Artists promote northern Dutchess

Artists in northern Dutchess County hope a new promotional campaign will help spread the word about the region's cultural resources.

On Friday, the Dutchess County Arts Council and members of the arts communities of Hyde Park, Staatsburg, Rhine-beck, Red Hook, Milan and Tivoli are holding a reception to announce the Arts Northern Dutchess campaign.

The campaign seeks to tie all the cultural resources together in a comprehensive way that entices visitors and residents.

Funding the campaign is a $5,000 grant Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Tivoli, helped secure from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

"It's specifically about promoting that unique collaboration of high-quality cultural organizations with some of the most significant historical recreation sites in the community," said Benjamin Krevolin, president of the Dutchess County Arts Council.

Krevolin said the $5,000 provided seed money for the campaign. More fundraising opportunities will develop in the future, he said.

The grant was also used to create a pamphlet that highlights cultural landmarks in the community. The brochures will become available by contacting the county Arts Council. In addition to the brochure, a Web site and media campaign will be developed in coming weeks.

The pamphlet's cover shows images of the Wilderstein Historic Site in Rhinebeck, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in Annandale, the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck and a watercolor flower painted by Red Hook-based artist, Betsy Jacaruso.

Nadine Robbins, president of Namaro Graphics in Rhinebeck, designed the brochure.

"The reason I got involved in the project is, as graphic designer and an artist, I just felt that we need to be able to promote all of the good things that are going in the arts and the performing arts," Robbins said. "There wasn't a brochure for Northern Dutchess that took all of that in one brochure that can be given out to somebody."

Krevolin said the group will plan more events such as arts walks and artist's studio tours as the campaign picks up more steam.

Reach Rasheed Oluwa at roluwa@poughkeepsiejournal.com or 845-437-4823