ArtsWestchester Kicks Off County-wide Celebratory Festival of New Works
ARTSEE: A Festival of New Work, was kicked off last Friday during a press conference at ArtsWestchester’s main gallery in White Plains.
The festival which includes dance, film, theatre, art exhibitions, concerts, open studios, poetry readings and more, encompasses 70 events with 40 organizations over five months starting this month and running through July.
The festival is part of ArtsWestchester’s 50th anniversary celebration and stemmed from a desire to not just look back at the organization’s past 50 years, but to also look forward. Featured events will highlight cutting-edge work by a robust array of talented local artists and arts organizations in the county as well as highlighting Westchester as an ever-growing cultural hot spot.
“ARTSEE celebrates the arts in its many forms,” said Janet Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester in a press release announcing the festival. “Featuring new artistic work created within the last three years, this festival will highlight the county’s growing reputation as a hub of innovation and creativity. ARTSEE includes a robust and diverse array of arts events for residents and visitors.”
As widespread as the genres are, so are the locations of the events. Since 40 organizations are participating, the events take place all over Westchester at some of the county’s iconic cultural institutions including Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Emelin Theatre, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Katonah Museum of Art, SUNY Purchase, and Sarah Lawrence College. Most of the events are affordable and many are free.
The first event ArtsWestchester will host, Crossing Borders: Memory and Heritage in a New America, will open at its gallery in White Plains on March 17. The exhibit highlights the work of new and first-generation American artists who use their autobiographies and family history as an artistic tool to explore universal concerns of memory, heritage and identity.
A complete brochure is available online at artswestchester.org. You can also keep up
with ARTSEE on social media with the hashtag #ARTseeFest where updates, highlights and information will be posted on a regular basis.
ArtsWestchester is also encouraging people to post photos of themselves and others with artwork, using the same hashtag.
