Spring is here in earnest - so is the Gardiner Open Studio Tour

SPRING GOST 2015-May 2nd & 3rd

It's just one day till the Gardiner Open Studio Tour starts on May 2nd & 3rd. The towns of Gardiner NY and New Paltz NY have really woken up to the artistic exuberance of our #GOSTartists members through our #GOSTDOORS project, and with the help of the wonderful mural painted in Gardiner NY on Arch Street by Lady Pink, with help from Roger Smith, Annie O'Neill, Stacy Flint, and Jean Tansey who are all members of our group and showing work on this Spring's tour.

We are excited to have gotten coverage in the local paper, and the GOSTDOORS really were a great success for our group. We all found it to be a very rewarding group project and also we are so pleased that our towns' have enjoyed it too. We've all had many positive comments, including questions like, "hey how do 'we' get a door next time?"

 Read about the #GOSTDOORS Community Art Project in last week's New Paltz Times here:
GOSTDOORS show up all over town what does it mean

Our Artist Guide and Map brochures are literally almost "everywhere."

While it's possible to print the Artist Guide and Map off of our website at: www.GOSTartists.org that's not the best way to see them. Try to pick one up at one of the many places that have been hosting them for us. If you find them all gone, please call us and we'll send some over, but don't give up.

One sure-fire location to get the Artist Guide and Map is at the DM Weil Gallery. It's a stop on our tour and it's our Tour HQ. They will have maps and be able to answer any questions that you may have about the tour, the artists on the tour, directions etc.

Gardiner Open Studio Tour HQ

DM Weil Gallery

208 Bruynswick Rd

New Paltz, NY 12561

845-255-3336

info@GOSTartists.org

www.GOSTartists.org

In addition to the DM Weil Gallery, the Artist Guide and Map brochures are out all up and down Main Street in New Paltz. You can find them in Lower New Paltz at The Bakery, Manny's Art Supply, P&G's The Main Street Bistro, the Cafeteria, Krauses Chocolates, Enquiring Minds Bookstore, Barner Books, Rock and Snow, The Golden Otter, and in Waterstreet Market in the Mud Puddle Cafe, and the Cheese Plate.

In Mid-New Paltz there are maps at Rhinebeck Artist Shop at the mall at Rt. 32 & Main St. 299. They can also be found at other places in and around New Paltz including in no particular order: Exxon Gas Station at the Thruway exit, Wallkill Farm View Market on Rt. 299, Jenkin-Lukens Farm Stand on Rt. 299, the Mountain Brau Haus, Beeks Auto, and the Mountain Bistro all at Rts. 299 & 44-55, along with farm stands on Rt. 208.

In village of Gardiner NY you will find our brochure at the Gardiner Library at the end of Arch Street, don't miss the mural by Lady Pink right there, the Villiage Market, Cafe Mio and at Pasquales Pizza & Restaurant, all along Main St. in Gardiner which is also Rt. 44-55.  Other Gardiner locations include, Tuthilltown Distillery, Robibero Winery, Empire State Bank and the Natural Pet Center at Ireland Corners. They have also found their way to various hotels, B & B's, restaurants, etc., all over the immediate area and beyond. All together we have put out more than 7000 Artist Guide and Tour Map flyers for this tour.

Our thanks to all of these local businesses for hosting our flyers and in that way directly supporting the arts community of Gardiner.

Enjoy the Tour!

Jonathan Pazer
Chair - Gardiner Open Studio Tour

Recent article from Apr. 30th New Paltz Times, p 19.

Art, Doors and Community Action in New Paltz and Gardiner,NY. #GOSTDOORS Project

GOSTDOORS lined up for their group photo before we put them out on Saturday

GOSTS Artists mount our very first art happening in New Paltz and Gardiner. GOSTDOORS pop up like spring flowers.

Twice each year for the last several years the artists of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour have worked together to raise awareness in Gardiner / Newpaltz and surrounding towns of the richness and diversity of the local artist community right in Gardiner itself.

We have organized an artist tour exclusively for Gardiner's artists. We arranged for the artists to all be available on the same weekend, and for them all to open their doors to the public.

We have created and printed an Artist Guide and Tour Map showing who the Gardiner artists are and where our studios can be found. Those who pick up a map and follow it can visit artists' studios and they may get some insight into our work and be able to observe and appreciate our enthusiasm and energy for what we do. Many of our friends and neighbors and people from far and wide, from NYC, Connecticut, and New Jersey have participated in past Tours. 

