Jan Hammond (Educational Administration) was appointed to the Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching by the New York State Board of Regents. Hammond’s term will end on June 30, 2010. The board serves the Regents and the Commissioner of Education on teaching issues and related professions.

Sara Pasti (Museum) received sponsorship from the Greenway Heritage Conservancy HRV Inc. for the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art’s educational symposium, “Revisiting the Hudson: 19th Century Landscape Painting in Context.”

L.H. Roper (History) has been named a co-general editor of the new Journal of Early American History and related book series, The American Colonies, 1500-1830, both published by Brill Academic Publishers of Leiden, the Netherlands. Roper will serve with Jaap Jacobs, a Dutch independent scholar, and Bertrand Van Ruymbeke of the University of Paris-8 in St. Denis. The journal will be housed in the Department of History at New Paltz and will publish its first number in early 2010. For more information, visit www.brill.nl/jeah/.

Francis Augustus Silva(1835-1886)/New York Harbor, N.Y./1880/Oil on canvas, 12 x 20 in./Collection of the New-York Historical Society

In honor of the Hudson River’s 400th anniversary, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art embarks on two major Art and the River events this summer: the annual Hudson Valley Artists show and an exhibition of landscape paintings.

The Art and the River Project 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.

Itty Neuhaus (Art – Foundation) installs a piece connecting art and the environment for the 2009 Hudson Valley Artists show, “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” on display in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Galley at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art through September 8.

This year’s Hudson Valley Artists show is focused on environmental and ecological themes. The works of approximately 20 emerging area artists and artist teams will be on display in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Gallery through Sept. 6. For the show, titled “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” museum curator Brian Wallace selected artwork, information, presentations, activities and other projects that connect global issues such as sustainability, ecological awareness and bioethics to our immediate surroundings.

There are a variety of events associated with “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” including a Habitat for Artists and ecoartspace benefit concert with Dar Williams and Nick Panasevich on Wednesday, June 24.

Flagship exhibition

Meanwhile, the Art and the River Project’s flagship exhibition, “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society,” opens on July 11.

Featured in the show, which runs through Dec. 13, are 45 landscape paintings by Hudson River School artists. The paintings were selected from the permanent collection of the New-York Historical Society and the show is curated by Linda Ferber, New-York Historical Society museum director.

Another Arts and the River Project show opening this summer is “Panorama of the Hudson River: Greg Miller.” The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art will also host an Art Along the Hudson – Third Saturday in New Paltz event on July 18.

The Hudson River-themed events continue into the fall. Two more shows – “The Hudson River: A Great American Treasure” by Greg Miller and “Riverbank” by visiting artists Philippine Hoegen and Carolien Stikker – open in September. An educational symposium, “Revisiting the Hudson: Nineteenth Century Landscape Painting in Context,” organized by Kerry Dean Carso (Art History), takes place in November.

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/.

Sara Pasti is the new Neil C. Trager Director of the Samuel Dorksy Museum of Art on campus. It is the college’s first endowed position. Photo submitted

Sara Pasti has been appointed the Neil C. Trager Director of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. Pasti, who has served as interim deputy director of the museum since January 2008, succeeds founding director, Neil Trager, who retired in August 2008 after 14 years with the college.

Pasti said working in an interim capacity allowed her to become familiar with both the museum and the campus. “I am both thrilled and privileged to be appointed director of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art,” she said. “I very much liked what I saw here, as well as the potential for making things happen in the future.”

As a former arts administrator and a community development consultant, Pasti has worked on start-up projects, institutional and capital project management, and capital and annual fund development. She has worked with such organizations as the Newburgh Institute for the Arts and Ideas; LandAir Project Resources; the Dutchess County Arts Council; the Bearsville Theater; and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.

Pasti earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and a Master of Fine Art in Painting and Printmaking from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick.

For more information, visit www.newpaltz.edu/museum.

by Lee Conell ’09 (English)
Public Affairs intern

Fran Smulcheski (Arts Services) (l-r), Orin Chait (Fine and Performing Arts) and Nancy Lautenbach (Arts Services) promote the cultural events taking place at the college’s artistic venues, such as the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. Photo by Lee Conell

The role of Arts Services is to promote on-campus events that help the college fulfill its mission as an intellectual and cultural hub for the Mid-Hudson region.

Nancy Lautenbach, director of Arts Services, and her assistant, Fran Smulcheski, aim to raise the visibility of cultural events at the college, bring people together through these events and ensure that word about artistic productions and exhibitions on campus gets out not just to faculty, staff and students, but to the entire local community.

Lautenbach believes the work of Arts Services benefits the whole campus by highlighting the richness of its culture.

The staff of Arts Services, which operates under the school of Fine and Performing Arts, must stay on its game because at any given time during the semester there are multiple arts events happening on campus, from plays to visiting speakers to exhibitions at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. Lautenbach and Smulcheski work together on both big picture strategies, such as maintaining and developing media contacts, as well as the smaller details of production publicity, like renting a van so students can distribute posters and postcards advertising an upcoming event.

Lautenbach and Smulcheski often have to do some research to determine how best to promote an event. Lautenbach will frequently work with other departments, sitting in on a director’s concept meeting for a theatrical production to get a sense of the director’s vision of a show. She then obtains images from the production and sends them to Design Services, which uses those images to provide Lautenbach with several poster and postcard designs from which to choose.

Smulcheski’s research is geared toward background information on artists. It is her responsibility to write the press releases for events and to pitch events to media editors. Luckily, as a part-time instructor in the Art History Department, Smulcheski has the background for such work. She tries to promote an arts event in the same manner she teaches her classes; that is, in a way that will entice people from different areas of study. “I approach the arts as an interdisciplinary matter,” Smulcheski said.

Lautenbach and Smulcheski collaborate frequently with Box Office Manager Orin Chait (Fine and Performing Arts) to garner publicity for theatrical productions. In the recent on-campus production, “Company,” for example, Arts Services and Chait, who oversees ticket distribution and supervises ushers, teamed up to create surveys to determine how the play’s audience found out about the event and their reasons for attending. Finding out which means of promotion are most effective will allow Arts Services to determine the best way to draw the community into arts events at the college, heightening the campus’s status as a true cultural hub.

To contact Chait, call x3936. To contact Lautenbach, call x3872. To contact Smulcheski, call x3858.