Clik here to view.
New Guild director Jeremy Adams at the 5×7 show. (photo by Dion Ogust)
“My vision for Byrdcliffe at Woodstock is currently very broad,” writes Brydcliffe’s new, incoming executive director, Jeremy Adams. “I need to get in there, get the lay of the land, meet as many people as possible connected to the organization, and also as many people from the community, to get a clearer idea of where the organization is currently situated and where it can go.”
Adams, hired in the past month after an extensive search that started in late summer after Matthew Leaycraft, who had come on as director on an interim basis three years ago, was formerly director at New York’s prestigious and pioneering CUE Foundation for emerging artists. He starts work Thursday, January 2.
Leaycraft came on after the Woodstock Guild board of directors hired a nonprofit New York gallery founder to replace Carla Smith, who retired after over a decade in the position. That replacement, Peter Nesbit, lasted only a matter of weeks and left leaving a trail of charges against the Byrdcliffe board and town’s cultural scene.
“For me, the long term goal for Byrdcliffe at Woodstock is to remain true to its origins — to be a utopian enclave for creative activity, and to be a leading light in the nation’s cultural activity,” Adams noted last week. “I believe that all forms of artistic expression should be given equal respect and equal merit. I want it to be a place where artists of all types come to explore their oeuvre, meet other creative individuals, take part in a cross pollination of ideas, and not be afraid to fail gloriously in pursuit of furthering their artistic practice. It should be a hub of creative activity and creative discourse.”
Adams, who has been living part-time in Lomontville and has two children, went on to address the community in which he will now be a leading light.
“The area has an extremely rich cultural history, and the community is very sophisticated. I believe these are two important aspects to consider as I begin a new journey at the organization,” he said. ‘I want to create a level playing field for all forms of artistic expression, one where all the arts and all the crafts receive mutual respect, while bringing in a diverse array of artistic events that can enrich what is already happening in the area. An organization that has been in existence for 111 years is going to have a very rich history, however I am new to Byrdcliffe and would like to feel that I am coming in with a clean slate and have no agenda beyond helping add to the cultural vitality of the area. I will welcome as much engagement from the community as I can, I intend to operate with as much transparency as possible, will welcome conversations from a broad range of constituents as I want make sure Byrdcliffe is seen as an inclusive and welcoming organization. I want to collaborate with as many organizations as possible in the Hudson Valley to make our area one of the most exciting places to live or to visit.”
Adams has an undergraduate degree in Fine Art Painting from a college in his native England and came to the U.S. in 1989 to get an MFA in painting at Pratt Institute; he is a practicing artist.
“I continued to paint for many years but when my kids were born and I got to run my first organization at CUE, I simply didn’t have the time to continue my practice. So I am currently not making work,” he added. “Now that my kids are a little older, though, I intend to convert part of my garage back into a studio so I can satisfy that part of me. I do brew my own beer, keep bees, and am now just embarking on learning the banjo, all three of which I see as creative activities.”
Over the years since his Pratt graduation in 1991, Adams worked in a variety of jobs in the arts, in commercial galleries and also as an assistant to artists…all of which he feels will fuel his contributions to Byrdcliffe, Woodstock and the region.
“I have realized I greatly enjoy working with artists, helping them in their daily practice and in realizing their goals so I found myself drawn to the non-profit world as that allowed me to focus on artists and the making of art as opposed to being concerned about the selling of the work,” he said. “I have two kids, Stella who is ten, and Felix who is eight. They are greatly enjoying rural life, and their new school at High Meadow in Stone Ridge. My wife grew up summering in the area as her best friend’s family had, and still has, a house in Shady. When we had our first child we decided to summer up in the area and rented various houses. We fell in love with the region and about four years ago purchased our home in Lomontville. Like many people, we originally thought that spending weekends and summers in the area would give us a healthy dose of rural life and leave us satisfied. The opposite happened, we found ourselves increasingly trying to spend more and more time here as we greatly enjoyed the quality of life, realized that the region had much to offer culturally, and simply felt connected to everything about the area.”
As for the new work he starts this week, Adams was optimistic and enthused.
“I have met everyone connected to Byrdcliffe and am very impressed by their commitment to helping grow the organization,” he noted. “I think this is a very exciting time for the organization, and I hope I can be a part of its success for many years to come.”