Tony Serrano is a local writer who runs the poetry platform “Love•Hate•Heal,” which highlights and promotes some of his work. Serrano shared with Saratoga TODAY his thoughts on all things poetry, as well as how his day job in Ballston Spa helps to keep his creative juices flowing.
Q: When did you create “Love•Hate•Heal” and why did you create it?
A: I’ve been writing poetry for as long as I can remember, from marble notebooks in middle school to Tumblr in high school. In 2019, “Love•Hate•Heal” was born as a way to give my emotions somewhere honest to live. The name reflects the cycle at the heart of the work: we experience love, we experience pain, and through both we learn how to heal.
Q: How does writing poetry benefit you personally, and how do you think an appreciation for poetry can benefit others?
A: Personally, poetry helps me slow down and understand what I’m feeling rather than pushing it aside. For others, poetry can act as a mirror, reminding them that even if a poem isn’t about their exact experience, their emotions are still valid.
Q: What is your day job, and does it help to support your poetry?
A: I’m a screen printer and manager at T-Shirt Graphics in Ballston Spa, where I’ve worked for nearly 13 years. The hands-on, creative nature of screen-printing—turning ideas into something physical—naturally supports my creativity and keeps me connected to the local community.
Q: Can you tell me about how your poetry is building a community?
A: Although “Love•Hate•Heal” only features my own work, it has created connection through shared emotion. Readers often reach out to say a poem resonated with them or put feelings into words they couldn’t express themselves. That exchange between writer and reader becomes its own kind of community, built on vulnerability, empathy, and understanding.
Q: What are some of your future plans or ambitions with poetry?
A: My main goal is to release a poetry book that brings the work from “Love•Hate•Heal” into a physical form. And given my background in screen-printing, I wouldn’t be surprised if a little poetry-themed merchandise finds its way into the mix as well.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The jam band Goose will perform at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on July 3 and 4, Live Nation announced on Monday.
The group will be accompanied by two notable acts in the jam band world: The Disco Biscuits (on July 3) and Moe (on July 4).
2026 will mark the third time Goose has appeared at SPAC, after one show in 2023 and two more shows in 2024. In June of 2025, the band sold out Madison Square Garden for the first time (they’re scheduled to play at MSG two more times this summer).
SPAC is an important venue for Goose. In 2013, the band’s keyboardist Peter Anspach attended a Phish concert in Saratoga, camping out on the lawn with thousands of fellow fans. A decade later, when Goose hit the SPAC stage for the first time, Anspach told the crowd that “some of us have seen a lot of shows on that lawn right there and I’ll tell you what, it feels great to be on the stage. So thank you so much for making it happen.”
In 2024, several members of the band stopped by the Saratoga Spa Golf Course prior to their SPAC shows for “Goose on the Green,” a sold-out charity event that raised $7,500 for Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga.
Goose has also played at Putnam Place in Saratoga, opening for the Ryan Montbleau Band in 2018.
Moe was originally formed in Buffalo but moved to Albany in 1994. In the book “Sharing in the Groove” by Mike Ayers, Moe drummer Vinnie Amico described the thrill of performing alongside surviving members of the Grateful Dead at SPAC on July 6, 1997.
“I’d seen hundreds of concerts [at SPAC],” Amico said. “And here I am on that stage for the first time, which was my dream when I was 16…I mean, I saw everybody there. And that was my dream to play on stage one day, and here I am playing on that stage with one of my idols. We did ‘That’s It for the Other One,’ which the Dead hadn’t played in years. Had my career gone no further than that day, I would have been fine. My dreams were realized.”
Marc Brownstein, a founding member and bass player for the Disco Biscuits, wrote in an Instagram story on Monday that SPAC was his childhood summertime home venue. “I saw three Phish shows there this summer. I’m so excited my next time there will be with a bass guitar and looking out at the crowd. Thanks, Goose.”
Tickets for Goose’s 2026 SPAC shows go on sale Friday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs’ new poet laureate Jay Rogoff will have a busy weekend after announcing two free poetry-related events both scheduled to take place on Sunday, Feb. 1.
At Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, three nationally-known poets will read their work at 3 p.m.: Chase Twichell, April Bernard, and Peg Boyers. The award-winning authors all live in the Spa City. The reading, which will occur in the museum’s Payne Room, is free and open to the public.
