Section: Arts & Entertainment
Croton Appoints First-ever Village Arts Liaison
July 19, 2010Mayor Leo Wiegman has appointed a first-ever Arts Liaison for the Village to help foster even closer collaboration between the Village and the area’s vibrant and diverse arts community. He named Marion Mitchell Callis, of Hale Hollow Road, to the two year volunteer post for the period ending April 1, 2012.
While the Village did appoint a “Public Art Committee” years ago to assist on public art such as the mural art at train station, the new role of a Village Arts Liaison would be much broader. The Arts Liaison will be a two-way conduit for any salient arts related issues, requests or questions between the local arts community and the Village.
The Liaison would be the point person for the Village on arts-related matters to whom the Village could send its questions and inquiries. And, vice versa, when members of the local arts community have proposals or questions that they would like to raise with local government, this Liaison will make sure the message lands on the right desk in Village Hall. An initial task for the Arts Liaison will be compiling a list of contacts of local arts organizations, from the non-profits to the for-profits, from children’s theater to comedic arts education, and from photography workshops to music studios.
“We needed someone with broad interdisciplinary artistic connections, great people skills, and a demonstrated track record of accomplishments. Ms Callis arrives with tremendous international credentials and great ideas to help us better understand the needs and resources of our local arts groups,” notes Mayor Wiegman.
“We created this volunteer post in Croton to take advantage of the intersection among history, arts, and economics. The Village’s History Office has a tremendous archive of both art for its own sake and documentary art of all kinds. Our arts community has always been strong, from theater and dance, to sculpture, film, illustration, design, and more. Our economic future depends on how we tap into our history as a creative and expressive community to bring even more arts-related work and collaboration to our area. Why not make the arts a hallmark of our economic engine?” continues Wiegman.
Ms Callis holds a Master of Arts from Florida State University as well as advanced arts and appraisal certificates from University of London, Christies, and New York University. Her curatorial and directorial experience includes work in Florida, Louisiana, Connecticut, Washington DC, and New York.
“It will be a privilege to engage with the arts groups and officials in our area, and to delve more deeply into this community’s rich history,” says Ms Callis, “I look forward to collaborating with a wide range of individuals and groups, to make the most of what we have now, and to explore new ideas and projects with them.” Ms Callis can be reached at artsliaison@crotononhudson-ny.gov.
For additional information, please contact Janine King, Assistant Village Manager, at jking@crotononhudson-ny.gov, or 914-271-4781.
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At River Day, Click for a Chance to Win a Camera
Visitors can win one of three Fujifilm cameras at Van Cortlandt Manor’s River Day on Sunday, Aug. 1, by taking pictures and posting them on Flickr.com. The festival-style River Day, which takes place from 12-6 and is sponsored by Fujifilm, is devoted to the history and ecology of the area’s watershed. It features kayak rides, performances, and hands-on activities for all ages that teach children and adults about the area’s fragile watershed.
Visitors are encouraged to bring their cameras, capture the event, and post their best work on Flickr for a chance to win one of three Fuji cameras. Top prize is a Fujifilm FinePix HS-10. Two runners-up will win a Fujifilm FinePix Z700EXR. Cameras provided by Fujifilm. Full details are online at www.hudsonvalley.org.
River Day includes two theatrical performances. From 3-4pm, the Hudson River Ramblers will be performing “Once Upon the Hudson,” a tour of more than 400 years of river heritage in authentic songs and primary source based stories. Comprised of Jonathan Kruk, the raconteur renowned for telling “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and folksinger Rich Bala, the Hudson River Ramblers put on a rollicking show featuring a cast of characters that includes a mythical giant, a doomed explorer, an obsessed inventor, a humble general, a pirate, an imp, a “spitting devil,” and a mule named Sal.
From 2-3pm, the Arm-of-the-Sea theater group will be performing “City that Drinks the Mountain Sky.” The group uses poetry, lusciously painted puppet figures, and beautiful mask characters in this production. Musicians performing include Jim Keyes and Dan Einbender. Local tree service experts SavATree will be offering a wood-sawing activity throughout the day.
