Windows on Main Street :: Beacon NY

Windows on Main Street 2012 Kickoff Meeting!

2012-02-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

Hello All!
We're ramping up for this year's Windows on Main Street event; it's time to start planning now. This year we're reaching out to our community for able bodies to help put on this fabulous event. Now's your opportunity to jump in and help make Windows on Main Street happen. We could use help with promotion, fundraising, curation, general coordination and organization. Even if it's just distributing flyers! If you're interested in pitching in, please come to our kickoff meeting:

WOMS2012 Kickoff
Bank Square Coffee House
129 Main Street, Beacon NY
Tuesday, February 21 2012
7:00–8:00pm

You can RSVP to me, Melissa: melissatatge@gmail.com.

Hope to see you there!
Melissa & Hannah

Closing Party & Book Signing

2011-09-06T03:44:00.000-07:00

Please join us for the
Windows on Main Street Closing Party & Book Signing
Saturday, September 9, 2011 • 6:00-8:00pm
BEAHIVE, 291 Main Street, Beacon NY 12508

The catalog will be available for purchase for $20.

Stop by and tip a glass to the artists and store owners who made this incredible event happen!

Preview the Windows on Main Street 2011 Catalog

2011-08-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Windows on Main Street Catalog will be available on September 10 at our Closing Party.

Hey, we found a cheaper way to print! The price has been changed to $20!

Click here to take a look at the book »

Click here to
pre-order a book »

Opening Reception Tonight!

2011-08-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

Join us at Chill Wine Bar tonight, August 13, from 6:00 to 9:00pm, 173 Main Street, Beacon NY. Meet the artists and store owners who made this incredible event! Map »

Photo Gallery of Installations

2011-08-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Christopher Albert

2011-08-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

Artisan Wine Shop / Beacon Pilates — 180 / 181 Main St.

"]twenty-six paces["
a series of actions and artifacts

A meditation on nearness, the ecosystem of community and the process of experiencing a place in a manner slower and deeper than that provided by a glancing, storefrontwindow-depth stroll-by.

This “work” will consist of a series of moments, some of which will have a physical presence — sculpture, photography, painting, sound/video installations — within both the Artisan Wine Shop and Beacon Pilates spaces — and some which may not be marked by such a presence — which will be the result of time I spend in these two establishments, and time I spend reflecting on the nature of the businesses and their
physical relation to one another.

The vagueness of this statement must not be confused with that of your typical, obscurely worded artist statement. I intend this project to be not prescriptive, but to be shaped by the form of the process of it’s own incremental development. I have a
concept of individual components this project will entail...but not entirely.

In addition to the physical manifestations that may be seen in both venues, additional material can be found at http://christopheralbert.com/projects/26-paces/

I also anticipate a component of the work to exist in the form of a triangular twitter exchange between myself: @maykr and @artisanwineshop and @beaconpilates using the hashtag #WOMS.

My thanks go to Tim Buzinski and Mei Ying So of Artisan Wine Shop and Juliet Harvey of Beacon Pilates for their indulgence. Also, thanks to Angelika Rinnhofer for her assistance, technical and otherwise.

www.christopheralbert.com

Jojo Ans

2011-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Watkins Press — 473 Main St.

Abandoned buildings and historical architecture capture my attention as a way to
explore the untold stories that linger about the ruins. I use these settings as a way
to transcend the past, and investigate present dilemmas that are illuminated by
what remains.

"Half Left, Roof, Dutchess County, NY"
2011
Platinum/Palladium Print
8 x 10 inches

"Half Left, House, Ulster County, NY"
2010
Platinum/Palladium Print
8 x 10 inches

For print sales, please contact Jojo Ans
ja@jojoans.com
917-388-5945
www.jojoans.com

Jojo Ans was born and raised in the Hudson Valley, and has always photographed her natural surroundings. She studied photography before its digital age, and continues to capture her images using only traditional materials and techniques. Ans began to travel for her fine art projects after receiving her BFA in Photography, and spent extended periods of time in France, New Mexico, and New York City. Jojo’s work has been exhibited and published, and she has received residency grants to The MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in New Mexico. Jojo currently lives in Kingston, NY, where she resumes shooting with film in her 8” x 10” pinhole camera, and makes her platinum/palladium prints using the sunlight.

www.jojoans.com

BLANK

2011-08-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Mixture — 137 Main St.

