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What’s happening

This week’s newspaper is filled with information that is vital for anyone who calls eastern Dutchess County home. Our reporters have been out on the scene writing up accounts of meetings, reporting on projects that are planned in coming days and those that are farther out. They also have been attending events that the residents have enjoyed in these last few weeks of summer, and writing about them. Our reporters tell the stories in words and pictures that fill our pages every week. It is the living history of our villages and towns.

We also realize, too, that we live in a world in which the average person checks their phone every 12 minutes. The result of all of our personalized searches can be that we become interested in a certain set of things. Getting a reader’s attention has to be worth their time. We strive to make the newspaper worth your time and we’re committed to the belief that it’s vital for residents of the village, the town of North East and the surrounding towns to know about the happenings in their backyards.

Last Thursday, the Eddie Collins Memorial Park Revitalization Committee presented plans for phase two of Millerton’s community park. (See story here.) Phase one was completed in 2022. The next phase, which includes plans for a swimming pool that was favored by residents in a 2016 survey, has a scheduled completion date of 2025. The timing of the project depends on the work on a planned sewer system that will extend to the park.

Both these projects — phase two of the park and the village wastewater project — are on the front burner of civic interest. They will determine much about the quality of life in the community. This summer the Webutuck Little League returned to play on the field at the park. At last Thursday’s meeting, the attendees listened as the speakers discussed the pool plans, and the air was filled with the attending sounds of basketball players on the new Eddie Collins courts and children in the refurbished playground.

Plans are afoot to bring a Dollar General store to Millerton that would include a produce section and parking for 40 cars. It would be located just east of the Talk of the Town Deli on Route 44. That would be big news for a town without a grocery store.

News can come in small bites, too. A stretch of sidewalk on Maple Avenue is slated for construction. A summer concert series wraps up in Amenia.  Pine Plains volunteers build a new trail on Stissing Mountain from Thompson Pond to the fire tower.  These are just a few of the stories in this week’s edition. Our reporters are on the lookout for what’s happening, what’s coming and writing about it for our readers.

Latest News

The art of getting into art school

The art of getting into art school

Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day returns to Poughkeepsie.

Provided

For a young artist considering college, the question isn’t simply whether the work is good enough. It’s which work to show, which school might be the right fit and even whether a creative life can lead to a sustainable career.

On Friday, Oct. 16, hundreds of aspiring artists will have the opportunity to explore those questions at Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day, presented by The Art Effect at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie.

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A colorful life together at Atelier Valla

Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.

L. Tomaino
I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.
— Justine Valla

Husband and wife Victor and Justine Valla share a lavender and pink studio, Atelier Valla, across the driveway from their pink house, nestled into a hillside in Salisbury. The colors, said Justine, “were inspired by Monet’s house at Giverny.”

Creating art has been a lifelong pursuit for both.

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David Ruchman’s “Acquired Taste”

Filmmaker David Ruchman

Bleacher and Everard Photography

In a region known for its vibrant but geographically scattered arts community, discovering something new can require a little effort. The same might be said for finding a new place for an extraordinary meal. While the Northwest Corner, Berkshires and Hudson Valley have no shortage of creative talent, opportunities to experience it — whether on a stage, in a gallery or on a plate — aren’t always just around the corner.

In David Ruchman’s short film “Acquired Taste,” that challenge becomes the premise for an unlikely friendship between Nick, an aspiring young food critic living in an area with limited dining options, and a gruff New York City master chef.

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Follow the Clay Way for ceramic delights

Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.

Provided

As the leaves across Litchfield and Dutchess counties rush to make it to the ground, your last chance to peep autumn is fast approaching. On Oct.17 and 18, the 10th annual Clay Way offers peepers a route to follow lined with unique art that rivals the area’s natural beauty.

The two-day event is a ceramics-focused open studio tour through northwestern Connecticut, with a few studios peppered in just over the border in Dutchess County. Featuring nine open studios and 25 participating artists, the tour promises a wide variety of work, from decorative objects to grand vessels and a whole world in between.

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A new home for the unexpected at Kent Fine Art

CAMERON (1922-1995) is on view at Kent Fine Art in Pine Plains through Nov. 14.

Provided

Where can one find the work of an artist associated with occult rituals, surrealist visions and the underground California art scene? In a beautifully renovated former carriage house in Pine Plains, of course.

Unexpected discoveries are, after all, part of what Doug Walla has spent his career making possible. The longtime New York City art dealer and founder of Kent Fine Art, has brought the work of Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel, known simply as Cameron, to his new gallery space. The exhibition, on view through Nov. 14, introduces visitors to an artist whose life and work moved between mysticism, poetry, film and the avant-garde.

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Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.