Seeks ban on use of Proud Boys name it owns

A historic Black church in Washington, D.C., that was awarded rights to the name and logo of the white supremacist Proud Boys following a lawsuit is suing the Hudson Valley chapter and its president, a former Beacon resident.

In a federal lawsuit filed Aug. 4, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church accuses the Hudson Valley chapter and Will Pepe of "unlawful and ongoing infringement" of its right to control use of the organization's name. Pepe is one of over 1,000 people found guilty of invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and later pardoned by President Trump.

A federal judge awarded those rights to the church in February when the Proud Boys ignored a $2.8 million judgment over a December 2020 attack on the church while hundreds of its members rallied in the city in support of President Donald Trump and his unsubstantiated claims that he won the 2020 presidential election.

Some Proud Boys, roving the city during a "night march," jumped over Metropolitan's iron fence to tear down and destroy its Black Lives Matter sign.

Despite the February order, which prohibits the Proud Boys from "selling, transferring, disposing of or licensing" the name without the church's permission, the church says the Hudson Valley chapter continues to use the name on websites it and other New York chapters created, and on clothing, hats and other merchandise sold online.

Metropolitan said Pepe has not responded to a cease-and-desist letter sent in June to a Long Island address, as well as requests that he provide information on the chapter's use of the name and the amount of revenues from members' dues and merchandise sales. Pepe, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through the New York Proud Boys' website, lived in Dutchess County until June 2025, according to court documents.

The church said it wants to "evolve" the Proud Boys name to become "associated with the church's mission of love and humanity, rather than white supremacy, hatred and violence." In February, it introduced two limited-edition T-shirts replicating the logo with the slogans "Stay Proud, Black Lives Matter" and "Stay Black, Black Lives Matter."

"It is justice. It is karmic," the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, the church's pastor, told The Washington Post in February. "It is our victory in a long line of victories."

Metropolitan was one of two Black churches in D.C. whose Black Lives Matter signs were destroyed on Dec. 12, 2020, by Proud Boys in support of Trump's challenge to the election results. Weeks later, on Jan.6, 2021, protesters broke into and ransacked the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's win.

Police arrested Pepe six days later, accusing him, as president of the Hudson Valley chapter, of coordinating with other Proud Boys by radio and removing a police barricade. A federal judge found Pepe, who was fired from his job with Metro-North in Brewster, guilty in a bench trial on Oct. 23, 2024, of a felony (obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder) and four misdemeanors.

He scheduled sentencing for March 21 but, just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump issued "full, complete and unconditional" pardons to more than 1,500 men and women charged with participating in the attack on the Capitol.

Declaring his inauguration "liberation day," Trump, also commuted the sentences of 14 people associated with the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers and convicted of seditious conspiracy for mounting an organized, military-like assault. Because they did not receive pardons, they will continue to face restrictions such as a ban on voting and owning firearms.

Metropolitan AME is chasing their money. The church initially sued Proud Boys International on Jan. 4, 2021 - two days before the Capitol attack - for destruction of property, theft and trespassing. The judgment in that lawsuit has grown to $3.1 with interest and attorney's fees, but remains "almost entirely unpaid," accord...

State increases renewables projection, finalizes all-electric law

Two months after declaring its intention to build a nuclear plant to provide at least 1 gigawatt of power, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) has another ambitious initiative.

The draft of the agency's updated strategic plan calls for wind, solar and battery storage projects to provide 7 gigawatts - enough to power between 5 million and 7 million homes - built by the NYPA or private developers. The plan is online at bit.ly/NYPA2025 and the authority will hold virtual public hearings on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20. See nypa.gov/public-hearings to register.

Although none of the proposed projects are in Dutchess or Putnam counties, the number of renewable energy projects is more than double that in the NYPA's strategic plan released just eight months ago. NYPA credits the boom to funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included subsidies and incentives for renewable energy projects.

"The last few years have seen a massive growth, not only in the wind and solar that we're adding to our system, but our ability to manufacture and train so that we have a workforce and a system that is ready to meet growing demand," said Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In March, NYPA announced that it would be taking ownership of a solar energy project outside of Glens Falls. A month later, NYPA and the City of Albany announced a plan to develop a solar project on a capped landfill. That project will also be the first to participate in an NYPA program in which power is sold to low- and moderate-income families at reduced rates.

