Since Thomas Cole founded the Hudson River School of Painting back in the early 19th century, the Mid-Hudson Valley has been replete with artists and artisans, and every year more of them relocate here from the big cities, seeking sustenance in the bucolic landscape and laid-back lifestyle. So, one great way for newcomers to get to know the Hudson Valley—or for longstanding residents to get to know it better—is by touring its galleries and open studios.
View a full range of media and styles—everything from traditional landscapes to outsider art—in a wide variety of communities. Thanks to monthly art walks offered by Beacon, Kingston, New Paltz, and Rhinebeck/Red Hook, as well as the City of Hudson’s perennial art fair that is Warren Street, you can wend your way along the Hudson River and walk in beauty—visual, visceral, natural and historical—the whole way.
Beacon
There are 62 artists’ studios in the City of Beacon, and once a season, they’re all open—allowing the public to check out artists working in an endless number of media: sculpture, painting, scale modeling using cake, textiles, jewelry, watercolor…for details, visit artalongthehudson.com or pick up a free catalog.
For the second Saturday of each month, venture down to Beacon in the morning for the incomparable experience of Dia: Beacon museum of contemporary art and then over to Main Street in the afternoon. Nestled between the Hudson River and Mount Beacon, this revitalized industrial town is a hub for environmental preservation and art.
Fovea – Founded to create a space where the most important humanitarian and social issues of the day can be explored in depth through the photographic medium. Fovea shows thought-provoking work by thoughtful photojournalists from around the world. 143 Main Street.
Gallery 508 – Mixes art with antiques and shows prints by Barbara Koffsky through June 30, along with paintings by Beacon artist Christine Hartman. 508 Main Street.
Hudson Beach Glass – Rooms full of fine art, gemstone-colored glass items from beads to jewelry to tableware to oversized vessels and window hangings, along with a working studio where glassblowers can be seen meditatively practicing their craft. Hudson Beach Gallery – Located on the building’s second floor, above its museum-quality shop. 162 Main Street.
RiverWinds Gallery – Features more than 35 of the finest Hudson Valley creators of traditional fine art and contemporary crafts, including ceramics, paintings, photography, jewelry, cards, yarn, scarves and home decor. 172 Main Street.
Marion Royael Gallery – Features an eclectic number of artists and exhibition themes. This generous, light-filled museum-like space is flexible enough to showcase everything from activist paintings to mid-century modern pieces to traditional landscapes to striking mixed-media installations. 460 Main Street.
Theo Ganz Studio – A new commercial gallery in Beacon started by painter and photographer Eleni Smolen, whose inaugural exhibition in May, Segue: Sculptures by Insun Kim and Paintings by Anders Knutsson, runs throughout June. 149 Main Street.
And don’t forget to check out Mad Dooley Gallery at 197 Main Street and The Daniel Aubry Gallery at 426 Main Street.
Hudson
Save the fourth Saturday for Hudson. This historic colonial port in Columbia County was established in 1783 and is rich with the heritage of many different industries, from whaling to cotton and brick production. Over the past two decades, the City of Hudson has set itself apart as a regional center for contemporary art. Stroll between the city center and the port, visiting galleries in between.
510 Warren Street Gallery – Represents 13 American artists as well as fine prints and posters from Mill River Studio.
BCB Art – Atypical viewpoints of the surroundings we all know but perhaps don’t notice so much anymore. 116 Warren Street.
Carrie Haddad Gallery – Perhaps the oldest and best-known gallery in Hudson. 622 Warren Street.
CCA Gallery – Also the office for the Columbia County Council for the Arts. 209 Warren Street.
Culture+Commerce Project – A hybrid gallery/showroom showcasing emerging furniture, lighting and fine art, including many small production, limited edition and unique pieces, from the Hudson Valley to Brooklyn. 428 Warren Street.
Davis Orton Gallery – Shows photography, mixed media and photography books. 114 Warren Street.
Gallery at Tommy’s – A nail spa and boutique showing paintings by gallery artist Hai Ngo. 238 Warren Street.
Hudson & Laight – Features an ongoing exhibition of contemporary artists. 437 Warren Street.
Hudson Opera House – Shows a wide range of work including amateur artists’ explorations. 327 Warren Street.
J. Damiani Gallery – Offers work by gallery artist Joan Damiani. 237 Warren Street.
John Davis Gallery – Focuses on photography. 362 ½ Warren Street.
Limner Gallery – Offers “slow art,” aka work by emerging artists. 123 Warren Street.
Museum of the Imagination – Dedicated to thematic exhibits with a bit of Jean Cocteau in them. 217 Warren Street.
Ornamentum – A gallery of international contemporary art jewelry. 506 ½ Warren Street.
Peter Jung Art – Specializes in 19th and 20th-century American and European paintings. 512 Warren Street.
Studio Volkmann – The home of photographer Roy Volkmann. 258 Warren Street.
Time and Space Limited – Presents performance, film, opera and music. 434 Columbia Street.
Terenchin – A resource for interior designers, collectors and artists, focusing on 20th-century painting, drawing and printmaking. 533 Warren Street.
TK Gallery – Focuses on home and garden art. 441 Warren Street, second floor.
Tom Swope Gallery – Offers antiquities from around the world: pre-Columbian, early Chinese, Indian and Southeast Asian, and Greek and Roman, as well as 19th-century European plaster casts of ancient statures, and Empire furniture. 307 Warren Street.
