Roslyn Fassett will be exhibiting works from “Beyond the Fabric”, a series of oil paintings based on African textile decoration in the lobby of the Newburgh Free Library from Jan. 8 – 29. The patterns cover the images of women beneath, almost as a veil. “It is a question about what do we really see?” said Fassett.

In addition, she will present a free lecture on the “Mysteries of African Textiles” at the Newburgh Library on Tues., Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Her talk explores the techniques, patterns and designs of traditional African textiles. Fabrics from Ghana, Mali and Nigeria will be discussed. If they have any African fabrics to share, attendees are asked to bring them to the lecture.

Roslyn Fassett, who lives in Pine Island, studied art at Cooper Union and the Brooklyn Museum. She did graduate studies in Non-Western art at CCNY and has taught art history at Suny Purchase and New Paltz. Her interest has enticed her to Mali and Nigeria. To register for the lecture, call 563-3600 or go to www,newburghlibrary.org and click on “Calendar of Events.” The Newburgh Free Library is open Mon.- Thurs., 9 – 9; Fri. and Sat., 9 – 5 and Sun. 1 – 5.

Joe Franklin, known as “the king of nostalgia,” will visit the Neversink Valley Area Museum, in Cuddebackville, N.Y. for a live taping of the talk show, Exploring Your World on August 22, 2009. The legendary Franklin hosted televisions’ very first talk show, The Joe Franklin Show. The show began in 1951 on WJZ-TV (later WABC-TV) and moved to WWOR-TV until 1999, becoming the longest running talk show in the history of television with one host, which put Joe in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Franklin’s long running Memory Lane radio program focused on the nostalgia of old time entertainers. Franklin currently interviews celebrities for the Bloomberg Radio Network. Franklin has written 23 books including his 1995 autobiography Up Late with Joe Franklin. Throughout his career he has interviewed some of the worlds’ greatest talents such as; Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

The Neversink Valley Area Museum’s current exhibit, The Star is Born: A History of the Movie Star in America, tells the story of such stars from the first, Florence Lawrence, to the latest stars. Most of the important early film companies worked in Cuddebackville including the Biograph Company, Thanhouser, and Pathe Freres. Early stars of the silver screen such as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Mabel Normand, and Mack Sennett filmed in Cuddebackville and director D.W. Griffith’s first ever use of a fade-out also occurred there.

Seth Goldman, director of the museum’s Institute for Early Film Studies and Whendy Lou, host and co-producer of Exploring Your World, will have an exclusive interview with Franklin discussing his encyclopedic knowledge of legendary entertainers and silent films.

The live taping of the show is open to the public and will begin at 4:00pm at the D & H Canal Park Visitors’ Center, 58 Hoag Road, Cuddebackville, NY. The show will air on August 19, 2009, on Time Warner Cable, channel 23, Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm, in Middletown and the surrounding areas. For details or directions call the museum at 845-754-8870 or Whendy Lou at 845 863 5548.

The beautiful Mary Pickford, 1920

Pickford acted in nearly 250 films from 1909 to 1933, produced 34 films, wrote 12 screenplays and was one of the founders of United Artists. Seth Goldman, director of the Institute for Early Film Studies will give a brief talk about Pickford and introduce each of the several films being shown.

Ben Model has served as resident silent film accompanist for The Museum of Modern Art in New York City for over two decades, has played in many other venues around the Northeastern U.S., and produces The Silent Clowns Film Series with film historian Bruce Lawton.

Ben composes and improvises all his own scores, and performs in a style that is both evocative of the silent era and also aware of a contemporary (and younger) audience’s awareness of music and film scoring. In the spring of 2006, Ben co-organized MoMA’s two-month retrospective of the films of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and in the fall of 2008 he co-taught a silent film class at MoMA, Cruel and Unusual Comedy: Social Commentary in the American Slapstick Film.

Ben has accompanied silent movies for noted film historian William K. Everson’s classes at NYU while attending film school there, and learned the craft and technique of silent film scoring from legendary silent film organist Lee Erwin. Ben has also made the silent film experience portable, by teaming up with fellow film historian Bruce Lawton. Together, Bruce and Ben have brought their projectors, films, music and knowledge to schools, universities libraries, museums, and churches all over the Northeastern U.S.

This very special event is part of the museum’s series honoring women pioneers in early film and was program was made possible by grants from the Orange County Historian’s Office, several museum members and The New York Council for the Humanities, a national affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

It will be held at the D & H Canal Park Visitor’s Center, 58 Hoag Road, (just off Route 209) Cuddebackville, NY. Admission is $5.00. The Neversink Valley Area Museum is open Thursday through Sunday from noon until 4:00pm through October 28 and by appointment.