But federal actions are threatening to delay the state renewables boom. The budget signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 ended the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for renewables, except for batteries. A series of executive orders imposed additional restrictions on renewables, including penalties for importing materials from China, a leading manufacturer of renewable energy equipment. This month, the Department of the Interior announced plans to subject wind and solar projects, including some already approved, to "further review."

Due to the federal changes, Christopher Hutson, the NYPA's senior vice president of development, warned at a July 29 board meeting of the possibility that not all of NYPA's renewable projects will come to fruition, although some "may progress on their own."

The IRA's tax credits for renewables won't end immediately; wind and solar projects that begin construction by July 2026 or begin service by Dec. 31, 2027, can still claim them. Hutson said the state could begin construction of some projects ahead of schedule to meet those deadlines. "Every developer in the country right now is seeking to rapidly procure equipment," he said. "It will be critical to move fast."

The NYPA announcement wasn't the only big step New York took last week toward its long-term climate goals. The 2023 All-Electric Buildings Act cleared a hurdle when the State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council approved required changes.

The law will take effect at the end of the year, making New York the first state to require that all new buildings be powered with electricity instead of oil and gas. Existing buildings are not required to switch, even if renovated, and certain buildings, such as restaurants and crematoriums, are exempt. The law also only applies to buildings up to seven stories high. (Taller buildings have until 2028.)

In 2023, Beacon passed a law banning fossil fuels in new construction projects, before the state law. About a third of New York state's greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, according to a December report issued by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

James Hartford, co-owner of River Architects in Cold Spring, doesn't expect the law to change much for his business. As the founder of the New York chapter of the Passive House Alliance, ...

Town Board also approves Glassbury sales price

The Philipstown Town Board on Thursday (Aug. 7) agreed to poll residents about implementing a tax on property sales, with the proceeds to be used for protecting open spaces, wildlife habitats, and other natural resources through land purchases and conservation easements.

Ted Warren, the public policy manager for the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, informed the board that revenue for the Community Preservation Fund would be generated through a transfer tax of up to 2 percent, paid by buyers on the portion of a property purchase exceeding the median price for home sales in Putnam County. That is, if the median price is $500,000, a house that sold for $700,000 would be taxed on $200,000. People buying homes for less than the median price would be exempt.

Philipstown took the initial step toward the fund by in August 2023 by adopting a Community Conservation Plan. But Supervisor John Van Tassel said then that the idea of a new tax during the pandemic "did not settle well" with the board. In addition, said Warren, a survey of Philipstown residents conducted by the Trust for Public Land showed "a lot of ambivalence" about a fund.

On Thursday, Van Tassel said the "time is right" to revisit the idea, with the goal of having a referendum ready for the 2026 general election. "There have been several parcels that this fund could have really secured for conservation protection," he said.

Under the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, a state law that gives municipalities in Putnam and Westchester counties the authority to create conservation funds, the money would be administered by a five- or seven-member advisory board of volunteer residents.

Proposals to create funds in other towns have faced opposition, usually from the New York State Association of Realtors, said Warren. He said the tax could be considered an "investment" for people buying property in Philipstown.

"It's a very small amount, compared to what they're probably paying for that home," said Warren. "It is a way of saying, 'You know, we're moving to this community and this is our little investment in allowing the town to have this flexibility.' "

Glassbury Court

At its Aug. 7 meeting, the Town Board approved a maximum sales price of $547,558 for one of the 10 Glassbury Court units set aside as affordable housing. It also agreed to waive a requirement that the buyer be approved by an "affordability consultant."

Under Philipstown's approval of the Quarry Pond Planned Development District for the construction of Glassbury Court, the maximum price at which the affordable units can only be sold is capped by a formula, and buyers must be approved by the consultant.

Because the town does not have an affordability consultant, it agreed to allow the owners of 11 Revolutionary Road to sell to any buyer.

State parks letter

A letter approved by the board will be sent to state parks and the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail raising concerns about the safety of hikers who use Fair Street and Route 9D to walk from the Cold Spring Metro-North station to the trails in the Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve.

A draft written by Van Tassel originally accused HHFT of "directing the general public to walk along the shoulder of Route 9D." He agreed to change the wording after a board member, Jason Angell, noted that advisories to visitors about construction-related closures do not use those words, and that there are alternative routes.

