woodstock

June 10-August 12

“In the Room,” organized by Kingston-based writer and curator Frances Cathryn, features the work of three contemporary photographers—Kelly Kristin Jones, Jonathan Mark Jackson, and Ashley M. Freeby—whose work explores the relationships between personal and collective memories, and in particular how public histories are made, challenged, and remade. Freeby’s “Many Thousands Gone” series is especially haunting. In it, she takes crime scene photographs where a person of color was murdered by the state and digitally erases any evidence of brutality, such as blood, bullet casings, or caution tape.

“Counting the Seconds Between Lightning and Thunder” at Wassaic Project

Through September 16

Wassaic Project only mounts a few exhibitions a year, but they’re always blockbusters, filling the multiple spaces of Maxon Mills with work by dozens of artists. “Counting the Seconds Between Lightning and Thunder,” curated by Eve Biddle, Bowie Zunino, Jeff Barrett-Winsby, and Will Hutnick, showcases 40 artists, from the surreal landscapes and interiors of Azadeh Nia to Danielle Klebe’s darkly humorous paintings of Millennial social life to Jeff Slomba’s five-gallon bucket dioramas based on Renaissance tondos to the videos of Adinah Dancyger.

“Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth” at Clark Art Institute

June 10-October 15

Mention Edvard Munch and you probably think of The Scream, in which the Norwegian artist captured the torment and existential dilemma of being human. But in the exhibition “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth,” approximately 75 works (many from the Munchmuseet in Oslo) focus on our relationship to the earth and landscape, revealing new facets of the body of work by this famed artist. Curator Jay A. Clarke explores how Munch used nature to plumb the topics of human psychology, garden and farm cultivation, and the mythology of the forest, all during a time of industrialization. It might resonate with current times in surprising ways.

“Erika Verzutti: New Moons”  at CCS Bard’s Hessel Museum

June 24-October 15

Brazilian artist Erika Verzutti’s sculptures and wall pieces (60 works from the last 15 years) display Verzutti’s inquisitiveness about nature, the cosmos, and influences from art history, including Brancusi and Koons. Abstract forms combine with flora, fauna, and snippets of news headlines and online ephemera in witty, dimensional pieces with traces of the artist’s actual hand. Curated by Lauren Cornell, the Hessel Museum show follows several prominent exhibitions of Verzutti’s oeuvre at Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo and Paris’s Centre Pompidou.

ART

Upstate Art Weekend

July 21–24

Founded during the first summer of the pandemic by art world veteran Helen Toomer to bring exposure to Hudson Valley art and artists and escape to quarantine-fatigued city dwellers, the first year featured 23 arts venues. In 2021, the number of participating sites numbered over 60. This year’s Upstate Art Weekend has over 130 participants, from galleries and museums (Catskill Art Space, David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center, Foreland) to lesser known art destinations (White Feather Farm), and artists’ open studios. Our must-see this year: “Appearances” at Strange Untried Project Space in Lomontville, which will feature the work of Hudson Valley-based artists Natalie Beall, Amy Talluto, Adie Russell, Judy Glantzman, Mandolyn Wilson Rosen, and Jesse Bransford.

“Roz Chast: Buildings, Bananas, and Beyond”  at Carol Corey Fine Art

August 26-October 1

Who hasn’t chuckled at a Roz Chast cartoon and stuck it to the fridge? No one else captures the foibles of being human and the tenderness of contemporary life better than Chast, whose cartoons have appeared in The New Yorker for four decades. Relatives, friends, and domestic and city life are among the countless subjects she appraises. The renowned cartoonist and artist will show new gouache works on paper, embroidery pieces, and recent drawings. Chast, whose latest graphic narrative, I Must Be Dreaming, drops on October 24, will give a talk at Corey Fine Art on Saturday, September 9 at 4pm.

“Women Reframe American Landscape: Susie Barstow & Her Circle/Contemporary Practices” at Thomas Cole National Historic Site

Through October 29

Despite being highly acclaimed during her lifetime, “Women Reframe” is the first retrospective of American landscape painter Susie Barstow (1836-1923). This exhibition reinserts the accomplished 19th-century American artist into the story of the Hudson River School of landscape painting alongside work by contemporary artists who expand the conception of “land” and “landscape.” The internationally acclaimed contemporary artists include: Teresita Fernandez, Guerrilla Girls, Marie Lorenz, Tanya Marcuse, Mary Mattingly, Ebony G. Patterson, Anna Plesset, Jean Shin, Wendy Red Star, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Cecilia Vicuna, Kay WalkingStick, and Saya Woolfalk.

Storm King Art Center

Through November 13.

A summer without a visit to this sprawling, 500-acre sculpture park in Mountainville is frankly time misspent. In addition to the dozens of monumental sculptures permanently installed at Storm King—by the likes of Alexander Calder, Andy Goldsworthy, Maya Lin, and Louise Bourgeois—each year the center installs new work by established and emerging artists. This season will feature three artists: Ugo Rondinone, Beatriz Cortez, and RA Walden. Our pick: Rondinone’s the sun and the moon, comprising two 16-foot tall circles made from cast-bronze tree branches, installed parallel to each other in the center’s South Fields, set against Schunnemunk and Storm King Mountains like two celestial bodies that floated down from space.

Top: 3 O'Clock Snack, Roz Chast, hand embroidery 11" x 11.75", 2023. Part of the exhibition “Roz Chast: Buildings, Bananas, and Beyond” at Carol Corey Fine Art August 26-October 1.

Bottom: Unhinged (Map), Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, mixed media on canvas, 60" x 40," 2018. Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. Part of the exhibition “Women Reframe American Landscape: Susie Barstow & Her Circle/Contemporary Practices” at Thomas Cole National Historic Site through October 29.

“Pippa Garner: $ell Your $elf” at Art Omi

June 24-October 28

The West Coast produced many memorable conceptual artists in the `70s and `80s. Pippa Garner was among them, but is lesser known than contemporaries like Chris Burden and Ed Ruscha. More than 100 of Garner’s varied works will be on display at Art Omi, which commissioned a custom pickup with its exterior reversed, marking the 50th anniversary of her Backwards Car. The new truck will be in performances in Ghent and Manhattan during the exhibition. Garner, trained in car design, has explored commodification of things and humans. She began gender hacking using hormones and her own body as media. She also transformed banal items with wit and absurdity, and made a line of T-shirts with powerful punchlines. Sara O’Keeffe curated the show with Guy Weltchek.

