Independence weekend in the heat of early July: What a great time to head down to the Rondout section of Kingston for some art openings and the heady cultural climate of a hip local scene finding its new legs! The trolley may be gone, but not forever; and it’s nice just now having a newly concentrated grouping of galleries to visit within a few blocks of each other, and some fabulous walking areas and restaurants.
The big openings – both in small, intimate spaces that’ll be sure to spill the opening reception parties out into the streets this Saturday, July 7 – include an exhibit of paintings and monotypes by Woodstock artist Petra Nimtz, titled “When the Dreamer Dies, What Happens to the Dream?” at Nancy Donskoj’s fun Storefront Gallery at 93 Broadway. “The essential foundation of my work is that it originates in improvisation and accident,” says Nimtz of her playful art, which should prove delightful in Storefront’s 24/7 windows. “Not having a concept in mind is allowing me to rely completely on my own imagination, while exploring the surface of the canvas with brushes and palette knives.”
Storefront Gallery hours are Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m. or by appointment. The opening reception takes place on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. For further information visit www.thestorefrontgallery.com.
Just up Abeel Street from 93 Broadway, the Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art (KMoCA), open on Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. or by appointment, has its own opening of a new show of installation works, “After the Trace,” opening on Saturday, July 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. Featuring new works by enterprising artists Kate Hamilton, Caitlin Masley, Steve Rossi and Keiko Sono, the group show takes its name from the following statement: “The world has a way of leaving traces of unexpected artwork everywhere we turn. Four installation artists unite to take this a step further to examine what can come next, after the trace.”
In the exhibit, Hamilton, from New Paltz, displays a giant, button-front shirt that she has created from ripstop nylon. Masley, based in Brooklyn with a growing resume of international installation works and exhibits, has created site-specific wall drawings and hand-cut foam structural installations to mimic “architectural situations.” Beacon-based Rossi has created a “Sidewalk Alchemy Project” involving the photographing of random patterns created by gum spots on heavily trafficked sidewalks, later gold-leafed. Sono, who makes and teaches video art in Saugerties [see our Almanac profile of Sono in this edition], as well as maintaining her own wide art career here and in her native Japan, is showing “Suspended Carbon,” made of sheets of paper, each intricately detailed by being suspended over a candle flame.
For further information on KMoCA, located at 103 Abeel Street near the Armadillo restaurant, visit www.kmoca.com. Both exhibits will be up through the month. Also be sure to stop by the Arts Society of Kingston, just up Broadway from Storefront, for its own openings at the same time on Saturday, as well as its listings of all art exhibits and receptions around town the same night and over the coming month.
Join the family! 
