ARTS MID-HUDSON APPOINTEES
PEEKSKILL POLICE REFORM TASK FORCE DRAFT PLAN On Thursday, Feb. 11 the city of Peekskill Police Reform Task Force held a virtual public meeting to discuss its draft plan for police reform recommendations. Chaired by Peekskill Mayor Andre Rainey and Antonio Knott, the task force is charged with leading a community engagement process that will result in a reform plan that addresses policies, procedures, practices and deployment (including but not limited to use of force) as well as issues of racial disparities wherever they exist. The draft plan will be completed following review of all public comments made on Feb. 11 or via email by Feb. 18. Following this deadline, revisions will take place as needed and the plan moves to the City Council for review. Rainey said, “…This draft plan is the beginning phase and I look forward to more input from the community and ultimately discussion by the City Council to decide how to move the process forward in concrete ways to implement the plan.” A public presentation of the Peekskill Police Reform Plan to City Council is anticipated to take place March 1. The plan must be adopted by the City Council and submitted to New York state by April 1 for the city of Peekskill to be eligible for future state funding for police. “Commencing with the signing of Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203, members of the Peekskill Police Department, along with community stakeholders who represent the core of the city, have worked very hard to compose this draft,” said Peekskill Police Chief Donald Halmy. Information for these features has been submitted by the subjects or their delegates.
During the 2021 Arts Mid-Hudson (AMH) annual meeting in Poughkeepsie, two new board members were elected for their first three-year term. They are: Sydney Cash, an artist/sculptor who has worked with glass, metal, paper and light and appeared in more than 50 one-person shows. He has taught at Pratt Institute, The New Jersey City University and The Brooklyn Museum Art School. Awarded several fellowships, Cash’s work is in many U.S. and international public collections. About his appointment, Cash, said, “As an elder artist and a brand-new board member, I’m looking forward to being part of the team that creates AMH’s long-term vision.” Uriel Pinelo restructuring attorney with Brown Rudnick LLP, represents equity sponsors, trade vendors and official and ad hoc committees of creditors and equity interest holders in Chapter 11 cases. A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, Pinelo resides in Dutchess County and commented on his appointment, “Art,”
Seth Hall
Sydney Cash
Uriel Pinelo
he said, “is a powerful and a unifying medium that enriches our lives. I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to help support and grow local arts in our communities with Arts Mid-Hudson.” Since 1964, AMH initiatives have engaged and promoted the arts benefiting regional artists, arts organizations and communities.
For more information and future arts events, sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at artsmidhudson.org. Although the Arts Mid-Hudson offices are temporarily closed due to Covid, the staff is working remotely and can be reached by leaving a voicemail at 845-4543222 or email info@artsmidhudson.org. www.ArtsMidHudson.org.
NEA AWARDS ARTSWESTCHESTER
Gallery space in ArtsWestchester building.
A $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts was recently awarded to ArtsWestchester in White Plains to support a contemporary art exhibition titled The Social Fabric: Common Threads and Uncommon Visions. This art exhibition will feature new work and site-responsive commissions featuring Hudson Valley-area artists who use textiles to explore issues of broad social consequence. ArtsWestchester’s project is among 1,073 projects across America totaling nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021
funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from ArtsWestchester,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “ArtsWestchester is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence and resilience during this very challenging year.” In recent decades, art made with fabric and fibers has commanded increasing attention said ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam explaining, “Textiles are approach-
able artifacts of daily life. Beyond the clothes we wear, textiles and their associations, tactile qualities and labor-intensive ways in which they are made can trigger moments of nostalgia, or an increased social consciousness when thinking about the impact of ‘fast fashion.’ As such, textile artworks offer a unique entree into contemporary art.” Deputy Director of Programs Kathleen Reckling said, “This project includes commissioning three site-specific works that leverage the unusual spaces of ArtsWestchester’s White Plains gallery, housed in an historic bank building. FCBJ
WCBJ
LRC PROPERTIES ADDS TO ACQUISITIONS TEAM Seth Hall has joined LRC Properties in Rye Brook as vice president, acquisitions. He will be responsible for growing the firm’s portfolio in Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Tampa, Orlando and Richmond/Norfolk. Prior to joining LRC, Hall was a director of capital markets at Newmark Knight Frank, focusing on debt and equity placement. Previously, he spent five years at Mesa West Capital, which was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2018. Hall started his career in the commercial real estate group at Wells Fargo Bank. Karie Nero, principal at LRC Properties, said of Hall, “He brings a deep expertise and proven track record in commercial real estate and capital markets that will be beneficial in helping us identify and purchase properties that we can reposition, restructure and redevelop in these key markets and ensuring we can add value to the properties as well as generate a substantial return to our investors.” Hall received his Bachelor of Science degree in real estate development from the University of Southern California. LRC Properties is a commercial real estate firm focused on East Coast commercial real estate investments, creating above-market returns for its investment partners by providing substantial value to the properties it purchases.
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