“In What Way Wham? (White Noise and other works, 1996-2023)” at MASS MoCA

Through March 2024

Joseph Grigely, who has been deaf since the age of 10, has amassed over 30,000 notes given to him by those who don’t know sign language. In White Noise, he will paper two huge rooms at MASS MoCA with these missives, creating an epic visual installation of what hearing-abled people would take for granted as spoken messages. In the exhibition’s other works, he further explores issues of language, archives, and the foibles of communication.

—Brian K. Mahoney, Susan Yung, and Taliesin Thomas

White Noise, Joseph Grigely, 4,000 slips of paper in purpose build room, 2000. Part of the exhibition “In What Way Wham” at MASS MoCA through March 2024.

Photo by Centre Pompidou-Metz/Rémi Villaggi

Untitled (MANHOLES), Pippa Garner, pencil on paper. Courtesy of the artist and STARS Gallery, Los Angeles. Part of the exhibition “Pippa Garner: $ell Your $elf” at Art Omi June 24-October 28.

Bo on Early Music Fe

You walk into a room of somber paintings from the 1950s, and think you’re at a “serious” art show, but soon that impression fades. Just to the right is Over and Under (1960), a crushed paper bag, partially painted blue. It resembles something you’d step over on a sidewalk, but the composition is as perfect as a Michelangelo sculpture. In the next room is Site (19692016) which looks like a stainless-steel rack for stacking chairs.

Could “Michael Snow” be a collective of 12 artists all working under the same name? In fact, Snow was a prolific artist whose multiple art forms nourished each other: painting, sculpture, photography, video, printmaking, collage, drawing. Plus, he was a professional jazz pianist! I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he also baked bread and rode a unicycle. “Michael Snow: A Life Survey (1955-2020)” will fill the School, a 30,000-square-foot gallery in Kinderhook, until December 16.

Michael James Aleck Snow was born in Toronto in 1928, the son of a civil engineer. He graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1952. Snow was one of the first artists to recognize the aesthetic possibilities of video. His film Wavelength (1967) was voted one of the hundred most important cinematic works of the 20th century by Village Voice critics. (This film, plus eight other videos, appears in the show.)

Serve, Deserve (2009) is a 13-minute video piece showing the setting for a meal: three plates on a tablecloth. After a while, salad falls onto one of the plates, followed by salad dressing. A clump of spaghetti lands on another plate; then orange sauce descends. Time passes, and suddenly the tape is played backwards. The salad dressing rises into the air, and the green leaves leap upwards. The orange sauce flies away, then the spaghetti. The plates are clean once

more. Serve, Deserve is simple but mesmerizing. Though he lived in New York City from 1963 until the `70s, Snow was not associated with a particular movement. He wasn’t pop or Fluxist or a minimalist. Being in no school gave him a certain freedom. In 1961, Snow introduced his “walking woman” image, a silhouette of a female with a bouffant hairdo, leaning forward as she walked. This nameless person became the source of multiple drawings, sculptures, prints. In one painting entitled Banner (circa 1994), a silkscreened image of her, black on red, suggests a political movement: the Walking Woman Party.

“There’s a lot of jokes in the work,” observes Jack Shainman, director of The School. For example, two photographs titled Venetian Blind Revisited (1999) show the artist in Venice, closing his eyes in the bright Italian sunlight. (In other words, he’s “Venetian” and “blind.”) Warning: If you are “triggered” by puns, enter this show cautiously.

Do you know the classic story of the fisherman who catches a fish, and each time he describes it, the fish gets larger? Fish Story (1979) alludes to this phenomenon. A tiny fish at the bottom is reproduced seven times, growing larger with each repetition.

The earliest work is Airplane Ace, a double-sided comic strip Snow drew when he was eight, in 1937. The most recent piece is from 2020. Not many art shows span 83 years. “I went to him with this idea for the exhibition, and he said yes right away,” Shainman observes. “I was thrilled that we were going to work together on it.”

What began as a retrospective has become a memorial. Snow died of pneumonia in Toronto on January 5. But his fruitful, witty, Zen-like spirit pervades the School.

—Sparrow

Snow Day at the School

“MICHAEL SNOW: A LIFE SURVEY (1955-2020)” AT THE SCHOOL

Through December 16 Jackshainman.com/the_school

Flash! 20:49 15/6/2001, Michael Snow, laminated color photograph, 48 x 72 inches, 2001

ART

Eric Garner, Ashley M. Freeby, from “In the Room” at the Center for Photography at Woodstock

510 WARREN ST GALLERY

510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Nina Lipkowitz: Battle Fatigue.” June 2-25.

AL HELD FOUNDATION

26 BEECHFORD DRIVE, BOICEVILLE

“On the Grounds 2023.” Sculptures by Anina Major and Sagarika Sundaram. Through October 14.

“Privet.” A multidisciplinary exhibition including dance, music, and works on paper, featuring dance by Jodi Melnick, Tara Lorenzen, and Brandi Norton, music by Laura Ortman, works on paper by Beka Goedde. Through June 5.

“Kite: Oihanbleta (In a Dream).” Oglala Lakota artist Kite (aka Suzanne Kite) approaches embroidery as a means of bringing knowledge from the nonhuman realms of machines, animals, and spirits into the human realms of creation. June 25-October 14.

ARTPORT KINGSTON

108 EAST STRAND STREET, KINGSTON

“Sense and Sensibility: Art on Prescription.” June 3-July 15.

ART GALLERY 71

71 EAST MARKET STREET #5, RHINEBECK

“Jenny Strohm: Mosaics.” June 5-July 3.

THE ALDRICH CONTEMPORARY ART

MUSEUM

258 MAIN STREET, RIDGEFIELD, CT

“Amy Brener: Harbingers.” Larger-than-life sculptures. Through Sepember 3.

ART SALES & RESEARCH

CLINTON CORNERS

“Harold Granucci: Geometric Drawings.” Geometric Drawings by the late math genius and self-taught artist. Through June 11. “Spring Show.” Paintings, drawings, and ceramics by Marilyn Gold, Stanley Rosen, Nancy Diamond, Margrit Lewczuk, Harriet Korman and Christine Heindl. Through June 5.

ARTS SOCIETY OF KINGSTON

97 BROADWAY, KINGSTON.

“Animals You Live With.” Members' show.

June 3-25.

