Public Spaces Initiative October Board Update
-
Ash Bradley‐Rickard, Chair
-
Perry Allen
-
Linda DiGasper
-
Betsy Brauer
-
Polina Malikin
-
Nicole Rogers
-
Trustee Steven Appenzeller, Liaison
Mission To develop and facilitate the creation of public park, art, and community spaces throughout the Village of Red Hook
Public Meetings are held the 4th Saturday of each month at 10 am, in person at the Village Hall unless otherwise noted (email Ash Bradley‐Rickard for the meeting location).
October 21[st] Fall Pumpkin Event – Pumpkins in the Park
PSI had a successful Pumpkins in the park event with over 50 attendees, despite the dreary weather of the weekend. Pumpkins were provided by Kesicke farm at wholesale cost and they were beautiful pumpkins! Although not all pumpkins got decorated, the extras were put to use in decorating sites around the village, including Village Hall and Memorial Park. The event was made possible by the hard work of everyone on the PSI team. Planning for next year’s event will start over the winter to incorporate lessons learned and broaden the base of business and community organization participation.
Pollinator Pathway
The PSI started off with a focus on pollinators and pollinator gardens and want to maintain that as one of its core activities. Work is underway to get Red Hook on the Pollinator Pathway of New York and there should be an active page sometime next year. Planning for a garden area around Village Hall and in Abraham’s park is also underway, and grant funding opportunities will be explored. There continues to be great feedback from the pollinator garden at the Elmendorf Inn.
Abraham’s Park Project
Members have been mee�ng with the Mayor and other Village and Town representa�ves to help with the vision for the Park. The results from the successful survey set up during Hardscrabble Day will be shared later this year.
Bard College
Ash met with a Bard class on November 2[nd] to discuss how to work with local governments and submit proposals for Art installations in public spaces. The class is looking to do their final project with outdoor artwork using Abraham’s Park as the venue. Ash also met with the Mayor to look over the code developed when the Village had sculpture Expos and what forms need to be filled out when requesting the use of Village property. This year’s project will not be able to be an extended exhibit, but the class is hoping to do a day of install, critique and deinstall sometime during the week of December 7[th] . Additional details will be shared as planning proceeds. PSI will also be looking at working with other arts organizations for additional art installations next year.