The Knaus Gallery & Wine Bar will exhibit a number of Penzato’s paintings from July 13 through 27. Its hours of operation are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 9 p.m. The opening reception on Saturday, July 13 will be a fond farewell party.
The somewhat-reclusive master was friends with the biggest names of the day – Rothko, de Kooning et cetera – but had little use for the spotlight of New York City. In 1967, Guston moved his family to the “arts colony” known as Woodstock and remained there, working and commuting to teach in New York.
Friday, July 12-Sunday, July 14: Want to take a flight in a hot-air balloon, or go aloft on a tethered ride? No problem. A helicopter ride more your speed? Yeah, you can do that, too. Or do you just want to take in the spectacle of more than 100 hot-air balloons launching throughout the weekend? Or view the Illumination Moon Glow on Friday and Saturday evenings: a stationary display of hot-air balloons with their burners fired up, glowing against the night sky? A greater number than ever of the eyecatching “shape balloons” are expected this year – which have included lighthouses, cartoon animals and even a tuxedo balloon – and the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome will get into the act, too, with an antique airplane display and flyovers (wind and weather permitting, as is true of all flight activities over the weekend).
The Woodstock Film Festival will return for its 20th year this October, bringing a slate of independent movies to Hudson Valley theaters, in addition to talks, panels, and Q+As.
Pete Mauney lives in Tivoli, watches the night sky, and makes art out of the sort of wonderings so many of us have each summer. His solo exhibition opening at the Kleinert/James Arts Center this week, Pete Mauney: Nocturnal Transmissions, captures that moment when fireflies appear to morph into stars; the vivid visual arrays some of us take our kids to see, when very young, at airports; as well as that special beauty which occurs when we closely watch a singular stretch of landscape for a long time.
July 8-26: Combining a packed schedule of performances, competitions and open master classes, a positively grueling training regimen for a small group of well-vetted aspirants and, one imagines, a few pretty high-end cocktail parties, PianoSummer at SUNY-New Paltz returns for another season of celebrating the continued vitality of the 88 keys and the centuries’ worth of brilliant music written for them.
As sure and as welcome a sign of summer as the appearance of lightning bugs after dark, outdoor Shakespeare performances have returned to our fair valley.
July 11-21: When the question is raised, “What was the worst song ever recorded?” among the most popular answers is an offkey lament for a lost cat titled “My Pal Foot Foot.” It appeared on the album Philosophy of the World, released in 1969 by the Shaggs. It’s said that only 1,000 copies of the LP were pressed, and that the band’s manager absconded with 900 of them. Their strange story inspired Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen to write an “unconventional musical” called The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2003 and is being performed at Catskills Bridge Street Theatre.
On Thursdays in July and August, Bard opens the fabulous Spiegeltent to the curatorially adventurous Catskill Jazz factory. It is a lineup of shows not to missed. The Catskill Jazz Factory has been an especially stellar and opulent example of a jazz incubator and advocacy organization dedicated to nurturing young talent, sustaining jazz’s great careers and advancing jazz appreciation worldwide.
Saturday, July 6: To call Kingston “instrumental” in the national launch of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles band Lucius would be a bit of an embellishment of the kind we should leave to realtors, gentry-baiting developers and their pocket scribes. But one thing is for certain: The second of their two shows at BSP – in February of 2013, months after their O+ debut – happened to coincide with the exact instant of their national liftoff. I am still scarred by the afterburners.