Night of 1,000 Artists: A Sold-Out Chronogram Foundation Benefit in Kingston

When we first started planning Night of 1,000 Artists, the name was considerably more certain than the turnout. We knew we wanted to raise money for the Chronogram Foundation by selling donated art. We had no idea how many artists would actually give us something to sell. So we turned on the Bat-Signal. Three hundred artists answered. We hung their work downstairs at the Fuller Building in Kingston, and suddenly we had an exhibition. All we needed now was an audience.

On November 13, 500 people showed up. We sold out, reached capacity, and had to turn people away at the door. For those who made it downstairs, getting from one end of the room to the other meant threading through clusters of people looking at pictures and stopping to talk. The string lights were on, DJ Sloane Motion was spinning vinyl, and the whole thing was deliriously wonderful. As for the people we had to turn away: We wish we’d had room for you.

We sold a lot of art that night. All the work was priced at $150, and some buyers got to meet the person who made the piece they were taking home. I love that detail. There’s looking at a picture and wondering how somebody came up with it, and then there’s being able to turn to the person standing next to you and ask. Putting the artists and the people who wanted to live with their work in the same room was one of the best things we did all night.

Chronogram has spent 33 years covering the arts in the Hudson Valley. A lot of that work happens one conversation at a time: in a studio, at a rehearsal, on the phone with a writer. It’s a labor of love, and we were delighted to play a different role for an evening. We got to bring people together and watch the creative community enjoy its own company. As it turns out, the creative community is very good company.

The money we raised for the Chronogram Foundation will fund our coverage of visual art, music, theater, dance, film, and literature. There’s a virtuous circle here: We cover the creative community, the creative community showed up for us, and that support will send us back out to cover more of what’s being made here. We have a lot to look forward to.

My thanks to Rhonda Shade and Mari Keeler Cornwell, who brought us the idea and managed the event, and to the volunteers who helped set up and kept the evening running. Thanks to our beverage sponsors, Red Maple Vineyard, Neverstill Wines, and Kingston Standard, and to everyone who came out to support the Chronogram Foundation.

And a special thank-you to the 300 artists who gave us their work. Each of you made something, decided you could part with it, and trusted us to find it a home. You gave us an exhibition, a hell of a party, and more chances to tell the stories we love telling.