Skip to main content

Author: Saratoga TODAY

William R. Jeske

CORINTH — William R. Jeske, 78, passed away at his home on Friday, April 2, 2021. Calling hours were Thursday April 8, 2021 at Burke Funeral Home. Services will be private. Memorial donations may be made to Gainesville Elks Lodge 990, 2424 NW 23rd Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32605. Online remembrances may be made at burkefuneralhome.com

The City In The Country: Saratoga Springs Seeks Your Input for Open Space Plan by April 16

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Railroad Run. Waterfront Park. Pitney Meadows Community Farm. 

Last updated in 2002, the city is inviting community participation in a survey to help update its Open Space Plan. The survey deadline is April 16. 

Originally developed in 1994 and updated in 2002, the Open Space Plan for the City of Saratoga Springs included a set of policy recommendations such as the preservation of wetlands, stream corridors and the development of trail systems aimed at furthering the communities’ vision of the “City in the County.”

Following recommendations from that update, an Open Space bond fund program was created to protect, preserve, enhance, and improve environmentally sensitive, recreational and scenic land. 

{loadmoduleid 268}

By definition, Open Space is targeted as land which is not intensively developed for residential, commercial, industrial or institutional use, and may be publicly or privately owned. What land is defined as open space depends in part on its surroundings. A vacant lot or a small marsh can be open space in a big city. A narrow corridor or pathway for walking or bicycling is open space even though it is surrounded by developed areas. 

Survey results will aid Saratoga Springs in updating the 2002 Open Space Plan and establish open space goals for the next five years. The update will inventory open spaces, identify special areas for protection, and establish priorities and potential funding to guide future acquisition and preservation.

The deadline to complete the survey is April 16, and it may be found on the project website at saratogaspringsopenspaces.com.

All Together Now: Tang Museum, Yaddo, SPAC Team Up for Large Art Collaboration

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Hyde Collection, Ellsworth Kelly Studio, National Museum of Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, Saratoga Arts, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Shaker Museum, and Yaddo have partnered with the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College for a regional collections sharing project called All Together Now.    

The project is supported by a $275,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Each of the All Together Now partner institutions will offer special public visiting hours during the course of the exhibitions, which begins May 1 and continues through the fall.

 All Together Now exhibitions of artwork from the Tang collection at partner institutions: 

•The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls: Summer Bomb Pop: Collections in Dialogue, May 1 through October, brings together sixteen works of contemporary abstract painting from the Tang collection by artists such as Sarah Braman, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Mindy Shapero, and Chuck Webster with several twentieth-century works from The Hyde’s renowned Feibes & Schmitt Collection by artists such as Grace Hartigan, Alfred Jensen, Ellsworth Kelly, Bridget Riley, and Andy Warhol. The exhibition is organized by the Tang in collaboration with Jonathan Canning, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Programming at The Hyde Collection. 

•Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs: Chromatic Scales: Psychedelic Design from the Tang Teaching Museum Collection, June 26 through October, features more than thirty recently acquired 1960s San Francisco psychedelic rock concert posters designed by artists such as Jim Blashfield, Lee Conklin, and Bonnie MacLean, and the Big Five’s Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso. The collection, which will be on view in SPAC’s new “The Pines” facility lobby, features major bands such as The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and Van Morrison, and the era’s legendary venues The Matrix, Avalon Ballroom, and Fillmore Auditorium. Chromatic Scales is curated by the Tang in coordination with Christopher Shiley, Senior Director of Artistic Planning at SPAC. 

•Saratoga County History Center, Ballston Spa: The Social Lives of Hats, June 26 through October, pairs more than twenty-five hats in wide-ranging styles from the SCHC collection with several of Alfred Z. Solomon’s wood hat forms, which are part of the Tang collection. The exhibition is organized in conjunction with a Skidmore College class, The Social Lives of Hats, taught by Professor and Chair of the History Department Tillman Nechtman and Associate Professor Erica Bastress-Dukehart, in collaboration with Field Horne, Vice President and Chair of the Museum Committee at SCHC, and the Tang. 

•Saratoga Arts, Saratoga Springs: Brighten the Corners: Art of the 1990s from the Tang Teaching Museum Collection, July 1 through Aug. 14, features more than fifteen works of contemporary art including painting, sculpture, and photography from the Tang collection with a focus on identity and storytelling, by artists such as Nayland Blake, Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler, Wendy Ewald, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Frank Moore, Lorna Simpson, and Tim Rollins and K.O.S. The exhibition is curated by the Tang in collaboration with Louise Kerr, Executive Director of Saratoga Arts. 

•National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs: Muybridge and Motion: Selections from the Tang Teaching Museum Collection, July 1 through Jan. 2, 2022, features a series of groundbreaking animal locomotion photographic studies from the late nineteenth century by Eadweard Muybridge (1830 –1904) exhibited with equestrian paintings by American artist Henry Stull (1851 – 1913) from the National Museum of Racing collection. The exhibition is organized by Victoria Reisman, Curator, National Museum of Racing. 

•Yaddo, Saratoga Springs: Carl Van Vechten On Dance: Photographs from the Tang Teaching Museum Collection, August through October 1, features more than eighty photographs of dancers and choreographers such as Alvin Ailey, Carol Channing, Carmen de Lavallade, Melissa Hayden, Geoffrey Holder, Alicia Markova, Arthur Mitchell, and Paul Taylor by the prolific photographer and writer Carl Van Vechten (1880 – 1964). The exhibition is curated by Lisa Kolosek in coordination with Elaina Richardson, President of the Corporation of Yaddo. 