"Watercolors: An Eclectic Collection." Paintings by Jacqueline Oster. June 3-25.

BAU GALLERY

506 MAIN STREET, BEACON

“Palisades.” Recent sculptures by Jedah Baum. June 10-July 2.

“Tranliterations.” Photographs by Ella Baum. June 10-July 2.

BERKHIRE MUSEUM

39 SOUTH STREET, PITTSFIELD

“Romance & Nature: Art of the Hudson River School.” June 3-October 1.

BETHEL WOODS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

200 HURD ROAD, BETHEL.

“Rockin’ the Woods. Sculptures by Wayne Holbert." Through October 31.

BILL ARNING EXHIBITIONS/ HUDSON VALLEY

17 BROAD STREET, KINDERHOOK

“Nature’s Thought Palaces.” Work by Daniella Dooling and Mike Glier. Through July 2.

BUTTERFIELD LIBRARY

10 MORRIS AVENUE, COLD SPRING

“Charles Ruppmann: Unseen New York.” Photos by celebrated Daily News photographer Charles Ruppmann of New York City scenes from the 1970s. June 3-30.

CANVAS + CLOTHIER

27 GARDEN STREET, POUGHKEEPSIE

“American Patchwork.” Work by Monica Church, Elisa Lendvay, Suprina Troche, Noah David Smith, Fulani Hart, Peter MacKennan, Nestor Madalengotita, and Chisie Cordrey. Through August 31.

CAROL COREY FINE ART

6 NORTH MAIN STREET, KENT, CT

“Festina Lente." Works from Maison Gerard and Atelier Salvagni’s Aldus collection curated by James Salomon and Benoist Drut. June 10-July 9.

CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY

622 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Quiet Observations.” Work by Jane Bloodgood-Abrams, Jeri Eisenberg, Carl Grauer, Regina Quinn, and Judith Wyer. Through June 11.

THE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT WOODSTOCK

474 BROADWAY, KINGSTON

“In the Room." Photos by Kelly Kristin Jones, Ashley Freeby, and Jonathan Mark Jackson. Curated by Frances Cathryn. June10-August 12.

CHANGO LIFE ARTS

211 FISHKILL AVENUE, BEACON

“Seres Imperfectos.” Work by Cuban artists: Sheyla, Mijail Ponce, and Eddy. June 24-December 27.

CLARK ART INSTITUTE

225 SOUTH STREET, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA

“Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth.” Thirty-five works from the Munchmuseet’s worldrenowned collection and more than forty paintings and prints drawn from private collections and rarely exhibited publicly. June 10-October 15.

CMA GALLERY

AQUINAS HALL MOUNT SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE, NEWBURGH

“A Place To Connect.” Work by Romina Gonzales and Jason Bauer. Through September 30.

CORCORAN GALLERY

319 WALL STREET, KINGSTON

“Live Where You Are.” Photographs by Scott Michael Davis. Through June 30.

D'ARCY SIMPSON ARTWORKS

409 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Megacosm.” New work by Joseph Stabilito.

June 3-July 9.

DAVID ROCKEFELLER CREATIVE

ARTS CENTER GALLERY

200 LAKE ROAD, TARRYTOWN

“Inspired Encounters: Women Artists and the Legacies of Modern Art.” Exhibition brings together works by women artists from the Rockefeller’s collections. Through July 29.

DIA BEACON

3 BEEKMAN STREET, BEACON

“Jack Whitten: The Greek Alphabet Series.” Forty works from Whitten’s Greek alphabet series. Through July 10.

EMERGE GALLERY

228 MAIN STREET, SAUGERTIES

“Terrain: Art Inspired By Landscapes, Seascapes and Cityscapes.” Group show of works on paper, fiber, mixed media, paintings, photography, and sculpture.

June 3-July 2.

FENIMORE ART MUSEUM

5798 ROUTE 80, COOPERSTOWN

“M. C. Escher: Infinite Variations.” Over 140 works by the Dutch artist.

Through September 4.

FORELAND

111 WATER STREET, CATSKILL

“Rachel Hayes Glass Bridge Installation.” Site-specific fiber work. June 4-August 3.

FRANCES LEHMAN LOEB ART CENTER

124 RAYMOND AVENUE, POUGHKEEPSIE

“Body Matters.” Vassar students re-curate, reshape, and reimagine “What Now? (Or Not Yet).” Through September 10.

“Apocalypse Sky: Art, AIDS, and Activism in New York City, 1982–1992.” Twenty works by artists whose lives were transformed by the HIV/AIDS crisis during the 1980s and 1990s, including Keith Haring and Felix GonzalezTorres. Through August 20.

“Between the Lines: Innovation and Expression in Women’s Sewing Samplers.” Through September 3.

“The Hairy Leg or What To Do Wrong.” Judy Linn selects photographs from the Loeb’s permanent collection: Diane Arbus, Sid Grossman, and others. Through September 24.

FRONT ROOM GALLERY

727 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Nesting.” Watercolor and oil paintings by Thomas Broadbent. June 3-July 16.

GALLERY 40

40 CANNON STREET, POUGHKEEPSIE

“Midsummer Dreams.” Work by Betsy Jacaruso, Erica Hauser, Emily Nomer, and Beth Waltyer-Storyk. June 3-25.

BRADFORD GRAVES sculpture park

Kerhonkson, New York

In the middle of somewhere

The Limestone Cowboy “Brad was the most naturally stoned person”

“The limestone carvings of Bradford Graves are a celebration of profound perplexity and mystery. They explain themselves neither quickly nor easily... Stimulating the exercise of imagination...these silent pieces of chiseled rock plumb the sublime.”

(845) 230-0521

Schedule your visit May 1–October 31 bradfordgravessculpturepark.com

Near Life Experiences

Variety Show Stories & Music

Saturday July 8, 7pm Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St, Rosendale, NY

David Gonzalez Host

Joey Eppard

Poly-rhythmic acoustic guitar and vocal acrobatics

Jennifer Maidman In No Man’s land, the ground is never firm, earth turns to water, the air begins to burn

Chris Wells

Proud embellisher of the truth...

World Premiere of Video Who Was That Person?

Verna Gillis, Jennifer Maidman, Nancy Ostrovsky

Produced by Verna Gillis/SOUNDSCAPE

Beverly Donofrio Call me hag!