Hudson River Recreation will be performing kayak demonstrations during this celebration of the environment, allowing experienced kayakers to test drive new models while beginning kayakers can get their feet wet learning the sport.
“Both the Hudson River and the Croton River have been a source of commerce, travel, food, and recreation for centuries. Through games, workshops, and demonstrations, we’ll delve into the past and present uses, thoughts, and concerns about these rivers,” said Althea Corey, site director of Van Cortlandt Manor.
Costumed interpreters will demonstrate how 18th-century Hudson Valley residents performed such marine-related tasks as fishing and net making, and will demonstrate 18th-century tasks such as open-hearth cooking, coopering, brick making, and blacksmithing. Visitors will be encouraged to lend a hand. Children’s activities include tinsmithing, origami figures, pottery, bookmark making, and watercolor painting. Project WET organizes a children’s game called the Incredible Journey.
A number of regional educational organizations and environmental advocacy groups are bringing hands-on educational activities to River Day, including Saw Mill River Audubon, Teatown Lake Reservation, Riverkeeper, Peekskill Boat Works, Ferry Sloops, and the Toll House Museum. Local expert archeologists MALFA will bring exhibits of artifacts from digs in the lower Hudson region. The Traditional Small Craft Association will display a wooden Adirondack guide boat. Picnic food from Geordanes in Irvington will be available.
The Croton River, which empties into the Hudson River about a half-mile past the Manor House on the Van Cortlandt estate, was used in the 18th century as a dynamic water source, powering gristmills and sawmills. The Van Cortlandt family kept its boats moored just beyond their icehouse, enabling the transportation of people and goods down the Hudson River. Today, the Hudson River still carries great cargo ships to and from New York City and other stops along the way, but both rivers are also abundantly used for fishing and boating throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
Admission to River Day at Van Cortlandt Manor is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors; $6 for children 5-17; and free for children under 5 and HHV members. Tickets are available online at www.hudsonvalley.org. Van Cortlandt Manor, a Historic Hudson Valley site, is at 525 South Riverside Avenue (off Route 9) in Croton-on-Hudson. For information: 914-631-8200.
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Annual Croton Arboretum Garden Tour Set for July 11
July 6, 2010The Jane E. Lytle Memorial Arboretum has announced this year’s annual garden tour will be held on Sunday, July 11 from 12:30 PM to 5 PM.
For fourteen years, the Arboretum has guided area residents on a summer tour of dozens of spectacular gardens in the Croton/Cortlandt area. Homeowners have generously opened their private gardens to the public for this ever-popular July event.
Event coordinators Gill Mader and Laura Seitz have selected a wide variety of landscape settings to be seen at a half a dozen new local sites in the self-directed auto tour. These include Croton village vegetable and flower gardens and several nearby town properties offering a variety of organic vegetable plots, diverse flower displays, and a hillside slope of grasses. Horticulturalist John Grant will guide visitors through the Pierre Van Cortlandt School vegetable garden, a student project which he supervised. The garden is sponsored by the Croton Harmon Education Foundation (CHEF).
Tickets for the tour are $20 per person or, in an Early Bird Special, two for $35. To insure advance reservations and tickets, call Laurie Salzberg (271-5871), Laura Seitz (271-3265) or Carol Shanesy (271-7645). Tour maps to guide participants to the sites, along with any remaining tickets, will be available on the Sunday of the tour, July 11, from 12:15 to 1:30 PM at Croton’s St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church at 6 Old Post Road North. Proceeds benefit the Croton Arboretum.
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Historic Independence Day Celebrations Set for Van Cortlandt Manor and Sunnyside
June 19, 2010Participating in old-fashioned ice-cream making, listening to a spirited reading of the Declaration of Independence, marching in a grand parade, and drilling and mustering with military re-enactors are some of the activities visitors can take part in at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside in Tarrytown, N.Y. and Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. on Independence Day, Sunday, July 4th, from 12-6 p.m.
