Category: Exploring Historic Ulster County NY

The Senate House 296 Fair Street Kingston, NY 12401

The Senate House

296 Fair Street

Kingston, NY 12401

(845) 338-2786

http://www.palisadeparksconservancy.org

Open: Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm/Wednesday-Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm (April 15-October 31). Open by Appointment only (November 1-April 14)

Fee: Adults $4.00/Seniors (62+) $3.00/Children under 12 and under Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48003-d3225491-Reviews-Senate_House_State_Historic_Site-Kingston_Catskill_Region_New_York.html

The recently reopened Senate House in 2023

I recently spent my afternoon at the Senate House and Museum in Kingston, NY taking a tour of the museum and the House next door. The Senate House itself had just finished its renovation and the gardens were in full bloom in 2023. It was a quiet afternoon, and I was the only patron for most of the afternoon. The grounds were full of beautiful foliage and flowers, so it was nice to walk around the grounds.

The Senate House story board

The Senate House had just reopened in 2023 after almost a four year renovation and because of the closure during COVID. The grounds are very pretty and well-landscaped and the outside has had a lot done to the gardens. The house was built for merchant Abraham Van Gaasbeek and his family. It stayed in the family for generations.

The Senate House at 296 Fair Street

We were able to tour the inside of the house and see the renovations that the State of New York made on this important structure. The home has been renovated by the state but the tour guide told us not with the historical integrity it should have had. It was not to the total interpretation of the life in the house. Still, it told the story about the people that lived there.

The Senate House Kitchen

Here you see the beehive oven, the working fireplace and many household items including waffle makers, cookie molds and candle making tools. The daily household tasks would be time consuming.

The Dining Space

The bedroom

In the original part of the house, the dining space and bedroom would be in a one room section of the home and as the family got larger, the house was added on to on both sides.

The Parlor

The Parlor was the fanciest room in the house with the best furnishings, decorations and a place of social interactions with guests. This rooms was for adult use at that time.

The Meeting Room for the leaders in change.

This was the room where plans by the patriots were made that changed the course of New York and the rest of the country. Now that the Senate House home is open again, you get a feel for what these people must have went through in developing the country during the Revolutionary War years.

When I visited the Senate House at the holidays for the “Snowflake Festival”, it was still closed for renovation but the grounds were open for touring, music and for a visit with Santa. It was a magical night on the grounds of the historical site and people had a nice time that evening. The grounds and the other buildings were decked out for the holidays.

The Senate House decked out for the Christmas holidays at the “Kingston Snowflake Festival” in 2022

The Senate House property decorated for the Kingston Snowflake Festival in 2022

Santa’s visit at the Senate House property in 2022

The history of the Kingston Stockade section of the city.

The main part of the park is the Senate House Museum, which is broken into three sections. The right side of the museum is the history of the City of Kingston and the matching artifacts. There is a description of manufacturing, merchant class and its military prominence. Here I learned about the growth of Kingston and its founding, its strategic spot on the Hudson River in the early colony, its role as diplomats to the Native Americans, which was not so pleasant and its growth after the war.

The first floor exhibitions on early life in Kingston

The history of the City of Kingston is described with the Native American settlements and the trade with the Dutch, the unsettling relationships that the two groups had with each other, the War years, the growth of industry and trade in early New York and manufacturing in the area.

The Native American exhibition

Early manufacturing and life in Kingston

The Artist’s sign

The Vanderlyn Exhibition of artist John Vanderlyn’s art

Artist John Vanderlyn’s works are featured on this part of the museum.

The left side of the museum is dedicated to the locally born artist, John Vanderlyn. His paintings line the walls of the museum of the artist at different stages of his career. His work was ahead of its time for the area, and it was noted in the collection that he forced himself to commission portraits to survive. His works advanced for the time because of his studying abroad now line the walls of the best museums in the country.

The exhibition of John Vanderlyn’s portraits

Artist John Vanderlyn’s bio in the museum

Members of the extended Vanderlyn family portraits

The second floor holds the furniture that is not historically correct with the Senate House and comes from different time periods. There is furniture, beds and chairs, spinning wheels, chamber pots and all sorts of accessories for the home and their uses in everyday life. Vintage furnishings with explanations on their use are a big part of the exhibit.

