“Handmade for the Holidays-Keep your spending local”
The Wallkill River School’s Annual Member’s Exhibit will feature works by 144 regional artists and offer the handmade wares of 12 local artisans. This exhibit will showcase the cultural diversity and deep talent pool of Orange County’s first homegrown arts movement. The exhibit fills the entire exhibition space of the Wallkill River School and Art Gallery from Dec. 1st through 31st. The opening reception is Dec. 5, from 5-8pm.
In conjunction with the reception is a “Handmade for the Holidays” gift bazaar of handmade goods from local artisans. Twelve fine crafters will be set up around the gallery and workshops space. Visitors can sample crisp apple cider, and pumpkin bread while strolling through a marketplace of local craftspeople displaying everything from hand-knitted scarves, unique jewelry, and Victorian trinkets. Why buy from China when you can choose one-of-a kind hand crafted gifts made by your friends and neighbors? Bazaar hours are from noon-8pm, Dec. 5th. Have an intuitive tarot card reading while you shop by Frances Barmann for $20 which benefits WRS.
Artists represented by the Wallkill River School are offering a “Starving Artist’s Sale” for the whole weekend, 9-6pm. Members are also participating in the workshop room gallery.Just in time for the holidays get original artworks painted by local artists, not made in Chinese factories on assembly lines like other sales in hotels. This sale benefits the artists directly.
If you come on Sunday, you can pick out the perfect frame to accompany your Starving Artist original. Local framer James Douglas Gallery will be offering ready-made frames bargain priced on our glassed-in porch. Bring your gift list and enjoy one-stop shopping at the Wallkill River School.
The Wallkill River School is a nonprofit artist’s cooperative that runs a gallery and a full art school in Montgomery, NY. The WRS promotes local artists and integrates art into the people’s daily lives. Part of the organization’s mission is to preserve dwindling open spaces and promote small scale farms and our agricultural heritage. The artists often partner with historic sites such as Sugar Loaf Village, organic farms like Phillies Bridge Farm, and nonprofits like Black Rock Forest Consortium to build benefit art auctions, giving participants a chance to sell their work, and help raise money for nonprofits that preserve open spaces. The WRS published a local foods cookbook based on what our farms grow, in season, and where to find it. Look for the cookbook at farmers markets in 2008. The WRS offers plein air workshops on location throughout Orange County from May-Oct, and year-round art classes in the Montgomery gallery. The WRS is committed to buying local, and all our events are zero waste, handicapped-accessible, and carbon neutral.