A grand parade is the centerpiece of Fourth of July festivities at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. — Tom O’Connell photo
Both sites, living history museums that are part of the Historic Hudson Valley network, will be dressed up in their finest patriotic regalia to celebrate the nation’s founding. Visitors can journey back to 1800 at Van Cortlandt Manor and to 1850 at Sunnyside. Tickets are available online at www.hudsonvalley.org. Admission for children under 18 is FREE when you purchase online using code JULY4.
Dramatic readings of the Declaration of Independence are a feature at both events.
Sunnyside will feature a reading of an 1850s speech by Irving contemporary George William Curtis on abolition, who spoke “attended by a bodyguard with a great mob outside ready for violence, held in check by a large body of police. A few paving stones and a bottle of vitriol were thrown through the windows, but no serious injury was inflicted. This was one of the last instances in which an attempt was made to suppress free speech in the free states in the interest of slavery.” Curtis was also a close colleague of George P. Putnam, Irving’s longtime publisher.
Comic vignettes featuring toasts to the Republic and spirited debates about the pros and cons of temperance and women’s suffrage will also take place. On the issue of whether women should be granted the right to vote, two sisters will duke it out in a lively fashion.
Visitors can also participate in country dancing with caller Eric Hollman, join in rousing renditions of patriotic songs, witness the feats of comedic juggler Will Shaw, and play “town ball,” an early version of baseball that uses a big bat and small ball. Plus, there will be ice-cream making demonstrations. The home of Washington Irving will be open for tours throughout the day.
At Van Cortlandt Manor, the day’s centerpiece is a vast parade starting at 2 p.m. in front of the manor house. The parade will traverse the entire site and end with a special ceremony, singing, dancing, and games. Children can carry banners and all are invited to march.
From 10-2:30, a military re-enactment group will set up camp and invite one and all to drill and muster. Visitors can help with camp activities such as fire starting with flint and steel. Storytelling and 18th-century fiddle music round out the day.
While either event could be a perfect preamble to a picnic elsewhere, classic Fourth of July food from Geordanes Market in Irvington will be available, giving visitors an easy option for lunch. Of course, picnickers are welcome to bring their own treats.
Admission to either site is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors; $6 for children 5-17; and free for children under age 5 and HHV members. Tours of the sites’ houses are included in the price of admission. Tickets for all children under 18 are FREE when you purchase in advance online using the code JULY4. Washington Irving’s Sunnyside is at 89 West Sunnyside Lane in Tarrytown, one mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, off Route 9. Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue in Croton-on-Hudson, just off Route 9A. For information: 914-631-8200 or [www.hudsonvalley.org].(http://www.hudsonvalley.org)
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How to Participate in 'Hands-on Heritage Crafts' at Van Cortlandt Manor
June 8, 2010Visitors to Van Cortlandt Manor can try their hands at more than a dozen colonial-era crafts and tasks during “Hands-On Heritage Crafts” on Saturday and Sunday, June 12 and 13, from 10-6 p.m.
The gardens, grounds, and buildings of Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson will be bustling with activity as visitors are encouraged to learn about traditional activities of the 18th century in an interactive way. Each activity is presented by guides wearing clothing of the period.
Spinning flax is one of more than a dozen historic crafts and tasks on display at Van Cortlandt Manor on Saturday and Sunday, June 12-13. - Bryan Haeffele image
Visitors can help make candles, churn butter, and stitch brooms. They can also try their hands at coopering (barrel making), wool dyeing and spinning, shoe making, tinsmithing, flax breaking and spinning, quilting, weaving, and open-hearth cooking.
Particularly popular with youngsters is the chance to help Van Cortlandt Manor’s blacksmith forge iron hooks and other items.
Children can also sew a bag designed to hold medicinal herbs and then have it filled with dried botanicals in the manner of the 18th century. One example is a “sleep bag,” which is filled with a mixture of rose petals, mint leaves, and cloves, and was used by early Americans as a cure for insomnia.