Verna Gillis

Not as funny as it used to be

Marianne Osiel Snarling and sighing in the same breath, her music is just what one needs

Nicole Quinn

A story teller though when she was little they called it lying

KICK-OFFCELEBRATION

AUGUST5

HUDSONVALLEYJAZZ FEST

AUGUST9 -13

HUDSONVALLEYFILM FEST

AUGUST15- 17

ORANGECOUNTYPLAY FEST

AUGUST18-19

FULLERMOONARTS FEST

AUGUST26-27

WARWICK’S

OURWEBSITE

Over 30 Local Vendors

Jewelry • Fine Art • Pottery • Antiques and more, plus Special Events

Hours: Thurs 11-6, Fri/Sat 11-7, Sun 11-6 newberryartisanmarket.com

236 Main St, Saugerties, NY, 12477 info@newberryartisanmarket.com

shh, Audrey Francis, oil on canvas, 2022, from “Bird Brain” at LABSpace

GARNER ARTS CENTER

55 WEST RAILROAD AVENUE, GARNERVILLE

“Steve Geberich and Polly King.” Kinetic sculptures and collages. Through July 30.

GARRISON ART CENTER

23 GARRISON’S LANDING, GARRISON

“Chris Randolph: Tales of the Psyche.” Paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Through June 18.

“Peripheral Visions.” Paintings by Susan Stillman. Through June 18.

GEARY CONTEMPORARY

34 MAIN STREET, MILLERTON

“Who’s to Say I’m Awake; Are You?” Work by Paul Anagnostopoulos, Aisha Tandiwe Bell-Caldweel, Theresa Daddezio, Mark Joshua Epstein, Tara Foley, Henry Klimowicz, KK Kozik, Kirstin Lamb, Marta Lee, Loraine Lynn, Azikiwe Mohammed, Lucha Rodriguez, Kat Ryals, Saki Sato, Nikko Sedgwick, DARNstudio, Brigitta Varadi, Erik White, and Jack Wood. Through July 30.

GREEN KILL

229 GREENKILL AVENUE, KINGSTON

“Fredrick Duignan, Red Hammond, Steven Van Nort.” Paintings. Through June 24.

GRIT GALLERY

115 BROADWAY, NEWBURGH

“Summit the Soul.” Work by David Lionheart and Robert Giolito. Through June 9.

HEADSTONE GALLERY

28 HURLEY AVENUE, KINGSTON

“Movements.” Debra Priestly. June 3-25.

HESSEL MUSEUM OF ART/CCS

BARD

BARD COLLEGE, ANNANDALE-ONHUDSON

“Erika Verzutti: Oil Moon.” Survey of sculpture and wall works from the past 15 years by the Brazilian artist. Curated by Lauren Cornell. June 24-October 15.

“Indian Theater.” Bard College’s Center for Indigenous Studies explores Native North American art. Curated by Candice Hopkins. June 24-November 26.

HOLLAND TUNNEL GALLERY

46 CHAMBERS STREET, NEWBURGH

“Three of a Kind.” Work by Gemma Kahng, Julie Lindell and Jacques Roch. Through June 4.

“Down To Earth.” Work by Kent Peterson, Gerda van Leeuwen, and Peter Yamoaka.

June 10-July 30.

HOLY CROSS MONASTERY

1615 ROUTE 9W, WEST PARK

“From Glacial Ponds.” Lily pond paintings by Joan Monastero. Through July 29.

HUDSON VALLEY MOCA

1701 MAIN STREET, PEEKSKILL

“Gen Z: A Student Exhibition.” Work by Peekskill Central School District students. Through August 4.

JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY: THE SCHOOL

25 BROAD STREET, KINDERHOOK

“Michael Snow: A Life Survey (1955-2020).” Retrospective for the musician, painter, photographer, and pioneering experimental filmmaker. Through December 30.

JANE ST. ART CENTER

11 JANE STREET, SAUGERTIES

“Listening from the Unheard.” Work by China Blue. Through June 18.

“Between Light & Dark.” An installation of props, artifacts, and video from the Cave Dogs theatrical collective. June 24-July 31.

JOYCE GOLDSTEIN GALLERY

19 CENTRAL SQUARE, CHATHAM

“Betsy Friedman and Stuart Farmery.” Paintings and sculpture. Through June 24.

KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART

134 JAY STREET, KATONAH

“Miniature Worlds: Joseph Cornell, Ray Johnson, Yayoi Kusama.” Exhibition explores how social networks shape artistic practices in the owrk of three pioneering artists. Through June 25.

KENISE BARNES FINE ART

7 FULLING LANE, KENT, CT

“Days I Have Held, Days I Have Lost”. New paintings by Amanda Acker, David Konigsberg, KK Kozik, and Sally Maca, and glass wall sculpture by David Licata. Through July 2.

KINOSAITO

115 7TH STREET, VERPLANCK

"Kikuo Saito and Friends: New York City Downtown and Beyond, 1970s and 1980s." Work by Kikuo Saito and the circle of artists that he was closely associated with: Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Poons, Kenneth Noland, and Anthony Caro. Through December 17.

KLEINERT/JAMES ARTS CENTER

34 TINKER STREET, WOODSTOCK

“Self: Portraits + Places.” Work by Elise Jensen, Julie Heffernan, and Brenda Goodman. Curated by Melinda Stickney-Gibson. June 24-August 6.

LABSPACE

2642 NY ROUTE 23, HILLSDALE

“Bird Brain.” Avian-themed oil paintings and pastels by Audrey Francis. Through June 25.

LIFEBRIDGE SANCTUARY

333 MOUNTAIN ROAD, ROSENDALE

“Becoming Abstract.” Work by Nancy O’Hara. June 4-August 31.

LIMNER GALLERY

123 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Art Biologic.” Work by Monika Malewska, Cheryl Horning, Randy Richards, Doretta Miller, Mariia Jones, Diane Smook, Andree Brown, Steven Gawoski, Jenny Pfister, April Warren, Susan Sapanar, Sloan Tomlinson, Kayla Corby, Edward Mills, John Scribner, Sarah Smith, Lore Ruttan, Anne Doris-Eisner, Pacal Lee, David Dorsey, Freay Grand, Kong Ho, and Bill Rybak. Through June 10.

MARK GRUBER GALLERY

13 NEW PALTZ PLAZA, NEW PALTZ

“Kevin Cook, Robert Trondsen, Gayle Fedigan.” Paintings. Through July 1.

