Book Release: Silver Dollar Girls by Margaret DiBenedetto

24-year-old Mae McCain flees from New York City at the beginning of the COVID lockdown to her great-grandparents’ abandoned farmhouse in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York. In the attic of the old house, Mae finds a family secret and gradually discovers why it was hidden for so long.  Ruth is an aviator of another time, blazing new history as she breaks through old boundaries. Silver Dollar Girls, … Continue reading Book Release: Silver Dollar Girls by Margaret DiBenedetto

Featured Destination: Andes Academy of Art

A group of Catskills creatives led by William Duke, Peter Mayer, and Erwin Karl launched the Andes Academy of Art during the summer of 2022 to bring together artists working in all disciplines and nurture creativity in a way that forges camaraderie and recognition. Artists need both solitude – to distill new ideas and create new works of art, and companionship – to receive feedback, … Continue reading Featured Destination: Andes Academy of Art

Humans of the Catskills: Clover Archer

Journey to the Catskills: I came to the Catskills on an artist’s residency at the Prattsville Art Center in 2019. I decided it was fated to be when I found out that the director of the Prattsville Art Center is the amazing Nancy Barton, who I studied with at NYU twenty years ago. Vocation: In my “day job” I am the director of an academic … Continue reading Humans of the Catskills: Clover Archer

Book Release: Ebony Bear, A Nurturing Ursine Learns a Lesson by Margaret DiBenedetto

FULL COURT PRESS announces the release of EBONY BEAR, A NURTURING URSINE LEARNS A LESSON by Margaret DiDenedetto with illustrations by Fabia Wargin. Meet Ebony, a black bear and new mother of three cubs, and take a peek at their adventures as they learn to share the world with humans. Ebony Bear is the first in a series of wildlife books that are based on research … Continue reading Book Release: Ebony Bear, A Nurturing Ursine Learns a Lesson by Margaret DiBenedetto

Newly Opened Arts Inn Participates in the AMR Open Art Studios Tour This Weekend

Arts Inn opened earlier this year as a bed and breakfast and events venue, and defines itself “as a place to restore, renew and connect.” The owners, Randy Leer and Heidi Stonier, have had family connections to the area since the 1940s when Kitty Leer, the matriarch, arrived in Fleischmanns with her parents as refugees from WWII; the family opened an eatery, and bed and … Continue reading Newly Opened Arts Inn Participates in the AMR Open Art Studios Tour This Weekend

Upstate Art Weekend, July 22 – 24

Over 145 participants will take part this weekend in Upstate Art, an initiative launched in 2020 by Helen Toomer to showcase art projects in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills region of New York State. Some of our favorite organizations, galleries and museums such as Dia:Beacon, The Dorsky Museum, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Olana, Opus 40, Storm King Art Center, Thomas Cole National Historic … Continue reading Upstate Art Weekend, July 22 – 24

Humans of the Catskills: Heidi Stonier

Journey to the Catskills: What brought me to the Catskills? Fate, love, destiny? Our dream of opening an art and cultural center waited thirty years as my husband and I raised our family in suburban New Jersey. We’ve known and loved the Catskills and have family roots dating back to the 1940s when Fleischmanns, New York provided refuge to émigrés fleeing World War II. When our lives reached … Continue reading Humans of the Catskills: Heidi Stonier

New Release: Night Music in Central Park by Composer Robert Cucinotta

Composer Robert E. Cucinotta has released a new single Night Music in Central Park, a free arrangement for piano of You and the Night and the Music (1934) and Dancing in the Dark (1931), as a tribute to the music of Arthur Schwartz. Born in Brooklyn in 1900, Schwartz was a major American composer, and a friend of George and Ira Gershwin. The mention of … Continue reading New Release: Night Music in Central Park by Composer Robert Cucinotta

News and Events

From Artists and Writers Affiliated with Writers In The Mountains PAINTINGS: HOUSHMAND AND DUKE MURAL on Main Art Gallery, Hobart, NY Saturday and Sunday, 12 noon – 4 pm (until July 2)  PLEIN AIR PAINTING SHOW 1084 Main Street, Fleischmanns, NY Saturday and Sunday, 11 am – 4 pm (until July 3) Participating artists include: Ros Welchman, Sharon Suess, Michelle Sidrane, Patrice Lorenz, Gail Freund, Helene Manzo, Lesley Powell, Oneida … Continue reading News and Events