Art MacDonald is the nom de plume, or possibly nom de guerre, of the people acting as editor of the Arts Hudson magazine. Art is a character in his own right, an artist and a writer, with his own email address and website. Friend him on Facebook.

            Although there seem to be lots of problems in other areas, the arts scene in Hudson is doing well. Existing groups are expanding their activities and there are many new initiatives in Hudson and across the region.

            We’re very pleased to be able to bring you the sculture of Marcel Braitstein as our featured artist. Many Hudsonites are familiar with his work from the sculpture of the actor in front of Village Theatre. Marcel donated this piece to the theatre when the station was being renovated. In his workshop in Vaudreuil, he produces lifesize works, as well as smaller pieces such as the one above. The blue sculpture below is entitled “Loudmouth.”

            A new initiative in the region is one that places works of art on banners along the cycling path in Coteau du Lac. The path follows the Soulanges canal for an extended length and posts along the path support vertical banners displaying art produced specifically for this project. You can read more about it, who is participating and how to visit the site in the section on Art Along the Bike Path.

            Another new project, carried out by Hudson resident and former Arts Hudson featured artists Daniel Gautier, tells the story of the region from the melting of the glaciers about 12,000 years ago. In art and lyrical prose, Daniel has conceived a series of works exhibited at the archaeological museum in Ponte du Buisson on the St. Lawrence River in Melocheville, west of the Beauharnois power plant.

            Called “La Mémoire de l’Eau,” the exhibit includes archeological artifacts from the area, paintings by Daniel and texts in French and English detailing the changes that our region saw in this most recent interglacial period. The project is a ground-breaking effort to integrate art with archaeology, science and history. Its effectiveness in delivering a rich learning experience about our region presents the question whether similar initiatives in support of other concepts could be as successful.

            The painting below is from the exhibition, which runs all summer. We have more details about the project in the section on this exhibition.

            If you missed the Hudson Player’s Club production of Alice in Wonderland, you missed an exceptional show. Imaginative, while sticking to the basic story, the performance had many original and entertaining touches. You can see more of their work this summer at the Jack Layton Park

            Later, the Hudson Film Society presented a series of engrossing films at their annual Film Festival. These are not films that have a wide commercial release so these annual festivals are often the only opportunity to see them on a big, high-resolution screen. Clint Ward details how the Society arrives at its choices in the section on film selection.

            Village Theatre started off its season in fine style with “Harvest,” starring local theatre pros Karen Cromar and Glen Bowser, and directed by Heather Markgraf-Lowe. The play is memorable for its clever script, which calls for the two actors to play a wide variety of characters who tell the story of a marijuana grow-op. When the two main characters have a conversation with a policeman, as in the picture below, Karen plays the policeman when he is talking with Glen and Glen plays the policeman when he is talking with Karen. The production succeeded in making this kind of back-and-forth believable and entertaining.

            The balance of the Village Theatre summer season features the excellent ‘60s musical retrospective, “Summer of Love,” which is currently playing, Norm Foster’s “On a First Name Basis,” starring Norm Foster, and what will likely be the sleeper hit of the summer, “Peggy and Grace.” Suffice it to say that Heather has recruited excellent Montreal actors to play Peggy, Grace and the young man they meet on the road. The Winnebago set is designed and the family photos from Peggy and Grace’s lives and their trip are in the works.

            While the theatre is presenting its professional summer season, the Hudson Music Festival is back for a week at the end of July and beginning of August.

            Greenwood is also active all summer, running house and garden tours of their property, arranging teas and organizing the “Treasures in the Attic” in the fall.

            Since our next issue will be published at the end of September, it just misses the annual Studio Tour. We have listings and examples of the works of all the artists as well as the locations where they will be exhibiting their works or showing their studios.

            Once again we are bringing an example of art from developing countries, coutesy of the Pure Art Foundation which operates the Pure Art store in Hudson. The beadwork, such as shown below, is made by the Maasai of East Africa. We have many more pictures and a description of the people and the art in the section on Pure Art and the Maasai.

            With an issue full of the arts in Hudson this summer, we hope you will in turn be entertained, delighted and astonished.