SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Arts presents a new exhibition – Mei Fabulae Continuare – My Story Continues, Collages by David Dew Bruner – at its gallery space at 320 Broadway.

An Opening Night reception takes place 5- 7 p.m. Friday, July 14, and the exhibition will run through Aug. 26. 

Mixed media artist David Dew Bruner takes the viewer on a journey through a series of collages. He layers vibrantly colored recognizable imagery with abstract shapes and textures all serving to reflect the intensely personal story he has lived for the past year. 

The work incorporates art historical iconography; personal photography; drawings, and contemporary media, that are manipulated to speak to personal vs. collective trauma, the human body, and LGBTQ identity. Each piece becomes a journal entry, each image replacing words, gesturing towards feelings that cannot be verbalized. 

This exhibition explores themes of darkness and fear but also hope and courage, and ultimately serves as a triumphant testament to Bruner’s continuing story. 

A percentage of all sales will be given to St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany for their financial support of people in need undergoing radiation. 

For more information about the exhibit and Saratoga Arts, call 518-584-4132, or go to: www.saratoga-arts.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York City Ballet returns to Saratoga Performing Arts Center this week for a series of performances July 18-22. 

The four unique programs highlighted by SPAC premieres by Kyle Abraham (music by James Blake), Justin Peck (music by Solange Knowles) and a program featuring three story ballets Swan Lake, Fancy Free, and Firebird.

The New York City Ballet performed at the opening ceremony for the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1966 and returns each year for their summer residency.   

For specific times, dates, and tickets, go to: SPAC.org. 

On Aug. 2, the Philadelphia Orchestra returns to the venue for three-weeks, highlighted by 12 unique programs including a celebration of Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday under the baton of Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin; appearances by Yo-Yo Ma, Pink Martini, and Audra McDonald; and popular film nights like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert and Jurassic Park in Concert.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College presents Paula Wilson: Toward the Sky’s Back Door, a new exhibition featuring the work of renowned multimedia artist Paula Wilson. The exhibition opens July 15 and will be on view through Dec. 30.

Wilson, who was born in Chicago and lives and works in Carrizozo, New Mexico (population: 971), has gained international recognition for work that spans painting, printmaking, collage, and video. 

Toward the Sky’s Back Door presents paintings, prints, collages, sculpture, dress, and videos from the past 15 years, including new work to be shown for the first time, such as a monumental, 20-foot-tall figure and site-specific work that will cover a gallery wall. Wilson’s approach challenges the separations between art and everyday living as she uses the same techniques to make art for viewing and art for function, like wood-slat painted and printed “rugs.” 

Often biographically oriented, her work investigates the polarities of human life, including her own identity as a biracial Black woman and her experiences living in both major metropolises and the small desert railroad town of Carrizozo. A reverence for all living things and a rigorous investigation into cross-cultural histories permeates the work. 

Wilson’s unconventional approach will also include the installation of a newly constructed swing in the gallery, made with her frequent collaborator and husband, Mike Lagg. Visitors will be invited to swing while viewing Wilson’s artwork all around them, offering a joyful new perspective on art viewing.

The opening of the exhibition coincides with the museum’s annual community open house, called Frances Day after the museum’s namesake, on July 15. To mark the occasion, Wilson will give a gallery talk and engage visitors of all ages in an art-making project beginning at 2 pm. 

For more information, call the Tang Visitor Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit https://tang.skidmore.edu.

BALLSTON SPA — The annual Saratoga County Fair will take place July 18-23 at the County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. 

When:

Tuesday, July 18 to Sunday, July 23. 

Hours:

Tuesday – Saturday: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sunday – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Where:

Saratoga County Fairgrounds & Expo Center, 162 Prospect St., Ballston Spa.

Free parking in Fairground parking lots.

Tickets

Admission (Children 12 and Under are FREE) – $15.

Veterans – $10.

Senior Citizens (65 and over) – 

Wednesday only all-day – $5.

Season Ticket (admission all week – one scan allowed per day) – $50. 

For a full list of events and information: go to saratogacountyfair.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Arts hosts the Opening Night of multi-disciplinary artist Yuko Edwards’ on-going series from 5 – 7 p.m. on Friday, July 14. 

Edwards, who was born in 1975 in Iowa City lives and works in Bristol, England. Her work addresses concepts of self and social identity.

“Homestead: You Are Here” will be on view in our Atrium Gallery this summer. The series began when the artist was a resident of Saratoga Springs and took solo walks throughout the city. On those walks, she saw reflections of her own family in the landscape, memories from the past as well as possible new futures. The photographic works raise questions of belonging and evoke the existence of the Black community and its energy. 

Saratoga Arts is the community arts center located on the corner of Congress Park and Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. In its 30-plus years, Saratoga Arts has brought the arts to over 1 million people through its programs and provided performing and visual artists opportunities to earn over $3 million in art sales and performance fees. 

ROCK CITY FALLS — Stella Katherine Cole, a singer/actress with a natural affinity for the songs of the Great American Songbook, will perform 6 p.m. Thursday, July 13 at The Mansion of Saratoga. 

Buoyed by a social media following of half a million fans, Cole recently made her debut at New York’s legendary Town Hall, as well as a series of high-profile performances at New York’s Tony Award® winning nightclub, 54 Below. 

She recently premiered her new show, Stella Katherine Cole Has Standards with a series of sold-out performances in St. Louis, MO., Evanston, IL., and Carmel, IN.  

The Mansion of Saratoga, which features a dinner and a show as part of its 801 Convert Series, is located at 801 Rte 29, Rock City Falls. Go to: themansionsaratoga.com/concert-series-line-up. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Legendary singer/songwriter/activist Tom Chapin brings his feel-good music back to Caffe Lena on Sunday, July 23. The 7 p.m. concert will be presented live on stage and will also be streamed to the online community.

Chapin serves up a tasty mix of story songs, ballads, comedic and political songs, family music, sing-alongs, old-time folk classics, and a favorite song or two of his late brother Harry’s. Tom accompanies himself on guitar, banjo and autoharp.

In a career that spans five decades, 27 albums and three Grammy awards, Tom Chapin has covered an incredible amount of creative ground. In addition to his work as a recording artist, concert performer, storyteller and activist, he’s performed on Broadway and worked extensively in television, radio and film. 

Tom and The Chapin Family have been touring this year with “Harry Chapin at 80: A Retrospective.” This concert of Harry Chapin classics has been recorded on video for release later in 2023.

In addition to his musical and media endeavors, Chapin has long been an advocate for environmental causes, issues of hunger and social justice, and a supporter of music and the arts in public schools. And he is the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Robert H. Chambers Award for Excellence in the Traditional Arts: which recognizes the innate power and potential of the traditional arts to help foster understanding among people of different cultures.

Caffe Lena is located at 47 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs. Tickets are available online at www.caffelena.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local author Hollis Palmer has published Book Three in his Saratoga’s Gilded Age Series. 

The 200-page book, “All That Glitters,” is Palmer’s 15th overall, and visits the Queen of Spas at the peak of the Gilded Age in a telling through the stories of four families who lived in Saratoga.  

All that Glitters is available at Impressions Of Saratoga and online via Amazon.