According to the letter, titled "Dangerous Condition on Route 9D Caused by HHFT," the closure of the Breakneck train station and parking north of the tunnel, and limited parking at the Washburn trailhead lot, means more visitors catch Metro-North to Cold Spring and walk through the village to the trails. Van Tassel reiterated his proposal that the state and HHFT install sidewalks on Route 9D.

Nat Prentice, one of two candidates running unopposed for seats on the Town Board, said he and other volunteers at the Visitor...

Agency: Guatemalan man deported on July 18

A Beacon resident arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in June has been removed from the country, the agency said on Thursday (Aug. 7).

ICE officers detained Santos Belarmino Perez Suchite on June 20 for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an agency spokesperson said.

Perez, who lived on North Elm Street, is a Guatemalan national who "admitted he entered the United States by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in 2024," said Marie Ferguson, the ICE representative. "Not only did this alien blatantly disregard our nation's immigration laws, but he also jeopardized community and officer safety by attempting to flee on foot, leading officials on a brief chase before his capture."

ICE removed Perez from the U.S. on July 18, Ferguson said, without specifying where he was sent.

Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou announced on June 20 that ICE agents had made an arrest in Beacon after his office was informed by residents about their presence. While city officials stated they were unaware of who ICE had detained or the nature of any charges, Police Chief Tom Figlia confirmed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that an enforcement operation had taken place.

"I want to make clear that at no time leading up to this incident did city staff, including our Police Department, have any notice of or involvement in ICE operations," Kyriacou said at the time. "As a city, we remain committed to our safe, inclusive community policy, to preserving rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and to avoiding any policies which engender fear among law-abiding families."

Figlia said the following week that ICE returned on June 21, but he did not know if anyone was detained. ICE did not respond at the time to a request from The Current for information. The agency responded to a second request this week but only released information about Perez.

"Under President Trump's leadership, Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem is reversing former President Biden's catch-and-release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets," Ferguson said. "It comes down to one question: Is this person violating our nation's immigration laws? If the answer is yes, we're going to remove them."

A Beacon resident wrote in a comment after The Current's June 20 story that he saw the ICE officers on North Elm Street. "ICE, the FBI and what appeared to be one police officer (not from the City of Beacon) staked out the house, parked at different locations along the street around 6 a.m., presumably to apprehend him on his morning commute," he wrote. "I believe the kid they took is one of our local bakers. We talk often. We say hello daily." The federal agents were armed and wearing body armor, he wrote.

In Cold Spring, review board keeps an eye out for violations

A little-known board in Cold Spring keeps a watchful eye out for changes that threaten the traditional appearance of the village.

Since 1976, all changes to the exterior of buildings within Cold Spring's historic district, established that same year, have required approval from the five volunteer members of the Historic District Review Board.

The district includes most of the village from Parsonage Street to the riverfront. There is also a national historic district that lies within the local district, encompassing the village core on and near Main Street.

At its June 11 meeting, the Village Board reviewed a report from the HDRB outlining five recent violations, which were referred to the code enforcement officer that Cold Springs shares with Philipstown.

They included a sign for the Good Life Wellness spa at 143 Main St. that takes up more than 25 percent of the window space; a sign painted on a brick wall for Nobody's Deli at 72 Main St. that is too large; faux foliage and veneer flooring installed outside the Cozy Corner Cafe at 129-131 Main St.; an aluminum and glass entrance door installed at CS Apothecary, 40 Main St.; and faux foliage, a fence and windows added to the Foundry Rose Cafe at 55 Main St.

The owner of 72 Main St. and the Cozy Corner Cafe told The Current they are working to fix the violations. The owners of the Foundry Rose and 40 Main St. did not respond to an inquiry, and the phone number for Good Life Wellness is no longer in service. The village and town code enforcement officer, Greg Wunner, did not respond to requests for comment.

The code enforcement officer, in consultation with the village attorney, determines the penalty for violations, said Cold Spring Mayor Kathleen Foley. "The Village Board is only engaged when the village attorney recommends the board seek an injunction against a property owner," she added.

Foley said the Village Board hasn't received a monthly report from Wunner in more than a year. She said the town plans to hire a second, part-time enforcement officer, and that she hopes "communications and follow-up will improve."

