For something completely different, there’s a song in my heart. Well, maybe not in my heart, per se, but certainly on my mind. As always, the tune is inspired by where I’ve been and what I’ve seen as I careen from town to town in search of artistic fulfillment in and around the Upper Delaware River region. Today’s musical selection: “Putting it Together” from “Sunday in the Park with George.”

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1985, the show was written by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, and was inspired by the painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat. According to the experts at Music Theatre International, the show “explores the life of Seurat as he creates his masterpiece, intertwining themes of art, love and the passage of time.”

Although I was unable to make the opening reception of the latest exhibit at the Narrowsburg Union, That Dog Named Gidget and I popped in a few days ago to check it out. Taking in an exhibition at any one of the fantastic galleries dotting the landscape on both sides of the river is always on my to-do list, and each venue has a unique charm—but TBH, the Union holds a special place in my heart (oy, again with the heart!) for several reasons. 

The Union’s website informs me that the place is “located in the downtown business district of a quaint Delaware River hamlet,” and that “the historic 30,000-square-foot building has been redeveloped as a mixed use commercial building.” Those “mixed uses” include a kitchen and café, a welcome center, conference rooms, event spaces and the subject at hand: an art gallery. 

As I perused the newest installation, which showcases the works of five artists, adorning the walls of five halls, the aforementioned Sondheim song came to mind.

Bit by bit, putting it together
Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art
Every moment makes a contribution
Every little detail plays a part
Having just a vision’s no solution

That is certainly what counts at the Narrowsburg Union, and the latest installation, as curated by Brandi Merolla, is (IMHO) as inspiring as a Stephen Sondheim musical. 

One of the things I love about exhibits at the Union is the space itself. The hallway galleries, each named after a feathered friend of the Upper Delaware, are colorful and well lit, and are spacious enough for us to appreciate the artwork. The cool, retro feel of the halls is clearly delineated to showcase individual artists and their work, which more often than not, is based on a common theme. 

Kathy Grady’s “Study Hall,” dotting the walls of the Hawk Gallery, is described as “a collection of small, playful textile studies” that Grady suggests might inspire future larger works. “I hope you have fun looking at the pieces” she notes, “and draw inspiration for your own studies in your chosen medium.” 

I don’t think I have a “chosen medium” since I can’t even draw a straight line, but Charles Hadley Blanchard certainly does, as evidenced by his work, titled “Threads,” on view in the Eagle Gallery. 

His wall hangings are large and complex. “Each thread is slightly different than the one before,” Blanchard’s program notes explain, “and all of the work is referred to as “woven in a heavy weft-faced twill.” I can’t even begin to unravel the artist’s explanation of his process, which involves words like “warp,” “picks” and “throwing,” but it’s easy enough for even me to grasp that his “designs are of my own personal self-expression.” Impressive, to say the least.

If you’re wondering what Sondheim would say, I got you covered. 

Art isn’t easy
Every minor detail
Is a major decision
Have to keep things in scale
Have to hold to your vision

I’m sure that “atmospheric landscape painter” Eileen Curtis Israel would agree, since she shares that she’s interested in “not just what she sees, but in what she feels,” and that notion is easy to relate to when viewing her collection, titled “Horizons,” which is hanging in the Owl Gallery. 

Paintings like Israel’s “After the Rain,” “Morning Light” and “On the Delaware” are dreamy, misty, thought-provoking glimpses of scenes that Israel captures in a lovely, soft-focused way that absolutely conjure up feelings of what she sees and then shares with the viewer through her lovely artistry.

Rounding out the impressive exhibit are George Peterson’s “Two Views” and Brad Georgi’s “Fleeting Moments in Time,” hanging in the Woodpecker and Hummingbird Galleries, respectively. Curator Merolla translated Georgi’s pieces quite literally, as there are photographs of actual hummingbirds in his collection, and it just so happens that the tiny creatures terrify me, whether they’re “adorably” flitting about, or attacking each other in classic territorial style. Either way, they unnerve me, and as a result of my unique brand of neurosis, I spent less time perusing Georgi’s pieces. I’m sure they’re fantastic… Sorry, Brad. 

Opposite the scary little birds of prey (with me as the perceived victim) is a collection of George Peterson’s paintings, which didn’t frighten me at all. In fact, they evoke a shared love of nature, in both “representational and abstract work.” 

Both are “inspired by the same influences,” Peterson informs us in the program: “a beautiful sunset, a fallen tree or anything in between.” I’m more of a representational fan than one of the abstract, but that’s one of the many things to love about art, which as they say, is “subjective.” 

What would Sondheim say? 

The art of making art
is putting it together
Bit by bit
Part by part
Fit by fit
Start by start, stride by stride
Kick by kick, glide by glide
Schtick by schtick, side by side by side by side by side by side.
And that is the state of the art.

The group show runs through June 28. For more, visit www.narrowsburgunion.com. 

Fun Fact: “Sunday in the Park with George” premiered on July 6, 1983, at Playwrights Horizons in New York City and opened on Broadway in 1984.