Freshman Fine Art opening Dec 28, 4-8 pm

Freshman Fine Art will be holding an opening reception today from 4-8pm for its inaugural exhibit. Beacon artist Hedina Christener is represented in the group show that features a selection of photography and painting. Freshman Fine Art is located at 46 S Chestnut St.

Christmas strikes again in Beacon

In another brutal Holiday attack, an unsuspecting Curry Mendes was stunned last week when the Spirit of the Christmas Season finally caught up with him at as he left the Yankee Clipper after dining with friends.

MidHudson Valley Area Call for Entries

ARTISTS INVITED: REGIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION AT SUNY
ULSTER ... ENTRY DEADLINE DECEMBER 20, 2006 ...

Artists 18 years and older who
are working within the Mid-Hudson Valley region (Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia,
Greene, Orange and Sullivan counties) are invited to submit slides or CDs of
their work for an exhibition entitled “Beyond Self: Contemporary Explorations in
Art & Spirit” to be held at Ulster County Community College’s Muroff-Kotler
Visual Arts Gallery from March 9 to April 13, 2007.
The theme of the exhibit is described as follows:
“Spirituality has the potential of being a motivating force that allows
contemporary artists to look beyond themselves, and the physical and material
world they inhabit, to make new connections. Artists who are primarily inspired
by and engaged in this process through medium or concept are invited to apply.”
All media will be accepted. Two-dimensional work
may not exceed 5 x 5 feet; sculpture may not exceed 75 lbs. or 72” in height. To
enter, artists may submit up to 5 slides or a Mac-compatible CD, along with a
completed entry form and SASE for returning unaccepted slides or CD. Entries
must be postmarked by December 20, 2006. The jurors for this exhibition are
Linda Montano, a well-known performance artist, videographer, writer and teacher
and Beth Wilson, an art historian and critic, who teaches at SUNY New Paltz and
has curated shows at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.
For more information and entry forms, contact
Susan Jeffers, Gallery Coordinator of the Muroff-Kotler Gallery, at (845)
687-5113 or by email to jefferss@sunyulster.edu. Entry forms may
also be found at local galleries, museums and libraries, as well as downloaded
from the college website home page: www.sunyulster.edu.

Talks by Palaia and Bertoluzzi at bau today

Slide talk by artist/photographer FRANC PALAIA at 6-7pm
"Illuminated Polaroids"

Music and Slide presentation by musician/composer JOSEPH BERTOLOZZI at
7-8pm

Q & A 8pm

Saturday, December 16, 2006 - bau 161 Main St. Beacon

6pm – 8pm suggested donation - $5.

Charlie Finch on Dia:Beacon & Art Fag City on Charlie Finch on Dia:Beacon

Charlie Finch penned a critique on Dia:Beacon in late November for Artnet. The blog Art Fag City calls Finch out on details in the snarky write up.
The bit I think is funny is that it seems Finch thinks the Rymans aren't colorful enough.

Brush with the Miami Herald

Last Friday's Miami Herald, quoted mentioned Robert Brush's work featured in the Pool Video Fair in a story on the various art fairs that run concurrently with Art Basel Miami.

Old Yeller

Word has it that Yellowbird Gallery in Newburgh may have to be taken out behind the barn and put down sometime after the beginning of the new year.
If so, I'm not sure what it will mean for the Downing Film Center located on the gallery's lower level.

Dec. 16 Reception at Tentents Artlab

Tentents Artlab will be hosting a reception for a new exhibit of oil on paper works by Frank Holliday.
The exhibit entitled "Land and Sea" opened two weeks ago, and features a selection of 18 works on paper along with a couple small canvases. Created as preparatory studies, for larger works, these pieces sport a loose, lush surface that expands the notion of landscape as hypnotic experience.

If you haven't yet been to Tentents, stop in on Saturday and speak with the space's founder, Steven Shermeyer. The reception will run from 2-5pm. Tentents is located at 502 Main St.

Dia:Beacon Gallery talk, Dec 16 1pm

Walter De Maria, The Equal Area Series, 1976-77. Dia Art Foundation.

Photo: Nic Tenwiggenhorn.

Dia:Beacon Assistant Director, Steven Evans will be giving a Gallery Talk on Walter De Maria at the museum this Saturday at 1pm.

Gallery Talks at Dia:Beacon is a series
of presentations that take place every month at 1 pm and are free with admission
to the museum. Focused on the work of the artists in Dia's collection, the
one-hour presentations are given by curators, art historians, and writers, and
take place in museum's galleries. Reservations are suggested. Please call
Dia:Beacon at 845-440-0100 ext 44.
Current hours at Dia:Beacon are 11 am to
4 pm, Friday through Monday (closed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Admission
to the museum is $10 general, $7 for students and seniors, and free for Dia
members and children under 12. The museum is easily reachable via Metro-North
Railroad (the MTA's Hudson Line station in Beacon is within walking distance of
the museum). On Saturdays, the 10:51 am train from Grand Central arrives in
Beacon at 12:17. Full schedules are available on the MTA’s website at http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/. The museum
is also reachable by major roadways. Driving directions are available on Dia's
website at http://www.diaart.org/dia/visitor/index.html.

