Second Saturday Art Gallery hop in Beacon

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March 14 - Beacon is Open-ish, But…

Beacon art venues with postponed or close notices as of 3/14 (check the individual venue for specifics): 
Dia Beacon: Closed until further notice.
Clutter Gallery: Closed for the Kaiju Kanibal opening; online-only exhibition will happen.
Hudson Beach Glass: Closed to regular business but open by appointment (“We are in Beacon every day so don’t hesitate to give us a call if need something. You are welcome to stop by as well,” HBG says); Rick Rogers’ reception postponed.
Gallery at Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries (Clarkson University): Closed until further notice.
Howland Public Library: We Persist! CoMFY show reception is canceled, but the library remains open. 
No. 3 Reading Room and PhotoBookWorks: Closed for now, until this passes.
Mother Gallery: March 21 Jenny Morgan opening canceled; gallery closed until further notice.

Hey, Beaconites and any people thinking of visiting town for this month’s Second Saturday! We’re hearing about event postponements and gallery closures as they come in, and we’ll try to keep everything here updated. Please have patience with us, with gallery owners, and with one another if you’re out and about - we’re all just trying to do our best.

In light of Gov. Cuomo’s statements on limiting public contact, and Dutchess County’s strong recommendations to avoid gatherings of more than 20 people (post from county legislator Nick Page on Facebook), there’s a good chance that many more Second Saturday activities will be postponed and canceled. But the art will still be there when we’re on the other side of this virus. If you do decide to go out, please be conscientious about your habits and consider the people around you. If a venue looks like it’s more than half-full, look through the window and scope it out for next time, then saunter on down to the next gallery. Remember, too, that historically, lots of art gets created when people are facing challenging conditions. 

Now, back to our regular posting:
For years, Beacon has had hoppin’ Second Saturdays with gallery openings and art happenings. But art refuses to be confined to a hashtagged event schedule. That’s why we’ve expanded this Guide to showcase as many art openings as we can within Beacon’s city limits. Artistic endeavors are going up on walls (and sidewalks, and lawns) all the time around town, so keep your eyes glued to this space and refresh often to stay in the loop. We try to update the bulk of this Guide on the Monday before Second Saturday, or as venues list their happenings. But we’re constantly updating the Guide as we hear about new events and openings.

Are you planning for the fourth Thursday of the month? Or maybe you’re already a seasoned #2Sat pro? Skip the Second Saturday 101 below if you'd like, and head straight for the listings, starting with Dia: Beacon.

Our Second Saturday Art Gallery Guide is sponsored by No. 3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works, at 469 Main Street, down toward the east end of Main Street near the Story Screen Beacon Theater. At the reading room, you’ll find not just rotating exhibits, but cool collections of handmade books that the public is encouraged to peruse.

Do you have an art opening coming up? Tell us about it: Drop a line to editorial@alittlebeaconblog.com with the who/what/when/where, and include a representative photo, to be considered for inclusion in this Guide. 

Second Saturday 101

Second Saturday is a lively day into night in Beacon, and is a celebration of Beacon's galleries, restaurants and other businesses on the second Saturday of every month. Dan Rigney, former president of BeaconArts (the organization who encouraged this movement to happen over a decade ago, and who still heavily promotes the events) says: “Back then, Beacon was one of the last places people outside of town thought to go on a Saturday night. Now Second Saturday has become a part of the fabric of Beacon. It’s such a part of it, many galleries have their opening events on other Saturdays, so that they get two big crowds each month.” Second Saturday provides a great reason to walk Main Street and beyond, and explore the events going on around town. It's always a pleasure to dine your way through Beacon, so turn to our Restaurant Guide to help you puzzle out where to eat and drink as you explore special exhibits and happenings.

What to Know About This Guide:

• This Guide includes gallery and art showings that may be hosted in a gallery or in a shop or restaurant.

• Many of these shows run through the current month, so check back often if you are on an art hunt.

• Closing times posted here are for Second Saturdays only, and may not reflect regular Saturdays. Always call an establishment directly for current hours, offerings, or any other questions.