MASS MOCA

1040 MASS MOCA WAY, NORTH ADAMS, MA

“Love from Vicki Island.” Playful and provocative sculptures by Daniel Giordano. Through September 30.

MILLBROOK LIBRARY

3 FRIENDLY LANE, MILLBROOK

"I Dreamed A Garden." Work by artists of the LongReach Arts cooperative. June 2-July 30.

MONTGOMERY ROW SECOND LEVEL

6423 MONTGOMERY STREET, RHINEBECK

“Ice & Fire.” Recent paintings by Penny Dell. Through July 30.

MOTHER GALLERY

1154 NORTH AVENUE, BEACON

“I am the Passenger: Part I.” Work by Joshua Abelow, Wilder Alison, Bhakti Baxter, Christopher Daharsh, Rema Ghuloum, Mara Held, Adam Henry, Emily Kiacz, Shawn Kuruneru, Jenny Morgan, Paola Oxoa, and Tracy Thomason. Through June 17.

“I am the Passenger: Part II.” Work by Lisa Beck ,Trudy Benson, Seth Cameron, Mariah Dekkenga, Stacy Fisher, Rico Gatson, Russell Tyler, and Susan Weil. June 24-July 29.

MOTHER-IN-LAW’S

140 CHURCH AVENUE, GERMANTOWN

“Uncontained Consumption.” Work by Linda Ganjian, Joanne Ungar, and Marianna Peragallo. Through July 16.

MONUMENT

394 HASBROUCK AVENUE, KINGSTON

“The Golden Hill.” Work by Will Gaynor and Craig Chazen. June 2-30.

NORTH LOOP

112 WATER STREET, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA

“Patterning.” Work by Lauren Luloff, Joiri Minaya, Alyssa Sakina Mumtaz, Padma Rajendran, Aparna Sarkar, Benedict Scheuer, and Pallavi Sen. June 10-July 16.

OLANA STATE HISTORIC SITE

5720 ROUTE 9G, HUDSON

“Terraforming: Olana’s Historic Photography Collection Unearthed.” Nineteenth-century photographs from Frederic Church’s collection curated by David Hartt. Through October 29.

Jane St. Art Center 2023

SEASON

MAY 13—JUNE 18

China Blue

JUNE 24—JULY 30

Cave Dogs

AUGUST 5—SEPTEMBER 10

Susie Brown Woods

SEPTEMBER 16—OCTOBER 22

Michael Pope

OCTOBER 28—DECEMBER 3

Carl Van Brunt

GALLERY HOURS Thursday 12-5pm Friday & Saturday 12-6pm Sunday 12-5pm

11 Jane St., Suite A Saugerties, NY janestreetartcenter.com (845) 217-5715

Becomeapartofanactiveandthrivingart communitybyjoiningGarrisonArtCentertoday! ArtistMembershavemultiplewaystobe engagedthroughourgalleries,facilities,and educationalprograms.

AnnualMemberExhibition

ArtistQ&As

Nineannualexhibitionopenings

Discountsonartpartiesandprintmaking studioaccess

Weofferfourdifferentlevelsofmembershipona rollingbasisthatisgoodfor12months.Visitour websiteviatheQRcodetobecomeamember.

Bonus-Newandcurrentmembersare automaticallyenrolledinourGoldenTick et drawing!Learnmorebyvisitingourwebsite.

BECOMEA MEMBER

OLIVE BRANCH STUDIO & GALLERY

5097 ROUTE 213, OLIVEBRIDGE

“America the Beautiful.” Work by Edward Berkise, Judy Howard, Ralph Moseley, and Ellen Perantoni. Through June 10.

OLIVE FREE LIBRARY

4033 ROUTE 28A, WEST SHOKAN

“Beneath the Surface.” Work by the Women’s Photography Collective of the Hudson Valley. Through July 8.

“A Town Shaped by Water: 200 Years of Olive History.” Photos, ephemera, and colorful stories collected through oral histories of several Town of Olive notables. June 3-December 31.

PAMELA SALISBURY GALLERY

362 1/2 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Field Music.” Paintings by Seth Becker. “barro, fango, lodo.” Installation by Judy Pfaff. “Lothar Osterburg: The Long Way In.”

“Will Hutnick: Eternal Sunshine.”

All shows through June 18.

PINKWATER GALLERY

56 NORTH FRONT STREET, KINGSTON

“Mimi Young.” Through July 24.

THE RE INSTITUTE

1395 BOSTON CORNERS ROAD, MILLERTON

“Family Snapshots.” Altered photographs by Nikko Sedgwick. Through July 25.

“Material Sustenance.” Work by Frank Jackson, Tom Goldenberg, Jonathan Fabricant, and Russell Steinert. Through July 25.

SAMUEL DORSKY MUSEUM OF ART

1 HAWK DRIVE, SUNY NEW PALTZ

“Be Who You Are: Portraits of Woodstock Artists.” This selection of photographs from the 1980s series “100 Portraits of Woodstock Artists” by Harriet Tannin (1929-2009)

documents residents of the legendary artistic community. Through July 16.

“The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection.” Illuminating America’s first intentional Art Colony, this exhibition presents more than 100 artists whose paintings, sculptures, and works on paper together form an artistic history of national and international significance. Through July 23.

“Notes for Tomorrow.” Group exhibition featuring artworks selected by 31 curators based in 25 countries around the world to reflect on a new global reality ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic. June 17-November 12.

SEPTEMBER

4 HUDSON STREET, KINDERHOOK

“Ashley Garrett: Ambrosia.” Work by Ashley Garrett. June 10-July 30.

SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY ARTS CENTER

790 ROUTE 203, SPENCERTOWN

“The Garden of Earth.” Work by Bruce Bundock, Mary Flinn, Lynn Palumbo, Lydia Rubio, Susan M. Story, Marianne Van Lent, and Carrie Waldman. Curated by Kelly Kynion. Through June 25.

STORM KING ART CENTER

1 MUSEUM ROAD, NEW WINDSOR

Site-specific presentations of new and recent artworks by Beatriz Cortez, Ugo Rondinone, and RA Walden in addition to permanent collection. Through November 13.

STUDIO 89

89 VINEYARD AVENUE, HIGHLAND

“Secret Lives.” Work by Marsha Massih. Through July 30.

Self-Portrait as Astyanax, Julie Heffernan, oil on canvas, 66" x 89", 2021

From the group show “Self: Portraits + Places” at the Kleinert/James Arts Center

SUPER SECRET PROJECTS

484 MAIN STREET, BEACON

“Even This Will Change.” Paintings by Allegra Jordan. June 10-July 1.

