2023

Artist in Residence: Larissa Velez-Jackson / Yackez

December 2023

Larissa Velez-Jackson (LVJ) (they/she pronouns) is a choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, performer and teacher who uses improvisation as a main tool for research and creation, focusing on the movement, vocal sound and stories of our bodies. LVJ employs humor to grant audiences warm access to contemporary art's critical discourse, being called “an adroit physical comedian” who “seems to be questioning entrenched conventions of contemporary performance” in The New York Times. In 2011, LVJ launched a song-and-dance collaboration with their husband, Jon Velez-Jackson, called Yackez, “The World's Most Lovable Musical Duo." Yackez presented a two-act world premiere at New York Live Arts in March 2017, entitled “Give It To You Stage.” For more info on Yackez visit www.yackez.com. 

Small Plates Choreography Festival Newburgh

November 3, 2023 4pm & 7pm

Participating Artists: Alexandra Bilodeau, Jennifer Chin, Clarissa Gregory, Shaena Kate & Gabby Meza, Sofia Forero & Nicolas Fiery, Caitlin Morgan

Small Plates Choreography Festival was created in 2012 by Beth McKee Elliott with the intention to create meaningful performance opportunities for choreographers and dancers, and to cultivate a zoetic interface between movement artists and their audiences. Small Plates is dedicated to creating a growth environment for artists by producing curated showcase-style performances in several cities each year, and by facilitating guided dialogue between the audience and the choreographers after each performance. The festival provides a venue for the presentation of short dance works to a shared audience, building community through performance, dialogue, and professional networking. Small Plates Choreography Festival returns to Newburgh in Fall 2023 with small format performances from dance makers hailing from 5 states in the Northeast.

Newburgh OPEN Studios: Inflection Point

September 30 - October 1, 2023, 7pm

Arts in the Park!

June - July 2023

Participating Artists: Ahmad Cohen, David Lionheart, Mary Jane Ward, Melody Africa, The Trio SuWaSA (Christopher Dean Sullivan, Mala Waldron, Bobby Sanabria),

Arts in the Park! is a series of free public arts events conceived by local and visiting artists held at Downing Park in Newburgh, NY during Summer 2023. Arts in the Park! aims to expand the park's public offerings, bring unique and playful experiences to park visitors and the broader community, inspire and grow appreciation for this park's historical beauty, revitalization, and stewardship of this shared space by one and all.

Arts in the Park! events are FREE for everyone.

In 2023, Arts in the Park! was made possible through generous support from individual donors and through a partnership with the Downing Park Planning Committee.

2022

Possibilities of Dialogue

Thursday, August 18th at 7:30pm

Possibilities of Dialogue is an exchange of energy and awareness between Marielis Garcia, David Norsworthy, and an audience. Inspired by the parallels between making a dance and having a conversation, the performance is an emergent, collaborative creative process; moments of listening, curiosity, disagreement and spontaneity unfold through movement and text. Garcia and Norsworthy practice courage, compassion and communication; facilitating a shared experience while holding space for individuality.

The performance involves two dancers, blue painter’s tape and becomes increasingly participatory for the audience as it progresses.

Throughout the journey, Garcia and Norsworthy endeavor to push the limits of their physicality, challenge their mental capacities for tracking and memory, engage in a responsible relationship with the passing of time, and accept the vulnerability that comes along with unpredictable people and materials.

PoD has been generously supported by the following organizations: Dance Initiative (Carbondale, USA), Kaatsbaan International Dance Centre (Tivoli, USA), ArtsOnSite (New York, USA), Inception to Exhibition (New York, USA), TOES FOR DANCE (Toronto, Canada), DanceWorks (Toronto, Canada) and North York Arts (Toronto, Canada). We are also grateful for funding provided by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Arts in the Park! Pilot Program

May - June 2022

Participating Artists: Christopher Dean Sullivan, Sean Condron, Mario Carrecia, Ahmad Cohen, Nattie Trogdon & Hollis Bartlett, Amery Kessler, Anusha Mehar

Arts in the Park! is a series of free public arts events conceived by local and visiting artists held at Downing Park in Newburgh, NY during the Spring and Summer. Arts in the Park! aims to expand the park's public offerings, bring unique and playful experiences to park visitors and the broader community, inspire and grow appreciation for this park's historical beauty, revitalization, and stewardship of this shared space by one and all.

Arts in the Park! events are FREE for everyone.

In 2022, Arts in the Park! was made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.

Additional funding for this project has been provided by the Awesome Newburgh Foundation

Thank you to the Downing Park Planning Committee, Awesome Newburgh Foundation, Arts Mid-Hudson, and everyone who contributed to making this program come to life in 2022!

Artist in Residence: Amery Kessler

June 2022

For nearly two decades, Amery has centered his artistic practice on the essence of communication and presence within self-awareness and relationships. People are invited to actively participate with/through the artwork or to contemplate the physical and visual forms as a document of previous actions/interactions. For example, the appearance of one continuous symmetrical line is both a map to actively follow and a trace left behind by two people following each other. Amery earned his MFA in Painting from The Ohio State University, and his BFA in Painting from Kent State University. He has since expanded his methods to incorporate the experiential and collaborative qualities of music, dance, video, everyday scenarios and un-arting. He is currently exploring ways for his work to reflect and connect with others through interests and understandings of unconventional relationship structures and nonviolent/compassionate communication skills. https://www.amerykessler.com/

2021

Artist in Residence: POGO Dance Projects

October 2021

POGO Dance Projects was established by Emily Kessler as a container for her endeavors in choreography and collaboration. She utilizes a background in art history as a line of inquiry into the shaping of spatial architecture with movement. Additionally, she is interested in exploring how dance without a direct narrative structure can act as a vehicle for shared experience through performers and audience members alike. In tandem with creatives of other mediums, Kessler works intensely to build perceived worlds that invite curiosity and compassion from viewers. In her work human folly and linear clarity are juxtaposed and explored through shared movement, seeking to carve out connection and community in dance space. Dancers quest to relate with each other and their surroundings, bringing clarity to themes of isolation, division, and emotional strength through abstracted means. https://www.pogodance.com/

Newburgh OPEN Studios: ELKA BONG

Saturday 9/25 & Sunday 2/26

Performances take place at 3pm & 7:30pm

ELKA BONG is Al Margolis and Walter Wright, explorers of unusual, often non-musical sounds, and, whenever possible, include dance and video in their performances. For Newburgh Open Studios, they will be sharing paintings, video, and interdisciplinary performance in collaboration with Ophra Wolf.

Learn more about Elka Bong: https://elkabong2.bandcamp.com/

Learn more about Ophra Wolf: http://ophrawolf.com/