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TUES., AUG. 19 • 7:30 PM
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DEPARTMENTS
6 On the Cover
St. Sebastian, a painting by Zachary Lank, is from an exhibit at Hawk + Hive in Andes. 9 Esteemed Reader
Jason Stern on friendship as shared struggle and the evolution toward inner refinement.
11 Editor’s Note
Brian K. Mahoney reflects on memory, loss, and leaving Jarrold Street behind.
PROFILE
14 Ed Sanders: Golden Filth and Beatnik Glory
Ed Sanders celebrates 60 years of the Fugs—radical poetry, protest, and proto-punk—with a pair of Woodstock concerts and a new album, The Secret Index to the Past
FOOD & DRINK
18 Meet Market: Dave the Butcher in Beacon
Dave the Butcher brings whole-animal butchery, Basque flavors, and zero-waste ethos to a warm, community-focused market on Main Street in Beacon.
20 Sips and Bites
Recent bar and restaurant openings across the region: Thai Baan in Wassaic, Rae’s in Margaretville, Hudson Diner, Shorties in New Paltz, and a Medo reboot in Woodstock.
HOME
24 The Fabric of Home
Artist Qiana Mestrich blends family history, fashion, and diasporic identity in her thoughtfully restored West Saugerties mountain home.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
34 What Happens When a Hospital Listens to Its Patients? Vassar’s Patient and Family Advisory Council empowers collaboration, fostering transparency, trust, and patient-centered care within a complex healthcare system.
COMMUNITY PAGES
42 Woodstock: Civic Remix
Woodstock wrestles with growth, governance, and identity as new leadership, development, and creative energy reshape the town’s future.
50 Woodstock Pop-Up Portraits by David McIntyre
The fire tower on top of Overlook Mountain in Woodstock.
Photo by David McIntyre
COMMUNITY PAGES, PAGE 42
8 25
Flotsam River Circus performing in Minneapolis.
Photo by Ben Hovland
GUIDE, PAGE 68
RURAL INTELLIGENCE
56 Hudson’s Pocketbook Factory Lives On A historic Hudson factory reopens as a luxury hotel, blending industrial past with modern design and community investment in a $42 million adaptive reuse project.
ARTS
58 Music
Michael Eck reviews The Man My Mama Raised by Ian Flanigan. Tristan Geary reviews La Tierra Canta by Patricio Morales. Jeremy Schwartz reviews Falling Down by Dauber. Plus listening recommendations from Kingston-based singersongwriter Ginger Winn.
59 Books
Susan Yung reviews The Rabbit Club by Christopher Yates, a novel about a young man estranged from his rock star father. Plus short reviews of Home: A Love Story by Stephen H. Foreman; All We Trust by Gregory Galloway; Sounds of Summer in the County by Michael Ruby; The Children See Everything by J. C. Hopkins; and Loose Limbs: A Story of Survival by Elizabeth Young and illustrated by Alyse Roe.
60 Poetry
Poems by Abilene Adelman, Steve Clark, Tristan Geary, C. P. Masciola, Will Nixon, David Perry, Ilyse Simon, Amanda Tiffany, Lori White. Alexandria Wojcik. Edited by Phillip X Levine.
THE GUIDE
63 Remembering Bill Vanaver, folk musician and cultural bridgebuilder who championed global traditions and community healing.
64 “Octet” explores internet addiction through a haunting, hopeful a cappella musical at Hudson Valley Shakespeare in Garrison.
67 “Life in This House Is Over” is a genre-defying movement-driven meditation on grief at PS21 in Chatham.
68 Flotsam River Circus floats into the region with a string of waterfront performances in early September.
71 Short List: Kingston Artists Soapbox Derby, John Mulaney, Meshell Ndegeocello, Phoenicia Festival of the Arts, and more.
87 Live Music: Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets, Neil Young, The Dollyrots, Otto Kentrol, Cheap Trick, and Dromfest ‘25.
88 Listings of art exhibits across the region, including Ryan Rusiecki at Carrie Haddad Gallery, Steven Strauss at Grit Gallery, and Yale Epstein at Albert Shahinian Fine Art.
HOROSCOPES
76 Veiled Aggression with Sweet Spots Cory Nakasue reveals what the stars have in store for us.
PARTING SHOT
80 In the Garden of Eden Photographer Nick Zungoli’s latest book captures Central America’s wild beauty while urging environmental action.
Agents
Brooklyn-based painter Zachary Lank is inspired by the past while looking to the future. His work explores masculinity, absence, and the spirituality of the everyday, drawing on memory, myth, and classical technique to render scenes that are at once tender and unsettling. “I am reaching back and communing with the heritage of the craft without being married to revanchist orthodoxy. I want my roots intact, but I am seeking fresh air,” Lank says.
Lank’s painting St. Sebastian is part of his second solo show, “Revenant Blues,” at Hawk + Hive in Andes, which runs from August 2 to September 7 with an opening reception on Saturday, August 2 from 12 to 6pm.
The subject of St. Sebastian has long been irresistible to artists. In Christian iconography, Sebastian is the beautiful martyr, tied to a tree and pierced with arrows, an emblem of suffering and endurance. His image has also taken on a potent secondary life as a queer icon—his youthful, often semi-nude body evoking eroticism as much as sanctity in the work of artists from Guido Reni to Egon Schiele.
“He’s almost always depicted as this supple, beautiful youth, the arrows carrying both
insinuation and the terrible violence of his death. As a queer person, I both identified with and was horrified by it. The reasons for his martyrdom and his secondary signifiers as a queer art icon blurred and blended for me; one replaced the other in a way,” Lank says.
In Lank’s version, the martyr is rendered headless and fully clothed—a figure both present and absent, severed from classical formality and set instead in a landscape drawn from memory. The backdrop is a pastoral scene suggestive of the Hudson River School, but also of Saturday morning cartoons. Earthy tones meet comic surrealism. The familiar becomes uncanny.
“I spent a lot of time roaming the orchards and forests around the farm,” Lank says of his grandparents’ apple farm in central Virginia. “Their orchard becomes Eden, the tree both an everyday Macintosh and the Tree of Knowledge. Sebastian and the serpent share their colors; they are both agents of the forbidden, doomed for being who and what they are. It’s a rendition of the stories purposefully blurred.”
Lank’s process is rooted in traditional techniques. “Every piece starts with a sketch on paper or canvas. I’ll develop it until I’m pleased
with the composition and then move on to doing small studies in greyscale and then color to make the most impact in terms of shape and contrast. Sometimes something special happens, and I get the full picture beamed into my head. Then it’s getting pen and paper as fast as you can to jot it down before you forget. It’s like a ghost showed you their cheat sheet, but you’re copying it from a dirty slide projector. Once I’ve settled on something, I’ll paint it on a toned canvas in grisaille, and then finish with layers of color. It’s a very old-school method of working, but really so much of it is improvisation that I never get bored. More or less all of my work is done out of my head from imagination, pulling reference occasionally here and there when I can’t quite remember what something looks like. It’s quite the challenge!” he says.
Lank first discovered the Hudson Valley art scene through Instagram, after seeing work by Emily Pettigrew showing at Hawk + Hive. “I’m fortunate to be working at a time when there are so many other artists that are really invested in the craft of their work, particularly painting. I am eternally grateful. Praise to the muses!” he says.
—Mike Cobb
of the Forbidden Zachary Lank’s Visions of Absence
Left: St. Sebastian, Zachary Lank, oil on canvas, 2025
Right: Two Fingers, Zachary Lank, oil on canvas, 2025
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Brian K. Mahoney brian.mahoney@chronogram.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR David C. Perry david.perry@chronogram.com
DIGITAL EDITOR Marie Doyon marie.doyon@chronogram.com
ARTS EDITOR Peter Aaron music@chronogram.com
HOME EDITOR Mary Angeles Armstrong home@chronogram.com
POETRY EDITOR Phillip X Levine poetry@chronogram.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Anne Pyburn Craig apcraig@chronogram.com
contributors
Winona Barton-Ballentine, Maggie Baribault, Mike Cobb, Michael Eck, Melissa Esposito, Tristan Geary, Jamie Larson, David McIntyre, Cory Nakasue, Fionn Reilly, Jeremy Schwartz, Sparrow, Susan Yung
PUBLISHING
COFOUNDER Jason Stern jason.stern@chronogram.com
COFOUNDER & CEO Amara Projansky amara.projansky@chronogram.com
AUGUST 8–10 A Musical Mirror of the 20th Century AUGUST 14–17 Against Uncertainty, Uniformity, Mechanization: Music in the Mid-20th Century
Tickets start at $25 Scan code to book tickets
esteemed reader
by Jason Stern
A certain person came to the Friend’s door and knocked.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me.”
The Friend answered, “Go away. There’s no place for raw meat at this table.”
The individual went wandering for a year.
Nothing but the fire of separation can change hypocrisy and ego. The person returned completely cooked, walked up and down in front of the Friend’s house, gently knocked.
“Who is it?”
“You.”
“Please come in, my self, there’s no place in this house for two. The doubled end of the thread is not what goes through the eye of the needle. It’s a single-pointed, fineddown, thread end, not a big ego-beast with baggage.”
Jalal
ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, Mathnawi, rendered by Coleman Barks
Last year I made a new friend. He’s Italian but we met while working on a project in Australia. Initially I was charmed by his friendliness. Each morning when we arrived for work he exclaimed, “Ciao, Jason!” with an enthusiasm that should have sounded saccharin but didn’t. I felt he was genuinely glad to see me. Then I noticed that he greeted everyone this way, which served to increase my appreciation. His greeting made each one feel welcomed and seen.
In the intervening year we continued work on the project remotely, with regular sessions by teleconference, and met for in-person work this summer in Italy. Seeing him again I noticed the sense of ease and trust had deepened. We naturally explored ways we could assist one another with our respective interests and aims. This gave me pause to ponder the meaning of friendship.
Friend is a noun, satisfying two of the criteria being both a person and a general category or “thing.” By definition nouns represent fixed quantities, abstract and immutable. Unfortunately, the conventions of language do not admit two features of reality. First, nothing in nature is permanent. Everything is either evolving or involving, coming into being or breaking down. Second, things can be of different degrees of quality and intelligence.
The experience with my new friend brought into focus that there are different orders of friend. An acquaintance becomes someone I know better. The friendship either deepens or it doesn’t. Why and how does friendship deepen?
An English proverb says, “Before you own a man as a friend, eat a bushel of salt with him.”
This is a clue. What does it mean to eat salt together? Salt suggests tears of suffering. The proverb also implies a shared taste of flavor or savor. Framed this way, friendship comes from working and suffering together, metabolizing experience with a common aim or purpose.
When I was young I spent time with a Persian man with training in the tradition of the dervishes. His was a mode of inner and outer practice, breathing exercises, sacred dances and whirling, all related to the Sufi tradition of Iran. He called us out when we referred to someone as our friend. With an expression of amazement he said “you have a friend?!”—as though it was an exceptional event. He was bemused by the looseness with which we used the term for what, in his view, is a high, shared attainment.
For the mystic Sufi poets like Rumi and Hafiz, the Friend is synonymous with God. In this is to recognize that everyone is composed of layers of intelligence, with the most intelligent part being, as it were, at the core. We may seek, as in the Vedic salutation namaste, “the God in me makes contact with the God in you,” to relate to the highest in our friends. This is expressed in the Isha Upanishad: “Of a certainty, the man who can see all creatures in himself, himself in all creatures, knows no sorrow.” This is not to ignore the obnoxious and unreliable aspects of one another, but rather to strive to relate from the finest awareness in myself to what is finest in my friend.
The idea of a fraternity or sorority, or in the ancient sense, brotherhoods of monks or aspirants working for a common ideal, points to another possible dimension of this level of friendship. In this we are not simply people with interests in common. Rather, a shared ordeal of effort yields an identical insight and common body of understanding. It is in this context that the admonitions of the Sermon on the Mount, for instance to turn the other cheek, actually make sense.
by Brian K. Mahoney
Last Days on Jarrold Street
By the time you read this, we’ll be gone. The house at 27 Jarrold Street is empty now. The walls, once adorned with the artwork of friends and painted in idiosyncratic hues of Tuscan orange and monkey-shit brown, have been scrubbed blank with past-obliterating white. The driveway is littered with remnants of our former life—a rickety futon frame, a beatup bookcase, a rusty pasta maker. The vegetable garden is waist-high in weeds, waiting for one final mow before we list the place.
To be clear: It’s all going according to plan. This is what we wanted. Jarrold Street was supposed to be our “starter home.” We just stayed through the starter phase, blew through the middle, and found ourselves deep in the “I guess we’re dying here” years. We stayed for 21 years.
In the early aughts Lee Anne and I were living paycheck to paycheck above a deli/videorental store in High Falls—content renters, if chronic DVD return offenders. Then our friend Tim, a smart cookie about things grown-up and financial and also a realtor, told us it was time to buy a house.
“You’re joking,” we told Tim. “We can’t possibly afford to buy a house.”
“You absolutely can,” Tim told us.
“We’re in nonprofit admin and magazine journalism,” we said. “Our only asset is a fondue pot.”
“The banks are handing out money like parade candy,” he assured us. “No income verification, no problem.”
“We don’t have money for a down payment.”
“You’ll just borrow that too.”
Which is how we ended up at P&G’s in New Paltz, swilling beer with my college buddy Sven, now a mortgage broker, and signing papers to borrow more money than either of us had ever seen in a bank account. It was 2004. What could possibly go wrong with no-doc loans handed out to anyone with a pulse and a dream?
The house itself is a modest structure, a 1,000-square-foot space with a tiny bathroom, built in the late 19th-century to house the then-burgeoning Polish community in the area. In fact, I recently came across a reference to our street as I finally got around to reading Alf Ever’s magisterial history of my adopted home, Kingston: City on the Hudson
A Rondout writer, Ernest Jarrold, who became a reporter for the New York Sun, achieved popularity with his Mickey Finn tales dealing with the adventures of a fictional and mischievous Rondout Boy, using a name for his title character already well known as that of a knock-out drink.
Mickey Finn stories were published first in Harper’s magazine and other magazines, and then in book form. The stories affectionately showed the Irish with kindly humor, and are still read with praise by Kingston people. [Not sure about that bit.] A distinctive Ponckhockie street was named for Jarrold’s family, which developed it with creative taste but at a loss.
Two things to note here. One: Jarrold Street was named after a writer, a fellow language laborer. Two: It was “developed with creative taste.” Whatever vestige of creative taste had faded by the time we moved in, but I do love a good nod to former glory from the point of view of contemporary degradation.
When we moved in, our neighbors were mostly white, blue-collar folks—people like Derek, the handyman across the street who snow-blew our sidewalk and dropped off Danish butter cookies at Christmas. We weren’t pioneers, exactly, but we did suspect we were part of the first wave of the so-called creative class, cresting just ahead of Hudson Valley’s full-blown knowledge-worker, yoga-studio, oat-milk revolution. (Just don’t call it gentrification.) We even floated a rebrand: NoPo—North Ponckhockie. Branded merch was considered. Trucker hats. Softball tees. Sadly, it took another 20 years before the neighborhood
and a
We had a good, long run on Jarrold Street and made so many memories there. In every corner of that little house—now cloaked in ghost-white paint—echoes of our lives linger: coat hooks still bearing the weight of Lee Anne’s many parkas, the faint scent of oregano from the garden, the hardwood floors we painstakingly uncovered. A house is built of a thousand forgettable moments that become unforgettable simply by repeating. You can pack up the objects, but the shape of a life remains.
Still, houses are meant to be lived in, not haunted. If you’re lucky, you outgrow them. And we were lucky—so lucky—to have had 21 years inside that modest brick box on a street once known for its creative taste.
And where are we living now, you ask? We moved a mile across town, in what I’m told is the Hutton Park neighborhood. The house is slightly bigger than our starter home—okay, it’s more than twice the size, with three bathrooms—and sits across from a war memorial parklet on Highland Avenue. As the street name suggests, the house is perched on a hill, with sweeping views of the city we still call home. I haven’t yet polled the neighbors, but I’ve already come up with a slogan for our new enclave—Hutton Park: We Look Down on Kingston.
The
landed a Pilates studio
gourmet pizza place that serves cocktails.
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Golden Filth and Beatnik Glory
Ed Sanders Celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Fugs
By Peter Aaron Portrait by Fionn Reilly
October 21, 1967. Washington, DC.
Ed Sanders and his notoriously confrontational band the Fugs, along with 100,000 other protestors, are outside of the Pentagon as part of a march organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Their stated mission: stage a ritual that will magically levitate the 6,636,360-square-foot Defense Department headquarters 300 feet in the air, spin it around, and expel the evil forces within. After some incantations, Sanders leads the crowd, which includes fellow provocateurs like Abbie Hoffman and Kenneth Anger, in chanting, “Out, demons, out! Out, demons, out!”
The building doesn’t budge. But of course that was never the point, anyway. The real aim was to make a collective statement against the war and rattle the regime, whose troops that day respond with tear gas and arrests—a bad look, to Middle America—and in some cases by dropping their
rifles and breaking ranks to join the antiwar cause. The war wouldn’t end until 1975, but, in a way, it was “mission accomplished.”
In the years that have followed Sanders and the Fugs have led audiences in exorcisms of the White House, and they’ll meet the moment by doing so once again this month when they celebrate the 60th anniversary of the band’s first performance with a pair of concerts at the Byrdcliffe Barn in Sanders’s adopted hometown of Woodstock.
Howling at Cows
Sanders was born in 1939 near Kansas City, Missouri, a hard-swinging hub of jazz. “I saw Big Bob Dougherty, Jay McShann, and a lot of other great jazz acts,” he recollects. “Then rock ’n’ roll came along, and I saw people like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Bill Haley and the Comets. Hank Williams was big, so I got exposed to him and I went
to country and western shows.” The bigger bang, however, came not from the literary, not musical, side. “I bought a copy of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems [1956] when I was a senior in high school and it changed my life,” Sanders says. “We lived in the country and there were bulls and cows lined up in the pasture next to our house, and I used to scream lines of ‘Howl’ to the bulls and cows—‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness!’…Moooo!” In 1958 he decided to drop out of the University of Missouri and head to one of the two Beat centers. “I was either going to San Francisco or to New York,” he says. It would be the latter. Sanders was accepted to New York University, so he packed his copies of Howl, Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” and a few Dylan Thomas titles and hitchhiked east. An early member of the brewing anti-establishment movement, he was arrested in 1961 for protesting nuclear armament and in his cell penned the breakthrough
Tuli Kupferberg and Ed Sanders at a New York City peace march in the spring of 1966. Courtesy of Ed Sanders Archive
“Poem from Jail” on toilet paper. While at NYU he studied Greek and met his future wife Miriam, a painter and writer with whom he bought a mimeograph machine, and in 1962 started publishing a literary journal with the attention-getting name Fuck You/A Magazine of the Arts
In November 1964, he opened Peace Eye Bookstore, which quickly became a nexus for the Lower East Side’s bohemians and radical poets. One of them was New York native Tuli Kupferberg, who lived next door to the shop on East 10th Street. “He was a famous Beatnik poet, I used to read his poetry in the Village Voice,” recalls Sanders. “I’d seen poets dancing to [the Beatles’] ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and Roy Orbison songs by a jukebox at a bar on Saint Mark’s Place, and that had inspired me. So one night in late 1964, I approached Tuli and said, ‘Why don’t we form a band of poets and write some songs, and just float it and see what happens?’ We started thinking of names. I wanted to call it the Yodeling Socialists. But Tuli suggested the Fugs. ‘Fug’ had been a euphemism for ‘fuck’ in Norman Mailer’s novel The Naked and the Dead, so we went with that.”
Fuggin’ it Up
As the Fugs, Sanders, Kupferberg, and drummer Ken Weaver added Holy Modal Rounders members fiddler Peter Stampfel and guitarist Steve Weber and made their March 1965 debut at the new Sixth Avenue location of scene maker Izzy Young’s Folklore Center. Nowadays described as protopunk, the band concocted a sneering, satirical, and unapologetically scrappy sound. Their songs took in classic poetry as well as bawdy mainstream-baiting and their uproarious gigs quickly made them the band to see in underground New York. Filmmaker, Anthology of American Folk Music compiler, and all-around Beat luminary Harry Smith produced their 1965 debut The Village Fugs Sing Ballads of Contemporary Protest, Point of Views, and General Dissatisfaction for the Folkways label (reissued in 1966 as The Fugs First Album), and 1966’s The Fugs and 1967’s Virgin Fugs followed. Through head shop sales, adventurous college radio airplay, and word-of-mouth, the Fugs became the underground’s musical figureheads via button-pushing gross-outs like “Coca-Cola Douche” and revolutionary rants like the anti-war “Kill for Peace.”
