I often tell folks that the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) is far more than they think. Many know us as “that art gallery” in Narrowsburg. Others identify us with the Tusten Theater just up the hill. Some recognize us for Riverfest or the Big Eddy Film Festival, our largest annual productions, or smaller but popular offerings like Art in Sixes and our Salon Series. Few may realize, however, that our reach extends Sullivan County-wide and beyond.

Those few, though, keenly understand and appreciate our dual mission: not just to mount our own exhibits, performances and festivals, but to spur the ability for others to do the same in every community we serve.

Saturday, May 7 was the realization of that latter goal. We provided the funds to the Mamakating Library in Wurtsboro for 14 visual art workshops, to be taught by a teaching artist to elementary school children for free. We gave money to the Callicoon Center Band to continue their incredible history of beloved community concerts. We enabled the Sullivan Public Library Alliance to continue sponsoring the County Poet Laureate Project and to launch a Youth Book Festival. We granted funds to the Delaware Valley Opera to welcome enthusiastic audiences with “The Opera Cowgirls” and “The Gift of the Magi.” We directed monies toward the Delaware Company and the Sullivan County Historical Society to preserve and promote our local history.

In all, we distributed $36,776 in state funds to more than two dozen organizations and individuals, carefully selected for their vision, their tenacity, their demonstrated capabilities and their shared passion with us to bring more art, more history, more culture to Sullivan County. And we’ll shortly be doing so again with county funds.

I’ve been privileged to spend my entire career working with and for organizations with a countywide focus: the Sullivan County Democrat, SUNY Sullivan, Sullivan County government. That’s what attracted me to service with the DVAA, because it’s not just about one community or one mission.

The DVAA really is about all of us. We exist because of and for you. That’s what founders Elaine Giguere and Tom DeGaetani wanted when the DVAA was born nearly five decades ago, and that’s a legacy I’m proud to support. I hope you will too, by coming not just to our events and fundraisers but those of the arts and cultural organizations we support. In doing so, you will learn the DVAA—and this wonderful region—is so much more than you realized.

Dan Hust is the current president of the DVAA. He has served on the board since 2014.

DVAA grant awardees, 2022

Community arts grant recipients:

Bethel Local Development Corporation Bethel Lakeside Music will offer an 11-week summer program and four holiday pop-ups. 

Callicoon Center Band: Annual series of 10 outdoor concerts at the Callicoon Center Bandstand, held at 8 p.m.  Wednesday nights during the months of July and August.

Delaware Company: Year-round living-history activities at Fort Delaware.  

Delaware Valley Opera: Production of “The Opera Cowgirls” and “The Gift of the Magi.”

Frederick A. Cook Society: The first-ever exhibition of Arctic photographs, taken between 1897 and 1909, by Dr. Frederick Cook, on display at the Sullivan County Museum, 265 Main Street, Hurleyville. Also on display is a rare collection of Inuit artifacts.

Greyscale Darkroom and Pro Photo Lab: Supplies and equipment for a workshop series teaching traditional black and white photography. Will also teach and provide access to analog photography. 

Mamakating Library: Fourteen visual art workshops, to be taught by a teaching artist, to elementary-school children. The workshops will be offered free of charge so all children can participate. 

 Phillipsport Community Center: Music Nights at the PCC features established musicians, emerging artists and homegrown talent. It takes place on the third Saturdays of July, August, September and October. 

Rock Hill Business and Community Association: The Rock Hill summer concert series is held every Wednesday evening in July and August at the Rock Hill Farmers’ Market Park. A variety of musical performances is offered.

The Rock Valley Schoolhouse: The Rock Valley Schoolhouse summer events program will provide a series of music and arts events.

Sullivan County Dramatic Workshops: Production of “Wait Until Dark,” plus six theatrical productions at the Rivoli Theatre in South Fallsburg, NY, from May through October 2022. 

Sullivan 180: Will host a Martin Luther King Day of Service for 100 local high school students, based on the MLK speech, “Blueprint for Life.” 

Sullivan Public Library Alliance: Entertainment for the Sullivan County Youth Book Festival, and funding for the Sullivan County Poet Laureate Project. 

Town of Lumberland Cultural Series: The 2022 Town of Lumberland Cultural Series Project will feature two programs: spring and fall concerts.

Tusten Heritage Community Garden: Funding for the Tusten Heritage Community Garden,  an edible-landscape project designed to create a public green space centered on education and community engagement. 

Upper Delaware Musicians Collective: Drive-in, outdoor live music featuring regional local artists. Music is broadcast via FM radio transmitter to attendees’ vehicles. The collective serves towns  in the Upper Delaware/Sullivan County region.

Wurtsboro Arts Alliance: Workshops and artist demonstrations, by professional artists and members of the alliance, will be presented in the John Neilson Gallery of the Wurtsboro Arts Alliance. 

Individual artist fellowship recipients:

Chelsea Harlan (Literary): Create writing workshops through the Livingston Manor Public Library, and have people participate in a silent walk through the Bashakill. At a “poet’s picnic,” participants can share what they found.

 Laurie McFadden (Visual): Will hold a talk about her quilts in the context of the modern quilting movement.

 Anie Stanley (Literary): Will present a series of eight vignette poems to accompany a photographic collaboration with photographer and filmmaker, Marianna Rothen, who also resides and works in Sullivan County. 

Amy Yoes (Visual): Will build a sculpture at her workshop in Narrowsburg. The work is for a site-specific installation in a complex, colorful environment. 

For more information, visit https://delawarevalleyartsall iance.org/event/arts-for-sullivan-2022-award-ceremony.