Upstate Art Weekend (UPAW) returns for its fourth edition July 21–24, with events and exhibitions across New York’s Hudson Valley, from KinoSaito in Westchester to Ellsworth Kelly’s studio, just south of Albany.

“It’s impossible to do everything,” founder Helen Toomer said. “This event was created to shine a light on the incredible organizations in the region and to solidify lasting connections with those visiting to come back.”

UPAW debuted with just 23 participants in 2020. This year, 60 new galleries, collectives, and institutions joined the event, boosting the total participants to 130.

Chris Bogia, “Candle, 2022 installed outside of Foreland in Catskill, NY, where NADA will host their third-annual Upstate Art Weekend event this weekend. Courtesy of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND

The latest edition to this year’s lineup is Archipelago, in Germantown. An “arts-and-research institute devoted to spirituality, thinking, and healing,” Mendes Wood DM soft launched Archipelago last fall with an exhibition it put together with the help of Los Angeles-based Blum & Poe.

“It’s non-commercial and operates under a planned but informal vision of a dispersed network of small centers for thought and art practice,” said Matthew Wood, a founding partner at Medes Wood DM. Argentinian painter Santiago de Paoli’s show “Cheese Moon Nights” opened at Archipelago June 24, and will be up through August 27. UPAW is the space’s hard launch, and it will be open all weekend.

Magazzino Italian Art will host UPAW’s private kickoff party Friday evening concurrent with their new show celebrating Michelangelo Pistoletto’s 90th birthday. By then though, the festivities will be well underway. Kathy Ruttenberg—the painter turned ceramic sculptor who has transformed the courtyard at Lyles & King into a fantasyland with her work, up through September 16—will open the church-turned-gallery on her Bearsville property for the weekend, starting Friday. Attendees can honor the original stewards of upstate’s natural beauty at Art Omi’s free Hudson Valley Intertribal Noise Symposium & Book Release that night.

Kite and Nathan Young for the Hudson Intertribal Noise Symposium. Courtesy of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND. 2023 © Steve Boyle

On Saturday, Art Omi is also presenting Pippa Garner’s functional sculpture Haulin’ Ass, which will drive nuts-first across their grounds as part of Garner’s larger show.

Meanwhile, UPAW revelers can only catch Michael Snow’s show at Jack Shainman’s The School in Kinderhook on Saturday. They’re screening a film by Snow, after which gallery staff will lead a tour. Elsewhere on Saturday, the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz will assemble a time capsule, multi-city gallery Good Naked will unveil their two-day pop-up show “FEEDER” in Catskill, and MOTHER will host the “Almost Closing” party for their group show on view in Beacon.

Paul Anagnostopoulos, “Follow You Until the Sun,” 2022. On view at Geary. Courtesy of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND

Most happenings, however, will unfold over the whole weekend. Geary will close out their sprawling group show around consciousness, curated by Tara Foley of the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum. It’s also the last weekend for international artist Katharina Arndt’s debut U.S. exhibition at Mott Projects. The Barn on Berme will present a four-day site-specific exhibition featuring sound baths, drawing, and more. NADA Foreland will return, ticketed this time, with 40 exhibitors. They’ll also host a concert by Catskill-based band Camp Saint Helene Saturday night, followed by a set from Swiss singer DJ Bobo.

Unlike in the rest of the art world, arriving on time is too late for UPAW. Though billed as running through Monday, UPAW starts closing up shop on Sunday, when attendees can peruse open studios at Toomer’s Stoneleaf Retreat in the afternoon, attend a workshop by Fern T. Apfel around her show at the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, and enjoy a concert by Amanda Palmer and Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen to support abortion access. Fortunately, from Kinderhook’s galleries to institutions like Dia and Storm King down the Valley, upstate’s greatest treasures are open all summer. Happy planning.

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