HVCCA: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art

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Open on Saturdays & Sundays
12 - 6PM and by appointment

Tours available upon request

1701 Main Street
PO Box 209
Peekskill, NY 10566

tel: 914.788.0100
fax: 914.788.4531

email: info@hvcca.org

HVCCA exhibitions and programs are generously supported by:

SPECIAL EVENTS

Art as an Impetus for Successful Re-Development

On Friday, October 5th at 6 pm, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art presents a panel discussion on the topic of Art as an Impetus for Successful Re-Development. Speakers on the panel include Maider Bilbao Echeverria (HVCCA's Summer '07 Artist-In-Residence), Linda Lees (Founder of Creative Cities International), and Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz (Art Consultant & Director of Works of Art for Public Spaces).

Guggenheim Bilbao in Bilbao, Spain
Photo: Ana Belen

Since the clean up of the Hudson River began in earnest some years ago, many river towns have struggled with regaining economic stability. Areas dependent on forms of production that were not considered environmentally hostile closed, creating pockets of unemployment and resultant urban blight. Artists have historically moved into struggling areas as affordable economic sites. They have beautified locations left abandoned by others, creating communities that are exemplars of the potential of rejuvenation. Many towns and communities along the Hudson River can be seen as case studies for the successes and failures of this transformative trend. Urban centers from Chelsea to Yonkers, Ossining, Peekskill, Haverstraw, Tarrytown, Beacon, Poughkeepsie and Hudson, to name just a few, are experiencing a revival through envisioning their communities as artists' havens and locations for museums and arts organizations.

The city of Bilbao in the Basque area of Spain will be discussed as a model that has experienced enormous economic and community revitalization (now commonly referred to as the "Bilbao Effect") through the arts and, in particular, the establishment of the Guggenheim Bilbao, a museum complex that is a locus for international tourism.

The panel discussion on October 5th offers a public forum for those who have been or wish to be part of this vision of rebuilding community through the arts. Bringing diverse international perspectives, the speakers address the challenges facing redevelopment through the arts, whether in the US or elsewhere in the world. Attendees are encouraged to prepare comments in advance and participate in a dialogue.

Featured Speakers
Maider Bilbao Echeverria, HVCCA 2007 artist-in-residence
Maider Bilbao Echeverria received a Fine Arts degree from the University of the Basque Country in 2001. Her coursework was reinforced by a doctoral course and several artistic workshops. In 2001, she received the Erasmus Grant from the Faculty of Art, Media and Design at the University of Bristol in West England. She also received a New Technologies Grant in 2004 from the Bilbao Art Foundation, which funds new artistic production by emerging talents.

Linda Lees, founder of Creative Cities International (CCI), a consultancy based in New York and London, which brings together the best and brightest from around the world in customized teams to focus on solutions for cities. Through various consultancy services it adapts lessons learned globally to local projects and urban planning issues. Previously, Linda has held posts with the British Council and the Smithsonian Institution. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz is a curator, lecturer and public art consultant with extensive experience working with museums, municipalities, and the commercial sector. She has a unique concentration in public art policy, contemporary art for architecture and landscape, and implementation of civic arts master plans. Her goal is to integrate permanent and temporary public art into the broader concepts of urban revitalization, landscape and the environment and implement cultural planning.

Cost
HVCCA Members: $7.50
Non-Members: $10.00
Students: $5.00

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