Mayor Judy Valentine and former Mayor Nicholas Valentine celebrated both the Newburgh Brewing Company and Safe Harbors of the Hudson.

City of Newburgh Mayor Judy Kennedy and former Mayor Nicholas Valentine raised glasses of “Saison,” a local brew from the Newburgh Brewing Company, for a good cause Thursday evening.

The brewing company donated a keg of their “Saison” brew to The Wherehouse on Liberty Street and the proceeds from each draft poured that evening benefitted Safe Harbors of the Hudson.

The two mayors agreed they enjoyed a chance to taste the local brewery’s product and contribute to the work of the supportive housing organization at the same time.

Local union president Debby Szeredy and Chris White, from Cong. Hinchey's office, at one of several protests against the closing the Mid-Hudson facility.

By Nancy Peckenham

The U.S. Postal Service spared the Mid-Hudson Processing and Distribution Center from consolidating its operations with those of a center in Albany until at least 2014.  The center, which is based at Stewart Airport, was removed from the updated list of targeted mail distribution centers to be closed or consolidated that was released on Thursday afternoon.

More than 380 people work at the center.

Although the facility was not included on the list the USPS released today of processing and other USPS facilities slated for closure in 2013, the USPS said it will revisit the matter for 2014.

U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey, who has pushed for keeping the Newburgh-based facility open, welcomed the news.

“Not only does keeping this facility open continue to provide good-paying jobs that will help the area’s economy, it also ensures that the Hudson Valley has an effective mail delivery system,” Hinchey said.

Fire Chief Michael Vatter and Mayor Judy Kennedy talk about the Land Bank at a press conference on Thursday. Photo by Ann Kuzmik.

By Nancy Peckenham

The City of Newburgh got final approval today to form a land bank to redevelop its abandoned and vacant properties that have been foreclosed on.

Mayor Judy Kennedy held a press conference Thursday afternoon to announce that earlier in the day the Empire State Development, the state’s economic development arm, approved applications from Newburgh and four other communities to form the state’s first land banks. Legislation authorizing land banks was passed last year.

Land banks were also approved in Syracuse,  the Buffalo and Schenectady areas and Chautauqua County..

Mayor Kennedy was joined at the press conference by Fire Chief Michael Vatter, who serves as the Chairman of the Land Bank.  The newly-formed not-for-profit Land Bank is working closely with the Greater Newburgh Partnership, made up primarily of local business leaders, to restore buildings and streets in an area bounded to the north by South Street, to the west by Route 9W, to the south by Broadway, and to the east by the waterfront.  The City has committed to concentrate its police and code enforcement efforts in this target area to ensure the success of the Land Bank’s operations.

“I want to express my appreciation to Governor Cuomo and Empire State Development for their support and faith in our effort to revitalize and rebuild our neighborhoods and thereby improve the quality of life for our citizens, “ Mayor Kennedy said. “With this new structure, the Newburgh Community Land Bank is poised and ready to aggressively tackle the abandoned buildings and empty lots that have plagued this city for years.”

State Senator Bill Larkin and Assemblyman Frank Skartados also hailed the news.

The Off-Broadway Run on Sunday.

From Safe Harbors of the Hudson

Join Safe Harbors of the Hudson and sponsors Mountco, Saint Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, The Mid Hudson Times and HudsonValleyWeddings.com on Sunday, May 20th for the 6th Annual Off-Broadway Run. Enjoy a fun spring day of exercise, refreshments, prizes and the chance to raise money for a wonderful cause by completing the 5K Run or Kids Fun Run.

The 5K course boasts stunning views of the Hudson River and the famous architecture of Newburgh’s historic district. The 5K Run starts at 9:00 AM at the corner of Broadway and Grand Street, and ends at Safe Harbors of the Hudson at The Cornerstone Residence 111 Broadway. The Kids Fun Run starts immediately after the 5K Run.

Free t-shirts will go to the first 200 registrants and pre- and post-race refreshments will be provided. Race-day registration is from 8:00-8:45 am in the Ritz Theater Lobby at 107 Broadway. Entry fee for the 5K Run is $25, Students K-12 $10 and Kids Fun Run (only) is free.

Cash prizes will be given to the 1st place male and female runner in the 5K run. Prizes and certificates will be given to the 2nd and 3rd place male and female runners in the 5K. Ribbons will be given to every child participating in the Kids Fun Run. The top 3 male and female runners in each age division will receive recognition. The annual School Challenge will be held as well as a new Corporate Challenge. The school with the most registrations will receive a trophy and the corporate team with the most members (3 participants minimum) and fastest combined times will also receive a trophy. Horizons on the Hudson Magnet School has been the School Challenge winner for two years in a row.

