At the last in-person Fall for Art in 2019, Barbara Cohen remembers standing amid more than 400 people at the Chateau in Kingston, listening to conversation and laughter. Artists were meeting buyers, neighbors were catching up, and an idea that began with two friends had become a community institution. “It was a defining moment,” Cohen says. “We started from just a dream.” Now the room was filled with people who had come to meet artists, buy their work, and support the Federation.
Now the juried art show, sale, and fundraiser presented by the Jewish Federation of Ulster County is preparing for its grand finale. Its 30th edition runs online November 7 at 7pm through November 13 at 5pm, featuring work by 32 Hudson Valley artists. Ceramics, jewelry, paintings, photography, textiles, and other media will fill individual artist galleries at Fallforart.org, with complimentary shipping on all purchases. Some of the artists included in this year’s event include Ellen Perantoni, Joel Mandelbaum, Stacie Flint, Bob Franklin, Susan York, and Robin Kline.
The decision to end the event has prompted questions. Cohen, its longtime chair, is emphatic: “There’s no drama. There’s no drama at all.” After three decades of volunteer labor, organizers want a change. What comes next can wait until this sale is over.
Fall for Art began in 1996 with an idea from Judy Polinsky: bring local artists together to show and sell their work while benefiting the Federation. Cohen loved the proposal, though neither woman was an artist. They sought advice from Catherine McKenna at the Arts Society of Kingston, who welcomed the concept and recommended participants.
The first show was a three-hour cocktail reception at Wiltwyck Golf Club. Invitations went out by mail; advertisements appeared in newspapers. Then the organizers waited. “And people came,” Cohen says. “People came and they bought and they loved it.”
The appeal was partly the artwork and partly the opportunity to meet its makers. A purchase came with a conversation and a personal connection. The event eventually outgrew Wiltwyck and moved to the Chateau. Sponsors, a printed program, and a broader publicity campaign followed.
The event’s logo also grew from a local connection. In 2001, organizers invited high school juniors from across the area to submit designs. Will Carr, then a student at Saugerties High School, created the winning image—a black tree with a red apple—which Fall for Art has used ever since.
For some participating artists, Cohen says, Fall for Art provided their first public showing and an early vote of confidence. She cites jeweler Raychel Wengenroth, returning for the finale, among those who have described the event as a pivotal experience.“It was really a jumpstart for some artists,” Cohen says.
The pandemic forced another reinvention. In 2020, organizers moved the show online, giving each artist a digital gallery. The format sacrificed the cocktail-party conversation but expanded access: shoppers could browse throughout the sale, and purchases began arriving from across the country. Cohen says sales increased.
Artists now receive 70 percent of each purchase, up from the original 60 percent. The remaining proceeds support the Federation and regional nonprofits, extending the event’s reach beyond the arts.
That commitment has taken several forms. In 1999, the Federation commissioned fused-glass artist Sara Beames to create The Eternal Flame, a sculpture for Kingston City Hall symbolizing friendship between the Jewish community and the city. Later recipients received monetary gifts or selected artwork for their spaces.
This year’s beneficiaries include Angel Food East, Circle of Friends for the Dying, the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, Jewish Family Services, MyKingstonKids, the Oncology Support Program, People’s Place, RYAN House, and the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network.
For Cohen, that giving reflects the Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world through acts of kindness. It also connects the people making art with the community sustaining them. “We need art,” she says. “It sustains us.”
The finale brings that conviction back to the marketplace for one last sale: a chance to buy something made here and help that purchase travel further.
Fall for Art runs November 7–13 at Fallforart.org.