The New York Police Department was not amused by Sanders’s provocations and raided Peace Eye in 1966 and charged its proprietor with obscenity. Sanders couldn’t have asked for better publicity: An ACLU lawyer helped him successfully fight the charges and he even made the cover of Life magazine. “Sotheby’s auction house recently listed a full run of all 13 issues of Fuck You for sale at $45,000,” the publisher notes, mentioning that he received death threats the year of the trial. “I wish I’d saved some more of them.” Likewise not enamored of Sanders was J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, whose secret files on his
band, he learned years later, labeled them “the filthiest and most vulgar thing the human mind could conceive.” But, seemingly sensing a civilliberties outcry, the FBI stopped short of calling for their prosecution. (Coincidentally, Golden Filth would be the title of an archival Fugs live album.)
Nevertheless, the Fugs had made their mark, and were cited as an influence by Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett, Frank Zappa, and the next generation. “For my 14th birthday in 1969, my parents let me pick out an album at a department store,” remembers Bob Bert, who has been the drummer of Sonic Youth and other influential bands. “My choice was [1967’s Fugs album] Tenderness Junction. A few days later, I came home from school to find the album broken into pieces and the cover torn up on my bed. Not a word was said at the dinner table. My sisters had ratted me out to my mother about the dirty lyrics.”
By 1969, though, despite the band’s signing to Atlantic and becoming a top touring name on the countercultural circuit, Sanders had had enough. “We needed to keep a lawyer on retainer because of all the heat we were getting, and the other guys in the band were on salary,” he explains. “It was costing a lot of money. I didn’t want to have to deal with that. I just wanted to be a Beatnik poet.” He dissolved the group and made a well-received country rock album, Sanders’ Truck Stop, before returning his primary focus to writing poems.
In the Family Way
As Sanders points out, “Poetry and starvation are good friends.” He needed a sideline, and prose looked like the way. His 1971 book The Family, about Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca murders, turned out to be an acclaimed, runaway best-seller. Infiltrating the circle of violent Manson associates during the book’s research, though, had
Ed Sanders photographed at home in Woodstock on July 17.
been a risky process, one that, the author says, forced him “to live a protected life for a while.”
He and Miriam were familiar with Woodstock, and by the mid-’70s they’d escaped the big city for the artsfriendly Ulster County town; in 1981, they purchased a small house on one of its quiet roads. As he had with the Fugs, Sanders blended his first love, poetry, into his nowprioritized book work. Via 1976’s Investigative Poetry, he established the so-named literary movement that saw him writing book-length poems on Anton Chekhov, Allen Ginsberg, and the tumultuous year 1968. Thus far, he has written five of the intended nine volumes of his epic America, A History in Verse
Sanders’s staggering shelfful of other literary endeavors includes the two-volume Tales of Beatnik Glory (1975, 1990), the 1988 American Book Award-winning Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century: Selected Poems 1961–1985, and many more; among numerous other laurels, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1983 and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1987. Settling in Woodstock and befriending and assisting its late historian Alf Evers awakened in him an intense interest in the process of archiving and in the area’s history; the latter passion led to his participation in local politics during a 1984 fight against the proposed building of a convention center in the center of the town. “I came up here as a countercultural voice,” he says. “I could turn out a leaflet in 30 seconds.” In the wake of the beaten-back project, Sanders helped write a town zoning ordinance that’s still in use today.
Secret Index
The Fugs have occasionally reunited to record and for rare concerts, including 1994’s “The Real Woodstock Festival,” staged in response to that year’s more commercialized Woodstock ’94. Although Kupferberg passed in 2010, the band, whose lineup has otherwise been the same since 1984, soldiers on and “seriously consider[s] further performances” as offers arise. Sanders is currently finishing The Secret Index to the Past, a new solo album that includes tracks like “Just Get Going,” the rollicking tale of his band’s portentous first recording session, and a version of the Fugs’ “I Want to Know” that features fellow Woodstocker John Sebastian on harmonica.
The Fugs reconvened in 1984, Sanders says, because it was the year that George Orwell’s dystopian novel was named for as well as the start of Reagan’s second term. One can’t help but wonder if besides 2025’s being the group’s 60th year, the return of Trump also prompted the decision to reform the famously insurgent band.
“It’s extremely important for a society to protect, cultivate, and augment its flow of creativity,” he offers, “You gotta do something, right?”
The Fugs will perform at the Byrdcliffe Barn in Woodstock on August 22 and 23. Tickets are $30. The Secret Index to the Past is out soon on Olufsen Records.
Above: Night of Napalm poster printed at Peace Eye Bookstore, 1965. Below: John Anderson, Ed Sanders, and Tuli Kupferberg performing at the Astor Place Playhouse in 1966.
Delaware County Discoveries
Late Summer & Autumn Adventures in the Great Western Catskills
Tucked into the western edge of the Catskills, Delaware County might seem like a quiet hideaway for nature enthusiasts, but the tens of thousands of acres of protected forests don’t deserve all the spotlight. Behind its verdant charm lies a vibrant network of small towns and hamlets that are buzzing with activity. In late summer and early autumn, as the harvest ripens and trees begin to hint at the brilliant transformation to come, the Great Western Catskills offers an array of experiences for locals and visitors alike—from must-visit restaurants to beloved festivals and the scenic drives between them to soak it all in.
Food & Drink
This season brings an exciting crop of culinary newcomers to the county. In July, Walton welcomed the much-anticipated opening of Dear Native Grapes’ tasting room. Founded by Deanna Urciuoli & Alfie Alcantara, the small farm-winery started in 2019 with a focus on reviving heirloom North American grape varieties lost since Prohibition. Its natural wines, made from nearlyextinct native varieties, contemporary hybrids, and experimental cultivars offer a distinctive departure from the region’s renowned spirit- and beermaking, and the new tasting room offers a relaxed, dog-friendly setting to savor them while soaking up Catskills views.
In Margaretville, James Bailey and Alexandra Rosenberg opened the doors to Rae’s in July. The restaurant, named for owner Rosenberg’s grandmother, serves a rotating seasonal menu
of comfort food spins inspired by her repertoire and Bailey’s upbringing in Texas, from chicken schnitzel to chile en nogada (picadillo-stuffed poblanos)—plus house cocktails, natural wines, and local beers.
And in Delhi, an old favorite is getting a second act. The former Delhi Diner is currently being transformed into Pony’s, with an expected opening in October.
Agricultural Bounty
Delaware County’s deep farming roots take center stage at several beloved seasonal events.
On August 31, Bovina Farm Day offers families a hands-on celebration of local agriculture, with farm tours, hayrides, an apple pie contest, and kidfriendly activities like hay bale slides and a corn maze. It’s a jam-packed one-day festival that offers the best of harvest season.
Margaretville’s annual Cauliflower Festival, now in its 21st year, honors the history of cauliflower farming in Delaware County and how the crop helped local dairy farmers supplement their incomes. The day-long, familyfriendly festival features a wide selection of local vendors and Catskills organizations, quilting demonstrations, live music, a children’s tent, and food vendors. The 8th Catskill Conquest Rally commemorating the 1903 Auto Endurance Run will make its appearance at the annual festival with a lineup of classic vehicles. After the festival, walk over to Main Street to explore the town’s independent retail shops, restaurants, galleries, and more.
Show-Stopping Scenery
Few places rival Delaware County in fall, when the hills blaze with color and backroads become leaf-peeping heaven. Scenic drives through the countryside offer endless photo ops, roadside farmstands, thrift sales, and unexpected gems. Take a drive past towns and hamlets like Margaretville, Andes, and Delhi on the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway (Route 28); head down Catskill Scenic Route 30 along the mighty East Branch of the Delaware River through beautiful valleys and the towns of Hancock, Colchester, Andes, Middletown, and Roxbury; or continue on in Hancock for the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway (Route 97) and a jaunt along the Delaware River for dramatic cliffside views and expansive vistas.
As autumn begins its ascent, look forward to events like the Maple Shade Hootenanny on October 11–12 at Maple Shade Farm in Delhi.
This weekend-long celebration of fall features corn mazes, hayrides, live music, and farm-fresh fare, all set against a backdrop of peak foliage.
From cutting-edge natural wines and familyrun restaurants to festivals steeped in tradition, Delaware County offers a patchwork of unforgettable experiences stitched together by stunning scenery and small-town charm. Whether raising a glass at a new tasting room, dancing in a town park, or simply chasing the changing leaves along a scenic byway, the Great Western Catskills invites visitors to slow down, savor the season, and discover something new around every curve.
Greatwesterncatskills.com
The Maple Shade Hootenanny returns to Delhi October 11-12.
Photo by Kento Igarashi
Meet Market
DAVE THE BUTCHER OPENS IN BEACON
By Melissa Esposito
Photos by Kenny Rodriguez
Butcher shops can be intimidating, but I want people to come here and feel like they’re just going to visit Dave and Melissa to figure out what’s for dinner tonight,” says David Mountain, who co-owns Beacon’s new butchery and market Dave the Butcher with his wife, Melissa.
The Mountains seek to transform the typical meat market—from a place where a slab of meat is hastily wrapped and rushed out the door—into a warm, welcoming hub where locals gather to chat, share ideas, and discover new favorite homecooked recipes.
“Melissa is Basque and we both love Basque food culture, which usually centers around communal gatherings with elders sharing recipes and cooking techniques—that’s the feeling we’re going for here,” explains Mountain, who is a classically trained whole-animal butcher, charcutier, and salumiere. “Come in and have a cup of coffee. Sit with a sandwich and a friend. What we’re doing as a whole-animal butcher isn’t new; it comes from a long line of knowledge and skills passed down for as long as food has been prepared. But where we’re different is that we want to make it comfortable
for people to be here, to ask questions, or to try something new and unexpected.”
Open since July 4, the market focuses on grass-fed beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and duck sourced from various farms around New York and surrounding areas. The goal is to offer highquality food while always maintaining affordable pricing. “We cut significant expenses by utilizing whole-animal and by doing the butchering and labor myself, and we pass on that value instead of marking up prices,” Mountain says. “Sure, we’d love to make some money, but it’s not the driving reason why we opened. It’s more about building community, sharing, and nourishing through quality food.” You’ll find a top sirloin for $19.99, pasture-raised ground beef for $9.99, and the most expensive cut, a boneless ribeye, topping out at $32.99 per pound.
A selection of fresh produce is available from Hudson Valley growers like Migliorielli and Tivoli Farms, and a mercantile pantry offers curated and imported sides, spices, and condiments, from Italian pasta and coffee to individual spice packets to potato buns for your burgers.
On the revolving menu for ready-made bites, you’ll find options ranging from duck confit
captions tk
and chicken liver mousse to sandwiches like a Cubano with housemade ham and house-smoked pork, a smoked chicken sandwich, or brisket and burgers. There may even be something for the meat-free set, like a vegan house-marinated artichoke sandwich with tomato nduja and mint or an oyster mushroom sandwich. “We ask that people bear with us as we grow and have a more complete menu,” Mountain says.
Aside from their storefront on Main Street, the duo also operates the cafe at Dia, with its elevated comfort food menu: sandwiches (bresola and fig, $17), salads (miso Caesar, $15), and specialties (chickpeas in romesco, $17).
This home-style philosophy echoes the mentality behind the building’s former tenant, Homespun Foods, a cafe that was known as much for its comfort food as it was for its attentive service until it closed last August after 18 years. The Mountains, former Brooklyn residents who enjoyed visiting the Hudson Valley, were looking to open a shop and knew they found the right building as soon as they walked in.
“We gutted the space, basically keeping the original historic floors and brick walls,” explains Melissa, who had previously been in event production and used that knowledge to bring
their experiential concept to life in collaboration with Jamie McGlinchey of NoN Studio, who designed the space. “There was an entire section removed so that we could create an openness for transparency in the butchering process. And out back, we have enough outdoor seating that we can eventually offer supper clubs and educational dinners—tastings, meet-the-farmer experiences, and classes.”
On the expansive patio, you’ll also find their smoker, enclosed by a shelter crafted by Melissa’s father. Family touches are inside, too; the millwork on the counter and meat display case was designed by Dave’s brother, Dan Mountain, in warm wood tones that stray further from the sterile grab-and-go feel of traditional butcher shops and add to the old-world vibe.
Mountain previously worked under master butcher Kevin Smith at Seattle’s acclaimed Beast & Cleaver as well as at James Beard Award-nominated and Michelin-starred restaurants like Lilia, Misi, Ai Fiori, and Rolo’s. But beyond decades in the food industry, he also credits his skill set to family traditions from his in-laws. “I had great mentors in restaurants, but things changed when Melissa and I started dating. Her father put me through the test to
see whether I was worthy to date his daughter by inviting me to make his Basque-style ham, a recipe taught to him by his parents, passed down from their parents—and I loved it,” he says. “From there, I started working for free at a nearby butcher shop just to learn more; the owner told me to come in once a week, but I showed up every day.”
For Mountain, the idea of whole-animal butchering doesn’t end at the counter. “When you’re given an animal, you’re given its life history, and it’s your responsibility to keep the integrity of it high—honoring the animal, the farmer’s hard work, and the person or family who will eat it,” he explains. “We use 110 percent of the animal. For example, we’ll use a whole chicken, then use its bones for stock; later, those bones can be burned into char for fertilizer on a farm. We’re also working with artist Greg Moore, who will take bones from our grass-fed cows to craft bone china that we’ll use here. Leftover sinew will go to the South Salem Wolf Conservation Center to feed the animals. We aim for zero-waste. If you’re going to use a life, use all of it.”
Dave the Butcher is open daily from 10am until 7pm. Closed Tuesday.
In early July, Melissa and Dave Mountain opened Dave the Butcher, where whole-animal butchery meets Basque-style community ritual.
sips & bites
Thai Baan
78 Sinpatch Road, Wassaic
After a series of well-received pop-ups, Thai Baan has officially opened inside Tenmile Distillery in Wassaic. Run by chef Arunee “Runie” Pakaraphag and Jason Jeffords III, the Thai kitchen draws from Pakaraphag’s upbringing on a rice farm in northeastern Thailand and her global culinary experience. The couple relocated from New York City to bring thoughtfully prepared, home-style Thai cuisine to rural Dutchess County. Highlights include a rich Massaman short rib curry ($34), fiery pork stir-fry ($22), and vegetarian-friendly green curry ($20). Tenmile’s cocktails— like the jalapeño vodka-based Regina George—pair perfectly with the Southeast Asian menu.
Thaibaannyc.com
Shorties
81 North Chestnut Street, New Paltz
Shorties has recently revived the beloved Village Pizza building on North Chestnut Street in New Paltz, reimagining the space as a playful “hot dog tiki bar.” Opened by the team behind Huckleberry and Darling’s, the new daytime destination offers retro diner charm. Specializing in all-beef hot dogs—including an indulgent tower of mini-dogs, sides, and exotic condiments like grilled pineapple salsa, hoisin BBQ, and kimchi—is Shorties’ main draw, though vegetarian Impossible dogs are also available. (Ask about the hot dog punch card.) Guests can sip on $15 tiki-style cocktails, such as the Shorties Saturn, with gin, lemon, passionfruit, velvet falernum, and vanilla soft serve; or the Jungle Bird with rum, Amermelade, lime, and pineapple Dole Whip. With patio seating, Shorties brings a fun, flavorful twist to the New Paltz food scene, repurposing a local landmark into a sunlit stop for hot dogs, drinks, and high-brow, low-brow fun. Shortiesny.com
Rae’s
814 Main Street, Margaretville
Homegrown & local fruits & vegetables picked everyday!
Featuring:
• Our famous sweet corn!
• 20+ varieties of heirloom & traditional tomatoes
• Sweet & hot peppers
• Melons
• Strawberries
Homegrown flower bouquets
Beautiful greenhouse filled with garden & house plants
Located on Margaretville’s quaint main drag, Rae’s is a fresh addition to the Catskills dining scene with a focus on bold flavors and shared plates. Opened by Alexandra Rosenberg and James Bailey, Rae’s pays tribute to Rosenberg’s great-grandmother through a menu of elevated comfort food with playful, regional touches in a grandma-chic interior (think tin ceilings and mismatched vintage dinnerware). Dishes like chopped liver with crisp chicken-skin “chips” ($15), tuna melt on rye ($19), and chile en nogada ($20) reflect both Jewish and Southwest influences. The cocktail menu riffs on classics with nods to family, and the wine list favors minimal-intervention selections. Housed in a former dive bar, Rae’s balances nostalgia and creativity in both its food and inviting atmosphere. Raesmargaretville.com
Medo
83 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock
Fans of Woodstock sushi spot Medo were devastated when the restaurant announced its closure in April. But co-owner David Fletcher sought out new partners in Cheese Louise owner Ari Alonso-Lubell and sushi chef Kevin Lin to revive Medo and infuse it with fresh energy. Reopened in June, Medo preserves its original charm while expanding its menu. Nobu-trained, Lin is curating standout omakase dinners that rotate weekly based on the freshest seasonal fish. Favorites like the Woodstock Roll ($20) and local mushroom tempura ($16) return, while Chef Peter Kerwin is cooking up new dishes—including expanded vegetarian and vegan options. The restaurant also debuts a thoughtful N/A cocktail list, offering bold, flavorful drinks without alcohol (till their license is approved). Medowoodstock.com
Hudson Diner
717 Warren Street, Hudson
The 80-year-old stainless steel shell of Hudson’s historic diner—formerly the Diamond Street, then Grazin’—gleams again with new life. Now called, simply, Hudson Diner, the space has been revived by two popular industry pros and friends: Ashley Berman, co-owner of Mel the Bakery, and Brent Young, famed butcher behind The Meat Hook. The duo, friends from Brooklyn’s food scene, jumped at the chance to breathe new life into the historic spot. With a mission rooted in local sourcing, the menu blends comforting diner classics with elevated ingredients—think chopped steak ($25), spaghetti pie ($18), burgers on Mel’s breads (418), and seasonal pies. A newly added bar serves accessible cocktails like martinis and piña coladas ($13). Berman, running the kitchen, aims for a warm, all-day neighborhood hub—low in pretension, high on flavor. Hudson-diner.com
—Marie Doyon
N FRONT STREET
PALTZ
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Shopping Guide
With so many independent creators and curators across the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Berkshires, it’s never been easier to buy bespoke— from vintage shops to artisan jewelry to handmade gifts that delight.
Adel Chefridi Fine Jewelry
47 East Market Street, Rhinebeck; Chefridi.com
Visit Adel Chefridi Fine Jewelry, housed in a historic building in the heart of Rhinebeck. Each hallmarked piece of jewelry is handcrafted and designed to be both intricate and wearable, blending traditional techniques with modern aesthetics.
Winner of the Jewelry Store category two years in a row in the Chronogram Readers’ Choice Awards, the flagship gallery offers a warm, inviting experience, with concierge service from their team of jewelers and jewelry professionals. Shop in person, online, or at one of over 100 stockists nationwide.
Charles Department Store
113 Katonah Avenue, Katonah (914) 232-5200
Charlesdeptstore.com
Family owned and operated for over 100 years, the Charles Department Store is distinguished by a long tradition of personal service, and a unique selection of handpicked, high quality goods. Shop men’s and women’s clothing, footwear and accessories—plus a full range of housewares for the kitchen.
RERACKED
314 Wall Street, Kingston
Reracked.com
RERACKED is a destination for rare vintage, archival designer, and bridal fashion in Uptown Kingston. Thoughtfully curated for story, craftsmanship, and awe-factor, the shop offers standout pieces in both womenswear and menswear. A place to play dress-up and rediscover personal style—where fashion feels elevated, expressive, and a little bit magical.
Butter
5963 NY-82, Stanfordville (845) 868-3102
Thisisbuttershop.com
A curated home decor shop specializing in interior design and styling. Combining modern decor, vintage finds, and creations from local artisans, every piece is thoughtfully chosen to bring soul and intention to spaces. Designed to enrich daily living, the collection reflects care, purpose, and timeless style.
Quick Brown Fox the Store
217 Main Street, Saugerties
Quickbrownfoxthestore.com
The Hudson Valley hub for stationery, arts and craft supplies, plus hands-on letterpress and risograph workshops, craft nights, and community suppers. Make something beautiful, connect with fellow creators.
The
Brooklyn Millinery Company
71 East Market Street, Rhinebeck
Thebkmc.com
Timeless, handcrafted hats created in Rhinebeck. Designer Dana Estelle uses traditional techniques and locally sourced, high-quality materials to craft wearable heirlooms. Inspired by the Hudson Valley and a belief in slow fashion, each hat reflects individuality, artistry, and enduring style—meant to be treasured for generations.
