Stellar programs in the Catskills this weekend: the Woodstock Film Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary, Orphic Gallery is hosting an evening of poetry, Thomas Cole National Historic Site is hosting an art book reception, thirty of the nation’s best plein air painters will be working and exhibiting at Olana, and Bard College Conservatory of Music will perform Mozart’s Requiem, preceded by a panel discussion moderated by Bard’s president Leon Botstein.
The Woodstock Film Festival
Launched in 2000, as an independent film festival in the Catskill Mountains, the Woodstock Film Festival is now considered one of the best events of this nature. Its 15th edition was inaugurated Thursday evening with screenings scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at several locations in and around Woodstock: Bearsville Theater, Woodstock Playhouse, Kleinert James Art Center, Mountain View Studio, and Upstate Films in Woodstock and Rhinebeck, as well as Orpheum Theater in Saugerties, and Rosendale Theater in Rosendale. To view full schedule click here. Saturday, October 18 at 7 pm there will be a cocktail party at Backstage Studio Productions in Kingston, followed by the 15th Maverick Awards Ceremony at 9 pm. The ceremony will be co-presented by Academy-Award winning actresses Natalie Portman and Jennifer Connelly. For more information, go to http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com
Orphic Gallery
Orphic Gallery in Roxbury, Delaware County presents an evening of poetry tonight at 7 pm called “Orphic Verses.” From Orphic Gallery: “In ancient Greek mythology Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus, the king of Thrace, and Kalliope, the muse of epic poetry. He was born and lived in Pimpleia near Mount Olympus, and he met Apollo when the god was courting Thalia, the muse of comedy. Apollo presented the young Orpheus with a golden lyre and instructed him how to play the instrument while his mother imparted to him to create verses. So expertly did Orpheus learn to sing and play the lyre that he became the most famous poet and musician in all of Greece. With his poetry Orpheus was able to inspire the rocks of the mountains and the trees of the forest to dance, and to enchant all the animals of the sea, the air and the land, and even to change the flow of rivers and streams.”
Orphic Verses features the works of local poets Rebecca Andre, Esther De Jong, Sharon Israel, Dave Kearney, and Gary Mead. The poets will read and engage in a spirited dialogue with the audience discussing their works and the poetic process. For more information, go to http://orphicgallery.com/.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
On Sunday, October 19 at 2 pm Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, Greene County will host “Arcadia on the Hudson,” a lecture and book signing event with Dr. Aaron Sachs, author of “Arcadian America: The Death and Life of an Environmental Tradition,” published in 2013, and a professor of History and American Studies at Cornell University. The event will take place at Temple Israel next to Thomas Cole Historic Site on Spring Street. For more information, go to http://www.thomascole.org/current-events.
Olana State Historic Site
Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, Greene County is hosting its third annual plein air event “Creating Landscapes within the Landscape,” as part of the Hudson Arts Walk festival. This weekend thirty of the nation’s best plein air painters work on Olana’s 250-acre landscape that includes an orchard, a farm, a man-made lake, and views of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River. All the artworks produced over the weekend will be auctioned at the Wagon House Education Center at Olana on Saturday, October 18 from 4 to 6 pm. For more information, go to http://olana.org/.
Bard College
Bard College Conservatory of Music is hosting a special event this evening at 6:30 pm: “Remembering the Genocide of European Roma during World War II.” The Conservatory will perform Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Hungarian conductor Adam Fischer. A panel discussion moderated by Bard’s president Leon Botstein will precede the performance – the panel discussion begins at 4 pm. The event will take place at the Sosnoff Theater at Fisher Center. Admission is free. For more information, go to http://fishercenter.bard.edu/calendar/event.php?eid=126894.
Art in the Catskills 