• Parking can be found on side streets, on Main Street, and in municipal lots. Click here for A Little Beacon Blog’s Free Public Parking Guide, with pictures and cross streets!

• Share your way through Second Saturday by using #2SAT, the hashtag created by BeaconArts, and tack on #beaconny or #SecondSaturday if you have room in your tweets or Instagram postings.

• If you are a gallery and have something special to add, please email editorial@alittlebeaconblog.com.

Late-Night (After 9pm) Spots to Eat and Drink: 

After you walk the galleries, you’ll be hungry and maybe thirsty! See our full list of restaurants who are open prior to 9 pm in our Restaurant Guide. 

• Bank Square 129 Main St.

• Chill Wine Bar 173 Main St.

• Meyer's Olde Dutch 184 Main St.

• Max's On Main 246 Main St.

• Baja 328 328 Main St.

• Quinn's 330 Main St.

• The Towne Crier (bar only) 379 Main St.

• Oak Vino Wine Bar 389 Main St. (call first to see if cheese plates and dessert are still being served!)

• Draught Industries 394 Main St.

• The Beacon Hotel Restaurant 424 Main St.

• The Vault 446 Main St.

• Joe’s Irish Pub 455 Main St.

• Roundhouse 2 East Main St.

• Dogwood 47 East Main St.

• Melzingah Tap House 554 Main St.

Leave all of our Guides open on your phone, because they include addresses and phone numbers. Tap on a phone number to call anyone!

Second Saturday, March 14: It’s a fluid situation out there with constantly changing gallery openings and closings, and event postponements and cancellations. Read on to learn about this month’s exhibitions, and pass the indoor hours with perusing gallery and artists’ websites. Our Event Guide will fill you in on the rest of the happenings - if you're out and about in Beacon and see something that you think we shouldn't miss, tag us on Twitter or in your photos on Instagram (we're @alittlebeacon on both). Take care of yourselves and one another! Let’s hope this passes quickly. 

NEAR THE TRAIN, BEFORE MAIN STREET

Dia:Beacon - Closed until further notice
3 Beekman St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 440-0100
One of the preeminent modern art museums in the world, Dia:Beacon opened in 2003 in a former Nabisco box-printing factory on the shore of the Hudson River. Take a closer look at Dia:Beacon's giant shapes, piles of glass, grayscale geometry, neon tubes and so. much. more. Dia:Beacon offers complimentary admission with identification to all residents of Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties on the last Sunday of every month. Dia:Beacon is free for residents of Beacon, Fishkill, Chelsea, and Glenham every Saturday and Sunday, year-round. (Thanks, Pete Seeger.)
CLOSED for Second Saturday: Drawing on the tradition of techno music communities taking over industrial spaces, Detroit-based DJ and producer Carl Craig set up a soundscape in Dia’s basement… or should we say, bass-ment? “Deeply personal, the work accesses both the euphoria of the club environment and the loneliness that follows this collective experience,” says Dia’s news release about Craig’s Party/After-Party installation. Visit the installation to examine the ways in which the process of musical creation can mirror the process for any art, especially Minimalist and the contemporary movements for which Dia is so well known.
Hours: Friday to Monday, 11 am to 4 pm (January-March hours)

Mother Gallery - Closed until further notice
1154 North Ave. (downstairs)
Beacon, NY
(845) 236-6039
Mother Gallery is a co-creative, artist-run, exhibition space located in Beacon, NY. Conceived and stewarded by Kirsten Deirup and Paola Oxoa to foster collaboration, community, and open dialogue amongst all people in the Hudson Valley and beyond.
CLOSED until further notice: Save the Date! Opening (third) Saturday, March 21, is Jenny Morgan’s To Bathe the World in a Strange Light.
Hours: Opening reception March 21, 6 to 8 pm

