VISIT WITH SANTA—3-5 p.m. Visit with Santa in Cooperstown to tell him all about your Christmas wishlist. Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown.
If you take a stroll down Main Street in Cooperstown, and you happen to hear what sounds like live music coming from somewhere, be sure to make your way to Pioneer Park at the intersection of Main and Pioneer streets. Local musicians have been known to set up and play just for the fun of it.
On Monday, August 1, we caught Tim and Friends playing a few of your favorite tunes, including covers of the Beatles, R.E.M., Sting, Grateful Dead and others.
All concerts are free. Musicians who would like to perform are invited to notify the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce to be added to the schedule. Visit the chamber’s website at wearecooperstown.com to sign up, to learn when the next Music on Main is scheduled, and for other Otsego County events.
Fenimore Art Museum ‘draws from life’ with Wyeth exhibition
There’s a striking mural on display in Cooperstown’s Pioneer Park at the intersection of Main and Pioneer streets – the triptych tips its hat to Fenimore Art Museum’s summer exhibition Drawn from Life: Three Generations of Wyeth Figure Studies. Muralist Josh Sarantitis turned to young local artists to help with the underpainting, a fitting nod to a stirring installation that, as Fenimore says, provides a snapshot of N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth “as young artists” mastering their figure studies.
“This exhibit is a window into the evolution of who these artists were as young men,” said curator Victoria Wyeth, granddaughter of Andrew Wyeth. “You can’t have ‘The Helga Pictures’ or ‘Treasure Island’ without these early sketches.”
The ‘Helga’ in question, of course, is the model for what is perhaps Andrew Wyeth’s best-known work – more than 240 paintings and drawings shown in the National Gallery of Art. ‘Treasure Island’ refers to the masterpiece N.C. Wyeth – Andrew’s father – created for the cover of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Jamie Wyeth – Andrew’s son – carried on the family’s fine art and figure study traditions.
“We have three generations of Wyeth figure studies on display at Fenimore this summer,” Ms. Wyeth said in a conversation with The Freeman’s Journal / Hometown Oneonta. “It’s not your typical Andrew Wyeth exhibition, but these are the basic anatomical sketches and work-ups that led to the great work we all recognize.”
This week’s edition goes to press as Santa Claus makes his final preparations for his Christmas Eve trip around the globe, but for the last four decades, he’s had a wonderful place to call home in his visits to Cooperstown.
The 2021 Christmas season marks the fortieth anniversary of the village’s one-of-a-kind Christmas Cottage, located each year in Pioneer Park. That the Cottage still looks brand-new is testimony to its design and construction — not to mention the TLC the Village and the Cooperstown Community Christmas Committee devotes to the structure.
HOLIDAY STORIES – 7 p.m. Get online for some holiday stories, songs, poems and much more performed by the board of directors of Bigger Dreams Productions. Premiering on YouTube. Just search for the Bigger Dreams Productions YouTube page to enjoy this holiday gift to the community. Visit www.biggerdreamsproductions.org
SANTA – 4 – 6 p.m. Bring the kids and furry friends to visit with Santa and get some adorable holiday pictures with the pets. Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown.
WINTER SOLSTICE – The shortest day of the year.
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS – 5 10 p.m. Drive through a winter wonderland featuring light displays created by local businesses, individuals, and organizations. Admission is Free. Neahwa Park, Oneonta. Visit www.facebook.com/FNOneonta
CHRISTMAS CAROL – 3 p.m. Enjoy the annual performance of Christmas classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ following the journey of Ebenezer Scrooge one Christmas Eve to discover the error of his greedy ways and discover the meaning of Christmas. Masks, proof of vaccination required. Cost, $15/adult. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1450 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org/event/charles-dickens-a-christmas-carol/2021-12-16/
HOLIDAY TOUR – 3 – 8 p.m. Tour the historic village by lantern. See it dressed in its winter finery, learn about winter celebration including Christmas and how they were celebrated in Upstate New York in years past. Cost, $20/adult. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1450 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org/event/holiday-lantern-tours/2021-12-03/
HOLIDAY TOUR – 3 – 8 p.m. Tour the historic village by lantern. See it dressed in its winter finery, learn about winter celebration including Christmas and how they were celebrated in Upstate New York in years past. Cost, $20/adult. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1450 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org/event/holiday-lantern-tours/2021-12-03/
CHRISTMAS – Be an Angel. Sign up to give the gift of Christmas to local families in need with this years Angel Tree Program. Visit www.allotsego.com/angel-tree-program/ for details.
HOLIDAY TOUR – 3 – 8 p.m. Tour the historic village by lantern. See it dressed in its winter finery, learn about winter celebration including Christmas and how they were celebrated in Upstate New York in years past. Cost, $20/adult. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1450 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org/event/holiday-lantern-tours/2021-12-03/
CHRISTMAS – Be an Angel. Sign up to give the gift of Christmas to local families in need with this years Angel Tree Program. Visit www.allotsego.com/angel-tree-program/ for details.
FUNDRAISER – 8:30 – 10 a.m. Spin to support the Cooperstown Food Pantry. Sign up online with a minimum donation of $10 to go to the pantry. Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown. 607-547-2800 or visit www.facebook.com/clarksportscenter
SANTA ARRIVES – 5 p.m. Bring the friends and kids to greet Santa as he arrives at his cottage. Refreshments and music will be available. Please wear a mask to visit Santa’s cottage. Pioneer Park, Cooperstown.
CHRISTMAS – Be an Angel. Sign up to give the gift of Christmas to local families in need with this years Angel Tree Program. Visit www.allotsego.com/angel-tree-program/ for details.
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
A few years ago, Angel Garcia had just completed what he described as an anti-racism mural, “balanced with positive imagery,” at New York City’s Dual Language Middle School on West 77th Street.
“The theme idea was to create a mural that would explore the topic of racism – and healing,” said the Brooklyn artist, who will be creating a mural in Pioneer Park this summer in connection with the Keith Haring exhibit that opens May 29, Memorial Day Weekend, at The Fenimore Art Museum.
He was leaving the school soon after it was completed, and there, in front of the mural, “was one student explaining the imagery to another. They were using the mural to educate each other.
“It was beautiful moment,” said Garcia, now 29, a prolific artist whose opus to date includes 10 public murals in New York City and many individual canvases.
The Fenimore’s president, Paul D’Ambrosio, said the idea of commissioning a mural downtown in connection with muralist Haring’s exhibit came out of staff brainstorming during the grant application process.
“Everybody loved the idea,” he said. “We couldn’t put the (Haring) artwork downtown. But we could create one.”
A wooden wall will be built in Pioneer Park’s left-hand corner. After the Haring exhibit closes, the mural will become part of The Fenimore’s permanent collection, D’Ambrosio said.