By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communications and Media)

Public Affairs Intern

On the Esopus, Meadow Groves, ca. 1857-58, oil on canvas by William Hart (1823-1894). Image submitted

The college is hosting “Revisiting the Hudson: 19th Century Landscape Painting in Context,” a daylong symposium on Saturday, Nov. 7, focusing on the art featured in the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art’s “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th Century American Landscape Painting from the New-York Historical Society” exhibition.

Kerry Dean Carso (Art History) organized the symposium, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Lecture Center, room 102.

The lectures will cover a wide range of topics relating to the Hudson River School of Art, including discussions of notable artists Thomas Cole and Frederic Church; landscape painting in the Shawangunks; and architecture found along the Hudson River. Lecturers include art history scholars and professionals from colleges, historical sites and museums from the East Coast.

In addition to the lectures, guided tours of the museum’s successful exhibition, which is on display through Dec. 13, will be available between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The event, like the “Hudson River to Niagara Falls” show, is part of the Samuel Dorsky Museum’s “Art &The River” project – a six-month series of exhibitions, lectures and events celebrating the Hudson River’s Quadricentennial.

The symposium is free and open to the public and was made possible through the generous support of The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

Front cover of WaterWrites. Image submitted

Laurence Carr (English) has set sail with an anthology that tells the story of the Hudson River through the creative works of Hudson Valley writers.

Sixty writers are featured in “WaterWrites,” which was published by Codhill Press of New Paltz on Oct. 21. There are well over 12 writers from the college who contributed to the 136-page book.

Carr added that “WaterWrites” is a SUNY New Paltz book. In addition to the more than 12 writers from the college, the 136-page book was designed by Laura Kniffen (Design Services) and the cover photograph was taken by Morgan Gwenwald (Library). Joann Deiudicibus (English), Penny Freel (English) and Rachel Rigolino (English) assisted Carr with the editing of the manuscript.

Inside, the works of professional and amateur writers from the area span the literary and environmental plain. There are essays, short stories, poetry and more. All works share a common theme: the Hudson River. Carr said there was an amazing amount of submissions from high school students, college students, graduates, professional and amateur writers. “The submissions cover the spectrum of every Hudson Valley person,” he said.

“I am so happy to have a very active profile of Hudson Valley writers to celebrate the region and prose and poetry,” said Carr.

The idea came to Carr at a meeting discussing events for the Hudson River Quadricentennial. Carr thought it would be a good idea to have a literary component to the historic celebration. Carr, who had previously edited Riverine, an anthology of works from Hudson Valley writers, decided to get to work.

“This is a people’s book, not an academic publication,” he said. “It also combines the community and university and makes us one entity.”

There will be readings held up and down the river. A launch party is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Inquiring Minds Bookstore in New Paltz.

The college will host an international symposium in late September focused on the history of the Hudson River Valley’s settlement and how the subject is presented in the classroom.

“Henry Hudson, New Netherland and Atlantic History” is sponsored by the college’s Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach and takes place Sept. 25-26 in Lecture Center 100. The event is open to the public and members of the campus community.

The symposium will be led by L.H. Roper (History) and Dennis Maika, a professional historian and teacher at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, N.Y.

“It will be a unique opportunity for teachers and anyone interested in the voyages of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain and the history of the European colonization of our region to interact with leading historians for an exciting, intensive discussion of early 17th-century North America,” said Roper.

The majority of the day’s events will be devoted to the settlement of the region. Top scholars from the Netherlands, Germany and France will be among the speakers. At the end of each day, Maika will lead a discussion about how these issues are taught in the schools.

The keynote speakers for the event will be Tim Shannon of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, who is an expert in Colonial New York and will be speaking at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, and Charles Gehring of the New Netherland Project in Albany, who will speak at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Roper said the dialogue started at the symposium will be continued after the event through the program’s Web page and social media presence.

Registration is encouraged. For more information, visit the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach’s Web site or call x2901.

Author and conservationist to speak about Hudson River on April 16

The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) will host an event at 7 p.m. on April 16, in Parker Theatre with author and conservationist Frances Dunwell.

