Art, Music, Food, Community…
Each Saturday when the Farmers Market opens, we bring together the community to highlight the best of local farms, food, craftsmen, and artisans. Add in the shoppers and the vibrance of the community truly comes together for a couple of hours all concentrated in an approximately 12,500-square-foot area nestled between Front Street and North Street in the village of Millbrook. And this week, we are adding even more vibrance to the market.
I am glad to announce we will be hosting a group of artists from ARTEast Dutchess this Saturday. ARTEast Dutchess offers tours throughout eastern Dutchess County to see artists in their natural element and enjoy the artist's studios throughout the area. Just like our farmers, bakers, and artisans, they will be bringing their best to the Millbrook Farmers Market, giving our community a chance to peruse, enjoy and converse with some of the artists that create in the Millbrook area.
Reflecting on the relationship between art and society, I am sure artists just like farmers often deal with a lack of understanding and appreciation from their community. Just like the food in our refrigerator, how often do we stop and think about the process of creating art or what goes into bringing the art to us. I’m not an art expert and I would not be able to converse with someone who is. I’m one of those “I know what I like” appreciators of art. I can’t tell you the style, or the influences that an artist is showcasing but I know what I enjoy looking at and what I want to have surrounding me. And for many of us, that’s about as far as our thoughts about art go. Yet, just like farms and local foods, without art and artists, our lives both as individuals and as a society would be lacking.
When you stop and think about it, just like small farms once fed the nation, until around the 1860s, when photography started becoming available, artists were the only ones who could capture what things were like and were the true chroniclers of history. The pictures and images they created were not only reflections of what day-to-day life was like but also a reflection of what society was thinking and doing. Additionally, with so many people not having access to the printed word, these pictures could convey messages and stimulate discussions and debate, nourishing the intellectual souls.
Artwork from our resident artist Laura Hammond Toonkel Studios
I very much appreciate it when people tell me “thank you” as a farmer, I feel pride that I’m feeding people and that they appreciate the hard work and effort that goes into growing our food. This week, however, I’d like to encourage you all to thank the artists and artisans who feed our souls as well and cause us to think about things we may not have thought about or required our thinking. They provide us with an escape sometimes, or they encourage us to reflect on something, they challenge us to think about something that needs to be thought about and sometimes they provide the serenity and calm to help us slow down and decompress from the challenges of life.
This Saturday please come out and see the artists we are hosting. See what they have created, and ask them about it. Take a few minutes from the chores of the day to allow your mind to explore the creativity of what they have to offer. Thank them for being a part of our community and adding to what makes our region vibrant. They are as important to our culture and society as the farmers who toil to feed us. What a very dull world this would be without art.
A big thanks to all of you who braved the intense heat of this past Saturday – it was great to see so many of you at the market – this week should be more enjoyable and if you want to hear some music come by between 10-12 on Saturday – Art, Music, Food, Community…it does not get much better than that.
Greg
Millbrook Farmers Market Manager