Artifacts from the past are displayed here

The everyday items used to spin material and create clothing

The Loughran House next door houses more of the furniture of the house and has a new exhibition “Back to the Future: The Evolution of Senate House”. This houses artifacts from the house.

The Senate House property during the “Kingston Snowflake Festival” in 2022

The Senate House property during Christmas 2024

The Senate House property during Christmas 2024

History of the Senate House:

(From Wiki/Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation pamphlet)

Amidst the turmoil of a British military invasion in the fall of 1777, the elected representations of rebellious New Yorkers met in Kingston to form a new state government. While convened in Kingston in September and October, New York’s first Senate met in the simple stone house of merchant Abraham Van Gaasbeek.

Here they adopted a system comprising of a senate, assembly, governor and judiciary that still exists today. Every one of the assembled delegates risked his life and property by being so openly disloyal to the Crown. Indeed, all were forced to flee for their lives when the British attacked and burned Kingston on October 16th.

While convened in Kingston in September and October, New York’s first Senate met in the simple stone house of Abraham Van Gaasbeek, a prosperous merchant trader who had suffered financial losses as a result of the war and personal losses in the recent deaths of his wife, Sara, his daughter and infant granddaughter. It was Sara’s grandfather, Wessel Ten Broeck, who built the original section of the house in 1676.

At first called Wiltwyck, Kingston was the third “city” established in the Dutch Colony of New Netherland. Planned and developed by the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1656, the town was renamed Kingston after the colony was seized by the English in 1664.

Wessel Ten Broeck’s one room Dutch style house was enlarged by succeeding owners in the 18th century. Each change reflected the increasing fortunes of the Ten Broeck/Van Gaasbeek family and demonstrated a gradual acceptance of English styles and customs over the persistent influence of the early Dutch. Kingston at the time of the American Revolution was still a noticeably “Dutch” town and most of its citizens supported the American cause. British Major General John Vaughan justified his destruction of the city because it was a “nursery for almost every villain in the country.”

In 1887, to recognize Senate House’s role in the formation of New York State, New York State acquired the property, which quickly became a vital community museum. A two-story Museum Building was constructed in 1927 to house and display the site’s burgeoning collection. Among its treasures are: major works by John Vanderlyn and other members of the Vanderlyn family of Kingston. The museum also includes the site’s popular new exhibit: “Kingston Stockage: New Netherlands’ Third City,” discussing Kingston’s early history.

(New York State Park History)

The Kingston Stockade: The City’s formation from the beginning

Dia: Beacon 3 Beekman Street Beacon, NY 12508

Dia: Beacon

3 Beekman Street

Beacon, NY 12508

(845) 440-0100

https://www.diaart.org/visit/visit/diabeacon-beacon-united-states

https://www.diaart.org/visit/visit

Open: Sunday & Monday 11:00am-6:00pm/ Closed Tuesday & Wednesday/Thursday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm

Fee: General Admission $20.00/Seniors $18.00/Students $12.00/Children 11-5 $5.00/Free to Children under 12

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g47291-d273538-Reviews-Dia_Beacon-Beacon_New_York.html?m=19905

The front of the Dia: Beacon

I visited the Dia: Beacon in Beacon, NY many times and I have to say that is an interesting space to display art and the pieces themselves make a statement. The museum is sited on thirty-one acres on the banks of the Hudson River and is adjacent to ninety acres of riverfront parkland. The museum is located in a former printing plant built in 1929 by Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) (Wiki). The space square footage gives the museum the opportunity to display larger statement pieces of well known artists.

The history of the Dia: Beacon:

(from the museum website)

The Dia: Beacon presents Dia Art Foundation’s collection of art from the 1960’s to the present as well as special exhibitions, performances and public programs. The Dia invited artist Robert Irwin to conceive the master plan for a twenty-century museum that retained the original character of the factory’s interior spaces, Irwin also designed seasonally changing garden throughout the surrounding landscape. Following the renovation, the Dia: Beacon was added to the National Register of Historic Places (Dia: Beacon Museum).