Drawing on the material in her recently published book, “The Hudson: America’s River,” Dunwell will present a one-hour slide show and discussion. Her presentation brings to life the stories of the visionary people who, inspired by their deep relationship with the river, impact American history even today.

“Her work contributes greatly to sustaining our great river, in all its strengths and dimensions, which is at the center of our lives in this region and throughout New York,” said Gerald Benjamin, director of the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach. “We are delighted that she will be bringing her encyclopedic knowledge of the river, and her passion for it, to our campus in this Quadricentennial year.”

Copies of “The Hudson: America’s River” will be available for purchase at the event. Dunwell has generously donated royalties from the sale of this book to the Natural Heritage Trust for conservation of the river.

For more information, contact the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at x2901.

Robert Havell/View of Hudson River from Tarrytown Heights, ca. 1842/oil on canvas Image courtesy of Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

This spring, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art explores its cultural heritage with exhibitions highlighting the works from regional artists and the museum’s permanent collection.

The first show of 2009, “Taking a Different Tack: Maggie Sherwood and the Floating Foundation of Photography,” is on display through April 8 in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Gallery. Beth Wilson (Art History) served as curator of the show, which opened on Jan. 24. “Taking a Different Tack” documents the work and experiences of a group of photographers who, in the 1970s, exhibited their work and ran a series of innovative community programs out of a purple houseboat.

Across the hall in the Howard Greenburg Family Gallery, the museum presents “Eva Watson-Schütze: Photographer” from Feb. 14 to June 14. The portraits taken by Watson-Schütze, a member and resident of the Byrdcliffe Art Colony in Woodstock, feature the intellectual and creative elite of early 19th century Chicago and upstate New York.

Also on display from Feb. 14 to June 14 is “Bradford Graves: Selected Works” in the Sara Bedrick Gallery and “analog catalog: Investigating the Permanent Collection” in the Morgan Anderson Gallery and Corridor Gallery. The Bradford Graves show features the drawings and sculptures of the artist, who was a Kerhonkson resident. In “analog catalog,” Brian Wallace, museum curator, invited New Paltz faculty to explore the museum’s permanent collection database and present works not previously seen by the public. Faculty members working with Wallace are David Appelbaum (Philosophy), Gregg Bray (Communication and Media), Anne Galperin (Graphic Design) and Yoav Kaddar (Theatre Arts); independent designer and theorist Stuart Henley, a former New Paltz instructor, also participated in the show.

The spring semester closes with the museum’s annual series of student shows. And beginning this summer, the museum will turn its attention to the local environment before embarking on a collaborative exhibition with the New-York Historical Society designed to mark the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial.

The annual juried “Hudson Valley Artists 2009″ show focuses on the environment and ecological themes. Wallace said the museum is receiving artwork submissions; selections will be made in April. The show will be on display in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Gallery from June 13 to Sept. 6.

Wallace said the show’s subject will be a nice complement to the Hudson River show, “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society,” which opens on July 11 and runs through December 13.

William Rickarby Miller/Mohawk River at Little Falls, N.Y., 1892/oil on canvas Image courtesy of Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

“Our summer exhibitions will present hundreds of years’ worth of artistic expression grounded in the artists’ intimate knowledge of the region,” said Wallace.

For “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls,” 45 landscape paintings – depicting locations along the Hudson River from New York City to Niagara Falls – will be on display at the museum, accompanied by a scholarly catalog, gallery guide and gallery talks. Through collaborations with faculty and staff, the museum will apply the exhibition’s focus on the river and how it led to the exploration of the upstate regions of the state to campus events outside of the museum. The museum has also partnered with the New York State and Ulster County tourism offices to include the exhibition as part of the Explore New York 400 campaign.

“This exhibition provides the museum with a terrific partnership opportunity that allows us to make extraordinary works of art to our audiences on and beyond the New Paltz campus,” said Sara Pasti, museum director. “We are grateful to the New-York Historical Society for lending their paintings to us and for their assistance in making this exhibition happen.”

For more information about all of the upcoming exhibitions, visit www.newpaltz.edu/museum/.