The Wassaic Project

My parents and sisters live in the Northern Berkshires.For the past 25 years I drove up there with my wife, Francie, and my children, Gillian and Liam. We always drive up Rte22 and along the way pass through Wassaic. Wassaic was only ever noteworthy because there is a large Metro North Train station right along 22 and down in the village away from the road is a distinctive mill structure 8 stories tall. Six months ago Eve Biddle e-mailed me that she in conjunction with Bowie Zunino were organizing an installation oriented art space at the mill building in Wassaic called the Wassaic Project. They planned a weekend in late August full of performance pieces , music, video and visual art. As it happened it was a weekend we were planning to drive to the Berkshires so we stopped in. We went inside the mill and climbed to the top checking out the sculpture, photography and painting along the way. Particularly memorable was the boat piece by Jessie Henson, Jin Kim and Lisa Iglesias. A nylon rope sculpture of a boat with oars suspended 4’ above the floor.
We checked the schedule and saw we had time for one of the performance pieces over at the old cattle auction building. We went in just in time to see Tonia Schoumatoff perform a folk song called Dona Dona, about a calf on his way to be slaughtered with a group of young girls from farm families in the area. It was a tribute to all the cattle that had passed through that space but no longer do (for economic reasons). The way of life of the farmers is changing due to global politics. It was so moving my wife Francie sang along with them as this was a camp song she knew from her childhood. After the performance we went on our way to the Berkshires much richer for the experience as the arts festival continued on through the next day. We stopped in on our way back and got to say hello to Eve and her husband Josh and Bowie before we returned home. You can follow them at wassaicproject.com.