New artists’ association is born

BARRYVILLE, NY — A group of area artists has formed the Barryville Area Arts Association (BAAA), which held its first member gathering on Sunday, May 28. Fifty-six people attended.

The membership is drawn from the hamlets of Barryville, Eldred, Glen Spey, Highland Lake, Minisink Ford, Pond Eddy, and Yulan, as well as Greeley, Lackawaxen, and Shohola, PA. It reflects a wide range of artistic disciplines, including painting, pottery, sculpture, fiber art, jewelry design, mixed-media, writing, music, film, theatre, dance, architecture, photography and graphic art.

The association has several key missions, the most critical being to create an arts network for members to exchange information and ideas about their creative work, and to develop opportunities for members to promote, show and sell their work locally. The association’s independent structure encourages individual members to develop their own projects and execute them as they wish, either individually or in teams.

BAAA is also looking forward to becoming an important local resource and working closely with other community organizations. The hope is to integrate members’ art into public spaces where appropriate, create an “art” facet to local events, and educate the public about the importance of art and supporting local artists.

Founding member Sally Rowe noted that although there is much creative talent in the area, many artists are out of communication with each other, and many local residents are not aware of the degree to which they live in the midst of an arts enclave. The arts association will address those issues by fostering communication within the artistic community, and between the artists and the general community.

For more information email hillsidestudios@frontiernet.net or call 845/557-3640.