C H R O N O G R A M
MEIRA BLAUSTEIN
C E L E B R A T E S
“ Chronogram was our friend.”
I remember Chronogram when it was still a small size magazine, brochure-like almost. Even then I always picked it up looking for the best things to do in the Hudson Valley. It was right around the time when the magazine changed from small (and I mean very small) size to the large format that it is now that I began working on the creation of the Woodstock Film Festival. I remember heading to their old office in New Paltz, going up the steep set of stairs, climbing over the piles of sneakers as I passed the yoga studio, to arrive at their small, crowded office and sit down with the young and friendly editor, Brian Mahoney, telling him about this exciting new film festival that we were about to launch in the Hudson Valley. I knew one of their reporters, Lorna Tychostup, and so I felt that I had an in. I asked Brian to support the infant festival. “Give us coverage, give us ads, you’ll see, it will be great,” I said. Alas, Brian approached it a bit cautiously, suggesting he would wait and see how the first year unfolded. As it turned out, Lorna ended up being our official photographer that first year, back in 2000, and by the time the next festival came around, Chronogram was our friend. Hard to believe that so many years have already gone by. Look at Chronogram now. Happy 20th anniversary! Here is to at least 20 more. Meira Blaustein is the co-founder and executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival.
CARRIE HADDAD
“ Chronogram did more than just announce exhibits.”
When I first opened Warren Street Gallery in the spring of 1991, there wasn’t a publication in the area that would print any information about the existence of the gallery or any of the exhibits. The Woodstock Times had calendar listings for the arts, but it took about a year to convince the Independent and the Register-Star that their readers would actually like to have this information, and that I couldn’t afford to pay the price per column inch for the mention. Well, they finally agreed to print my press releases, and we were off and running. Magnificently, Chronogram appeared soon after and touted the arts—in color, I might add. Chronogram did more than just announce exhibits, they incorporated work by local artists on their covers and included the arts in many of their articles. They even left you thinking about art with their “Parting Shots.” Thank you so much, Chronogram, for contributing so much to the Hudson Valley. Here is to another 20 years. When Carrie Haddad opened her first art gallery, it was the only one in Hudson. More than a dozen artists represented by Carrie Haddad Gallery have appeared on the cover of Chronogram.
SARA PASTI
“ The magazine took the words art and community as seriously as did Beacon’s artists.”
When I first arrived in Beacon during the summer of 2002, the city was abuzz with excitement about a new arts facility called Dia:Beacon, set to open in May 2003. In November 2002, a newly formed Beacon Arts Community Association (BACA) launched its monthly Second Saturday arts celebration to help position Beacon as an arts destination in advance of Dia:Beacon’s opening. From BACA’s inception, Chronogram was there to promote and support Beacon’s development, publishing articles about Beacon’s artists, galleries, and other businesses that were slowly beginning to populate Beacon. The magazine took the words “art” and “community” as seriously as did Beacon’s artists. They recognized that what was taking place in Beacon and other Hudson Valley communities was not just a series of art events but a transformation of the greater Hudson Valley into an arts and cultural destination. When I joined the staff of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, I chose to advertise the Dorsky’s exhibitions and programs in Chronogram not only because we shared a Hudson Valley focus but because
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Y E A R S
Chronogram exemplifies the aesthetic excellence that has long been associated with our region. May Chronogram continue to bear witness to Hudson Valley arts, culture, and spirit for another 20 years to come! Sara J. Pasti is the Neil C. Trager Director of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
CAROLE WOLF Chronogram has been my go-to publication “ Imagination is for arts and culture, food and wellness, local certainly unleashed, politics and personal growth, gardens, history, encouraged, and valued photography, animals and just about everything at Chronogram.” about Hudson Valley life since 1993, and all of us at the Mill Street Loft family salute your 20th anniversary. We are so fortunate that we can count on Chronogram for cutting-edge creativity and visually stunning design, as well as fascinating and provocative articles on what’s going on in our towns and cities. Imagination is certainly unleashed, encouraged, and valued at Chronogram. As an arts organization, Mill Street Loft is thrilled to be associated with a publication so passionately dedicated to culture. Your articles and calendars keep us inspired while ensuring that the arts stay at the forefront of our community. Mill Street Loft was one of your original advertisers and readers; I even remember your early half-size issues and marvel at the growth and complexity of Chronogram as you’ve moved into the digital age. Each issue is a treasure, and I look forward to celebrating many future anniversaries. Happy Birthday, Chronogram! Carole J. Wolf is executive director of Mill Street Loft, a Poughkeepsie-based arts organization she founded in 1981.
DAVID ROTHENBERG
“ Chronogram never lets us down.”
Chronogram is not always what it seems. Though it looks like a giveaway guide to the pleasures and possibilities of life up and down the Hudson Valley, it has increasingly offered something more. It is a celebration of what our unique part of the world has to offer the body, mind, and soul. I am always amazed when I peruse its pages that even in the countryside, there is far too much to do, so many festivals, concerts, events, gatherings. These only seem to increase in number as people seem to value more and more the idea that culture can be created locally, nearby, that the big city is not the only hub of human activity. We are re-building culture at the human and natural scale all over America, and Chronogram is the most reliable chronicle of how this is proceeding in the Hudson Valley. No wonder the magazine has evolved from a black and white newspaper to a big-format color magazine. Everything in the Valley is getting more colorful all the time. And the bigger it is, the less it is likely to be replaced by a web page or any other screen, where the diversity of our experience tends to be processed into looking all the same. Just as there will always be large-format film cameras even as we can snap everything with their phones, the Chronogram will not be smartphonized. [Editor’s Note: There is actually a Chronogram smartphone application.] The big page always offers more. I was honored to have a photograph I took of a 17-year cicada on the cover of last June’s issue. When biologist John Cooley studied the cover while we made a podcast, he pointed out, “look, you can see that insect is sucking from that blade of grass,” proving that they do eat while above ground, doing more than singing, flying, and mating. You need the big picture to get that information. Chronogram never lets us down. David Rothenberg is a musician and writer living in Cold Spring. His latest book and CD, Bug Music, was excerpted in our June issue.
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