Arts in the Park!

The Arts in the Park! 2025 season is FREE for all to attend and held in Downing Park in the City of Newburgh from May 24 - June 29.

Arts in the Park! 2025 is made possible with funds from the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.

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Shade Sails by Amery Kessler


  • Holden House 85 Grand Street Newburgh, NY, 12550 United States (map)

Shade Sails are large suspended curtains of lightweight fabric that cast shadows on the ground and reflect in water as they catch the sun and move with the wind.

Part of the magic of the pieces are the doubling of their image; the image of the object itself and the shadow cast on the ground or its reflection in water.

SHADE SAILS

Amery Kessler

2025

The Shade Sails are an ongoing body of works that combine symbolism, environment, light and perception. I am playing with the physical nature of doubled images, symmetry, inversion, contrast, depth perception, opacity, transparency, and permeability.

Mirror Drawing Shade Sail has two symmetrical lines or paths that meet at the center. When focusing on the two sides, a high contrast or binary is seen. However, by following the path of the line, a shared environment or continuous path of light is more apparent.

Home is a hopscotch course extending up to the sky and with the help of the sun cast on the ground. I like noticing how this course stretches and moves throughout the day. I ask where home is and how my place and definition of home changes. How has home been a place for me to return to, pivot, and continue?

Listening Glyph is a doubling of the spiral symbol used by Nancy Stark Smith in the Underscore (a long-form contact improvisation structure). I matched and scaled up her specific handwritten mark as accurately as possible. As one of many symbols in the Underscore, this spiral shape is a cue for the participants.

Keeping your ears and other senses open. Noticing the sound and its connection and coexistence with what you're doing and what's happening in the room.

–Nancy Stark Smith, Caught Falling

Two Hands is a symbolic reminder of the transformative work that can be done by resisting injustice while remaining open and connected to the humanity of all people. The metaphor coined by Barbara Demming asks us to not cooperate with harmful demands, actions, and systems, while also honoring the potential for good in ourselves and each other.

www.amerykessler.com