Admission to Van Cortlandt Manor is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors; $6 for children 5-17; and free for children under 5 and HHV members. Visitors who buy tickets online can save $2 per ticket by using the promo code BLACKSMITH. Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue (off Route 9) in Croton-on-Hudson. Take the Croton Point Avenue exit from Route 9 and follow the signs. For information: 914-271-8981, www.hudsonvalley.org.
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Calling All Croton Artists!
May 20, 2010Calling Croton Artists! * Calling Croton Artists! * Calling Croton Artists!
- Would you like to win a Blue Pig Gift Certificate?
- Do you like to draw?
- Do you Keep Croton Green?
Then enter this year’s juried art contest for the Croton-Harmon School Mini-Calendar! Join us at the Croton-Harmon SEPTA Summerfest booth this Sunday, June 6, from 1 - 4:30 p.m. Open to Croton students of all ages!
Just show up. Everything you need will be at the booth. It’s free to enter—as many times as you like. All winners get gift certificates for the Blue Pig. The theme: CROTON IS A GREEN TOWN - and we hope you draw more than one scene!
The winning selections will decorate a pocket version of the classic Croton-Harmon School District calendar. It contains all the important information that is found in the larger one and includes a local business directory, in a convenient size: 4” x 7” closed, or 8” x 7” open.
* We are once again offering an opportunity to be listed as a “Friend of CH SEPTA” . For $25 you will: 1) be listed as a “Friend of CH SEPTA ” in the front of the calendar, 2) receive 2010/2011 CH SEPTA membership and, 3) get a copy of the mini calendar. This is only $5 more than the regular membership but shows the Croton community that you support the special education students in our district. You may register at our Summerfest booth or mail in the form below.
[ ] I would like to take advantage of the “Friends of CH SEPTA” offer, which includes a special “FRIENDS OF CH SEPTA calendar listing, free calendar and 2009-2010 CH SEPTA membership for ONLY $25!
Name
Address
Telephone
E-mail
Please list me/us as:
Please mail in “Friends” forms and payment to: Ivy Lewis, 2 Red Maple Ridge, Croton, NY, 10520. Pre-ordered calendars will be distributed at Back To School nights in early fall—or e-mail Ivy Lewis at ivylewis@optonline.net for special delivery. The deadline is June 30, 2010.
Art entry forms can be dropped off at the Summerfest booth or (e)mailed to: Lisa Cohen, 179 Old Post Road North, Croton, NY, 10520 (lisac@10520.info). The deadline is June 25th, 2010.
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Clearwater Announces Line-up for 2010 Great Hudson River Revival
May 7, 2010Clearwater has finalized the line-up for the 2010 Great Hudson River Revival, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20 at Croton Point Park in Croton-on Hudson, NY.
Inspired by Pete Seeger’s desire to clean up the river over forty years ago, the Great Hudson River Revival initially helped raise the funds to build the sloop Clearwater, which has since become a world-renowned floating classroom and a symbol of effective grassroots action. Today, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is a non-profit organization that sails at the forefront of the nation’s environmental challenges. The revenue raised by the Revival goes to support Clearwater’s numerous educational programs and its work toward environmental and social justice—as well as keeping the sloop Clearwater afloat.
Pete Seeger & the Power of Song gets us underway on Saturday, June 19 on the Rainbow Stage. Also featured on this stage throughout the weekend are famed singer-songwriters Steve Earle and Shawn Colvin, contemporary music star Joan Osborne; Westchester County native David Bromberg and his quartet, Keller Williams, “newgrass” sensation Railroad Earth, Donna the Buffalo, Toshi Reagon, The Felice Brothers, sacred steel guitar family band The Lee Boys, and Hazmat Modine, a global blues band based in NYC.
Appearing on the Hudson Stage will be Steve Forbert, Rhett Miller, Jonatha Brooke, Mike Doughty, Dan Bern, Lucy Kaplansky, David Amram, Canadian duo Dala, Milton, Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, and the Tao Seeger Band.
