Labor Day weekend this year may look different for many of us, but for Joanna Hess it’s still (mostly) business as usual. As the director of Art Studio Views, the annual free open studio tour that spans 45 miles from Hyde Park to Germantown, Hess is busy preparing for her favorite weekend of the year.
Like the rest of the Hudson Valley event scene, the coronavirus pandemic put Hess’s regular planning for Art Studio Views on pause this spring. As outdoor events picked up this summer, however, Hess and the 27 artists who are part of this year’s tour jumped at the opportunity adapt the tour to social distancing requirements. “It’s a challenge, but we’re creative types and we know how to go with the flow,” Hess says.
According to Hess, visitors can expect a blend of outdoor and indoor studio spaces this year, with masks required at all times regardless of setting. While some artists have ample space inside their studios to maintain safe social distancing, others will be moving their studio’s contents outdoors entirely. To help cut down on any crowding, Hess also recommends that visitors start the tour at its southern tip in Hyde Park or even in the middle in Rhinebeck. “People just tend to start in Germantown and work their way south,” she says.
This year’s tour welcomes 11 new artists, including Bryan Raskin, a glass blower who recently relocated to the Hudson Valley from California and Mindell Dubansky, a preservation librarian and book conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art who specializes in hand-bookbinding and felt work.
Both Raskin and Dubanksy will be also doing demonstrations, which Hess says is a mainstay of the painters, ceramicists, sculptors, and even photographers on the tour. Most of the artists will also be offering work for sale, with some accessible price points created for the tour’s visitors in mind.
According to Hess, the best way to kick off the tour is with a stop to the Harvest Gallery at Greig Farm in Red Hook, the location of Art Studio Views’ annual accompanying “Sampler Exhibit.” The exhibit, open 12-5pm Thursday-Monday until the end of Labor Day weekend, highlights work from each artist to help visitors decide who they want to visit on their own individualized tour.
Art Studio Views will run Saturday-Sunday September 5-6, from 11am-5pm. For a complete list of artists and to start planning your tour, visit Artstudioviews.com.
