I'm not very proficient when it comes to using technology in my work or personal life.
However, I've recently been keeping track of my schedule on iCal, the calendar program on my iMac at work. There's a different color for each kind of thing I do _ green for regular work assignments: programs, workshops, meetings, gallery openings; purple for all the events that the Decentralization Program funds; orange for Writers' in the Mountains events (I'm president of this organization that provides writing workshops, readings, and talks by authors and publishing professionals); and blue for those few things that I choose to call "personal" and that sometimes run to more exciting occasions than "Daily Star Deadline" and various doctors' appointments, like the performance by VOCO at the West Kortright Center on July 26 and Ladysmith Black Mombazo at Belleayre on Aug. 1.
Many days contain every color of this personal rainbow and, depending on the day, can induce joy and eager anticipation or that sinking feeling of too much to do with too little time in which to get it all accomplished. And, of course, the colors I've chosen for many events could be changed easily. When I go to hear Helen Avakian and Terry Champlain perform in Ballentine Park in Andes on Saturday, will I be auditing an event funded by Decentralization (purple), scouting for a possible program for an upcoming season at Roxbury Arts Group (green), or just going to hear the kind of music I love in a beautiful outdoor venue (blue)?
Those of us who have moved here from more-urban and bustling areas share stories about friends left behind who ask us, "But what do you do with yourself up there?" We sometimes think about moving back to the city for a good rest.
I'm taking it as a personal affront that, as I write this, Memorial Day weekend has nearly arrived a full week ahead of when it was expected, like an invited guest that gets the dates wrong. So already there are more street fairs, auctions, gallery receptions and yard sales than we're ready for.
But as amusing as it is when our city friends imagine us in a cultural wasteland, it's really surprising how much goes on that even we don't know about. I remember a few years ago at a gathering of the weekly roundtable discussion group in Andes, a newcomer who had arrived with the idea of bringing classical music to the benighted sticks bemoaned the fact that there was no serious music in the area. "What about the Honest Brook concert series?" I asked. Michael Cannon brings highly professional chamber music to Delhi year-round. What about The Denver Valley Music Festival in The Old School Baptist Church with its excellent summer series? (That venue is now being operated by The Roxbury Arts Group). What about The Little Delaware Chamber Ensemble, which at the time was presenting concerts all over the area? What about Friends of Music in Stamford, which has one of the most pleasant venues for chamber concerts in the area?
Well, this gentleman hadn't heard of any of these groups and was probably right that at that time there was no classical music on a regular basis in Andes, which was unfortunate but not an indication of a general dearth of good music.
In fact, it's exciting to me that so many people arrive here eager to add to the mix. I sometimes think of it as the "I've got a barn, why not start a theater, or a gallery, or a multi-arts center" syndrome. There's something about having a great space and wanting to fill it with an audience. Against all odds, we want to produce "art." And so, every year there are new offerings _ some succeed, others drop away, but the concerts, openings, performances persist. Yesterday, an impromptu budget meeting kept me from attending the performance of a group of Andes Central School students who had written a song in a three-session workshop taught by Elly Wininger, a local singer/songwriter. Will one of those kids be headlining at a concert at Foothills some day?
RAG took over the Performance Plus coffeehouse space in Stamford about a year ago. Renamed 76 MAIN! and glammed up with a sophisticated color scheme and modern-but-comfortable seating, it has, under Director Maggie Cullen, quickly attracted a committed group of aspiring writers who compete for a spot on the schedule on the first Monday of every month to read new work and to get guided critiquing from an eager audience. There are youth jams under the auspices of the Community Music and Art Network, comedy nights, playwriting and acting workshops, and a rotating roster of talent from the hilarious Mikail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine to local song stylist Peter Jacobs and the fabulous Mettawee River Company performing on the lawn of the Cyr Center. Last Halloween, 76 MAIN! organized a revived evening of fun and revelry for all ages, a new/old tradition that promises to get better every year. There are plans to again use one of the area's most successful conversions of a barn to performance space in the area, thanks to Chris and Bill Hauser, who had that dream when they came to Stamford many years ago.
The other day, RAG hosted a meeting of rural arts organizations sponsored by New York State Arts. It was a lively and informal discussion of strategies to survive in these awful economic times. From Foothills in Oneonta, which is in the middle of building a huge facility, to Writers in the Mountains, which has no office of its own, what was most clear was that in spite of various cost-cutting ideas, no organization was thinking of giving up. So it would seem that my rainbow calendar will continue to glow with new events, new venues, talents and excitement, whatever the color.
For more information on local arts groups and events, see 76 MAIN! at roxburyartsgroup.org; West Kortright Center at westkc.org; Friends of Music in Stamford at friendsofmusic.org; Honest Brook Music Festival at hbmf.org and Belleayre Music Festival at
belleayremusic.org.
Ann Epner is program director at The Roxbury Arts Group and coordinator of the Community Arts Funding Program in Delaware County.
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