Month: September 2010

Adirondack Museum Hosts Harvest Fest

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The annual Harvest Festival will be held at the Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, on Saturday, October 2 and Sunday, October 3. Both days will feature activities for the entire family from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The Adirondack Museum offers free admission to year-round residents of the Adirondack Park in the month of October &#8211 making Harvest Festival an affordable and enjoyable fall getaway for every Adirondacker.

Circle B Ranch of Chestertown, N.Y. will provide leisurely rides through the museum’s beautiful grounds in a rustic wagon filled with hay bales. Youngsters can enjoy pony rides as well.

On Saturday, October 2nd only, Chef Tom Morris of the Mirror Lake Inn will offer a demonstration entitled &#8220Extending the Season&#8221 at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Chef Morris will discuss techniques for canning, jarring, pickling, and other methods of food preservation.

On Sunday, October 3rd only, Sally Longo of Aunt Sally’s Adirondack Catering will offer harvest related food demonstrations at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Visitors can relax in an Adirondack chair and enjoy guitar and banjo tunes played by musician Bill Hall. Hall’s love of music and the Adirondacks has inspired his original compositions about early Adirondack logging, mining, and railroading.

Bill studied guitar with the legendary Chet Atkins, and is self-taught in classical style guitar and banjo. He has merged classic style with nature to create a unique finger picking method he calls &#8220pick-a-dilly.&#8221 Bill has performed in various venues throughout the region including Teddy Roosevelt celebrations in the towns of Newcomb, Minerva, and North Creek, N.Y.

Other Harvest Festival highlights include cider pressing, barn raising for young and old, as well as pumpkin painting and crafts inspired by nature. Kids can jump in a giant leaf pile on the museum’s center campus.

The museum will accept donations of food and winter clothing for a full month this fall, in collaboration with Hamilton County Community Action.

From September 20 through October 18, 2010, donations of dried or canned foods, winter outerwear to include coats, hats, scarves, mittens, or boots for adults and children, as well as warm blankets, comforters, or quilts will be collected in the museum’s Visitor Center.

African American Culture and History Fest Saturday

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A stellar lineup of musical and poetic talent comes to Senate House State Historic Site for its second annual African American History and Culture Festival, from 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday, October 2. Visitors will experience Master Drummer Maxwell Kofi Donkor and Sankofa, Kim and Reggie Harris, Kansas City Sound and jazz luminary Hugh Brodie, Michael Monasterial, Percussion Orchestra of Kingston (POOK), and Readnex Poetry Squad for a full day of first-class entertainment. This free event offers fun for all ages, and occurs rain or shine. For more information, call (845) 338-2786.

The festival begins with a free drum workshop at 10:00 am by master drummer Maxwell Kofi Donkor. Some drums will be supplied, or bring your own. Young people are especially welcome, and no experience is necessary. Also at 10 am, Professor A.J. Williams-Myers speaks on the influence of Africans on the Hudson Valley tradition of Pinkster, originally a European celebration marking Pentecost and the arrival of spring.

A hands-on activity for kids, delicious food for sale, and free tours and admission to the Senate House and the site’s museum are all part of this terrific event, which is presented by the Friends of Senate House.

Senate House State Historic Site is located at 296 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401, and is part of a system of parks, recreation areas and historic sites operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the site is one of 28 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information about this and other upcoming events call the site at (845) 338-2786 or visit the State Parks website at www.nysparks.com.

Fort Ticonderoga’s Harvest Market, Plant Sale

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Make plans now for the King’s Garden Harvest Market and Autumn Plant Sale at Fort Ticonderoga on Saturday, October 2 from 10:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. Heidi Karkoski, Fort Ticonderoga’s Curator of Landscape, said “The Harvest Market and Autumn Plant Sale provides a wonderful opportunity for visitors to enjoy the rich bounty of the King’s Garden.” Freshly dug perennials such as Heuchera ‘Melting Fire’, Yarrow ‘Red Beauty’, and Day Lilies will be available for purchase. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own plastic bags or boxes for their purchases.