Local Assortment
436 Main Street, Beacon
Localassortment.com
Local Assortment is a women’s boutique in Beacon, featuring modern clothing, accessories, and sustainable finds from local and womenowned brands. Check out Per Lei New York, an in-house line of artisan bags and hats. Swing by for a great gift or a little something special.
The Fabric of Home
RBy Mary Angeles Armstrong
ight after Qiana Mestrich was born her mother was paging through a fashion magazine when an ad caught her eye. The advertisement (which Mestrich still has) was for Dupont ’s new synthetic silk. “It was supposed to be this feminist fabric,” she explains. “It didn’t wrinkle, you didn’t have to iron it. It was a luxurious replacement for silk.” Even the name was cutting edge. “Dupont wanted a unique name that didn’t mean anything in any other language,” says Mestrich. “So a computerized combination of random letters created ‘Qiana.’” It was the ‘70s—the height of the disco era—and the fabric could last all day, as upscale office attire and allnight, showing up in butterfly collar dress shirts popular on the dance floor. Mestrich’s mother had immigrated from Panama in 1969 and was working at a publishing house on Madison Avenue. “It was her dream to come to New York. My mother always had a lot of style and definitely saw the office as a place to dress up,” explains Mestrich. “She thought it was a great name and sounded pretty. So, there’s a sort of fashion origin story to me, which I think carries on through into some of my art.”
Above: Qiana Mestrich and Joseph Cullen in the family’s living room. Their Apt2B leather sectional is large enough to accommodate movie nights for the family of four, or multiple guests when they throw a party. They matched it with a slate coffee table gifted by Cullen’s cousin, interior designer Deirdre Cullen of 2MIX Interiors, and a Mette wool rug. Throughout the home Mestrich’s past creative projects add color and provoke questions. Her most recent show “The Reinforcements” explores women of color in the corporate workplace and is showing at Baxter ST in Manhattan until August 13.
Opposite: The family has decorated the home with a mix of Mestrich’s artwork, collected art and antiques, and thrift store finds. In the dining area, they added a banquette custom made from a vintage brass bass by Milo Baughtman and glass top. On the wall, a Frida Kahlo portrait, Panamanian Mola textile art, and a poster for one of Mestrich’s shows form an eclectic gallery. “My most recent photo collages and assemblages transform everyday objects like telephone cords and archival imagery into art,” says Mestrich. “I chose subjects for their ability to hold multiple meanings, simultaneously referencing the Information Age, and personal adornment.”
Artist Qiana Mestrich’s mountain lodge in West Saugerties
Photos by Winona Barton-Ballentine
From river towns to rolling hills, we’re proud to call the Hudson Valley home. Our deep local expertise, paired with the global strength of Sotheby’s International Realty, means your property is represented with care, reach, and results—no matter where the next chapter leads.
Cullen hung his Nigerian mask collection on one kitchen wall.
Above the sink, a dragon print on Lotka paper was made in Nepal. “My process of abstracting images becomes an act of unmasking,” explains Mestrich. “Breaking down the stereotypical representations to explore the nuances of color, form, and the very construction of identity itself.”
The fabric (“completely unbreathable,” notes Mestrich) went the way of bell-bottoms. However, the moment in time it captures—both for Mestrich personally and in the context of ‘70s-era New York—serves as a jumping-off point for understanding her provocative body of creative work. By mixing photography, letters, found objects, history’s ephemera, and obsolete office supplies, Mestrich weaves a rich tapestry from the profoundly personal, exploring diaspora, family, and how the world of work is (and decidedly is not) changing. Mestrich is the winner of CPW’s 2025 Saltzman Prize, which recognizes the extraordinary achievements of an emerging photographer. She will have an exhibition at CPW in 2026.
That ability to deftly weave such disparate elements—even banal ones like inter-departmental manila folders, mass produced dolls, and ‘70s “feminist” synthetic ware—into rich story telling is on display everywhere in the three-story home she shares with her husband, Joseph Cullen, and their children in West Saugerties. Just as her practice mines overlooked objects to reveal both powerful personal stories and the vibrant, cross-cultural fabric of New York, Mestrich and Cullen took a neglected contemporary chalet and transformed it into their personal haven interwoven with art, family artifacts, and tangled elements of their heritage. “Our style could be described as Afro-modern,” Mestrich says. “It ’ s rooted in the Black Atlantic and the experiences of Black people navigating modernity.”
Salsa Dancing with Tom Jones
Both Cullen and Mestrich had deep connections to the Hudson Valley long before they made it their permanent home. Mestrich, who is half Croatian from her father ’s side, was raised by her mother in Crown Heights, where she was exposed to both art and office life at a young age. Visits to the nearby Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Botanic Garden started early, but Mestrich credits her mother ’ s album collection with sparking her love of art. “My mother had a really great collection of albums, everything from Salsa music to Tom Jones to Michael Jackson,” she says. “I loved the images on the covers and I was also into fashion from an early age. “
Along with regular summertime visits to Panama, Mestrich and her mother visited friends in the Hudson Valley often and she eventually attended high school in Troy where she developed an interest in photography. “I was really into fashion and magazines and thought I wanted to do that at some point,” she says. Her first job, however, was filing at her mother ’s publishing firm on Madison Avenue. After college, she parlayed both her creative interests and her office experience into a job at the Empire State Building working for the online fashion brand FUBU. She gained experience in writing and photography, as well as front-end web development.
Cullen also comes from a rich cultural background. Born in England to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, he grew
up in the country ’s foster care system. Despite his difficult start, Cullen created a hybrid career similar to Mestrich by merging technology with creativity; working as an IT professional while writing screenplays and developing hands-on skills in his free time. Cullen first came to the Hudson Valley as a child to visit relatives who operated a motel in East Durham. As an adult, he moved to New York City, where he met Mestrich.
From the Ground Up
In 2018, with two young children, the couple decided to move out of New York City and stumbled onto their 2.5acre property. Built in 1989, the 1,600-square-foot home had been abandoned for over a year. “It was in foreclosure when we found it,” says Mestrich. “It had also flooded, so it needed a lot of work done.” Still, they loved the sense of privacy offered by the encroaching forest and the location was beautiful. “ The view of Blue Mountain from our deck and bedroom is stunning, especially in winter,” says Mestrich. Soon after, the couple bought the house but kept the family based in Brooklyn while making it habitable for full-time living.
Cullen did most of the work fixing up the home himself, often driving up on Saturday mornings and working until late in the night. Cullen had some carpentry skills and plenty of resourcefulness, but not all the tools or skills to
complete the work, so he called on a friend who had who had built his own home in Orange County. “John came by with everything I needed as well as tips and encouragement to tackle the project,” says Cullen. “He also gave me a weekend lesson on how to use his miter saw and circular saw, and, importantly, how to make cuts without losing fingers.”
Burst copper pipes in the apartment-style ground floor had led to black mold throughout the home, so Cullen ripped out all the home’s drywall, baseboards, and window molding. After hanging new doors, he refinished the ground-floor entrance and bedroom for the couple’s son, as well as adapted a former den into a second bedroom for their daughter.
Cullen also rebuilt the ground-floor bathroom, choosing a mix of classic subway tiles and subway-inspired detailing. “ The downstairs bathroom really just morphed into what it became, which is a tiny New York City subway platform,” says Cullen. “Only without the graffiti or mental-health issues.” Cullen, who was new to laying tile, missed a space, which gave him the chance to be creative. “I made a mistake with the spacing but added a piece of Lego to the grout,” he explains. “ We might have the only tile work in America that incorporates Lego into the design.” He found subwaythemed wallpaper to tie the room together. “I found a wallpaper influencer online,” says Cullen. “ The downstairs bathroom became our nod to New York City.”
Throughout the home’s loft-style primary bedroom, Mestrich mixed her own work with the warm palette of black, yellow, ochre, and tobacco brown textiles found throughout the home. On the left the black and white floral matches an abstract woodcut on the right.
DESIGN SHOWROOMS: Hillsdale, Lakeville, and Hudson
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9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
AugustineNursery.com
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
AugustineNursery.com
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com Spring
8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
FULL-SERVICE
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston, NY (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com
FULL-SERVICE NURSERY •
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm
Spring Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8am–5pm and Sunday, 10am–4pm FULL-SERVICE NURSERY • CUSTOM LANDSCAPE
Top: A living room bookcase features a mix of Mestrich’s work and collected pieces. Above the bookshelf two photos from her 2011 “Afrovision” project capture a closeup of her son’s hair. Intermixed with the books are Mestrich’s collection of vintage cameras and doll heads. “The recurring motifs of masks, dolls, and copies of body parts serve as tools to deconstruct and challenge established narratives of race, gender, identity, and history,” says Mestrich. “My series ‘The Black Doll’ directly confronts the history of racial stereotyping and its impact on childhood development.”
Bottom: A photograph from Mestrich’s series “Trust Your Struggle” hangs over her dresser. Below is a ceramic jewelry box by Woodstock-based artist Ann Morris.
Creative Carpentry
The home ’s main floor includes an openconcept living room, dining room, and kitchen. Cathedral ceilings and multiple floor-to-ceiling windows flood the airy space with light and offer views to the forest. An oversized deck further expands the living space. “ The biggest challenge in the living room was the large bay window with seven-by-four feet of glass held together by only four nails,” explains Cullen. He was able to build a new box frame and match the style of the house. The couple also renovated the home ’s kitchen, adding black granite counters and a suite of new appliances.
Cullen removed a Juliet balcony and rickety railings from the third floor ’s lofted primary bedroom suite. Inspired by a Craigslist find, Cullen reworked the primary bathroom into a tailored space. “ The hand-built Malaysian chest of drawers in red with black script was an incredible find,” says Cullen. “ With a little bit of carpentry on the drawers and a hole for the pipes, the chest became the bathroom’s vanity.” Cullen added Pergo floating floors and remotely controlled lighting, then painted the space limousine black for a dramatic touch.
Past Remnants, Future Materials
By 2024 the home was ready for full-time residence. The shift to remote work enabled Mestrich to convert her 20-year career in SEO marketing to a hybrid model and Cullen got a job in Kingston. The family moved to Saugerties, and have since filled the home with a colorful mix of art and artifacts. A collection of Nigerian masks line one wall; photos and paintings line another.
Hanging from a mannequin in a hallway corner, mixed in with beaded jewelry and knitting, are a few printed Qiana scarves. “Materials and texture are integral to my artistic language,” explains Mestrich. “ These are the threads that connect personal autobiography to broader narratives, weaving together the synthetic and the organic, the fantasy and the raw reality of lived experience.”
Top: During the summer, the family regularly eats outside on their extended deck overlooking the forest. “The trees give us a lot of privacy and the feeling of having a lot more acreage than we do,” says Mestrich. “The elevated deck gives us a commanding view of the property which we love to use for entertaining. It also has spectacular views of Blue Mountain in the winter.”
Bottom: Although the family are avid houseplant lovers, they’ve elected to keep the home’s two-anda-half-acres wild. “We don’t like a manicured lawn and just leave it wild which attracts deer and rabbits. Our neighbor’s goats also love to come and eat our grass and weeds,” says Mestrich. “The 70-foot sloped driveway becomes a great sledding area for our kids in the winter.”
What Happens When a Hospital Listens to Its Patients?
How Vassar’s Patient and Family Advisory Council Helps
By Maggie Baribault
Christine Forman didn’t expect to fall in love with the Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC). As director of patient experience and person-centered care at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, she began attending monthly meetings nearly four years ago out of obligation. It was a sharp pivot from her high-speed days as an emergency department nurse. The meetings weren’t fastpaced. They weren’t clinical. They were raw.
A small group of former patients, family caregivers, community volunteers, and hospital staff gathered around a long table and combed through patient education pamphlets, followup instructions, and discharge procedures. They asked tough questions, shared painful stories, and
proposed changes on everything from signage to how it feels to sit in the waiting room.
Stepping into her new role meant slowing down and inviting criticism. And Forman kept showing up. Month after month, she sat alongside PFAC co-chair Tiffany DeLaCruz and listened. Over time, something shifted. After 17 years in nearly every corner of Vassar—from transporting patients to providing bedside nursing—the PFAC became “my favorite meeting of the month,” she says. “When community members see their ideas come to life, it’s incredibly powerful. There’s no better feeling than being truly seen and heard.”
PFACs like Vassar’s have expanded across the region through systems including Nuvance Health, a network of seven community hospitals
and over 1,000 outpatient facilities in the Hudson Valley and western Connecticut. Though they often operate quietly, PFACs are reshaping how hospitals relate to the people they serve, offering something radical in their simplicity: people talking to people. In an era of public distrust in institutions, they function as small engines of participatory governance within complex and often opaque healthcare systems.
Anatomy of a PFAC
The PFAC model emerged in the late 20th century as part of the patient-centered care movement. Organizations like the Institute for Patient and Family-Centered Care, founded in 1992, challenged the top-down structure of
modern medicine, advocating for care delivered with patients, not to or for them.
PFACs were a practical response to this philosophical shift—ongoing, structured forums to improve care quality, communication, and policy. Unlike one-off surveys or complaint forms, PFACs are a two-way conversation. Participants co-develop solutions, review hospital materials, and raise concerns that might otherwise go unheard, which helps demystify and democratize healthcare systems. “There’s no substitute for hearing directly from those who have walked through our doors,” Forman says.
Collaborative Healthcare Governance
At Vassar Brothers Medical Center—a 349-bed regional hospital serving the Mid-Hudson Valley since 1887—PFAC meetings are held online, with occasional in-person gatherings for special projects or celebrations. Topics range from refining Vassar’s anesthesia education booklet to evaluating “Code Help” awareness materials, and assessing communication clarity in follow-up appointment instructions—elements that may seem procedural, but deeply affect how safe, informed, and supported patients and families feel. “Psychological safety is just as important as physical,” Forman says.
Vassar’s “Code Help” initiative, developed with PFAC input, “empowers family members to request immediate assistance if a loved one’s condition suddenly declines,” Forman says. This program places patients and families at the heart of rapid response. The PFAC “stamp of approval” now appears on the program’s materials.
Similar councils have taken root across the Hudson Valley. Westchester Medical Center (WMC), which oversees Kingston Hospital and MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, runs PFACs focused on improving patient flow and interdepartmental communication. New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s PFACs across Westchester County extend the model to a larger urban context and address cultural competency and accessibility.
Though each council reflects its community, they’re united by a shared structure and purpose. “PFACs are a form of shared governance that fosters transparency and open dialogue,” Forman says. “Everyone involved shares a common goal: to make things better than they were yesterday.”
The Power and Limits of Listening
Still, PFACs aren’t a panacea. Attendance fluctuates. Strong voices may dominate the conversation while others hesitate. Hospital’s regulatory, financial, and logistical frameworks can delay or limit reforms. And despite efforts to diversify councils, gaps in representation persist, particularly among non-English speakers, undocumented residents, and other marginalized groups. But by offering “a real seat at the table,” Forman says PFACs foster incremental but meaningful change.
One poignant example is the Sanderson family, who came to Forman with a formal grievance a few years ago. Instead of closing off, she invited them into the PFAC. Their ongoing involvement, she says, has provided valuable perspective and helped transform conflict into collaboration.
By involving patients and families through PFACs, hospitals demonstrate accountability during a time of political polarization, misinformation, and institutional skepticism. Healthcare, especially, has faced challenges with trust, exacerbated by the pandemic and longstanding disparities in access and outcomes. “PFACs are uniquely positioned to bridge the trust gap,” Forman says. “They do something rare in healthcare: invite the public to help shape the system from the inside out. The result is more human-centered care built on collaboration rather than compliance.”
PFACs prove that participation matters, that voices can be heard, and that institutions can change when they listen. For Forman, this work is personal. “I believe we can make a difference,” she says. “The journey is not easy, but growth happens in the grit. PFAC is that moment of growth every month, and I’ll keep showing up.”
Perched above a glacial lake and nestled in 40,000 acres of preserved forest, Mohonk Mountain House rises from the Shawangunk Ridge like a vision. The Victorian castle, with its wraparound porches, storybook turrets, and majestic views has captivated visitors in search of rest and rejuvenation since it was founded by Albert Smiley in 1869.
Long before wellness became a buzzword, the Smiley family was refining an approach to hospitality that centered immersion in nature as the key to relaxation. From the resort’s founding, the family’s goal was to provide opportunities for recreation and renewal in the beautiful natural setting of the Hudson Valley. In the 1800s, guests engaged in hiking and carriage rides throughout the resort’s property, enjoying stunning mountaintop vistas and the soul-deep respite that only the quietude of nature can provide.
Today, Mohonk’s award-winning spa, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, is responsible for curating a menu of natural excursions, mindful experiences, and rejuvenating treatments that meet the wellness needs of guests from all walks of life. Whether it’s a yoga hike on the resort’s 85 miles of trails, an outdoor meditation session overlooking Lake Mohonk, or a nature-inspired treatment, every part of the Spa at Mohonk Mountain House is designed to foster deep connection to nature and self.
“As we celebrate 20 years of the Spa at Mohonk Mountain House, we’re proud to continue offering experiences that are rooted in nature, mindfulness, and renewal,” says Olivia Andrews, Spa Director. “Our goal is to create experiences that feel both grounding and uplifting—offering a sense of balance that stays with guests long after they leave.”
The spa’s signature experiences seamlessly integrate the resort’s natural surroundings with a modern approach to wellness that draws on traditions from across the globe and throughout time. The Wellness in the Wild program curates seasonal activities designed to show guests just how deeply nature can nurture. Offerings include activities like guided forest bathing walks inspired by Japanese tradition and the Eagle Cliff Mindfulness Hike, a 1.6mile loop complete with QR-code-activated mindfulness exercises led by Mohonk’s Director of Mindfulness, Nina Smiley, PhD.
With the Lakeside Immersion Spa Therapy experience, guests engage in Nordic-influenced wellness at its finest: A bracing cold plunge in Lake Mohonk is followed with a warming tea or cider and ginger inhalation therapy, then capped off with a guided yoga session.
Perched on the cliffs overlooking Lake Mohonk, the Lakeview Summerhouse— perhaps the most picturesque of the resort’s iconic rustic outdoor structures—provides a truly unique setting for spa treatments such as couples massages and private mindfulness, yoga, and meditation sessions. With views of the Shawangunk Ridge and Sky Top Tower, these seasonal experiences draw from the surrounding natural environment, bringing the great outdoors into mind and body.
As any great spa should, there’s also a robust menu of treatments, fitness classes, and mindfulness sessions tempting enough to keep guests occupied all day. Guests can book private sessions or attend group classes for everything from yoga to Pilates, Tai Chi, barre, and circuit training, or get grounded with a variety of
A Legacy of Rejuvenation At Mohonk Mountain House, Nature Has Always Been the Key to Relaxation
guided meditations to focus on breathing and reduce stress.
In honor of the 20th anniversary, the spa team has added two new treatments to its robust menu of massages, facials, and more that marry Shawangunk geology with holistic therapeutic practices. The Crystal Serenity Massage and Crystal Radiance Facial are both inspired by the region’s native quartz crystals, and use their energy to ground the body and clear the mind.
For guests looking to dive deep into healthy living, Mohonk also offers seasonal Wellness Weekend retreats. The next one, coming up November 14-16, is curated by Nina Smiley and the spa staff, and features expert-led workshops on mindfulness, stress reduction, nutrition, and movement. Each day also brings farm-to-table dining, meditation sessions, and yoga classes, reinforcing a daily practice of presence and balance.
As trends in wellness come and go, the resort has remained remarkably timeless in its approach to relaxation. True to the Smiley family’s founding vision and commitment to preserving and stewarding its natural surroundings, Mohonk Mountain House has remained one of the Hudson Valley’s most iconic retreats. As Andrews says, “What makes Mohonk so unique is that we don’t chase trends—we stay true to a philosophy of wellbeing that’s grounded in nature, simplicity, and intention. It’s an approach that honors our surroundings and creates a lasting sense of peace for our guests.”
Mohonk.com
Health+ Wellness Guide
From root-cause healing to cutting-edge therapies, the Hudson Valley is home to a growing constellation of practitioners offering care that nurtures the body, soothes the mind, and restores vitality.
Amber Milanovich, L.Ac.
