Catskill Gallery Association

The Catskill Gallery Association is pleased to announce our Third Annual Artist Studio Tour, Saturday and Sunday, September 11 - 12, 2010.

Set in the community that witnessed the birth of American Art in the early 19th century, when painter Thomas Cole made the village his home and attracted international attention, and talent, to share his transcendent love for the local landscape, this annual event highlights not only the museum and gallery spaces that have continued Cole's and other Hudson River School painters' influence over the past two centuries, but the growing numbers of contemporary artists who have made the town and its environs home in recent years.

What better way of seeing the arts in action than to visit the studios and homes from which it emanates, ranging from rural homesteads to recently revived farmsteads, from garret getaways to working experiments in the woods… and on a beautiful early autumn weekend, to boot.

As a special element this year, renowned artist Kiki Smith will be featured in a special showing of her work at the BRIK gallery as part of the Cowgirls of the Hudson Valley 3 exhibit on Main Street. This will be her first exhibition in her new hometown. A new resident of Catskill, Smith's work is in the collections of most of the world's top contemporary art museums, and is currently featured in "Sojourn," a major retrospective of her mixed media at the Brooklyn Museum in NYC.

The tour will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 11 - 12, 2010, from noon until 5 PM, with refreshments and conversation with area artists as one visits home studios, gallery and museum exhibitions and special installations.

This year's participating artists will include architect/sculptor Matt Bua, playful ceramicist conceptualist Dina Bursztyn and printmaker/found object sculptor Julie Chase, the painter/sculptor couple Sasha Chermayeff and Philip Howie, eco-artist Tasha Depp, painter/gallerists Edith Marcik and Terence Barrell, famed painter and illustrator Patrick Milbourn, multimedia master Lee Anne Morgan, high profile contemporary artists Portia Munson and Jared Handelsman, hot contemporary photographer and conceptual painter Susan Wides and Jim Holl, and Kiki Smith.

Museum programs featured will include the current exhibit of paintings and drawings by the 19th century Catskill artist B.B.G. Stone at the Beattie Powers Place, the exhibition of 19th century women artists, including Thomas Cole's talented sister, at Cedar Grove, The Thomas Cole National Historic Site; and the concurrent show of contemporary women artists inspired by the local landscape at the Greene County Council on the Arts.

Beattie Powers Place: A special exhibition of 19th century nature drawings by B.B.G. Stone in the museum's Greek Revival house
Brik: "Cowgirls of the Hudson River Valley 3"
Day and Holt: Drawings and prints by nature artist Stanley Maltzman
The Galleria Catskill: contemporary woman artists inspired by the Hudson River School
Gallery 42: a retrospective of Lawrence Calcagno in a historic Hudson villa
The GCCA Catskill Gallery: "Nature/Nurture," 11 contemporary women artists using nature as a subject
M Gallery "Local Color," a special exhibit of work from Kai Althoff and Nick Z. with excerpts from their work in progress "Dream Cereal"; Kico Govantes' abstract work, Patrick Milbourn's landscapes and portraits and Liza Tivey's sculptures in bronze
Open Studio: works by Julie Chase and Dina Bursztyn
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site: "Remember the Ladies," forgotten women of the Hudson River School.

Launched in 2008 as part of the CGA's ongoing Saturday Studios program, the free annual Artists' Studio Tour includes artists' studios in and around Catskill, NY, many of which are located in historic or artist-designed buildings. Gardens and outdoor sculpture areas will also be open and include some of the Hudson Valley's most beautiful private properties.

The tour is free. All participants must sign up at either the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, 218 Spring Street, Catskill, or at The Greene County Council on the Arts, 398 Main Street, Catskill to receive a button and a map of tour sites. All studios and galleries will be marked on the map and signed with small flags/numbered signs. Some sites may not be handicapped accessible.