A Walk Through the Hudson Valley With Hudson River Museum

Hudson River Museum (HRM)’s Walk With Artists exhibition uses prints, photographs and paintings in order to examine the way in which landscape art impacts how people view nature. The exhibition posits that, while many artists bring landscapes indoors – on display in galleries, studios and homes – this exposure inspires the way people view, interact with and treat nature when they go outdoors. This in turn asks the viewer to consider their own relationship with nature, in some cases spurring environmental activism.

According to HRM’s Chief Curator Laura Vookles, “landscape art is always relevant… The path from contemplating the land to cultivating and exploiting it is a perilous continuum; looking at art can be a call to action.” The central theme of the show threads 19th-century pieces by Hudson River School artists like Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand to modern works by Joseph DiGiorgio and Richard Haas.

Walk With Artists offers an array of related programming: a series of tours by professionals from a range of artistic fields, who each give their interpretations of the exhibited works through the perspective of their own creative practices, includes storyteller Labiba Abdur Rahman (12/9), sculptor Vinnie Bagwell (12/30) and fiddler Cleek Schrey (1/13). Lectures include a poetic portrait of the region by David Gonzalez (12/3), the musical landscape of the Hudson Valley with musician Dave Ruch (12/13) and scientist Dr. Allegra N. LeGrande’s research on how changes in water affect society (12/27). A curator’s tour, additional workshops and family programs and “drop in and draw” sessions offer a robust calendar of events for museum-goers. For more info, visit hrm.org.

A version of this article first appeared in the December-January issue of ArtsNews, ArtsWestchester’s monthly publication. ArtsNews is distributed throughout Westchester County. A digital copy is also available at artsw.org/artsnews. 

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