Dia Art Foundation:

(from the museum website)

Founded in 1974, Dia Art Foundation is committed to advancing, realizing and preserving the vision of artists. In addition to Dia: Beacon, Dia maintains a constellation of iconic, permanent artworks and installations in New York City, the American West and Germany (Dia Museum).

Each of the galleries are devoted one artist’s work and these galleries make their own statements. There is also a really nice bookstore and gift shop on the extension of the museum and small restaurant.

It is nice to just walk around in your own time and visit each of the galleries. Plan about two hours to see the whole museum. It is an interesting place to see contemporary art in a gallery that is devoted to one artist at a time. The outside grounds of the museum and the parking lot makes it own statement. There is not much parking so plan on getting there early or later in the afternoon.

The museum has clean lines and big halls and a minimalist landscaping

The one thing about the Dia is that the works are quite large and pack a bold statement. The museum uses a combination of both American and Foreign artists and their works make a bold statement. The museums galleries are large and airy and can show larger works of art. The museum shows many of the artists largest pieces of work.

The inside of the Dia: Beacon’s large galleries

These larger pieces were interactive

Inside the museum, many contemporary artists are featured each season. Many of their larger works were featured in their galleries. While the shows rotate collections of many artists, these were the pieces that stood out to me on my visits to the museum over the years.

The Artists I most admired and their works that most stood out to me:

Artist Louise Bourgeois has displayed some interesting sculptures that dominate the upper floors. One of the most fascinating pieces was that of a large spider that dominates the corner of the floor.

This Louise Bourgeois work is a rather creepy piece of art like something out of the movie “It”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois

https://diaart.org/collection/collection/bourgeois-louise-crouching-spider-2003-l-2007-012

In Bourgeois’s works on view in these galleries, organic formations fuse with the inorganic materiality of the media in which they are rendered, be it marble, wood, or bronze. The artist’s repertoire of materials spans traditional media and new textures, such as latex and synthetic resin. In her work, representation often entails the creation of a surrogate for the body and its suffering organs (Dia: Beacon museum website).

Artist Dan Flavin has some interesting light sculptures on display along the walls and floors of the gallery. Things are made of long fluorescent lights of various colors.

Artist Dan Flavin’s light sculptures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Flavin

After 1963 Flavin’s work was composed almost entirely of light, in the form of commercially available fluorescent tubes in ten colors (blue, green, pink, red, yellow, ultraviolet, and four whites) and five shapes (one circular and four straight fixtures of different lengths). Initially arranging these fixtures in varying autonomous configurations, Flavin increasingly made work in relation to architecture, such as his monumental barriers that physically block a passageway or segment of a space with light (The Dia: Beacon museum website).

In the main gallery as you walk in are the large geometric shapes of artist Charlotte Posenenske who created these pieces in various colors and shapes. These pieces line the floors and walls.

The geometric shapes of Artist Charlotte Posenenske

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Posenenske

https://www.diaart.org/exhibition/exhibitions-projects/charlotte-posenenske-exhibition

Embracing reductive geometry, repetition, and industrial fabrication, she developed a form of mass-produced sculptural Minimalism that addressed the pressing socioeconomic concerns of the decade by circumventing the art market and rejecting established formal and cultural hierarchies. Posenenske employed playful conceptual devices to oppose compositional hierarchy and invite the collaborative engagement of the public in the continual reconfiguration of her variable sculptures (The Dia: Beacon website).

Artist Andy Warhol has one of his largest works displayed in the main gallery on the first floor.

The artist Andy Warhol gallery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol

The large Andy Warhol piece

What I loved about the work by Warhol was the continuous colorful pattern of the work and the way it wrapped around the room. The pattern took form in many colors and showed consistency and balance.

A single painting in multiple parts, Shadows is one of Warhol’s most abstract works, yet one that cohesively synthesizes key elements of his practice, including film, painting, photography, and screen-printing. Originally commissioned by Dia and acquired in 1979 for a solo exhibition at 393 West Broadway in New York, Shadows includes a total of 102 canvases; the final number of canvases on view in each installation is determined by the dimensions of an existing exhibition space (The Dia: Beacon museum website).

Artist Senga Nengudi Gallery

https://www.sengasenga.com/

American artist Senga Nengudi had a some interesting works on display, one resembling melted ‘freeze pops’, which I thought was rather clever. Her large works took liquid forms and were colorful and spontaneous. These large works had lots of color and looked whimsical and fun.