New for this year is the renamed “World Dance Stage” with a bigger dance floor and bands from around the globe. The mission for the stage is audience participation. The diverse roster features many different dance music styles and wonderful artists including Zydeco greats Buckwheat Zydeco, and C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band; Quebecois Cajun group Le Vent du Nord; Celtic artist and fiddle player of Riverdance Eileen Ivers; Contra Dance bands Nightingale and Jay, Molly & Peter; Brooklyn based Eastern European brass band Slavic Soul Party; Haitian drumming and dance ensemble Bonga & The Vodou Drums of Haiti; Columbian folkloric dance band Folklore Urbano; West African Balafon troupe Kakande and from New Orleans, The Subdudes and funk-soul band Brother Joscephus & the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra.
Pete Seeger will be performing at various junctures during the two-day festival including performances with two different kids groups.
The Revival is full of unique experiences. Story Grove, with professional storytellers and Circle of Song (audience participatory singing) keeps alive these unique and long-standing traditions. Performers at Story Groveinclude The Storycrafters, Dave Conover, Robert DeMayo, Bob Reiser, Nancy Marie Payne, Anne Shapiro & Tom Callinan and Bobaloo Basey. At Circle of Song we have Marva P. Clarke and Kim Harrisleading gospel sings, the Dirty Stay Out Skifflers, the Edukated Fleas, Hope Machine, Captain Killian & Crew, Mel & Vinnie, Eric Russell, Evy Mayer, Steve Stanne, Stoutand Matt Turk.
Other programming that sets Clearwater apart from other festivals include Arm-of-the-Sea Theater (mask and puppet theater), the Rude Mechanical Orchestra (30-odd-piece New York City radical marching band and dance troupe), the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus (celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2010) and more.
As always there will be plenty of family oriented programming including the Family Stage, juggling, roving artists, face painting plus lots of other activities and vendors for kids. Appearing on the Family Stage will be Pete Seeger & Tomorrow’s Children, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, David Amram, Elizabeth Mitchell & You Are My Flower, Kim & Reggie Harris, Jay Mankita, Grenadilla, Nancy Tucker, Roger the Jester, Dog on Fleas, Uncle Rock, Linda Richards and Dan Einbender.
There’s also a Juried Crafts Fair with over 40 Crafters and folk artists with quality hand-made items, demonstrations and workshops and a Green Living Expo Tent where you can learn about products, services, concepts and technologies that can inform your lifestyle and business choices.
The sloop Clearwater and the schooner Mystic Whaler will be conducting sails throughout the weekend as well as rides being offered on smaller boats.
The Discovery and Tideline tents will feature Clearwater’s original hands-on environmental education programs and Hudson River research. The Environmental Action Tent will highlight Clearwater’s watershed and environmental justice initiatives in cities up and down the Hudson River Valley.
Keeping with tradition, the entire festival is wheelchair accessible and most stage programming is staffed with American Sign Language interpreters.
Tickets range from $40 (early bird) to $80 (gate). Tickets are available at http://www.ClearwaterFestival.org or by calling 845-418-3596.
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CCoA 2010 Photo Show to Open March 28
March 23, 2010The Croton Council on the Arts has announced the dates of this year’s Photographers of Northern Westchester Exhibit. The show will open on Sunday, March 28 with a reception from 4:00-6:00 pm. Co-chairs Maggie Loewenwarter and Steve Jacoby expect that upward of one hundred local photographers will participate in this 28th annual exhibit to be held again this year at the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship in Croton.
This year’s raffle prize will be donated by Ossining resident Mark Sadan. It is a large, limited edition chrome-pigment print of a digital image The photograph is titled “Near the Taconic.” It was taken on a private estate in the countryside near Teatown. Mark shot this richly colored nature scene in 2006.
Mark Sadan began his creative career as a stage actor and director, but moved quickly into independent film production. His was one of the first film makers for television show, Sasame Street, and has won several awards for his documentaries.