SUSAN ELEY FINE ART

433 WARREN STREET, HUDSON

“Diametric Abstraction.” Work by Ted Dixon and Susan Lisbin. June 1-July 16.

T SPACE

137 ROUND LAKE ROAD, RHINEBECK

“Closer (Bird and Lava).” Site-specific installation by Torkwase Dyson. June 4-July 9.

THE KUBE

192 VERPLANCK AVENUE, BEACON

“Aboudia.” Large-scale paintings, collages, and drawings by the street artist from the Ivory Coast. Through July 16.

“A Fine Line: Graffiti and the Power of Dissent.” Group show showcasing artists who use the power of line and gesture in their work. Through July 2.

“Margaret Innerhofer: Shadowland.” Multimedia explorations of the transitional spaces between spiritual and psychological borderlands. Through August 29.

THOMAS COLE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

218 SPRING STREET, CATSKILL

“Women Reframe American Landscape: Susie Barstow & Her Circle/Contemporary Practices.” Female artists of the 19th century exhibited alongside contemporary female artists. Through October 29.

TIME AND SPACE LIMITED

434 COLUMBIA STREET, HUDSON.

“Stop/Action.” Paintings by Frank Tartaglione. Through June 18.

TURN PARK ART SPACE

2 MOSCOW ROAD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA

“Nikolai Silis: Don Quixote Graphic Series.” Drawings, lithographs, and more spanning two decades. Through July 31.

“Steven Careau: in the lining of fields.”

Wall-mounted wood-and-metal pieces characterized by clean lines and precise geometry. Through July 31.

ULSTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

2682 ROUTE 209, KINGSTON

“Leaving Bishop Falls: An Ashokan Story”. Paintings, prints, poetry, and historical ephemera of Kate McGloughlin. Through October 29.

UNISON

68 MOUNTAIN REST ROAD, NEW PALTZ

“Stuart Bigley.” Paintings, drawings, and photomontages. June 3-30.

VISITOR CENTER

233 LIBERTY STREET, NEWBURGH.

“The Divine, the Passion, and the Magic”. Work by Clara Fialho, Michela Martello, and Sooo-z Mastropietro. June 24-August 19.

THE WASSAIC PROJECT

37 FURNACE BANK ROAD, WASSAIC.

“Counting the Seconds Between Lightning and Thunder.” Work by Fern Apfel, Mara Baldwin, Desmond Beach, Shawn Bitters

+ Matthew Willie Garcia, Leonardo Bravo, Michael Covello + Elizabeth Schneider, Adinah Dancyer, Liz Ferrer + Bow Ty, Francesco Gattuso, Jeila Gueramian, Dan Gunn, Iris Helena Hamers, Jazmine Hayes, Joe Hedges, Pete Hillstrom, Jeremiah Jossim, Natalja Kent, Danielle Klebes, Kyle Kogut, KK Kozik, Ailyn Lee, Chip McCall, Caitlin McCormack, Austin Nash, Chiara No, Marianna Peragallo, Kat Ryals, Azadeh Nia, Jen Shepard, Daniel Shieh, Jeff Slomba, Melissa Vogley Woods, Janet Wang, Poyen Wang, Jen White-Johnson, Natalie Woodlock, and Ping Zheng. Through September 16.

WEST STRAND ART GALLERY

29 W STRAND ST, KINGSTON

“Meditations on Nature.” Work by Tom Sarrantonio, Pablo Shine, and Deborah Friedman. Through July 9.

WOMENSWORK.ART

4 SOUTH CLINTON STREET, POUGHKEEPSIE

“Kitchen: Utilitarian Made Beautiful.” Group show curated by Elinor Levy. Through June 24.

WOODSTOCK ARTISTS

ASSOCIATION AND MUSEUM (WAAM)

28 TINKER STREET, WOODSTOCK

“Norma Morgan: In the Lands of the Moors and Catskills.” Paintings, drawings, and engravings by Norma Morgan (1928-2017). Through September 10.

“Far & Wide: Waiting for the Light.” National invitational exhibition juried by Shazzi Thomas, director of the Painting Center. June 9-July 23.

“Fern T. Apfel: Sacred Geometry.” Paintings. June 9-July 23.

Horoscopes

By Cory Nakasue

Racing Minds and Hearts Aflame

We enter June in the middle of Gemini season with a blazing full Moon in Sagittarius on the 3rd. This is a time when thoughts move at a clip, and inflammatory news travels far and wide. Expect communications to move faster than usual as Mercury, the ruling planet of Gemini, races through Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer. Typically, Mercury spends about three weeks in each sign, but this month it completes its tour of Gemini in just two weeks. “Movin’ on,” might be the most uttered phrase of the month as we also have Saturn stationing retrograde on the 17th. When Saturn pauses and reverses, it’s less dependable as a trusted timekeeper.

On June 5, Venus enters the fiery sign of Leo, where it will spend an extended four months due to its retrograde. In Leo, Venus is flamboyant, ardent, proud, and desirous of all that is playful and colorful. Watch for themes that emerge during this time, as they might be the beginning of stories that play out until October. Mars is already occupying Leo, making Venus’s cohabitation a sign of fertile unions that are dramatic in nature.

The red-hot lovers in Leo (Mars and Venus) get cooled off when the sun enters Cancer to initiate the summer solstice on the 21st. Though the temperature might be rising, the sign of Cancer urges us to hide in the shade and stay close to home. It’s an excellent time to reconnect with family and nurture emotional bonds with all who are dear to us. Mercury’s entrance into Cancer on the 26th may prompt conversations about safety and security in our personal lives and on the world stage. Tread lightly on sensitive subjects; feelings are enmeshed with thinking during this time, making us ultra-sensitive.

ARIES (March 20–April 19)

Your ruling planet, Mars, barely makes any aspects to other planets this month. This means that Mars’s energy is relatively unmitigated, and it’s aflame in friendly fire sign Leo. You have a direct line to your creative juices and the boldness to show off. You have plenty of emotional energy to draw from, along with a touch of nostalgia that may prompt you to dig into your past for artistic inspiration. If the stage or artist’s studio isn’t calling you, maybe that cutie from work is! Beware, a flirtatious romance that starts now could become more involved than you anticipated.

