ART ALONG THE HUDSON KICKED OFF IT'S 6TH YEAR
RECEPTION HOSTED BY Cunneen-Hackett in Poughkeepsie, NY
May 28, 2009 6 – 8pm

Art Along the Hudson – 7 Cities, 7 Celebrations kicked off the 2009 summer season with a reception at Cunneen-Hackett, 9 Vassar Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 6:00 to 8:00 pm.  In its sixth year, Art Along the Hudson continues to celebrate the arts in Kingston, Beacon, Catskill, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh plus new venues of New Paltz and Peekskill.  As part of the Hudson Quadcentennial, we are celebrating 400 years of art in these seven cities with a growing new and contemporary art scene - a 100 miles of art!

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Bill Durham ( Exec Director of Barrett Art Center), Linda Hubbard (Chair Art Along the Hudson), JoAnn Feigenheimer
(Executive Director Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center) and Benjamin Krevolin (President, Dutchess County Arts Council)

  The reception at Cunneen Hackett included light refreshments provided by Twisted Soul Restaurant and Barrett Art Center and live music by Rosemary Nielson.

The cameras rolled..

A program about the seven cities started at 6:40 pm.  Benjamin Krevolin, President Dutchess County Arts Council, was Master of Ceremonies for the event and thanked the hosts for the evening Bill Durham, Executive Director of the Barrett Art Center and JoAnn Feigenheimer, Executive Director of Cunneen Hackett

Art Along the Hudson celebrations are anchored by rotating Saturdays that spotlight each of the cities.  Kingston celebrates First Saturdays; Beacon has Second Saturdays; Catskill and New Paltz celebrate Third Saturdays; and Newburgh highlights Last Saturdays plus Poughkeepsie and Peekskill have various art celebrations.  Although activities happen year-round in all of the participating communities, a focus of one Saturday each month helps to strengthen and build awareness of each city’s arts initiatives.  Programs feature a variety of art forms - from gallery and museum exhibits to music, dance, theatre and poetry.  Special events range from sculpture exhibits, street fairs and parades, to art and history tours. Each City was represented and given an opportunity to say a few words....

Beacon was represented by Dan Rigney, Beacon Arts Community Association (BACA) and City of Beacon Mayor Steve Gold

Alyson Milbourn represented the Catskill Gallery Association

Lew Gardner, Vice president of ASK Board of Directors represented Kingston

New Paltz just celebrated their first third Saturday and a new member was represented by Melanie Cronin, New Paltz Arts and Shari Osbourn, Village of New Paltz and the Historic Huguenot Street

Newburgh was represented by Marge Bell, Newburgh Councilwoman and Aquanetta Wrightof the Newburgh Jazz Series

Peekskill was also delighted to join Art Along the Hudson and was represented by Mary Foster, Mayor of Peekskill

And Bill Durham spoke on behalf of Barrett Art Center and Poughkeepsie.

Benjamin Krevolin thanked the brochure sponsors - Brian Kelly of the Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union and Tom McQuade of Associated Air Craft, the brochure designer, Carl VanBrunt, the brochure printer Lithography by Design and our Media Sponsors, Jim Gibbons of Merchantile and Theresa Sharp of Hudson Valley Biz. Special thanks also to Mary Kay Verba of Dutchess Tourism.

Nancy Coszine (former Mayor of Poughkeepsie), Ken Snodgrass (Locust Grove) and Mary Kay Verba (Director, Dutchess County Tourism)

Linda Hubbard, Chair of Art Along the Hudson, thanked all the participants - artists, galleries, art organizations, cities and sponsors - especially Benjamin Krevolin and Lisa Fiorese of the Dutchess County Arts Council. Through everyones efforts in addition to the brochure, website and radio on WAMC, we are doing print ads in Hudson Valley Museum and Gallery Guide, Manhatten Press, NY Amtrack and Metro North Summer Guide.

Laurie Strange of Barrett Art Center presented Linda with a basket of flowers.

The event provided an opportunity to meet the artists and creators of this regional initiative, along with city and tourism officials actively working to revitalize their cities through the arts.

New this year, a juried art show by the artists from the seven cities.  The show was up from May 28 - June 30th.

All Photographs from the kickoff event are by Mary Ann Glass, Wedding and Event Photographer www.maryannglass.com and co-owner of RiverWinds Gallery www.riverwindsgallery.com.

To see the images that were in the art show - click here.

An eye-catching, four-color brochure lists the participating venues in each city, and was available at the reception. It will be widely distributed to tourism sites throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond.  The three New York Thruway locations - Sloatsburg, Plattekill and New Baltimore - Information Centers now distribute the Art Along the Hudson Brochures.

Special thanks go to Associated Aircraft Group (AAG) www.flyaag.com and the Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union (HVFCU) www.hvfcu.org for supporting the printing of the brochure. And Lithography by Design in Highland NY for doing an outstanding job!

Sarah Hubbard - AAG, TomMcQuade - AAG Vice President and CFO and Linda Hubbard

Kellly Outwater, Brian Kelly and Shana Martinez - Managers, Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union

For previous kickoffs - click here - 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005

Dutchess County Arts Awards "I was truly honored to receive the Special Citation Award at the Dutchess County Arts Council Event on October 28th." says Linda T. Hubbard, Chair of Art Along the Hudson. "The whole Art Along the Hudson team shares in this recognition for helping to promote the arts in the Hudson Valley and beyond. " And many thanks to Benjamin Krevolin and his staff at the DCAC - they put on a great event and helped raise funds for the arts. It was a great night to remember the people in our area that dedicate their time, skill and energy to the arts and the importance of the arts to our communities. Kudos to all!