Scenic mountain peaks give way to eclectic small towns, creating a perfect environment for art and nature to commune. Thomas Cole and other Hudson River School artists were captivated by this region and more than a century later, the greatest music festival of all time took place here. Visitors can tour Cole’s historic home, walk on Woodstock’s hallowed grounds, and much more in this mountain region that boasts a thriving arts scene.Photo Credit: Escape Brooklyn
For a limited time, check out the I LOVE NY Discover the Arts Sweepstakes and enter for a chance to win tickets to a concert at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and other amazing arts experiences including the grand prize — an ultimate arts getaway in New York City featuring a two-night hotel stay and tickets to some of the city’s top museums and live performances. Plus, discover world-class arts and culture in every region of New York State with I LOVE NY’s newly-launched regional map and guides, upcoming calendar of events, and more.
JUMP TO: Visual Arts | Theaters and Performing Arts | Historic Sites and Landmarks | Music and Film | Events and Festivals
Visual Arts
Two floors and four galleries fill out the 4,500 square-foot space on Main Street in Livingston Manor. A supporter of both established and emerging artists, Catskill Art Space puts out an annual call for proposals, with a goal of providing artists with a place to show their work. Exhibitions take place throughout the year. The calendar is rounded out with music and dance performances, artist discussions, films, lectures, and many more community events. Classes as diverse as pottery-making and meditation are on regular rotation for adults, while the CAS Kids program hosts free opportunities for children to get acquainted with the arts.
The Salon Series, a calendar of events beginning in February featuring films, live performances, and discussions about all things art, makes for ideal wintertime activities. Or take part in the theme-based Retro Cinema series, running from April to November. Such engaging events as these are interspersed with regular exhibitions in the visual and performing arts. Venues include the Elaine Giguere Arts Center, Tusten Theatre, and a DVAA gift shop, all located just steps apart in the picturesque hamlet of Narrowsburg.
In the 80 years of his life, Zadock Pratt, Jr. served twice in the House of Representatives, founded the largest tannery in the world and, to support the tannery’s labor force, established the town of Prattsville. Delve into the life of this uber-productive individual at his eponymous museum, housed in the Greek Revival building of his former home. Built in 1828, the home has been restored to resemble its 1856 redesign. An art gallery features rotating exhibits of contemporary art, photography, sculpture, and objects that help tell Prattsville’s story.
Fourteen sculptures, totem poles, and bas reliefs occupy the grounds of the former home of Emile Brunel, an artist, adventurer, and great admirer of Native American culture. Created by Brunel between 1929 and 1941 at his Boiceville residence, the works evoke his passions: one recreates a Native American hunting celebration; another is a statue of his beloved dog Caprice. Some of the largest pieces weigh up to 20 tons. Indigenous herbs and plants also grow throughout the garden.
Credit: @chrismcshane on Instagram
In a pastoral valley in East Meredith, a restored 1850s church is the setting for art exhibits, live music, theatrical performances, and educational workshops. Recent exhibits within the art gallery included a collection of photographic works by Editha Mesina and series of botanical portraits by Alan Herman. Outdoor events promise a good time amidst panoramic views. Fiction writing workshops, plant foraging walks, and basket weaving are among community events geared toward adults. Art-curious kids can take workshops on acting, costume-making, and filmmaking.
As a great champion of local makers, this artist-run cooperative displays exhibits of both new and established artists from the New York State region. The Margaretville gallery aims to display two solo exhibitions and a group show monthly, always with an array of artistic styles and media. Longyear Gallery’s non-profit status affords patrons the opportunity to purchase art directly from the artists.
Theaters and Performing Arts
Forestburgh Playhouse and Tavern
The belief that Life is a Cabaret is heartily embraced by the Forestburgh Tavern, where dinner cabarets entertain audiences all summer long. Meanwhile, the Forestburgh Playhouse busily stages Broadway musicals, plays, and shows for kids in their historic 125-year-old barn theater. In addition to entertaining audiences with diverse offerings, the Playhouse is proud to spark the careers of young artists. Their In the Works-In the Woods Festival gathers artists together for a week of writing, workshopping, and staging new plays, musicals, and cabaret acts.
