After two years without a steady stream of vibrant arts and cultural events to fill up our calendars, institutions all across the region are swinging their doors wide open and welcoming visitors with a slate of exciting spring events.
This Sunday, April 3 at The Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz, one of the region’s leading fine arts institutions, there will be a celebration of their spring exhibitions, including “Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere: Freedom Dreams in Contemporary Art,” which wraps up April 10, and “Mary Frank: The Observing Heart,” which runs through July 17. The bash will come complete with live music and refreshments, held outdoors if weather allows.
The event is sure to be both exuberant and enlightening, with a chance to get an inside look at The Dorsky’s new direction under Anna Conlan, the museum’s curator and exhibitions manager since 2019, who took the director’s job just over a year ago and has been leading the way toward deep, broad community engagement and refreshed relevance.
“We’re so excited to have her here,” says Coordinator of Communications Amy Pickering. “She's totally engaging and open to new ideas. She’s devoted to reaching out to the community and finding under-represented voices, and to making this the kind of relaxed scene where you can relish their works.”
Conlan, who shepherded the Dorsky through COVID by curating the virtual “Stay Home, Make Art” exhibit, has an exciting year planned, and the spring exhibitions you’ll be enjoying at the celebration are mind-expanding, says Pickering. “‘Freedom Dreams’ is brilliant: Artists on the topic of what can be rebuilt after injustice is knocked down,” she says. “Then there’s our Hudson Valley Master, Mary Frank; she’s made work for seven decades and has been an activist that whole time. She’ll be doing a solar cooking exhibition at the party.”
Come on out and get a feel for the new chapter of The Dorsky Museum. The party kicks off Sunday at 2pm, rain or shine. Masks are optional inside the museum, and RSVPs are appreciated, but not required.
