Art Lives Here! Kingston, New York!

L-R: Vinny DiDonato, Arlene Shechet, Anne Bailey, Mayor Steve Noble

Art Lives Here! Kingston, NY!

Kingston is a city with a storied and interesting past: From the early Dutch settlers who came to trade with the Native Americans in the 1600s, to being the seat of New York government during the American Revolution in the 1770s, to becoming a thriving metropolis during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, to then take part in the early Tech Awakening of the 1960s.

Kingston's Four Corners; The only intersection in America where the buildings on all four corners were built prior to the Revolutionary War.

Kingston has had its fair share of boom and bust cycles. It has experienced many cycles of great prosperity followed by a periods of decline. I guess it is the nature of things: like the ocean wave that comes in and brings all kinds of interesting things with it and then inevitably goes back out to sea leaving a void.

Like many other cities along the Hudson River, Kingston was floundering in the 1980s with the sudden departure of its anchor business IBM. What could be next for this historic and beautiful little city? The area felt a deep sense of loss with IBM’s departure and developed a bit of a self-esteem problem. Who are we anyway as a city and what will become of us now without a big business like IBM to offer jobs and investment in our city?

It has been our observation that in the last 30 years small business entrepreneurs trickled in to Kingston with a hope and a dream. They fixed up the beautiful old abandoned buildings and broken down shuttered factories to build a vibrant new economy; one based on the creativity of the entrepreneurs that arrived and new thinking around a small business model. Many of these new businesses were centered around the arts. Some of the strongholds in Kingston were businesses like our own who believed we could build an economy of scale; not based on our size, but on our determination to make new ideas work for everyone.

We created good jobs, we created stronger neighborhoods, and we worked together with local government to build something different in Kingston. In the last ten years we have developed an arts district, an arts commission, new small businesses, many affordable housing projects to keep people here, community centers for enrichment and a government that understands the power of culture and the arts to bring us together. The ongoing dilemma will be how to keep what we have developed a fair and affordable community for everyone. We are committed to finding the way, as is our city.

Kingston, NY City Hall

In 2018 the city of Kingston established a Department of Arts and Culture in partnership with the Kingston Arts Commission. In 2022 the Common Council voted unanimously to adopt the Arts and Cultural Master Plan which aims at supporting and strengthening individual artists, arts organizations and arts businesses. Artists and the creative economy have risen. The city, through the direction from the Master Plan, is doing everything possible to ensure that housing stays affordable so that artists and our diverse neighborhoods stay intact. Let’s hear it for the Master Plan and staying ahead of the curve! All cities need to think about this.

A few weeks ago, Kingston Mayor Steve Noble visited two important arts businesses in the Midtown Arts District of Kingston. The Mayor experienced firsthand the invaluable contributions that individual artists and arts businesses make to the city of Kingston. The tour started at Workshop Art Fabrication. Co-owner Vinny DiDonato led the the tour of his business and showed the Mayor the process of creating bronze sculptures for leading artists from across the nation. The Mayor was surprised and interested to learn about the complexity of the process and was also impressed with the number of great jobs created by Workshop Art Fabrication.

Down the street from Workshop Art Fabrication, the Mayor then toured the new art studio workshop of world-renowned artist Arlene Shechet. Arlene led the Mayor through her fully renovated space, then the tour ended in her stunning new courtyard behind her building. Her studio creates many arts related jobs and offers employees the unique opportunity to work with a world famous artist right here in Kingston. Arlene Shechet is currently preparing for a major show at the Storm King Sculpture Park.

Both of these arts businesses are contributing in meaningful ways to the thriving arts sector in Kingston. The Mayor recognized the importance of both to strengthen and continue to grow the existing creative community in Kingston. 

We are proud of our city for their support of the arts and their awareness and commitment to keeping our city vibrant, inclusive and fair.

-Anne Bailey