Introducing our first-ever Winter Series!
- Friends of Clermont
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 14 minutes ago
This winter, we’re excited to partner with the Germantown Library and launch a brand-new series designed to bring our community together during the colder months. Join us for engaging book talks and author signings, along with a hands-on creative workshop where you’ll learn to make art using tea bags.
Whether you’re looking to learn something new, meet fellow history and arts enthusiasts, or simply get out of the house on a winter afternoon, our Winter Series has something for everyone. We can’t wait to see you there!
Thank you to the Germantown Library for partnering with us for our Winter Series.
Featuring
Author Talk with Michel Arnaud & Jane Creech
Saturday, January 24
Germantown Library - Hover Room, Lower Level
2-3 p.m.
Free
Join us for an author talk and book signing with Michel Arnaud and Jane Creech, authors of Upstate Now: Art, Design, and Rural Life in the Hudson Valley and Catskills.
A gorgeous coffee table book rich with photographs and stories about place, community, and living a creative life in the singular world of New York's Hudson Valley.
Today, the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains are home not only to once-harried Brooklynites adapting to small-town living or West Coasters living a Hollywood version of American country life but also to locals who grew up in the region and are committed to new ventures. Each demographic and generation—from Baby Boomers to Millennials and Gen Xers—brings its own perspective, redefining old ideas and creating exciting new spaces, lifestyles, and destinations.
Upstate Now offers an immersive snapshot of the people living in and their impact on this historic and enchantingly beautiful region, exploring:
Cultural institutions, including The Iroquois Museum and the Shaker Settlement
Art destinations such as Private Public Gallery in Hudson and the sprawling non-profit Art Omi center
Designers and design landmarks, including the Deer Mountain Inn and architect Steven Holl's Space for art, music, and performance
Daily pleasures in food, flowers, and farms at places like Silver Brothers Distillery and the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market
While some of the region's architecture dates to early American history, new designs range from restorations and renovations to modernizations and innovations. What links them all is an appreciation of the natural beauty and resources of the surroundings. Upstate Now interweaves short reports with full feature-length stories, all beautifully photographed by the author.
Michel Arnaud is an internationally recognized photographer whose work has appeared in publications such as Vogue, House & Garden, Architectural Digest, and Harper's Bazaar. He is the principal photographer of more than twenty design and lifestyle books, as well as the author of Detroit: The Dream Is Now and Cool Is Everywhere: New and Adaptive Design Across America. He and his family live in Upstate New York.
Jane Creech is an agent, artist, editor, and writer living in upstate New York with her husband and son. Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, she attended the Rhode Island School of Design, then moved to New York City, where she lived for almost thirty years. In 1999, she began an over twenty-five-year career in publishing.
Painting Tea Bags with Ruby Silvious
Saturday, February 28
Germantown Library - Maker Space, Lower Level
2-4 p.m.
Friends of Clermont Members: $40; Non-members: $50
Create miniature paintings on empty used tea bags, using watercolor and gouache. All supplies included!
Plus, enjoy light refreshments, including Harney & Sons teas. Bring your imagination and come impress yourself!
Ruby Silvious is internationally recognized for her innovative approach to art, which uses everyday materials as her canvas. She gained recognition for her 363 Days of Tea project, where she transformed emptied-out tea bags into miniature works of art for 363 consecutive days. Ruby has written two books: 363 Days of Tea: A Visual Journal on Used Teabags (Mascot Books, 2016), and Reclaimed Canvas: Reimagining the Familiar (Mascot Books, 2019), showcasing her artistic journey and exquisite use of common materials as art. She has explored commonplace items such as eggshells, leaves, wine corks, vintage envelopes, paper bags, and most recently paper receipts as canvases for her paintings and collages. Ruby wants viewers to keep an open mind and think beyond the boundaries of what they may consider traditional art.
Her artwork, including her tea bag paintings inspired by her travels around the world, has been featured in numerous publications including CNN Travel, Vogue Italia, Cosmopolitan China, Disney Malaysia, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, North American Review, National Geographic Kids, Good Morning America/ABC News, and the internationally syndicated Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Silvious was educated in the U.S. and Asia; she currently lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her art is exhibited internationally and is featured in public and private collections.
Author Talk with Mary Mistler
Saturday, March 21
Germantown Library - Hover Room, Lower Level
2-3 p.m.
Free
Back by popular demand, Mary’s book tells the story of the women who lived on and ran the estates that line the eastern shore of the Hudson - many of whom were Livingstons. Women such as Alida Schuyler Livingston of the Manor, Margaret Beekman Livingston of Clermont, Janet Livingston Montgomery of Montgomery Place, Margaret Armstrong Astor of Rokeby, Ruth Livingston Mills of Staatsburgh, Mary Livingston Ludlow Hall and Eleanor Roosevelt of Oak Terrace, and Daisy Suckley of Wilderstein. They were all connected deeply to their family lands and had a lasting impact on the history, society, and even the geography of the Hudson Valley.
Author Talk with Kiersten Marcil
Saturday, April 25
Germantown Library - Hover Room, Lower Level
2-3 p.m.
Free
Kiersten hails from New England and is proud of her family’s deep-rooted history in our nation’s foundation. She is a Mayflower descendant of Governor William Bradford (c. Mar. 19, 1590 – May 09, 1657) and great-granddaughter (several generations removed, of course) of Peter Minuit (btn 1580 & 1585 – Aug. 5, 1638). The latter was the Director of the Dutch North American Colony (1626 - 1631), which was part of the Dutch East India Company, and is credited with the so-called “purchase” of Manhattan Island. Her ancestors braved unknown dangers and a foreign world while creating treaties with the local peoples that survived for years under their leadership.
Kiersten currently lives in upstate New York. Growing up, the Battlefields of Saratoga were her backyard and tourist sites like Fort Ticonderoga were an easy day trip, and she couldn’t have cared less back then. It wasn’t until she journeyed into adulthood that Kiersten grew to love books, and even then, not until she became a museum educator, that she discovered the fascinating world of history. Tasked with bringing the past alive, she realized that behind every boring fact in textbooks were real people who lived and loved and dreamed and suffered losses and disappointments and helped shape the path on which we all journey. That realization turned the dreaded task of research into a compelling hobby of investigation.
At present, she serves as the chair of the Schenectady Celebrates 250! committee for the Schenectady County Historical Society. So, if you’re looking for Kiersten, you will find her with her nose in a book or exploring another historical site or writing her next novel.