Parts & Labor Beacon
1154 North Ave. (upstairs)
Beacon, NY
(917) 664-8861
This recent arrival to the Beacon gallery scene, opening last May, uniquely pairs works by one younger or emerging artist and one more-established artist. Writer Alison Rooney and the gallery’s co-founders, Nicelle Beauchene and Franklin Parrasch, explain the concept really nicely in this Highlands Current piece.
By appointment until further notice: Paired together in this installation are the paintings of Alex Bradley Cohen and Rafael Ferrer. The gallery describes Alex Bradley Cohen’s pieces: “Working with acrylic paint on canvas, the artist depicts friends and family members in scenes of everyday moments of connection. For Cohen, painting serves as an exercise in world building, a practice that embraces the effort— at once life-giving, messy, joyful, and discomfiting—of sharing in kinship.” Instead of directly observing and recording his subjects in a documentary way, he paints from photos, memories, and other one-step-removed influences. His works often invoke his home base of Chicago. Similarly, Rafael Ferrer’s paintings reference the tropical vibrancy of his native Puerto Rico. Though he works now from the North Fork of Long Island, Ferrer has traveled (and exhibited) internationally for decades, beginning with a trip to Paris in 1953, meeting influential artists during that buzzing era. The five portraits in P&L’s exhibition are from the 1980s. The gallery says: “His lines are quick and colors bold, exuding an expressive verve that captures just enough of his sitters’ likenesses.” See for yourself, through Sunday, May 3.
Hours: By appointment until further notice.

THE WEST END
(Close to the train station)

Marion Royael Gallery
159 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(727) 244-5535
Continuing for Second Saturday: How sweet it is! A new batch of treats is revealed behind the gallery, in MR Yard. This cozy space packs in a lot of art. (We wrote about the gallery and yard a couple years ago, here.) Take a peek, take your time, look around.
Ongoing: Inside the gallery, see Candelabra: Things That Carry the Light of the World, featuring "finely executed visual perspectives" in various mediums by more than a dozen artists. What carries the light of the world to you? How do you carry light? Don't hide it under a bushel. Bring it to Main Street and the MR Gallery. 
Also continuing: In the MR Yard outside, don't miss The Bird's Nest, a site-specific installation.
Hours: Noon to 7 pm (sometimes later)

Hudson Beach Glass
162 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 440-0068
This glass studio has been casting functional and sculptural objects for over 20 years - a truly special establishment to have in Beacon. Stop in to find blown-glass objects of all kinds, from lights to bowls to wind chimes. Sometimes on Second Saturday, you can watch them blow glass!
POSTPONED for Second Saturday, open by appointment - but keep an eye on HBG’s social media for a video with the artist: You’ve seen his work all around town, and in his frequently open studio. In this exhibition of his paintings, Beacon luminary Rick Rogers shares The View From Here, interpretations of scenes from his strolls around the Hudson Valley. Through Sunday, April 5.
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm; Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm; Second Saturday opening reception, 6 to 9 pm

Clutter Magazine Gallery
163 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(212) 255-2505
The Clutter Gallery is a branch of the Clutter Media Group family, and is focused on showing quality work by both established and emerging artists in the fields of toy design and customization, as well as modern pop and lowbrow art. Clutter Gallery's exhibitions are open to the public and free of charge. 
POSTPONED for Second Saturday: Clutter has announced that this will be an online-only gallery show until further notice! Clutter’s annual kaiju show takes over. In the past, this exhibition has had a lot of cute entries, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see that in a show called Kaiju Kannibal! See the monsters created by dozens of artists; sometimes the artists even attend the opening! Come for the art, stay for the refreshments: Second Saturdays at Clutter have libations from Lagunitas Beer!
Hours: Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm; Saturdays, noon to 5 pm; Second Saturday opening reception, 6 to 9 pm

RiverWinds Gallery
172 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 838-2880
RiverWinds Gallery features Hudson Valley artists. Work includes fine art paintings and photography, plus contemporary crafts including ceramics, jewelry, fiber arts and more.
Special for Second Saturday: Artist Alaina Enslen brings selected works to RiverWinds Gallery. In this series, the artist is using an encaustic medium to abstractly, emotionally connect fabrics and materials given to her by friends and that she has used in her life. Enslen explains her fascinating process: “In these paintings, I’m fusing upcycled cloths to beeswax cultivated in the Hudson Valley, and I’m exploring the emotive properties of cloth as experience and memory. I’m pulling and tearing, cutting, and constructing maps of my own making, flattened, frayed, and immersed in beeswax. It’s a new landscape of where I’ve been and where I want to explore. I poured a lot of love into this work as I focused on how to use sustainable materials and express my experiences through abstraction.” Through Sunday, April 5.
Hours: Monday and Wednesday, noon to 4 pm; Thursday and Sunday, noon to 5 pm; Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 pm; Second Saturday opening reception with music from the artist’s husband Joshua, 7 to 9 pm

