After two years of cancelled shows, streamlined programming, and truncated seasons, culture is back in a big way in 2022. Powerhouse regional arts organizations like Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Bard Summerscape, and Powerhouse Theater have scheduled full slates of events this summer, as have many other venues and festivals. There is an incredible pent-up demand to consume culture in person and to be in an audience with others for a shared experience.
Luckily, we needn’t wait for summer to kick-off this blockbuster year. There’s a bevy of world-class art, theater, music, and dance to prime the pump for summer’s overstuffed schedule. Here are some of our top picks for spring.
Pauline Decarmo Exhibition at LABspace | April 10-May 29
“My work is based on my surroundings, past and present,” says painter Pauline Decarmo. “I’m motivated by things that move me, thrill me, and anger me. I see a vast amount of space and I want to fill it with paint.” And the Hudson-based artist has done exactly that with “Exit,” her first solo exhibition at LABspace gallery in Hillsdale, which opens on April 10 and stays up through May 29. Last spring, she created a suite of eight powerful paintings exploring memory, the past, and her upbringing in South Jamaica Queens, which were featured in LABspace’s group exhibition “Occurring or Situated Between Stars.” This year, Decarmo has expanded upon her work in that series and brought an entirely new group of paintings to the space. Visit website for gallery hours.
“Clarkston” at Bridge Street Theater | April 28-May 8
The Bridge Street Theater in Catskill will present the regional premiere of playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s latest work, “Clarkston.” Directed by Daniel Elihu Kramer, the drama tells the tale of characters Jake (Hunter Ringsmith) and Chris (Brian Patterson), who meet while working the night shift at the Costco store in Clarkston, Washington. In the story, Jake has fled his privileged life in Connecticut after being diagnosed with a fatal illness, while Chris, a struggling writer with a meth-addicted mom, finds himself stuck in what he fears to be a dead-end life in a dead-end town. The twosome’s hesitant attraction soon turns into something deeper, scarier, and more intimate in Hunter’s heartbreaking and, ultimately, optimistic companion piece to the Bridge Street Theater 2021 production of “Lewiston.” See the Bridge Street Theater’s website for a performance schedule and ticket prices and information.
“Nearly Stationary” at Hudson Hall | May 7-June 12
“Nearly Stationary” is a two-part, multi-floor exhibition, installation, and performance event at Hudson Hall that was devised by the award-winning visual artist Barbara Kilpatrick. The event encompasses 20 years of sculpture, drawings, photographs, and collaborations with contemporary dance. It features a first-floor gallery exhibition and an installation of Kilpatrick’s renowned costume work on the second floor. Within the program is a miniseries of 14 “events” from May 14 to June 5 that were conceived by dancers and choreographers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener and commissioned by Hudson Hall. During the immersive experience, audiences and dancers will move amongst the costumes while musicians perform composer John Cage’s “String Quartet in Four Parts,” whose third part inspired the title of the piece. Tickets are $15. Visit website for further information.
Josh Ritter at Old Dutch Church | May 8
In an evening presented by the Bardavon and UPAC, venerated Americana artist Josh Ritter will perform at Kingston’s stately, historic, and acoustically resplendent Old Dutch Church on May 8 at 8pm. Described as a “singer-songwriter with a deep, expressive voice, a keen wit, and an evocative way with words” by AllMusic, Ritter plied his trade on the folk circuit in Boston before releasing his debut album in 2000. Nine acclaimed studio albums followed, with 2019’s Fever Breaks being the most recent, while Ritter’s big breakthrough came via the use of his song “Come and Find Me” (from 2001’s Golden Age of Radio) in the end credits of HBO’s “Six Feet Under.” Tickets are $34 general admission or $44 golden circle.
Garner Arts Festival | May 21-22
Founded on the historic hamlet of Garnerville in 2003 within a repurposed 19th-century textile mill complex, the Garner Arts Center is an interdisciplinary arts facility that supports the creation and presentation of contemporary, experiential art. Reflective of the center’s vision of being an enduring and inclusive artisan settlement that fosters a thriving arts, business, and cultural district and encourages collaboration between makers and the creative sector, the complex celebrates the return of its volunteer-run spring arts festival in May, enabling attendees to explore open studios throughout the 14-acre Garner Historic District, experience immersive art exhibitions and performances, and enjoy craft food and beverages. Check the Garner Arts Center’s website for an updated list of artists and information.
Dirt Farmer Festival at Arrowood Farms | May 21
In the words of the much-missed Levon Helm’s legendary ensemble, The Band, king harvest has surely come. Presented by Levon Helm Studios, the third annual Dirt Farmer Festival will return to Arrowood Farms in Accord on May 21, and tickets are now on sale. The initial lineup of the Dirt Farmer Festival includes the Midnight Ramble Band and Friends, Mavis Staples and her duo, and Amy Helm. Many more acts will be announced in the coming weeks. Named for the Arkansas-born musician’s Grammy Award-winning 2007 album, Dirt Farmer, the family-friendly festival blends the intimate warmth and jubilant, high-quality music for which Woodstock’s Midnight Ramble is so beloved—a combination that was itself inspired by the traveling medicine shows and raucous rent parties of Helm’s youth.
