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Art and music at annual block party

WASSAIC – Despite the oppressive heat, art-minded individuals turned out for the annual July block party, a summer-time tradition thrown by The Wassaic Project that celebrates artists of all mediums and their creations.

While the July block party, which took place on Saturday, July 23, lasted most of the day, starting officially at noon and ending in the late evening, the events of the celebration took place in stages. It all started with a tour of the gallery at Maxon Mills, a seven-floor former grain elevator stationed in the center of the hamlet of Wassaic.

To start off the day, Maxon Mills, now a progressive art gallery located that draws artists from near and far, invited guests to tour its newest exhibition, A Tournament of Lies. The show was named after a line from the popular band R.E.M.’s 1987 hit, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”

The gallery was open from noon to 8 p.m. and featured discussions and a Q&A session with some of the artists. It was filled with colorful, imaginative and abstract works from artists both local and from elsewhere.

“It was a wonderful, massive, vertical labyrinth, and every time you turned a corner it was a different visual pocket,” said Shlomi Ravi, who works in the art scene in Brooklyn and had never been to The Wassaic Project before. “It kind of felt like you walked into someone else’s dream.”

After the hour-long tour, Richard Saja, an artist from Catskill, whose needle-point artwork was featured in A Tournament of Lies, led an embroidery workshop for children and adults alike.

Starting at 1 p.m., guests worked with Saja to make feathers for a burlap owl tapestry. The workshop lasted until 4 p.m., overlapping with an open tour of the Luther Barn, site of The Wassaic Project’s art residency studio; that session ran from 3 to 4 p.m.

From 2 to 8:45 p.m., attendees of the block party were invited to the Lantern Inn for refreshments. The popular establishment would also be the location for the culmination of the day, a live performance from the Brooklyn-based band, Social Creatures, which took the stage at 7:30 p.m.

The tour of A Tournament of Lies, the newest art installation at The Wassaic Project, culminated with an abstract room filled with anthropomorphic dogs in various poses. Photo by Hunter O. Lyle

Richard Saja, an artist based out of Catskill, whose work is featured in A Tournament of Lies, held a workshop for children and adults alike, in which they helped make feathers for a burlap owl tapestry. Photo by Hunter O. Lyle

The July Block Party, thrown by The Wassaic Project on Saturday, July 23, drew art enthusiasts from several states in and around the Tri-state region. Matthew Davis came from Newburyport, Mass., to enjoy the celebration of art. Photo by Hunter O. Lyle

The tour of A Tournament of Lies, the newest art installation at The Wassaic Project, culminated with an abstract room filled with anthropomorphic dogs in various poses. Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Hunter O. Lyle

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