Clarkson University’s Beacon Institute for Rivers & Estuaries - Closed until further notice
199 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 838-1600
This historic brick storefront houses a variety of Institute programs: the WOW! gallery, the Hudson River bookstore and gift shop, its administrative headquarters, and a new venture, Sensor Place. Events feature talks by artists and regional Hudson Valley authors.
CLOSED until further notice: It’s the last month to see The River, pastels from Croton-on-Hudson artist Evan Turk as it continues in the Main Street gallery. Turk created the series of more than 150 pastel paintings in the span of an entire year, through all four seasons, reflecting on continuity, impermanence, and change. See his website for more information. On view through March.
Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 2 pm; Second Saturday, 4 to 8 pm

THE MIDDLE & MARKET SQUARE

Howland Public Library
313 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 831-1134
POSTPONED for Second Saturday: The Howland Public Library is postponing the opening reception for We Persist, the sixth annual group show from the CoMFY collective, female artists from in and around Beacon. In honor of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, artists were asked to create a piece of art in response to the phrase “She persisted.” The exhibit features artwork by over 20 local artists inspired by the idea of the persistence and strength of women. The exhibition, in honor of Women’s History Month, is set to continue through Sunday, April 5.
Hours: The Community Room is open during regular library hours

Big Mouth Coffee Roasters
387 Main St.
Beacon, NY
Special for Second Saturday: Painter/illustrator/musician/poet Jonathan Frith’s Crossroads opens, to the apparent delight of the crew at Big Mouth Coffee Roasters. From their release: “Our good neighbor, local artist and all around best pal, Jonathan Frith is exhibiting his various works at Big Mouth Coffee Roasters during the months of March and April! … There will be light snacks and wine! Come by on your Second Saturday tour and celebrate this beautiful display of local artwork with us!”
Hours: Second Saturday opening reception, 7 to 9 pm

THE EAST END & BEYOND
(Closer to the mountain)

Morphicism
444 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 440-3092
Moveable art in frames - art you must see and experience. Jay Palefsky taught art in New York high schools for more than two decades, then packed his bags to pursue life as an artrepreneur, with a steadfast commitment to doing things differently. 
Hours: Call for hours and events

No.3 Reading Room & Photo Book Works
469 Main St. 
Beacon, NY
Two doors west of the Howland Center, No. 3 Reading Room & Photo Book Works is an artist-run venue, featuring select artists’ books, artist photobookworks, photography books, work on paper and poetry from small and independent presses. Contact Paulette Myers-Rich at photobookworks@gmail.com for additional information. 
Note from Paulette, February 29: “Like may other organizations that are cancelling or postponing events, No.3 Reading Room will be closed until further notice in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Please email photobookworks@gmail.com if you have any questions, and check back for updates on when we will reopen. Thanks for your patience and stay well.”
POSTPONED: No. 3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works’ director Paulette Myers-Rich has done it again, spotlighting an artist whose work might otherwise be unimaginable to many of us. In this case, the gallery is devoting the next two months to Rosaire Appel’s Reach, a selection of drawings and artist’s books. In Paulette’s words, “Her prolific and imaginative works encompass the acts of listening, seeing and notating sensory experiences, translated into untranslatable pages that defy conventional reading. Appel is a well-known and respected practitioner of Asemic writing, which, simply put, is ‘writing’ or a script that has no discernable content or meaning, which is left to the viewer to determine.” Paulette explains the significance further: “Despite being open to its viewer’s interpretation, Rosaire Appel has concrete and specific sources for the generative aspect of her work. But once completed, it is free to be interpreted by anyone who wants to take the time to respond. There will be many of Rosaire’s artist’s books on view and available for purchase, as well as rare and unique works that can be viewed up on request.” To give even more context to Rosaire’s work, the gallery will also have on display reference works on Asemic writing and books by various practitioners of this form. Through Sunday, March 29.
Ongoing at the Reading Room: Poetry, photography and artists' books published by small and independent presses, including Hudson Valley writers and artists, are always available for browsing and for sale. “There are always books about poetry, book arts and photography that are not for sale or circulation, but are available for anyone who wants to take the time to read,” Paulette adds. “You’re always welcome to do so.”
Hours: Saturdays and Sunday, noon to 6 pm and by appointment; Second Saturday opening reception with the artist, 5 to 8 pm

