The Rural We: Joanna Hess

Joanna Hess is the director of Art Studio Views, a free, self-guided tour of artists’ studios in northern Dutchess and southern Columbia counties happening over Labor Day weekend. This is its 12th event and over the years it has expanded from 12 artists to 33. A practicing artist herself, Hess admits that she gets as much satisfaction in organizing people, promoting artists and getting information out to the community as she does creating art. She’s done plenty of all of that, as she explains.

I grew up in central New Jersey, just a bus ride away from New York City, and went to Pratt Institute. My roommate grew up in Rhinebeck and, on weekends, I would come up to the area with her. I grew to love the beauty of the Hudson Valley, and made a lot of friends. When I graduated — 43 years ago — it was the logical place to move.

I’d studied graphic and book design at Pratt, and had great visions of being a freelancer and having free time to enjoy my life and paint, but that’s not how it worked. Every Monday I would call the studios and ask if there was any work for me. It involved a lot of hustling. In 1978 I joined a government program, CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act), a training program like the WPA. It employed young people in the arts. I was hired to direct an art studio that made murals to decorate playground materials, and we built a park in Poughkeepsie. Groups in the community participated in making the structures, and that was the beginning of my involvement in community, and realizing how powerful community art can be. I worked about five years on this and other playground projects.

I also got involved in Sinterklaas and started an artists group. But I realized I needed a regular job with benefits, so I went back to grad school and became an elementary education teacher. I taught for 19 years and included art in all aspects of the classroom. During that time my husband opened our art gallery, Albert Shahinian Fine Art. We’ve been in business for 21 years, the last 9 in Rhinebeck.

I’ve been the director of Art Studio Views since its fourth year. It’s just grown by leaps and bounds. Since its inception in 2008, over 300 local artists have opened their studio spaces. We had a full roster of artists who wanted to join back in January, plus a waiting list. We include a variety of media — painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography and glass.  The tour covers a 45-mile range from the southern to the northern tip. This year I had to revise the map to make it bigger.

We get about 400 to 500 people that come out each year — a lot of day trippers, a lot of people who come because it’s Labor Day weekend. Before you start the tour, I encourage people to go to our website or get a brochure, or check out the sample show at the Betsy Jacaruso Gallery in Rhinebeck. We have restaurants that sponsor the tour, and lots of local businesses are also sponsors, which proves how much they believe in community and supporting the arts.

Art Studio Views runs Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept. 1 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and features studios in Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Tivoli and Germantown.