2821 Route 209, Kingston (718) 938-7907
Ambermilanovich.com
Hot flashes. Night sweats. Insomnia. Irritability. Fatigue. Perimenopause can be disorienting, but with the right care, it’s also an opportunity to realign. In her Kingston clinic, licensed acupuncturist Amber Milanovich uses acupuncture and Chinese medicine to address the root causes of these symptoms and to help patients feel like themselves again. Ready to restore balance and vitality? Book an initial appointment and receive expert, personalized care for this transition.
Find a way forward with clarity and confidence. Realize relationship dynamics, career direction, health strategies, and soul purpose. Kathryn supports and empowers people’s natural intelligence with astrology consulting, tarot, and energy healing. She has been devoted to healing service with heartfelt intuitive wisdom for over 25 years.
Learn more on her website, or call or text her directly. Schedule private sessions, coaching programs, attend online workshops, or healing retreats. Welcoming new clients online, or at her office near Kingston.
Whole Sky Yoga
3588 Main Street Stone Ridge (845) 687-6060
Wholeskyyoga.com
Whole Sky Yoga is a sweet sanctuary located in the quaint hamlet of Stone Ridge. They offer a full schedule of yoga classes seven days a week, as well as Pilates and Barre classes, seasonal workshops, and teacher training. The studio space is charming yet expansive and infused with incredible energy. Locals and visitors alike are warmly welcomed to this uplifting community.
Encore Hair Center
6795 US 9, Suite 14, Rhinebeck (845) 516-5353 Encorehaircenter.com
Offering personalized care for thinning hair, scalp disorders, and advanced hair replacement. Led by certified trichologist Annemichelle Radcliffe, the center combines clinical expertise with compassion to restore both hair health and confidence. Services include scalp and hair assessments, trichology-based wellness, restorative therapies, and precision hair enhancements. Whether someone is seeking solutions for hair loss or scalp concerns, Encore delivers expert, discreet care tailored to their unique needs—helping them love their hair again.
Rivertide Wellness Center
3198 Old Kings Road, Catskill (518) 943-4000 Rivertide.center
Wellness practitioners and body workers are invited to apply for a curated Wellness Residency at Rivertide Center. Part-time or full-time private studios available to emerging or established professionals, with shared access to cozy lounge, full bath, kitchen, and wraparound deck overlooking lush forest and pollinator gardens. Be featured in community meet and greet, online booking, and socials. Mindful movement practices of yoga, kettlebell, and aikido adjoin the individualized support of yoga therapy, personal training, and more in this integrative wellness community. The entire facility is ADA/wheelchair accessible. Apply at Rivertide.center/residency.
Hudson Valley Chiropractic
37 MM Ham Memorial Fire House Lane, Red Hook (845) 835-6466
Hudsonvalleychiropractic.com
It’s a common misconception that newborns enter the world free of stress. But as Dr. Emily Bobson knows, the modern trials and traumas of getting pregnant and going through the birthing process don’t just affect the pregnant person—they form the foundation of the neurological wiring that a child will have throughout their life.
“A lot of times parents will notice their child is not walking or speaking on the expected timeline, and they end up going to an occupational or physical therapist,” says Dr. Bobson, founder of Hudson Valley Chiropractic. “But by then it’s already a deeply held pattern in their bodies.”
Rather than simply treating symptoms, and in stark contrast to the large, cracking-style adjustments that most people associate with chiropractors, Dr. Bobson specializes in neurotonal chiropractic care, which uses gentle pressure to restore ease to the central nervous system so development can progress as it’s meant to.
Using leading technology called INSiGHT scans, Dr. Bobson can create a complete picture of the stresses in her patient’s central nervous system. The scans, which measure thermal patterns, muscle tone, and heart rate variability, reveal how well the brain and body are communicating. According to Dr. Bobson, subtle clues like poor sleep, digestive issues, and even frequent crying can be early signs of an imbalance, while missed milestones are larger flags. Children with conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and anxiety are also among those who can benefit the most from this kind of neurological rebalancing.
While Dr. Bobson emphasizes early intervention in infants and young children, her approach can equally transform the health of older adults who may have unknowingly lived with the effects of nervous system dysfunction since childhood. Her gentle approach is a paradigm shift in preventative care—helping entire families move out of chronic stress and into lasting resilience.
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James Farrell Photo
Wellness Embodied
257 Main Street, New Paltz (845) 743-6878
Wellnessembodiedcenter.com
Talk therapy can be lifechanging, but it can take years to achieve major breakthroughs, transform lifelong habits, and soothe historic wounds.
Psychotherapist Doree Lipson, founder, director, and clinician at Wellness Embodied, has made it her mission to introduce two clinically proven therapies that can cut healing times in half and help those struggling with entrenched life patterns make leaps forward that once seemed out of reach.
Two years ago, the traumafocused psychotherapy practice became the first in the Hudson Valley to offer Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). While ketamine (a dissociative anesthetic that has psychedelic, antidepressant, and moodenhancing effects) has gotten a bad rap recently, Lipson is passionate about educating people about its powerful potential in therapy.
“There are many people who are unfortunately abusing ketamine,” Lipson says. “But it is a proven mental health treatment with incredible success rates, and its use should always be guided by a trained and knowledgeable clinician.” At Wellness Emodied, eight psychotherapists provide KAP, which is self-administered in-office via lozenge as part of an up-to-three-hour session. The program typically lasts for four weeks, but can vary by patient need.
Wellness Embodied is also the only practice in the region that offers EMDR Intensives. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful therapy that alternates stimulation of the brain’s hemispheres for rapid alleviation of distress, and is used to treat PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Four therapists provide the intensives, which range from a single session of approximately four hours up to a three-day session, and are offered online or in person.
Because of their effectiveness, Lipson is committed to pricing both services affordably compared to other providers. She has also conscientiously grown her team to represent a wide range of life experiences. “Our diversity is truly rare, and ensures anyone can feel their own experience mirrored in some large or small way,” she says.
Reawaken Studio
Patrick Abrams, LCSW Owner, Psychotherapist
437 East Allen Street, Hudson Reawakenstudio.com (917) 903-9318
Maybe it’s time to reawaken. Navigating life transitions— home, career, or relationships— can be difficult, especially here in the Hudson Valley and the Berkshires—where change involves moving from one peak to the next valley. Patrick is here to hold space for his clients as they reawaken, reconnect, and redefine. He is a Queer+Affirming Licensed and Board Certified Psychotherapist
Northern Roots
Massage Therapy
7545 North Broadway, Red Hook
Northernrootsmassagetherapy.com
A therapeutic massage business featuring a growing team of unique and experienced bodywork professionals, providing a range of massage therapy modalities and energy healing techniques. With a focus on safe and effective client care, each appointment is customized to the individual based on their health history, needs, and wellness goals. Online booking.
Dreamkeeper Botanicals
New Paltz
Dreamkeeperbotanicals.com
Ashley Lathrop, M.Ed., NBCHWC, blends functional medicine with herbal wisdom to offer personalized health coaching, consultations, and holistic support for women seeking balance, energy, and long-term wellness. Discover root-cause healing through in-person or virtual sessions. Get the support and accountability needed to build a path to resilient health.
Kelta
616 Route 52, Beacon Kelta.life
Kelta is a wellness sanctuary in Beacon blending modern mind-body tech with deep local roots. Founded by a Beacon native and named for three generations of women, Kelta offers sensorydeprivation floats, infrared saunas, cold plunges, vibrational meditation, and compression therapy to support healing, connection, and holistic well-being.
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This group psychotherapy practice is dedicated to serving a diverse, vibrant clientele. Psychologists, psychoanalysts, social workers, mental health counselors, and creative arts therapists offer passionate and compassionate care, addressing individual challenges, whether emotional, relational, cultural, racial, sexual, or political. Multiple location offerings include New York City, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and online.
Elizabeth Rogers, LMHC
Elizabethrogerspsychotherapy.com
elizabethrogers1@icloud.com
Therapy provides a confidential and non-judgmental space to explore one’s current life situations and ongoing patterns including how someone relates to themselves and others. One may discover in therapy that thoughts and ways of behaving no longer serve them, and new ideas and ways of being can be learned that bring greater ease and enjoyment to life.
Body and Soul Studios is committed to helping people unlock their inner wisdom and live a life of purpose and fulfillment. Whether seeking relief from stress and anxiety, or striving to cultivate greater emotional well-being, find support to embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment.
3 Railroad Avenue, Chatham (917) 981-9867
Chathamyogacenter.com
When Rachel Wood first tried yoga in the late ‘90s, she hated it. “It seemed boring and I didn’t like the style,” she says. “But I didn’t even know there were different styles.” Five years later, she took a chance on another class, and her life and career were transformed.
In 2024, after 15 years as a teacher, Wood founded Chatham Yoga Studio on that core principle of discovery. “You have to go through several teachers and styles to find the right combination that works for you,” she says. “That’s when Yoga finally clicks and it can work for you.”
Diversity is baked into the studio’s offerings. Every week, its 12 highly experienced teachers offer more than 20 different classes to meet the needs of students of all fitness levels and stages of life.
For those seeking an approachable entry point, Conscious Yoga draws on the tradition of Viniyoga, a highly personalized style that focuses on attuning breath to movement for increased strength and ease. Yin Yoga invites students to sink into long-held poses for deep relaxation and flexibility through fascial release. For parents, there are four-week Baby/Toddler & Me workshops for navigating the postnatal period, with a class assistant who helps wrangle the little ones. For experienced yogis or athletes, Wood leads Fusion Yoga, a sweat-inducing class that combines Ashtanga Vinyasa poses with energetic pacing.
All of the studio’s classes are also offered online for a $8/class or $50/ month for unlimited. “It’s great for winter weather, or maybe you’ve got some time during your kid’s nap,” Wood says. “You never know what’s preventing someone from coming. Offering everything online was always a no-brainer.”
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Chatham Yoga Center
Keetch Miller Photography
CIVIC REMIX Woodstock
By Anne Pyburn Craig Photos by David McIntyre
Woodstock Town Supervisor Bill McKenna declined to run for a fifth term this year, and local Democrats voted in late June for Anula Courtis, a two-term council member who ran her primary on a platform of transparency and community engagement.
“My background in both the private sector and local government has taught me that real progress starts with trust, transparency, and a commitment to engaging people meaningfully in the decisions that affect their lives.” she says. “In Woodstock, that means creating space for open conversation, even when issues are contentious or complex.”
Courtis will certainly have her work cut out for her. Issues that arise in Woodstock tend toward complexity. And even when folks agree about a need for more housing, for example—the particulars of getting from point A to point B can get considerably contentious.
Take Zena Woods. Developers Evan Kleinberg and Eddie Greenberg bought 624 acres straddling the Woodstock/ Ulster town line and originally came to the town proposing 191 units of housing, an 18-hole golf course, and a heliport.
“It was very much just an idea that we had, and we wanted to be transparent with the planning board and with the community, and share our idea,” says Kleinberg. “We got a lot of backlash. It was productive; it was the feedback that we were looking for at that time. And we realized very quickly that our idea was not what the town wanted there.”
That was in summer of 2023. The developers came back to the town in late 2024 with a proposal for a 30-lot
subdivision with a recreation center and pickleball courts, scrapping the golf course and heliport. Complicating the situation from the start was the geography: the section of the parcel that the owners currently wish to subdivide is landlocked in the town of Ulster, and the only practical access is a private road running a little over a mile through the town of Woodstock. Abutting the parcel is the Woodstock Land Conservancy’s Israel Littman Sanctuary, and even the smaller proposal is not something the Conservancy folks want next door.
“It’s very clear that they’re going for their bottom line, and it’s very clear that they’re not thinking about the environment and the people who currently live here, and that’s just not fair to our community or to the people who actually need housing,” says Andy Mossey, executive director of the Conservancy. “At the end of the day, they’re not going to be fulfilling the need for the housing; it’s about their need to fulfill their bottom line and pull in people who can afford to live in extremely expensive homes.”
Concerns raised by the opponents include wetlands protection, water supply, traffic, and the provision of emergency services given the divided jurisdiction. Kleinberg says that the original proposal included affordable housing; in the downsized subdivision, that math no longer works, but he’d still like to see a mix in which fancier homes help cover the cost of some that sell for under a million—in line, he observes, with the price tags of the existing homes changing hands. To solve the emergency
Opposite
Opposite below: The
Quartet performing at Maverick Concert Hall on July 13.
Above: State Senator Michelle Hinchey speaking with constituents at a forum at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center on July 9.
above: A deer browsing in a parking lot off Rock City Road.
Miro
Opposite above: A free concert
Opposite below: Mower's Flea Market is in its 48th year in a grassy field on Maple Lane. The market continues on weekends through October.
services conundrum, they propose a homeowners association that would collect and render to Woodstock the same amount that those homeowners would be paying in taxes. Mossey says that homeowners associations are an alien concept in the neighborhood, and that the Conservancy doesn’t trust the developers’ stated intention to keep the 500 acres located in Woodstock undeveloped.
Both Woodstock and Ulster have expressed their desire to be lead agency in the state environmental review process, a question that the state DEC is expected to decide in the near future. The developers say their most recent appearance before the town planning board actually left them feeling encouraged; the opponents are still hoping the land can be kept wild and become part of Catskill Park, open to the public free of charge, like the Conservancy’s new 30-acre Rock Oak Preserve in West Hurley.
Rebuilding for the Long Haul
Another plan that’s been downsized is a new youth and community center at Andy Lee Field, a facility largely unchanged in 75 years. The first proposal included an indoor pool and gymnasium, and task force leader Ben Schacter admits that may have been overly ambitious. But he says the town still needs and deserves an upgraded, intergenerational facility, ideally with an outdoor pool,
covered sports courts, and a dedicated farmers’ market space.
“Removing the indoor facilities will free up a ton of green space,” says Schacter. “Some people simply thought it would cost too much money, and I think that’s a very valid issue. We’re doing our best to continue to raise funds; we’ve raised over a million dollars in pledges so far, and we’re in the process of applying for grants. Most importantly, we’re not gonna spend any of this money ourselves—we are just an advisory committee to the town board. What they have promised is to hold a public referendum to decide if we should spend this kind of money, and that’s where we are right now.”
Courtis believes robust public discussion will shed light on the right way forward on these and other plans. “Collaborative problem-solving requires clear-sighted leadership that listens, builds coalitions, and makes decisions grounded in fairness and fact. It also means working with the right people, those committed to the greater good, to move things forward,” she says. “Not everyone will agree on every issue, and that’s okay. This isn’t a popularity contest. Our responsibility is to make informed, forward-looking decisions because people’s wellbeing and quality of life depend on it. When we act with respect, seek consensus where we can, and root our work in shared values, we build something lasting.”
Above: Nina Deacon of the Linda Diamond Dance Company performing "Mother Earth Beckons" at the Kleinert/James Art Center on Tinker Street.
on the lawn of the Dutch Reformed Church on Tinker Street.
Possibly the most ironic debate in Woodstock has been the one about the acceptable volume of live music, a topic that a task force has been wrestling with since spring of 2023. Neil Howard, owner of live music venue Colony, thinks a sweet spot may have been found but he knows not everyone will concur. “No live music ever is not going to work, and a free-for-all seven nights a week won’t either,” Howard says. “Somewhere around three or four is probably about right. We’re allowed to do patio and acoustic whenever we want and that’s great. We do medium-volume outdoor events on Fridays and Saturdays, and we have five big ticketed events a year. But some of the live music supporters feel things are too draconian, and then there are those who object to any audible music at all. People say that’s new folks from the city, but it’s largely not—it’s people who came here 40 years ago and now they don’t play anymore and they want silence. A couple of weeks ago we had a concert called Back To the Garden, a sort of highlight reel of covers of the original concert, Hendrix and so on. We got complaints—from someone who takes pride in saying ‘I’m from Woodstock,’ gets off on being from this famous town, but actually doesn’t want
the thing that made it that way.” Regardless of those opinions, the Colony will welcome the Women of Reggae Fest, Joan Osborne, and an afternoon benefit, Democracy Rocks!, to their outdoor garden this month.
Summer is high season at Maverick Concerts, and its signature offering, the Chamber Music Festival is in full swing through mid-September. It’s been happening annually since 1916, back when the old guard at Maverick and Byrdcliffe Arts Colony got their own share of side-eye. It’s music director Alexander Platt’s 23rd season at Maverick, and he says things just keep getting better. “It’s a beautiful world within the beautiful world that is Woodstock,” he says. “We have a beautiful new green room; our Saturday family series is more vigorous than ever—it’s been free the past two years—and we’re thriving in our newfound tradition of ever more eclectic offerings—Saturday nights we have jazz and Americana; Sundays we showcase many of the world’s greatest string quartets. Young couples start out bringing their kids to the Saturday show and then a few years later, we’ll see the whole gang on Sunday for Beethoven. We’re just going from strength to strength, and every day is a joy.”
Platt hopes you’ll come out and listen, maybe grab a membership; this is no time, he says, to take Maverick for granted. “We suffered a real body blow when the $35,000 grant we were awarded from the National Endowment for the Arts was rescinded in March. Still, we get packed houses full of wild enthusiasm. We’re finding our path forward.”
From Drum Circles to Digital Journalism
Pathfinding is a very Woodstock trait. When the Woodstock Times was absorbed into the regional Hudson Valley One during the pandemic, Golden Notebook bookstore owner Jacqueline Kellachan began to feel that there might be room for a fresh source of hyperlocal news coverage. Since February the Overlook—staffed by folks with impressive journalistic careers in larger markets alongside passionate young reporters—is covering Hunter, Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, Shandaken, and Woodstock. “People are really loving the journalism and the focus on in-depth stories,” says Kellachan. “We bring them stories they don’t get elsewhere—a library fair in Olive, affordable housing in Tannersville—and we’ve seen our subscribers double since we launched. And people
Arlene Rosano leading an improv class for seniors at Woodstock Town Hall.
tell us they really, really look forward to getting that email from the Overlook every Friday.”
All over the region, pandemic lockdowns gave creatives—both new arrivals and longtimers—lots of time to think and conspire, followed by exuberant creative endeavors that now fuel new levels of fun. The trend shows no signs of slowing, and Woodstock is no exception. “Fourth of July was insane, just mobbed,” says Kellachan. “I think that people love to come here because you can walk from one end of town to another and with maybe one exception, every business is an independent business,” she says. “And that’s just not something that exists in much of the United States, but here in the Hudson Valley, it does, and people love being in spaces curated by humans. I think that’s one of the longstanding attractions of Woodstock in particular—indie businesses, the Mowers Flea Market, drum circles on the Green. People will always be moaning about parking, of course, and traffic; I’d be sad if I didn’t hear those complaints.’
Twenty-year resident Craig Leonard, owner of restaurants Good Night and Silvia, has recently launched a new venture: Gemela, an all-day cafe, restaurant, and bar. “Gemela is very different, a breakfast and lunch cafe, not a full-service restaurant,” Leonard says. “Silvia and Good Night are established and thriving; Gemela just opened in June, and people are still finding out about us—and as they do, they’re enjoying the food and the space very much. I have a different partner for this one—my extremely talented sister-in-law, Lisa Choi—and the opportunity arose to showcase what she can do, and it’s beautiful.”
Leonard says the town is hopping. “I see no reason that shouldn’t continue. It’s a great, fun place to be. There have been controversies ever since Hervey White founded Byrdcliffe Arts in the early 20th century,” he says. “There’s always debate in a small town, where everyone has their own ideas of how it should be. But for our part, we just love having places where people can relax, kick back, and spend quality time together.”
With no Republican candidate on the horizon, Courtis seems firmly on track to become Woodstock’s first ever supervisor from the LGBTQ community, possibly leading its first-ever all-female board. Expect collaboration, and lots of it. “On topics like noise or policing, it’s essential to begin with honest dialogue: listening to different lived experiences, acknowledging frustrations, and structuring conversations so that everyone has a chance to be heard,” she says. “With challenges like housing affordability, the path forward has to be strategic and community-driven. That includes setting clear goals, from expanding affordable options to updating outdated zoning, and involving residents in shaping long-term solutions.”
Top: Digital news site the Overlook, covering Woodstock and the surrounding communities, launched in February. Founders Jacqueline Kellachan and Scott Widmeyer are pictured with editor-in-chief Noah Eckstein.
Middle: Overlook Bakery owners and partners Rosie and Mike DeVito outside the bakery on Tinker Street.
Bottom: Daisy Montez, owner of The Red Foxxx lingerie shop; Beth Bogulski, owner of Millie + Madge women's shoe store; and Heather Nicosia, owner of Three Turtle Doves vintage shop photographed at Millie + Madge on Tinker Street.
Woodstock
Pop-Up
Portraits by David McIntyre
Thanks to all who joined us at the Woodstock Farm Festival on July 9.
