The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz is pleased to share details about the exciting new exhibitions that will open in February 2023:
The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection
Illuminating America’s first intentional Art Colony, this exhibition presents more than 100 artists whose paintings, sculptures, and works on paper together form an artistic history of national and international significance. On display Feb. 4 – July 16, 2023
Be Who You Are: Portraits of Woodstock Artists by Harriett Tannin
This selection of photographs from the 1980s series “100 Portraits of Woodstock Artists” by Harriet Tannin (1929-2009) documents residents of the legendary artistic community of Woodstock, New York. On display Feb. 4 – July 16, 2023.
Hudson Valley Artists 2023: Homespun
The 2023 edition of the annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibition in its new spring timeslot explores how 18 Hudson Valley artists are re-interpreting traditional crafts and “women’s work” in new and surprising ways. On display Feb. 4 – April 2, 2023.
Together, these exhibitions promise visitors unparalleled exposure to historical undercurrents and contemporary trends in regional and national art.
“The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection”
Feb. 4 – July 16, 2023
Long before the famous music festival in 1969, Woodstock, New York, was home to what is considered America’s first intentionally-created, year-round arts colony—founded in 1902 and still thriving over 100 years later. Located less than 30 miles from New Paltz, Woodstock’s influence on the artistic community of the Hudson Valley is felt throughout the region.
Collecting the remarkable range of work produced there has been Arthur A. Anderson’s focus for three decades, resulting in the largest, comprehensive assemblage of its type—some 1,500 objects by almost 200 artists. The artists in Anderson’s collection include Birge Harrison, Konrad Cramer, George Bellows, Eugene Speicher, Peggy Bacon, Rolph Scarlett, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, among many others.
This exhibition, curated by Karen Quinn, introduces just a sample of the highlights of Anderson’s extraordinary collection, which represents a body of work that together shaped art and culture in New York and forms a history of national and international significance.
”The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection” was organized by the New York State Museum where it was on view from November 2018 to December 2019.
“Be Who You Are: Portraits of Woodstock Artists by Harriett Tannin”
Feb. 4 – July 16, 2023
In the 1980s, Harriet Tannin (1929–2009) created approximately one hundred portraits of artists who lived and worked in Woodstock, New York including Ernest Frazier, Eduardo Chavez, Mary Frank, Al Held, and more. The resulting portfolio was donated to The Dorsky’s permanent collection by Tannin and became the largest and most comprehensive collection of photographic portraits of contemporary artists in the Museum’s collection. A selection of these photographs, curated by Wayne Lempka, will be on view in the Seminar Room Gallery in conjunction with the exhibition “The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection,” on loan from the New York State Museum in Albany.
Tannin’s working style was to ask each participant to decide how they would like to present themselves to the camera. They were free to pose and dress how they chose and most of her portraits were taken in the artists’ studios. Tannin was a photographer, painter, sculptor, political activist, writer, and lecturer who received a Master of Fine Art from SUNY New Paltz in 1975.
“Hudson Valley Artists 2023: Homespun”
Feb. 4 – April 2, 2023
“Homespun” is a group exhibition of artists working in the Hudson Valley who use fabric and fiber as their primary medium. It will feature a range of approaches to working with textiles, from contemporary quilts to sculpture and weaving. “Homespun” will explore the ways in which some artists use fabric in order to honor traditional crafts and “women’s work,” while others use sewing and needlework techniques learned from relatives to connect with their personal histories. Many artists in the exhibition utilize materials that have been recycled, donated, or repurposed to create new forms and structures.
Curated by invitation by Karlyn Benson, “Homespun” is 2023’s annual “Hudson Valley Artists” exhibition and it will open in a new winter timeslot rather than the previous summer timeslot. In 2024 the exhibition will return to its open-call, juried format.
About The Dorsky Museum
Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz supports and enriches the academic programs at the College, presents a broad range of world art for study and enjoyment and serves as a center for Hudson Valley arts and culture. The Museum is widely recognized as the premier public showplace for exhibition, education and cultural scholarship about the Hudson Valley region’s art and artists from yesterday and today. With more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries, The Dorsky Museum is one of the largest museums in the SUNY system. Since its official dedication on Oct. 20, 2001, The Dorsky has presented more than 100 exhibitions, including commissions, collection-based projects and in-depth studies of contemporary artists including Robert Morris, Alice Neel, Judy Pfaff, Carolee Schneemann and Ushio Shinohara.
Funding for The Dorsky’s exhibitions and programs is provided by the Friends of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art and SUNY New Paltz.
Museum Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, holidays and intersessions. For more information about The Dorsky Museum and its programs, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum or call (845) 257-3844.
