ALMANAC WEEKLY
A miscellany of Hudson Valley art, adventure and ideas | Calendar Ca l e n da r & C Classifieds lassifieds | Issue 9 | Mar . 1 – 8 SCREEN
ART
MUSIC
NIGHT SKY
Agnès Varda & JR blow up the French working class in delightful Faces Places
Kingston launches its “Paint the Town Yellow” mental health campaign
Titus Andronicus, Insane Clown Posse, Big Takeover, Andrew Bird
Now’s the time to spot the Dog Star’s dwarf twin
6
7
8
17
DION OGUST | ALMANAC WEEKLY
Before becoming deeply involved in philanthropy and moving to Ulster County, Peter Buffett grew up “normal” in Omaha and then established a successful career as a composer and musician.
Values of a fulfilling path Concert/ conversation with Peter Buffett at Bard’s Fisher Center
I
n 2013, Peter Buffett wrote an op/ed piece for The New York Times titled “The Charitable/Industrial Complex,” which criticized the top-down approach of many philanthropic organizations: an approach that often failed to solve the problem it was meant to help and, in some cases, even caused harm. He went further, lambasting the rising inequality in which “philanthropy has become the ‘it’ vehicle for leveling the playing field” and noting that “giving back” had become a conscience-salving ploy by the very rich that did nothing to chip away at the system of exploitation that had enabled them to amass their fortunes in the first place. The topic was of more than academic interest: In 2006, Peter’s father, Warren, had gifted a billion dollars to each of his three children’s foundations. The gauntlet had been thrown down, and in condemning “philanthropic colonialism,” Peter Buffett wrote how he and his wife, Jennifer, were seeking a different path. “We don’t have the answers, but we do
know how to listen,” he wrote. “As we learn, we will continue to support conditions for systemic change,” which he described as a “new operating system…built from the ground up” that would do more than “kick the can down the road.” Hence the mission of the Buffetts’ NoVo Foundation: “to foster a transformation from a world of domination and exploitation to one of collaboration and partnership.” The foundation focuses on five key areas: advancing the rights of adolescent girls and ending violence towards women and girls in developing nations and underserved communities; supporting education and life skills for underserved youth (including an initiative that provides higher education to low-income high school students, as well as the mentoring that helps them to succeed); supporting
indigenous communities; and promoting local living economies. Since 2012, Peter and Jennifer have resided full-time in Ulster County: a proximity that has made the midHudson Valley a unique beneficiary of the foundation’s commitment to strengthening local living economies. In D e c e m b e r 2013, NoVo gifted $13 million to an initiative called the Local Economies Project of the New World Foundation to purchase the 1,255-acre Gill Farm, on the Hurley flats. With an additional $20 million, the Hudson Valley Farm Hub, as it is now called, is training growers in all aspects of running a farm, including business management and experimenting with a variety of crops and ecological farming methods, in collaboration with regional partners such as Cornell
“The challenge is: How much do you fight and how much do you reimagine?”
Cooperative Extension of Ulster County. All of the land is dedicated to organic farming. NoVo also has given generous grants to the Hawthorne Valley Farm, and it’s funding a program to connect local farms to food processors and food-service buyers at New York State institutions: A pilot program at SUNY-New Paltz and three other SUNY schools is providing fresh local farm produce to the school cafeterias, and student interns are helping with marketing and various aspects of the program. Other grants include an agricultural curriculum at the Rondout Valley School District, linking farmers with food banks and funding the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation, which provides technical assistance to food entrepreneurs. Local radio has also gotten a boost, with a NoVo grant to the Community Foundation funding the recent purchase of WKNY, with new headquarters in a historic octagonal building on Kingston’s Broadway. With Jimmy Buff at the helm (Continued on page 4)