One of Artist Senga Nengudi works

I thought this was a large ‘freeze pop’

One of her non-liquid works

Made of everyday materials such as vinyl, water, nylon, sand, dry-cleaning bags, lint, paper, and tape, Nengudi’s installations are at once proxies for bodies and sites for performance. The works accommodate a variety of cultural references from African, Japanese, and South Asian rites to Western avant-garde art. Characteristic of her openness to multiplicity, the artist, born Sue Ellen Irons, has assumed pseudonyms that inflect her creative identities as sculptor (Senga Nengudi), painter (Harriet Chin), photographer (Propecia Leigh), and writer (Lily Bea Moor) (The Dia: Beacon museum website).

Some of the other works that I liked as I walked around the museum:

Displayed on the first floor of the Dia: Beacon

Another interesting work on the first floor

The large galleries and open air space give patrons a chance to walk around the works and really get a feel for what the artists are trying to express. You really get to see the art up close and that is why I like the way they display their art. We can engage with each piece and develop our own meaning from it.

The grounds and the proximity to the river gives the museum a picturesque spot. It is nice to walk around the lawn on a warm day and enjoy the paths around the museum. The museum also has a very interesting gift shop featuring many books and gifts. The small restaurant can be pricey but offers a place for a light lunch or a quick snack.

Historic Huguenot Street 81 Huguenot Street New Paltz, NY 12561

Historic Huguenot Street

81 Huguenot Street

New Paltz, NY 12561

(845) 255-1889

http://www.huguenotstreet.org

info@huguenotstreet.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48245-d288641-Reviews-Historic_Huguenot_Street-New_Paltz_New_York.html?m=19905

Plan your visit:

For current information on guided tours, group tour reservations, school groups, special events or accessibility, call (845) 255-1660 or visit http://www.huguenotstreet.org.

The history of Slavery in the area

App:

Our free Walking Tour mobile app features histories of the houses on the street with archival photos as well as photos of the house interiors and the collection pieces within. Mobile users can download the app on both the App Store and Google Play.

The entrance to the site

The historic sign at the entrance

History of the site:

At our 10 acre National Historic Landmark District, visitors experience more than 300 years of history through the lens of a French Huguenot community as it evolved over time. Guided tours begin with an introduction to the pre-colonial Munsee Esopus landscape dating back 7000 years and the religion, culture and architecture of New Paltz’s earliest European settlers and enslaved Africans. The experience continues as guests visit fully furnished houses reflecting unique human narratives and changing tastes across the Colonial and Federal periods, through the Gilded Age and into the early 20th century.

(Promotional Materials)

I visited Historic Huguenot Street one afternoon after visiting here about five years earlier during the holidays. The houses are easy to tour and the street is blocked so that you can walk amongst the houses. There are tours every half hour when the site is open. Here you can tour inside the houses instead of just the grounds. On a nice day, it is interesting to look over the architecture of the homes.

Make sure that you take time to look at the historical cemetery by the church at the end of the block. Some of the original settlers are buried here. It is also nice to tour around the Waykill River.

Take the extra time to visit the gift shop and see the information video on the site and look over the literature of the site.

The area has a pretty interesting history.

The map of the site

History of the Huguenot Street Historic District:

The site is owned and operated by Historic Huguenot Street (HHS), which was founded in 1894. In 1899, Historic Huguenot Street purchased the Jean Hasbrouck House as the first house museum on the street. In the 1950’s and 60’s, the organization and related family associations purchased most of the remaining stone houses in the district and subsequently opened them as museums. These acquisitions were funded in large part by descendants of the original Huguenot founders. Their family associations play a key role in supporting the institution today.

The Individual Houses:

Bevier-Elting House:

Dating to the early 18th century, the house was originally a one room building built with the narrow or gable end facing the street-then the prevailing style of the low countries of Northern Europe. Two expansions were built later as was a small cellar that was used to house African slaves. The house was built by the Beiver family, one of the founding families and subsequently sold to the Dutch Elting family.

