The Art of Rural Resilience
Loated at the apex of the Catskill Watershed system, the Prattsvile Art Center’s Exhibitions, Performances, Library workshops and Residency have been using the inclusive energy of the arts to heal our flood-damaged region and strengthen connections between rural and urban communities for over a decade. Bringing together histories and cultures through art, music, video, classes, community meals, LGBTQ+ events & social services the Center celebrates the diversity that enriches us all.
Land acknowledgement
The Art Center honors the Haudenoasunee Confederacy, on whose unceded homelands our Center is located. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is made up of members of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca Nations, and are sometimes referred to as Iroquois. To learn more about the current Haudenosaunee Confederacy, visit www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com
The Center’s new Digital Studio will be open for classes in Spring 2025. The Studio will also operate as a Creative Incubator and Co-Working Space for the community and Artists in Residence
The Center is available for retreats, workshops and event rentals in Spring, Summer, and Fall.
The Prattsville Art Center is located at the apex of the Catskill Watershed, which provides 90% of the water for New York City.
This Summer we will hold a symposium, exhibition, and charrette considering the role of economies in rural communities
Residencies are available for artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, and multi-media artists year-round. Facilties include the Music Box on Main Street Theater, the Digital Studio, Library, Gallery, and coffee bar.
The Music Box on Main Street Theater was designed and built by artists Delaney Martin & Taylor-Lee Shepherd, artist Hugo Montoya, and local carpenter Calvin Robinson with Dale Robinson, Homer Snyder, Lily Lasher, and Nancy Barton
Our Poet in Residence, Jerrice Baptiste hosts a free writing and meditation workshop on google meet the first Saturday of each month. Jerrice is the Poet Laureate of Greene County and a Prattsville resident who was born in Haiti. Many of her poems and stories draw their imagery from the richness of Caribbean culture. Jerrice is the author of the founder of Authentic Poetry Workshops where creates monthly online poetry and mediation workshops. Jerrice’s work has been published in The Yale Review; Kosmos Journal; Mantis; The Minetta Review; Eco Theo Review; and The Caribbean Writer, among many others
The Music Box on Main Street: Prattsville Outpost
The Center’s performances take place in The Music Box on Main Street - a magical theater that is also an interactive work of musical architecture. Delaney Martin and Taylor Lee Shepherd the force behind New Orleans Airlift came to our mountaintop to re-imagine the Prattsville Art Center as a “musical House,” and participate in community discussions as part of an NEA Our Town project. Artist Otto Ohle’s video shows these artists developing the project with the local community and collaborators Terry Dame, Ranjit Bahatnagar, and Nick Yule.
Library & Learning Hub
The Center offers a free community library and workshops in art, performance, and ideas. This Spring we will begin research on a pilot program of college and workforce development classes for rural communities across the Northern Catskills
A celebration of “Hands On” thinking
Artists and rural residents share a unique understanding of hands-on thinking and unconventional problem solving. The Center is working to build a future that brings together the skills and wisdom of these two communities to create new art and new solutions to the urgent problems we face together. By connecting rural experience and urban innovation, the Center has become a laboratory for the development of magical experiences that seek to foster a rich and equitable future.