But while continuing to produce and direct films, Mark has also followed his passion for still photography and his major work is currently in that medium. He has been featured in most of the leading photo magazines around the world. His work can also be found in many books as well as in museums and private collections.
Raffle tickets are available for purchase in Croton at Umami Café, 325 South Riverside Avenue and at Grouchy Gabe’s Deli in the Upper Village. During the week-long show tickets will be available at the Unitarian Fellowship. Tickets cost $2.00 each or six for $10.00. They money will go toward exhibit expenses. The winning raffle ticket will be drawn at the close of the show on April 4th.
In addition to the opening reception on March 28, viewing hours are March 29-April 2, 6-8:00 p.m. and April 3 and 4, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
For more information, please contact Maggie Loewenwarter at 271-1037.
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Patriotic speeches, colonial games, a grand parade, & more. Anyone?
June 27, 2009Here’s a chance to celebrate Independence Day at historic Van Cortlandt Manor and Sunnyside…
Participating in old-fashioned ice-cream making, listening to a spirited reading of the Declaration of Independence, marching in a grand parade, and drilling and mustering with military re-enactors are some of the activities visitors can take part in at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside in Tarrytown and Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson on Independence Day, Saturday, July 4, from 10-6 p.m.
A grand parade is part of the festivities at Van Cortlandt Manor’s Independence Day celebrations. Tom O’Connell photo.
Both sites, living history museums that are part of the Historic Hudson Valley network, will be dressed up in their finest patriotic regalia to celebrate the nation’s founding. Visitors can journey back to 1809 at Van Cortlandt Manor and to 1859 at Sunnyside. Tickets are available online at www.hudsonvalley.org.
Dramatic readings of the Declaration of Independence are a feature at both sites.
Sunnyside will feature a reading of an 1859 speech by Irving contemporary George William Curtis on abolition, who spoke “attended by a bodyguard with a great mob outside ready for violence, held in check by a large body of police. A few paving stones and a bottle of vitriol were thrown through the windows, but no serious injury was inflicted. This was one of the last instances in which an attempt was made to suppress free speech in the free states in the interest of slavery.” Curtis was also a close colleague of George P. Putnam, Irving’s longtime publisher.
Comic vignettes featuring toasts to the Republic and spirited debates about the pros and cons of temperance and women’s suffrage will also take place. On the issue of whether women should be granted the right to vote, two sisters will duke it out in a lively fashion.
Visitors can also participate in country dancing with caller Eric Hollman, join in rousing renditions of patriotic songs, witness the feats of comedic juggler Will Shaw, and play “town ball,” an early version of baseball that uses a big at and small ball. The home of Washington Irving will be open for tours throughout the day.
At Van Cortlandt Manor, the day’s centerpiece is a vast parade starting at 2 p.m. in front of the manor house. The parade will traverse the entire site and end with a special ceremony, singing, dancing, and games. Children can carry banners and all are invited to march.
From 10-2:30, a military re-enactment group will set up camp and invite one and all to drill and muster. Visitors can help with camp activities such as fire starting with flint and steel. Storytelling and 18th-century fiddle music round out the day.
While either event could be a perfect preamble to a picnic elsewhere, classic Fourth of July food from Geordanes Market in Irvington will be available, giving visitors an easy option for lunch. Of course, picnickers are welcome to bring their own treats.
Admission to either site is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors; $6 for children 5-17; and free for children under age 5 and HHV members. Tours of the sites’ houses are included in the price of admission. Washington Irving’s Sunnyside is at 89 West Sunnyside Lane in Tarrytown, one mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, off Route 9. Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue in Croton-on-Hudson, just off Route 9A. For information: 914-631-8200 or www.hudsonvalley.org.
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How to Get Your Videos and Pictures Featured on Crotonblog
January 23, 2009Dear readers,
If you’d like to have your movie, video channel or photo slideshow featured on the Crotonblog homepage, please use this form to send us the link or embed code.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
An editor
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