Art in Garnerville
About a half hour drive north, a community of artists has found a home at the Garnerville Arts and Industrial Center located on Minisceongo Creek near Haverstraw. Originally a pre-Civil War textile mill, 18 years ago one third of its space was divided into small studios for artists. About 50 artists and artisans including sculptors, painters, wood workers, mosaic and stained glass artisans and musicians now occupy part of the large 341,000 square foot complex, which also encompasses performance and exhibition areas.
The Center has had a fascinating history. Built in 1828 as a calico printing factory, it was purchased ten years later by the Garner family and was called the Rockland Print Works. During the Civil War the plant manufactured uniforms for the Union forces. It closed during the Depression, but textile manufacturers, lured back with an offer of free rent, occupied the space for the next forty years. The remaining two thirds of the thirty buildings house light industrial and warehouses.
The Center has garnished its share of accolades. In 2004 the Historical Society of Rockland County presented it with its Preservation Award for Adaptive and Continuing Use of a Historic Building. In June of this year Robin Rosenberg, President of the Garnerville Arts and Industrial Center, was presented with The Arts Alliance of Haverstraw’s Supporter of the Arts Award for her commitment and cultivation of the arts in Rockland County.
Rockland magazine has declared GAGA (Garnerville Arts Project Gallery, the arts part of the Center) its “favorite place to get some culture.” The first weekend of June, GAGA sponsors a two day Arts Festival, which draws over 4,000 people. The event offers open art studios and exhibitions in 14,000 square feet of gallery space plus live music, performance art, film, art workshops and demonstrations. (Go online at garnervillearts.com for specifics on the 2008 festival closer to the date.)