Behold! New Lebanon, the living museum of contemporary rural American life, has announced its Rural Guide schedule for Saturday, August 15.The new museum without walls celebrates the rich historical and cultural heritage of New Lebanon.
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10 to 11:30 am: Hops Make the Beer
Artist/Writer Alex Olchowski’s takes visitors on a tour of his Spring Hill Hops farm, the only commercial-scale hops farm in Columbia County. Learn how the hops are grown and how they’re used. Visitors will encounter wildlife as they walk through the hops yard and learn how the ecosystem of the field has been transformed by this endeavor. Walking through the tall rows of glistening plants, Alex describes hops farming as another part of his artistic life. Outdoors: comfortable shoes advised for walking, as are sunscreen and bug repellent.
10:30 am to Noon: Waste Not, Want Not
Named for the farmer who donated his land to the Shakers and whose community he joined, Darrow School continues to explore Shaker sensitivity to the natural world. In this tour with Sustainability Coordinator Craig Westcott, visitors experience the remarkable Living Machine, an indoor aquatic ecosystem that cleans the waste water from school buildings and residences before returning it to the Hudson River Watershed. A visit to the magic mountainside educational community is an opportunity to experience examples of Darrow’s commitment to sustainability. Indoor and Outdoors.
1:30 to 3 pm: Designing for the Theatre
Acclaimed theater designers Sarah Conly and Michael Deegan give a behind the scenes look at designing for the stage, with an emphasis on their specialty — opera design. Visitors will hear stories from their long careers in theater, and learn what goes into set design, from sets to costumes to lighting. Indoors.
2 to 3 pm: Weaving the Past and Present
Artisan Terrianne Koepp takes visitors on a journey through the history of basket weaving; from the Native art to our New Lebanon Shaker past, exploring the different methods and designs. You will learn, hands-on, how to weave a basket of your own to take home after the program. No prior skills required, you will get lots of one-on-one hands-on learning. There will be an additional $10 fee added on to this program for the supplies to create your own basket. Indoors.
4:30 to 5:30 pm: From Clay to Vessel
Potter Helen Burton will demonstrate the different methods of transforming clay into functional and beautiful pieces of pottery. Hear about the various kinds of pottery, from majolica to fine china, and learn each step of the process, the time and discipline that goes into working with clay; there’s also the fun and creativity aspect. Indoors.
With 60 different tour programs over the course of the summer, Rural Guides greet visitors at their farms, studios and workspaces, where they practice cooking, farming, cattle raising, automobile racing and mechanics, wood-working, foraging and much more. These presenters are not costumed actors or docents recalling old-world skills; they are the real townspeople of today, whose lives and work challenge the quaint myths about country life.
Advance ticket purchase is recommended for all programs, which are generally priced at $15 per tour. Family discounts are available; ages 12 and under are admitted free. More information, including full descriptions of all programs and the online box office can be found at www.beholdnewlebanon.org, 518-720-7265, or by emailing info@beholdnewlebanon.org.[/private]