The Harvest Market will feature colorful vegetables and fruits including pumpkins, melons, and leafy greens. King’s Garden garlic and seasonal herbs will offer visitors an added autumn zest to family dinners. Beautiful cut flower bouquets featuring Zinnias, Salvia and many other favorite seasonal flowers will highlight the market experience. A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers, the highly acclaimed book on the King’s Garden history, will also be available at a special Harvest Market price. Harvest Market and Autumn Plant Sale proceeds support educational and programming opportunities at the King’s Garden,

As part of the Harvest Market, visitors can relax within the King’s Garden walls and enjoy a picnic lunch or purchase a take-out lunch from Fort Ticonderoga’s Log House Restaurant. Additional activities scheduled throughout the day include Weekend Watercolors, a self-guided program where visitors are encouraged to use the colors of autumn for inspiration, and garden tours. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn more about becoming part of the volunteer family at the King’s Garden and Fort Ticonderoga.

New Exhibit Focuses on Picturing Women in American Art

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The Fenimore Art Museum has opened a new exhibition titled Picturing Women: American Art from the Permanent Collections. These images of women, assembled from the Museum’s extensive collection of American art, are distinct from the mainstream European portraiture of the upper class and aristocracy that we have become accustomed to. The rise of the United States’ middle class created a demand for all manner of paintings of the people who were settling the countryside and forming the social, commercial and religious communities that are still with us to this day.

Picturing Women: American Art from the Permanent Collections offers a selection of works that illustrates not only the appearances of these women, but also symbolizes the lives and contributions of these women to American culture. The exhibition is on view through December 31.

Other exhibitions currently on view at Fenimore Art Museum include John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women (through December 31, 2010), Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion (through December 31, 2010), Watermark: Michele Harvey & Glimmerglass (through December 31, 2010), Virtual Folk: A Blog Readers’ Choice (through December 31, 2010). Ongoing Exhibitions include Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, The Coopers of Cooperstown, Genre Paintings from the Permanent Collection, and American Memory: Recalling the Past in Folk Art.

Museum hours: through October 11 (10 am – 5 pm), October 12 – December 31 (10 am &#8211 4 pm) Adult admission (13-64) is $12.00 and senior admission (65 and up) is $10.50. Children 12 and under are free as well as NYSHA members, active military, and retired career military. Visit their website for more information at www.fenimoreartmuseum.org.

Illustration: Mrs. George Hyde Clarke (Ann Low Cary, widow of Richard Fenimore Cooper), 1835, by Charles Cromwell Ingham (1796-1863). Oil on canvas.

Hyde Preps Mohawk-Hudson Region Artists Exhibit

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The Hyde Collection is currently preparing for the October 3 opening of the 2010 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region Juried Exhibition. Founded in 1936, the exhibition is one of the longest running annual juried exhibitions in the country and highlights the finest works of contemporary artists working along the Mohawk-Hudson corridor.

This is the first year that The Hyde Collection will host the exhibition, which rotates among three venues. The other two hosts are The Albany Institute of History and Art and the University Art Museum at the University at Albany. This year’s exhibition will be on display at The Hyde from October 3 through January 2, 2011 and a full-color catalogue produced for the exhibition will be available.

An Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony for artists and Hyde members is scheduled for Saturday evening, October 2, 2010 from 6 to 8 pm. Non-members are also welcome at an admission cost of $15 per person. The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday, October 3 from noon to 5 pm with non-member admission throughout the duration of the exhibition to be by donation suggested at $5.

Juror for the 2010 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region exhibition is Charles Desmarais, Deputy Director for Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Desmarais leads a staff of eighteen curators and manages the collection, conservation, education, exhibition, and library departments at the museum. He previously served as director of the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and was director of the Laguna Art Museum and the California Museum of Photography at the University of California.

Approximately 340 artists who work within a 100-mile radius of Albany and Glens Falls submitted images of their pieces. After first-round judging, eighty-six artists were selected to bring their works to the Museum for final selection. Art by seventy-two regional artists will be on display as part of The Hyde show. In connection with the exhibition, Desmarais is also curating a small Annex Show for the Tom Myott Gallery in the Shirt Factory Building in Glens Falls. This Annex Exhibition will run from October 2 through October 23 and an opening reception will be held following The Hyde’s award ceremony event from 7:30 – 9 pm on October 2.

