September Art Highlights
Th 9/8- The Jewish Federation of Ulster County presents the 15th Annual “FALL FOR ART” art show, sale, and reception, at Wiltwyck Golf Club, Kingston—When it comes to connecting great regional artists with patrons, while raising funds for great causes in the area, and doing so while throwing a delightful cocktail party, nobody does it better than the Jewish Federation of Ulster County’s “Fall for Art” juried art show and sale, now in its 15th successful year. Though every year the event generates funds for the less fortunate—this year, beneficiaries include Family of Woodstock and Queen’s Galley and Food Bank, Kingston—they also donate to a selected arts organization. This year, the recipient is the Rosendale Theatre Collective, the feisty group that managed to raise funds to buy the Rosendale Theatre, and make some welcome upgrades and improvements, enhancing both live and cinematic experiences there, while becoming a vibrant regional theatre. Artists include: Paola Bari, Harriet Forman Barrett, Sara Beames, Deborah Blau, Barbara Bravo, Sherri Cohen, Steve Fabrico, Stacy Flint, Lynne Friedman, Melanie Hall, Oliver Kita, Barbara Klar, Stephanie La Rose, Julia Lefkovits, Louise Lefkovits, Joel Mandelbaum, Barbara Masterson, Rick Pantell, Ellen Perantoni, Susan Phillips, Judith Polinsky, Sally Rothchild, Elisa Shaw, Kaete Britten Shaw, Carole Shiber, M'Lou Sorrin, Karen Whitman, and Joel Zaraetsky. Wiltwyck Golf Club, 404 Steward Ln., Kingston, www.fallforart.org, 845.338.8131. 6-9 PM
9/15 through 10/9- GILLIAN JAGGER’S “REVEAL” at John Davis Gallery, Hudson—With its extension to the renovated Carriage House, John Davis Gallery has made possible sufficient space for multi-artist shows, as well as large-scale installations. For the month of September, the main gallery features La Wilson’s “Constructions: New York,” Drew Goerlitz has works in the Sculpture Garden, and the Carriage House features pieces by Margit Lewczuk, Craig Olson, and Liv Aanrud. But this month has a real treat as well: the large-scale sculpture Reveal, by world-renowned artist Gillian Jagger, hanging in the Elevator Shaft Installation area. (Jagger also has an exhibition of her drawings in the Carriage House.) Since her primary gallery—Phyllis Kind Gallery, Manhattan—closed a few years ago, Jagger has made fewer public appearances, but in recent years she has shown her drawings in shows at Violet Ray Gallery (NYC) and Stone Ridge galleries The Drawing Room and Pearl Arts. But it’s her large sculpture work, created from the natural world: wood—real trees and branches, metal, animal corpses, rope and found ogjects…that are the most visceral. Reveal is a 15-foot piece of tree cut into five vertical segments, to be hung in a three-story interior open space, originally a horse carriage lift back in the 19th century. Jagger clearly has a love for the irregularities of natural shapes; oftentimes she is simply exposing the honest beauty under the surface of familiar organic forms. Her drawings have an uncanny ability to—almost casually—capture the soul of her subject, quite often one of her own rescued livestock. John Davis Gallery, 362½ Warren St., Hudson, johndavisgallery.com, 518.828.5907. Artist Reception Sa 9/17 6-8 PM
9/2 through 10/30- CHAGALL IN HIGH FALLS documentary exhibition, at the D&H Canal Museum, High Falls—Though it’s not widely known in these parts, the enormously influential Belorussian/French artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) spent a couple of years in High Falls, five years after his escape to the U.S. in 1941, fleeing Vichy France during the height of World War II. 
Living in a simple wood-framed house in the hamlet from ’46 to ’48, the relaxed atmosphere of the small town—in tandem with the easy access to the New York City art world—gave Chagall the freedom he needed to create over 90 paintings, prints, and drawings—some of which are among his most exuberant and acclaimed works, like his famous Four Tales from a Thousand Arabian Nights, a reproduction of which will be exhibited here, among other notables. The exhibit—inspired by local retired history/English teacher and Chagall fan Rik Rydant—includes photographs of Chagall, his companion Virginia Haggard, and their son David, born in 1946, taken in High Falls by noted Belgian photographer Charles Leirens. The opening reception (Sa 9/3 5-8 PM) features Bella Meyer, Chagall’s granddaughter. Later in the month, it’s a Russian-inspired five-course dinner hosted by restaurateur John Novi at the DePuy Canal House, in High Falls (Sa 9/17 6 PM). The evening features the recounting of Chagall’s remarkable journey to the U.S. by Sheila Isenberg, author of the biography of Varian Fry (the man who saved Chagall from Nazi Europe), with readings of poetry and prose he composed during that period and local oral histories following (call 845.687.7700 for reservations). D&H Canal Museum, 23 Mohonk Rd., High Falls, www.chagallinhighfalls.com. Opening reception Sa 9/3 5-8 PM. Benefit dinner at Depuy Canal House, 1315 Rte. 213, High Falls, 845.687.7700, Sa 9/17 6 PM
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