9 minute read
Revisiting Our Landmarks
The Windham Arts Alliance and the Main Street Community Center are very excited to host a very special Opening and Reception of the Revisiting Our Landmarks Show on September 9, 2023. From 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm Dede Thorpe and Larry Tompkins will discuss the history of the postcard sites. Larry, a local historian and past president of the Mountaintop Historical Society, has worked to preserve the history, warmth and charm of Windham with his large collection of postcards, photos and stories. Hunter historian Dede Thorpe says, “I enjoy researching the Mountain Top’s amazing history. I’m looking forward to joining others in the upcoming postcard and history on September 9. The more we learn about our history, the more we love where we live.” It is a special treat to be able to combine the artistic works from members of our community with a presentation on the historic sites that these artists have explored and other local landmarks on the Mountaintop and in the surrounding communities. Mara Lehmann will lead a discussion of the artwork. For the past 25 years Mara has been a well-known landscape painter of mountaintop scenes. She says “I am delighted to see other artistic interpretations of the same landmarks that have inspired my own paintings.
From 2:30 to 3:00 pm visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy the works of art and speak to the artists at a Meet and Greet. From 3:00 to 5:00 pm we are excited to have a perfor- mance by Lizzy G. & Oly, a female duo featuring the eclectic music of guitarist and singer Lizzy Gross, and percussionist Olympia Avignone, versed in a range of global drumming traditions, including North & West African, Latin American, and Caribbean grooves. Together, as one fan put it, “they take songs we all know and turn them into an experience.” Everyone is welcome and the event is free.
This show, Revisiting Our Landmarks, will combine the history of our beautiful communities with art of the present. Using historical postcards or old photos as a basis for investigating how life was in the past, the artists, using a medium of their choice, will show what the place is like today. Both the old and new scenes will be hung together.
There were many surprises as we looked at the old post cards and realized how vibrant and busy the Mountaintop communities were in the past. I got a particular chuckle out of seeing more than 100 people watching television in front of what was Harry Miller’s department store and Red Bailey’s Electronics store in 1948. The store was on Main Street in Windham, where the Tap House is today. A second image of the Miller’s Store from 1906 was chosen by Carol Tenerowicz as the subject of her lithograph. Carol says, “I chose this image because the Millers were my grandmother’s family. When she arrived from Lithuania, Elka Schenedovich was given an Ellis Island name. Thus, she became
Ella Miller because she had traveled to America to join her family, named Miller, in Hunter, NY. This project has sent me down a ‘rabbit hole’ in search of family history and an effort to figure out our family tree. I believe that Harry and Sam Miller were two of her brothers; but they may have been her uncles. The family was already well established as business owners in the Village of Hunter having arrived in the late 1800’s. She arrived sometime around 1895 to work for her family at their boarding house ‘Miller Cottage.’ When Harry and Sam built the store in Windham, it was not their first store as there was already a store on Main Street in the village of Hunter.
Fawns Leap on the Haines Falls side of the Mountaintop seems on first inspection not to have changed dramatically through the years, but if you look carefully at Athena Billias’ rendition you will see how the area has been reinforced with concrete. Just like the early Hudson River painters’ statements about industrialization coming to the Catskills, Athena has made a statement about the change we are seeing today in our own once pristine environment. Athena says, “This historic site has been turned into a mad tourist trap in the form of a swimming hole. It was originally the treasured and forever wild subject matter for Thomas Cole and the various members of the Hudson River School of Art. Unfortunately, every weekend it is now trashed by people who are unaware of its historical significance. Many are injured jumping off the top. The creek in its wilder stages floods and erodes the road that is unfortunately running alongside it. The road crews have added to its aesthetic destruction with the concrete buttresses alongside the falls. Often, they too get swept away by the current. In spite of Fawn’s Leap’s natural violence, it is a delicate spot and needs to be left alone.”