The Who Live at Bethel Woods | May 28
This spring, one of rock’s most iconic bands returns to the scene of one of their most iconic concerts when the Who blasts their way back to the pavilion at the site of their raucous 1969 Woodstock Festival performance. On May 28 at 7:30pm, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts welcomes the legendary British group—co-led by the Who’s two surviving original members, consummate guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend and front man extraordinaire Roger Daltrey—to the former Yasgur’s Farm in Sullivan County for a high-energy evening of hits and classics culled from across the monolithic arc of their nearly 60-year career. The band will be backed by our very own Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Tickets are $61-$676.
Kaatsbaan Summer Festival | June 4-19
Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli recently announced its 2022 Summer Festival schedule. With four segments, the festival roster mirrors Kaatsbaan’s multidisciplinary programming. “Live Arts Global” (June 4-5) marks the world premiere of “Journey,” a dance performance featuring new works by acclaimed choreographers Danielle Agami, Jessica Castro, and Kristin Sudeikis, and evening concerts by musician Jess Woods. “Rising Stars” (June 11-12) presents upcoming dance talent from ABT JKO School, the Juilliard School, and the New York City Ballet’s the School of American Ballet, joined by chamber group the Neave Trio. Taylor Mac (June 18) and collaborators will offer a work-in-progress revue of new songs by the MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Mac and Matt Ray that pay homage to queer icons of the past and present. A Juneteenth community event (June 19) has music (saxophonist Tyrone Birkett), dance (choreographer Robert Rubama), and a poetry lineup co-curated by “multi-award-winning poet Patricia Smith.”
“Strict Beauty” at Williams College Museum of Art | Through June 12
On view at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts, is “Strict Beauty: Sol LeWitt Prints,” the most comprehensive presentation to date of prints produced by the Connecticut-born conceptual artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). Although LeWitt is best known for his massive wall drawings and modular structures, he also created thousands of silkscreens, etchings, lithographs, aquatints, linocuts, and woodcuts. Including single sheets and print series, “Strict Beauty” features a total of more than 200 individual prints. Among the works are early figure studies and scenes of urban life made by Lewitt while at Syracuse University and in his hometown of Hartford. His mature printmaking technique is explored in four thematic sections that reflect the diverse abstract languages he worked in over the course of his career. (LeWitt’s Lincoln Center Print is featured on the cover of the April issue of Chronogram).
“Airness” at Shadowland Stages | June 3-19
Who couldn’t use a laugh or two after all we’ve been through recently? Shadowland Stages in Ellenville will present the regional premiere of Chelsea Marcantel’s comedy “Airness” from June 3 through June 19. Directed by the theater’s artistic director, Brendan Burke, the play won the American Theatre Critics Association’s prestigious 2018 Osborn New Play Award and has racked up rave reviews. “Nina is a newbie in the world of competitive air guitar,” explains Shadowland’s synopsis. “Joining a clique of super-committed rock ‘n roll nerds, she’s taken on a journey towards ultimate air guitar self-actualization: AIRNESS, the indescribable state of being that can only happen when you’re not just faking it…but letting go and living it.” Show times are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $34-$42.
“Mary Frank: The Observing Heart” at the Dorsky Museum | Through July 17
“The Observing Heart” comprises more than 125 pieces, spanning 66 years: sculptures, paintings, posters, tryptics, cylinder seals, drawings, prints (some mounted on aluminum). “Mary is a maximalist,” explains curator David Hornung. There’s even a painting on a large scalloped fungus. The most recent piece is from last year. At the age of 88, Frank is still a working artist. Works in “The Observing Heart” are from Frank’s collection, her gallery (DC Moore), from private collectors, plus loans from two museums: the Everson in Syracuse, and the Whitney. The show is part of the Hudson Valley Masters series at the Dorsky, which began in 2001, and has included such major artists as Carolee Schneemann, Raoul Hague, and Judy Pfaff. The documentary Visions of Mary Frank, directed by John Cohen, is on view. Our review and interview with Frank.
“Beyond the Threshold” at Lehman Loeb Center | Through July 31
“Beyond the Threshold: Contemporary Tibetan Art,” guest curated by Dr. Ariana Maki, associate director of the Tibet Center and Bhutan Initiative at the University of Virginia, draws together 13 works from 10 prominent Tibetan artists at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College through July 31. Among the themes explored in the paintings, photographs, and sculpture are the impacts of globalization and commercialism on Tibetan culture, the creation and inhabitation of virtual worlds, self-representation and the questioning of identities, interconnectedness, and pushing back against expectations collectively imposed upon Tibetans as subjects of the outsider gaze. The artists exhibited are Dedron, Gade, Gonkar Gyatso, Karma Phuntsok, Marie-Dolma Chophel, Nyema Droma, Sodhon, Tashi Norbu, Tsherin Sherpa, and Tsewang Tashi.
This article appears in March 2022.
