A Whale Of A Reception At Basilica Hudson

Lisa Green reports from Hudson. The BUMP exhibit at Basilica Hudson promised whale bones you can touch, and there they were, suspended at eye level and just daring you to set them in motion. The exhibit opened with a reception on Saturday, August 23, and while guests early on stood on the periphery as if afraid to touch, they were encouraged by the creators, Dan and Frank DenDanto, to enter the galaxy of gently swaying skeleton parts culled from three different whales. Melissa Auf der Maur, Basilica’s owner and creative director, opened a presentation that added dimension to the exhibit’s significance. Speakers included Nick Zachos of the Hudson Sloop Club, who talked about the organization’s goal of bringing the Hudson River back into the daily lives of the community; Ina Guilzon, an educator from the Columbia County Historical Society, who spoke about Hudson’s history as a whaling port; and the DenDanto brothers, who recounted the genesis of BUMP. Shown above, Dan DenDanto, the whale biologist, and Frank DenDanto, the set and lighting designer, flank the scull of a minke whale.

Basilica Hudson's co-founder and creative director, Melissa Auf der Maur, with daughter, River; Photographer Andi State, Masha Schmidt, an acupuncturist with the Hudson Wellness Collective, and her daughter, Isa Schmidt.

David William Voorhees, an historian of the Dutch in America, and Nancy Barber Stone of New York and Hudson; Donna Barrett, who teaches belly dancing at the Hudson Valley Academy of Performing Arts, and Bill Barrett, a Film Columbia Festival board member.

Seth Zimmerman of New York and Nora Segar of New Haven; Ina Guilzon, a museum teacher, and Diane Shewchuk, executive director and curator of the Columbia County Historical Society.