Fiona Breslin reports from Wassaic. On most nights, all you can hear in this quiet hamlet of Wasssaic is the Metro-North train whistling by. But over the weekend of August 3 - 5, the joint was jumping with energy and music as more than 100 young artists from around the world, plus more than 25 bands, dancers, and other creatives joined visitors and locals to participate in the Wassiac Project’s 5th annual summer festival, the largest to date. The festival featured a thrilling mixture of art, films, workshops, lectures, and performances, as well as fresh eats, artisan brews, and other locavore food. Guests stayed late or camped out for Saturday night’s closing concert overlooking the mountains. In the midst of the stimulating array of activities, there was still the opportunity to meet participating artists (including Wassaic Project co-directors Eve Biddle, Jeff Barnett-Winsby, and music program director Scott Anderson, pictured above) and interact on a personal level, fulfilling the festival’s mission for artists from varying disciplines to cross paths. As evening set in, attendees near the entrance could hear the familiar sound of an approaching train, a reminder that the magic of Wassaic Project was taking place not in a far-off land but, rather, in our own neck of the woods.
Kate Osborn and Stina Poutinen; Nora Clancy, Annie Powers, and Legacy Russell.
Musicians Soumya Chatterjee, Deep Singh, and Gaurav Shah, who performed during the festival with their band Falu; Wassiac Project alumni resident Clare Parry with jewelry designer Erica Weiner.
The Lantern Inn woodfire pizza crew.
Linda Lauro-Lazin with resident artist Emma Alshawaf and Qian Zhang; Christine Lee, musician Peter Segerstrom, and Adam Delehanty.
Dancers Preach, Whitney Hunter, and Lenora Pace, who performed during the festival, with Ken Marcelle (second from right); Sarika Mehta and Seema Shah cool off in the shade.
The festival website asked attendees to leave the dogs at home, but nobody seemed to mind when many of man's best friends showed up; Laura Nesson plays dominoes in The Maxon Mills.
Patrick Goupit, Martha Goupit, Karen Burch, and Steve Lipke examine work by Mexican artist Moza Saracho; participating artist Jing Yu wears a Miss Wassaic pageant sash of her own design.
Writer Shimon Schwarzschild enjoys an refreshing icy from Back in the Kitchen restaurant and cafe; Brooklyn-based artists Jeannine Han and Dan Riley paint and sell artwork outside The Luther Barn.
David Diamond, Olana board member Karen Zukowski, and Vivien Collens; artist Maré Hieronimus, who performed during the festival, with her sister Anna Hieronimus.
Ashley Ruprecht, musician Beatie Wolfe, who performed during the festival, and Wassaic Project volunteer artist Jeila Gueramian.
Wassiac Project co-director Bowie Barnett-Zunino with daughter Gilvey; artists Katherine Behar, Amanda Tiller, Karen Flatow, and Mollie Roth.
Julian Harrison, Marble Valley Farm's Mike Dyer, Terrence Hubbard, and Rebecca Manski; Eddie Burch with Dara Barr, whose cup reads 'Everything you do is beautiful and perfect.'
Before sunset, the scene at Wassaic Project and bucolic hills beyond.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
