Visitors to the "The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society" exhibition at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

Those looking for something to do over the Thanksgiving weekend won’t have to look any further than the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

The museum will be closed on Thursday, but will reopen and maintain regular hours (11 a.m.-5 p.m.) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A free gallery tour will take place on Sunday, Nov. 29.

Visitors are encouraged to visit the current exhibitions: “Inscription” and “The Hudson River – A Great American Treasure,” which close on Nov. 29, and “Panorama of the Hudson River,” which closes on Dec. 13, but will reopen in February. The flagship exhibition of the Dorsky Museum’s Art and the River project, “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society,” will conclude its successful run on Dec. 13.

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.

Sara Pasti (Dorsky Museum) has been awarded a $4,818 grant by the Hudson Valley Greenway Communities Council for a project titled “Revisiting the Hudson: 19th Century Landscape Painting in Context.” The symposium will be held in conjunction with the exhibition, “Views and Visions: The Hudson River to Niagara Falls – 19th Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society,” which is on display through Dec. 13 at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. The interdisciplinary symposium will contextualize 19th-century American landscape painting.

OUTSTANDING ASSESSMENT AWARD: Lynn Spangler (Communication and Media), center, received the 2009 award for outstanding service in educational assessment at the college’s General Education (GE) forum on Oct. 28. Associate Provost Laurel Garrick Duhaney, left, and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences James Schiffer presented Spangler with the award.

By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communication and Media)

Public Affairs Intern

Images from the extended "Panorama of the Hudson River" show. Top image is a section of Greg Miller's 2009 photo; bottom image is from a 1910 photo commissioned by the Hudson River Day Line Steamer Company.

Greg Miller’s “Panorama of the Hudson River” has had a lasting impact on the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

The photographic panorama’s run at the Sara Bedrick Gallery has been extended into next year. The show, which opened in July, will continue through Dec. 13 and will reopen on Feb. 6 for seven weeks.

Sara Pasti, the Neil C. Trager director of the museum, said the show was extended because of its popularity and to allow students who arrive in the spring semester to view the exhibition.

The museum commissioned Miller, a photographer from Monroe, to create a photographic panorama of the Hudson River that was modeled on earlier painted, engraved and photographic views of the river.

Miller’s photograph of the Hudson River includes both banks and stretches from Manhattan to Albany. The image is paired with a 1910 photographic panorama developed for the Hudson River Day Line Steamer Company; both photographs are 80 feet long.

The show is part of the college’s Art and the River project, a six-month series of exhibitions, lectures and events celebrating the Hudson River’s Quadricentennial.

"Bear Mountain View," photograph by Greg Miller

The openings of “The Hudson River: A Great American Treasure” by Greg Miller and “Inscription” by Philippine Hoegen and Carolien Stikker on Sept. 19 mark the final installment in the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art’s six-month Art and the River project.

The Art and the River project is the museum’s contribution to the Hudson River Quadricentennial taking place this year.

An opening reception will be held for “The Hudson River” and “Inscription” from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19.

“The artists behind ‘The Hudson River’ and ‘Inscription’ invested a great deal of time exploring the region in order to create their beautiful and haunting images,” said Sara Pasti, the Neil C. Trager Director of the museum.

Untitled 2004, (still image from video), by Philippine Hoegen and Carolien Stikker

“The Hudson River: A Great American Treasure” is the second Art and the River project show by Orange County, N.Y.-based photographer Greg Miller. The newest exhibition presents 20 recent color photographs of Hudson Valley landscapes by Miller, whose panoramic photograph of the Hudson River is on display at the museum through Dec. 13. The photographs in “The Hudson River” depict views of the river and its valleys from New York City’s George Washington Bridge to the river’s small upstate tributaries.

For “Inscription,” the Dorsky Museum commissioned Amsterdam artists Philippine Hoegen and Carolien Stikker to produce a short film about the river. The artists, who work together and maintain solo careers, visited the campus in May and June of 2009 to explore the Hudson River and its tributaries. During that time, they made film, videotape and digital audio recordings under the working title “Riverbank.”

There are four works in the exhibition: a video projection, “Crossing;” a slide and video projection installation, “Smoke no smoke;” and hybrid photographic videos, both untitled. In addition, a book, titled “Superstructure,” will be published by the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art and SUNY Press to coincide with the exhibition.

From June to December, the museum is hosting five art exhibitions – including the flagship exhibition, “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society”; an academic symposium; and various other events.

An artists’ lecture for “Inscription” is set for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, in the campus’s Lecture Center, room 102.

Both exhibitions are open through Nov. 29.

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art will host an evening of “Fine Wine + Fine Art” beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.

The event, a benefit for the The Dorsky Museum, will include tastings of wine, hors d’oeuvres from the Depuy Canal House, artisanal cheese and chocolates, and fine ports.

There will also be an auction of fine wine and fine art.