Twichell has published eight collections of poetry, with her ninth due later this year from Copper Canyon Press. Her 2010 book of new and selected poems, “Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been,” won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Balcones Poetry Prize. She has also received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Artists Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among others. Her most recent book is “Things as It Is.”
Bernard won the Academy of American Poets’ Walt Whitman Award for her debut book, “Blackbird Bye Bye.” Since then, she has published five poetry collections with W. W. Norton, most recently “The World Behind the World.” She has also published two novels and frequently contributes criticism to The New York Review of Books, Book Post, and elsewhere. Also a former Guggenheim Fellow, Bernard teaches at Skidmore College and is currently assembling a volume of new and selected poems.
Boyers’ four books include “Hard Bread,” “Honey and Tobacco,” “To Forget Venice,” and “The Album,” whose poems appear beside reproductions of the paintings that inspired them. She teaches poetry writing and translation at Skidmore, as well as at Columbia University and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She is also the longtime executive editor of Salmagundi magazine.
“It’s rare to have three poets of such talent and variety at a single event,” Rogoff said. “This should be a must for anyone curious about how poetry moves us.”
The reading will include a question-and-answer session, followed by a book signing by the poets and a reception.
Earlier on Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Rogoff will meet with writers at his second Poetry Repair Café at the Northshire Bookstore. Poets can drop by to discuss how to bring their poems closer to what they wish them to accomplish.
Rogoff will be conducting his Poetry Repair Café the first Sunday of every month, except for Easter.
Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler images provided by Live Nation.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A heap of additions were made to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s (SPAC) calendar recently, including returning favorites the Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler, plus a free culinary arts program on March 7.
The Dave Matthews Band will play at SPAC on July 17 and 18, marking the group’s 50th headlining performance at the venue. According to Setlist.fm, DMB has held more concerts at SPAC than any other musical act, with Phish, Chicago, and the Allman Brothers Band each compiling more than 20 shows apiece.
Blues Traveler, headliners of the 2024 Belmont on Broadway event in downtown Saratoga Springs, will return to the Spa City on July 30 with two more familiar faces in tow: Gin Blossoms (Belmont on Broadway 2025 headliners) and Spin Doctors (headliners of Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga’s 2025 Charity Benefit).
Country artist Luke Bryan—with special guests Drew Baldridge, Lanie Gardner, Lauren Watkins, and DJ Rock—w-ill hit the SPAC stage on Aug. 29. Bryan is considered one of the world’s top-selling artists, dishing out more than 75 million records. He’s also a judge on the hit TV show “American Idol.”
On June 12, Les Claypool will present “Claypool Gold” at SPAC. The performance will bring together three of his bands: Primus, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. Each night, all three bands will share the stage at once for a show featuring “wildly different setlists and surprises,” Live Nation said in a press release.
Violinist Lindsey Stirling will bring her “Duality Untamed” tour to Saratoga on July 13. Stirling entered the national consciousness in 2010, when she was featured on season five of “America’s Got Talent.” Since then, she’s released a handful of albums and accumulated more than 14 million subscribers and billions of views on her YouTube channel. Stirling is known for her unique blend of classical, pop, and dance music.
SPAC also announced this week that it will host a special, free community program featuring culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, who is a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame winner and the star of the Netflix docuseries “High on the Hog.” Presented as part of the CulinaryArts@SPAC initiative, “Braided Heritage: Tracing the Roots of American Cuisine” will take place on Saturday, March 7 from 3 to 5 p.m. at The Pines at SPAC. The event is free to attend; however, space is limited. Visit spac.org for details or to register.
Special effects makeup artist RJ Young applies his wares to a volunteer at Saratoga Arts during the Saratoga Film Showcase last weekend.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It was disgusting. It was horrifying. It was a shocking display of violence that any sane person would hope to never see in their life. But the crowd loved it.
The Saratoga Film Showcase’s special effects panel and demonstration, held at Saratoga Arts on Jan. 24, was a highlight of the three-day festival.
The discussion about all things hair and makeup on film sets included Clifton Park resident Annemarie Bradley, an Oscar-winning hairstylist who has worked with Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Lucy Liu, among others; Jackie Hughes, a Hudson Valley-based makeup artist who specializes in horror films (among them, “Terrifier 2,” which earned nearly $16 million at the box office); and RJ Young, a special makeup effects artist from Upstate New York.