Library of Congress Adds To Online Newspaper Site

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The Library of Congress has added more than 380,000 historic newspaper pages to the Chronicling America website, including newspapers from 3 new states &#8211 Louisiana, Montana, and South Carolina &#8211 and expanding the site’s time coverage further into the Civil War era. The site now includes almost 2.7 million pages from 348 titles published between 1860 and 1922 in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Chronicling America is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.

Defending Public Education Workshops, Rally

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Threats to Public Education loom on all fronts. Whether in the U.S. or abroad, in primary and secondary K-12 schooling or in institutions of higher education, we encounter once-proud state education systems crumbling under the weight of sustained budget reductions and pressures to privatize. In concert with severe financial cuts we find assaults against the principle that it is in a society’s best interest to educate its citizenry, the principle that society bears a responsibility to provide quality education to all its members, and the principle that education as a space for critical thought ought to be free from the direct profit motives of private business.

As one example, here in New York State, the Legislature slashed SUNY’s budget by over $210 million this year, meaning SUNY’s total operating budget has been reduced by 30% over the past three years. This will likely result in (another) round of tuition fee hikes, further restricting New York State’s citizens’ access to higher education and adding to the mounting debt burden of those students who can attend a State University. Cuts will result in fewer classes offered, larger class sizes, fewer faculty and staff, fewer programs and resources, and diminishing facilities. A similar story can be told about the pressures on K-12 education from budget reductions, Charter schools, threats to teachers, cuts to educational programming and the like. The current round of budget slashing would be difficult to swallow if it came as an isolated response to the severe economic recession in which we find currently ourselves. However, these cuts are only the most recent in a thirty-year assault against public education. In 1989-90, for instance, the State of New York contributed nearly 43% of SUNY’s operating budget- today the State’s contribution has dropped to nearly 15%. This withering of public support for education in New York has direct parallels at all educational levels, across the country and around the world.

As part of a National Day of Action to Defend Public Education a local coalition of faculty, student, labor and community groups, including the Albany Chapter of United University Professions, CDALF, AFL-CIO, Workers United, NYPIRG, NYSUT, and the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace as well as student and community groups will host three events— two workshops on September 29 and a rally on October 7, the National Day of Action—opposing cutbacks to public education.

September 29

5:00-6:30 p.m. UAlbany Uptown Campus, Science Library Standish Room

Schools Under Siege: The Case for Restoring Public Funding to Education. Speakers include UAlbany Prof. Fernando Leiva and Doctoral Student Jackie Hayes, both from the UAlbany Department of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies, and Cathy Corbo, President of the Albany Public School Teachers’ Association (APSTA).

7:30-9:00 p.m. UAlbany Uptown Campus, Science Library Standish Room

The Costs of War and the Struggle for Public Services: Is the War Really Making Us More Secure? Speakers include Prof. Ron Friedman, Dept. of Psychology, UAlbany- Joe Lombardo, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace- John Amidon, Veterans for Peace- and, Chris Hellman, National Priorities Project.

October 7

12:00-2:00 p.m. UAlbany Podium in front of the Campus Center

Rally to Oppose Cuts to Public Education

Finger Lakes Museum Unveils New Logo

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Finger Lakes Museum board president John Adamski recently unveiled the logo that will symbolize the museum’s future brand and identity. In his remarks, Adamski said that the bald eagle represents the most successful wildlife restoration success story in American history and it all began in the Finger Lakes Region near Hemlock Lake in the 1970s.

He later stated, “Our plans for the museum project, which started out with a handful of supporters just two and a half years ago, are to mirror the success of the bald eagle.”

Adamski and Finger Lakes State Parks Regional Director Tim Joseph also signed a Letter of Intent to start the process that will enable the Finger Lakes Museum to build its campus in Keuka Lake State Park.