Bringing high-quality theater to a rural Catskill audience is a major goal here, as is producing new works and giving the stage to both new and established playwrights. Radio-style plays, immersive theater, programming for children, and much more have all graced the stage throughout the past five decades the theater has been in business. Summer Shortcuts is an annual favorite event. Audiences gather at the theater, located in Margaretville, to see eight 10-minute plays written by playwrights from the Catskills and beyond.
Three separate venues makeup Roxbury Arts Group, delivering triple the opportunities to appreciate the local art scene! Whether at the Roxbury Arts Center in Roxbury, the historic Old School Baptist Church in Denver, or The Headwaters Arts Center in Stamford, culture buffs will discover exhibitions of local artists, live concerts, art-focused workshops, and events for kids that encourage them to hone their creative talents.
Credit: @sarahjayneseeks on Instagram
On the third week of every month, audience members can witness the making of an old-fashioned talk show in a series titled Live Radio Broadcasts from Bridge Street Theatre. In the live broadcasts, hosts Carmen Borgia and Nancy Giles invite special guests to chat, laugh, and discuss all things creative. Additional programming in this refurbished industrial building in the charming village of Catskill includes unique and often cutting-edge plays, musicals, visual arts, and special events.
A production of Yes, My Darling Daughter debuted in the spring of 1938. Since then, Woodstock Playhouse has undergone trials and tragedies. World War II necessitated a pause in productions, and a fire razed the original structure just short of its 50th anniversary. Despite the challenges, the Woodstock theater’s reputation for staging high-quality theater grew steadily and it is now considered a major stop on the way to the success of Broadway and other major venues. Productions on the mainstage have included such favorites as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Anything Goes. Concerts and productions for kids are also on the schedule.
Historic Sites and Landmarks
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
Photo Credit: Escape Brooklyn
Standing on a spacious porch at this Catskill home allows visitors to gaze at the same mountain views that inspired Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. From this vantage point, it’s easy to see why Cole called this home until his death in 1848. Inside, visitors can tour the rooms and studios where Cole spent many of his days. Throughout the house are the artist’s paintings, easels, sketches, books, and art-making tools, as well as items that belonged to his wife Maria. Self-guided and docent-guided tours are available. Afterwards, be sure to check out the Hudson River Skywalk, the pedestrian-friendly bridge that spans the river and is just minutes from Cole’s front door.
Groovy colors, psychedelic swirls, and symbols of peace? No, you haven’t time traveled back to the sixties but the sculptures on this art trail may give you flashbacks to Woodstock! To commemorate the festival’s fiftieth anniversary (in 2019), dozens of dove sculptures were permanently mounted in towns and villages throughout the Catskills. Because they were hand-painted by local artists, each dove is unique and based on their own inspiration from the 1969 festival. You might encounter one at an antique store in Mongaup Valley, a town park in Swan Lake, or a Livingston Manor brewery. Or, for a more intentional experience, download a Dove Trail Map and see them all!
Music and Film
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Credit: @bethelwoodscenter on Instagram
The 1960s were pivotal in shaping American culture, so it’s fitting that the decade concluded with Woodstock, likely the most famous music and arts festival of all time. The site of the four-day Bethel festival is now on the National Historic Register and open to the public. Visitors can stand in the footprint of the stage where Jimi Hendrix gave a performance that went down in history. Or attend a present-day concert at the Pavilion, an amphitheater with space for 16,000 fans. Don’t miss the Museum at Bethel Woods, where you can follow the timeline of Woodstock and the decade that led up to it.
The names say it all: Classic Film Series, Saturday Creature Features, Sunday Silents. Whichever film genre you’re passionate about, Rosendale Theatre’s got you covered! In business for more than 75 years, the theater also shows first-run and independent films, documentaries, westerns, and many more. Keep an eye on the schedule for special events, including live theater, concerts, and educational programming.
Watch your favorite flicks, from classics to new releases to cult favorites, in Art Deco style at the oldest continually operating movie theater in Sullivan County. Built in 1948, The Callicoon Theater is one of only a handful of Quonset Hut-style cinemas remaining in the country. The half-domed, prefabricated constructions became popular in the wake of World War II, but most have ceased operating in the years since.
