Five Fun Hudson Valley Arts Events

Strife or pandemic be damned, you can’t keep the Hudson Valley region’s artistic spirit down for long. Local creative organizations and artists will find a way to carry on presenting their art—safely—throughout it all. Here’s this week’s list of examples.

VISUAL ART

Wendy Red Star at Mass MoCA

Wendy Red Star is a multimedia artist and a member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) tribe whose work re-examines Native American cultural artifacts and historic imagery, using them as the basis for her beautifully annotated photographs and installations. Her current exhibition in Mass MoCA’s Kidspace gallery in North Adams, Massachusetts, is called “Children of the Large-Beaked Bird.” The exhibit is free and offers an opportunity for adults and children to look at history and representation with fresh eyes. Visitors must sign up at the museum’s website.

MUSIC

Hudson Valley Jazz Festival Returns

Hudson Valley Jazz Festival Returns

From August 13-16 the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival will once again welcome a roster of some of the region’s top musicians. “There are concerts from home, live streamed, ‘backyard sessions’...and there are venues reinventing shows with outdoor events,” say festival organizers. “Warwick, Greenwood Lake, Marlboro, Stone Ridge, Woodstock, Pine Island, Chester, Newburgh, and other spots are still happening. For this year’s [festival] there will be fewer performances, all of them outdoors, carefully structured with the safety and community vibe that reflects the spirit of making music.” Performers include Joe Lovano and Bob Meyer; Neil Alexander; Rave Tesar, Rick Savage, and Lew Scott; the Bob Meyer Trio; K.J. Denhert; the Hudson Valley Jazz Ensemble; Azulado; and more. See website for schedule and ticket information.

MUSIC

Radio Woodstock Airs “Greatest Festival of All Time”

Despite worthy exceptions like the above-mentioned Hudson Valley Jazz Festival, this year’s normally busy summer concert festival calendar is, of course, mostly a wash due to the coronavirus. To help soothe your live music-starved summertime blues and celebrate this month’s anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, from August 14-16 Radio Woodstock will broadcast “The Greatest Festival of All Time,” a listener-curated weekend of live recordings by some of rock’s biggest names. The marathon program includes such memorable live sets as Jimi Hendrix at Monterey in 1967, the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in 1969, the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East in 1970, Bob Marley at the Lyceum in 1975, U2 at Red Rocks Amphitheathre in 1983, Nirvana on “MTV Unplugged” in 1994, and Brandi Carlile in Seattle in 2012. For a full schedule and more information, check the Radio Woodstock website.

VISUAL ART

Arts Mid-Hudson Hosts Virtual Artist Talk

Thanks to its noble, ongoing work—and the votes of Chronogram readers—Arts Mid-Hudson is this year’s Chronogrammies winner in our poll’s Arts Organization category. “Over the decades, we’ve morphed to serve the community in ways that are consistent with its needs,” says Linda Marston-Reid, executive director of the organization, which serves Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange counties by helping smaller arts groups and artists obtain grants for projects, partnering with outside arts organizations, and generally promoting the arts around the region. With many area galleries closed during the pandemic, one of the group’s focuses has been on connecting socially isolated artists via Zoom meetups. On August 23 from 1-3pm, the organization will host an artist talk for “Reflection,” an online exhibit curated by Marline A. Martin. The talk is free, but registration at the Arts Mid-Hudson website is required.

VISUAL ART

“Scraptures” on View in Woodstock

What’s a scrapture? That’s the name artist and welder Dave Channon has given to his “steel scrap sculptures that induce rapture.” On August 25 and 26 from 11am to 5pm, 12 of them will be on view via one-hour guided tours at the Woodstock Art Exchange (at 1396 Route 28 in Woodstock). “We will be outside, masked and observing social distance, which may stop viruses but not ideas,” say the exhibit’s organizers. “All are welcome to learn Dave’s principles of dynamic imbalance, his anti-gravity illusion, origin of inspiration, and how these welded steel concoctions of rusted dairy farm relics, flood-deformed guard rails, fossil bones of old Fords, teeth of corroded old railroad ties, and other pieces retain their peculiar identity yet coexist peacefully within the whole blissful artistic leap of faith.” Reservations must be made in advance by calling (845) 688-2977 or (914) 806-3573.

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