The 5K course is USATF-certified and race times will be chip-timed by Fast Finishes.

Visit http://www.safe-harbors.org/2012/05/featuredgallery/safe-harbors-presents-the-6th-annual-off-broadway-run/ to download the Race Registration Form or the School Registration form.

For more information, please contact June Henley at jhenley@safe-harbors.org or (845) 562-6940 ext. 110.

Click here www.active.com to register

Ewelina Koszykowska's Fantasy #1 Again and Again, Oil on Canvas

From the Ann Street Gallery

The Ann Street Gallery opens a exhibition that promises to explore the cultural impact of Barbie, the perennially perfect doll, and what it says about gender in popular culture.

Gendered Object: Barbie as Art, invites everyone to a free reception with the artists on Saturday, May 19 from 6 – 9 pm.

It seems the entire world knows who Barbie is and in Gendered Object: Barbie as Art a group of contemporary artists embrace this plastic beauty, whose iconic pop culture image exerts a powerful influence on artistic and visual culture alike. Mass-produced objects like dolls can tell us much about the creation and significance of self-image in the context of group identities. Since the 1960’s and the advent of the “consumer society” the signs of playing with gender identity through styling and fashion have moved in from the margins to occupy a more mainstream position. This has since been expressed in popular culture by interest in androgyny, breaking conventional gender dress codes, and gender bending and body reconstruction.

The artists in Gendered Object: Barbie as Art address these issues within the environment of visually diverse exhibition that showcases mixed mediums whose work feature this potent pop cultural icon: Barbie, a merchandising phenomenon. The exhibition examines artists’ work that reconstructs and re-presents Barbie in a variety of ways that make an impact on our visual culture within the contexts of feminism, gay culture, gender issues, and the use of a commercial symbol and product for purposes of artistic expression. Here, Barbie the contradiction of a gendered object is showcased in works of art that include paintings, silkscreen, photography, drawings, sculpture, and video.

My Thoughts, by Patricia Anders will be in the Barbie show.

Originally, the Barbie doll was based on a German postwar pin-up named Lilli, created by Greiner & Hauser and designed as a pornographic caricature sold to adult men in tobacco shops. Later, when introduced to the American public, she became destined for young girls, not men. Barbie’s inception into the American market has elicited her fair share of mixed feelings about her image and ability to be a positive role model for young women. With her blonde hair, large breasts, tiny waist, and long legs, Barbie’s proportions have become cliché for an idealized and (anatomically incorrect) physically unattainable female body. She has been seen as the ultimate male fantasy, the embodiment of the American feminine ideal, and as a sex object icon feminists love to hate. However, Barbie has also provides an unprecedented example for female independence. She has been marketed as career oriented, unmarried, childless, and in a sense, an advocate and role model for the contemporary modern women; single, financially independent, educated, sophisticated, socially adapt and world traveler.

While many of the works in Gendered Object: Barbie as Art offer more diversity and alternate messages that accurately reflects society and the roles women play, they also explore the powerful hold Barbie has over the artist’s own psyche. This hold is investigated in the framework of the artist’s own personal relationship with the plastic female, using Barbie as an inspiring source of material within the context of fantasy settings and unlimited imagination. Not dissimilar to Barbie’s “Dream World” itself.

The exhibition is on view through Saturday, June 30, 2012. The exhibition was curated by Virginia Walsh, Director of the Ann Street Gallery.

The Ann Street Gallery is a nonprofit art gallery specializing in contemporary emerging and established artists. The gallery is located at 104 Ann Street in Newburgh, and viewing hours are Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 am-5:00 pm (closed for lunch 1:30-2:30 pm) and Friday and Saturday 11:00 am-5:00 pm

For more information regarding Gendered Object: Barbie as Art and the Ann Street Gallery, contact Virginia Walsh, Director at (845) 784-1146 or vwalsh@annstreetgallery.org, or visit www.annstreetgallery.org

Michelle Delaney, seen here holding a daguerreotype in her hands, will present a talk on 19th-century photography.

Hudson Valley photographic history will be brought to light this Sunday, when the Newburgh Historical Society presents a talk by a photography scholar who grew up in the area who will present historic photos from the Smithsonian’s national collection.

Michelle Anne Delaney lived in New Windsor, a town that included a 19th-century hamlet along Quassaick Creek  where America’s earliest type of photographic equipment was manufactored.  Daguerreville got its named from the big camera that produced the daguerretype photograph in the 1850s.  The factory owners there as well as patentees and early families identified with the excitement of this inventive process and were proud to call the place they lived and worked Daguerreville.

Cameras similar to this 1850 Daguerreotype were manufactured in the town of New Windsor.