In Laura Hornik’s interpretation of Kaaterskill Falls today, whe has created a whimsical collage that emanates peace and joy. Over the past few years, the Falls have become a very popular and often crowded attraction. These falls have been an inspiration for artists through the centuries. Karen Rhodes painted a watercolor of Haines Falls, showing the water flowing over the rocks. By preserving the white paper and adding minimal color she explains that she was able to show what was behind and beneath the water. Karen also shared, “This is an area that had also been painted by Thomas Cole in 1826 called in a work called ‘The Clove, Catskills.’ He stood near there looking east toward the Clove with the evening light on the Hudson Valley.” There was no bridge at that time. “The bridge was added some time in the 1880’s as the entrance to Twilight Park,” Karen added.
Let’s head over to North South Lake Campground and take a walk around South Lake. There in the midst of the woods is a rock that resembles an alligator. Throughout the centuries people have placed stones in its mouth that look like teeth. The visi- tors to the Mountain House Hotel would walk these same trails dressed in their finery. You will enjoy what Sadhbh Lavery Aborn has done to represent this scene.
The Onteora Church still stands proudly across from what is now the Arboretum. It is a welcome sight as you drive down the road. See how Ruth Sachs painted this beautiful old building. Has it changed or remained the same over the years?
In Jewett, Sheila Trautman was intrigued by the photograph of a barn raising on Peck Road. She realized that it was the barn that stood on the corner of Peck Road and Goshen Street seemingly forever. The Peck brothers once farmed the land there. Sheila and her husband, Paul, remember collecting maple sap with them at Ken and Gladys Morse’s farm on Goshen Street in the 1960’s. Since little stays the same, the barn collapsed while new owners were trying to preserve it. Sheila decided to keep a little bit of its memory alive while painting the barn as it looks today. The view behind it is still beautiful but sadly a piece of local history has been lost to the ages.
As we explore the area’s landmarks and begin to understand the very significant contribution art made to this area and from that to American culture, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention Thomas Cole and the artists of his time. Nancy De Flon photographed the Thomas Cole House in Catskill, NY as it looks today after years of renovation to return it to its origins. Nancy says, “For me it was a no-brainer to select the opportunity to photograph Cole’s house in black and white for Revisiting Our Landmarks. I live fairly close to Cedar Grove and thus visit often, to walk around the grounds or to attend the events that educate about the life and work of Thomas Cole and the other important Hudson River School artists. But particularly irresistible was the challenge of creating this photograph of the house not only showing how it looks now but also using the latest processing software to optimize my image. Cole was flexible in his artistic techniques and so I think he would approve.”
Two of the artists in the show commented on how they felt about the opportunity to participate in this show. Pamela L. Quick says, “This is such a wonderful honor to be able to participate in this historic moment. There have been quite a few changes to this amazing town [Windham] and I can’t wait to see all the artists renditions.” Ksenia Winnicki reminds us of the importance of childhood memories, “I’ve loved photographing Colgate Lake, a place I grew up visiting as a child, as it gives me a chance to showcase the beauty of this somewhat unknown place in the Catskills.”
What stands where the Train Station in Haines Falls used to be or at the entrance to Twilight Park? Has Stony Clove Notch changed over the years? See what the Main Street in Windham looked like when it was still a dirt road compared to now. Which houses are still preserved? What has changed in Hunter or Tannersville? These are just a few examples of what is awaiting you at the Windham Arts Alliance Show at the Main Street Community Center. Please come and check out the variety of beautiful artwork and enjoy our investigation of the history and heritage of this magnificent and ever-changing area of New York
Revisiting Our Landmarks will be on view from September 1 through November 3, 2023 at the Main Street Community Center, located at 5494 Main Street in Windham. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 9 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. For more information, call the Main Street Community Center at 518 734 4168.
We want to thank the Main Street Community Center for generously sharing their beautiful space with WAA and the Community. Their help in this project has made it possible.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature and administered in Greene County by CREATE Council on the Arts.
