The last time HV1 checked in with the owners of the building at 68 Mountain Rest Road in New Paltz that since 1976 had been the home of the Unison Arts and Learning Center, Stuart and Helene Bigley were in a quandary. The Unison board had decided to relocate all its operations to the Jacob and Charity Holsted House on Paradies Lane, a historic building closer to town that had been donated to the not-for-profit arts organization. Effective in March 2024, the building and its 11-acre site reverted back to their owners and next-door neighbors, the Bigleys. Stuart was one of the founders of Unison – originally known as the Friends of the Mountain School – and ran it for 37 years before retiring in 2016.
The question at that point was whether Stuart, a painter, and Helene, a ceramist, would be able to stay in their home. Who would take over the former Unison space? “We went March through October without any rent coming in,” Stuart explained. “I never really made any money running Unison, and I certainly never collected a pension. The rent coming from Unison, plus a little Social Security, was what made it possible for us to stay here.”
At the time, nearly a year ago, Stuart admitted, “It would probably not be difficult to rent it to someone making widgets,” but the Bigleys didn’t want to see the space to which they’d dedicated most of their working lives become anything more prosaic than an arts-related venue. So, they hired real estate broker Matt Eyler to market the site to potential tenants who would fully appreciate its history and want to put it to a similar use. Happily, such an occupant has been found, and the former Unison is about to reopen as a gallery and workshop with an emphasis on the clay arts, to be known henceforward as the Art Attelier Creative Space. (The doubled T is intentional, for trademark reasons.) An opening event for its first exhibition will be held this Saturday, December 14, and the public is invited.
Getting to this happy outcome wasn’t easy. “We’ve been through probably six variations on the theme of ‘almost there,’” Stuart said. “There were three dancers who were interested. That looked really good, but then fell apart. There was also a boxing gym that wanted to come in.”
While they waited for the right tenant, the Bigleys brought in a crew to help them renovate the building, which includes a large gallery and performance space as well as a lobby, kitchen, bathrooms and several rooms previously used for classrooms, offices and storage. “We tore out the carpeting and put in laminate floors. We painted the whole building exterior. It was taxing, physically and financially,” said Stuart, who turned 80 last year.
Finally, the right person found the listing and came to have a look: a woman with long experience of running a high-end gallery in Manhattan, plenty of contacts in the international art world, a longtime weekend home in Pine Bush and a determination to make a new beginning outside the City. “The moment she walked in, it looked like home to her,” Stuart related.
Known professionally as Mariu Gonzalez de Tovar, the new tenant is in the midst of “dropping the de,” she said, since she’s in the midst of a divorce from the owner of the Leon Tovar Gallery. A native of Colombia, Mariu Gonzalez met her husband there, got involved in the buying and selling of works by contemporary Latin American artists and, 25 years ago, moved to New York. While helping Tovar run his Upper East Side gallery and raising two children, she developed a side career in flower arranging for upscale events with a company called Floratorium. Five years ago, she began to learn pottery techniques. “I love to do meditation, and one day I had a vision of a house where I could do ceramics,” she told HV1. “When I found this house, it was like a dream come true.”
The next step was to establish an art outpost of her own in the mid-Hudson, where other people could come to take workshops in the clay arts. Gonzalez noted to her surprise that New Paltz – “a magnificent place,” in her words – didn’t offer any such venue. “I’ve been familiar with New Paltz for 20 years,” she said. “My kids love to be around here.” So it was that, when she spotted the listing for the former Unison site on a real estate app, she immediately knew that it was the venue she sought. Her first visit confirmed that impression, and expanded her vision to include maintaining it as a place for exhibitions. “I said to myself, ‘I have to keep this gallery.’ And I couldn’t believe the sculpture garden. Most of the sculpture garden will stay. I think that is the most value we have in this place.”
Upon signing the lease, Gonzalez immediately set to work on repainting the interior walls – mostly a light grey, with black walls covered with stenciled patterns in the bathrooms and kitchen. She had new lighting installed throughout the building and is transforming the former office and storage spaces into ceramics studios, bringing in new tables, wheels and kilns. She’s collaborating with Helene Bigley to incorporate her own clay teaching business into the Art Attelier space, and is currently looking for additional instructors. Stuart will also be welcome to continue to teach his long-running drawing classes there, Gonzalez said.
“People come here for music, for dance; I say let’s keep it. And let’s see what I can bring new… I want it to be a place that is very cozy, where people are very friendly.” She’s looking forward to having Art Attelier become a destination for her art-world acquaintances in New York City and abroad as well, noting that she has friends from Montreal and Madrid coming in for next weekend’s opening. The inaugural show is billed as “a preview of Art Attelier’s offerings and a special ceramics exhibition showcasing the works of talented artists Kim Alderman, Helene Bigley, Marlene Leonard and Bill Shillalies.”
Noting that works in clay were once overlooked as a fine arts medium, Gonzalez has seen a change in the air in recent years. “Now ceramics are a huge part of shows internationally – not only in Europe, but they’re also being shown in Brazil, in Venezuela,” she said. “I want to be focused on ceramics now.” The initial plan is for Art Attelier to present three exhibitions per year, while the space is also used for classes, artmaking, performance and community events.
“What’s happening here is very organic. Everything is in flow,” said Gonzalez. “As for what will be happening next year – I don’t know; something great.”
Art Attelier’s opening event will take place in the main gallery at 68 Mountain Rest Road in New Paltz from 1 to 6 p.m. on December 14. Admission is free and open to the general public.
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