Our trip began in New York City on the morning of September 21, 2005, when we departed for the Storm King Art Center. We stopped there for lunch and a special tour of the large-scale sculptures located in the natural landscape of the Hudson River Valley. Then we made our way to New Paltz where we stayed for two nights at the renowned historic landmark resort, the Mohonk Mountain House.
Our trip began in New York City on the morning of September 21, 2005, when we departed for the Storm King Art Center. We stopped there for lunch and a special tour of the large-scale sculptures located in the natural landscape of the Hudson River Valley. Then we made our way to New Paltz where we stayed for two nights at the renowned historic landmark resort, the Mohonk Mountain House.
SUNY New Paltz, a New York state school, is the home of one of America’s preeminent schools of metalsmithing. Jamie Bennett and Myra Mimlitsch Gray are head of the faculty there and their graduates are reputed to be some of the best in the country. While in town, we visited Jamie and Myra’s studios among others, viewed graduates work, attended a cocktail reception for a specially arranged exhibition of work by prominent alumni and toured the permanent collection of jewelry at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. It was a wonderful opportunity to have time for conversations with artists at the school and in the area.
From New Paltz we went on to charming Hudson, where we visited Ornamentum Gallery and toured the town. Next we were on to Lenox, where we stayed at the Victorian-era Red Lion Inn. In Lenox, we visited Sienna Gallery, where Sondra Sherman discussed her work. We departed on September 24 for New York City via Dia Beacon where we were given a special tour of the spectacular museum collection of contemporary art.
Back in New York, curator Ursula Ilse-Neuman gave us a special tour of the jewelry collection at the Museum of Art and Design. And finally we concluded our wonderful day at Charon Kransen’s for a buffet dinner and a leisurely look at his multiple treasures.
It was a beautiful trip and offered the participants an opportunity to see several of the major, high-profile points of interest to a contemporary jewelry collector. With the stops at Storm King and Dia Beacon comparisons between jewelry and sculpture were natural topics of conversation. Fall in the Hudson River Valley was also amazing.
