The Contemporary Art Salon began in 2006 as a community group of artists who came together to engage, support and promote the arts in the Hudson Valley, New York and beyond. Known then, as the Beacon Art Salon (BAS), it comprised a group of contemporary artists and art educators who moved to the burgeoning artist town of Beacon, NY to make a new life for ourselves and connect with other artists who wanted to provide opportunities for the community to see and interact with us and our work.
As an arts group, our reputation within the region was unique: We had a commitment to free membership which created an eclectic mix of both established and emerging artist members; and an ability, due to the initiative and determination of an inner core of key members, to “Go BIG and get things done.” In the five years of its existence, BAS produced everything from group art exhibitions to public film screenings and the first city-wide open studios event. But that's not all...
As an arts group, our reputation within the region was unique: We had a commitment to free membership which created an eclectic mix of both established and emerging artist members; and an ability, due to the initiative and determination of an inner core of key members, to “Go BIG and get things done.” In the five years of its existence, BAS produced everything from group art exhibitions to public film screenings and the first city-wide open studios event. But that's not all...
Past Events
Our summer and winter open studios events in 2007 made never before connections between other artist groups and studios and brought the community into artist homes as well as studio spaces. We also highlighted Rick Price's first mural project at the Howland Public Library.
We held the Beacon Film Flam, an arts-film-puppet village by day and an outdoor evening film festival by night which was co-sponsored by . Headlined by a world premiere screening of the moving collage film "The Story Is Happening" by Sabrina Ward Harrison, we also featured Newport Beach Film Festival's Best Youth Film winner "My Best Friend" and the Columbia University Film Festival's Audience Award-winner "The Workout," in addition to more than a dozen short films.
We published a collection of work by a few of our members called Beacon Soul which is sold at the world renowned modern and contemporary art museum Dia:Beacon. This limited edition 38 page full color catalogue features artwork by 18 artists along with their writings about Beacon, with a forward by City of Beacon Mayor Steve Gold.
Click on the image of the book for online purchase.
The Audrey Chibbaro Youth in Arts Scholarship Fund was established by the Beacon Art Salon through the proceeds and sales of the late Audrey Chibbaro's artwork and a book of her drawings called "Audrey Chibbaro Lived Here" edited by BAS founder Lovely Shanti Kelly. This fund was designated to be given to Beacon High School students and the artist Rick Price who worked in collaboration with Beacon High School Art Department Coordinator, Claudine Farley-Davis, and a set of ten high school students to create a mural for the community of Beacon, NY.
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Click on the image of the book for online purchase and preview.
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Our last event held in Beacon had both contemporary arts and learning at its core. The Contemporary Artists on Contemporary Art series took place over the course of ten months from the fall of 2010 through the summer of 2011. Each month artists lead fellow artists in discussions about their work, their process and their views on issues in contemporary art. These events were open to the public who were allowed to participate in the dialogues.
As part of this series, BAS sponsored three special art events held at Dia:Beacon which included two film screenings and TASK, an art improvisation experience which featured artist Oliver Herring. Below are some images, and short videos from the series.
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Check out and download the FREE podcast of our last dialogue session featured on this contemporary art radio show. Show #26 on iTunes or visit: Dead Hare Radio
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Today, the Contemporary Art Salon has become a virtual group who connects and engages about our practice, process and pedagogy as artists and art educators online via our facebook group. What began with a dozen artists at a coffee house in a small town, has grown into an international group of colleagues with over 200 members. What remains is that same belief that we can create something, like FLAM Conferences, that is alternative, accessible and doesn't follow all the rules and we simply "get it done". We hope you'll join us.