It was Young who both grossed out and delighted the audience with a live demonstration of his work (thankfully, the fake blood squirting out of his volunteer subject’s facial wound didn’t make it into the crowd).
Below is a condensed and edited transcript of the panel discussion, which included talk of everything from Lucy Liu’s latest project to a 16-foot-long flesh tunnel womb.
Spencer Sherry (moderator): What is something that you find that directors sometimes aren’t aware of, that maybe you would like them to have a little bit more knowledge of before they call you and ask you to do an effect?
Annemarie Bradley: How much time it actually takes… A lot of times, they wrote something, but they don’t exactly have a vision of how they want that to happen. So, when you tell them, ‘It’s okay, this is great, and we can make anything happen, but sometimes it takes a long time,’ and they don’t really have the time or want to make the time. So, a lot of communication goes into that. I always tell people, it’s like boiling water. Just because you want it doesn’t mean it’s going to boil right away.
SS: What are some things that are more expensive than people think that they are? And then what are some things that are maybe a little bit more accessible?
Blood and bubbles ooze during the special effects demonstration. Photos by Super Source Media for Saratoga TODAY.
RJ Young: Well, for example, the prosthetic that I have on [the volunteer subject’s] face is a foam latex piece. That’s usually a lot cheaper than, say, a lot of people now use silicone, which is a lot more translucent on the face. You don’t have to paint it as much in so many layers. But that is expensive. Silicone is a lot more expensive than foam latex. In the next month or so, I have to make a 16-foot-long flesh tunnel womb. The budget that they gave me is really low, not enough for what they want. They showed me an artist’s drawing of what they want. I’m like, well, the budget that you give me, you’re not going to get exactly that, by any means, but I try to make it out and make it as best as I can. I usually end up fabricating a lot of stuff out of foam, like the flesh tunnel would be mostly made out of foam and spray foam, mattress foam, stuff like that. And you just paint it and just add as much as you can to it, to make it look as organic as it can.
Jackie Hughes: I do a lot of low-budget things where I kind of get hired as the triple team of beauty, hair, makeup and effects. So that’s when they’re really trying to stretch a budget. But most of the time, I’m the first effects person that they’ve worked with. I was just recently on something, and I told them that blood is not cheap. Good blood is not cheap, especially if you want to spray it on everything and get it up and not have it stain… This production didn’t believe me. They showed up with a gallon of blood that was like 30 bucks when I told them I wanted a $200 gallon. And then I showed up with eight different types of my own personal blood, just to prove to them, you go use that and watch all of my expensive blood actually work. It’s things you don’t realize. Some blood has to be mouth safe. Some of it has to be safe if it gets in your eyes. Some has to dry. Some has to drip. Some has to come out of carpet.
SS: Where do you get your inspirations and pictures from?
JH: I have my friends and family, when they get injured, take pictures. People get really excited if you show up to a set and you’re like, ‘I have real reference pictures,’ they’ll always pull up some crazy gashed head thing that they did to themselves years ago. But Spencer’s favorite story that I’ve told is I was talking to a boy on Tinder, and he sliced his hand open at work. I was like, ‘Can you send me the picture?’ He did and then he stopped responding.
SS: Do [actors] call you when they book a job? Do they leverage that in their contract and say, ‘I’ll do a movie but I’m bringing Annemarie with me?’
AB: Yeah. I’m going to start a job with Lucy Liu that’s called “Superfakes” and it’s starting February 2 filming, and she asked me in August and invited me to come to her home and just talk about the movie and [she] wanted to make sure that I’m not busy or that I’m not going to take another job before that job happens. That’s normally how it happens. And if it’s someone new, it’s a recommendation from either another actor or a makeup artist that’s worked with them before, sometimes a producer.
SS: Is there anything that you haven’t gotten to play with yet or build, that you’re just waiting for someone out there to write a thing as an excuse to do it?
RJ: I would like to do a werewolf transformation at some point.
AB: I would like to do a really fun period piece. I could be the department head and design all the hair.
JH: I so badly want to break into sci-fi… I also want to make a mermaid tail.