OPPOSITE: Top row: Tracey Griner, retired with Sadie; Alan Gottesman, Woodstock Appreciates Its Volunteers; Amalea Isaacs and Uma Robayo, students; Andrea Ward, musician and choreographer; Andy Mossey, executive director, Woodstock Land Conservancy;
Middle row: Anula Courtis, councilperson and Democratic supervisor nominee; Holly Scanlan, Happy Life Productions; Bruce Milner, dentist, Transcend Dental; Arlene Rosano, Woodstock Improv acting teacher, Woodstock Senior Rec Center; Charlotte Smiseth, assistant program director, HomeShare Ulster County.
Bottom row: Erika Haberkorn, sound energy healer and vegan chef; Craig Mawhirt, archivist; Deanne Harriet, supervisor case manager, Family of Woodstock; Heather Caufield, artistic director, Woodstock School of Art; Helena McGill, owner of Morphologically Aromatherapy and real estate agent.
Inset: Johanna Doyle, intern at Woodstock School of Art with Hank.
Top row: Julia Indichova, founder/CEO FertileHeart.com; Howard Cohen, Local Goods and Karen Cohen, Nosh Woodstock; Jeffrey Alan Cella, producer, writer, cinematographer, actor, musician, art curator; Jennifer Drue, yoga and sound Healing at Sound Mind Space and developer at Lighthouse Guild, with Zen.
Middle row: Tessa DeLisio, artist and barista/baker at Overlook Bakery, Kylie King, trail steward at Catskill Mountainkeeper, Eleanor Schackne-Martello, captain of own ship; Debbi Adelman, retired English teacher and Inyo Charbonneau, art teacher; Julian Lines and Wendy Lines, Matagiri Center with Radha the schnoodle.
Bottom row: Rebecca Miller, photographer and Kennedy Davey, producer; Joan Apter, aromatherapy classes, massage and products; Linda Diamond, choreographer/dancer, Linda Diamond & Company.
Inset: Cathy McNamara, Niko McNamara, Jo Yanow-Schwarrz, Tom Pignone, Andrea Kurzman, senior trainer and CCAPP.
OPPOSITE, Top Row: Liz Piccoli, artistic director, Queen of Rogues Art Space, with Grey James Pearson; Lucia Swartz, baker; Lynne Alterman, therapist; Mandy Lehrer, therapist, with Welles, Edie, Gigi; Mary Anne Van Wagner, TV editor.
Second row: Michael Raphael, psychologist; Mike DuBois and Kelly Sinclair, HappyLife Productions; Nina Doyle, executive director, Woodstock School of Art with Carol Davis and Karen Whitman; Paul McMahon, musician, artist, sloganeer.
Third row: Olivia Ingle, artist/painter and Amadeo Manenti, artist/musician; Peter Blum, hypnotherapy/ sound healing; Peter Koch, ecologist; Phillip X. Levine, Chronogram poetry editor; Rena Jacobs, event producer, with Molly Jacobs.
Bottom row: Ron Goldin, design, with Jake Goldin and Stella; Richard Fusco, WDST Radio Woodstock with Peggy Fusco, Gardening Angels; Rennie Cantine, designer/musician.
Top row: Shiv Mirabito, poet, publisher, bookshop owner; Rosalind Dickinson, writer; Tom Zatar-Kay, author of The Meaning of Life; Victoria Levy, vocal teacher at Rock Academy and Justin Foy, WDST Radio Woodstock DJ, with Jack the Dog; Robin "the Hammer" Ludwig, art goldsmith.
Middle row: Stefanie Frank, Eskffnest Healing Arts Retreat Center; Jocelyn Lieu, writer and professor, Chuck Wachtel, writer; Sam Truitt, poet, publisher, and organizer of the Woodstock Festival of Awakening and Kimber Truitt, yogi, artist, and writer; Sarah Greer Mecklem and Lisa Montanus, Citizens Concerned About Plastic Pollution.
Bottom row: William Schraut, retired; Eliza Downton, Wylder Downton, Waverly Williamson, Noa Maikowski, Chloe Cook, Edie Lehrer, Georgia Lehrer, and Welles Bidnick; Sabrina Asch, Major Mayhem Karaoke and Entertainment.
Inset: Bradley Tucker, Bearsville Theater and family.
Top row: Woodstock Appreciates its Volunteers crew: Jessica Anna, Britt St. John, Kate Mack, Helene Aptekar, Peggy Fusco, Sam Magarelli, Alan Gottesman, Nina Doyle.
Second row: Woodstock Artists Association & Museum crew: Yvonne Rojas-Cowan, exhibitions director; Sue DeSanna, gallery assistant; Tara Foley, education director; Suzy Jeffers, gallery manager.
Third row: Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild crew: Jen Dragon, exhibitions director; Gabriella Kirby, operations manager; Eoin Dennis, artists-inresidence operations manager; Robert Langdon, programming director.
Bottom row: Woodstock Library crew: Hollie Ferrara, Children’s Program assistant; Steve Almaas, library clerk; Hannah Garden, library clerk; Ivy Gocker, director; Katerina Fiore, library clerk; Sarah Wilder, library clerk; Roger Lazoff, handyman.
Route 28 Road Trip
1053
Gallery
1053 Main Street, Fleischmans (845) 254-3461 1053gallery.com
Located in the heart of the Catskills, 1053 Gallery is a contemporary art space dedicated to bridging the gap between emerging and established artists. By showcasing innovative, thought-provoking work, it fosters dialogue across generations and styles. The gallery champions fresh voices while celebrating recognized talent, creating a dynamic platform for artistic growth and cultural exchange. Beyond exhibitions, 1053 Gallery actively engages the local community through artist talks, film series, and literary readings, creating a vibrant, cultural hub. Its commitment to accessibility and creative exchange makes it a vital destination for art lovers and creators alike. The current exhibit, “3 Friends” runs from August 2 through September 7, and features works by Angela Dufresne, Brenda Goodman, and Mala Iqbal.
Lark in the Park Catskillslark.org
The Catskill Mountain Club and the Catskill Center are partners dedicated to preserving and enhancing the natural wonders of this magnificent region while providing unforgettable experiences for visitors. This year’s Lark in the Park—a series of outdoor events to celebrate the Park—will take place October 4-13.
Phoenicia Diner
5681 Route 28, Phoenicia (845) 688-9957
Phoeniciadiner.com
The Phoenicia Diner has a long history of serving customers who are drawn to the Catskills’ natural beauty. The menu offers diner favorites, sometimes with a modern twist, using seasonal and local ingredients. Open Thursdays through Tuesdays 8am-6pm. Plus coming soon to Kingston: Phoenicia Diner Canteen!
The Catskill Water Discovery Center
East Branch Nature Preserve, 669 County Road 38, Arkville Waterdiscoverycenter.org
Presenting “Headwaters,” the inaugural exhibition in a new series of on-site installations showcasing the work of artists Lisa Hein, Liza Phillips, and Bob Seng. Suspended canoes hover in the forest canopy, suggesting historic high-water levels, the movement of fish, and the impacts of climate change. Set within the East Branch Nature Preserve, “Headwaters” is both playful and profound, inviting visitors to reflect on the floodplain past and future. Engage with art, landscape, and the powerful stories carried by the river’s current.
Image Sap, Stock, Scion 60 x 72 in. Oil on wood with branch, 2025 Angela Dufresne, Brenda Goodman, and Mala Iqbal
rural intelligence
In the Bag
Hudson Pocketbook Factory Reopens as Five-Star Hotel in October B y Jamie Larson
Hudson’s city-block-sized Pocketbook Factory stood abandoned in an otherwise residential neighborhood for half a century—a monolithic reminder of the collapse of local industry generations ago. This October, the massive brick facility, built in 1883, reopens as the fivestar Pocketbook Hudson boutique hotel and baths.
The $42 million resurrection is now a symbol of the city’s 21st-century economic revival. With 46 guest rooms, a spa, nightclub, restaurant, and retail and gallery space, the enterprise is a capstone on Hudson’s contemporary 20-year transformation from counterculture, artsy outpost to a premiere Hudson Valley tourist destination.
After four years of construction and red-tape limbo by a consortium spearheaded by MacArthur Holdings, HN Capital Partners, Sean Roland, Nancy Kim, and Gabriel Katz, Pocketbook Hudson is now accepting reservations for October. Some amenities, like the spa, will not be open at launch.
Rooms range from cozy studios to sprawling corner suites, with pricing at $379 for standard rooms and $749 for suites.
Designed by Charlap Hyman & Herrero, interiors blend the building’s industrial heritage— brick walls, heavy timbers, and big iron windows— with modern accents. Roland says that most of the ownership team has direct ties to Hudson.
“I grew up nearby, just outside of Chatham, and would come visit (Hudson) as a child.” Roland says. “I moved back here from San Francisco over a decade ago and the transformation is remarkable. We are confident in Hudson’s future and in Pocketbook for many reasons—because we have roots here, because of the undeniable beauty of the region, because of the unique historic character of Hudson itself, and, most importantly because of the vibrant and creative community of residents, visitors, and local businesses.”
A History of Stops and Starts
Originally housing the Athens Knitting Mill— one of the area’s largest employers—the factory later became home to the Kadin Brothers Pocketbook Company until it closed in the 1970s. Vacant for decades, plans to restore it have
prompted both enthusiasm and caution. In 2021, the Hudson Community Benefits Alliance asked the Columbia County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to foster local hiring, workforce housing, and meaningful community engagement before approving tax breaks for the current project. While those specific requirements were not formally mandated for Pocketbook Hudson, the city government did impose a moratorium on new hotel tax concessions while updating its incentive framework after Pocketbook Hudson’s benefits were approved.
In December 2021, the IDA unanimously approved the redevelopment—providing approximately $1.4 million in tax benefits, contingent on agreements to hire local residents and support workforce development.
“I like to think that we made collaborative agreements, rather than simply agreeing to stipulations,” Roland says. “We worked with the local Hudson Industrial Development Agency to enter into a PILOT agreement which is not a tax break, rather an agreement to structure our tax
Once a long-abandoned industrial relic, the 1883 Pocketbook Factory has been reborn as Pocketbook Hudson—a five-star hotel and spa set to open this fall.
payments in a predictable escalation schedule over the course of a decade. This enabled us to feel confident in making such a large investment and we are grateful to the IDA and to the city for their support in our vision.
The project also secured $7 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy funding to support energy efficiency and environmental impact mitigation systems, and state historic rehabilitation tax credits.
Kitchen and Bath
Of the amenities to come, Roland is excited but tight-lipped. What he will say about the future restaurant is that it will be “Breezy, beautiful, and delightful with generous, unpretentious, and friendly service,” adding that the intention is to be open every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“We’re not revealing too much just yet, but I’ll just say that we have a very talented chef on board and the menu focuses on the bounty and seasonality of ingredients in the Northeast, but with a bit more fire and flare than the typical New American bistro might have.”
As for the bath, Roland says it’s his favorite part of the project, even if it may be a while before the taps start flowing. “We were inspired by many global bathing traditions,” he says. “for example the Sento, the Thermae, and the Hammam, just to name a few. As a bunch of bathing and spa enthusiasts, we felt that Hudson really needs this type of offering! And we all know that winter up here is long, and a good soak or steam can do wonders.”
When open, Pocketbook Hudson will account for a 10 percent increase in the city’s lodging capacity. The project’s development partners assert that the property will enhance downtown foot traffic without displacing existing neighborhoods, aligning with community-centered goals.
“We set out to create a place led by curiosity,” says Roland. “We can’t wait to share it.”
Rural Intelligence covers the cultural and community life of the Berkshires, Columbia County, northern Dutchess County and northwest Connecticut, with a focus on arts, food, events, and the people who make the region vibrant, creative and connected. Ruralintellignce.com
Tapas & Pizza Award Winning Wine List
65 Church Street Lenox, MA 01240 413-637-9171
Tapas & Pizza Award Winning Wine List 65 Church Street Lenox, MA 01240 413-637-9171
www.bravalenox.com
www.bravalenox.com
O M B R A
Wine-Beer-Food
27 Housatonic St. Lenox, MA
Open 5pm to 1 am
Kitchen Till Midnight
Closed Sundays
The definitive guide to the Rural Intelligence region. Delivered directly to your inbox.
Ian Flanigan
The Man My Mama Raised (Reviver Records)
Country music is such a minefield these days. It’s so easy to stray, either into falsely earnest Americana or the muddy cliches of modern Nashville—none of which need to be reiterated here. With his latest disc, The Man My Mama Raised, gruff-toned Saugerties “The Voice” singer Ian Flanigan certainly dabbles with each, but overall, he succeeds in a walking a considered line between the two. Flanigan’s album is well-produced (by John Stone), with a clearly commercial bent, but it’s facile to curse it like that’s a bad thing. Suffice to say, it sounds great and radio ready. “Rather Be Country,” for example, does start with the unmistakable sound of a pickup truck engine, swiftly redeemed by sawing fiddle and riffing electric guitar; and just as swiftly spins back off the road by lyrics that lean heavily bro. Yet the song cooks, and the line “Sometimes you gotta get a little dirt on your angel wings” soars.
The title track follows, its power-ballad ambitions leavened with traces of mandolin and its lyric locating a decidedly tender vision of nostalgic country motherhood. And, man, does Flanigan show off his baritone pipes. Lenesha Randolph partners with the star-in-waiting on a cover of the 1984 Tina Turner hit “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” adding a welcome contrasting color while Flanigan expands his sonic palette. Would that more of the record danced with the pedal steel-inflected neo-bluegrass tones of the gently lusty “Evergreen,” which well frames Flanigan’s rasp.
—Michael Eck
Dauber Falling Down (Dromedary Records/State Champion Records)
Hudson’s Dauber blasts out of the speakers like a runaway freight train; insistent power pop hooks, piledriving drums, and noise-bleeding production values. Dauber is the latest project of former Screaming Females bassist Mike Abbate, here on lead guitar and vocals and ably abetted by Jenna Fairey (drums) and Quinn Murphy (bass). Too often, the pop-punk genre sounds sanitized on record, emphasizing the well-rounded edges of the former while lacking the grittiness of the latter. Close your eyes while listening to Dauber and you’ll be absorbed by the sweaty, chaotic energy of a punk-rock dive bar. Songs like “Idle Mind,” “Holding You Back,” and “Memory Lane” are all durably constructed compositions, played with aggressive abandon and just enough space for a concise guitar solo. Falling Down never wears out its welcome, with a blitz of 13 songs in under 30 minutes.
— Jeremy Schwartz
Patricio Morales
La Tierra Canta (Northsouth Records)
Don’t be fooled by its laid-back Latin rhythms: La Tierra Canta, the latest album from Chilean American jazz guitarist, composer, and Red Hook resident Patricio Morales, is welling with emotion. The title track introduces us to Morales’s guitar dexterity as well as the light-fingered accordion of Vitor Goncalvez and is filled with ascending, misty-eyed harmonies. The second track, “Armando,” veers into a boisterous samba, emboldened by the earthy upright bass of Sebastian de Urquiza. In “Tale of Tales,” an angular and suspenseful piano solo (also from Goncalves) confirms the band’s improvisatory wizardry, while the arrangement meanders like a multi-chaptered epic poem. The masterful push and pull of Morales’s guitar is felt in full force on “4 De Diciembre,” a lonesome track that builds into a canter. “Realismo Magico” starts with a dusty desert groove laced with South American inflections but abandons form completely and settles into free improv, a place that, along with Chile and the Hudson Valley, feels right at home for Morales.
—Tristan Geary
SOUND CHECK | Ginger Winn
Each month we ask a member of the community to tell us what music they’ve been digging.
Lately I’ve been listening more like a student than a casual fan. Not in a “music feels like work” kind of way, but more like a quiet study. Writing for Sal Valentenetti, whose voice is pure classic vibes, has pulled me deep into jazz and bossa nova. The rhythm and unexpected chords have been opening new doors in how I write. But when I need to tap back into the spark that lit [Winn’s 2025 sophomore album] Freeze Frame, I return to the classics that shaped it: Lungs by Florence + the Machine, anything by Fleetwood Mac (especially Rumors and their self-titled album), and Coldplay’s entire discography. Those artists and others helped me and [producer] A. J. Yorio build a haunting, melodic, and emotive world for that album.
I don’t replay the same songs often. I’m always taking notes, always scanning for new realizations in sound. But recently I’ve been drawn to Stephen Sanchez and his fresh take on timeless styles. I’ve also found a whole new appreciation for John Legend now that I understand more about jazz and non-rock traditions. Laufey, of course, is a master of the modern classic, and [singer-songwriter] aron! has been a bright, joyful spark on my playlists. I’ve noticed that happier music feels really good, which I didn’t realize a few months ago!
Singer-songwriter Ginger Winn is based in Kingston. She will perform at Reason and Ruckus in Poughkeepsie on August 1, the Door Daze Festival in Kingston on August 21, and Opus 40 in Saugerties on August 23. Freeze Frame is out now on vinyl via Diggers Factory and digitally. Gingerwinn.com
Photo by Brooklyn Zeh
Home: A Love Story
Stephen H. Foreman
ALTERNATIVE BOOK PRESS, 2025, $20
Foreman’s latest novel is a luminous novel of love, loss, and belonging, set in the rugged beauty of the Catskills. Centering on Thea, raised by her wise and irreverent grandfather after a tragic loss, the story unfolds with warmth, wit, and quiet emotional power. Foreman’s poetic language and deep human insight make this his most resonant work yet—a meditation on grief, memory, and the ties that endure. Drawing from a life richly lived, Foreman delivers a heartfelt tribute to family and the unspoken moments that shape us. A masterwork from a seasoned storyteller.
All We Trust
Gregory Galloway
MELVILLE HOUSE, 2025, $20
This West Cornwall, Connecticut, author’s newest noir tells the edge-of-your-seat story of two brothers, Al and Peck, who live double lives as small business owners and money launderers. Everything starts to deteriorate when Al’s hard drive, containing millions of dollars of cryptocurrency, disappears, and the two get involved in an international clash between competing crime organizations. Neither brother knows who to blame, and they’re both too stubborn to blame themselves. The novel is both a captivating crime thriller and a story of betrayal between siblings.
Sounds of Summer in the Country
Michael Ruby
BLAZEVOX [BOOKS], 2025, $18
Written in Columbia County, Ruby’s book turns bird calls into poetry. He paid close attention to the songs of different birds, translating the sound into syllables. The result is something abstract and fascinating, like the lines, “UNKNOWN BIRD: You better not go. You better not go. You better not. You better not go home. / CATBIRD: And? And? And?” Crickets, cicadas, and the whirrings of machines are incorporated into his poetry as well. Ruby plays with font size, repetition, and stanza length to create a singular piece of work. The poetry reads as though nature is taunting him to write.
The Children See Everything J. C. Hopkins EPONYMOUS BOOKS, 2025, $16
The first sentence of this novel hits like the sky falling: “When Manuel told me he had seen his father kill his mother I thought he was joking.”
The narrator, Gerald, is as skeptical of Manuel’s statement as he is afraid that Manuel is telling the truth. Despite Manuel’s assertion, the two young boys have to continue their lives as normal, trying to shake the nauseating dread they feel around Manuel’s dad. The novel is equal parts murder mystery and coming-of-age story, as Gerald tries to navigate such a grotesque revelation while trying to maintain his friendship with Manuel.
Loose Limbs: A Story of Survival
Elizabeth Young, illustrated by Alyse Roe
EPIGRAPH PUBLISHING, 2025, $17
Young, a disability advocate from Rhinebeck, wrote Loose Limbs to help disabled children cope with their circumstances. The story is inspired by Young’s own experience. After an accident, she used her imagination to navigate her way through a difficult time. The book follows Maddie after she endures a complex brain injury in an accident and loses control of her left hand and foot. Her hand and foot become characters of their own, named Louie and Phil. Ultimately, these characters end up providing a sense of hope for Maddie in her recovery. Despite her isolation from friends and an underlying fear that she’ll never recover, Maddie lives unapologetically.
—Katie Ondris
The Rabbit Club
By Christopher J. Yates HANOVER SQUARE PRESS, 2025, $30
It’s clear from the first page of The Rabbit Club that Christopher J. Yates loves literature—its history, wisdom, and wordplay. Born and raised in the UK, he both toasts and roasts the Brits’ oddities, their superiority complex over the US, and their knack for holding long grudges. The novel’s protagonist, Alistair, who goes by Ali, straddles both cultures. He’s the son of Dolly, a Texan beauty queen, and Gel McCain, an aging rock star in the mold of Keith Richards, in the band the Pale Fires. Ali is a frosh at Cockbayne (or, in Yates’s parlance, a “fresher at uni”), a college in the UK pronounced like the last name of Nirvana’s Kurt. Gel abandoned Dolly and Ali before the child was two; they haven’t seen one another since. Speed ahead to college, which Ali chose in part because it was near his father’s massive country estate.