This series is made possible through the
generosity of The Dyson Foundation, The Karan-Weiss Foundation, Jane W. Nuhn
Charitable Trust, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Freshman Fine Art seeking NY and New Mexico artists

Freshman Fine Arts which is moving into the former Minetta Brook space on S. Chestnut St. is seeking NY and New Mexico artists for its initial exhibit. I came across a listing on Craig's List in NY and New Mexico posted by the gallery.

I'll post more info on the soon to be opened gallery when I have it.

Holiday Season warms the hearts of Beacon Artists...

...or more importantly for the artists at Bulldog Studios, it's warming their fingers and toes. The Poughkeepsie Journal reported today that the Beacon Board of Education has regained ownership of the old high school building, and the heat was turned on this past week....none too soon considering today's weather.

I can't help but think that with this return of heat to Bulldog Studios, a potentially profitable opportunity was lost. Bulldog Studios could have single handedly revived the ancient romantic vision of the artist while at the same time, augmenting Beacon's lure for Cultitourism traffic. I could envision this attraction as a mixture of PS1 and Colonial Williamsburg with a little Montmarte thrown in for good measure. Paid admission to the building would give the visitor the experience of an open studio/true-to-life enactment with artist/performers regaling the audience with tales of living the live of a true bohemian, toiling away in a freezing garret, painting by candlelight.

Unfortunately, there have been some folks left out in the cold this winter. Word has it that all but a handful of the several dozen employees of Tallix have been laid off as a result of the merger with Polich Art Works in Rock Tavern.

Study to investigate Dia:Beacon's impact on Beacon

Dia:Beacon and its relationship and impact on the city of Beacon will be part of a study of 16 museums and the communities in which they are located. The Berkshire Eagle reported yesterday that the study, which is a collaborative effort between Williams College and Mass MoCA named The Center for Creative Community Development (C3D), has secured funds to conduct a three year study.
Below is a description of the study:

Project Title: "Museums and Community: Evaluating the Economic and Social
Impacts of Museums"The Center for Creative Community Development at Williams
College will do in-depth data analysis of sixteen selected communities to assess
local economic and social impact of museums. With a target audience of museum
boards and administrators, policy makers at the national, state and local
levels, and private foundations and donors, this research project will study how
local neighborhoods are economically and socially transformed by museum
operations; what impact museums have on employment and income; and how these
local impacts are distributed among different groups and locations. Results of
the research will be disseminated through a series of workshops and conference
presentations, publications, and an on-line Web site. The results will be made
widely available as a baseline comparison for other communities to replicate or
adapt to improve the development of customized public programming.

MIA

Art Basel Miami and its satellite fairs have grown over the years in size and importance to rival that of Beacon's Second Saturday celebrations. Both events are taking place this weekend, and save for a few elite jetsetters, you'll have to chose one or the other.
Two folks who are heading south are:
Angelika Rinnhofer's work will be represented again this year at Pulse Miami by Paul Kopeikin Gallery. Some other selections of her work will be presented at Miami's Bernice Steinbaum Gallery.

Robert Brush will be taking part in the Pool Video on in South Beach this weekend.

There are several openings happening in Beacon on Saturday. Visit www.beaconarts.org for a rundown.

Dutchess Community Free Day at Dia:Beacon, Dec. 9

Dutchess county residents will be treated to free admission to Dia:Beacon on Saturday Dec. 9. Dia:Beacon is currently open from 11-4pm.
Dutchess residents are asked to bring a driver's license or other i.d.

Jill Reynolds Open Studio, Dec 2.

Here are a few images from the open studio hosted by Jill Reynolds in her Beacon home last Saturday night.







Jill currently has work included in three exhibitions around the country:
Glass: Material Matters at LACMA through Dec 10.
Contrasts: A Glass Primer at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma Washington through Nov, 2009
Razzle-Dazzle: Chandeliers by Contemporary Artists at the JM Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan Wisconson through Feb 4.

The Language of Reverence: Eleanor Heartney at HVCCA Sun, Dec 3 at 4pm

HVCCA in Peekskill continues its series of discussions moderated by Helio Fred Garcia relating to the current Reverence exhibit at the museum.

Eleanor Heartney, acclaimed art critic and author of the highly
acclaimedPost Modern Heretics: The Catholic Imagination in Contemporary Art
(NY:Midmarch Press, 2004), will be speaking to the universality of somereligious
iconography and religious carnal imagery as a way of opening thedoor to a
clearer understanding of the use of this imagery by contemporaryartists. Eleanor
Hearney is known as a authority both nationally andinternationally for her
several books and numerous articles addressing theuse of sexuality, death and
religion in contemporary art. She is a regularcontributor to Art in America and
The New York Times.In her critique of Post Modern Heretics, Maureen Mallarky
writes:‘This book is an exploration of the carnality of the Catholic
imaginationas a way of bridging an understanding of controversial art considered
to beblasphemous or transgressive. Deep views of Catholic Spirituality informthe
very art that religious conservatives love to hate.’
Helio Fred Garcia is the
President and Founder of the crisis managementfirm Logos Consulting Group, Chair
of the Board of Directors of the Friendsof the Neuberger Museum of Art, a member
of the Associate Faculty of theStarr King School for Ministry in Berkley,
California.
Admission per event: Member $8 Non-Member $12