Spencertown Academy Arts Center

Spencertown Academy Revels Fundraiser Goes Virtual and Adds Art Raffle! Spencertown Academy Arts Center announces that its annual Revels fundraiser will be virtual this year on Saturday, February 13 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. A new feature of the event will be a raffle of 14 original artworks generously donated by some of the region’s most acclaimed artists. Rather than gathering for a festive-themed cocktail party at the Academy and then moving on to homes of Academy friends fo...r hosted dinners in small groups, guests will pick up Revels to Go bags filled with cocktail snacks, dinner, and a bubbly beverage at the Academy on the day of the event to enjoy at home during the online gathering that evening. Revels tickets range from $75 to $500 per person and art raffle tickets are $100 each with discounts for buying multiple chances. All proceeds benefit the Academy’s annual operating fund. The Academy Board encourages all to join, regardless of ability to pay (gratis tickets do not include food or drink). The deadline for reservations is February 1; please see www.spencertownacademy.org for details. Revels has been a fixture of our winter calendar for over 30 years. Obviously, it will be different this year in deference to the current pandemic restrictions, but we are determined to make the best of it, says Nick Van Alstine, president of the Academy’s board of directors. Revels co-chairs Anita Fiorillo and Judith Choate have done a great job reimagining the event. Emcee Monk Schane-Lydon will serve as Zoom host, blues musician Cathy Grier will perform a few songs from her new album, and the works of art to be raffled off are stellar. The retail value of the artpaintings, ceramics, and photographyranges from $175 to $1,100. Artists include Stephanie A. Anderson, Norma Cohen, Pamela Dalton, Mary Anne Davis (davistudio), Leslie Gabosh, Patricia Gravett, Ron Harrington, Ellen Hoverkamp, Barbara Lax Kranz, Ellen Lynch, Moira O’Grady, Gerald Seligman, Neal Warshaw, and Barbara M.L. Willner. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Photo Caption: South Dakota Bison by Ellen Lynch (platinum palladium print, framed 9.25 x 9.25)

Spencertown Academy Youth Mixed-Media Art Workshop with Jacqueline Rogers! Spaces still available -- please note new à la carte option. Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents children’s book illustrator Jacqueline Rogers leading a virtual mixed-media art workshop for students ages 11 to 17 during winter break. The three-session series will meet on February 15, 17, and 19 from 11:00am to 12:15pm via Zoom. Tuition is $45 for all three sessions or $20 à la carte for either of ...the first two sessions; the workshop is limited to 15 participants. To register, please see www.spencertownacademy.org. We’re delighted to kick off 2021 Family Arts Kaleidoscope programming with this playful and experimental workshop, says Kelly Kynion, Academy board member and program chair. Students will have the freedom to play with creative themes suggested by Jackie or to explore subjects of their own choice. In three related art classes, participants will explore different materials and techniques: charcoal during the first session, collage/assorted papers in the second session, and mixed media, such as pastels, markers, crayons, and/or paint, in the third session. Jaqueline Rogers has been a professional children’s book illustrator for more than three decades and has worked on nearly 100 children’s books. Some of her notable published works include illustrations for Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series, Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager’s picture book, Our Great Big Backyard (which was a New York Times #1 Bestseller), two pictures books by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, and most recently her own original Halloween poem Goblin Moon, which was published by HarperCollins last year. Support for the Family Arts Kaleidoscope series is provided by Hudson River Bank and Trust Foundation and Stewart’s Shops. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Spencertown Academy Presents Lucia Pulido and Ulises Martínez Virtual Concert! Spencertown Academy Roots & Shoots Streams will broadcast a concert by Colombian singer Lucia Pulido and Mexican multi-instrumentalist Ulises Martínez via YouTube on Saturday, March 20 at 8:00pm. Recorded in Mexico especially for the Academy, the program will feature a mix of traditional pirekua indigenous songs from Michoacán, Mexico and cantas de guabina from the Andes in Colombia, along with...Continue reading