Credit: @hiwaydriveinny on Instagram
Drive-in movie theaters are a slice of Americana. This holds true for Hi-Way Drive-In in Coxsackie, which was established in 1951 when drive-ins were approaching their peak popularity. Embrace the nostalgia—or experience it for the first time—on one of four movie screens where the cost of entrance will get you a double-feature. Don’t forget to stop at the snack bar for the traditional movie fare of popcorn, Snow Kones, and candy!
Photo: Grant Taylor Courtesy of Ulster County Tourism
Music manager Albert Grossman represented such titans as Dylan, Joplin, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. He established Bearsville Recording Studio to support his musicians and later, Bearsville Theater, to give the artists a stage to perform on. Grossman died in 1986 but Woodstock’s Bearsville Theater remains a stop on the concert circuit for many artists. Musicians from around the world play in its intimate auditorium which, from its inception, has always delivered incomparable acoustics to blissful audiences.
The Midnight Ramble was conceived when Levon Helm, former singer and drummer for The Band, held a “rent party” when his Woodstock home was facing foreclosure. It was so profitable that it became a recurring event. Helm formed a band that included his daughter Amy, and they played on Saturday nights at his home to audiences of up to 200 people. Helm’s home and studio continue to host live music ranging from rock to blues to rockabilly. And those rent parties are now Helm Family Midnight Rambles, a tradition that Amy Helm has kept alive to honor Levon, who died in 2012, through music.
Events and Festivals
Jam out to live rock, country, blues and more on scenic Belleayre Mountain in Highmount. The annual event takes place over two weekends in October, so expect to be surrounded by the blazing colors of autumn in the Catskills. In addition to live music, there’ll be craft vendors, food, gondola rides, and fun for the whole family!
Credit: Dion Ogust/Woodstock Film Festival
Five October days of watching artistic, independent, thought-provoking films with people who live and breathe movies may sound like sheer fantasy, but rest assured it’s all possible at the annual Woodstock Film Festival! To round things out are live music performances, panel discussions, and Q&As with filmmakers following their films. You may find yourself a little starstruck, too. Ethan Hawke, Keanu Reeves, and Ang Lee are among past festival participants. Events take place at venues in and around Woodstock, Saugerties, and Rosendale.
Attend for a single day or secure a campsite for the duration of the July festival. Either way, you’ll be in awe by the sheer talent on the grounds of bucolic Walsh Farm in Oak Hill, a hamlet located about 35 miles north of Woodstock. The five-day festival is filled with acclaimed acts playing bluegrass, newgrass, and roots music. Music and dance workshops, yoga, meditation, a songwriting lab, and more add to the event.
Not that we didn’t already know it, but the passion for art in the Empire State is immense! This is proven by the exponential growth of Upstate Art Weekend. What began with 23 participants in 2020, the event’s inaugural year, has grown to include close to 150 galleries, museums, and other arts organizations spread across ten counties in the Catskills and Hudson Valley. The venues feature a broad range of exhibits and creative projects, some made especially for UPAW. Depending on the route you map out, you can wander through private studios, intimate galleries, historic farmhouses, community art spaces, and more.
View works by local artists and marvel at the astonishing Hudson River views all at the same time at this September event. The Skywalk Arts Festival takes place on the grounds of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, which spans the river to connect Catskill and Hudson. The festival is just a short distance from the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill. Plan to wander around, take in the views, and listen to live music. You can also take home a memento of the day—and support local artists—by purchasing works that catch your eye.
The hamlet of Treadwell is tiny but their love of art is vast. In addition to the Treadwell Museum of Fine Art and the Bright Hill Literary Center, many artists have homes and studios here. For one July weekend, the public is invited to tour these homes and studios, as well as galleries, community art centers, and the local library. On display are works by more than 40 area artists spread across several locations in Delaware County. The tour is free and self-guided. To get oriented, participants often begin at the Bright Hill Literary Center. Their “Spotlight Show” displays a collection of art created solely by artists who are part of the festival.
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