I make art to compensate
for my ugliness.

www.blank-art.net

Michael Bowman

2011-08-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Max's on Main —246 Main St.

A great photograph shows the world as it is, not how it should be.

www.desolateplaces.com

Goats N Glory (Allison Braun)

2011-08-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Play — 167 Main St.

Goats N Glory is the moniker used by Hudson Valley artist Allison Braun. Goats N Glory started to create many characters and enjoyed the challenge of making a typically unattractive animal, like a naked mole rat or a jellyfish, into a huggable, adorable character. That is how the “Dumpling Animals” were born. These Dumpling Animals attempt to answer the question of how large can eyes be on a whimsical little creature.

www.goatsnglory.com

Sean Breault

2011-08-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Echo — 470 Main St.

"HERE"

I came here to count the bells
that live upon the surface of the sea,
that sound over the sea,
within the sea.
So, here I live.

Pablo Neruda

www.seanbreault.com
spbreault@gmail.com

Sasha Bush

2011-08-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Howland Public Library — 313 Main St.

The series Portraits of Savegre, developed as part of a project documenting and compiling the oral history of the village of Savegre, in Costa Rica, in 2008. Savegre, a small village in south-central Costa Rica remained isolated from local and national urban centers up until fairly recently. However, new developments in infrastructure such as paved roads, electricity and especially, anew high school have permanently changed this. Community members now have the opportunity for greater access to participate in the national and international spheres outside the village. The oral history of Savegre was created as a collaborative project with members of the community. I interviewed villagers of all ages, some descendants of or themselves a part of the original migration that would eventually create and found the village of Savegre. While there are overlapping layers of time, due in part to the overlapping of ages of people interviewed, Savegre’s history can be broken up into three stages with a possible fourth. The first begins with the original families that founded the village whose remaining members age ranges from 70 to 90. Coming after them and forming the second stage are their children, and grandchildren who collectively created the first generation to be born and raised in the established village. These members age ranges from 30 to 50. Members of the third stage, the second generation born in Savegre, ages range from 30 to 12 years old. Many people from this group have started and continue to leave the village in order to study in universities. Their younger siblings already take for granted this newly gained access to higher education. With these two last stages in Savegre’s development the continuation and survival of the village has come into question as many people from the older generation doubt the ability of the village to regenerate and recover. These photographs seek to give a face to some of the many people who contributed to this oral history. Clearly the village’s history cannot be read and understood in a direct line from founders to great-great grandchildren. Yet, these photographs represent people from all four intertwining stages in Savegre’s history. As with oral history itself, the photographs are openended concerning the last stage since it is still developing.

Sasha Bush grew up in Poughkeepsie. Studying at Hampshire College in Western Massachusetts, he graduated in 2005 with a BA in photography and Latin American Studies. The four years away from Poughkeepsie proved to be invaluable, allowing him to return home with fresh eyes and a new appreciation for the area. Currently Sasha is freelancing for the Brooklyn Downtown Star and Queens Ledger. He continues to work on a number of ongoing projects around the Hudson Valley, mainly focusing in the field of photojournalism and portraiture.

www.sashabush.com

Chelsea Carlton

2011-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Seed to Fruit — 528 Main St.

A recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design’s textile department, my work has always been grounded in the “handwork” aspect of fabric act- quilting, knitting, vintage punchcards patterns and felting. Inspired by the work of the Bauhaus performance pieces and the Ghee’s Bend quilts, I aim with each piece to engage the viewer in somewhat of an imagined history.

