Piermont Preps For Festival of Hudson Valley Arts On Saturday

PIERMONT, NY — Looking around at their village, with its mix of galleries, restaurants, and waterfront, its famous music spot The Turning Point, its working-class history and its increasingly popular events including the film festival and Oktoberfest, a group of Piermont residents had an idea.

Well, two, really.

The first was to hold a Festival of Hudson Valley Arts, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. The second was to form the Arts Council of Piermont.

"It's always been my dream that we would celebrate not just the galleries we have in town — we still have five — but also all the musicians, artists, poets who live and have lived here," Kate Buggein, resident and photographer, explained to Patch.

The festival is June 10.

"What’s been so great to observe - we have a 16-person event committee," she said. "That doesn’t happen in a typical chamber event. But because we have so many people living in this town who are passionate about the arts, we have 16 people on the committee. Everyone’s taking different elements of the to-do plan."

And that means it will have something for everyone.

The event will feature Meet the Artists receptions at all the village's renowned galleries, Art in the Park exhibitions of regional artists and unique hand-craft artisans, the Piermont Film Festival, live music, poetry and spoken word performances, and a host of interactive experiences for adults and children.

Well-known artists will be featured alongside up-and-comers, so that attendees can meet and appreciate the full life cycle of creativity.

Highlights:

• Flywheel Park will feature on-stage live music spanning multiple genres, poetry, book readings, special performing artists, as well as art exhibits and artisan sales featuring artists of the Hudson Valley region, along with various live demonstrations.
• Piermont Film Festival will host films, Americana and folk music at two village sites: The Turning Point and Bunbury’s Coffee Shop. The film festival is in its 4th year.
• World Class Galleries' Open Houses - “Meet the Artists" fine art exhibits and receptions with celebratory pricing at Happy Dog Gallery, La Reine Boutique & Gallery, Outside In Gallery, Piermont Fine Arts Gallery and Piermont Flywheel Gallery.
• "Plein Air in Paradise" - Insider artist's tour of local sites led by landscape painter Dan Lukens www.danlukensart.com. Access will be provided to one of Paradise Avenue’s most iconic privately owned sites to paint, sketch or photograph.
• Official greetings and toast, 3 p.m. at Piermont Flywheel Gallery

Buggein hopes for a good turnout.

"When you look at Octoberfest and Bastille Day, we attract thousand and thousands of people," she said. "I want to be here celebrating the 25th annual and I hope that by then it’s so large we’ll have to arrange shuttle parking! That’s my dream."

A longtime Rockland County resident, she said she "had the good fortune" to live in Piermont for the last seven.

"Piermont is a truly unique place along the Hudson because its origins are all about commerce from the 17 and 1800s," Buggein said. "This spot along the Hudson was all about making money. It’s a mill town. The ethos here is all about hard work, authentic.

"Over the last decades as this factory town became a town that also had boutiques, restaurants and art galleries, it began to attract artists of all kinds," she said. "The proximity to Manhattan is one reason, but also the authenticity that comes from this being an old factory town."

She's involved in getting the festival and the council going for two reasons.

"The arts are what connect us as humans. It is the most beautiful expression of our humanity, and in this time of divisiveness I and the committee wanted to create an event that truly was breaking down barriers and that everyone could appreciate.

"The second is I’m a businesswoman, that’s why I did time as Chamber president," she said. "The arts create stickiness in the business community. When someone sees art galleries or a music event at the Turning Point they’re also stopping in at our restaurants for dinner. We want to give people reasons to spend more time in Piermont, more than just going for a walk on the pier."