Albert Zgolinski, an architect who chairs the HDRB, noted that many Cold Spring homes and businesses have changed hands since the pandemic. "Owners might know their property is located in the historic district, but they may not understand what that means on a practical level," he said.

The design standards are posted on the village website at coldspringny.gov. Last updated in 2022, they follow state and federal law and serve as a how-to manual for property owners contemplating exterior changes.

Zgolinski said it is a buyer's responsibility to explore land use, zoning and preservation restrictions. Although real-estate agents are not legally required to advise potential buyers that a property is within the historic district and subject to HDRB regulations, "we hope they do as a matter of ethics," he said.

People seldom like regulations, but Zgolinski said studies have shown that historic districts help to stabilize or increase property values.

He noted the HDRB doesn't regulate changes to the exterior color, a requirement he said would add a cumbersome layer to the permitting process for applicants and the board. Paint color "is a great way for property owners to express themselves or their business, as it gives people some creative flexibility while retaining historic fabric," he said.

Zgolinski said that, during the development of the 2012 comprehensive plan, residents expressed support for the historic district but asked that the HDRB make its process more user-friendly. He said that was a goal when the design standards were updated two years ago.

"Residents, contractors, architects and real estate agents were engaged in focus groups to contribute to the standards update," Zgolinski said. "We simplified and improved the application process and now regularly 'workshop' ideas."

Lauren Wallis Hall, ...

Updates from the City Council

The City of Beacon plans to install a bench and seating area with a plaque on Fishkill Avenue to honor Amalio Lombardi, the Goshen man who was struck by an excavator and killed on July 28 during work to replace water and sewer infrastructure beneath the roadway.

Chris White, the city administrator, did not make his normal report during the Monday (Aug. 4) meeting of the City Council but instead spoke about Lombardi, a foreman for Sun Up Construction of Wappingers Falls who had worked on capital projects in Beacon for decades.

Lombardi, 61, was described as a model employee by colleagues, White said, and as "a good guy. That's a compliment that you hear repeatedly from all who knew him. He was well-known to our staff and our engineer, and he was universally liked."

He was close to retirement, White said, "and had certainly considered it, but he had never filed for it because he enjoyed working and spending time with his co-workers."

Lombardi is survived by his wife, Juliann; his children, Amanda, Marissa and Michael; his mother, Lina; and his sister, Teresa Fini. Michael Lombardi is studying engineering at Clarkson University.

Lombardi came to work on a Saturday, two days before the accident, to make emergency repairs to the water main with city staff. Likewise, White praised the members of Lombardi's crew who stayed on-site to fill the trench in the road after the accident, "because that's what Amalio would have done."

"Residents of this city should be very proud of the response by our staff in the face of this tragic accident," White said. "It was handled with professionalism, skill and respect."

Following Lombardi's death, Mayor Lee Kyriacou ordered flags lowered to half-staff for the remainder of the week. The Beacon Police Department and the Dutchess County Medical Examiner's Office are investigating the accident, along with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

248 Tioronda Ave.

The council will ask an "independent expert" to weigh in on The Arno, an apartment complex at 248 Tioronda Ave. where the developer has built two residential buildings but has been unable to find a tenant for a commercial structure that is yet to be built.

The commercial structure is required by Beacon's zoning laws. The City Council agreed in December to allow the building inspector to issue certificates of occupancy for 64 apartments. The developer, Bernard Kohn, constructed the apartments but did not build the commercial structure at the same time, a condition for projects within the Fishkill Creek development zone. After the December agreement, Kohn said he would return to the council regularly with updates on the tenant search.

On Monday, Jay Blumenfeld, a project representative, said the developer has still been unable to secure a renter. There have been 25 to 30 inquiries, he said, but "only a couple were substantial enough to even think about putting the financing together to build the building. We just feel like we've hit a dead end."

Council members last year discussed allowing a third apartment building if more than 10 percent of its units were offered at below-market rate rents. If a conversion to residential were allowed, Kohn would be willing to go beyond the city's 10 percent requirement, Blumenfeld said.

It was Kyriacou, then a council member, who in 2017 proposed the law to require that developments in the Fishkill Creek zone have a 25 percent commercial component, but "I do not believe in it anymore," he said Monday. "The market has changed dramatically. We have an extreme housing shortage in the area, and we have a commercial glut."

