A wonderful and intriguing gallery. Jen and Alan do a great job presenting renown contemporary…read moreartists and giving context to their work. A NYC-quality gallery in Saugerties!

I love this artist so much--maybe more than any other! Dina's art is so delightful, funny,…read morefantastical, warm. I have a number of her prints framed. Visiting the Open Studio is a joy and so much fun. Her exhibit is incredible.

One of my most favorite art studios ever. NYC meets Argentina meets the world at this gorgeous…read morespace on Main Street in Catskill. Treasures await to be discovered in every corner. There is truly something for everyone of all ages to enjoy. My favorites? The adorable hand-sewn dolls or embroidered vintage photos by Julie Chase or the ceramic goddess lanterns by renown artist and author Dina Bursztyn??!! I can't decide!!! A must-see when in the Hudson Valley. Take a special trip up to visit. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Probably some of the nicest, best priced pottery I've seen in a while. An amazing curation of…read morevarious artists, all usable for everyday living. The bowl pictured is by the owner and is dishwasher safe (a must for me). I will certainly be going back next time I'm in Woodstock. I love being able to support local artists and the owner is a gem for keeping her prices fair.

Came here for my sister's art show opening. She's doing her masters in Curatorial Studies at Bard…read moreCollege and this art museum is affiliated to it. This college is quite prominent, as is the Hessel Museum of Art, and has housed some great art works. It's also given a name to many curators that are now highly regarded. Granted, it's in the 'middle of nowhere' but wow - it's remarkable. From its design, to the space within and layout.

A lovely museum in a bucolic setting. Hessel makes a great stop on a day trip from the city, easy…read moreto combine with visits to DIA Beacon or the Storm King sculpture park if you've got a car. If not--then you can't do them all in one day, but be advised that the Hessel runs complimentary shuttles from Manhattan when they have openings. Beer, wine, soft drinks and pretzels at the opening are complimentary as well. All in all, a great place. But couldn't give it five stars because I'm not into the new shows. One is Haim Steinbach, an artist who never really got my juices running. His work is about shelving, display, minimalist art, the museum retail, etc.--a kind of third-wave pop/appropriation art (if you just read that and you were like "so what?" you feel me). What makes this show interesting--perhaps more so than others of his that I've seen--is what he did with the Hessel's permanent collection. A cool thing about the Hessel is that it's endowed with a small collection of important works of contemporary art but rather than put them up in the standard museum display they let invited artists and curators incorporate them in their shows, using unconventional and experimental display methods, the likes of which you would never see in your run-of-the-mill museum. Steinbach put up this construction-site scaffolding in the big gallery and arranged works above and below it, so you could glimpse the pieces (both museum works, Steinbach's own stuff, design objects, knickknacks etc.) in horizontal and vertical layers, that made you think about the status of each thing as an object or artwork. The other exhibition was Helen Marten, a young British artist. It was a smart pairing with Steinbach, though I like her work even less. It's also about objects and display, and coming up with quirky convoluted relations between things. Everything is about weight, balance, and borders, and everything is solid and in tension. There are papery woodcuts that look flimsy but hold up to the weight of loaded key rings hanging off of them, for instance. The paintings have stuff attached to the bottom of the frames, so they don't end with the canvas. It's about surfaces and repetition, too--there are cans of olive oil positioned on the floor around the galleries, and the olives and vines from the logo are repeated on the wall--yet nowhere in the show do you find the mess of the oil itself. This is also true in her videos. Digital media can be slippery, glitchy, pixelly, liquid--but when Helen Marten gets her hands on it she makes everything robust and shiny and glossy, crafting digits into beautiful perfect objects, just as hard and solid as the commodities she appropriates in her sculptures. Yawn. Great museum though!

