Five Highlights of Upstate Art Weekend 2023 in New York

The fourth edition of Upstate Arts Weekend (July 21-24) returns to areas north of New York this summer with over 130 participating venues, an exponential jump from its inaugural event of 23 attendees in 2020.

The idyllic artistic experience, led by the curator, fair director And Leafstone Retreat Helen Toomer, co-founder of the artist residency, combines extended hours at major institutional destinations like Dia Tag And Storm King Art Center with signature events at local nonprofits, pop-up spaces and shopping galleries. The event welcomes thousands of visitors each year, and the latest iteration will feature a plethora of screenings, open studios, performances and workshops.

Despite the region affected by record flooding Over the past month, the Hudson Valley art scene is poised for a rich and ambitious weekend, so rich, in fact, that the logistics can prove overwhelming. “It’s impossible to do everything,” said Toomer Artnet News. “This event was created to shine a light on the incredible organizations in the region and to solidify lasting bonds with those who visit to return.”

For those planning an upstate adventure, here are some must-haves for the days ahead.

Stepmother
140 Church Avenue, Germantown, NY

Stepmother is an experimental, avant-garde project space in Germantown led by Kathleen Vance and Daniel Aycock of the Hudson-based Front Room Gallery, alongside artist Jessica Hargreaves. Housed in a converted carriage shed, Mother-in-Law’s programming showcases hypnotic and multimedia visions of artists identified as women. For Upstate Art Weekend, space joins clouded skyan immersive audiovisual projection by artists Pamela Lonongobardi, Craig Dogonski and Suusan Knippenberg, with an outdoor exhibition, Parleycurated by the team behind the New York gallery Field projects.

Parley, which takes place on the grounds surrounding the shed, investigates the back and forth between the natural and the built, examining “different ways of living with and alongside nature.” From 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on July 21, 22 and 23, artist Lauren Cohen will also organize a garage sale on the site with ceramic objects selected by the Field Projects team.

Hessel Art Museum at Bard College
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

Bard’s in-house museum specializes in exhibits that highlight marginalized voices and intoxicating conceptual ideas. Indian theatre; Indigenous performance, art and self-determination since 1969 (until November 26) is the first large-scale exhibition to center performance as the genesis of contemporary Indigenous artistic research. The exhibition brings together over 100 works by over 40 artists and collectives, blending new and historic materials and methods into one expansive exhibition.

During Upstate Art Weekend, a series of performances will take place at the museum. On July 22 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., artists Emily Johnson (Yup’il Nation) and Jeffrey Gibson (Missisippi Band of Choctaw Indians) will take the stage. The next day at 2 p.m., Johnson and Gibson will be in conversation at Bard’s Collection Teaching Gallery, hosted by curator Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation). Registration for these and other weekend events is available on the museum website.

ArtPort Kingston
The Cornell Steamboat Building, 108 East Strand, Kingston, New York

Built along Rondout Creek, this contemporary art gallery and curatorial project space in Kingston is housed in a former steamboat machine shop. Its center-left programming has been making waves in the region since opening in 2020, and the team behind ArtPort – Laurie De Chiara and Stefan Saffer – extends that attitude to Upstate Art Weekend. From July 21, ArtPort will host tower of joya colorful exhibition featuring Didi Rojas, Arnaldo Morales, Lady Labor and Traci Johnson, among others. tower of joy will coincide with the opening of this year ArtStreaman outdoor exhibition of sculptural works by local artists

ArtStream takes place along the Point Rail Trail, inviting viewers to engage with the works as they interact with the natural landscape. On July 22, from 2-5 p.m., the ArtPort team will celebrate the launch of both shows at the nearby Artbuoy Cafe in an event involving giant inflatable artwork and bubble machines. On July 23, from 3-5 p.m., ArtPort will also host a yogic movement and tantric scent experience designed by artist and polymath Kelly Heaton.

The post office
158 West Main Street, Port Ewen, Ulster County, New York

Artists Rachel de Joode, Kate Steciw and Letha Wilson will present new works at the Old Port Ewen Post Office during this year’s Upstate Art Weekend. Each participating artist’s practice addresses ‘the photographic object’, using sculptural image-making techniques to blur the boundary between these seemingly disparate media. Combining transcendental landscapes, found images and post-studio interventionist gestures, the three artists show the full extent of their contributions to the “material photography” genre. The post office is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on all four days of Upstate Art Weekend.

The School by Jack Shainman Gallery
25 Broad Street, Kinderhook, New York

The school is a 30,000 square foot former high school in Kinderhook that Manhattan dealer Jack Shainman transformed into a kind of kunsthalle in 2013, to showcase large-scale exhibitions showcasing artists working inside and outside the gallery’s program. For Upstate Art Weekend, the venue will exhibit Michael Snow: Inquiry into Life (1955-2020)chronicling the late artist’s vast career, which defied genre, medium or taxonomy.

Born in Toronto in 1928, Snow made his name mixing jazz improvisation with modernist design, taking a “try this, try that” approach to creative communication. On July 22 at 1 p.m., The School will host a screening of Snow’s 45-minute masterpiece Wave length (1967). Visitors can also pre-register for a private tour of the exhibition with Irem Ikizler, Associate Director of the Jack Shainman Gallery, beginning at 3 p.m.

• Upstate Arts Weekend 2023July 21-24, various locations in New York State