Culture is a space for reporting on creative, historical, and personal stories that shape the artistic character of our region
Opus 40 to Honor Harvey Fite 50 Years After His Death
Fifty years to the day after sculptor Harvey Fite died within the monumental bluestone artwork he spent much of his life building, Opus 40 will mark the anniversary with a community gathering to celebrate his legacy and preserve memories of the place he left behind. “Community Day – Celebrating 50 Years of Opus 40” is…
Grasshopper and Le Shag Find a Shared Creative Rhythm
Jen Donovan, owner of Le Shag hair salons in Woodstock and Kingston, met Mercury Rev guitarist and co-founder Sean Mackowiak in 2004, when she was styling hair in Uptown Kingston and he had a…
Peter Pan’s Catskills Connection Highlighted in New Essay Collection
A new essay collection published by Purple Mountain Press highlights an unexpected connection between the Catskills and one of literature’s most enduring characters: Peter Pan. “Peter Pan in the Catskills and Other Historical Essays,”…
Woodstock Drum Circle Kicks Off 27th Year on Village Green
For all of Woodstock’s reputation for nurturing artists, musicians, and innovators, one tradition stands out: the weekly drum circle on the Village Green. “What lies at the center of these events is the sheer…
Ukrainian Folk Ensemble YAGÓDY Brings Lviv Sound to Saugerties
YAGÓDY, a seven-piece ensemble from Lviv, Ukraine, will bring a mix of folk songs, vocal harmonies, percussion, and theatrical performance to The Local in Saugerties on Friday night. The group features three vocalists, along…
Azart Gallery Turns to Hudson Valley Artists in ‘Standpoint 5’
“Standpoint 5,” on view at Azart Gallery in Woodstock through April 26, brings together six Hudson Valley artists in a group exhibition built around a shared exercise: responding to the same two prompts. The…
Jane Street Art Center’s “Matter Out of Place” Turns Waste Into Art
“Matter Out of Place,” an exhibition at the Jane Street Art Center in Saugerties, brings together six artists who use discarded materials to explore waste, destruction, and environmental change ahead of Earth Day. The…
Deadheads Gather in Woodstock to Celebrate Bob Weir’s Legacy
A much younger Bruce Ginsberg was helping renovate a holistic healing center in Arizona in 1978 when he struck up a friendship with basketball star and Grateful Dead superfan Bill Walton, who was recovering…
On Rainy Spring Nights, Volunteers Help Amphibians Cross the Road
Residents, including many from Woodstock, gathered on Zena Highwoods Road in Kingston, just outside the Woodstock town line, on Thursday, March 26, for one of the Hudson Valley’s spring amphibian crossing nights. Drawn out…
In Conversation: Bassist Jacob Groopman Talks Drag, Deadheads, and Bringing BERTHA to Bearsville
When BERTHA: Grateful Drag brought its all-drag Grateful Dead tribute to Bearsville Theater on March 25, the performance blended improvisation, activism, and theatricality. After the show, Jacob Groopman—also known as Big Sissy Bertha—spoke about…
Ethnoecologist Justin Wexler Traces Lost Wildlife of the Catskills
The Catskills once held passenger pigeons in such vast numbers that their flocks darkened the sky, along with wolves, cougars, martens, elk and other wildlife no longer found here. That vanished world was the…
Woodstock’s Zach Djanikian Co-Scores New Netflix Red Hot Chili Peppers Documentary
Woodstock multi-instrumentalist Zach Djanikian was onstage with Graham Nash in September 2024, preparing for soundcheck, when his cell phone rang. The call was from his childhood friend, Ben Feldman. Years earlier, as Djanikian set…
Lovesphere Returns to Saugerties as Music, Memorial, and Call for Safer Streets
Two years after 21-year-old Starllie Swonyoung was struck and killed in a hit-and-run while walking along the shoulder of Route 9W in Saugerties, the loss continues to reverberate through her family and a wide…
Acclaimed Sculptor Augusta Savage’s Life in Saugerties: Art, Honors, and Chickens
One day in 1953, the acclaimed sculptor Augusta Savage gave a gift to the Finger family, her white neighbors near the same Saugerties road that now bears her name. It was a bust she’d…
Phoenicia Playhouse Marks 50 Years With Ambitious 2026 Season
The Phoenicia Playhouse is marking its 50th anniversary this year with an expanded lineup of theater, music, film and youth programming as the volunteer-driven nonprofit behind the venue seeks to build on five decades…
Woodstock School of Art Series Spotlights Marielena Ferrer’s Migration-Inspired Work
Marielena Ferrer told an audience at the Woodstock School of Art in February that she became an artist “by accident.” Born into a working-class family in Venezuela, Ferrer said she had always been drawn…
Magic on the Mountain
Everyone knows these mountains are magic. A thousand local references to Rip Van Winkle can’t be wrong, after all. But metaphors aside, magic is real on Main Street in the snow-kissed ski town of…
Rock Academy Brings Tommy Clufetos to Colony Woodstock
Rock Academy, the Saugerties-based music school known for bringing major rock performers into close contact with young musicians, will host drummer Tommy Clufetos on Saturday night for a clinic and live performance at Colony…
Writers of the Catskills: In Conversation with Abigail Thomas Part 2
Abigail Thomas, a Woodstock resident for the last 22 years, has had a remarkable 60-plus-year literary journey as an award-winning author of memoirs, novels, short stories, essays, poems and children’s books. Early in her…
Writers of the Catskills: In Conversation with Abigail Thomas
Abigail Thomas, a Woodstock resident for the last 22 years, has had a remarkable 60-plus-year literary journey as an award-winning author of memoirs, novels, short stories, essays, poems and children’s books. Early in her…
Woodstock Poetry Society Extends Three-Decade Run With February Reading
The Woodstock Poetry Society’s February session hewed loosely to a Valentine’s Day theme, with authors exploring love and loss through readings and an open mic session The February 14 session at the Woodstock Public…
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