Ali’s first days in England highlight his complex feelings about being an American in the UK—about being abandoned by his famous father, about his aspirations to join the Saracens, an elite boys’ club to which one must be invited. Colored bands on the Saracens’ top hats indicate ascendant levels of hierarchy, named for differently colored rabbits. Here’s where the allusions to literature take flight. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a constant touchstone (top hats, rabbits, tea, drugs); Shakespearean quotes by Ali crop up like weeds, and Nabokov is batted about gleefully (note the band name, the Pale Fires). Brideshead Revisited is another obsession and recurring motif.
William Wynne-Goode is Ali’s assigned roommate, a snooty, pedigreed Brit whose purported destiny is to become a top government leader. The roomies don’t vibe at first, and Ali falls into the company of more bohemian types, including sister/brother twins Izzy and Guy, and a wannabe Rasta nicknamed T-bone. Of course, nothing is as it seems; chasms close, assumed truths fall apart, and feelings shatter. Ali’s lack of self-assuredness is exposed when he pretends to be a vegetarian to impress Izzy. T-bone reveals himself as the heir to a bank and a vast fortune. The twins, who have the same surname, were only pretending. By the time this emerges, hearts and loyalties have been broken, and tragedy ensues.
The novel’s narrative unspools in chapters which alternate with those printed in italics, and which describe the receipt of diary entries, one at a time, by a Professor William Goodwin, residing in Kidlington (a fictional town in upstate New York). I confess to feeling in the dark while reading these numerous italicized chapters until close to the end, after a seismic reveal.
Upon being reunited with Ali, who simply shows up at his estate and is at first chased away, Gel rues his careless ways and attempts to make amends with his son. (This despite his seventh wife trying to poison Ali at their first dinner together.) Ali constantly tests strangers about their love or hate of the Pale Fires, by then an oldies-but-goodies band whose frontman, according to some, was ruined by a Yoko-like Yankee, his mother. Ali’s suspicious of Gel’s intentions when his father throws him a surprise birthday party in the local pub. Gel receives so much attention that Ali thinks it was to sate his dad’s own voracious ego. Nothing is ever hunky dory, but they reconcile to a surprising degree.
Yates, who studied at Oxford and resides in New Paltz, carves fairly shallow caricatures for his cast, perhaps for brevity’s sake. I found myself yelling at the book for small things. For example, Ali runs out of money, unable to buy food. Many might look for work in order to survive, even under-the-table gigs—but not Ali. There are few solid female characters, and those of interest relate to the protagonist as romantic interests, either as object or pursuer. Yates drops in all sorts of Britishisms, and has Gel (the rocker) and Ali’s fellow student Vic, a Scot, talk in patois. So many Bardian quotes are scattered throughout dialogue that it feels like a constant humble brag. I can quote Shakespeare at any occasion! (He embeds Shakespeare lines within the Pale Fire’s pop song lyrics as well, which pulls a slender filament tauter between father and son.)
But clearly Yates loves novels, idolizes the authors of classics, and keeps their texts and motifs alive in a setting that combines traditional with contemporary. Who’s to quibble with that?
—Susan Yung
Letters
I see you through your writing, you say. Handwriting.
Do you mean…
The belly of a “D”
The muscle of an “M” The curve of a “B”?
The thrill of seeing a lover’s script With words penned just for you… So I leave sticky notes under your flaxen sheets A reminder.
Remember me. Remember me here. In this room In your bed Laughing.
I want to be a good host In prose And in this unnamed ship For however long we Sail on this intimate tributary Navigating…. I want to make the voyage meaningful It pleases me to be loving To be kind and thoughtful And in return be greeted with Sweet petit fours of appreciation Fondant made of kindness Fruity layers of quiet desire
You say you only want to hear my poems of you. To hear your name slide inside my mouth Consonants and vowels scraping, ever so gently, along the ridges of my molars. Your name kissed by my lips Kissing words
It is a swarm when Soft kisses Warm.
Do not fall in love…
You warn, with your writing. Do not be so attached that you cannot discard the parts that hold you backThat hold your story back.
Life lessons.
If I pen this poem And send it pony express You will see my script See me.
My mouth full of words
My hands shaping letters
My heart stamped on the return address.
—Ilyse Simon
Calli’s Career Day Talk at Linus’s School
At first I was a little worried about the singing, you know?
Like, am I screeching?
Will someone actually be attracted to this sound that’s coming out of my gob?
Then it became more about, like, is this an okay thing to do—basically, making dudes crash into rocks and cliffs and stuff and drown and whatnot?
Kinda heavy, right?
I was looking for work and just fell into sirening.
I graduated Paul Mitchell and I knew, like, I knew, hair was not my path.
Just like I knew I was going be head cheerleader junior year and that my chem teacher was into me.
I used to think I was really putting out some wild energy junior year, but when the knowing stuff just continued, I figured it was around to stay.
Then I met Patti, who pretty much knows everything all the time everywhere. She is amazing!
And that got me thinking about what comes next.
I probably would not have thought of the oracle gig on my own. And definitely not if I was cutting and coloring and perming hair! You can always change the path you’re on. For reals
—Lori White
The Car on My Battery Died
We had plans to meet in Athens, NY, above the shop, after we checked in at a campsite. The battery died.
I climbed Cabot in the western Catskills, to get a signal—flat summit like any on that old plateau—and spoke to him.
I was speaking to John Telford Gregg, the writer no one has heard of. He said they could do a jump start.
His novel, Local Stop in the Promised Land, is a long prose poem, teeming, every page a word like what you dreamed, what you dreamed to write. We missed that soirée, we went home. John was a sage, a mentor, unforgettable. Never miss a last chance.
—Steve Clark
4 a.m. Friend
Around about 4 a.m.
I lost faith in my novel which finally allowed me to fall asleep & dream of a salamander no prettier than mud but big, big as an iguana butting his soft hammer of a head into my chest bone like a puppy desperate to be petted & he wasn’t alone an ostrich had lowered her hard feathered joke of a head to claim her own spot on my chest & she wasn’t alone either, a humming bird & a skunk, a menagerie had crowded me to hear a heartbeat so strange— so fast, so slow, so loud, so lumbering, so flagellating it could only be human & what was this novel I wanted to write about people dying in the fires of Hoboken, a life I’d once lived, or wished I’d once lived, or regretted I hadn’t, but not the one the salamander heard in my heart. His head wasn’t as hard as my breastbone, but he kept pressing as if burrowing home.
—Will Nixon
The
Anniversary
heart broken never mends really nuts & bolts loosen little by little untighten anchoring gravity unfastens automatically let go regulation boundary safety net nothing left but this spirit unscrewed....
—C. P. Masciola
Will of the Wisps
As children we imagine monsters rambling in the darkness, who grow on the waste of prayers for reason; for purpose.
Then darkness becomes sacred; the setting of love, where the tender moon is cradled in satin blue, and all the senses warm down, distill into the heat of life, and romance is a viscous salt–a heart and soul in the heavy breath— the smell and touch and taste of night.
And we love and we love and we love— fireflies at the edge of an ancient dusk— but we remember the frigid eyes of death at our backs, and our hearts hiccup upon the gaps of oblivion, anxious for the betrayal–for love’s mask to fall and reveal the old abyss and its tongue that laps, to the final bitter drop, our soiled soul matter.
—David Perry
A Day in the Life
This is not a poem about waking to the smell of coffee, or looking out the window of a small hotel. There are no pathways dividing woods green and silent, or sunbursts through cotton clouds above. The stars do not glitter, or the moon brightly glow, and rainbows do not come after rain. On this day still and boundless heat weighs heavy as the wind blows; homebound neighbors mutter, questioning their lives and what will become of the world. This poem avoids the future, remembering the past and searching for light and love and awe in the photos on the walls and the voices of the knowing. This poem is for now, not fearing what comes next.
—Amanda Tiffany
Happy Birthday
(a poem for Tim)
My heart is humming like a bird whose nectar is the palm of your fist;
My heart is like an apple tree whose boughs are fruit-fat and sun-kissed;
My heart is like the Shawangunk ridge whose rock is older than our dreams;
My heart is gladder than all these singing Happy Birthday to thee.
—Alexandria Wojcik
The Politics of Today
Amanda said: Grab!
Maisy said: You’ve grabbed enough for a thousand generations!
Barnaby said: I’ll wrap you in words, spin you in jest, you are nothing but a point of data to me
Gavin said: I will actually kill you
Then the table they all sat around turned pitch black
The walls of the room turned black
The four of them sat in darkness, within nothing, and were nothing
And they all felt rather embarrassed at the situation
Then, an eight foot, even darker figure rose up from the ground emitting a low hum
Amanda heard: You have flown too close to sadness
Maisy heard: You’ve missed more than you realize
Barnaby heard: I’m leaving you forever, now I really will be an abstraction to you
Gavin heard: I will actually kill you
Then the figure sank back into the ground
Amanda said: I want to die
And then her wish was granted
And her last thought was that that too was deeply, deeply saddening.
—Tristan Geary
You, and Pomegranates
We talked about pomegranates once:
The mess of them,
And the fact that there’s nothing sweeter, nothing more lovely
Than a pomegranate seed, after a long, cold December
(Which is just a December, in Massachusetts
The place that saved me)
And that night I went home alone and I thought of the person I used to be
And I asked Reddit to cure me and found the entire world in the pit of a Kalamata olive
And things made sense for the first time since I stopped believing in God.
We talked about love, once: The mess of it,
And the fact that there’s nothing sweeter, nothing better Than love, after nineteen years of gritted teeth, clenched fists, and belligerent optimism
(Which is just life, in this world
The place that made me)
And that night you walked into moving traffic wearing all black and I found your ocean eyes in the face of the moon
And we made love to an upbeat folk song about leaving home, and I christened you “home” and decided to stay awhile
And there is something to be gained from reaching out to touch futility, and then turning the word around and changing the letters until you get something akin to beauty
To familiar.
And maybe that sounds implausible, but forgive me,
For I do love
You, and Pomegranates
And even myself, some days:
The mess of it all.
—Abilene Adelman
The Black Crowes
New Found Glory
Bonnie Raitt with Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band
neil young and the chrome hearts
The Black Keys with Gary Clark Jr.
Dierks Bentley with Zach Top & The Band Loula
John Mulaney with Fred Armisen, Mike Birbiglia & Nick Kroll Ishay Ribo
Jonas Brothers with Boys Like Girls
Sebastian Maniscalco
Photo by Jackie Jackaitis
Keeper of the Folkways
Cofounder and music director of the Vanaver Caravan folk music and dance troupe, William “Bill” Vanaver was one of the Hudson Valley’s most beloved performing artists and a true cultural force. Over the course of his more than 50-year career, he became a living bridge between folk traditions spanning continents and centuries, sharing his joyful curiosity and deep musical knowledge with audiences young and old. He was 82.
Born in Minneapolis on September 1, 1943, and raised in Philadelphia, Vanaver became enchanted by folk music and global string traditions at an early age. By his teenage years, he was traveling the country collecting tunes and techniques from Appalachian string bands, flamenco players, and Balkan ensembles. He became a fixture of the American folk revival of the 1960s, recording, composing, and performing alongside musicians who, like him, believed traditional music had the power to connect hearts across borders.
A skilled multi-instrumentalist, Vanaver’s playing spanned continents. He wielded guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, oud, pipa, tambura, and other stringed instruments with equal passion and fluency. His repertoire ranged from Appalachian ballads to Greek rebetiko, Turkish folk tunes to Chinese melodies, and his own compositions reflected the global patchwork of his interests—vibrant, tender, and rhythmically alive.
In 1971, Vanaver met dancer Livia Drapkin, who would become his wife and lifelong creative partner. Together they founded the Vanaver Caravan in 1972, a New Paltz-based nonprofit ensemble dedicated to preserving and celebrating traditional music and dance from around the world. Under their guidance, the Caravan grew into an intergenerational company of musicians and dancers, performing internationally at such prestigious events as the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Smithsonian American Folklife Festival, the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, France, and the Sidmouth International Festival in England.
But the Vanavers’ work was never just about entertainment. From the start, their mission was to foster peace and social connection through the arts. They led workshops, residencies, and outreach programs in schools and communities worldwide, teaching children and adults to use movement and music as tools of empathy and self-expression. In the 1990s, the Vanaver Caravan partnered with the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation to travel to Romania and Bulgaria, where they helped rebuild connections between communities through the Balkan Peace and Reconciliation Conference. After the September 11 attacks, they created EarthBeat!, an arts-therapy program that used dance and music to help traumatized children and families process their grief.
In the Hudson Valley, the Vanavers and their Caravan are an enduring presence—at festivals, in school
assemblies, and on local stages. Their annual holiday performances, “Into the Light,” blending Appalachian winter songs, Balkan dances, and Middle Eastern music, have become a cherished seasonal tradition for many families.
Bill was also a generous mentor to young musicians, dancers, and artists. He delighted in nurturing the next generation of folk artists, encouraging his students to dig deep into cultural traditions but also to make them their own.
One of my favorite memories of Bill comes from a Cafe Chronogram arts salon that I organized 15 years ago. That night featured a talk by radio host Rich Conaty (himself now departed) and a solo performance by Bill. At the end of the evening, our founding publisher Jason Stern introduced his young son Asher—probably three years old at the time—to Bill, a longtime New Paltz friend. Without missing a beat, Bill gently strummed his guitar and sang Elizabeth Cotten’s plaintive folk blues “Freight Train,” replacing the refrain with “Asher, Asher.” The little boy looked up in wide-eyed wonder, amazed that this gentle man somehow knew a song with his name in it. It was a small but radiant moment that captured Bill’s kindness and the quiet magic of the music he loved.
Bill Vanaver leaves behind a legacy of joy, generosity, and cultural stewardship. In a world too often divided by borders and difference, he spent his life using music and dance to remind us of our shared humanity.
Bill Vanaver performing at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie in 2019 as part of "Turn, Turn, Turn A Celebration of Pete Seeger's 100th Birthday."
—Peter Aaron
The Dark Web
“OCTET” AT HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE
August 11-September 7
Hvshakespeare.org
Let’s face it: As much as we don’t like its invasive pervasiveness, life in the 21st century is essentially impossible without the internet. With the worldwide web, the secret to maintaining one’s health and sanity is all in how one mitigates, or at least tries to mitigate, its usage. Which, of course, feels like it’s getting harder and harder to do, thanks to the net’s inherently addictive nature. In playwright Dave Malloy’s (“Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812”) surreal 2019 a capella musical “Octet,” a cast of eight admitted internet addicts gathers for a 12-step-/NA-style meeting to each speak and sing their piece—making for one of the most thoughtprovoking new theatrical works in years. Hudson Valley Shakespeare in Garrison will present a new production of “Octet” August 11 through September 4. Director Amanda Dehnert answered the following questions by email. —Peter Aaron
Peter Aaron: “Octet” is known for being an intense work; the New York Times called it “beautiful, absorbing, [and] disturbing.” What was it about the musical that made you want to direct a production of it?
Amanda Dehnert: Everything about it, really—the topic is incredibly relevant, the compositional form is brilliant, the characters are deeply compelling, and the music is just out-of-this-world amazing. I felt like the most fortunate director in the world when Davis McCallum [artistic director at Hudson Valley Shakespeare] asked me to direct it.
One of the most interesting aspects of “Octet” is how it uses an age-old format and medium—basic human storytelling and song on a minimal stage with no big, flashy sets or props—to subvert, or at least push back against, the inescapable ultramodern technology that now engulfs us all. You’re known for your highly successful revisionist approach to “St. Joan,” “Annie,” “West Side Story,” “Othello,” and other classics. How did those productions prepare you to take Octet’s themes on, and how would you say your take on the play differs from that of the original director, Annie Tippe? I see all stories through a lens that’s about survival. How do we survive all the various challenges that life puts in our path? Anything I’ve directed that could be called a “new” approach to a classic work has been rooted in what the characters are surviving, and how they go about it. I see all characters with empathy, and I want audiences to experience that empathy when they come to the theatre. I think “Octet” is very much a story of survival, and watching these characters struggle with their addictions allows the audience the space to perhaps see themselves within the story, and to care about the ways technology is harming our humanity, our society. I think the original production of “Octet” is brilliant and also, I’m not looking to find ways to do it differently; I’m just responding to the piece as it is and working with the acting company and all the creative team to put this great piece of work onstage.
Recently there’s been an increasing awareness of the mounting machinations of the tech oligarchy being propagated by the likes of Elon Musk et al. “Octet” premiered in 2019, a few years before the details came out and we started to get a clearer idea of just how pervasive and premeditated those machinations are. Are there any moments in the play that speak specifically to rise of the tech bros and/or
that surprised you as being particularly prescient? Have you adapted any elements of the play to be more “current”?
No adaptation needed. Dave Malloy already took care of a small bit that sets the piece as post-pandemic. And everything else could have been written yesterday. It’s frighteningly prescient, all of it. It’s gorgeous and terrifying and true and—ultimately— hopeful: all the things anyone could want out of an evening in the theater.
Despite the seriousness of the topic, “Octet” is also known for having moving moments of emotional, very human beauty. Do you have a favorite scene that speaks to those qualities?
So many, but today my answer is the extended dialogue scene at the center of the piece; it’s so beautifully written, so funny, and so very authentic in the way it lets us spend time with a character who is coming to this support group for the first time.
Some theatergoers may be uncertain about going to see a chamber opera about internet addiction. For those potential audience members, as a theater lover yourself, why would you recommend they attend a performance? What do you think and most hope they get from the play?
First, I’d probably ask, “Why not a chamber opera about addiction?” Could you ever imagine such a thing? No? Well, that’s why you should go—because the theater should always surprise us and give us the thing we didn’t know we needed. And after that, I’d just beg them to come, because there is absolutely no way they should miss it. This piece is extremely special, and the cast assembled at Hudson Valley Shakespeare is doing an incredible job. Great acting, great story, great music—along with being relevant, “Octet” is extremely entertaining. That’s the evening I’d like them to have.
"Into the Woods" performed under the tent at Hudson Valley Shakespeare in 2019.
Aug
Michael
The Lace Mill Arts
Good Grief
“LIFE IN THIS HOUSE IS OVER” AT PS21 IN CHATHAM
August 15 and 16
Ps21chatham.org
“Grief can also be something very subtle; it can be the feeling of things shaking loose,” remarks Samantha Shay, director of “Life in This House Is Over,” which will be performed at PS21 in Chatham on August 15 and 16.
This work, which combines dance, music, and theater, wasn’t triggered by an event in Shay’s life. Just the opposite: It’s a theme she’s been mulling over for years. At 16, Shay was diagnosed with a chronic medical condition (diabetes), and found consolation in the gracious, wistful, mildly tragic plays of Anton Chekhov. The playwright himself suffered from a terminal disease: tuberculosis. “He was writing at the precipice of tremendous change and uncertainty, which is what we find ourselves in,” Shay says. “He was predicting, in a way, revolution.” The title of Shay’s piece, and some of the dialogue, come from Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard.”
Grief is not unitary: there are griefs within griefs. And mourning need not be entirely personal. One may grieve for a nation, for a way of life. In the US today, both left and right find themselves often filled with grief.
As a 22-year-old, Shay trained at the Moscow Art Theatre School for two months—the company that produced the original Chekhov plays.
Since then, research has been an intrinsic part of her creative style. Another of Shay’s influences is Pina Bausch (1940-2009), the renowned German choreographer whose deadpan athleticism incorporated mundane gestures of daily life. In her choreography, dancers often wear street clothes and walk between tables and chairs and beds. “Probably the reason I became a director was seeing her work,” Shay recalls. “I thought I was going to be an actor, and I saw Pina Bausch and started making my own pieces.” In 2021, Shay received a Fulbright grant to study Bausch’s history. This brought her to the small city of Wuppertal, Germany, home of Tanztheater, the choreographer’s troupe. Shay was a guest artist and researcher with the company for two seasons, and continues to work for them as a freelancer. (She remains in Wuppertal.) Julie Shanahan, a celebrated member of Bausch’s troupe, appears in “Life in This House Is Over.”
From Tanztheater, Shay learned the art of the small emphatic motion. A woman slowly pushing away a tomato, across a dinner table, expresses grief more
powerfully than convulsive weeping.
This spring Shay was a special research fellow at the drama school of Yale University, where she studied Russian avant-garde film theory, and read the book Hauntology by Merlin Coverley, which suggests that theater is a function of memory.
