OK, so I’m a little slow on the uptake. It’s not that I want to miss experiencing any of the amazing artistic endeavors happening throughout the Upper Delaware River region. It’s more about me being exhausted, which is (very) different than being lazy. I’m always tired, at times a little (a little!) cranky, and at the end of the day, I’m just one guy. I can’t be everywhere all of the time. And don’t even think about cloning me. As Barbara Fox was fond of saying, “One of you is more than enough.”

What I can say is that there is only one Rosie Starr, host of WJFF Radio Catskill’s “Farm & Country,” and she has been encouraging me to pop into the Narrowsburg Union’s Digital Gallery for weeks. “I’ll try, I swear!” I’d cry in passing, as Rosie and I ran into each other from time to time, but to be honest, it was the rave reviews others have shared over the last few weeks that impelled me to take Rosie’s advice.

“It’s so moving,” said one pal, while another concurred. “Really deep,” she said. “Their passion for farming everything from hemp to horses shines through.” And so I went.

Upon arriving, I learned that “Why Eye (I) Farm” is composed of nine five-minute audio presentations, with interviews conducted by Starr and enhanced by 300 of Woody Goldberg’s stunning photographs, which play across the large and small screens lining the walls.

The program informed me that the exhibit utilizes “the latest technology,” including a 16-foot HD media wall and digital crystal-clear back-lit projections that morph continually throughout the segments. Those segments feature “intimate personal words” from the folks at a wide variety of local farms, including Anthill, Apple Pond, Canfield, Friendly Acres, Willow Wisp, Gorzynski, Spring Brook, Sprouting Dreams and Two Creek Farms.

Even though I dilly-dallied (almost) too long to see and hear this special exhibition, I would encourage others to go, sit and check out this incredibly well presented immersive experience. “Why Eye (I) Farm” runs through the end of the month. Don’t wait like I did. It’s worth it.

Speaking of waiting, it seems like forever, but the Catskill Arts Society, located at 48 Main St. in Livingston Manor, NY, has been reborn. Upon arrival, I was immediately struck by differences. “What’s this? I asked executive director Sally Wright, who has been guiding CAS since 2017. “There’s a new name over the door.”

“Yes,” Sally said with a smile. “We’ve had a complete rebranding of the organization, now known as Catskill Art Space. We thought about how to position ourselves to where we are now and where we’re going. [The word] ‘society’  felt a bit insular, or closed—and ‘space’ just felt really expansive,  encompassing the entire nature of our interdisciplinary program, and also the physical place. It’s all changed,” she exclaimed. “There’s no more Catskill Arts Society. We even have a gorgeous new website—go to www.catkillartspace.org  and see for yourself.”

Before heading upstairs to the brand-new second-floor space, I picked up some info about the current exhibition. “Ellen Brooks,” the bio informed me, “a photographer known for her boundary-pushing forays into sculpture, will inaugurate an intimate ground-floor gallery space by suspending over 30 feet of scrolls of film negatives from the ceiling.  Brooks will show historical and new works from her ‘Trees’ 1987/2022, body of work.” Visually stimulating, to be sure.

“On CAS’s second floor landing,” I further read, “preeminent conceptual and minimalist artist Sol LeWitt’s vibrant ‘Wall Drawing #992,’ 2001 will unfold in three sections, each consisting of 10,000 straight lines drawn directly on the wall in color marker, to create a mesmerizing arrangement of primary colors.” It’s a must-see wow-factor installation.

The newly realized performance space on CAS’s second floor also hosts British sculptor Francis Cape’s “A Gathering of Utopian Benches” (2011-22), described as “meticulous copies of benches built and used by communal societies. Cape’s installations have always argued that design and craft express belief. ‘Utopian Benches,’ which has toured extensively throughout the U.S., was built from poplar grown near Cape’s studio in Narrowsburg, NY.”

I stopped a complete stranger named Matthew, who was perusing the “Utopian Benches” pamphlet, and asked for his reaction to the space as a whole. “We’re visiting from Brooklyn,” he explained, pointing out his companion, who was taking in LeWitt’s linear murals, “and heard there was an opening here today. It’s exactly like being in a premiere New York gallery, in its construction and every detail, even the halls. Real museum quality,” he added, before heading into James Turrell’s “Avaar,” an immersive, room-sized installation that explores Turrell’s ideas about “light, the act of perception, and the physical awareness of both space and place.”

I asked Sally for final thoughts before heading home. “What does today [the grand re-opening] mean to you personally?”

“Oh my gosh, that’s such a sweet question,” she said with emotion. “This is the culmination of years of hard work, people’s time and dedication. I’ve been picturing it in my mind for years, and it’s better—better than I ever dreamed.” And well worth the wait, in my humble opinion.

Ask the Google:

Q—What does “dilly-dally” mean?

A—To waste time through aimless wandering or indecision, i.e. “don’t dilly-dally for too long.”