It is impossible to separate the act of knitting from the notion of craft. Every one of us has a piece of fabric that imbues in us a sense of nostalgia, a very meaningful reference to history — quilts, favorite sweaters and childhood toys. While maintaining this sense of a personal history, textiles have the power to reinvent that comforting memory in a new light, to translate that sense of nostalgia to one’s own imagined reality. Through unusual forms, process and materials that speak to technology, these craft worked pieces can also maintain an awareness of a 21st century way of surveying history.

With one foot in the past and one foot in the future, I strive to create in my work an atmosphere all at once nostalgic and futuristic.

www.chelseacarlton.com

Dick Crenson

2011-08-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Dick Crenson — 436 Main St.

Dick is a photographer who has branched out into video. He works with wire sculpture as well.

Marcy B. Freedman

2011-08-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Beacon Building — 427 Main St.

I am an artist and an art historian. As an art historian, I have been a teacher, curator, consultant and public speaker. As an artist, I have created paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures, photographs, videos and performance art.

For the last several years, my work as a performance artist has been dedicated to the proposition that we all need a break from our growing reliance upon virtual forms of communication, such as email, texting, and social networking. Consequently, I create performance pieces that are one-onone, face-to-face interactive encounters that involve real people, in real time and real space. I have found these projects to be powerful, engaging and often, fun.

For this year’s Windows on Main, I designed a project called “Site-Specific Dreams.” I spent hours on the streets of Beacon, inviting people to converse with me. Using my video camera, I documented their responses to this question: “What would you like to see in the Beacon Building, located at 427 Main Street?” Now, on the doors and windows of this building, one can find photos of each participant, along with their comments, transcribed from the video footage.

For me, the most meaningful part of this project was the time that I spent interacting with people — all sorts of people! I had the chance to chat with a group of skate- boarding teens, to exchange ideas with young new-comers to Beacon, to listen attentively to some long-time residents, and to brainstorm with a few tourists.” I think that all of the participants enjoyed themselves, too.

However, I believe that the installation is also important and valuable. As viewers stand in front of the Beacon Building, reading the posted statements, they will discover a wide range of suggested uses for the site. Some of the proposed ideas are impractical — but wonderfully imaginative and creative. Other concepts make a lot of sense and could be implemented. Interestingly, a majority of the proposals reflect a deep-seated concern for the general well-being and enrichment of the diverse populations of Beacon.

In short, I believe that “Site-Specific Dreams” is a successful project on many levels. In addition to exposing people to an unusual form of contemporary art (interactive performance), this piece has the potential to stimulate conversation — and perhaps, action!

Nicole Ganas

2011-08-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Nicole Ganas — 151 Main St.

My project is founded in adoration of a vacant lot that has seemingly been surviving
(and thriving) in secret on Main Street for over thirty years. I discovered the site a handful of years ago prior to moving to Beacon and have been intrigued and inspired by its presence ever since.

Working with installations and involving reclaimed materials from the lot, my intention is to honor the past and present life of the site while considering the dynamic between man and nature.

Peter Giampaoli

2011-08-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Beacon Bagel — 466 Main St.

Peter Giampaoli began drawing as a way to remember thoughts and ideas. As crude as his drawings were, they became a private language. His doodles have been used in the past for event posters and graphic T-shirts. Intrigued by the relationship between the virtual and authentic he created two pieces for “Windows on Main”. The two pieces are a test of human perception, that as thinking beings, we are constantly in the pursuit of meaning.

Sometimes things have purpose and meaning, and sometimes things are just meant to be.

Carla Goldberg

2011-08-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Chill Wine Bar —173 Main St.

When I was a little kid I thought water came magically from the kitchen sink and collected in swimming pools. I was endlessly fascinated by the cool aqua colors and weird patterns of light dancing on the surface and just below, bouncing off the bottom of the pool walls. I’ve always been drawn to bodies of water and shimmering, moving light. Well that was the essence of water for me growing up in the deserts of Palm Springs, California. I had no idea I would end up living near the Hudson River. The only thing I knew about the Hudson was vague recollections of learning about it in the context of American History. I remember the day I first saw the Hudson and was thunderstruck by how beautiful it was and realized I wanted to live by this real body of water. I found myself obsessed.

