Cherry Valley Water Project Culminates in Performance, Exhibit
By WRILEY NELSON
CHERRY VALLEY
The Cherry Valley Water Project, a summer-long collaborative artistic celebration of Cherry Valley’s natural beauty and creative spirit, culminated in a performance and exhibit opening on Friday, October 6. Project founder Angelica Dzeli Palmer, a lifelong artist who grew up in Cherry Valley and now operates The Telegraph School for Performing and Healing Arts, received a $10,000.00 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts’ competitive Rural and Traditional Arts fellowship. The Water Project aimed to foster new connections and a closer relationship between Cherry Valley residents, artists, and waterways. It featured artistic workshops and performances, and promoted a detailed map of local water bodies to encourage exploration.
The flagship event was a multidisciplinary eco-theater performance, “Water Dreams,” located in the Village Park along the Cherry Valley Creek.
“‘Water Dreams’ [shared] the magic, the power and the emotions of the Cherry Valley Creek,” Palmer said. “The performance was made up of five parts, and the audience was guided by a majestic great blue heron to each part in a different location along the creek, behind the Old School. The creatures of the creek broke their vows of silence and emerged, often from surprising places, to tell about their lives through words, song, and movement. It was rich in costuming and puppetry. Humans from the past and present shared their stories and poems about the healing waters of Cherry Valley. It ended with a twilight circle of candles, drumming, and song, where everyone sang, danced, and celebrated our precious water with the words, ‘care for her, listen to her.’”
“We were so glad we made it to the performance last week,” said local dentist and ceramic artist Leah Carpenter. “I don’t think anyone knew quite what to expect, and I’m still not exactly sure how to describe it… an experimental outdoor performance art/poetry reading/community gathering/nature celebration/dance party extravaganza… we left with a deeper appreciation for our beautiful Cherry Valley Creek and all who will hopefully enjoy and care for this precious resource for generations to come.”
After the performance, artists and audience alike moved to 25 Main Collective art gallery for the opening reception for the Water Project exhibition. The exhibit features a wide variety of artistic media celebrating the Cherry Valley Creek, the people who have called it home and generations to come. Reception attendees enjoyed a large selection of refreshments and the crowd spilled onto the sidewalk as dozens of people engaged with the selected art works.
“WATER” is open at 25 Main Collective through Sunday, October 29. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Funding for the project was made available by the New York State Council on the Arts with support from the Governor’s Office and Legislature, the Arts Council for Wyoming County, Stewart’s Shops and the Cherry Valley Community Facility Corporation.