All Together Now exhibitions at the Tang showcase hidden gems from the Shaker Museum, the Tang collection, and Ellsworth Kelly Studio: 

•Energy in All Directions, on view now through June 13, and Ellsworth Kelly: Postcards, July 10 through Nov. 28: the Tang presents a comprehensive survey of postcard collages by American artist Ellsworth Kelly. The exhibition marks the first time Kelly’s lifelong practice of collaged postcards will be the focus of a major museum exhibition. tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/275-ellsworth-kelly-postcards.

Details about each exhibition, special public hours and related events will be announced in an All Together Now section of the Tang website at tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/356-all-together-now.

SPAC Unveils “The 2021 Adirondack Trust Company Festival of Young Artists” Online Gallery

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Performing Arts Center unveils “The 2021 Adirondack Trust Company Festival of Young Artists” Online Gallery, featuring 80 inspiring student creations from the Capital Region’s brightest young dancers, musicians, singers, poets, and visual artists. 

Following the success of the Festival’s first virtual exhibit, “Self-Portrait,” in 2020, the new gallery is entitled “Metamorphosis” and explores the process of transformation. The 2021 experiential website is now available online at spacfoya.org. 

“Last year we completely re-configured our signature education festival into a virtual format as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we look forward to celebrating these incredibly talented artists, poets, dancers, and musicians in person this June, we are delighted that our innovative online gallery will continue as an artistic home all year long,” said Elizabeth Sobol, president & CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, in a statement.

 Additionally, for the first time in the Festival’s four-year history, SPAC and The Adirondack Trust Company have awarded three students with the distinction of “FOYA 2021 Outstanding Artist” along with a $500 check to support the further development of their craft. 

The Online Gallery will feature a curated collection of student creations in visual art, literary art, and the performing arts from middle school and high school students hailing from Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, and Washington Counties. 

Michael Jerling Rings In Opening Weekend at Caffe Lena

SARATOGA SPRINGS — After a year of virtual concerts, Caffe Lena was given the green light to open its doors to the public, and opening weekend will be topped by a special performance by Michael Jerling. Show time is 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 3. 

Jerling, a singer-songwriter with four decades of poignant, poetic, wry songs, has a special genius for touching, timeless ballads that continue to sound fresh down through the decades.

Currently Caffe Lena cannot offer refreshments. A mask must be on at all times. Full Safety Protocols will be delivered to ticket purchasers with their e-ticket. “Please read them carefully,” the café informs. 

One ticket provides seating for one person. Single-ticket purchasers may expect to potentially share a table.  For more information, go to: caffelena.org.

Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center of Saratoga Springs Presents: Gloria Steinmen and Professor Amanda Tyler – The Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center of Saratoga Springs shares a virtual program through the 92 St. Y in New York City. The Great Thinkers Gloria Steinem and Professor Amanda Tyler: The Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6. 

Open to the entire community, the production is complimentary, but donations are encouraged to benefit Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center for future programming. For reservations and information, contact bopitz@skidmore.edu prior to April 5.  This program is sponsored by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeast New York. 

Join women’s rights icon Gloria Steinem and Berkeley School of Law Professor Amanda Tyler for a deep examination of the life and work of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As Justice Ginsburg argued for gender equality in the courtrooms, Steinem was on the front lines — two lifelong allies in a joint pursuit. Tyler is a former Ginsburg law clerk and co-author with the Justice on her final book, Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue. Together they look at Justice Ginsburg’s trailblazing legacy, exploring the landmark cases and barrier-breaking achievements that resulted in transforming not only the American legal landscape but American society itself.

HMT Presents “On The Fly” Virtual Stream Live on April 10

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Home Made Theater presents “On the Fly: An Interactive Improv Night,” on Saturday, April 10. Show time is 7:30 p.m. 

On the Fly will be a “Whose Line Is It Anyway” style performance. It will consist of a panel of three performers who must put their comedic skills to the test through a series of spontaneous improv games, prompted by random ideas supplied by the streaming audience through the chat function, and a host. 

The host for On the Fly will be Capital District actor, director, and producer Michael McDermott. The panel will consist of Mike Bellotti, last seen at Home Made Theater in Young Frankenstein, Home Made Theater veteran Robin Leary, and newcomer Eric Shovah. 

Home Made Theater is a non-profit Community Theater based in Saratoga Springs whose goal is to enrich the cultural life of the Capital Region and beyond, by offering a range of programming created by professionally minded artists, providing the opportunity for exciting and rewarding participation in all aspects of theater created by and for the diverse community in which we live. 

The audience can enjoy this virtual event, streamed live from the stage of the Spa Little Theater, from the comfort of their homes. There will be no seating at the theater. Donations of any size are welcome, but a minimum donation of $15 is suggested. For more information on how to access this online event visit www.homemadetheater.org or call 518-587-4427. 

Live at The Strand: A Return to In-Person Attendance

HUDSON FALLS — A staged performance of “Live at the Strand: Johnny Morse and Friends,” will take place 8 p.m. Saturday, April 3 at the Strand Theater, 210 Main St., Hudson Falls. There will be a very limited in-house seating -plan employed, organizers say, with only 100 tickets available. Wearing masks and social distancing will be required. Tickets are $10 general admission. Call the Strand Theatre to reserve tickets at 518-832-3484. For more information, go to: www.mystrandtheatre.org.