The new home of the Dutchess Firefighting Museum at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
I recently visited the Dutchess County Fair in August of 2024 and discovered that they finally built the new Firefighting Museum of Dutchess County in the Century Village complex of the fairgrounds. This will only be open when the fairgrounds are open. It replaced the tent display that had been part of the fair since 2022.
The old tent museum that was a temporary display
The Firefighting Museum of Dutchess County (Dutchess County Firefighting Museum) is finally open and houses all the memorabilia and artifacts for fire companies all over Dutchess County. I met fire fighters from companies all over Dutchess County who are dedicated in showing the history of their departments and of fire fighting over the years. The museum had just opened in August 2024 so all the displays have not been mounted yet. They should be ready for future events at the fairgrounds.
The firefighting equipment of the museum visited by many firefighters from the area and their families
The Dutchess County Fairgrounds Management had proposed to build them a new building on the Fair Grounds with the stipulation that it remain open when the fair grounds are being used and closed when they are not being used. It will be part of the Century Museum Village & Collectors Association to include a reproduction of a late 19th Century firehouse and museum of firefighting memorabilia.
Firefighting artifacts at the front of the museum
The Parade Celebration cart with uniform for parades.
Firefighting artifacts at the new museum
The antique firehouse will join the Pleasant Valley Railroad Station, the Mount Ross Schoolhouse, the Washington Hollow Fair Judging Gazebo and the Century Museum.
Dutchess County Firefighters Museum logo
The new museum has an interesting combination of equipment, medals, horns and firefighting objects from the 1800 and 1900’s. It really is an interesting way to see how firefighting from the past relates to today and how much really has not changed. There were three different pieces of equipment on display: an old Ladder Truck from the 1890’s, a pumper from 1902 and an old hose bed that must have been around 1896.
The Pine Plains FD Ladder Truck
The old pumper on display
The handheld hose bed
There were old fire horns used long before traditional fire whistles and modern pagers, firefighting ribbons and awards, old buckets and hoses for moving water and lots of pictures of old fires. The members were explaining to me that they take the objects out at all sorts of town and county functions to promote the museum.
Old Fire Medallions from the old fire insurance days when these were placed on the houses
The roll call of fire fighting in Poughkeepsie, NY
The Gamewell Fire Alarm System
History of the Dutchess County Firefighting Museum:
(from the museum pamphlet)
The Dutchess County Agricultural Society Inc. (DCAS) and the Century Museum Village & Collectors Association will be growing The Antique Village, located on the Dutchess County Fairgrounds which will include a reproduction of a late 19th Century Firehouse and museum of Firefighting memorabilia.
Firehouse artifacts in the museum
The Antique Firehouse will join the Pleasant Valley Railroad Station, the Mt. Ross Schoolhouse, Washington Hollow Fair Judging Gazebo and the Century Museum.
This grouping of special buildings on the Fairgrounds has been dedicated to preserving life in the late 1800’s in Dutchess County and sharing it with the over 500,000 visitors to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds over the course of the year.
The awards of the fire service from the old museum that will be displayed at the new museum soon
The Firehouse Project Research and artifact collection is underway, and the Fairgrounds is committed to adding to Dutchess County’s Fire Service history.
The project cost is $300,000 and was raised from funds all over Dutchess County, NY. This year’s fair the association was proud to open this museum as part of the Century Village on the fairgrounds.
The history of the Dutchess County Fire Service on video.
Special Firefighting “Coins” have been minted commemorating different fire stations, historic Dutchess County firefighting events and the dream of the Antique Fire Station and Museum. You can be a part of this exciting project by purchasing coins or making a tax-deductible donation.
The fire truck in front of the museum at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
Disclaimer: This information is taken directly from the Antique Firehouse & Firefighting Museum of the Dutchess County Fair Grounds, and I give them full credit for it. The above picture is of the original proposed design for the museum and will be changed once the new building is built.
The new museum will house many more exhibitions in the future
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”.
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.
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
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.
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).
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 