James Taylor and Pitbull images provided by Live Nation.
60th anniversary artwork provided by SPAC.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It’s been a busy fortnight for the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), which is gearing up for its historic 60th season.
James Taylor, a six-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, will take the SPAC stage alongside his All-Star Band on June 29, Live Nation recently announced. Taylor is perhaps best known for his originals “Fire and Rain” and “Sweet Baby James,” as well as his renditions of “You’ve Got a Friend” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” His 1970 album “Sweet Baby James” nearly cracked the top 100 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. His eponymous debut album was released by The Beatles’ Apple Records, and its track “Something in the Way She Moves” inspired the creation of “Something” by The Beatles. Taylor’s latest record, “American Standard,” won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
Rapper Pitbull has sold more than 25 million studio albums worldwide and has amassed more than 15 billion views on YouTube, arguably making him one of the most popular musical acts on the planet. His debut album “M.I.A.M.I.,” released in 2024, was executive produced by Lil Jon, who will open for Pitbull during their joint SPAC performance on Sept. 2. Lil Jon’s hits “Get Low” and “Turn Down for What” have each garnered hundreds of millions of plays on Spotify (not to mention inspired countless meme videos).
SPAC also recently unveiled its official 2026 season artwork, designed by Shawn Carney (The New York Times Style Magazine, Wall Street Journal). As part of his creative process, Carney dug through SPAC’s archives, sifting through boxes and filing cabinets filled with thousands of items, such as newspaper clippings, booklets, ticket stubs, and posters.
“I wanted the artwork to acknowledge SPAC’s rich history without being a throwback,” Carney said. “After all, SPAC doesn’t just live in the archives—it’s very much alive today and flourishing in all sorts of new ways. Standing among the piles of paper however, it occurred to me that perhaps the illustration could be paper itself. That led to a more tactile approach, and I began sketching forms built from curled, hand-shaped sheets. The final design is intentionally tactile and handcrafted. My hope is that the artwork reflects the craft, labor, and human touch behind sixty seasons of live performance. It also highlights the subtle and poetic side of the venue and the experiences within its gates. The design feels classic and timeless, nods to SPAC’s history, but leaves open space for more of its future to be recorded.”
Additional announcements related to SPAC’s 60th anniversary season—including performances, special events, and commemorative initiatives—will be revealed throughout the year.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A pair of podcasts—one freshly launched and the other returning for a second season—announced their future plans last Friday, signaling a podcast production boom in the Spa City.
Saratoga Arts revealed that it’s partnering with Bright Sighted Media on “The Good Stuff,” a locally-produced podcast and video series dedicated to “uplifting the artists, organizations, and community leaders who make New York’s Capital Region thrive.”
The show will be hosted by producer and Bright Sighted Media Founder Christine O’Donnell, and guest hosted by Saratoga Arts’ Spencer Sherry.
“The Good Stuff” will share weekly, family-friendly stories rooted in creativity, kindness, and connection. The series aims to offer a “refreshing counterbalance to negative news cycles by highlighting the positive cultural and civic contributions happening right here in the 518.
O’Donnell, a 2004 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, said the idea for “The Good Stuff” came to her while she was watching her husband Steve Kuzj anchoring the News Channel 13 broadcast. O’Donnell and Kuzj have two young kids.
“I often want to turn on the news so the kids can see him; but almost every time I turn it on, I have to turn it off because there’s a lot on there that I don’t always want my kids to see,” O’Donnell said. “Still, I do want them to know what’s going on in their community, and I thought a community-based news show that incorporated students ‘doing good stuff’ would help me keep my kids informed and hopefully help them feel inspired.”
The show’s guest list includes the young men who made the viral “Take Me Down to Stewy’s” rap anthem; an interview with now-retired Saratoga Springs Police Department Mounted Officer Glenn Barret; and Saratoga Arts grant recipient and playwright Mary Jane Hansen. All guests will be nominated by members of the community, and episodes will be released every Tuesday starting Jan. 20.
In 2025, Bright Sighted Media reached 2.3 million impressions, the company stated. Its Q2 numbers showed 10,087 podcast downloads and 46,771 YouTube views.
