Barrett
Arts Center
When Creativity
Knocks….Let It Come On In
by Claire Fountain
Though 2008 is well under way, there is no time like the
present to get in touch with your creative side. Artists and
art appreciators may enjoy ventures to the city for visits
to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or a bit of gallery hopping,
but when a craving for an expansive and diverse, yet locally
accessible art calls, one need go no farther than the Barrett
Clay Works and Barrett Art Center. Located near downtown Poughkeepsie,
the Art Center is actually the historic home of Thomas W.
Barrett, Dutchess County Art Association founder and its original
president. An artist himself, involved with painting, murals,
and printmaking, he understood the need artists have for a
common ground and the community value that local galleries
and art schools bestow.
Today the Barretts are thriving, and are an ongoing host
to regional, as well as national exhibitions, providing an
oasis here in which to showcase regional art in a variety
of ways, including competitions, exhibitions, and scheduled
“paint out” programs which allow an artist to
spend the day outside painting in a selected area of our beautiful
Hudson Valley. Upon returning, their artwork is immediately
auctioned off and sold. Even more enlightening is the Barrett
Salon, which offers a different lecture the last Thursday
of every month at the Muddy Cup coffee house in Poughkeepsie.
This month, the event is on February 28, featuring photographer
Eric Lebloom. Lectures generally feature all genres of artists,
open to all.
Are you trying to find your inner artist? Barrett Clay Works
and Barrett Art Center both include a School of Art, offering
many classes in myriad mediums of the visual arts for you
and yours to try.... CONTINUE...
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