Kyriacou noted that a 2022 Dutchess County study recommended a "fair share" approach through which municipalities would address affordability on a per-capita basis. In Beacon, it suggested 100 "interventions" - roughly equivalent to the construction of a housing unit - at a rate of five per year for two decades.

Poughkeepsie and Beacon have the m...

Shigeko Kubota gallery opens in Beacon

In a career that attracted interest from prestigious institutions around the globe during her lifetime, Shigeko Kubota peered into the future. As one of the first video-oriented artists in the 1960s, she understood society's obsession with moving images.

TikTok is the popular distillation of her vision, but even the Metropolitan Museum of Art is preserving and legitimizing "time-based media," which includes film, video, audio and software.

"She democratized the museum experience and was one of the first artists to go beyond figurative sculpture and paintings on a wall," says Reid Ballard, director of collections and exhibitions at the nonprofit Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation, which last month unveiled a new Beacon gallery in the North Avenue space formerly occupied by Analog Diary.

Kubota, who was associated with the Fluxus movement, along with Yoko Ono and other Japanese artists, became ensconced in the SoHo art scene and married Nam June Paik, an artist who also specialized in video-centric pieces.

After Paik suffered a stroke in 1996, Kubota ceased creating, for the most part, until her death in 2015. The foundation's headquarters is the couple's former apartment at 110 Mercer St. in New York City. (Paik died in 2006.)

Because they had no children, Kubota chose a friend and collaborator, Norman Ballard (Reid's father), to oversee the estate and lead the nonprofit. The foundation has operated a workshop on West Main Street in Beacon since 2017.

Though an early adopter of word crawls, colorization and feedback effects, much of Kubota's content consists of travel footage and street shots in Manhattan and other locales, says Reid, who moved to Beacon in 2023. Her main achievement was in the display of the videos, altering what emanates from the monitors with mirror images and even water to create fascinating reflections.

The workshop (open for tours by appointment) houses two iconic works. "Three Mountains" represents a crucial moment in her career, according to the gallery notes, because it was the first piece to embed content in a "volumetric sculpture."

The bulky piece consists of three plywood structures, one of which is a chest-high pyramid with an opening at the top that makes it difficult for anyone less than 7 feet tall to see inside. There are visible scuff marks left by viewers who climbed the base or leaned on it while bracing themselves with their hands.

More compelling and mesmerizing, "River" suspends three downward-facing monitors above a metal trough filled with water. A splashing device sloshes the liquid around, altering the reflection of the cartoonish video content - created with a color synthesizer. The images also bleed down the vessel's sides.

At the new gallery, Norman Ballard pays homage to Kubota's 1996 solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The lush, atmospheric exhibit in Beacon is enhanced by a purplish, pixelated tableau projected onto the long wall opposite the entrance, which reflects the shadows of bodies and the subject's sculptures of trees made from bolts, screws, nails and scrap metal.

One colorful work at the exhibit chronicles Kubota and Paik's 1984 visit to South Korea, his home country. What looks like a tiny satellite is augmented with plexiglass extensions that distort the documentary's presentation with mirrored strips of acrylic.

"She had a vision about the artistic potential of video and experimented with content," says Norman Ballard. "But it's the sculptures, where the video is embedded into the structural element, that make her work stand out."

The Shigeko Kubota gallery, at 1154 North Ave., is open weekends from noon to 5 p.m. into September. See shigekokubotavideoartfoundation.org or call 212-226-5007. The Kubota workshop is at 20 West Main St.

Bonnie Mead doesn't feel she has a story to tell. In fact, she could write a book.

Before moving to Cold Spring in November, the 82-year-old won a demolition derby championship, worked with positive thinker Norman Vincent Peale, survived tornado alley and was shocked when, within four months, two of her neighbors in Vermont were attacked and killed - prompting her move.

Mead was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and named after "Bonnie Blue," Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler's daughter in Gone with the Wind. Mead's first job was at age 13; she helped a Pawling lawyer and his wife with the office, childcare and housework.

"I got 35 cents an hour," Mead said, which would be $4 today. "Boy, I thought I was rich!"

