Upstate Art Weekend Showcases Art Events Across the Hudson Valley

Up north through the Catskills Mountains and down towards the southern tip of Westchester, Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) celebrates the vibrant culture and artistry of New York State from July 17-21. The community-centered event, which has been expanding annually, showcases the works of over 150 local arts organizations, museums, galleries, artists-in-residences and projects curated for UAW.

The art-centric weekend serves 10 New York counties, leading with a mission to support and recognize local artists and organizations. UAW organizer Helen Toomer, co-founder of Stoneleaf Retreat and Art Mamas Alliance in Kingston, founded the event in 2020 as a reaction to the pandemic’s physical separation of people and art. But what began as a weekend has turned into a five-day event that welcomes residents and tourists alike to celebrate the immense artistry and natural beauty of New York State and explore areas outside of their usual sphere.

Introducing Programs to New Arts Lovers

Some of the county’s most prominent arts organizations, like Caramoor, and lots of hidden gems, have embraced the festival’s mission by offering an extensive array of music performances, art installations, painting workshops and more.

Caramoor’s media relations and outreach consultant Barbara Prisament applauds Toomer for organizing an event “that celebrates the cultural vibrancy of our region,” while The Pocantico Center‘s manager of public programs and residencies, Elly Weisenberg Kelly credits the festival for “creat[ing] a platform for visitors from [New York] City as well as the upper Hudson Valley to explore Westchester County’s vibrant arts and culture ecosystem.”

KinoSaito‘s gallery director, Megan Meadowlark, points the immense potential for younger organizations as well: “As a new organization that is just coming up on its four-year anniversary, Upstate Art Weekend is a great opportunity for us to introduce KinoSaito to a whole new audience.”

Here is a selection of Westchester-based special events and exhibitions taking place during UAW:

Exhibitions & Art-Making

In its second year participating in UAW, The Gallery at Yellow Studio celebrates several female artists in Surface, a juried exhibition in partnership with the National Association of Women Artists. Gallery founder and director Tina Villaveces explains that UAW provides a “wonderful platform to share these voices with art lovers throughout the Hudson Valley and Catskills region.”

In Tarrytown, Peep Space’s group exhibition Nepo Maybe, mirrors UAW’s belief in objects as significant artistic forces that promote human connection, furthering the relationship between object and viewer.

The Capa Space in Yorktown Heights will open its doors to visitors as it showcases its exhibition of historic photography in Witness: Gerda Taro’s Spanish Civil War at. The exhibition explores the war photography of Gerda Taro, considered one of the first female war photographers, who was killed on Spanish frontlines in 1937. In conjecture with UAW’s itinerary, The Capa Space will present a film screening on July 17 of Faces Places, a documentary featuring a couple’s journey through France as they encounter newfound relationships with art. A special Q&A with curator Marie Keller will be held in the gallery on July 18 as part of Upstate Art Weekend.

Craftmaking will also be included within UAW’s diverse itinerary, engaging all visitors to actively participate during the festivities. Featured in Westchester, KinoSaito will host a watercolor workshop on July 18 from 5-7pm. In this beginner workshop, led by Lilly Gummerson, guests will explore color expressions to create an abstract painting. Kids will be encouraged to create as well: on July 20, they can make text-based artworks inspired by Cynthia Gutiérrez, whose works are on display in the center’s current exhibition, The Unknown and Its Poetics. This exhibition, as well as a collection of color field paintings by Kikuo Saito, will be on view with extended hours during UAW.

Additional craftmaking can also be found at the Village of Sleepy Hollow’s second annual Mermaid Festival, featuring river inspired crafts alongside other mermaid-themed programming.

Outside of Westchester, some notable exhibitions include Harold Stevenson’s New York debut solo exhibition, Less Real Than My Routine Fantasy at Art Omi in Ghent and a Kurt Vonnegut inspired exhibition, So It Goes, at Wassaic Project in Wassaic. Further craftmaking will take place at Garrison Art Center with an Indigo Dyeing and Shibori workshop and at Wassaic Project with a finger puppet workshop and open studios with its artists-in-residence.

Music & Dance Performances

Several Westchester music venues will feature world-class jazz, classical and other music.

With an extensive summer season of live music, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts will showcase unique performances from several musicians, vocalists, orchestras and bands during UAW. Classical music lovers can enjoy two recitals on July 19: one in the morning from cellist Gabriel Cabezas and guitarist Jordan Dodson, which features a guided meditation in the Sunken Garden led by professional meditation coach Jennifer Llewellyn; another later in the day by pianist George Li. An evening performance the same day will feature American roots and bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle. A Sunday afternoon show by professional orchestra The Knights with mandolinist Chris Thile (7/20) will bring a program that includes a work by Thile as well as Philip Glass, Caroline Shaw and J. S. Bach.

On the more experimental side, Caramoor presents a dance company called Music From the Sole utilizes tap dance and live music to celebrate its roots in African diaspora (7/17). Some other dance offerings during UAW include an evening dance party at Wassaic Project (7/19), an UAW-organized dance party event in collaboration with NOISE FOR NOW on July 18, and Ballet Collective’s presentation of Willow Dance Center’s event on July 20 in which acclaimed choreographer Troy Schumacher creates a ballet live for two New York City Ballet dancers that is set to a musical suggestion from the audience.

Further south in Westchester, at the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in Tarrytown will feature The Sound of Jazz: Music for Our Time, presented by Ken Peplowski and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem on July 19. Peplowski, a prominent jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist, will collaborate with a lineup of local and world-class musicians to honor the timeless legacies of Brazilian jazz, swing, contemporary jazz and the music of Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.

Outside of Westchester, another notable concert featured during UAW is Jazz in the Garden: The Hunter Pullen Quintet at the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center (7/17). 

Experimental Theater

In affirmation with its mission to physically connect people with art, UAW celebrates several experimental theater performances across New York State.

Approaching its four-year anniversary, KinoSaito returns to UAW in collaboration with La Mama Experimental Theatre Club. This year, the organizations will feature four performances of Higher Eyes on Aricama, a solo puppetry performance by Maria Camia, accompanied by pianist Aaron Banes. The production, which will take place twice a day on July 19 and 20, explores dreams, phone addiction and body messaging by using toy theater sets and costumes.

More experimental theater under the UAW itinerary will be showcased at Storm King Art Center with free collaborative performances of Growth: The Watch on July 19 and 20, which will activate part of artist Kevin Beasley’s work, PROSCENIUM. For the more traditional theatergoer, Catskill Mountain Shakespeare will offer productions of the timeless Romeo and Juliet during the full run of the festival.

Five Days of Art During Upstate Art Weekend

According to The Capa Space board member Abigail Lewis, the UAW “shines a spotlight on arts offerings outside of New York City and brings new and old visitors to the space,” and she shares that the organization is “proud to be part of this vibrant and connected community.” UAW’s growing five-day itinerary speaks to the value of showcasing New York State’s abundance of art, music and theater alike.

Event and venue information is available on the UAW program page, but readers should check the locations’ individual websites for updates.

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For more arts news and updates, visit artsw.org/artsnews.

_{Photos: Kikuo Saito: Reminiscence in Color (Installation Shot) Image by Chika Kobari courtesy of KinoSaito; Woman training for a Republican militia by Gerda Taro (1936) (photo by Gerda Taro on view at The Capa Space, courtesy of International Center of Photography); Music From the Sole will perform at Caramoor (photo courtesy of the artist / photo credit: Titus Ogilvie-Laing); Growth: The Watch from Kevin Beasley’s PROSCENIUM on view at Storm King Art Center.}