Sustainable Living by Shawn Dell Joyce
The best way to preserve idyllic vistas like our Shawangunk Ridge, is to support the small farms that pay the taxes and upkeep on those beautiful open fields. Eating locally is one of the best environmental contributions you can make to preserve scenic vistas and open space. Another one is through the Orange County Land Trust in partnership with the Wallkill River School.
The Wallkill River School is a nonprofit collective of artists that understands the importance of “eating your view.” Like their predecessors in the Hudson River School, (only more local) the artists preserve remaining farms and vistas through their paintings and activism. The Wallkill River School brings urban artists out to rural farms and open spaces to paint, and connect viscerally with the land that sustains us. This year, artists painted on Orange County Land Trust sites across the county that are preserved, and farms in danger of being developed.
This Saturday, at the Wallkill River School in Montgomery, artists are auctioning off their paintings to benefit the Orange County Land Trust and keep these important views picture-perfect for future generations. The auction art can be previewed all week, and on Saturday until 3pm. Live auction will begin then, and is conducted by Orange County Tourism director Susan Havermale Cayea. Refreshments will be served.
The sale of the artwork benefits the artist and the Land Trust, and is a great way to make a donation to the Land Trust and receive a piece of land you are preserving through a local artist.
Shawn Dell Joyce is the director of the Wallkill River School combining plein air painting with environmental activism. www.WallkillRiverSchool.com
