Donations

For anyone interested in donating material!!!
You may contact me at hydeparkproject@gmail.com or call 845.889.8181. The Hyde Park Free library is also accepting donations for this project. As of tomorrow, you can stop by the library, drop off material and receive a receipt for your donation.

Hyde Park Library Meeting

Last Thursday I had the privilege of meeting with Greg Callahan and his staff at the Hyde Park Free Library. As the sponsor of the project the library is going to play a important role in the project as a meeting and drop off place for the project. Those at the library are vital to making the project a success.
My goal for the meeting was focused on meeting the staff and familiarizing everyone with the project. We discussed the ideas behind the project and the process that will be implemented for accomplish my goals. There was some great feedback on how best to accomplish those tasks and who might be interested in the project. They gave me multiple contacts to reach and many ideas on how to proceed further. Their energy and enthusiasm gave me great hope.

Funding and Support - Thanks

This is a note of thanks to the Dutchess County Arts Council for their support and funding. The grant that I received through them was established through funds from New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralization Department.

Also to the Hyde Park Free Library, specifically Greg Callahan, for sponsoring my application and helping to provide a connection to the community of Hyde Park.

How this started

After completing school and relocating to the Hudson Valley in the fall of 2006 with my family, I was eager to get involved in a new community and continue to working on projects that I had been working on elsewhere. Most of these efforts focused on exploring unfamiliar territory, learning about its history and meeting new people.

Late last summer, I was at a meeting of the Beacon Art Community Association (BACA) that took place at Long Dock Beacon. At this event, I had the opportunity to meet Benjamin Krevolin, director of the Dutchess County Arts Council, and Margery Groten from Scenic Hudson. I spoke to both of them about an idea I had concerning the Hyde Park Drive In. Benjamin supported the idea of doing a project in Hyde Park and recommended I apply for a grant through the arts council. Margery and I spoke about Scenic Hudson's effort at the site.

So, I endeavored to apply for funding for this project through the DECA Art in the Community Grants that the Dutchess County Arts Council administers. A major hurdle of applying for the grant was to get a community sponsor. I contacted several organizations eventually speaking with Greg Callahan of the Hyde Park Free Library, who was gracious enough to sponsor the project. So, I applied for funding in late September.

In mid December, I heard that the project was accepted and have proceeded to move forward.