The Historic Marker

Abraham Hasbrouck House:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/hasbrouck

Abraham Hasbrouck House

The Abraham Hasbrouck House

The Hasbrouck House at Christmas

The structure as the Abraham Hasbrouck House was built in three phases in the 1720’s and 30’s. The first of the house-the center room-was constructed in 1721 by Daniel Hasbrouck, the son of Abraham Hasbrouck the patentee. The date 1721 is based on recent dendrochronology, which is a process by which wooden structural members are dated. This house represents a New World innovation in Dutch-style architecture. The initial houses in the Dutch region of New York, such as New Amsterdam, Albany and Kingston were built in the tradition of Dutch cities with the gable-ends to the street, which conserves street frontage. The basic structure of the house consists of a series of H-bents which spread the weight of the house across the entire expanse. The original one room house exhibited several defining elements of Dutch architecture, the jambless fireplace being the principal and most recognized feature in the house. Recently re-opened to the public in July 2012 following a restoration and reinterpretation focusing on the life of Widow Wyntje.

The Abraham Hasbrouck House Historic Marker

Jean Hasbrouck House:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Hasbrouck_House

Jean Hasbrouck House

The Jean Hasbrouck House

The Jean Hasbrouck House at Christmas time

Also built in 1721 by Jean’s son Jacob (and perhaps incorporating elements of an early home built by New Paltz founder Jean Hasbrouck), this home is an excellent example of Hudson Valley Dutch architecture and the showpiece of Historic Huguenot Street. A National Historic Landmark in its own right, it boasts the only remaining original jambless fireplace of any of the Huguenot Street houses and is one of the few surviving examples in what was formerly the New Netherland.

In 2006, the north wall of the house was carefully dismantled, repaired and reconstructed. Reproduction Dutch-style casement windows were installed. Interior restoration followed, resulting in a house that is an excellent example of how a comfortable family in the region lived in the mid-18th century.

Jean Hasbrouck House Historic Marker

DuBois Fort:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/visitor-information

The DuBois House/Fort

The DuBois House at Christmas time

Built circa 1705 for the DuBois family, it might have served as a fortified place for the small community if needed. Originally a smaller 1 1/2 story structure, this building was expanded to its current size in the late 1830’s. Some historians and antiquarians believe that the presence of “gun ports” made it a fort but there is no evidence of the presence of any such portholes before the 19th century. The DuBois Fort currently serves as the orientation center and gift shop as well as a location for special events. Guest can purchase their admission tickets and memberships at this building. Over the last 300 years, it has also been used as a residence and a restaurant.

The DuBois House historic marker

Freer House:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/freer

https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~sfreer/huguenot.html

The Freer House

The Freer House at Christmas time

The Freer House is one of the six 18th century stone houses owned by Historic Huguenot Street. It was altered in various points in its approximately 250 years of occupancy with its most recent major alterations occurring in 1943 when it was purchased by Rev. John Wright Follette, a direct descendant of it s original builder, Hugo Freer. Over the years, the interior was modernized into a 20th century idea of a colonial home. This structure is not currently open to the public.

The Freer House Historic Marker

Deyo House:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/deyo

https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/elting/id/375

The Deyo House

The original portion of the house was built around 1720 by Patentee Pierre Deyo. It began as a one room house was subsequently expanded to two rooms and ultimately to three when a stone addition was added off the rear by Pierre’s grandson Abraham. Circumstances for this house changed dramatically when at the height of the Colonial Revival movement, two descendants of Pierre Deyo, Abraham and Gertrude Brodhead, inherited the house.

The Deyo House at Christmas

Wanting to live on the street of their ancestors but also wanted a modern, gracious home that reflected their affluence, the Brodheads partially dismantled the original stone house and build a grand Queen Anne home around it in 1894. They also significantly changed their surrounding property in essence changing a small village farm into a handsomely appointed and landscaped mini estate.

The house passed out of Deyo family ownership in 1915. It was a private home until 1971, when it was purchased by the Deyo-Family Association and donated in order to be opened to be opened to the public as a house museum. The home was most recently restored in 2003 and features circa 1915 interiors.

The patentee Pierre Deyo died in 1700, so couldn’t have built the house in 1720 as stated. Per the plaque mounted outside the house it was built in 1692.