Scholar Michelle Anne Delaney graduated from Newburgh Free Academy and then pursued a museum career at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As curator of the National Museum of American History’s photographic history collection, she was delighted to come upon aspects of her hometown’s past. Her particular research interest is the birth of color photography, a topic connected to this area by a rural Baptist pastor who, with his scientific wife, loved to dabble in the chemistry of early photography.

On Sunday, May 20th at 3 p.m., Ms. Delaney will present an illustrated lecture on the first photographers of the Hudson Valley and Catskill region showcasing rare images from the Smithsonian national collection. The event will take place at the Crawford House, 189 Montgomery Street. For further information, call 845-561-2585 or visit www.newburghhistoricalsociety.com.

Artists on Campus at Mount Saint Mary College.

Mount Saint Mary College’s campus will be hopping this Sunday when the public is invited to the 37th Annual Artists on Campus Outdoor Art Show and Sale, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  And while on campus, people are also welcomed to A Taste of Greater Newburgh, benefiting area community service agencies.  The event is sponsored by the Newburgh Rotary.

The Artists on Campus exhibit features 33 artists and will include original paintings, prints, drawings, photography and sculpture.  Held in conjunction with A Taste of Greater Newburgh, the two events will offer an array of art, music and food.
Admission is free to the art show. Admission to A Taste of Greater Newburgh, which runs from 12:30–2:30 pm, is $30. For more information, email fmccurdy@gtilite.com or call 845-561-1706.  The Mount campus is located at 330 Powell Avenue, Newburgh.

For information, visit www.artistsoncampus.org or by calling 845-569-3337.

Gaelen McCartney with some of his work on exhibit at NFA

From Kerry Butrick, Newburgh Enlarged City School District

Newburgh Free Academy senior Gaelen McCartney describes himself as an artist since birth.

“Ever since I can remember, my favorite past time has been creating. Whether it may be finding new paints, building an outdoor sculpture, or arranging an assortment of found materials, I was inspired to create as much as I could,” he explained.

A painting by Gaelen McCartney.

McCartney began art lessons in kindergarten as a student in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District. “From that day on, I was inspired to pursue my education in the arts,” said McCartney.

McCartney began taking classes outside of the traditional classroom as well, including the Barrett Art Center, the Wallkill River School and the Mill Street Loft Art Center.

Recently, the budding artist exhibited his work in a Newburgh Free Academy Gallery Series show, inviting friends, teachers and family members to come view his work, ranging from paintings and photography to ceramics.

McCartney will continue his education next year at the Tyler School of Art, at Temple University, in Philadelphia.

“I hope to someday spread my joy of art to the rest of the world; so they can one day enjoy it as much as I do,” he explained.

A multi-media piece by Gaelen McCarthy.

Newburgh Free Academy North Campus students commemorated the life of their beloved former teacher, Archie Reid, during “Fake-Mustache Friday.”

From Kerry Butrick, Newburgh Enlarged City School District

Recently, students at the Newburgh Free Academy North Campus held a special school-wide event, “Fake-Mustache Friday”, to honor former teacher Archie Reid.  The day, which brought smiles to students and teachers in the school, commemorated the life of their beloved former teacher.

Guidance Counselor Christine Harrold explained that although in the early stages, the students and staff would like to create a memorial bench area outside of the school in honor of Reid’s life and legacy.

NFA North Campus Guidance Counselor Christine Harrold poses with a student in the hallway during “Fake-Mustache Friday.”

Omari Shakur and Juanita King addressing the city council shortly before the Mayor shut down the proceeding.

By Nancy Peckenham

Newburgh Mayor Judy Kennedy shut down Monday’s city council meeting after activist Omari Shakur refused to stop speaking during the public comment session. Shakur, saying he was “on fire,”  tried to press the mayor to take more action to get an independent investigator to look into the killing of Michael Lembhard by police in March.

The governor’s office has denied an earlier request by city council for an independent investigation, citing the role of Orange County prosecutor Frank Philips as the lead investigator. Now a group of community activists from Shakur’s Nu-Voters Movement and Community Voices Heard want the mayor to write a letter renewing a call for a special investigation..

Mayor Kennedy told Newburgh Circle that she has spoken with Philips and that he says he is determined to be fair and to do what he believes is right. “I have made a personal phone call to the DA and I know that writing a letter doesn’t hold sway with anybody,” Mayor Kennedy said.

Juanita King, an aunt of Michael Lembhard, also spoke during the public comment session, when speakers are limited to three minutes. She asked for a letter from the mayor as well but she also spoke about how she and other family members had joined a cleanup of the city, an experience that she called beautiful. “We can stop killing children if we put a broom in their hands and teach them pride,” King said. “Take a gun out of their left hand and put a broom in their right.”