Aquamarine is a new mixed media series of paint, ink and resin on plexiglass that plays with the idea of light and shadow, frozen water and thawing, raining and dripping and hinting of summer’s cool aqua ease. These are real and imagined, desert pool infused and Hudson iced. They are a play of water surface, of deep shadow, of light dancing, of memories of reflection and time spent happily spacing out over water.

www.carlagoldberg.com

Theresa and Liam Goodman

2011-08-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Tas Kafé — 504 Main St.

waffles for the people, man.

www.liamgoodman.com
www.theresagooby.com

Larry Guzman

2011-08-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Too the Nines — 506 Main St.

"Remains of the Gay"
(pride parade)

I’ve believed for a while now that if you’ve seen one gay pride parade, you’ve seen them all. Dykes on Bikes, twinks and hunks on floats, scores of interest and community groups, and lots and lots of drag queens, you know the drill.

New York City’s Heritage of Pride parade — the first gay pride parade in the nation — has changed a bit since I attended last (maybe ten years ago). It now starts at Fifth Avenue and 36th Street nowadays, no longer on Central Park West like it did when I first went in 1984. When the gay pride parade started in 1970 on the first anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, it was essential a protest march. In the 70s became a celebration of sexual liberation and in the 80s it became a protest march again, this time against government inaction against the AIDS crisis. In the 90s it settle into partytime and in the first decade of the 21st century, ending the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and demanding equality in marriage became the main causes advocated by marchers.

A question that is often asked by both gay and straight people at Gay Pride time is “Do we need a Gay Pride parade anymore?” especially since gay people are gaining acceptance and social equality more every year. Parades in large cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco less important now as a means of gaining visibility, though they are still a good reason to have a party. Where we need gay pride parades is in small cities to show, if anything, that we are everywhere. Get used to it.

These photos in this series represent just a small part of the gay community, predominantly the younger part. The kids come to the parade to have fun, dance, hang out with their friends, and maybe hook up. Others come to let loose for a day, show a side of themselves that they have to keep hidden in their daily lives. A few are taking the first, cautious steps out of the closet, far enough away from home that no one will know them. All of them seem to be having a great time. I was glad to record it.

Larry Guzman is a photographer living in East Fishkill, NY, who hangs out in Beacon on occasion. His work consists primarily of urban and natural landscapes, and street photography.

Beth Haber

2011-08-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Beacon Institute for Rivers & Estuaries — 199 Main St.

'The Ripple Effect'

The REON (River and Estuary Observatory Network) is a network of sensor systems deployed at various monitoring points in the Hudson River collecting data over a 24 hour period. This data is converted into a beautiful series of charts that are available in real time streaming on the website at www.bire.org, taking the measure of the dynamic life of the river through readings of water temperature, particle volume, chlorophyll concentration etc.

I am interested in painterly ways to respond to the flat screen surface that is both our main resource for information as well as the ever expanding archive of our experience. This installation works from the chart depicting the salinity readings for a 12 hour period on August 1 2011 as recorded at the REON site at Dennings Point, Beacon. Salinity indicates the amount of salt present in the water. It graphically shows the Hudson’s nature as a river that flows two ways. Red shows high tide with a high salt concentration coming from the ocean. Blue shows low tide with greater fresh water concentration.

I found an affinity between the rich saturated colors of the grid of the REON data with Tibetan prayer flags — employing a similar palette to represent all the elements. The flags are placed in the natural environment so that they move constantly in the currents (in their case, currents of wind rather than water). Like these flags too, the REON sensors are guardians of the constantly changing life of the river.

www.bethhaber.com

Habitat for Artists

2011-08-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

Beacon Natural Market — 348 Main St.

