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Waking Song

The West Kortright Centre is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Challenge America award of $10,000. This grant will support the project Waking Song led by local artist Jesse Wilson. Waking Song will be a collaboration involving area students with the aim to create a sonic and visual transformation of a section of the Catskill Scenic trail between Stamford and Hobart in the fall of 2023. This grant is one of 262 Challenge America awards totaling $2.62 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects such as this one with the West Kortright Centre and artist Jesse Wilson strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

We will share more information about the project via our newsletter and website as it unfolds.

Music + Art + Community in the Western Catskills

Set in a bucolic rural valley in the northwestern Catskill Mountains of New York State, The West Kortright Centre is a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in arts programming, featuring a diverse blend of world-class concerts, workshops, art exhibits, and community events.

Now a historic landmark, our elegantly renovated 1850s church provides a unique, intimate and acoustically excellent space to absorb the finest cultural programming, as well as offering a showcase for local young people, and a variety of workshops for all ages. Click here to learn about upcoming events.

Upcoming Events

Arm-of-the-Sea Theater presents A Riparian Rhapsody: How the Forest Sings to the Stream 06/17
This puppet extravaganza dives into Catskill ecology to reveal the intricate interactions between Forest and Stream and lyrically makes the case for protecting streamside buffer zones.
Kidstock! 07/01
Join us for a fun afternoon with live music and activities for kids including face painting, crafts, an obstacle course and more!
2023 Landscape and Garden Tour 07/16
Get a rare insider look at how local garden enthusiasts have enhanced the natural beauty of their outdoor environments.
Meredith Monk and John Hollenbeck – Duet Behavior 2023 07/22
Duet Behavior 2023 is an intimate evening of Meredith Monk’s music as it has never been experienced.
Stone Tapes Present: Medicine Singers 08/12
The Medicine Singers embody decades of musical genres influenced by Native American music, offering what Pitchfork called a “vivid new context for the sound of the powwow drum, highlighting the debt that rock music owes to Native American music.”
Noura Mint Seymali 08/19
Noura Mint Seymali is Mauritania’s defining artist on the international stage. Her band conjures “a full blown sandstorm of hypnotic grooves, melding traditional Mauritanian instruments within an electrified psychedelic rock band.”
Mali Obomsawin 09/28
Mali Obomsawin is an award winning bassist/composer from Odanak First Nation. Seamlessly melding chorale-like spirituals, folk melodies, and post-Albert Ayler free jazz, Obomsawin’s compositions occupy a universe completely their own.

Support the WKC

For over 40 years, The West Kortright Centre has been bringing outstanding cultural programming and educational opportunities to our small corner of Delaware County. Your donations support programs, scholarships, the stewardship of our historic building and more, and are vital in our effort to serve our growing and changing community. Thank you!

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