Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Art celebrated in all its forms at school district’s Art Fair

PINE PLAINS — Stissing Mountain High School invited students and their families to step into a world bursting with artistic creativity and explore the Pine Plains Central School District’s (PPCSD) Art Fair on Wednesday, May 18.

Originally scheduled for Monday, May 16, the Art Fair was postponed due to stormy weather. With multiple PPCSD staff and student volunteers running the show, the aim was to celebrate all forms of art offered to all grades, including visual arts, performing arts, culinary arts, technology and creative writing.

Designed to be 100% donation-based, all proceeds raised at the Art Fair went to benefit the local Willow Roots Food Pantry, which distributes from 7730 South Main St. (For more information, go to www.willowroots.org or call 518-751-0164.)

Running from 4 to 7 p.m., the Art Show had hands-on art activities and exhibits of artwork created by students. By one stairwell, a group of students gave a live jazz concert while residents donated money to benefit Willow Roots.

All throughout the lobby, student artwork was displayed on tables and walls, capturing a range of art mediums. Starting with the work closest to the main entrance, visitors admired salon walls created by high school students in partnership with The Wassaic Project and Rhode Island painter Kristin Lamb, as well as vivid Rorschach ink blots made from ink and watercolors.

A Butterfly Kingdom of creatures crafted from paper plates, toilet paper rolls and other materials was hung in the middle of the lobby alongside eye-catching paintings of endangered animals made by eighth-graders, grid portraits, meme prints, shadow cloches and other works.

On tables placed in the lobby sat Ag-Day letter sculptures inspired by the work of artist Casey Girard; sculptures of food; wood bas-reliefs; various ceramic works; and paper mache creations.

Many were especially fascinated by student James King’s performance piece, “Human (Homo-Sapien).” From behind a glass display case, King mimicked human behaviors with animal-like intensity as both a critique of human emotion and psyche.

Many were dazzled by the vivid array of artwork on display, from watercolor paintings and mythical wall mounts to notans and avant-garde landscapes.

Some engaged in art activities with art teachers, enjoying wheel throwing with Austin Kadle, laser engraving with James Benicasa and the Paint & Chill with Erin Essery.

With plank paper and plenty of muses to inspire them, students invited fair-goers to have their caricatures drawn.

At the chili and sundae bar, others satisfied their hunger with hot chili donated by Moose on the Loose. Some returned later that evening for homemade ice cream made by Jennifer Blackburn’s culinary class.

Preston Stoner tried a hand at wheel throwing in Austin Kadle’s classroom. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

From left, twins Mason and Lance Miller at the Art Fair, in front of the mythical mounts on display in the hallways of Stissing Mountain High School. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

Preston Stoner tried a hand at wheel throwing in Austin Kadle’s classroom. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle
Kaitlin Lyle

Latest News

The Millerton News - October 1, 2026

The Millerton News - October 1, 2026

Download directly

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, Tallamy will bring that conversation to Windacre in Millerton for “Work in Progress: Toward Native Fields,” an outdoor gathering exploring both the possibilities and the complications of restoring private land for biodiversity.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe at Homelands PowWow in 2025.

Joeseph Plante New Media Storytellers
Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.


For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, the Berkshires are not simply a place to visit. They are ancestral homelands.

Keep ReadingShow less
community
google preferred source

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

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances

Dispatches from the Farm

Dispatches from the Farm

Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

Janna Siller

“Dispatches from the farm” is a new, periodic column offering a firsthand look at the rhythms, challenges and rewards of farming through the eyes of a local farmer.

The thing about plants is that they can’t get up and move. When a storm like last weekend’s nor’easter threatens to roll through, you can’t just round everybody up and settle them safely on the sofa for movie night.

Keep ReadingShow less
dispatches-from-the-farm

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman to perform at Hotchkiss Oct. 4

Cheryl Mazak

The passion, drama and energy of Beethoven will fill Katherine M. Elfers Hall at The Hotchkiss School on Oct. 4, when world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman is joined by pianist Shai Wosner for a special recital.

The 4:30 p.m. program at the Esther Eastman Music Center will feature three of Beethoven’s celebrated violin sonatas: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

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