In other podcasting news, Discover Saratoga announced the launch of Season 2 of its podcast, “Destination Saratoga: All Access,” which premiered on Jan. 16. New episodes will drop every Friday through April 24, continuing the show’s mission of “spotlighting the people, places, and stories that define Saratoga County as a vibrant, year-round destination.”
Hosted by Discover Saratoga’s MacKenzie Zarzycki, the podcast offers listeners a behind-the-scenes look at local businesses, cultural institutions, community leaders, and seasonal happenings throughout the county.
“Season 1 showed us how much people enjoy hearing authentic, long-form stories about Saratoga County,” Zarzycki said. “With Season 2, we’re building on that momentum by introducing even more voices, experiences, and perspectives that truly capture what makes our region so special.”
Last season featured conversations with notable guests, including Julie Bonacio, Alane Ball Chinian, Maddy Zanetti, Tom Durkin, and Ramon Dominguez. The show also featured an “After Hours with Saratoga Living” segment featuring magazine editor Natalie Moore. Discover Saratoga said it will continue its partnership with Saratoga Living in 2026.
“This season, we’ll be broadcasting our ‘After Hours with Saratoga Living’ episodes straight from two of our favorite after-hours hangouts: Henry Street Taproom and Kindred,” Moore said.
Season 2’s lineup of guests will include Amy Bloom of Saratoga Arts, Ryan McMahon from the Saratoga Springs City Center, Tracy Passaro of Ladylily’s Place, Allison D’Antonio from the Saratoga Regional YMCA, and Teddy Foster from the Universal Preservation Hall.
George R. R. Martin speaking at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con International. Photo by Gage Skidmore.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” the latest TV installment of the ever-growing “Game of Thrones” cinematic universe, premiered on Sunday to largely positive reviews. Author George R.R. Martin, who penned the novellas that served as the show’s source material, seemed delighted with the finished product.
But Martin, for well over a decade, has been constantly pulled in different directions, tasked with overseeing multiple film and TV projects while also chipping away at several long-overdue books. His busy schedule has been a source of frustration for the acclaimed fantasy author, who lamented in 2015 that he would be unable to return to Saratoga Springs.
In 2007, Martin was in the Spa City for the World Fantasy Convention (WFC), held at the City Center on Nov. 1-4. According to a pair of blog posts he wrote, Saratoga seemed to make a lasting impression on him.
In one March 2015 post, Martin announced that his packed calendar would prevent him from attending that year’s WFC in Saratoga. But he said that at the 2007 convention, he “had a great time. A terrific town, a wonderful con.”
A few months later, Martin again expressed regret over missing the 2015 event. “The last WFC in Saratoga was great fun, and I loved the city, and the train ride up the Hudson from NYC,” he wrote.
It would seem Martin made some lasting memories while here in Saratoga. In a 2022 conversation with fellow novelist David Anthony Durham, Martin reminisced about the first time they met, at the 2007 WFC.
“He displayed his courage because we were doing a mass autographing where all the authors sit all around the ballroom, and people line up to do them, and he was told by all his friends not to sit beside me,” Martin recalled. “But he did sit beside me anyway. A fearless fellow, and then we got to talking.”
The WFC hasn’t been held in the Spa City since 2015. Last year it was in England. In 2014, it took place in Niagara Falls.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — January tends to be a sleepy month in Saratoga.
The steady stream of eaters, drinkers, and shoppers who usually fill Broadway instead hibernate in their homes, perhaps weary from the holidays or wary of winter winds.
The Saratoga Film Showcase, which returns for its second year this weekend, is an invitation for 518-ers to hit the town, without having to spend too much time in the snow.
The festival, spearheaded by Spencer Sherry of Saratoga Arts and the 518 Film Network, includes in its 2026 lineup four blocks of short films (with each block running around 60 to 90 minutes), a special effects panel and demonstration featuring Oscar-winning makeup artist Annemarie Bradley, an opening night party with live music (Caity & the Gallaghers), a cocktail reception, and some secret off-the-books screenings.
“There will be a couple opportunities that pop up throughout the weekend, word-of-mouth only, to see some stuff that nobody’s ever seen before,” Sherry tantalizingly told Saratoga TODAY.