Tracking her jobs and hometowns over eight decades with a reporter was a challenge. She always worked two jobs. She was a bartender, veterinarian's assistant, dispatcher, medical assistant and physician's secretary. She lived in towns and villages from Vermont to Iowa.

Married twice, she declined to say much about her first husband, whom she divorced. "He spent quite a bit of time in jail," she said, with a rueful smile.

In 1967, she was living in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and not working - or at least not being paid for her work, which was raising her young children while her second husband, Gary Mead, drove a long-haul truck.

It was there she experienced tornado alley; one "crossed right in front of my car while I was driving," she said.

Beginning in 1978, she spent 12 years as a travel agent in Pawling. She was able to take some nice trips, including to Alaska, but hated flying. It was Gary, who raced stock cars, who convinced her to try the demolition derby. "I thought he was crazy but, after a couple races, I kind of liked it," Mead recalled. She competed in derbies throughout the Northeast from 1982 to 1985, driving her "old junker" to a championship at Islip Speedway on Long Island.

She kept competing even after divorcing Gary. As it happened, "his new wife was also driving in derbies," Mead said. "I crashed into her, and she broke her nose!" She swears it was not intentional.

Mead lost all her derby photos and trophies in a fire 30 years ago.

In the early 1980s, she was hired as a secretary for Norman Vincent Peale at his Foundation for Christian Living in Pawling. A Protestant minister, Peale wrote The Power of Positive Thinking, which has sold more than 22 million copies in 42 languages. He was also the pastor at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan for 52 years and officiated at one of Donald Trump's three weddings.

Asked if working for Peale gave her a more positive outlook, Mead said, "I never read his book."

"He was all business, not overly friendly to his employees," she recalled, adding that her job was tedious. "I learned more ZIP codes than you can ever imagine."

It did produce one surprise: "Big 18-wheelers came up every week, just full of money," she said. "They took big baskets of checks out of those trucks; I was amazed."

At the same time, she also worked at the nearby YMCA Holiday Hills Conference Center, where actor James Earl Jones often performed in fundraisers. "I got to know him pretty well," she said. "He was one of the nicest people I've ever met." (Jones, who lived in Pawling, died last year at age 93.)

Mead also found time to serve with the Amenia Fire Department for 12 years, from 1980 to 1992, as a volunteer firefighter and member of its rescue squad.

She said her favorite job was driving a school bus for 11 years, from 2008 to 2019. "I loved it, loved the kids, even more so the special-needs kids," Mead said. But it wasn't easy for someone who stands less than 5 feet tall. "They always knew it was my bus because they couldn't see a driver."

She'll never forget the day she drove a school bus to Albany to take her commercial driver's license test. On the way, the bus hit a wild turkey in flight. "There was blood and feathers all over the windshield," Mead said. "I was hysterical."

She was still...

Young artists explore during annual Garrison institute

Over the last two weeks, the Garrison Art Center has hosted 16 teenagers for its Summer Art Institute. As they work, talk is at a minimum and phones are dormant - for the most part.

"I'll let them consult the internet if it's for the art," says Melissa Schlobohm, the printmaking teacher.

During five-hour sessions, the students prepared pieces that will be on display at the art center galleries on Saturday (Aug. 9) and Sunday, with a closing reception at 3:30 p.m.

The program dates to 1998 and requires participants to rotate between the pottery shop, the upstairs printmaking nook and the painting and drawing studio, located in the center's larger gallery space. They also hang the exhibit together.

"Even I get to learn a lot, so this is one of my favorite events of the year," says Kit Burke-Smith, the GAC education director. "It's so great to sit in on Dan [Graham Loxton]'s painting sessions and watch him mix colors and explain the theory and science behind it."

Under the tutelage of Lisa Knaus in the pottery studio, Poughkeepsie resident J.V. Ryan worked on the cover of a macabre clay coffin. Though he prefers sculpture, he says, "I like improving other skills." Liam Kemp, who lives in Cortlandt, showed off an elaborate Greek-inspired head with blue dots for eyes and intricate hair and eyebrows.

In the printmaking shop, located atop a steep set of stairs, the curriculum covers plenty of ground in an abbreviated time: history, methods, applications and tools. The artists also explore the question, "How is printmaking unique?" and Schlobohm teaches techniques like carving, inking, printing and cleaning up.