Howland Cultural Center
477 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 831-4988
Beacon's Howland Cultural Center is not just another arts organization. Its beautiful home is a Victorian building, a library for a long time, that was born specifically to serve the community as a cultural resource.
Note from ALBB: The Howland Cultural Center has cancelled or postponed upcoming music events, but we haven’t seen anything specifically for this show. If you’re coming to Beacon specifically to see this exhibition, it might be a good idea to call the venue first to verify hours.
Special for Second Saturday: A show to celebrate March as Women’s History Month, Creative Works by Fifty Awesome Hudson Valley Women. This exhibition honors the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Through Sunday, March 29. (Closed Sunday, March 15 and Saturday, March 21)
Hours: Generally Friday to Monday, 1 to 5 pm; Sunday, March 22, 1 to 3 pm, and Sunday, March 29, 3 to 5 pm

Maria Lago Studio 502
502 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 765-8421
Special for Second Saturday: You know Maria Lago for her looming, evocative, larger-than-life sculptures. Her latest work, though, returns to hypertextured painting with Ideograph Materica. The series is inspired by prehistoric cave drawings and archetypal images. The surfaces of the paintings resemble the walls of a cave and are inscribed with words and symbols. “Working spontaneously, I combine images from the past and present to create my own symbolic language. I am attempting to interpret my personal experience within a common visual code,” Lago says. Through Friday, April 10.
Hours: Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm; Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm; Second Saturday reception with live music, 6 to 8 pm

Bau Gallery
506 Main St.
Beacon, NY
(845) 222-0177
Bau (Beacon Artist Union) is a platform for members and artists to grow, present and market their work and collaborative curatorial projects, while hosting events of related disciplines: performances, talks, film and music. Bau builds a vital link between artists' activities and rest of the community.
Special for Second Saturday: In the 183rd consecutive exhibition at Bau Gallery, the Main Room will have Roots, a group show from Bau members, whose work here is in response to the word “roots.” In this show, “our artists have the chance to create one-off works of art outside of our regular everyday practice. There are many directions one can take the word ‘Roots.’ Perhaps a literal interpretation of root systems. Maybe instead something more akin to origin, or source or the basic cause of how life itself. The possibilities and individual expressions are endless.” See for yourself what these artists come up with.
In the Beacon Room: Mathew William Robinson’s Everything is a series of works on paper that uses collage and mixed materials (acrylic paint, string, magazines [a personal favorite of some ALBB folks] and color aid) to create abstract environments. The work attempts to create depth and movement in space without relying on painted images and architectural features. While some of the imagery is distinguishable, most are made up of hand-ripped scraps of paper and colored pencil lines that rely on each other to create the illusion of foreground and background. Large saturated shapes of color used in small quantities are also used as a compositional compass meant to lead the viewer through the environment. Both shows, through Sunday, April 5.  
Hours: Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 pm; Second Saturday opening reception, 6 to 9 pm

BEACON near Route 52

Industrial Arts Brewing Company
511 Fishkill Ave.
Beacon, NY
Continuing for Second Saturday: Industrial Arts Brewing Co. keeps pushing the boundaries of what we expect when visiting a brewery. First, they scored a resident food truck with Eat Church. Now, there’s art up on the walls. Industrial Arts welcomes Casey Inch, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Connecticut. He went out to Colorado to earn his BFA in Painting, then in 2007 he moved to Brooklyn to deepen his painting and drawing studies pursuing an MFA at Pratt Institute. Inch exhibits his work nationally, and continues to work in his Brooklyn studio. Through Sunday, April 5.
Hours: Call for hours