The Columbia County Council on the Arts is at it again. Not content with long ago having won our hearts and minds, they now appear to be after our stomachs, as well. On Saturday, March 1, they will celebrate their 13th Annual Juried Art Show with a gala opening and awards presentation from 6 - 8 at the Hudson Opera House, 327 Warren Street. That event, the evening's indisputable highlight, will be sandwiched, so to speak, between two other activities. Prior to the opening, each ticket holder is invited for drinks and appetizers from 5:30 - 6:30 at a participating Hudson restaurant—CaMea, DABA, Mexican Radio, Swoon, Vico, or The Red Dot (the restaurants will be assigned). Then, at the conclusion of the Opera House reception and awards presentation, ticket holders will repair yet again to another assigned restaurant, this time for dinner, including drinks, an entree, and dessert. At each restaurant at least one of the Juried Show artists and a member of the CCCA board will be on hand to meet and greet. The eating-and-drinking component of the evening is being billed as the First Hudson Dinearound, on the safe assumption that everyone is going to want to do it again next year. Due to a record number of submissions this year, juror Thomas Erben of the Thomas Erben Gallery in Manhattan, has elected to mount a second show, Juried Art Show Too, at the CCCA Gallery, 209 Warren Street, featuring smaller works by the accepted artists. Simultaneously, the First Saturdays Gallery Crawl will take place. More than twenty Hudson galleries along Warren Street and beyond will remain open until 8 pm, as they do on the first Saturday of every month--no admission or tickets required. For reservations and information on the juried show, visit The Columbia County Council on the Arts website, email info@artscolumbia.org or call 518.671.6213.