Shay is not a traditional director. “Especially in the very beginning, I give the performers a text or a piece of music or an image that came to me, and they present ideas,” she explains. “Then we figure out which ideas we will keep, and I start drafting it into a structure.” Shay trusts her performers to help shape the “script.” In a sense, she’s more like an editor than a writer, though at moments she takes control of the action.
There’s no word for this genre, which combines movement, dialogue, music, conflict between characters. The phrase “dance theater” is not terribly evocative. A new term should be coined—something like “torso-speaking.”
The performance also includes singing, including an Eastern European folksong that transforms into a lament. “In the piece, there are actors who are trained in lamentation,” Shay explains.
“Life in This House Is Over” has been performed twice: in Wroclaw, Poland, and Reykjavík, Iceland. Shay is excited to bring the work to the land of her birth. —Sparrow
"Life in This House is Over" by Samantha Shay will be performed at PS21 August 15-16.
Photo by Saga Sig
Cirque du Sloop
THE FLOTSAM RIVER CIRCUS AT VARIOUS WATERFRONT LOCATIONS
September 1-5 Rivercircus.com
Here’s the backstory of Flotsam River Circus: At the end of the world, a ramshackle raft floats down a river. The humans on the boat don’t necessarily like each other, but they tolerate each other. It’s hard not to, when they’re fighting against the constant threat of mutant fish. This year, on the bicentennial of the Erie Canal, Flotsam River Circus is traveling from Buffalo to New York City and performing at waterfront locations from Hudson to Beacon in early September.
Jason Webley, a 51-year-old former traveling musician, created the Flotsam River Circus in 2019. The shows consist of live music, acrobatics, dancing, clowning, and acting. Performers are dressed as fish and sailors, hula hooping with ring buoys or being hung from fishing lines. This year’s show runs August 1 through September 14, and the troupe performs nearly every day.
“[The circus] is a confluence of my history of touring, my fascination with rivers, my knowing about and being
inspired by other weird floating acts, and happening to know a bunch of amazing performers that are willing to drop what they’re doing and come float away for the better part of two months with me,” says Webley.
Webley built a 33-foot long raft and became determined to create a show out of it. Although Webley had no prior experience in circus acts, he met many circus performers on his travels, and recruited them for his river circus. Today, the circus is composed of a dozen performers drawn from as far away as Taiwan and Brazil.
“When we first started, the whole thing was a guerilla operation, because what we were doing was so unusual,” says Webley. “I went and found the locations and posted them online and hoped an audience would come, and that no one would shut us down. And, amazingly, it worked.”
Now, Flotsam is a nonprofit. They rely on donations and volunteers to stay afloat. Despite the organizations greater stability and success, Webley misses the punk rock early days of the circus. Each location that the circus travels to involves contacting multiple agencies in order to make the show a reality. “This year has been so stressful. There has been so much more bureaucracy,” says Webley. “I’m trusting that when I get out there, that I’ll remember that I really love doing this, but for me, it’s
actually pretty constantly stressful.”
Unless they’re offered a place to stay, the performers eat and sleep on the raft or the troupe’s support bus. To keep the performers clean and fed in close quarters isn’t easy, and the fragility of the boat is a constant source of anxiety. But the boat is also what makes the show special. There’s no backstage, and all of the performers are visible at all times. They’re bound to the waterways, so they’re forced to find the best locations connected to them. Viewers experience the novelty of watching from a riverbank instead of a classic circus tent.
“I think it makes the bits of stagecraft feel a bit more magic,” says Webley. “There’s something that happens with our limited means and the handmade quality of everything that resonates in this specific way.”
The Flotsam River Circus performance schedule in the region is as follows: September 1 at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park in Hudson, 6:30pm; September 2 at Tina Chorvas Riverfront Park in Saugerties, 6:30pm; September 3 at Kingston Point Beacon, 6:30pm; September 4 at location TBA in Poughkeepsie, 6pm; September 5 at location TBA in Beacon, 6pm. Performances are free but donations of $10 to $25 are encouraged.
—Katie Ondris
Flotsam River Circus floats into the region with a string of waterfront performances in early September. Photo by David Horovitz
short list
Hudson Film Festival
August 7-10 at locations in Hudson
Four days of fiercely independent cinema roll into Hudson with this smart, stylish showcase of global and local talent. Highlights include The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, Peter Ohs’s eerie, slow-burn descent into rural dread, and Between the Temples, a tragicomic spiral starring Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane. Screenings unfold at Hudson Hall, Basilica, and outdoor venues, with filmmaker Q&As, panels, and postscreening revelry. Festival passes and single tickets available online.
John Mulaney
August 8 at Bethel Woods
Comedy’s favorite dapper sad boy returns to Bethel Woods with friends in tow. John Mulaney—“SNL” alum, sharpwitted raconteur, and self-professed “human muppet”—brings his “John Mulaney in Concert” tour to the pavilion, joined by special guests Fred Armisen, Nick Kroll, and Mike Birbiglia. That’s not a lineup—it’s a comedy Avengers. Expect precision punchlines, selflacerating honesty, and maybe a horse in a hospital. $41–$131. 7:30pm.
Woodstock Festival of Awakening
August 8-10 at various venues in Woodstock
The Festival of Awakening returns for three days of sacred sound, movement, and community healing across Woodstock and Bearsville. Programming spans sunrise chants, elder storytelling, yoga by the stream, and a 50-venue music walk curated by Paul McMahon. Highlights include "Awakening Talks" with Robert Thurman and HeatherAsh Amara, nightly ceremonies, and a closing community drum circle. A grassroots celebration of spirit, culture, and shared presence, organized by the Woodstock Center for Awakening.
Meshell Ndegeocello: “No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin”
August 9-10 at the Spiegeltent at Bard College
Visionary artist Meshell Ndegeocello premieres “No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin,” a genre-defying tribute that channels Baldwin’s prophetic fire through music, sermon, and spectacle. Drawing from Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time and other texts, the performance fuses gospel, jazz, and ritual into an ecstatic meditation on race, resistance, and redemption. Co-commissioned by the Fisher Center, this is a world premiere in every sense. Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 6pm.
“Spinning My Wheels”
August 15-17 at Coach House Players, Kingston
In this autobiographical one-man show, Michael Garfield Levine rides through
madness, addiction, and redemption in this gripping solo show that careens from ‘70s Manhattan to the hills of Vermont— with pit stops at Zen monasteries, psych wards, and Olympic velodromes. “Spinning My Wheels” is raw, riveting, and shot through with gallows humor and hard-won grace. Directed by Caitlin Langstaff. Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday matinee at 2pm.
Kingston Artist Soapbox Derby
August 17 on Broadway in Kingston
Now in its 28th year, Kingston’s quirkiest civic spectacle returns: an absurdist mashup of Pinewood Derby, Dadaist parade, and neighborhood block party. Expect elaborately tricked-out gravitypowered contraptions (think: a flamingo riding a toaster), live music, kids’ activities, and more community spirit than you can shake a papier-mache steering wheel at. Free to spectate, priceless to behold. Race begins at 12pm, with awards and afterparty to follow.
Dutchess County Fair
August 19–24 at the fairgrounds in Rhinebeck
The Dutchess County Fair returns for its 178th edition with all the agricultural pomp and midway spectacle a county can muster—prize pigs, towering dahlias, racing pigs, fried everything. Alongside 4-H showcases and sheepdog demos, this year’s grandstand lineup includes a trio of tribute acts: Get the Led Out, Forever Seger, and Miami Sound Revue. Six days of wholesome chaos, local pride, and just the right amount of glittering Americana.
Don Barry: A Quixotic Exploration
August 20 at Kleinert/James Center for the Arts
Experimental filmmaker Barry Gerson tilts at windmills in this docu-fictional tribute by director Paul Smart, which casts Gerson as a modern-day Don Quixote wandering through Guanajuato, Mexico— equal parts madman, mystic, and metatext. Don Barry wrestles with artistic obsession, fractured reality, and the blurry line between performance and life. Onenight-only screening, 7-9pm, followed by Q&A with the director.
Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
August 28-September 1 in Phoenicia
Part town-wide art party, part whimsical fever dream, the third annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts spills across Labor Day Weekend with exhibits, film screenings, yarn-bombed trees, public sculpture, and the ribbon-cutting of Ulster County’s first free community mini golf course—crafted from upcycled dreams and local weirdness. With music, workshops, BBQs, trolls, and faerie cosplay, this five-day fest is less an event than a kaleidoscopic invitation to play.
—Brian K. Mahoney
Nick Lowe and Los Straightjackets play Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock August 8-9.
The Dollyrots
August 3 at the Colony in Woodstock Florida pop punks the Dollyrots formed in 2000, when singer and bassist Kelly Ogden and guitarist Luis Cabezas learned that George W. Bush had won that year’s election. “Luis and I were like, ‘The world’s probably gonna end anyway, and I don’t want to go to med school,’ so we thought, ‘Let’s just do the band,’” says Ogden. The group eventually won the patronage of Joan Jett, who released two of their albums on her Blackheart Records label; currently, they’re with Little Steven’s Wicked Cool imprint. The Black Widows open. (Joan Osbourne sings Dylan August 16; “Democracy Rocks!” benefits Indivisible August 17.) 7pm. $25, $30.
Otto Kentrol
August 7 at the Lace Mill in Kingston
Otto Kentrol aka Shady saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Bill Ylitalo started making experimental sounds in his native Wisconsin and headed to New York in the mid-1980s. Burrowing into the Lower East Side, he recorded under the name Faceless and worked with Artless, the Swollen Monkeys, Swans, and others. Since settling in our area, he’s played with Blue Food, Big Sky Ensemble, Karl Berger, and many others and taught gamelan at Bard College. No Mistakes, a two-LP career anthology (reviewed in the November 2022 issue of Chronogram), inspired Ylitalo to revive the long-dormant Kentrol name. With Ben Vida. 7pm. Donation requested.
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets
August 8-9 at the Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock “Basher” is back, and once again he’ll be backed by masked surf rock maniacs Los Straitjackets. Although Nick Lowe made his name with the late-’70s UK new wave/punk movement via his early solo hits (“Cruel to Be Kind”), tenure with the great Rockpile, and production work (the Damned, Wreckless Eric), he arrived with a resume that included membership in influential pub rockers Brinsley Schwartz. Since moving to the US in 1979, Lowe has released 13 albums, the most recent being 2024’s Indoor Safari, his first with Los Straitjackets. (Donna the Buffalo stampedes August 23; Duane Betts rambles August 29.) 8pm. $75, $95.
Cheap Trick
August 20 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck
Who here has yet to see this Rockland, Illinois, quartet, one of America’s all-time greatest rock ’n’ roll bands? Assuming you have, you likely need little convincing to hit this concert at the 184th Dutchess County Fair—but if not, you best correct that situation, and here’s your chance. Powerful, exploding with amazingly addictive songs, and entertaining as hell courtesy of charismatic singer Robin Zander’s soaring voice, guitar god Rick Neilson’s hilarious mugging, and the virtuosic rhythm section of bassist Tom Petersson and (since 2010) drummer Daxx Nielson, Cheap Trick do not disappoint. 7:30pm. $45.
Neil Young
August 24 at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel
Clearly August is a month for musical legends in the Hudson Valley, and this night by the one and only Neil Young at a spot where he helped make musical and cultural history might just be the cherry on top. With Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the indelible singer-songwriter was among the leading headliners at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, and here he revisits the site with his new band the Chrome Hearts. Rolling Stone describes the new Talkin’ with the Trees, Young’s 48th(!) album as a “deliberately spiky songbag from a man who remains miraculously undiminished as a live performer.” (The Steve Miller Band and the Rascals rock August 15; Bonnie Raitt riffs August 22.) 7:30pm. $80-$560.
Dromfest ’25
August 29-31 at the Avalon Lounge and Left Bank Ciders in Catskill
Organized by long-running local indie label Dromedary Records, this over-stuffed Labor Day Weekend festival boasts live sets by Yo La Tengo, the Dambuilders, Scrawl, Phantom Tollbooth, Das Damen, Mission of Burma’s Roger Miller, Madder Rose, the Thalia Zedek Band, Chris Brokaw, Unrest’s Mark Robinson, Salem 66’s Beth Kaplan, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Fly Ashtray, New Radiant Storm King, Cathedral Ceilings, and others, a screening of the documentary Flipside, poetry readings, and much more. See the Dromedary Records website for show times and ticket prices.
—Peter Aaron
68 PRINCE STREET GALLERY
68 PRINCE STREET, KINGSTON
“Elusive Thresholds.” Work by Jeanette Fintz and Monika Zarzeczna. Through August 17.
510 WARREN ST GALLERY
510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON
“Intergenerational Views.” Works by Hannah Mandel and Ian Clyde. Through August 31.
1053 GALLERY
1053 MAIN STREET, FLEISCHMANS
“3 Friends.” Work by Angela Dufresne, Brenda Goodman, and Mal Iqbal. August 2-September 7.
ALBANY INSTITUTE OF HISTORY & ART
125 WASHINGTON AVENUE, ALBANY
“On the Road to Cragsmoor with Charles Courtney Curran.” Through October 13.
ALBERT SHAHINIAN FINE ART GALLERY
22 EAST MARKET STREET, RHINEBECK
“Conversations.” Work by 91-year-old artist Yale Epstein. August 2-October 26.
ANN STREET GALLERY
104 ANN STREET, NEWBURGH
“EtheReality: from breath to air, and back.” Group exhibition. Through August 31.
ART OMI
1405 COUNTY ROUTE 22, GHENT
“Harold Stevenson: Less Real Than My Routine Fantasy.” Through October 26.
ARTS SOCIETY OF KINGSTON
97 BROADWAY, KINGSTON
“Birch Trees.” Paintings by Matthew Zappala. August 2-31.
“Garden of Delights.” Group outdoor sculpture show. Through October 31.
ATHENS CULTURAL CENTER
24 SECOND STREET, ATHENS
“Goddess: Origins of Wonder.” Work by Niva Dorell. August 1-September 14.
AZART GALLERY
40 MILL HILL ROAD, WOODSTOCK
“Summer Salon.” Work by Lisa Bagley, Courtenay Kusitor, Isabelle Cluchat, Yigal Dongo, and Rick Midler. August 15-September 30.
BAU GALLERY
506 MAIN STREET, BEACON
“Grit.” Group show curated by Jess Wilcox. August 8-September 7.
THE BEACON BUILDING
427 MAIN STREET, BEACON
“Beacon Reimagined.” Photos by Scott Lerman. Through December 31.
BERNAY FINE ART
296 MAIN STREET, GREAT BARRINGTON, MA
“Summertime.” Group show exhibiting the work of Linda Pochesci, Janet Rickus, Lawre Stone, Joy Taylor and sculptor Joy Brown. Through August 10.
BILL ARNING EXHIBITIONS
17 BROAD STREET, KINDERHOOK
“Eventless.” Group exhibition focused on the art of observation. Through August 10.
“On Particular Colors.” Work by Kristen Cliburn, Jade Yumang, Laurel Sparks, Michael Lazarus, and Aaron Holz. August 16-September 28.
THE CAMPUS
341 ROUTE 217, HUDSON
“Second Annual Summer Group Exhibition.” Group show. Through October 26.
CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY
622 WARREN STREET, HUDSON
“Weathered.” Work by Shawn Dulaney, Ryan Rusiecki, Scott Nelson Foster, Arthur King, Ricardo Mulero, and Donise English. August 1-September 1.
THE CHURCH
5 MARKET STREET, STAATSBURG
“Unearthing the Light.” Group multimedia exhibition. Through September 1.
CLARK ART INSTITUTE
225 SOUTH STREET, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA
“A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875-1945.” Through September 14.
“Ground/Work.” Group outdoor sculpture exhibition. Through October 12.
“I Am a Part of Art.” Group show presented by Community Access to the Arts.
July 4-September 14.
“Berenice Abbot’s Modern Lens.” Photographs. July 12-October 5.
“Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Times.”
Sculpture. July 19-October 13.
CPW (CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT WOODSTOCK)
25 DEDERICK STREET, KINGSTON
“Flashpoint! Protest Photography in Print, 1950-Present.” Through August 31.
“Larry Fink: Sensual Empathy.” Photos curated by Lucy Sante. Through August 31.
“The Rose.” A sprawling exploration of collage as feminist form, strategy, and genealogy. Through August 31.
D’ARCY SIMPSON ART WORKS
409 WARREN STREET, HUDSON
“Country Road.” Work by Craig Hood. Through August 24.
DISTORTION SOCIETY
155 MAIN STREET, BEACON
“What She Builds, She Must Destroy.” Work by Michelle Silver. Through August 10.
“Threads of Love.” Work by Delvin Lugo and Amber Mustafic. August 16-October 4.
EDWARD HOPPER HOUSE
ART CENTER
82 NORTH BROADWAY, NYACK
“Tomokazu Matsuyama: Morning Sun.” Through October 5.
ELENA ZANG GALLERY
3671 ROUTE 212, SHADY
“Horizons.” Work by Mary Frank. August 2-September 2.
ELIJAH WHEAT SHOWROOM
195 FRONT STREET, NEWBURGH
“Collateral Magic.” An interactive installation and solo exhibition by Johanna Herr. Through September 20.
ETHAN COHEN GALLERY AT THE KUBE ART CENTER
211 FISHKILL AVENUE, BEACON
“Half the Sky.” Work by Cai Jin, Cui Fei, Edie Xu, Guo Zhen, Katinka Huang, Li Daiyun, Lin Tianmiao, Shen Ling, Xiao Lu, Xing Fei, and Yin Mei. Through August 30.
EXPOSURES GALLERY
1357 KINGS HIGHWAY, SUGAR LOAF
“In the Garden of Eden.” Featuring photographs of Central America by Nick Zungoli. Through December 31.
FENIMORE ART MUSEUM
5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80, COOPERSTOWN
“Boundless Spirit: American Folk Art.” Through December 31.
“Mary Cassatt/Berthe Morisot: Allies in Impressionism.” Through September 1.
“The Power of Photography: 19th-20th Century
Original Master Prints.” Through September 1.
FRED J. JOHNSTON HOUSE MUSEUM & GALLERY
63 MAIN STREET, KINGSTON
“Edward Budney: Photographer.” Photographs of Kingston in the 1950s. Through October 31.
FRONT ROOM GALLERY
205 WARREN STREET, HUDSON
“Symphony.” Mixed media photographs by Ken Ragsdale. Through August 31.
Blue Road,Yale Epstein, acrylic on canvas, from the solo show "Conversations" at Albert Shahinian Fine Art.
Along the Roundout, Ryan Rusiecki, photograph, from the group show "Weathered" at Carrie Haddad Gallery.
GALLERY 495
495 MAIN STREET, CATSKILL
“In This Place Here, We Flesh.” Curated by Maty Sall. Paintings and mixed media collages by Aineki Traverso, Nkechi Ebubedike, and Shiri Mordechay. Through September 20.
GALLERY 40
40 CANNON STREET, POUGHKEEPSIE
“Kaleidoscope.” Group exhibition. August 2-September 7.
“Dreams: Postcards from the Soul.” Through August 17.
GREEN KILL
229 GREENKILL AVENUE, KINGSTON
“Ph. Segura and Steve Van Nort.” Paintings. Through August 30.
GRIT WORKS | GRIT GALLERY
115 BROADWAY, NEWBURGH
“Flock.” Featuring highlights from artist Steven M. Strauss’s avian paintings.
August 2-September 20.
HAWK + HIVE
61 MAIN STREET, ANDES
“Revenant Blues.” A solo show by painter Zachary Lank exploring masculinity, absence, and the spirituality of the everyday. August 2-September 7.
HEADSTONE GALLERY
28 HURLEY AVENUE, KINGSTON
“In The Secret Distance.” A solo exhibition by artist Olivia Bee. Through August 31.
HESSEL MUSEUM OF ART
BARD COLLEGE, ANNANDALE
“All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Group for Modern Art.” Arab modern and contemporary art. Through October 19.
HUDSON HALL
327 WARREN STREET, HUDSON
“Hudson Terminus.” Jon Kinzel's installation, drawing practice, performance score, and bodytime experiment. Through August 17.
HUDSON RIVER MUSEUM
511 WARBURTON AVENUE, YONKERS
“Smoke in Our Hair: Native Memory and Unsettled Time.” Twenty-seven works highlighting some of the most influential Native artists working over the last 60 years. Through August 31.
“Lens on the Hudson: Photographs by Joseph Squillante.” Through October 19.
