SPACE TO SPARE A plan view of the CAS building’s second floor has a large exhibition space on the street side, a multi-purpose space in back and a small gallery in between. Plan courtesy of CAS
Benefactor’s big donation restarts CAS expansion
Delayed 2nd floor upgrade now to begin
By Nicholas Warren | Manor Ink
Livingston Manor, NY – After delays due to the pandemic, the Catskill Art Society is now ready to move forward with its second floor expansion, and to make improvements to its Main Street location’s front facade, gallery windows and studio space.
NEW LOOK A rendering of the modified façade of the Catskill Art Society building after its planned expansion. CAS illustration
The building, which had been a movie theater until the 1970s, was purchased by CAS in 2008 and, according to Sally Wright, Executive Director, “CAS has always had aspirations to expand into the second floor.” The second floor expansion will add 2,000 square feet to the building and make its 4,000 square feet of open space the largest in the Manor.
Plans had been developed more than two years ago, but the project was put on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the state’s budget crisis, as Albany’s support for arts programs was suspended last year. This suspension included a state grant that Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther had helped procure to aid in the CAS construction. Recently, a loyal benefactor of CAS agreed to make a large donation to replace the state grant, enabling the project to proceed.
Sally Wright
“We are quite grateful for this momentous gift that allows us now to move forward,” Wright said.
The new second floor will contain a large gallery/exhibit space in the front and a multi-purpose room in the back for lectures, film showings, and music and dance performances. The expectation is that CAS will be closed for eight months during the construction. The architects for the project are Brooklyn-based Bade Stageberg Cox, and Woodchips Construction of Pine Bush will be the contractor.
While the CAS building is closed, the Laundry King at 65 Main Street will be used for administrative offices and small exhibits and programs. Wright conducted the interview with Manor Ink “from a back closet that is now my office” in the space. For this year, CAS plans to sponsor outdoor exhibitions, including the commissioning of another sculpture for the Farmer’s Market area on Main Street. Its initial installation was a piece by artist Matthias Neumann, erected behind the market space in June 2020. The Laundry King will also feature an exhibition by Nancy Bowen in the spring, followed by a mult-artist show later in the year.
By the end of 2021, Wright hopes to be able to reopen the CAS building to the public. The reopening is expected to feature a major exhibition in the new gallery of the works of James Terrell, a well-respected artist known internationally for his large scale works often involving light show projections.