"Surface, Structure, String" Talk at Hudson Hall

June 27, 11am | Hudson, NY

Hudson Hall hosts an artist talk on June 27 in conjunction with "Surface, Structure, String: Hudson Valley Textile Art Now," the group exhibition curated by Richard Saja that's been on view since May 8. Saja will be in conversation with art critic Matt Moment and Stella Yoon, Executive Director of CREATE Council on the Arts, along with several of the exhibiting artists.

Saja, who lives in Catskill and is one of the region's most widely recognized textile artists, organized the show around the full breadth of textile practice happening across the Hudson Valley—hand-dyed fabrics, conceptual embroidery, fiber-based sculpture, and large-scale immersive installations.

The exhibition's stated aim is to honor longstanding craft traditions while making the case that contemporary textile work can be conceptually rigorous and socially engaged rather than purely decorative—a distinction that this show is explicitly pushing back against. Twenty-four artists are included, among them Portia Munson, Laleh Khorramian, and Melissa Dadourian.

The talk is timed to Upstate Art Weekend, which makes it a useful entry point for visitors encountering the exhibition for the first time, as well as a chance to hear directly from the people who made the work. The exhibition itself runs through July 12 and, for Upstate Art Weekend specifically, will expand to include wearable pieces by local designers Celestino Couture and Made X.

Hudson Hall, 327 Warren St., Hudson, NY. Free, reservations recommended at hudsonhall.org.