Under the Letter of Intent, the Finger Lakes Museum and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation will begin a comprehensive planning process for the Museum’s facilities at Keuka Lake State Park. The process, which will include public input opportunities and a full environmental review, will develop a detailed concept design and site building plans.

A joint Memorandum of Understanding listing the commitments of five other Keuka Lake State Park site sponsors was also signed. Those members include Yates County, the Town of Jerusalem, Finger Lakes Economic Development Center, Keuka College and the Finger Lakes Visitors Association. A separate agreement with the Yates County Chamber of Commerce will be signed at a future date.

A few weeks ago, more than 70 people from 60 architectural, engineering, and exhibit design firms from across the country met at Keuka Lake State Park to listen to Adamski and project director Don Naetzker describe the concept, mission and vision for the project. After the presentation, they took a walking tour of the park and the Branchport School campus, which is serving as the museum’s interim headquarters.

When asked what constitutes a world­class museum, Adamski responded, &#8220When dozens of design professionals from five countries—Canada, China, England, Germany, and the United States—express an interest in designing the project, you can’t get much more world­class than that.&#8221

The attendees were asked to submit qualifications to compete for the commission of designing the Finger Lakes Museum. The board plans to narrow the list to five firms, which will then each submit design proposals before the end of the year.

The Finger Lakes Museum is an initiative to create a world­class educational institution to showcase the cultural heritage and ecological evolution of the 9,000 square­mile Finger Lakes Region, since the last glacial recession began over 12,000 years ago. Last April, Keuka Lake State Park was selected as the preferred location to build the project.

Second Photo: Finger Lakes Museum project director Don Naetzker, left, facilitates the signing ceremony at Keuka Lake State Park. Seated from left are museum trustee David Wegman, Regional Parks Director Tim Joseph, board president John Adamski, Jerusalem town supervisor Daryl Jones, Yates County Legislature president Taylor Fitch, Finger Lakes Economic Development Center CEO Steve Griffin, Keuka College president Dr. Joseph Burke, and Finger Lakes Visitors Association Executive Director Steve Knapp.

For more information or to make contact, see www.fingerlakesmuseum.org.

Lyons Erie Canal Improvements Opened

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The New York State Canal Corporation and the Village of Lyons, Wayne County, have officially opened the Lyons waterfront improvements along the Erie Canal at North Side Canal Park. The opening event also welcomed the 2010 World Canals Conference International Flotilla which was en route to Rochester.

The project, partially funded through an Erie Canal Greenway Grant, provided new docks on both sides of the Erie Canal and additional improvements to the boating area and park.

The flotilla was bound for Rochester as part of the 2010 World Canals Conference September 20-24. Included in the flotilla were boats from the Canal Corporation’s historic and working fleet, historic tugboats, and a variety of recreational pleasure craft. From the junction of the Erie Canal and Genesee River the fleet traveled north along the Genesee River, in a grand parade to Corn Hill Landing in Rochester.

Directions to the North Side Canal Park in Lyons: Take NYS Thruway (I-90) to Interchange 42 (Geneva, Lyons, Route 14) toward Sodus Point. Turn left to Route 14 North. Turn left onto Water Street. Municipal parking is available adjacent to the Firehouse.

The Masculinity of Antebellum Landscape Painters

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As one who hobnobbed in elite cultural circles but also worked with his hands and roughed it in the woods and mountains, was the antebellum American landscape painter to be a gentleman or an undomesticated wild man, a James Fenimore Cooper or a Davy Crockett? Join Dr. Sarah Burns, Ruth N. Halls Professor of Fine Arts at Indiana University, as she examines the ways in which Hudson River School painters attempted to reckon with the problematic aura of femininity that clung to the image of the artist at that time. The lecture, &#8220Outdoor Men: Manliness, Masculinity, and the Antebellum Landscape Painter,&#8221 will be held on Sunday October 10 is at 2pm at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill. Admission is $7 per person, or $5 for members, and is first-come-first-served.

Illustration: Asher Durand, Kindred Spirits (detail), 1849. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art