The Beat

Saratoga Springs,, NY (November 20, 2020) — Kids, parents, grandparents, friends, and relatives near and far are invited to take part in Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery’s first online Make-a-Turkey-Out-of-a-Potato Festival!

The Tang tradition, now in its 18^th year, aims to inspire intergenerational creativity for the holidays. For the first time, it is all happening online at http://tang.skidmore.edu.

Tours Highlight Historic and Cultural Sites in “South of Union Square”

Interactive Online Tool Created to Raise Awareness of Urgent Need for Landmarking Protections to Preserve Historic Building

New York, New York—Village Preservation today announced the launch of “Virtual Village,” an interactive online tool that offers free, guided walking tours of the many historic and cultural riches hidden in the “South of Union Square” area, where Greenwich Village meets the East Village, in order highlight the need to preserve these historic sites by granting them landmarking protections.

Virtual Village has nearly 40 tours that invite users to explore the South of Union Square area, which roughly encompasses Third to Fifth Avenues between 9th and 14th Streets, with its unique concentration of rich New York and American history that includes a mashup of commerce, art, architecture, politics, literature, industry, African-American and LGBQT activism, and music, from punk to classical. 

Buffalo, NY - The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens announced that their annual Poinsettia and Railway Exhibit will run November 27 through January 3.  They also announced that their annual Santa’s Workshop event will take place December 11 through 12 and a Buy One, Get One Admission (BOGO) Day will round out the fun on December 28 to celebrate the holiday season.   

The whole family will enjoy the Botanical Gardens’ annual holiday tradition, the Poinsettia and Railway Exhibit.  This stunning exhibit includes over 1,000 beautiful poinsettias, holiday decorations and some playful surprises.  Poinsettias are native to Mexico and are often found in tropical forests.

Skaneateles, N.Y. -- There will be music in the streets (piped in via speakers), gaily decorated storefronts—but alas, no live Dickens Christmas in Skaneateles. In this daunting age of COVID, Dickens, Scrooge and their fellow merrymakers will be depicted in the village by their cutout surrogates, while the real characters continue to entertain us from a safe distance online. 

“It is with great love and much contemplation that, due to the great plague that is upon us, we have chosen the safety of the community over all else,” says Jim Greene, who plays Charles Dickens. “We are thrilled to be able to share our joyous holiday fun with you, all and every one of you, through the magic of Instagram and Facebook.” …

Lake Placid, N.Y. – Just to make sure everyone was paying attention, Mother Nature reminded us last week that winter is upon us in Upstate New York. A 10-inch snowfall got us thinking that skiing, boarding, skating, hockey and the rest are closer than we think in the Adirondack Mountains.

Whiteface Mountain, just 10 miles from the Mirror Lake Inn, is poised for a Thanksgiving opening, weather permitting. The Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa in Lake Placid is ready as well. Last season, the AAA Four Diamond property debuted a new onsite ski shop manned by Olympic silver and bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht, and his brother, Ethan, a former college ski racer. The concept resonated well with guests, so this year, not only will the service be repeated, but the inn has added a brand-new fleet of top of the line premium ski rentals from Head.

Lake Placid, NY - Lake Placid invites you to keep holiday spirits high this December by continuing a holiday tradition. The 11th annual Holiday Village Stroll is scheduled for December 11-13, 2020. 

The Holiday Village Stroll will take a different shape this year, with virtual events, a scavenger hunt, and lots of shopping. All plans will follow the recommended health guidelines including social distancing and wearing face masks, while still making sure to offer plenty of festive cheer. …

Buffalo, NY - The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is introducing a brand-new series of exhibits, Gardens After Dark. Offered at different times throughout the year, this new experience was created to open the Botanical Gardens in the evening for all to enjoy.    

Each Gardens After Dark exhibit will focus on the Botanical Gardens’ mission of connecting people to the natural world literally in a new way and in a new light. The Botanical Gardens will be filled with colorful and soft lighting to enhance and showcase their mesmerizing plant collection and the beautiful historic landmark that surrounds.  Each exhibit in the series will bring a new way to experience the amazing Botanical Gardens and provide feelings of inspiration, peace and calmness during these unprecedented times. …

Poughkeepsie, NY– Dutchess Tourism, Inc. (DTI) is proud to announce that the Discover Dutchess Destination Guide has been awarded a Platinum MarCom Award and a Silver Davey Award.

MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals. Well respected industry-wide, the Awards are administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). In the past, only about 15 percent of entries have earned Platinum awards, a level the Association deems a tremendous achievement.

The annual International Davey Awards honors the achievements of the "Creative Davids," who derive their strength from big ideas rather than big budgets. The Davey Awards is the leading awards competition specifically for smaller entities as they compete with their peers to win the recognition they deserve. The Daveys are judged and overseen by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA).

Ellicottville, NY -- Holiday Valley Resort has announced plans to construct a new chairlift in 2021. The new lift is a state of the art high speed detachable quad chairlift that will replace the fixed grip Yodeler Quad, built in 2001. The new lift will be supplied by Doppelmayr USA, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Including installation, the cost of the new Yodeler High Speed Quad is $4 million. 

As compared to the existing lift, the chairs travel uphill at a much faster rate, but they detach from the cable and go slower for loading and unloading, making it much easier for skiers to get on and off the lift. Holiday Valley currently has 3 other detachable chairlifts; Mardi Gras, Tannenbaum and Morning Star.

Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Design presented by the American Alliance of Museums

Rochester, N.Y., November 16, 2020—The George Eastman Museum was recently awarded the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize in the 29th annual Museum Publications Design Competition, presented by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This “Best in Show” honor was given to the museum for its David Levinthal: War, Myth, Desire (2019) publication. This four-volume box set accompanied an exhibition of the same title at the museum in 2018 and features essays by well‑known art critic Dave Hickey, contemporary art specialist Joanna Marsh, and exhibition curator Lisa Hostetler, Curator in Charge, Department of Photography, George Eastman Museum.