HUDSON VALLEY MOCA
1701 MAIN STREET, PEEKSKILL
“Conscience of a Nation.” Work by V. L. Cox. Through September 30.
HUNTING TAVERN MUSEUM
288 MAIN STREET, ANDES
“Calico & Tin Horns.” Group show of work reimagining the Anti-Rent War curated by Jayne Parker. August 1-October 26.
THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF DINNERWARE DESIGN
524 BROADWAY, KINGSTON
“Dining Memories.” The exhibition is a series of vignettes with dinnerware shown in situ. Through August 31.
JACK SHAINMAN: THE SCHOOL 25 BROAD STREET, KINDERHOOK
“General Conditions.” Group exhibition. Through November 29.
JANE ST. ART CENTER
11 JANE STREET, SAUGERTIES
“Hidden in Plain Sight.” Work by Shelley McClure Tan. August 9-September 13.
“I’m in the Studio Tonight Because of You.” Work by Melanie Delgado. August 9-September 13.
KINGSTON SOCIAL
237 FAIR STREET, KINGSTON
“Ancestry.” Photographs by Brandon Thomas Brown. Through September 2.
KINOSAITO
115 7TH STREET, VERPLANCK
“Kikuo Saito: Reminiscence in Color.” Paintings. Through December 21.
“The Unknown and Its Poetics.” Group show. Through December 21.
KLEINERT/JAMES CENTER FOR THE ARTS
36 TINKER STREET, WOODSTOCK
“Salvage Stories.” Group show curated by Carol Diamond and Alice Zinnes. August 2-September 14.
LABSPACE
2642 NY ROUTE 23, HILLSDALE
“UTOPIA PKWY.” Solo exhibition of paintings by Zohar Lazar. Through August 24.
THE LACE MILL
165 CORNELL STREET, KINGSTON
“The Art of Jack Miller.” Photographs by Jack Miller. August 2-31.
LEHMAN LOEB ART CENTER
124 RAYMOND AVENUE, POUGHKEEPSIE
“Great Green Hope for the Urban Blues.” Through August 10.
“Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Black Space-Making from Harlem to the Hudson Valley.” Group show retelling of the history of the Hudson Valley. Through August 17.
“Water/Bodies.” Work by Sa’dia Rehman. Through August 17.
LICHTENSTEIN CENTER
28 RENNE AVENUE, PITTSFIELD, MA
“I Am a Part of Art.” Group show by Community Access to the Arts. Through August 22.
LIVE 4 ART GALLERY
20 CHARLES COLMAN BOULEVARD, PAWLING
“Sculpture V.” Work by Lila Turjanski-Villard, Bob Madden, and Karen Madden. August 1-31.
LOCKWOOD GALLERY
747 ROUTE 28, WEST HURLEY
“Ethan Ryman: Four Years Built.” Work by Ethan Ryman. Through August 10.
MAD ROSE GALLERY
5916 NORTH ELM AVENUE, MILLERTON
“Fragments in Time.” Photographs by Ashley Gilbertson and Franco Pagetti. Through August 30.
MANITOGA / THE RUSSEL WRIGHT DESIGN CENTER
584 ROUTE 9D, PHILIPSTOWN
“The Russel & Mary Wright Design Collection.” Through October 4.
MARK GRUBER GALLERY
13 NEW PALTZ PLAZA, NEW PALTZ
“Summer Salon Show.” Group show, celebrating 49 years of the Mark Gruber Gallery. Through August 16.
MASS MOCA
1040 MASS MOCA WAY, NORTH ADAMS, MA
“Just a Dream…”. Vincent Valdez's searing, full-body reckoning with American mythmaking and memory. Through April 5, 2026.
“Like Magic.” Group show. Through August 31.
MILLBROOK VINEYARDS
26 WING ROAD, MILLBROOK
“Art in the Loft.” Group juried exhibition. Through November 9.
MOHONK PRESERVE VISITOR CENTER
3197 ROUTE 44/55, GARDINER
“Ridgelife.” Landscape paintings of Mohonk Preserve and Shawangunk Ridge by Scott Marshall. August 2-30.
MOTHER GALLERY
1154 NORTH AVENUE, BEACON
“Line Load.” Paintings by Kerri Ammirata, Trudy Benson, Lauren Anaïs Hussey, Meg Lipke, and Paola Oxoa. Through August 16.
Galah aka Rose breasted cockatoo, Steven M. Strauss, spray paint and oil on paper, from the solo show "Flock" at Grit Gallery.
THE MOUNT
2 PLUNKETT STREET, LENOX, MA
“Movement.” Annual group outdoor sculpture exhibition. Through September 30.
OLANA STATE HISTORIC SITE
5720 ROUTE 9G, HUDSON
“What’s Missing?” Work by Ellen Harvey and Gabriela Salazar in the landscape. Through November 2.
OLIVE FREE LIBRARY
4033 ROUTE 28A, WEST SHOKAN
“The Color of Light.” Group exhibition juried by Jane Bloodgood-Abrams. Through September 6.
PALMER GALLERY, VASSAR COLLEGE
124 RAYMOND AVENUE, POUGHKEEPSIE
“From Petals to Sky” Work by Ivars Sprogis. August 7-September 6.
PHILIP DOUGLAS FINE ART
545 WARREN STREET, HUDSON
“Some New Some Historic.” August 2-24.
PRIVATE PUBLIC
530 COLUMBIA STREET, HUDSON
“Eclipse (Amazon, September 7, 1858).” A largescale video installation by Janet Biggs. Through August 24.
THE RE INSTITUTE
1395 BOSTON CORNERS ROAD, MILLERTON
“A Five Year Plan.” Work by Greg Klassen. Through August 23.
“Guests.” Work by Ruby Jackson, Bailey Connolly, Mike D’Ippolito, Nathan Gassaway, and Graham Vunderink. Through August 23.
RIVERVIEW RESTAURANT
45 FAIR STREET, COLD SPRING
“Timeless Beauty Revisited: Morocco 2024.” Photographs by Ron Hershey. Through September 11.
ROHMER GALLERY
84 PARTITION STREET, SAUGERTIES
“Look Again.” Work by Andrea Olivia, Rina Kim, Oneslutriot, and J. C. Hopkins and Robbie Ginsburg. Through August 13.
ROOST ARTS HUDSON VALLEY
122 MAIN STREET, NEW PALTZ
“Seth David Branitz Solo Show.” Paintings of cats, humans, and other creatures. Through August 31.
ROUNDABOUTS NOW
25 BARBAROSSA LANE, KINGSTON
“Angry Water, Pretty Funny.” Group exhibition. Through August 23.
RUTHANN
453 MAIN STREET, CATSKILL
“Coated/Coded.” Work by George Rodriguez, Richard Saja, and Thomas Spoerndle. Through September 21.
SAMUEL DORSKY MUSEUM OF ART
1 HAWK DR, SUNY NEW PALTZ
“The Arrested Image: Identity through the Lens of Law Enforcement.” Group show. Through November 2.
SEPTEMBER
4 HUDSON STREET, KINDERHOOK
“Psyche.” Work by Ashley Garret. August 16-October 12.
SKY HIGH FARM
675 HALL HILL ROAD, PINE PLAINS
“Trees Never End and Houses Never End.” First-ever biennial. Through October 31.
THOMAS COLE HISTORIC SITE
218 SPRING STREET, CATSKILL
“Emily Cole: Ceramics, Flora & Contemporary Responses.” Work by the daughter of Thomas Cole. Through November 2.
“On Trees.” Work by Georgia O’Keefe and Thomas Cole. Through December 14. Through December 14.
TIVOLI ARTISTS GALLERY
60 BROADWAY, TIVOLI
“Hudson Valley Towns.” Through August 10. “Works of Passion.” August 16-September 13.
TROUTBECK
515 LEEDSVILLE ROAD, AMENIA
“Nature In Pieces.” Nature-focused paintings by Alexis England. Through August 31.
TURLEY GALLERY
98 GREEN STREET, SUITE 2, HUDSON
“Fascinator.” Work by Adam Linn. “Stall.” Site-specific mise en abyme by Sara Stern. “What You Long For is Real, What You Long For is To Be.” Work by Vickie Pierre. All shows through September 7.
TURN PARK ART SPACE
2 MOSCOW ROAD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA
“Sculpture - Tablets - Chargers.” Ceramics and sculpture by Paul Chaleff. Through August 4. “Passing Through.” Work by John Clarke. August 11-October 31.
TYTE GALLERY
3280 FRANKLIN AVENUE, MILLBROOK
“In Pursuit: Five Artists.” Work by Maxine Davidowitz, John McGiff, Mya Muchineuta, Doug Shippee, and Mimi Young. Through September 7.
UNISON ARTS AND LEARNING CENTER
9 PARADIES LANE, NEW PALTZ
“I, Witness.” Work by Tona Wilson. Through August 31.
“Voices Unbound.” Work by incarcerated Ulster County women. Through August 31.
WALLKILL RIVER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
232 WARD STREET, MONTGOMERY
“Uncanny Garden.” New work by Theresa Gooby. Through August 31.
THE WASSAIC PROJECT
37 FURNACE BANK ROAD, WASSAIC
“So It Goes.” Group show curated by Bowie Zunino, Will Hutnick, Jeff Barnett-Winsby, and Eve Biddle. Through September 13.
WIRED GALLERY
11 MOHONK ROAD, HIGH FALLS
“For the Love of Color.” This exhibit is a celebration of color, geometry, and perception by artist Carey Conaway. August 2-24.
“Where the Earth Breathes.” Features paintings and drawings from Provence and Umbria created by artist Lynne Friedman. August 2-24.
WOMENSWORK.ART
12 VASSAR STREET, 3RD FLOOR, POUGHKEEPSIE
“Invoke & Imbibe.”Exhibition of art created by female and non-binary artists. Through August 24.
WOMEN’S STUDIO WORKSHOP
722 BINNEWATER LANE, KINGSTON
“You Deserve Your Flowers.” Group ceramics exhibition curated by Lena Chin. Through September 19.
WOODSTOCK ARTISTS ASSOCIATION AND MUSEUM
28 TINKER STREET, WOODSTOCK
“Far & Wide National: Every Picture Tells a Story.” Annual group show. Through August 10.
“Recent Acquisitions.” Group show curated by Tom Wolf. Through August 10.
“Soft Assembly.” Paintings by Aaron Hauck. Through August 10.
“Come into Bloom: Flower Paintings from the Permanent Collection.” August 15-October 5.
“Material Alchemy.” Regional group exhibition curated by Jack and Dolly Geary. August 15-October 5.
WOODSTOCK SPA
62 RICKS ROAD, WOODSTOCK
“SCAPE—Sculpture, Community, Arts, Peace, Environment.” Outdoor sculpture installation curated by Linda Dubilier and Jen Dragon, Through October 19.
Horoscopes
By Cory Nakasue
Veiled Aggression with Sweet Spots
August is a mixed bag of sharp and dull, and sweet and sour, with a lot of tiny adjustments thrown in. It looks like trying to get comfortable in your airplane seat on a long flight (in economy). There are definitely some moments towards the end of the month that look super sweet thanks to Venus, and August contains one of the dreamiest days of the year on the 12th. On that date Venus and Jupiter, the two “benefics” of the solar system, conjoin in Cancer. Plant a seed for something lovely and fertile. I urge everyone to start something heartfelt and potentially prosperous on this day.
I wish I could say the same for the beginning of the month, which looks confusing at best and, at worst, intentionally deceptive. Keep your wits about you, move slow, and triple check information before taking action. A major culprit in the angsty beginning of August is Mars’s pentrance into Libra on the 6th. In Libra, Mars is more likely to be passive with its aggression and weaponize charm, logic, diplomacy, and codes of conduct. Read between the lines and look for the truth in actions instead of verbal expressions. Mercury’s preparation to turn direct in Leo on the 11th should help straighten out misunderstandings or uncover little white lies.
Virgo season begins on August 22 and doubles down on introducing itself with a new moon in Virgo on the 23rd. This signals a time to begin putting away the childish activities of Leo season and get down to business. However, it is still summer, even if the storefront windows are showcasing sweaters and boots. Venus’s entrance into Leo on the 25th reminds us that late summer can still be hot, sexy, and playful. Enjoy a last hurrah!
ARIES (March 20–April 19)
Emotional abundance colors your home and family life just as things get spicy in important one-on-one relationships. This foundation of nurturance and succor helps you feel emotionally safe. You might need this if the behavior of partners becomes aggressive or shady. Take some time this month to prioritize those you consider family and tend to your home base. Begin to dream up new schedules for the fall, new self-care routines, and new ways to bring efficiency to your life. There’s still time for play, romance, and finishing up this summer’s creative work, but the longing for a more orderly existence is creeping into your consciousness.
TAURUS (April 19–May 20)
The most fun and relaxation can be had in your own backyard or neighborhood. Try to take it easy. You need the rest—especially mentally. Let your mind be a little lazy, and let it drift. Sometimes resting can be the most productive activity we engage in. We can be at our most creative by relaxing our focus and indulging in idle daydreams and light conversation. Your energy levels might throw a wrench in this intellectually bucolic state. You’re extra sensitive to things not being perfect and might have a strong desire to go on a fixing spree.
Cory Nakasue is an astrology counselor, writer, and teacher. Her podcast, “The Cosmic Dispatch,” is available on streaming platforms. AstrologybyCory.com
GEMINI (May 20–June 21)
It’s time for you to get paid. If no one is coming forth with the goods, the kind words, or, opportunities, you’ll have to figure out how to give these things to yourself. If no one else seems to be signaling to you how much you’re worth, you have to send this message to yourself. Raise your rates, invest in your own health, pleasure, and skills. There’s also a chance that you’re owed something from your family and the women in your life. Create a literal or metaphorical vessel for receiving. Don’t be so quick to give yourself away.
CANCER (June 21–July 22)
You might be spending a lot of time looking in the mirror these days. If you usually do this looking for flaws, you’ll have a hard time finding them. Self-admiration is central to finding the inspiration to create and share yourself with the world. Sharing ourselves with the world is very different than giving ourselves to the world. When we share, we get to eat too. When we share, we get to bond over a similar experience; one person doesn’t lose so the other one can gain. This month, when you offer yourself authentically, because you’re proud of what you’ve got, you gain exponentially.
LEO (July 22–August 23)
Are your most common and automatic expressions actually representative of your heart? Or, do you use your considerable charm and facility with language as a cloak? You might have to walk some statements back this month or reconsider your delivery. You benefit greatly from seclusion as well. Self-reflection yields a bounty of regulation for your nervous system. You have a greater capacity for vulnerability and intimacy than you think, and it all starts with self-love and selfcompassion. In other words, take this time to fall in love with yourself and stop performing for the approval of others.
VIRGO (August 23–September 23)
You’re experiencing a heightened sense of belonging, or, you’ve found a receptive audience for the work you do. At first, you may not trust this. Typically, you try to express your value by showing what you have to offer and dazzling people with your formidable skills. Right now, there’s an opportunity to feel love from others for just being. This might feel uncomfortable right now because there’s a competing urge for privacy. Try not to be suspicious of people willingly offering their acceptance and support without you “doing” anything to receive it. Presence is more important than perfection. Messiness is lovable.
LIBRA (September 23–October 23)
Despite personal relationships being tense this month, there are some golden opportunities to be had in regard to your career and reputation. You may even receive help in the form of recommendations from past connections. Enjoy the limelight and recognition. Announce a new venture. At the end of the month you might feel like powering down and getting all your ducks in a row, in private. Planning schedules, cleaning, and tending to your health can feel very relaxing for you. This would be a great time to schedule all of your doctor’s appointments, spend some time at a medical spa, or edit a manuscript.
Life Changes. Plan.
PARTY
SCORPIO (October 23–November 22)
There doesn’t seem to be any differentiation between the things that excite you intellectually and the things you care deeply about. This month, there doesn’t have to be, and you’re in an excellent position to nurture some grand plans. Your desire to make your world bigger will also involve deepening your relationships. Your big ideas are very personal. If you work in education or law, especially, the students you teach and the clients you fight for are more like family to you right now. If you write or podcast, your messages have more emotional impact than usual. Speak your heart.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 22)
Exchanges of energy can be prosperous and transformative, especially in the emotional realms of home and family. Whether it’s receiving help from family members, sharing your resources, or feeling depths of vulnerability that you’ve been afraid to visit, deep change is afoot. You benefit when you drop your armor. This can sound like bad advice in a world where we’re taught that other people are dangerous, but there is no other way to truly change and heal. Ask yourself if the boundaries that you have in place are about reasonable personal limits, or if they’re about maintaining control and avoiding change.
CAPRICORN (December 22–January 20)
Indulging in the sweetness of your relationships might be challenged by a surge of ambition on the work front. Right when you’re ready to bask in the glow of connection and protection with someone special, or multiple admirers, you also feel a need to assert yourself in a public way. Which desire is stronger? Is it a fallacy to think you even have to choose? While it might be possible to honor both, you’ll definitely feel torn. Whether you’re getting carried away with romance or goal setting, Mercury’s change of direction will help you pause before making hasty decisions.
AQUARIUS
(January 20–February 19)
Of all the 12 signs of the zodiac, I vote for you to be the most likely to whistle while you work. This month, pouring your love, care, and devotion into challenging projects or serving others, brings deep joy. It’s like you’re cultivating a romance with your ability to organize your feelings into tangible results. You might be tempted to channel all of this energy into your relationships with significant others though. Just make sure that you’re giving in ways that you want to give. There’s a difference between being useful and being used.
PISCES (February 20–March 19)
We experience romance in a multitude of ways. Sometimes it’s ecstatic bliss, sometimes intense passion, and sometimes it’s felt as wistful yearning. It’s the fantasy of a cherished dream, and the exquisite despair of loss. True to your nature, you’re feeling a lot of these things at once. Whether you’re enjoying the heady mix of emotions or just feeling overwhelmed, you have tools at your disposal to sort through this deluge of emotion. You must absolutely make something out of it. Write about it, build a monument to it, or organize a project that serves it. Transform your loudest feeling into something you can touch.
H Houst & Son ........................................49
Harmonious Development .....................79
HERbal Woodstock 49
Herrington’s 29
Historic Huguenot Street 75
Holistic Natural Medicine: Integrative Healing Arts 35
Hot Water Solutions, Inc. 1
Hudson River Maritime Museum 8
Hudson Valley Airporter 8
Hudson Valley Chiropractic ....................39
Hudson Valley Garlic Festival 21
Hudson Valley Native Landscaping 30
Hudson Valley Pottery Tour 75
Hudson Valley Shakespeare 66
Hudson Valley Trailworks 30
Lace Mills Arts Council 66
parting shot
Where the Earth Still Sings
Nick Zungoli’s In the Garden of Eden
Photographer Nick Zungoli has spent decades chasing the beauty of the natural world, but it was a night atop an Icelandic glacier that changed everything. “I was looking up at the stars, and it really transformed my whole life,” he recalls. “I became obsessed with recording nature from that point on.”
In his latest book, In the Garden of Eden, Sugar Loaf-based Zungoli turns his lens on Central America, where he lived for months at a time between 2014 and 2025. The work departs from his earlier travel-focused collections, like those on the Mekong River and southern Italy. This time, his aim is both personal and political: to awaken readers to the fragile beauty of the Earth, which he calls the real Garden of Eden.
“Everything seemed new and alive and still changing,” says Zungoli of Central America’s lush landscapes and rich biodiversity. “I realized this wasn’t just a book about a place. It was about the whole planet.”
Shot across Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, In the Garden of Eden captures birds in flight, volcanoes at sunset, and intimate studies of leaves, stones, and waterways. Mixed in are portraits of the people he lived among—communities navigating both the bounty and inequality of their environment. Guatemala, Zungoli notes, has one of the highest numbers of private helicopters per capita in Latin America despite its widespread poverty.
Alongside the images, Zungoli weaves in his own reflections and quotes from John Muir and Thich Nhat Hanh, balancing awe for nature with urgent environmental advocacy. His foreword mourns the destruction caused by climate change; the afterword calls readers to protect what remains.
The book’s message is driven home in images like Starry Dawn, a dreamlike photograph of Lago de Atitlan. A solitary dock juts into the still water, a boat drifting beneath the volcano’s shadow as stars shine through a pollution-free sky.
Zungoli has published seven books and sold over 50,000 prints, but this may be his most personal project yet. “My work is about the beauty of nature— that’s what got me into photography,” he says. “I’ve got something to say, and this book is the vehicle for that. Live a little more gently on the planet.”
—Katie Ondris
Cleaning Fish, Livingston, Guatemala, Nick Zungoli, from In the Garden of Eden