Members of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour at the  Opening for the group's art show at the
Gardiner Villiage Library in Gardiner, NY.

But this just was not enough for us. We felt that we needed to put our work out into the public realm not hidden behind our studio doors.

The #GOSTDOORS Project was a big deal for us, it was a big fun project that required a lot of hands and a lot of coordination. Thanks to Lady Pink for doing the organizing and for the inspiration for this art happeing. We had to go out and find seventeen used doors, and seventeen artists committed to paint one door each. We reached out to many people in the community in order to find the seventeen sites that would agree to host a door. While some people declined to get involved, most were enthusiastic about the project. On a recent Saturday, three crews of artists, painters and photographers donned work boots, grabbed sledgehammers and post drivers and set off to install all of the artworks throughout our the Gardiner / New Paltz area. 

Immelda shaking hands with Art-too Green-too, on her lawn
in Gardiner, NY.

Annie O'Neill's door wrapped around a tree in New Paltz, NY.

People noticed.... They walked past as we worked, and looked at the art work and said, "Cool..." and "Wow!" We saw people taking selfies with doors. The cumulative impact of these multiple installations will draw questions.

A horizontal GOSTDOOR at STS in Gardiner, NY by Craig Booth. A cool feature
of this door is that the front wheel and exhaust pipe are actual separate metal and
wire sculptural pieces that were added to the door.

Why doors? Well I touched on that in my last blog post. They are usually barriers, now they are artworks, usually they keep people out, now they are an invitation to explore.

Our goals...to encourage engagement between the Gardiner artist community and the community at large. To enliven our environment with artwork and to display the energy that we as artists bring to our participation in the social life of our little corner of the Hudson Valley.

Jonathan Pazer
Chairman, Gardiner Open Studio Tour

More info:
Gardiner Open Studio TourSpring GOST 2015 - May 2 & 3
Saturday & Sunday 10am to 5pm


Web: http://www.GOSTartists.org
Email: info@GOSTartists.org
Tel.: (845) 255-3336

#GOSTDOORS Project

GOSTDOORS are being created in Gardiner, NY by Gardiner
Open Studio Tour members this week. Look out for them soon.

#GOSTDOORS in fields, on roadsides, hanging from trees, at corners, why are they here? Where did they come from? 

These #GOSTDOORS serve as an entrance to the artists' spirit realm.  Public art is different than wall art. It's goals are different. It combines the aesthetic with the conceptual aspects of art. Why "this," why "here"?

It's hard to find a good spot to work on a door-sized piece
when it's still freezing cold outside, much less a warm place for
it be while it dries.

Sometimes the reasons are obvious and sometimes they are not. Artists create to express themselves and interact with the world.

Doors let us in, and doors let us out, they separate us and protect
us. They are what we close when we want to hold ourselves appart
and they are what we open when we want to welcome people into
our  lives, our hearts, our homes and of course our studios.

The #GOSTDOORS project is a way for the Gardiner Open Studio Tour members to reach out into our local community to make our presence known, to say, "there are a lot of artists around here in our tiny town of Gardiner, this is special, the Shawangunks are special and it draws us here."

Artist couples.... There are several artist couples on the Tour. Their individual artistic
 voices are often startlingly divergent from each other. The GOSTDOORS as a series
reflects the wide variation in style and artistic influences of the members of the
Gardiner Open Studio Tour.

The #GOSTDOORS we are creating will soon find their way out of the garages and cellars and studios where they were made into the Gardiner/New Paltz area. We want to share with everyone our enthusiasm for art and our exuberance for creating it.

We hope you enjoy the results of the GOSTDOORS Project as much as we have had doing it.

Look for all the doors, photo them, Tweet them, Facebook them, they are meant to be shared. Pick up a Free Spring GOST 2015 Artist Guide and Tour Map at your local area stores and try matching the artist to the door. Some doors are sure to be easier to match with the artist than others.

Find them all. There will be 17.

Please feel free to hunt up our GARDINER OPEN STUDIO TOUR FaceBook page and leave us comments about the #GOSTDOORS Project.

We hope to see you all on the Tour.

    Jonathan Pazer

Chairman
Gardiner Open Studio Tour

Spring Tour - May 2nd & 3rd 2015. 

10am - 5pm

http://www.GOSTartists.org