Kingston
The first Saturday of each month, Kingston comes alive at about 4pm thanks to its art walk, which attracts participants to galleries clustered in historic uptown, waterfront downtown, and dotting the areas in between.
Agustsson Gallery – A tucked-away treasure in a converted home featuring the work of sculptor Magnus Agustsson, who created lively realistic metal sculptures inspired by the literature and lore of his Icelandic homeland. Downtown Broadway.
Arts Society of Kingston (ASK) Gallery – Provides the best way to get to know—and get involved with—the city’s artists. Downstairs is the gallery that exhibits its members’ works and upstairs is a space utilized for plays and workshops. 97 Broadway.
Backstage Studio Productions – This sizable gallery and bar in the storefront area of a grand old movie house offers everything from abstract paintings to children’s art, often accompanied by music. Uptown Wall Street.
CSS (Cornell Street Studios) – Another presentation space for contemporary art as well as the go-to place for art workshops. 168 Cornell Street, second floor.
Donskoj & Company Gallery – A small storefront gallery opening to a larger back space that is so popular it never fails to overflow onto the sidewalk, even in cold weather. Recent exhibits have included the unusual and the traditional, from intricate and witty silhouettes to oil portraits based on 1970s snapshots. 93 Broadway.
The Gallery at R&F – R&F is a nationally renowned encaustic paint maker, and the work of its patrons adorns its walls and demonstrates the encaustic form’s never-ending stylistic and content possibilities. R&F’s shop is always open. 84 Ten Broeck Avenue.
Itza Glass Gallery – Offers custom high-end glassworks and the world’s most beautiful bubblers. 3 Dunn Street.
KMOCA (Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art) – Find anything from outsider art—crocheted and embroidered signage, woven trails of recyclable New York Times delivery bags, cardboard figures—to fine art photography to photojournalism to miniature paintings and decorative tiles. 105 Abeel Street.
Oo Gallery – Specializes in wondrous quirkiness where the visitor can always expect the unexpected. As such, Oo’s spring exhibit, fOod, is being followed by bOok, which opens June 18 in time for Oo’s first anniversary. Followed by spOor in September.
The Shirt Factory – Kingston’s own artists’ colony houses three stories of artists’ studios, all open to the public every month—check out Tyvek clothing, multimedia installations, woodworking, among the many forms of art being practiced there. 77 Cornell Street.
Studio 331 – Showcases local multimedia artists. And Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center features films and visual art created by and relating to the wider region’s LGBTQ community. 331 & 300 Wall Street.
New Paltz
The first Saturday of each month, Kingston comes alive at about 4pm thanks to its art walk, which attracts participants to galleries clustered in historic uptown, waterfront downtown, and dotting the areas in between.
DM Weil Gallery – At over 3,000 square feet, the space feels like Soho, with its walls covered with Weil’s acclaimed abstract paintings. Unparalleled views of the Shawangunk Mountains. Enjoy espresso on the house along with music courtesy of an on-premises grand piano. 208 Bruynswick Road.
Mark Gruber Gallery – Eight annual exhibitions feature original oils, pastels, watercolors and large-format photography by followers of the Hudson River School as well as plein air artists, Impressionists, Luminists and Realists. Museum-quality framing. Gift shop. New Paltz Plaza.
Unison Arts Center – Offers a unique gallery, sculpture garden and labyrinth. Unison focuses on showcasing the best of regional art from paint to clay to mixed media. Mountain Rest Road.
Water Street Market – It might be on Main Street but it’s far from mainstream in style. Four galleries offer fine art and crafts that’s guaranteed to charm. waterstreetmarket.com These are a few located inside:
G. Steve Jordan Gallery – The self-named gallery of a local photographer whose images of the Shawangunk Mountains have been lauded by major photography magazines. Featuring museum-quality framed prints and bound collections of close-up and panoramic portraits of the local mountains and woods.
Gray Owl Gallery – Find the work of internationally known contemporary fine artists and artisans from throughout the Hudson Valley and the Northeast.
Himalayan Arts – A sanctuary of beautiful Tibetan items for the home: paintings, prayer flags, statuary, clothing, and jewelry, all evocative of Buddhist culture and Tibet’s magical mountain communities.
Maglyn’s Dream – Features fashions, art, handmade jewelry, hand-woven woolens, and home décor items created by 80 local and regional artists.
Rhinebeck &
Red Hook
Third weekends are reserved for Rhinebeck and Red Hook, where galleries have receptions and openings from Friday night through Sunday afternoon.
Albert Shahinian Fine Art has two locations: Small work shown at 22 E. Market Street, Suite 301; large work shown in the gallery’s spacious shared space, ASFA @ Prudential/Serls Prime Properties at 6384 Mill Street, Rhinebeck.
Betsy Jacaruso Studio & Gallery – Tucked away in the Rhinebeck Courtyard near the back entrance to Bread Alone Bakery. Not only are new works constantly on view there, but weekly classes are offered in watercolor, drawing and gouache. 43-2 E. Market Street, Rhinebeck.
Red Hook Emporium – See the work of local artisans, designers and artists and wander downstairs for the flea market. 7392 South Broadway, Red Hook.
Red Hook Community Arts Network (Red Hook CAN) – At 7516 North Broadway, offers group shows of its members, as does Tivoli Artists Co-op at 60 Broadway in nearby Tivoli.
Briggs Mountain Gallery – Represents 20 international and local artists in a space set upon a series of rolling hills. 495 Academy Hill Road, Milan.