Terrific shop with a well-curated selection of art supplies. Great vibe, too. I'll be back!read more

A tiny, vibrant art supply store with neat gift ideas! We were welcomed by the young woman…read moreworking there and were encouraged to doodle with some of their specialty crayons! They had artist-themed gift ideas and a neat selection of cards (one of which I purchased for a friend's birthday). I definitely recommend checking out this little gem of a store! https://www.instagram.com/thelittleartshop.catskill/

I've been going to workshops at CPW since they were located on Tinker Street in Woodstock. Recently…read morerelocated to a renovated cigar factory in downtown Kingston, they're laying the groundwork to become an artistic and cultural center of the Hudson Valley. I've always been impressed with the knowledge the instructors share with their students. Antiquarian processes such as wet plate collodion, lessons on becoming a contemporary commercial photographer, classes on Adobe Photoshop, regular meetings on the artistic process and feedback on your work, they've got you covered. CPW has the equipment and expertise to print your digital photos, too. A black and white film darkroom is also in the plans. Their new home is huge, enough to display exhibitions as well as host workshops. Their staff is also remarkably competent and welcoming.

The old IBM buildings are an odd venue for a group photography show but it ends up adding the…read morecontent. This show is fabulous. Don't miss the chance to go!

I was in Kingston, New York recently and visited the newly-opened, fascinating and educational…read moreInternational Museum of Dinnerware Design (IMoDD). Establish in 2012, with pop-up exhibits in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the IMoDD's mission is to collect, preserve, and celebrate masterpieces of the tabletop genre created by leading artists and designers worldwide. The museum invites visitors to step back in time and experience the nostalgia of gathering around the dinner table. Located in a wonderful building on Broadway, the IMoDD is currently presenting two exhibitions. The first is a curated exhibition of Dining Grails where there are more than 100 fabulous tabletop objects by leading industrial designers and contemporary artists such as Eva Zeisel, Russel Wright, Roy Lichtenstein, Eddie Dominguez and Pop-up book illustrator Robert Sabuda. Another exhibition, Dining Memories offers a chance to remember cherished dining experiences through intimate vignettes such as picnics, Mid-Century TV dinners, diner moments, tea aboard the Queen Mary, the art of highchair fine dining, and more. Their "á la carte gallery" allows visitors to try the "tablecloth trick" - pulling a tablecloth out from under a table full of dishes! The IMoDD gift shop is stocked with books, vintage dinnerware and other items to take home as a reminder of your visit. Support small museums and visit the wonderful International Museum of Dinnerware Design!

This small and unique collection is worth a stop in Kingston. Permanent pieces varied from…read moretraditional to avant garde and the special exhibit showed more than a dozen themed installation works.

Fletcher Gallery is a small gallery off Mill Road. I wasn't sure if they were open at first and if…read morethey even allowed the public instead but I took the risk and stepped in. It has two side's but you can only enter from the right. There are also two offices upstairs. The people working there didn't mind if we looked around. They also thanked us for coming in.The first few paintings were very eye catching and colorful of ballerina's and sacred figures but as we ventured further in towards the other side they began turning into more adult based photography with lots of nudity. I wasn't really expecting that and I had my teenage son with me so I decided it wouldn't be appropriate to bring him any further. There really weren't too many pieces inside. In less that five minutes you could likely carefully view the entire gallery. They did also have some bust sculptures in addition to the painted portraits and black and white nudes. It's worth a peek if you are passing by but it may be a good idea to leave the kids out of this one.

I haven't missed a fletcher gallery auction in many years. I think of it as one of the best kept…read moresecrets in Woodstock. An astute buyer can find amazing value on collectible works of art, and people shopping for lesser works can find great bargains. Some of the tips that I can give anyone is to do your best to really shop the gallery at pre-auctions so that you can make up your mind about those things that you think you want to bid on. It's unlikely that you will get all of them since there is often risk bidding on a number of the pieces. Then again it's likely that you can get a piece or 2 that slip between the cracks and buy them for a fraction of their value. It's also a lot of fun. - Ken from Woodstock