TAURUS (April 19–May 20)

I’m happy to report that you’re getting a muchneeded break. After all that was initiated in your sign last month, it’s well deserved. Kick back, see how it all unfolds. Entertain yourself by watching everyone else embroiled in their dramas and ambitions. Cancer season looks especially nice for you. Fill it with some of your favorite comforts, cakes, and creatures. There is, however, a little spice at your disposal to perk up all of that “nice.” Your ruler, Venus, is in passionate Leo with peppery Mars. This looks like making sweet love— or, at least making sweet rolls.

Cory Nakasue is an astrology counselor, writer, and teacher. Her talk show, “The Cosmic Dispatch,” is broadcast on Radio Kingston (1490AM/107.9FM) Sundays from 4-5pm and available on streaming platforms. AstrologybyCory.com

2 HOURS FROM NYC!

PET FRIENDLY!

GEMINI (May 20–June 21)

You’re used to change. You may even be more comfortable in situations that call for quick adaptations and gear shifts than ones that call for steadiness. June is like an advanced obstacle course for you. The world is your parkour gymnasium! Have fun! If you ever wanted to try on multiple personas, now is your chance. Test drive that standup routine in the evenings while training for a triathlon in mornings. If ever there was a time to juggle, it’s now. You’ll probably infuriate some while being highly entertaining to others. But this is your month to be selfish about your curiosities.

CANCER (June 21–July 22)

You put so much care into everything you do, especially for those you consider family. At the forefront of your mind this month is protecting the bonds you have with the people who are integral to your sense of self. The thing is, some of those relationships want to transform. This month you’re being asked to preserve what’s at the core of such relationships while allowing the features that are past their prime to fall away. You’re learning to speak from your heart without manipulating or clinging to old situations.

LEO (July 22–August 23)

Is it hot in here or is it just you? You’re still radiant from Mars’s entrance into your sign last month, but Mars all by itself in Leo can burn. Cue Venus’s entrance into your sign at the top of the month to turn the force of your fire into an irresistible glow. Venus usually stays in a sign for roughly three weeks, but due to her upcoming retrograde she will spend four months in the sign of the lion. Pay attention to relationship, aesthetic, and financial stories that begin this month, because they will play out through October.

VIRGO (August 23–September 23)

The month opens with some big realizations about your home and family life. What changes need to be made to ensure a more inspiring base of operations; one that gives you and those you live with more physical, emotional, or mental space? Does someone need to move? Is that someone you? Answers and solutions shouldn’t be too hard to come by at the top of the month. When your horoscope ruler, Mercury, moves into Gemini on the 11th, your words have wings. You won’t have to try too hard to be heard, so make sure you’re speaking/writing with integrity.

LIBRA (September 23–October 23)

You’re in social overdrive all month long. Everyone seems to want a piece of you. The party invites, as well as invitations to work, teach, volunteer, speak, and travel, are rolling in! It’s so flattering! It feels good to be recognized and desired. It will be tempting to say yes to all of them, and please do, if you have the capacity. Being selective will be difficult, but select wisely you must. Burnout and over-exposure are real. Prioritize and check in with your body often. Be honest with yourself about accepting invitations just to avoid disappointing others.

SPIEGELTENT AT BARD SUMMERSCAPE

Horoscopes

SCORPIO (October 23–November 22)

Last month’s lunar eclipse in your sign may have taken a lot from you: some energy, some illusions, and maybe something that you held dear. I’m happy to report that some replenishment is on offer this month. There’s a focus on finances in June, so be on the lookout for opportunities to build your nest egg, receive overdue payments, and raise your rates. You’re also on the receiving end of some attention—hopefully it’s wanted! You can’t seem to escape the spotlight, so think about the kind of attention you want to attract and bait accordingly.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 22)

A full moon in your sign at the top of the month has you bursting onto the scene asking, “Where’s the party?!” While you definitely have some work to tend to, Mars and Venus in Leo are calling you to go on an adventure. It might be too alluring to pass up. Activity in your relationship house also points to some revealing conversations that others will want to have with you. If you do plan on traveling this month, it doesn’t look like you’re going alone. Work can wait. Go have fun. Bonus points for combining business and pleasure.

FISHERCENTER.BARD.EDU 845-758-7900

Launch Party

CAPRICORN (December 22–January 20)

No one would ever accuse you of being a softy, but this month it’s not as easy to hold your form. This is good. The people closest to you are tugging on your heart strings, and if you’re not feeling especially close to anyone right now, it’s the memory of loves from your past that will have you misty-eyed. Don’t hesitate to reach out and throw your arms wide open to embrace your own vulnerability. Ironically, it’s our ability to accept our own needs that makes us feel strong. Admit how much you miss someone. Melt like ice cream in the sun.

AQUARIUS (January 20–February 19)

The people who are pushing your buttons are the same people you find irresistible. There’s an internal conflict coming to the fore that has to do with the serious principles that guide your life and the very human need to indulge your ego cravings. This may manifest as judgment of other people living life in a way you consider selfish or frivolous. Playtime and the things that affirm our personal joy are just as important as living up to our own strict standards. Learn from the people who are annoying you the most. You may just fall in love.

PISCES (February 20–March 19)

The latent curiosity that is bubbling up right now has its roots in your past. If you feel the urge to go digging into your family’s history, or your own personal emotional reservoir, follow it. Whatever you find could lead to a creative breakthrough in your artwork, personal expression, and romantic life. Looking into the past could answer some questions you’ve been having about your own legacy. What would you like to be remembered for when you’re gone? What creations do you hope will outlive you? How can your childhood experiences serve the children in your life?

THE SPECTACULAR SPIEGELTENT RETURNS WITH SUMPTUOUS SUMMER WEEKENDS OF DAZZLING PERFORMANCES, DRINKS, AND DANCING. JUNE

– AUGUST 12 ON SALE NOW

Ad Index

Our advertisements are a catalog of distinctive local experiences. Please support the fantastic businesses that make

possible.

parting shot

Love is Love PRIDE 2023

In 2004, New Paltz Mayor Jason West married a few dozen same-sex couples on the steps of Village Hall. The Westboro Baptists showed up to whine, and the New Paltz church congregations sang songs at them until they went away. It’s a song we have never ceased to sing and never will, because love is love, and love makes everything better.