The Deyo House Historic marker

Crispell Memorial French Church:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/crispell

Since the community’s founding, there have been four sanctuaries built on what is today called Huguenot Street. The French-speaking Protestants who settled in New Paltz built their first church in 1683-a simple log building. This was replaced in 1717 with a straightforward, square stone building that reflected the permanence of the settlement. This existing building in the burying ground is a highly conjectural reconstructed of the 1717 building near its original location.

The Historic Walloon Church

As the New Paltz community increased in size throughout the 18th century, a larger church became necessary. A second stone church was built down the street in 1772. When it became too small, it was demolished and replaced by a third church built in 1839. This church survives today and is home to an active Reformed congregation.

The Church and the graveyard

The reconstructed church is named in honor of Antoine Crispell, one of the twelve founders or patentees of New Paltz and a direct ancestor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was built as the result of a fundraising campaign led by the Crispell Family Association. The Crispell Family Foundation opted to create this reconstruction church in their ancestor’s honor. It was completed in 1972.

The 1717 church was designed to reflect Reform thinking; the pulpit was placed in a central location and the pews were placed so that everyone could see and hear more equally. This expressed the concept that each person had a direct relationship with God, rather than one mediated through a church hierarchy.

LeFevre House:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/lefevre

https://www.townofnewpaltz.org/historic-preservation-commission/news/the-josiah-p-lefevre-house-generations-of-history

Built int 1799 by Ezekiel Elting, a prosperous merchant who was born in the Bevier-Elting House, this stone and brick building is quite different from the earlier stone houses on Huguenot Street. Its Georgian-style architecture reflects the transition of New Paltz from a French and Dutch settlement to an Anglo-American community and increasing refinement in architecture in this period as settlements matured. The house shows the changes in architectural style from the early 18th century. This house reflects the several changes in the society and home life of New Paltz in the early 19th century.

The Elting-LeFevre Historic Marker

Deyo Hall:

https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2014/12/09/dateline-deyo-hall-history/20146611/

https://www.facebook.com/deyohall/

Deyo Hall

Formerly a glass factory, Deyo Hall is the site of event and meeting facilities and public restrooms. Collections storage is housed in this building.

The New Paltz Historic Market

Roosa House Library and Archives:

https://mapcarta.com/W304906815

Located in the Roosa House, the Library and Archives at Historic Huguenot Street is a research facility devoted primarily to the history and genealogy of the Huguenot and Dutch settlers of the Hudson Valley. It also functions as a general repository for local history, regardless of ethnicity or religious persuasion. The collections consist of family genealogies, church, cemetery and bible records, wills and deeds, census records, genealogical periodicals, county histories and publications relating to Huguenot ancestry. Genealogists, local historians and other interested parties can access the collections by appointment. The colorful paint replicates the original colors of the house in 1891.

Native American presence on Huguenot Street:

Historians and archaeologist have learned more about the continuing relations between the Esopus, the original inhabitants of the area and the Huguenots. Some results of research can be found at the HHS site at “Relations between the Huguenots of New Paltz, NY and the Esopus Indians (http://www.huguenotstreet.org/library_archives/exhibits_research/Indian_affairs.html). The “Before Hudson” exhibit, currently on view at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center, shows some of the highlights of archaeological excavation in our area with artifacts dating back 6,000-8,000 years ago.

Indian Wigwam

Christmas at Historic Huguenot Street:

https://www.huguenotstreet.org/holiday

(This information from the homes is from Wiki

The Presbyterian Church during the Christmas season

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art State University of New York at New Paltz 1 Hawk Drive New Paltz, NY 12561

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

State University of New York at New Paltz

1 Hawk Drive

New Paltz, NY 12561

(845) 257-3844

http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum

Open: Wednesday-Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm/Closed on Monday & Tuesday

Fee: Suggested fee is $5.00

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48245-d10130343-Reviews-Samuel_Dorsky_Museum_of_Art-New_Paltz_New_York.html?m=19905

The Arts Center at SUNY New Paltz in New Paltz, NY

The Samuel Dorsky Museum on the SUNY Campus

The entrance to the museum

The entrance to the Dorsky Museum

I visited the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz, NY in 2019 and found it to be an interesting little museum that covers a lot of fields of art from ancient art to paintings and photography. The current exhibitions include “Just my Type: Angela Dufresne” and “In Celebration: A Recent Gift from the Photography Collections of Marcuse Pfeifer”. There is also a exhibition of a local institution “Mohonk Mountain House at 150”, which is on the history and progression of the development of the Mohonk Mountain House Hotel.

