If you’ve ever visited the Mohonk Mountain House, atop the Shawangunk Ridge between New Paltz and High Falls, you probably wished that you could take some of those stunning views home with you. Some people do that by purchasing professional photo prints, or snapping some of their own. Others long to take out their paintbrushes and capture the vistas on canvas.
If you’re among the latter, listen up: A Paint-Out! organized by Sevan Melikyan of the Wired Gallery in High Falls will be the centerpiece of next week’s Community Days at Mohonk Mountain House, and it costs nothing to participate – or just to visit, between Tuesday, May 31 and midday on Friday, June 2. That’s the “community” part.
The Paint-Out! event officially begins on Memorial Day, when 20 invited program artists will begin setting up their easels at various points on the scenic property. Erik Koeppel headlines the roster of participating plein air painters, which also includes Paul Abrams, Jane Bloodgood-Abrams, Robert Carsten, Mary Anne Erickson, Lynne Friedman, Tarryl Gabel, Keith Gunderson, Janet Gunderson, Nestor Madalengoitia, Marsha Massih, Andrea McFarland, Dion Ogust, Lauren Sansaricq, Chris Seubert, Tim Smith, Fran Sutherland, Andrey Tamarchenko, John Varriano and Marlene Wiedenbaum.
Beginning on Tuesday and running through Thursday, June 1, amateur painters can bring along their own materials and join them. Or you can just show up for a stroll around the grounds and a peek at the works-in-progress. Just mention at the Gatehouse that you saw an ad in one of our newspapers saying that admission is free on Community Days.
The week’s art offerings also include workshops and demonstrations, evening entertainment, art shows and silent auctions of the works produced during the program. Overnight guests of the Mountain House get first crack, but a limited number of Community Days visitors can also participate in the workshops and demos for a fee of $30 for the whole program; you must call (855) 883-3798 in advance to register.
Besides free access to the resort grounds, Mohonk’s Community Days program is offering discounts of 35 percent on dining, 15 percent off spa treatments and 20 percent off retail purchases in the gift shop, greenhouse and spa. Advance reservations are required for dining and spa treatments. To find out more, visit www.mohonk.com/artists.
Join the family! 
