Community art project

In its third year, The Wassaic Project has come to define that small Amenia hamlet as a destination for artists from Manhattan through the Tri-state area every summer, thanks to organizers Bowie Zunino, Eve Biddle, Elan Bogarin and Jeff Barnett-Winsby.

Those behind the project should be credited for their vision — each year they transform the hamlet of Wassaic into a vibrant artists’ colony, welcoming visual artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, poets and others to share their art with the public during a three-day festival that showcases the Harlem Valley as a vibrant, creative and healthy community supportive of such endeavors.

Thanks to Zunino’s father, Tony Zunino, the once-dilapidated Maxon Mills building (a former grain house) has been completely renovated from a site nearing condemnation to a gorgeous building able to play host to artists from around the region. As with Maxon Mills, Zunino, in partnership, also owns the nearby Luther Auction Barn. That site is also part of The Wassaic Project and offers space for the project’s artists’ residency program, which ultimately seeks to extend the program into the off-season and into the greater Harlem Valley community.

The benefit of having such an innovative, creative and interactive project right at our doorstep is really wonderful. It brings our world in contact with the more sophisticated art world of Manhattan and beyond, while staying true to our local roots. That, in turn, increases awareness of what’s beyond our borders and presents new opportunities for local artists. It also lets the world see what we have to offer. Not a bad deal, for anyone involved.

This year it was estimated that “thousands� attended The Wassaic Project, even more than the estimated 2,000 who attended last year. For a local event, in a hamlet as small as Wassaic, drawing that kind of crowd is simply amazing. This area will be remembered for that event, well into next year, and those who attended will very likely return. That also means their wallets will return, with money to spend in our towns, providing a much-needed boost to our local economy. Even if it’s only for one weekend, that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Besides supporting our towns, villages and hamlets by bringing in tourists (and even residents) to stop by shops, eat at restaurants and make use of other amenities (think Harlem Valley Rail Trail) during their visit, there are many reasons why we should embrace events like The Wassaic Project. It supports the arts, which enrich our lives in so many ways. Those experiences should be encouraged, supported and shared. It also encourages a strong sense of community. This is always of great advantage and lasts long after an event ends. In this instance, the organizers and participants of The Wassaic Project really reached out to the surrounding area to forge relationships throughout the community, for which they should be commended. Those associations can now be built upon and used to support and improve the group’s various projects in the future.

All around it’s been a great three years, each one even better than the last. We would like to thank those behind The Wassaic Project for their professionalism and their foresight. It was a lucky day when they discovered Maxon Mills and its many charms. Their vision for an artists’ hamlet is slowly coming to fruition — and this community will be here every step of the way as the image of that journey develops. We can but hope it will be picture-perfect.