As a filmmaker himself, Sherry has attended countless festivals. Perhaps mentally taking notes to file away for a future opportunity, his experiences taught him what to do and what not to do. Some festivals demand that filmmakers pay hefty submission fees. Other fests are unable to house visiting filmmakers, making directors, writers, and actors less likely to appear in-person at screenings. And passes to film festivals can get pricey, presenting a barrier for cash-strapped artists who might’ve maxed out a credit card or two to finance their latest endeavor.
The Saratoga Film Showcase does things differently. The Holiday Inn in Saratoga donates rooms so that visitors have a place to warm up and snooze after a busy day of screenings and networking. There are no submission fees for those hoping to enter their work into the festival. Festival passes (good for the entire weekend) are sold at a sliding scale of anywhere from $10 to $100, making them affordable for nearly everyone. And free meals are dished out to filmmakers, who have access to their own lounge stocked with drinks and snacks.
“We try as much as possible to highlight [filmmakers] and showcase them and make it, structurally on our end of things, inherently worthwhile for them to be a part of this,” Sherry said. “We can bring filmmakers in from out of town that are hosted by our community, connect them with the local, independent filmmakers that are living and working here, and then all of that goodwill and energy goes directly towards inspiring the next generation of artists.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Spa City’s downtown is an ideal place to host a film festival, with multiple venues, restaurants, bars, and hotels all within short walking distances. This weekend, the showcase will be spread across Saratoga Arts, Putnam Place, and Harvey’s. If a festival attendee were to walk to all three locations in one go, it would take a grand total of about five minutes.
This year, the festivities begin at Putnam Place with “Shorts After Dark” on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. The films include “La Diablesse,” written and directed by Grace Perez; “Kombucha!” directed by Jake Myers; “Bloodercream,” written and directed by Elise Valderrama; “Baby Fat,” a film by Elliot Frances Flynn (who played Zora in James Gunn’s hit series “Peacemaker”); “Affirmation,” directed by Emily Bennett (winner of a 2023 Fangoria Chainsaw Award); “Vanilla,” directed by the duo Nora Kaye and Nadia Nadim; and “The Man & the Scarecrow,” written and directed by Justin Knoepfel.
Sherry calls this block of films “weirder, more adult, or boundary-pushing.” Last year’s “Shorts After Dark” was apparently a hit, with headlining filmmaker Brit McAdams (director of the Saratoga-shot movie “Paint,” starring Owen Wilson) declaring it to be one of the best blocks of short films he’d ever seen at a festival.
Following “Shorts After Dark” is the showcase’s opening night party, which starts at 9 p.m. at Putnam Place.
Day two begins at noon at Saratoga Arts, with the “Coming to Terms” block. This lineup features “Golden Afternoon,” directed by Mathilde Suissa (whose film “Hidden” premiered at Cannes); “Unsaid,” directed by Monique Moses (the co-head writer and co-executive producer of season four of the HBO series “A Black Lady Sketch Show”); “Unidentified Caller,” directed by Alexander Cope; “The Resonance,” helmed by the husband-wife team of Paul Robinson and Sashia Dumont; “Seedless,” directed by Keenan Gray; and “So Long,” written and directed by Brendan Mascherino and Joey LaFrance.
“A lot of the themes of the movies are somebody facing either an unexpected moment, or a fear, or catharsis, or whatever it might be,” Sherry said. “It’s mostly drama, but there is a really fun comedy in there as well, and a couple spooky ones.”
Following “Coming to Terms” is the special effects panel discussion and demonstration, which begins at 2:45 p.m. at Saratoga Arts.
“[SFX makeup artist RJ Young] is going to come and actually apply a prosthetic to a model that has blood gags and bulge gags and air pockets and things in it,” Sherry said.
Next up after the demo is the “Art About Art” block, which starts at 4:30 p.m. One highlight of this lineup is “Portrait of God,” directed by Dylan Clark. This remarkable film went viral a couple years ago, accumulating millions of views on YouTube. It’s now being adapted into a feature helmed by Clark and produced by Jordan Peele and Sam Raimi. “I got to see it on a big screen with an audience—holy s**t, this thing is sick,” Sherry said.