Alumnus Steven Koplan ’71 is the event’s honorary chairman. Koplan is a professor and chair of wine studies at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and the coauthor of “Exploring Wine” and “Wine Wise.”

Auctioneer Fred Mayo will guide the bidding on a selection of collectable wines and fine art items. The auction also includes a weeklong stay in the Swiss village of Soazza in the heart of Swiss-Italian merlot wine country.

Tickets are $80 per person or $650 for 10 people and $65 per person for supporters and members of the museum. For tickets and more information, go to www.newpaltz.edu/museum/auction or contact x3240 or crosss@newpaltz.edu.

The event is sponsored by Depuy Canal House, Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, Morgan Anderson Consulting and the SUNY New Paltz Foundation.

SUNY Press will now distribute print and digital editions of titles published by the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

These cover a range of topics, including 19-century American landscape paintings of the Hudson River; the photography of Eva Watson-Schütze; artists George Bellow, Rimer Cardillo (Printmaking), and Judy Pfaff; and a selection of titles featuring New Paltz alumni artists. SUNY Press and the museum will also collaborate on new publishing ventures.

“We are very excited about this partnership,” said Sara Pasti, the Neil C. Trager Director of the museum. “Partnering with SUNY Press will not only help spread the word about the quality and diversity of the exhibitions that the Dorsky Museum offers, but it will allow these exhibitions to have a second life beyond their display in our museum.”

Congressman Maurice Hinchey '68, '70g at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art on Aug. 13 for a reception recognizing his contributions to the college's "Hudson River to Niagara Falls" show.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey ’68, ’70g (D-NY) was the guest of honor at an Aug. 13 reception at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

Hinchey was recognized for his contributions to the museum’s “Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society” exhibition, which is on display through Dec. 13.

The congressman and New Paltz alumnus secured $143,449 in federal funding to support the exhibition, which is the college’s contribution to the Hudson River Quadricentennial taking place through the region this year. The 45 paintings come from the New-York Historical Society’s permanent collection. The funds were also used to conserve four paintings in the show.

In attendance were College President Steven Poskanzer, the Neil C. Trager Director of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art Sara Pasti, and chair of the SUNY New Paltz Foundation, Noah Dorsky, as well as other campus and local officials.

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art has received $9,500 in funding for programs related to its Art and the River Project.

The museum received two awards for its “Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society” exhibition on display through Dec. 13.The first is a $1,000 sponsorship award from the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area to help support promotional efforts for the college’s Nov. 7 symposium being held in conjunction with exhibition. The second is a $2,500 quadricentennial mini-grant award from the New York Council on the Humanities will support public education and outreach programs related to the exhibition. Both awards came through the Research Foundation and Office of Sponsored Funds.

Funding for Greg Miller’s “Panorama of the Hudson River,” also on display through Dec. 13, includes $3,500 from the Furthermore Foundation, a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, to support publication costs of an exhibition catalog and $2,500 from SUNY Press to go toward the book’s printing costs. The book is scheduled to come out in mid-September.

Museum continues its Art and the River Project voyage

Members of the local and campus communities view some of the 45 paintings displayed in “Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society” at the show's July 11 opening at the campus's Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. (Photo by Eric Gullickson/Public Affairs)

The headline exhibition of Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art’s Hudson River-themed Art and the River Project opened on July 11.

“Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society” was produced with the New-York Historical Society and will be on display in the Morgan Anderson Gallery and the Howard Greenberg Family Gallery through Dec. 13. Forty-five landscape paintings of the Hudson Valley from the historical society’s collection are featured in the show.

Donald Christian (left), who begins work as provost of the college on Aug. 3, and Mary Hafeli, who arrived on campus on July 1 as dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts, attended the July 11 opening. (Photo by Eric Gullickson/Public Affairs)

An opening reception for “Hudson River to Niagara Falls” and another Art and the River show, “Panorama of the Hudson: Greg Miller,” was held for both events on July 11 with members of the campus and regional communities in attendance. The Art and the River Project coincides with the valley’s yearlong program celebrating the Hudson River’s quadricentennial. The program was made possible with a $143,449 federal grant from Congressman Maurice Hinchey ‘68, ‘70g and the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

For “Panorama of the Hudson,” a large-scale panoramic photograph of the Hudson River, from New York City to Albany, was commissioned by the museum. Local artist Greg Miller’s completed piece is hanging in the Sara Bedrick Gallery through Dec. 13.

There are three other exhibitions rounding out the Art and the River Project. The museum’s annual Hudson Valley Artists show, “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” opened in the Horace and Alice Chandler Gallery and the North Gallery on June 18. It is on display until September 6.

The series continues with “The Hudson River: A Great American Treasure – Greg Miller” and “Riverbank: Philippine Hoegen and Carolien Stikker” opening on Sept. 16. Both shows, which feature works by visiting artists, are on display through Nov. 29.