The Angela Dufresne exhibition was created by the artist of people who are the artist’s friends, family and of her community which are colorful and somewhat exaggerated views of people and their expressions. These giant colorful paintings had different expressions on their faces where you can only guess what the sitters were thinking.

The Angela Dufresne Exhibition

The photo collection of former gallery owner Marcuse Pfeifer, who has now relocated to the Hudson River Valley addresses the 19th and 20th Century that explore celebrity, location and life in the City. It has some interesting looks of life at a different time as well the expression of the subjects.

I went to the museum recently to see both the “Collecting Local: Twelve years of the Hudson Valley Artists Annual Purchase Awards” and “Jan Sawka: The Place of Memory” which were both interesting exhibitions both extended because of the campus being closed for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Collecting Local: Twelve Year’s of the Hudson Valley Artists” exhibition

The nice thing about the Dorsky Museum is its dedication to the Hudson River artist. “Collecting Local” is an exhibition that highlights the accomplishments and collections of the current artists from the Hudson Valley region and showcases their interpretations of art. It is nice to see not just local artists shine but what is being shown at the local galleries around the area.

Jan Sawka is a Polish born artist who was exiled from the county and settled into the Hudson River Valley with his family. His works were taken from the context of being a stranger in a new country.

Jan Sawka’s painting dedicated to his mother in law

Jan Sawka’s painting from his time living in Asbury Park, NJ

The museum offers also objects from the permanent collection and showing the areas in which the museum has collected in the past and currently. There is anything from a Warhol photo to ancient Chinese and Japanese statuary.

The Museum’s permanent collection

The collections rotate every season. The museum was closed when the college was closed during COVID from 2020-2021. It reopened when the campus fully opened in 2022. I finally got back to the museum in 2025 and saw the show “Movement” featuring New York City and State artists.

The exhibit ‘Movement’

The galley for the exhibition for ‘Movement’

This year’s theme, “Movement,” prompts viewers to consider the profound impact of physical journeys, both personal and collective. Reflecting on what compels people to leave their homes, the exhibition examines migration as a transformative force that shapes communities, melds cultures, and redefines societal landscapes. Through various mediums, including painting, sculpture, video and mixed media, selected artists explore themes of resilience, change and the legacies of movement that resonate across generations (from the Dorsky website).

I picked out the three pieces that really stood out in the show to share with everyone.

The Self Portrait

The artists of the Self Portraits

“The Dinner Guests” by Aaron Hauck

I loved the colorful look of guests at a dinner party.

The ‘Witnesses’

“Witnesses” was the one piece that stood out to me in the show. I loved the playfulness of the painting and that it looked whimsical and fun. It looked like something you would see in “Alice in Wonderland”.

The gallery for ‘Movement’

The exhibition ‘Landmines’

Coinciding with the bicentennial of the earliest existing landscape photographs, the founding of the Hudson River School, and a concentrated period in which Native people from New York were forcibly relocated to Wisconsin, Landmines presents camera-based work by artists who explore the role landscape plays in burying or exhuming social history (from the Dorsky Museum website).

The exhibition ‘Landmines’

The permanent collection

‘The Living Collection’ in the permanent collection

This new display of the Museum’s collection tells the story of The Dorsky from a variety of perspectives, making space for traditionally marginalized voices. Exhibiting collection highlights and audience favorites alongside new acquisitions and commissions, A Living Collection presents the collection as a living entity, continuously evolving and shaped by the viewer’s interpretation (from the Dorsky Museum website).

The entrance to ‘A Living Collection’

The gallery for ‘A-Living Collection’

A Living Collection:

The ‘A Living Collection’ Gallery

The ‘A Living Collection’ gallery

‘Shaky’s Meadow’ by Beverly Paterson

A video on the art:

A clip of the art display

The full gallery on display at the Dorsky Museum

The museum does a lot in a small area and does a nice job promoting up and coming artists. It also does a lot for its in-house artists especially when I attended the opening of the Student Show for the BFA/MFA art students in December 2025.