Spencertown Academy Roots & Shoots Streams Presents The Magdalens Unplugged Concert! Spencertown Academy Roots & Shoots Streams will broadcast The Magdalens Unplugged, performing live on the Spencertown stage, via YouTube on Saturday, March 13 at 7:30pm. The Magdalens Unplugged is an alt-folk-rock band comprised of Renée DaVink (lead singer and songwriter), Britany Orlebeke (violin), and John Caplis (guitar). Based in Albany, New York, the band plays both original songs and ...covers a unique blend of Americana, post-punk, and indie classics. The performance is free (though tips are welcome via a virtual tip jar) and advance registration is not required. A link to the concert will be posted on www.spencertownacademy.org. While it’s not yet safe for us to gather in person for live concerts, we’re hoping to bring some of that joy into your homes by presenting Roots & Shoots concerts online, says Mike Zdeb, member of the Academy’s Music Committee. I got a sneak peek at The Magdalens Unplugged set list for the concert and what you're likely to hear ranges from traditional Irish fiddle tunes to the Pogues, Bob Dylan, and John Prine. They'll also play some of their own original material. The Magdalens Unplugged is a subgroup of The Magdalens five-piece band, which also includes Al Kash (drums) and Moses Nagel (bass). The band’s debut album titled Lay Down Love is available on all music streaming platforms. The Magdalens founder Renée DaVink has performed at several Lark Fests, the Albany River Fest, the Saratoga Dance Flurry, and local clubs, such as the Lark Tavern, Bogies, and Pauly’s Hotel. She has also sung with an array of folk, jazz, and alternative rock bands, including Medusa Pleasure Werks and El Extreme. Britany Orlebeke performs a variety of violin/fiddle styles. She’s played for contra dances around the northeast, recorded Cat out of the Bag with the Beverwyck String Band, and played with Miche Fambro on a live recording called The Chapel Session. Guitarist John Caplis’s musical influences range from traditional Irish to Bob Dylan to the 1970s New York City rock band called Television. He has appeared at numerous Albany music venues, including Lark Fest, Bogies, Pauly’s Hotel, and QE2 with notable bands, such as El Extreme. Roots & Shoots Streams Concerts is a series that showcases artists who reach back to earlier traditions in music (Americana, jazz, blues, rock, and world music) for inspiration, while incorporating more recent forms and influences of the present. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Roots & Shoots Streams presents ...

Spencertown Academy Youth Mixed-Media Art Workshop with Jacqueline Rogers! Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents children’s book illustrator Jacqueline Rogers leading a virtual mixed-media art workshop for students ages 11 to 17 during winter break. The three-session series will meet on February 15, 17, and 19 from 11:00am to 12:15pm via Zoom. Tuition is $45 and the workshop is limited to 15 participants. To register, please see www.spencertownacademy.org. We’re delighte...d to kick off 2021 Family Arts Kaleidoscope programming with this playful and experimental workshop, says Kelly Kynion, Academy board member and program chair. Students will have the freedom to play with creative themes suggested by Jackie or to explore subjects of their own choice. In three related art classes, participants will explore different materials and techniques: charcoal during the first session, collage/assorted papers in the second session, and mixed media, such as pastels, markers, crayons, and/or paint, in the third session. Jaqueline Rogers has been a professional children’s book illustrator for more than three decades and has worked on nearly 100 children’s books. Some of her notable published works include illustrations for Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series, Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager’s picture book, Our Great Big Backyard (which was a New York Times #1 Bestseller), two pictures books by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, and most recently her own original Halloween poem Goblin Moon, which was published by HarperCollins last year. Support for the Family Arts Kaleidoscope series is provided by Hudson River Bank and Trust Foundation and Stewart’s Shops. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Photo Caption: Elephant charcoal drawing by Jacqueline Rogers

Spencertown Academy Presents Memoir Workshop with Elizabeth Diggs! Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents a memoir-writing workshop with Elizabeth Diggs. Due to popular demand, there will be two sections of the workshop. The first cohort will meet on consecutive Sundays from 3:30pm to 5:30pm via Zoom on January 10, 17, 24, and 31. The second cohort will meet on consecutive Sundays from 3:30pm to 5:30pm via Zoom on February 21 and 28 and March 7 and 14. Enrollment is limited... to ten participants per section. The cost is $60 for four sessions. To register, please see www.spencertownacademy.org. Begin the New Year putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, and crafting the memories you’ve been waiting to tell, with expert tutelage, says Kelly Kynion, Academy board member. Our region is rich in creative writing talent, and we’re delighted to offer these workshops with Liz Diggs, who is a wonderful teacher. She’s so popular, the first section is already nearly sold out, so don’t delay signing up! Writing a memoir is a journey to an unknown destination. The writer may believe that she or he knows the way, but the road will lead to surprising turns and forks that can bring forgotten memories into sharp focus and suddenly ‘let the future in,’ says Diggs. We will hope to open those doors, and step through them to tell the story of where our life has taken us. Elizabeth Diggs is a playwright whose plays include Grant and Twain, Nightingale, Close Ties, Goodbye Freddy, American Beef, Dumping Ground, Priceless, How to Plant a Rose, and Custer’s Luck; produced off-Broadway and at regional theaters. She was Professor of Dramatic Writing at Tisch/NYU. She is the book writer for the musical Mirette, with Tom Jones and Harvey Schmdt, and wrote for the TV drama St. Elsewhere. Her honors and awards include a Guggenheim, NEA, Los Angeles DramaLogue award, the CBS / FDG prize, Kennedy Center grant for new American plays, the Edgerton Foundation grant, and runner-up for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize. She is now working on a memoir called My Oklahoma about growing up in Tulsa. This program is made possible with support from Rochelle Bartolo, Beach and Bartolo Realtors. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Spencertown Academy Announces Winter Writing Contest! Spencertown Academy Arts Center announces the Community Writes winter writing contest. Selected fiction and non-fiction pieces will be published on the Academy website in March. The deadline for submissions is February 28. Our popular writing ‘contest’ is back. It is a competition only in the sense that we select the best submissions for publication on our websitethere is no ranking involved, says Jill Kalotay, Spenc...ertown Academy board member and co-chair of the Festival of Books. The Academy’s members and friends are a vibrant and talented community. We want to celebrate their creativity. Guidelines: One submission per person Choose a category: fiction or non-fiction (essay, memoir) 1500 words maximum Submissions will be read and judged anonymously by a team of literary volunteers. If your piece is selected, you have the option of appearing anonymously. To submit your work, please: Send your entries (and questions) to [email protected] Send your work as an attachment in an unlocked document format, such as Word Identify your work as fiction or non-fiction, with a title Include your name and phone number in the body of your email (not on the work)