Turning the big printer's wheel is fun but the results may not turn out as intended. "You never know what the final product is going to look like," Schlobohm says. "Printmakers often take the best images from a series and offer them as limited editions. As with books, the first one is usually the most valuable."

Preparing battleship-gray tiles of linoleum before inking them up, some students manipulated gouges with blade shapes, like woodcarving tools. Others employed Dremels with various bits, akin to a handheld drill for art.

Haldane junior Rosie Herman leaned into an intricate pattern of leaves, jam jars and strawberries, an image she adapted from Pinterest. "I'm more of a painter, but I appreciate the opportunity to expand my ideas and find my own carving style and voice," she says.

Another student, a sculptor primarily, chafed at printing. "He kept making prints with airplanes on them, so we created some that he could fold into paper airplanes," says Schlobohm.

"Printmaking is disorienting because the image is backward and it's OK if you don't enjoy it," she says. "But when you stick to the things you're already good at, you don't flex all your creative muscles."

Savage Wonder hosts Saturday night absurdities

The ploy each Saturday evening at Savage Wonder in Beacon is simple: Wind the eight actors up by handing them a script, let them rehearse for about five hours and turn them loose.

The resulting staged-reading performances take place every Saturday night for a month at the Main Street venue, a former bank. "The last performance is the most polished, but the first one is the most fun," says Chris Meyer, its artistic director.

On Saturday (Aug. 9) and each week through Aug. 30, the company will present The Actor's Nightmare, by Christopher Durang and directed by Meyer, along with six 10-minute comedies. Absurdist scenes include a corpse in conversation and a wedding catering menu that offers hand-clubbed baby seal, carpaccio of spotted owl and sashimi from the waters around Fukushima.

As Savage Wonder builds out 139-141 Main St., the basement is the only area open to the public. Music and theater performances are held at The Parlor, accessible through the 4,000-square-foot art gallery Savage Wonderground.

Formerly known as Vet/Rep (short for veterans repertory theater), Savage Wonder moved from Cornwall last year and plans to open two performance spaces and another bar/cafe upstairs. "We've never produced a show in August before," says Meyer. "We always went dark. This year we figured, let's see what Beacon brings."

Next to the performance space is Grape Rebellion, a wine bar and eatery. Patrons can dine and drink while watching the performances.

In The Actor's Nightmare, Cian Genaro portrays a befuddled accountant mistaken for an actor (who may also be a thespian having a bad day). He is thrust into a production that shifts from Beckett to Hamlet and A Man for All Seasons. Beheaded at the end, like Sir Thomas More, the actor/accountant lies motionless on the floor during the curtain call.

A short, "The Big Dark," referencing hell, relates the fast-moving adventures of a mishmash of nymphs, satyrs and Greek gods as narrated by a hardboiled gumshoe (Dylan Crow). Kia Nicole Boyer laughed after gargling water to imitate a fountain. During a game of craps, a character rolled "Medusa eyes."

In "Monkey Do," the protagonist's younger brother died from being strangled by a sock puppet - or an actual monkey; it's ambiguous. Ana Anderson and Leeanne Hutchison heightened the hilarity, reflecting Meyer's mantra to have fun, mix things up and "eat the dessert first," he says.

The key to keeping a theater-like flow in the cozy Parlor space is the doorway to a utility room that fills in for backstage. Actors also enter and exit by walking through the house, which is filled with four couches, padded barstools and height-adjustable antique tables.

Three rows of lighting gear affixed to the ceiling add ambience to the performances. During "Hamlet in Hiding," they simulate the police raid on a trio of bank robbers with Irish accents holed up in a theater.

The room's mottled red, blue and yellow decor is adorned with portraits of Bob Ross, Shel Silverstein and Edgar Allan Poe. For readings this month, the action takes place along the far wall, but configurations are flexible, including in-the-round experiences where the stage stands mid-room, says Topher Kage, associate artistic director.

When hosting improv or standup comedy shows, the small stage is placed against one of the side walls. There are 25 chairs, and "pretty much everyone has a first- or second-row seat," he says.

Tickets are $25 at savagewonder.org. The play performed on Saturdays in September will be "The Elephant Delivery," by Bill Smith, along with six 10-minute comedies written by veterans. The Grape Rebellion is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.