For more information about the museum, its mission to preserve local history or any events, call 754-8870 or check the website: <http://www.neversinkmuseum.org/> www.neversinkmuseum.org.

Friday, June 26th
8:00pm
Admission is $5.00

D & H Canal Park Visitor’s Center
58 Hoag Road, (just off Route 209)
Cuddebackville, NY.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny, presented by Peter Osborne

Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 3 PM

Port Java
19 Front St
Port Jervis, NY

Cost: Free

Sponsored by: Port Jervis Council for the Arts, Port Java, Pienpack Company

Oderman met Gish as a teenager, after a MoMA screening of Broken Blossoms  and their friendship lasted until the end of her live four decades later.  Oderman is the author of numerous books on films including Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Lillian Gish a Life on Stage and Screen.  Oderman is also accompanies silent films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  He has been profiled in  a number of magazines including the New York Times.

Lillian Gish had one of the longest careers in film history. From 1912 through 1987, she appeared in more than 100 films, directed, wrote and took on many other tasks in the film making profession.

Come and hear Oderman read from his biography of Gish, then play piano to accompany several of her early films, as the Museum pays tribute to this legend.

Friday May 22, 2009
7:30pm

D & H Canal Park Visitor’s Center
58 Hoag Road, (just off Route 209)
Cuddebackville, NY.

Admission is $5.00.

The Neversink Valley Area Museum is open Thursday through Sunday from noon until 4:00pm through October 28 and by appointment.

Tate has been very aggressive in their online presence, with about a dozen different podcasts covering everything from the Turner prizes to raw canvas art.  Search for Tate in iTunes to see the list.

Many other museums also have podcasts worth looking for.  Museumpods is a great resource for searching museum podcasts around the world and across almost every genre.  Well worth it for any artist and art lover…

Subscribe to Tate’s talk and discussion podcast through itune here (this will launch itunes on your computer once you click on it).

Ed Sanders is nothing short of legendary. An American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher, Ed has been on the forefront of the cultural revolution, and often referred to as a bridge between the beatniks and the hippie movements.  These days, he invests his time in Woodstock, publishing the Woodstock Journal.

Ed Sanders has been enlisted to help start another great venture – The Poets Sunday Supper.  Aiming to be the most important gathering point of poets in Orange County, the Poets Sunday Supper boasts workshops, lectures, readings and publishing opportunties, all centered at Baby Grand Books in Warwick.

The Poets’ Sunday Supper

A Keynote Address and Poetry Reading by renowned and legendary poet Ed Sanders
Pre-Dinner Hors d’ Oeuvres and a Buffet Supper Featuring Live Music with a Jazz Pianist on the Baby Grand

Sunday, April 26th
4-6 pm

Baby Grand Books, 7 West St, Warwick, NY
845 – 986 6165
info@babygrandbooks.com

Ticket price: $20 Advanced purchase required

The first person to interview Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding (for Photoplay) after their wedding, covering Grace Kelly’s wedding to Prince Ranier wedding for NBC, and having interviewed Gene Kelly, and Sophia Loren, Ms. Sakol brings an up-close-and-personal historical view to her subject. One of her many quirky moments – when Ms. Sakol arrived on the set of The Pride and the Passion (1957) to interview Loren in Avila, Spain, she was conscripted as an extra in the film, playing a peasant boy (she was too tall to fit the girls’ costumes). Ms. Sakol has worked with Nat “King” Cole and Burl Ives, and authored or co-authored books on Elvis, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Britain’s Royal Family and the Kennedys. She has written many novels and countless articles as well.

This talk, as are all of the NVAM’s lectures, will be held at the D & H Canal Park Visitor’s Center, 58 Hoag Road, (just off Route 209) Cuddebackville, NY. The Neversink Valley Area Museum is open Thursday through Sunday from noon until 4:00pm through October 28 and by appointment.

For more information about the museum, its mission to preserve local history or any events, call 754-8870 or check the website. The museum is at 26 Hoag Road, in Cuddebackville.

Seating is limited; early registration suggested.

Booker’s strong design sense and monumental assemblages can be traced to traditional African motifs, fabric, and fiber arts, as well as timely concerns of sustainability and recycling.

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More on Chakaia Booker

“As a highly regarded artist and arts educator, in 2002 Ms. Booker was awarded a Pollock-Krasner grant, honoring artistic achievement. Her work, included in the collections of the Bronx Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Newark Museum, and The Studio Museum of Harlem, among others, has been featured in museums, galleries, and sculpture gardens across the country, as well as the Netherlands and Japan.“  – from Storm King Arts Center’s web site