Also featured in “Art About Art” is “Crying on Command,” directed by Nick Craven; “Cheat” directed by Jackie Mahoney; “You Don’t Say,” a musical short directed by Jeffrey D. Simon (who has worked in the art department of big-budget projects such as “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming”); and “Apricot,” helmed by Frank Fascella, who has worked as a writers assistant on the TV shows “Tulsa King” and “Mayor of Kingstown.”
The showcase’s busy second day concludes with a 7 p.m. cocktail reception at Harvey’s Restaurant and Bar.
Last but certainly not least is the “Home-Grown” lineup of shorts on Jan. 25 at Saratoga Arts (the action begins at noon). These projects feature local filmmakers, familiar filming locations, and 518 cast and crew members. On the docket is “Pizza Cutter: A Bite Sized Slasher,” directed by Noah Manglapus; “2 Soldiers,” directed by Perrin Mercer (who lived in the Capital Region for more than a decade); “Dennis,” helmed by the Caldwell brothers; “Servants,” directed by Taylor Jarvis; “Hot Boy Summer,” a film by Albany High School senior Ian Roach; “Casualty,” by Juliette Monarch; “Born a Secret,” written by Miriam Russell; “The Family Coin,” by Jermaine Wells; and “Stakeout,” starring Seth Gillam (of “The Wire” and “Walking Dead” fame) and directed by Micah Khan, a prominent local filmmaker whose work was screened at last year’s showcase.
Perhaps the best thing about this mighty lineup is that, as of Jan. 19, the Saratoga Film Showcase broke even, meaning that all proceeds after that date will be sent straight to Camp Stomping Ground.
“The Saratoga Film Showcase aims to inspire the creation of more art in our community, and is proud to donate all profits to Camp Stomping Ground to continue making art more accessible to our youth,” the showcase states on its website.
A good cause, scary scenes, a jammin’ band, locals networking, and cinephiles tossing back a few—the Saratoga Film Showcase will have it all.
Kathy Butterly, “Wave ‘Em Like You Just Don’t Care,” 2001, porcelain, earthenware, and glaze, 7 3/4 x 4 x 3 1/4 inches, Tang Museum collection, gift of Elizabeth Harvey Levine.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College presents “Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes,” a major exhibition of approximately fifty works by one of the most influential sculptors working in ceramics today. On view from Feb. 14 through July 26, the exhibition spans more than thirty years of Butterly’s practice, from early sculptures dating to the mid-1990s to recent works.
For nearly four decades, Kathy Butterly has created sculptures with individuality, using clay and glaze to paint in three dimensions. Known for their small scale and extraordinary detail, her works combine technical virtuosity with humor, sensuality, and formal daring. Butterly pushes porcelain and earthenware to their limits, producing objects that oscillate between abstraction and the body, spontaneity and precision, seriality and difference.
“Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes” is organized by Ian Berry, Dayton Director of the Tang Teaching Museum, and is presented as part of the museum’s 25th anniversary year. The exhibition builds on a long relationship between Butterly and the Tang: Berry organized a focused solo show of her work at the museum in 2006, and her work anchored The Jewel Thief exhibition in 2010. Four works by the artist held in the Tang’s permanent collection are included in the exhibition.
“I started a conversation with Kathy Butterly about her work more than twenty years ago,” Berry said. “Her sculpture continues to surprise and expand, and it is an honor to bring these masterpieces together in one room. They reward close looking and sustained attention, revealing how free creativity and experimentation can continually reinvent a medium.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by the publication of a major monograph on Butterly’s work later in the spring. The catalogue features contributions by Glenn Adamson, Ian Berry, Forrest Gander, Theodora Bocanegra Lang, Nancy Princenthal, and Elena Sisto.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
The Tang is presenting a series of events in conjunction with the exhibition. All are free and open to the public.
Saturday, Feb. 14, 5 p.m.: Opening Reception and Conversation with the Artist
Join Dayton Director Ian Berry in conversation with Kathy Butterly to celebrate the opening of the exhibition.
Thursday, March 26, Noon: Curator’s Tour of “Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes”
Ian Berry leads an exhibition tour.
Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m.: Dunkerley Dialogue with Kathy Butterly
A public conversation between the artist and a Skidmore College faculty member (to be announced).
The exhibition is free and open to the public. The Tang Teaching Museum, located on the Skidmore College campus at 815 N. Broadway in Saratoga Springs, New York, is open Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 p.m., with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursdays.