Every year, Pride Month is a time for celebration and solidarity, but especially this year as anti-LGBTQ sentiment and legislation have surged across the country. Drag performances, crafting, tea dances, bangin’ music, insanely delicious drinks—you can find it all nearby. Celebrate our local LGBTQ community and culture with 2023’s round-up of Pride Month events in the Hudson Valley. This is a curated list of Pride 2023 events across the region. An expanded version of events can be found at Chronogram. com/pride2023, along with Pride coverage throughout the month of June.

FRIDAY, JUNE 2

Rainbow Flag Raising Ceremony

4pm. Presented by the Columbia County NY Legislature and OutHudson. 401 State Street, Hudson

Hudson Valley Pride Kickoff Party

5-10 pm. DJ Prephab will spin the upstairs tap room, while DJ Jimmy Prada will be on the lower level and back lawn. Angry Orchard Cider House, 2241 Albany Post Road, Walden

SATURDAY, JUNE 3

Second Annual Stanford Pride

1-4 pm. Everyone is invited to enjoy food and refreshments and connect with neighbors and friends.

Bangallworks, 97 Hunns Lake Road, Stanfordville

Columbia County 14th Annual LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade

2-4pm. The parade begins at 7th Street Park and will travel down Warren Street to Front and Promenade Hill. Warren Street Park, Corner of Warren and 7th Street, Hudson

Main Street Mixer

6-9pm. Music, mocktails, beer, wine, and munchies.

The Courtyard at High Rock Home, 443 Main Street, Catskill

Poughkeepsie Pride Kickoff Party

6pm. Pride kickoff dance party, silent auction, and a drag show hosted by Ego Parties with Lola DeVille, Janine Extreme, Swisha Sweets, and Tabitha Phoenix.

Reason & Ruckus, 305 Main Street, Poughkeepsie

Catskills Roller Disco ’23

7-11pm. Groovy classic disco skate tracks, old schoolhouse jams and jumpin’ rolling tunes by queen of the decks Defected Records Anna Collecta! Skate Time, 5164 US-209, Accord

SUNDAY, JUNE 4

Hudson Valley Pride Coalition March and Festival

12pm-5pm. March steps off at New Paltz Middle School, followed by a festival in Hasbrouck Park.

New Paltz Middle School and Hasbrouck Park, New Paltz

OutHudson Closing Tea Dance and Drag Show

2pm. Hosted by Lucia Fuschia and presented by Bar Bene. Bar Bene, 538 Warren Street, Hudson

Foreland Pride Lawn Party

4pm. Wood-fired pizza and frozen drinks by the Half Moon, music, lawn games, a bounce house for the kids, and more! Foreland, 111 Water Street, Catskill

OutLoud Hudson Valley Pride Tea Dance

4pm. Dance the afternoon away with DJ Jimmy Prada and an incredible sound and lighting setup by Superior Sounds

The Hudson House & Distillery, 1835 Route 9W, West Park

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

Backroom at the Pansy Club Open Mic Poetry Readings

3-4:30pm. A senior meet-up group hosted by the Rainbow Lounge. Anyone over 50 is invited to read their original poems or very short stories.

Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, 300 Wall Street, Kingston

“Love is Love: The LGBTQ+ Plays”

7:30pm performances on June 8, 9, and 10; 4pm on June 11. All original short plays that speak to different perspectives on LGBTQ+ issues and themes, plus short films from Queer Youth Animated, an original series produced by the Future Perfect Project, and the HUDSY original, Andramada

Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main Street, Rosendale

FRIDAY JUNE 9

Pride Youth Talent Show

5-8pm. No auditions or judging. Anyone can join in!

Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, 300 Wall Street, Kingston

SATURDAY JUNE 10

Poughkeepsie Pride Parade & Festival

11am. Parade lineup at the intersection of Main and Market streets. Parade and festival at Waryas Park start at 12pm.  Intersection of Main and Market streets and Waryas Park, Poughkeepsie

Mountains of Pride

3-10pm. Celebration at the Andes Hotel hosted by Delaware County Pride.  Andes Hotel, 110 Main Street, Andes

Queer Summer Nights 2023 Orchard Disco

6pm. Superior Sounds will be serving up the beats while the Bad Seed Cider Tap Room offers pizza and snacks from their food truck and locally brewed cider and other drinks from their on-site bar. Bad Seed Cider Tap Room, 43 Baileys Gap Road, Highland

SUNDAY JUNE 11

Rainbow Run with Fleet Feet

9am. Untimed 5K run/walk. 50 percent of all race fees and 100 percent of all donations will be given to the Dutchess Pride Center.

Sola Salon Studios, 1895 South Road/ Route 9, Poughkeepsie

Youth Pride Paint and Create 1pm. Dutchess County Pride Center, 710 South Drive, Hopewell Junction

Warwick Pride Day 2023

11am-4:30pm. Party starts at the Warwick Valley Community Center with free brunch, art, music, henna, support tables, fun, and community, followed by the Pride parade at Stanley Deming Park.

11 Hamilton Avenue and Stanley Deming Park, Warwick

THURSDAY JUNE 15

Discussion: History of Pride within the Gay Men’s Movement

5:30-7pm.The Mankind men’s group discussion of the history of Pride.

Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, 300 Wall Street, Kingston

Sherry Vine is Everybody’s Girl

8pm. International drag icon and “Sondheim of Drag” Sherry Vine. Revel 32, 32 Cannon Street, Poughkeepsie

SATURDAY JUNE 17

Annual Crosswalk Painting

7:30am. Paint the rainbow.

Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, 300 Wall Street, Kingston

SUNDAY JUNE 18

Sunday Pride Brunch

Performances at 11:30am and 2:30pm with host Cookie Doe and special guests Demi Gawdess and Noa Peele.

Mama Roux, 96 Broadway, Newburgh

THURSDAY JUNE 22

Mix It Up: A Pride Month Mixer for Hudson Valley Community Services 6-9pm. Every quarter played in Happy Valley Arcade’s games will be donated to HVCS to support its queer health initiatives.

Happy Valley Arcade Bar, 296 Main Street, Beacon

SATURDAY JUNE 24

Peekskill Pride’s Third Annual Family Pride in the Park

1-6pm. Events include the ultimate Disney tribute band, “The Little Mermen,” along with “Christina Picciano & All My Friends,” drag queen story time, drag performances, pet photo contest, craft activities, vendors, games, and more. Pugsley Park, 1036 Main Street, Peekskill

OutHudson's 2022 Hudson Pride Parade. Photo by JD Urban

—Anne Pyburn Craig