The BFA/MFA Thesis Exhibition/fall.25 Show:

https://www.newpaltz.edu/fpa/art/events/bfa-mfa/

The Opening of the Student Show

As it got darker, I made my way to the SUNY campus and to the art museum. It really was a good show with a nice reception and interesting art. While the students were devouring the food at reception, I had the whole gallery to myself to look at the art. I have to admit that some of the art was quite unusual. The students did have a streak of creativity to them.

The Dorsky Museum Gallery

Some of the unique pieces

Once the students devoured the Reception buffet, everyone came in to see the exhibition

This is the one piece that really stuck with me at the show

Some of the pieces were rather unusual

The unique student works

The students got very creative on the material

The back room of the gallery

The patrons admiring one of the student works

Some of the works of the undergraduate students

Some of the unusual works in the show

More works by the student artists

The gallery at the museum is rather small do I got through the whole show in less than an hour. I had a quick snack with what was left on the buffet table, which was not much. The food was really good and a snared the final meatball.

Just enough of a snack to get through the next two hours

It was a nice opening for the show and my first on the campus. It just happened to fall at the same time I was attending the Snowflake Festival in Kingston on the same night so I was able to do both. I was glad I could support their students.

History of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art:

Mission of the Museum:

(from the museum website)

Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs. The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art supports and enriches the academic programs at the university presents a broad range of national and international art for study and enjoyment and serves as a center for the arts and culture of the Hudson Valley.

About the Museum:

(from the museum website)

Located at the State University of New York at New Paltz. The Dorsky Museum comprises more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries. The museum was launched more than 65 years ago by a dedicated committee of faculty members to enhance the teaching mission of the university. Originally known as the College Art Gallery, The Dorsky Museum was dedicated in 2001. The opening of The Dorsky Museum transformed the original College Art Gallery into one of the leading art museums in the region.

The Dorsky Museum’s permanent collection comprises more than 5,500 works of art from around the world and spans over a 4,000 year time period. While encyclopedic in nature, areas of focus include American art, with an emphasis on the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountain region, 19th century American prints, photography and contemporary metals. The museum also has a strong World Collection that includes outstanding examples of both two and three-dimensional objects from diverse cultures, dating from classical to modern times.

The museum’s temporary exhibition program has been hailed as one of the best in the region and features exhibitions, installations and projects by internationally recognized artists as well as annual thematic exhibitions of work by regional artists. “The Hudson Valley Masters Series” is one of the unique exhibitions that the museum periodically hosts which focuses specifically on a body of work by an internationally acclaimed artist who resides in the area.

A painting by Angela Dufresne

Samuel Dorsky:

(from the museum website):

Samuel Dorsky was a self made and self realized individual who came to the art world relatively late after achieving success in the garment business. Emerging from the Great Depression, World War II and the post war boom years with the desire and the where withal to pursue both art and philanthropic, he opened a art gallery in 1963. Until his death in 1994, his gallery presented hundreds of exhibitions featuring such well-known artists as Henry Moor, about whom Dorsky was a recognized authority, Richard Hunt, Willem De Kooing, Larry Rivers and Robert Rauschenberg. Sam also generously championed the work of numerous lesser-known artists who he often befriended. The Dorsky gallery closed its doors to the public in 2001 after which Sam’s children, David, Noah, Karen and Sara established the Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs (DGCP) in Long Island City, a not for profit organization dedicated to promoting contemporary visual arts.

The dedication of the Dorsky Museum brought to fruition a project that had dominated the last decade of Sam Dorsky’s life. Sam’s lead gift to the SUNY New Paltz Foundation provided the impetus for the construction of the new museum building as well as the complete renovation of the former College Art Gallery to become part of the museum. The Dorsky Museum now comprises six galleries, offices and a small teaching space.

The Dorsky family continues to be a major supporter of The Dorsky Museum and SUNY New Paltz. David, Karen and Noah Dorsky serve on the Advisory Board of The Dorsky Museum. Karen and Noah also serve as trustees of the SUNY New Paltz Foundation.

(SUNY New Paltz History)

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