Where do you get your local news? We’re updating the Academy Press List to get word out about our 2021 programming and would appreciate your help. Please tell us:... What are your go-to media outlets for local cultural newsprint and/or online newspapers, regional blogs, radio shows, Facebook groups, other? Who are the local arts reporters and/or critics that you follow? Any favorite sources for event listings? Please email any tips with the subject line Academy Press List to Gina at [email protected]. Thank you!

Spencertown Academy Meets Capital Campaign Goal! Spencertown, New YorkSpencertown Academy Arts Center announces the completion of its three-year $600,000 capital campaign. $500,000 is dedicated to the complete restoration of the outside of its building and $100,000 has been set aside to create a $100,000 reserve fund for the ongoing maintenance. Restoration projects include a new standing seam metal roof, repaired and restored cornice, chimney, clapboard, columns, windows,... steps, and fence, along with a new patio and walkways. We are thrilled to announce that thanks to the generosity of community friends and supporters, along with an extraordinary gift from Sharon Grubin that finally put us over the top, we have reached our fundraising goal for the restoration and maintenance of our cherished 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, says Nick Van Alstine, president of the Academy’s board of directors. In return for Sharon’s gift, we will name the auditorium after her beloved mother, Blanche H. Grubin. We are grateful to Sharon and to the more than 200 other donors who supported our capital campaign. Sharon Grubin has been a member of Spencertown Academy since 1984, when she bought a weekend house in the area. She moved up fulltime in 2013 after retiring from her position as General Counsel of the Metropolitan Opera. About her donation, she says: I have wanted to make a major gift to the Academy for quite some time. I managed to accumulate some savings over the years, and have now reached an age that causes me to ask why I would wait until after I have died to give gifts that others need now? That thought, and the fact that the Academy was still trying to reach its goal for the restoration of the buildinga project that was happening before my eyes as I drove past almost every dayled me to make the gift at this time. My mother loved visiting me in Spencertown, and I am thrilled to be able to honor and thank her for instilling in me her lifetime love of music and the arts. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. The Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please see www.spencertownacademy.org. Photo Caption: Blanche H. Grubin (1915 1997). Thanks to a donation made by Sharon Grubin, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center Auditorium will be named in honor of her late mother, Blanche H. Grubin, who loved music and the arts.

UPDATE: Due to popular demand, the Academy has added a second section of Jacqueline Rogers's interactive Zoom workshop titled Drawing and Storytelling at the Holidays. It will happen on Monday, December 28 at 1:00pm. To sign up, see www. spencertownacademy.org. Children’s Book Author Jacqueline Rogers Holiday Drawing and Storytelling Zoom Workshop for Kids and Families! Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents children’s book author and illustrator Jacqueline Rogers leading... an interactive Zoom workshop titled Drawing and Storytelling at the Holidays on Wednesday, December 30 at 2:00pm. This free program is the eighth and final event in the 2020 Family Arts Kaleidoscope series. It is recommended for children ages 8+ and their families. Space is limited; please register by Tuesday, December 29 at www. spencertownacademy.org. Jacqueline’s virtual illustration workshops for kids during the Academy’s Festival of Books this fall were a big hit. We’re delighted to welcome her back during the holidays, says Kelly Kynion, Academy board member and program chair. We’re also looking forward to continuing Family Arts Kaleidoscope in the new yearstay tuned for updates! Jaqueline Rogers has been a professional children's book illustrator for more than three decades and has worked on nearly 100 children’s books. Some of her notable published works include illustrations for Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series, Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager’s picture book, Our Great Big Backyard (which was a New York Times #1 Bestseller), two pictures books by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, and most recently her own original Halloween poem Goblin Moon, which was published by HarperCollins last year. Support for this Jacqueline Rogers program was provided by Metzwood Insurance. Support for the 2020 Family Arts Kaleidoscope series was also provided by Hudson River Bank and Trust Foundation, Stewart’s Shops, and Kids Need Music. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected].