Workshops

AMH provides a range of experiential and creative workshops led by expert practitioners in their fields. Check out the selection below and join us! All workshops are located at Arts Mid-Hudson (696 Dutchess Turnpike, Suite F, Poughkeepsie) unless specified otherwise.

CONVERSATIONS WITH CURATORS

Join curators from across the region for a panel discussion about the ins and outs of the art world from their points of view. Learn about what curators look for in a submission, how they put shows
together, and what goes into the programming process.

Date: Tuesday, July 16: 3:00 – 5:00pm

Price: $15 AMH Members, $30 NonMembers

Age: All Ages Welcome

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by July 14

Curators: Nancy Azara, Daniel Belasco, Marline Martin

About the Curators:

Nancy Azara:

Nancy Azara is a sculptor who works in wood as well as collages, prints, and banners that record a journey of ideas and memories around the unseen and the unknown, reflecting on time and mortality through facets of her personal journey. She juxtaposes real tree limbs and vines with arboreal imagery – including renderings of witch hazel and rhubarb leaves – using them as stand-ins for her own presence, and as expressions of the dogged persistence of life.

Her work has been shown extensively, most recently in “Nancy Azara: Nature Prints” curated by Claudia Sbrissa at Saint John’s University, Queens, NY, “Crossing Broundaries; Material as Message” curated by Barbara Galazzo at (RoCA) Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY and “Would/Wood” curated by Robert Tomlinson at Kaaterskill Gallery, Hunter Village, NY .

Daniel Belasco:

Daniel Belasco is an art historian and Executive Director of the Al Held Foundation. A specialist in postwar and contemporary art, he has published catalogues and curated exhibitions on the work of Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Mary Reid Kelley, and many more. He previously served as Henry J. Leir Associate Curator of The Jewish Museum, and Curator of Exhibitions and Programs at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. In 2010 Belasco co-curated (with Sarah Lewis) The Dissolve: SITE Santa Fe’s Eighth International Biennial. He holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Marline A. Martin:

Marline is an artist, arts administrator, curator, writer and storyteller. She holds Master of Fine Arts from the City College of New York and is a 2017 recipient of Arts Mid-Hudson Individual Award, a 2012 Community Partner Award recipient from Zeta Phi Beta/Five Pearls Foundation, and a 2008 recipient of Harlem Women of Excellence Award for the Arts. Marline recently joined the staff as executive director of the Greene County Council on the Arts and is the former executive director of LeRoy Neiman Art Center and The Children’s Art Carnival, respectively. Her recent work includes curating the “Restoring Pride in Culture: Legacy and Tradition” exhibition at the Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster, organized by TRANSART & Cultural Services, and featured 37 works of over a dozen contemporary African American artists. She is currently working on a collection of short stories as well as a scholarly essay for publication.

ILLUSTRATION 101

This workshop will explore individual creativity, and encourage our child-like imagination in order to develop advanced ideas and approach towards a work of art. Illustration is telling a story about the way we see the world, or perhaps the way we’d like to see it. This course will cover all stages of creating an illustration, from spitballing ideas and thumbnail sketches to final sketches, classroom critiques and the finished artwork. Let’s create a safe space for our craziest ideas and illustrate a world of our own!

Dates: Saturday , July 20: 6:00 – 8:00pm

Price: $20 AMH Members, $35 NonMembers

Age: All Ages Welcome

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by July 18

Instructor: Shannon Ramos

About Instructor:

Local freelance artist and recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology where she received my BFA in Illustration and Art History. Ramos the solo artist behind XMoneysignx Art and Apparel and have illustrated for Complex Magazine and the International Model and Talent Association. She has worked with various clients from startup companies and other creatives as well as personal commissions. Her teaching background includes intro to drawing and painting at Michaels craft store and sip and paint classes in Manhattan and throughout the Hudson Valley. My passion is not only to create art but to be able to share creative knowledge to aspiring artists.

LUNCH-TIME QUILT-IN

Join this class to learn basic quilting techniques that are easy for everyone. Try a new design each month using stitches by hand or machine. Relax & create a simple project with applique, patchwork & quilted stitchery for yourself or a gift. Ideas for larger projects are also demonstrated.

July – Applique Hearts & Stars

August – Simply Squares

September – Designs with Rectangles

October – Tricks with Triangles

Dates:

Tuesday, August 6: 11:00am – 2:00pm

Tuesday, September 10: 11:00am – 2:00pm

Tuesday, October 8: 11:00am – 2:00pm

Price: $60 AMH Members, $75 NonMembers (per class)

Age: 14 & Older

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by July 2

Instructor: Shirley Botsford

About Instructor:

Shirley Botsford is a professional in the sewing, home decor & fashion fields. She has authored over 50 instructional needlework & crafts books, including the popular Daddy’s Ties. She has taught at Marist College, Dutchess Community College, Mount Saint Mary’s College, SUNY Ulster.

GRANT WRITING

Join Grants & Programs Manager, Lilia Pérez and Individual Artist Commission recipient, Matthew Friday for a discussion on grant writing best practices. Learn tips on how to clarify your ideas, focus your writing, and find new funding opportunities. Open to individuals and organization representatives.

Date: Tuesday , August 20: 12:00 – 2:00pm

Price: Free for 2019 Grantees (must RSVP) $15 AMH Members, $30 NonMembers

Age: All Ages Welcome

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by August 19

Instructors:Lilia Pérez & Matthew Friday

About Instructors:

Matthew Friday is an educator, writer and transdisciplinary artist whose research focuses on the development of apparatuses and systems that examine and provoke new political ecologies. Friday has exhibited at a number of venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art Open Studios, Wave Hill, the University of Buffalo Art Department Gallery, 1708 Gallery (Richmond), the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Center for Contemporary Arts in St. Louis, Ohio State University Urban Art Center, Spaces (Cleveland) and the Indianapolis Art Center. As part of SPURSE, Friday has exhibited at the MassMOCA, MOCATucson, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Grand Arts, White Columns, the Kitchen, Bemis Art Center, Kunsthal Aarhus and the BMW Guggenheim LAB. His work has been reviewed in October, the New Art Examiner, Dwell and Art Papers and has been included in several catalogs including The Interventionists (MassMOCA) and Experimental Geography (Creative Time/ Independent Curators International).

Friday’s work has been supported with a number of grants including the New York Federation for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Initiative grant and an Andrew Mellon funded Art and Environment project award through Pitzer College. More information about Matthew Friday’s research can be found at:
http://www.matthewfriday.net
http://www.spurse.org

Lilia Pérez joined Arts Mid-Hudson in May 2016. As Grants & Programs Manager, she facilitates a grant program that distributes arts funding for the New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralization Grant Program, and the Duchess and Ulster County legislatures. Additionally, Pérez manages the Arts Mid-Hudson Gallery and Community Gallery program which provides showing opportunities to artists in our region. She has provided guidance to hundreds of grant applicants, led workshops, and works to strengthen partnerships in our communities through the arts. She graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a B.F.A. in Photography in 2015.

AUDITIONING FOR MUSICAL THEATER

Learn how to put your best foot forward and nail that audition. What to do and more importantly what NOT to do.
How to do your homework and best prepare for your big moment. We will have optional mock auditions and have constructive, objectives comments and evaluations. Selecting the right vocal, what shows your range. Managing expectations and so much more.

In addition, learn more about the shows that are being presented. Journey through the world of Musical Theater, from the classic to the contemporary. Through the use of video clips, music and scene fun we will travel through time and see the development of the American Musical. Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Steven Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Weber and many more. Comedies to profound stories will fill our workshops with great moments for all. Guests actors from the Broadway stage will share thoughts and experiences and there will be Musical Theater .

Dates: Sunday, August 25: 2:00 – 4:00pm

Price: $25 AMH Members, $40 NonMembers

Age: High School and Older

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by August 18

Instructor: Anthony Scarrone

About Instructor:

Theater MBA, Director in the Wappinger School District for 25 years and in the Beacon City School District for the last 7 years. Director/Producer – Spacekill School District. Directing over 70 shows.
Director – Gilbert & Sullivan
Director – DCC
Arts in Education Award
NSTEA – Teacher Award

PEN & INK DRAWING

The Instructor will demonstrate techniques and processes used to create a pen and ink drawing, from choosing the subject (landscape, animal, portrait, etc.) to the sketch to the finished product. Bring photos of potential subjects. Open to all levels.

Dates: Thursdays, September 5-26: 1:00 – 3:00pm

Price: $80 AMH Members, $95 NonMembers

Age: 16 and Older

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by August 29

Instructor: Paul Kmiotek

About Instructor:

“Like most kids, I started drawing at a very young age. In that time, I’ve never taken any formal lessons. I consider this to be a clear case of nature over nurture, as my father is an incredibly gifted watercolor artist, and his father painted in oils.
Although I’ve drawn a few cityscapes, the subjects of most of my artwork are naturalistic – either animals or landscapes; themes that appeal to my lifelong love of nature.

My work has been displayed, among other places, at the Ridgewood Art Institute, the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, the Belle Levine Art Center, The Flywheel Gallery, and the Lake Carmel Arts Center. I’ve been commissioned by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Aerco International, The Komodo Dragon Species Survival Plan, and The Wildlife Care Center of Belize. I currently live in the Hudson Valley, New York, with my beautiful wife and two awesome children.”

REPORTING FOR GRANTEES

The Not-So-Glamorous Part of Grants – Reporting, management, and stewardship of your award. Arts Mid-Hudson’s Grants and Funding staff will walk you through the step-by-step process of setting yourself up for success with your grant!

Dates: Tuesdays, September 17: 3:00 – 4:00pm

Price: Free for 2019 Grantees (but please RSVP), $15 AMH Members, $30 Non-Members

Age: All Ages Welcome

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by September 16

Instructor: Lilia Pérez

About Instructor:

STAINED GLASS MOSAICS

Create a beautiful Amish style Hex sign using symmetry with colored stained glass. Participants will design and create their own pieces, suitable for framing. Members in this class will learn the skills it takes to create a stained glass mosaic piece.

Dates: Saturdays, September 7-21: 12:00 – 3:00pm

Price: $75 AMH Members, $90 NonMembers

Age: 10 and Older

RSVP: Click here to reserve your spot by August 30

Instructor: Jill Obrig

About Instructor:

Jill Obrig has been teaching art for over 30 years to young and old in museums, libraries, galleries, art camps, public schools and in private schools, throughout NYS. Jill’s own stained glass mosaic was featured in the 2005 “Lord of the Rings” Con illustrating Bilbo Baggin’s Bag End and sold with the proceeds going for the Tsunami Victims in India. Jill has been the recipient of Arts Mid Hudson Grants for the past 3 years, fusing art with literature. Jill lives and works in the Hudson Valley.