"LOCALLY PRODUCED"

HABITAT for ARTISTS presents a varietal mix of work that explores the notion of CSA/2 : COMMUNITY SUPPORTED ART and AGRICULTURE.

This NEW series of work will be produced locally and collaboratively on the Farm at the HFA Studio and be shown in BEACON NATURAL MARKETS windows.

HFA, which originated in Beacon, in 2008 , at Spire Studios , has had one of it’s signature small 6 x 6 temporary reusable Studios at COMMON GROUND CSA FARM at Stonykill since 2009 .

Artists from the community have used the studio at the Farm, during short working residencies to explore topics outside their normal art practice and to engage the public in a mix of conversations, as their work evolves on site at the Farm.

Currently HFA has studios and workshops in Kingston NY and Garrison NY as well as at Burlington Community College Pemberton NJ and in Vermont.

For further information: www.habitatforartists.org and FB

BEACON NATURAL MARKET is a proud sponsor of the Banner project on Beekman St. Their current banner features HFA artist MARNIE HILLSLEY.

Barbara Hanson

2011-08-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

Seed to Fruit — 528 Main St.

BEEWORKS designs and hand makes decorative pillows made from sustainable fabrics like silks and cottons to refresh your home with new colors, style and good value.

Colors make me happy.

www.beeworks.biz

Meredith Heuer

2011-08-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Jacqueline — 478 Main St.

I have taken pictures of things since I first picked up a camera in high school. Mostly people, but also of stuff and of places. About 12 years ago the themes in my portfolios began change; rather than group my pictures by landscapes, portraits, etc., I was drawn to organizing them by color. I loved to look at the groupings of different colors together.

I felt kind of happy but more than that, I felt emotion physically welling up inside of me. I felt happysad. I felt joyfulwistful. I am not sure why colors and witnessing them in different combinations made me feel this way but my interest was piqued. I thought, “what if removed the stuff from my photos and just photographed color” — and so began my version of a color study.

At first I took pictures of color where I found it — on the side of a car, part of a pillowcase, etc. but I realized I was still taking pictures of things. Then I thought of gelatin! Gelatin allows me to create a (nearly) contextless photograph. It is the most thingless thing I could think of because instead of reflecting light off of its surface, it allows the light to pass through it, creating a moment that I then take a picture of. This is, I think, very much like how we experience color throughout our day. The way we see color is constantly changing with the circumstances of the light around it. It’s really very temporary.

The shape of these color studies is important too. I thought the rectangles would be nice because since you can’t really tell their actual size, they become bigger than life once photographed. I thought these tidy rectangles would offer some kind of pure viewing opportunity so I could really just stare into the color and feel how I felt. However, the gelatin offered something that I did not anticipate: there are cracks and bubbles when I make it and then, often, I am drawn to add my own. Each line or bubble or tear adds another plane for the light and color to react on and the new shapes created by these cuts and tears give the gelatin a kind of human gesture.

I have photographed color in this way for years now and I feel that my exploration has only just begun. I have witnessed the tremendous power of standing in front of one large field of color (say vivid red) and I have had the unsettling experience of being in the presence of two colors juxtaposed that have the opposite effects, such as blue (calming) and yellow (exciting). At first I worked only with primary colors and now I begin to wade through the endless possibilities of combining and mixing my own variations of color. I have begun to slowly draw a map through the maze of my emotional landscape.

www.meredithheuer.com

Cristin Hughes

2011-08-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Mountain Tops Outfitters — 144 Main St.

Film exists in two forms: as film the optical illusion and film the physical object. Without the whirl of a projector, it remains a material, a series of successive images on a strip of photo-sensitive plastic. After a long absence, I have returned to film intrigued, now more than ever, by the physical properties and not just the optical aftermath. Like a film, the Hudson River is the sum of many individual parts. This project takes inspiration from film’s serial format to pay homage
to the Hudson River by documenting it and its often overlooked tributaries.

www.cristinhughes.blogspot.com