UPSTATE NEW YORK — At Scenic Hudson’s River Center on Friday, saris hanging from clotheslines billowed gracefully in a serene, tent-like installation. Organized by Eve Morgenstern, founder of the climate and art nonprofit Soon is Now, Museum of Fishes & Greens was the result of a collaboration between the Food Studio Collective and local artists in the Sundarbans forest in India, who are featured in a short documentary discussing how they navigate ecological precarity while sustaining households, markets, and biodiversity.
This conscientious show kicked off my romp through the seventh annual Upstate Art Weekend (UAW), a celebration of art around the Hudson Valley region and beyond held from June 25 to 29. With exhibitions, site-specific installations, performances, and curated activities offered by over 160 organizations and artists to choose from, my self-designed itinerary brought me through the flourishing art scene that reflects the bounty of the interconnected arts community in New York. If UAW’s unusual format is any indication, many of us in the region embrace an “outside-the-system” approach to presenting and enjoying art.
