Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy
Artist Rodney Alan Greenblat, world famous for his whimsical, vibrant, and fun artwork, is the owner/operator of the Rodney Shop boutique, one of the many artist-run boutiques on Main Street in Catskill, NY. His interest in art began as a young child and he was propelled into the arts world with his first “gig” doing an illustration for his school PTA handbook at the age of 11.
As a sculptor and painter, his work became an integral part of the East Village Art scene of the 1980s, where he had several one person shows at the legendary Gracie Mansion Gallery. In 1985 his large sculpture “Ark of Triumph” was featured in the prestigious Whitney Museum Biennial exhibition.
In the 1990’s Rodney took on another title, and published four children’s books published by Harper Collins. Uncle Wizzmo’s New Used Car, Aunt Ippy’s Museum of Junk, Thunder Bunny, and Slombo The Gross.
When newer technologies started to revolutionize the video game industry, he became the artistic force behind the best selling game for Sony Playstation called “Parappa The Rapper.” This led to a whole line of products distributed in Japan, and a weekly animated television series. Rodney is known as one of the world’s top character designers.
Rodney is a great example for artists everywhere, especially younger artists. He is a living breathing example of how a passion for the arts can lead to many options beyond the stereotypical “starving artist” if that talent and passion is nurtured and supported.
His artwork is shown regularly at the prestigious BCB ART gallery in Hudson NY. His wares can be purchased online, or in the Rodney Shop store at 362 Main Street in Catskill NY.
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Article by Ashleigh Kinsey
ACE’s Ashleigh Kinsey spoke with Meg Affonso, a creative who is a creative in every sense of the word – singer,dancer, actor, model, yogi, and now producer! Meg shares her journey as a creative and what led her to collaborating with other creatives to present the production of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf and The Women of Color in the Arts Expo in Albany NY.
Where are you from, and where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Martinsburg, WV. I have lived in the Capital Region of NY for 12 years.
Did you seek out higher education, or are you self taught? Where did you study?
I studied Musical Theatre at Shepherd University for a few years before moving to Upstate NY. I then went on to study Meisner Technique with the Deena Levy Theatre Studio in NYC. Most of my training comes from being on set and around the stage.
Would you say you have always been a creative person? What other work have you done?
Creativity is in my bones. I began singing in my church at age 4 and formal dance lessons started at age 5. This was where my creativity really started to come out of its shell! I loved my dance lessons, so I cannot recommend them enough. If you have a creative child who is interested in that sort of thing, you could take a look at DivaDance to see if you could get them some lessons. I’m sure they’d love it and its so good for creativity and confidence building as well! Then, once my dancing and singing skills were practised, I became involved in the local theatre scene at 14. I’ve performed in plays, films, web series, commercials and occasionally do freelance modeling.
How did you become interested in your industry?
I’ve always been an entertainer and once I discovered how to tell a story through performance, I was hooked for life. There was a period of time that I stopped performing and doing creative work; I was discouraged because my life wasn’t working out the way that I had hoped it would. I had a child very young and I needed to find a means to an end to be financially stable, so I left the creative stuff behind and tried to move forward. Fortunately, my creative work wouldn’t let me go and I was forced to face it, to begin again. Beginning again didn’t come without some uncertainty and embarrassment. I’ve had my share of terrible auditions and worked through the awkwardness of learning how to communicate what I need. A true artist is not one who loves the work, but one who cannot live without it.
Did you have a defining moment that pushed you to start working on your production?
This play has been nagging at my mind for 9 years. From the moment I read Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem, it struck a chord in me that had never been struck before. Having gotten back into professional acting in the past 3 years has put me in a lot of situations where I recognize that I am sometimes the only person of color in the room for an audition or on set. I wanted to celebrate the beauty of black women artists in all their forms and this was the way to do it. I’ve also entered a point in my life where it’s time to tell my own stories, so I have been writing a few short films and I am beginning the process of directing a documentary. This whole process occurred all because my heart and my mind won’t let me rest. I want give life to stories that will help heal myself and others in the process, specifically women. I want to start a conversation and give people space to share their stories, as well.
What does running a production like this entail?
This is my first time producing and it’s probably the most difficult thing that I have ever done, but it is also incredibly rewarding. As the producer, I have had to find funding, secure the location, secure rehearsal space, hire creative talent + crew, be responsible for everything that goes along with promoting the production and more. As the director & choreographer, I am responsible for bringing the story to life through blocking, dance and working with my actors. There’s a lot that falls on my shoulders because I am doing so many things at once, but I am incredibly blessed to have a great crew, cast, mentors and a supportive network of people who want this to be successful.
What would you tell others who are aspiring to be doing what you are doing? What would you have done differently? Any advice?
The most important thing for others who are aspiring to do what I do, is to have people around you that can advise you though the process. I am doing well because I have a wonderful support system of other creative professionals who know more than me, which is quite possibly the most important asset that anyone can have. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or help. Don’t be afraid to ask more than one person for advice or help. Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t have all of the answers, because you never will. The second most important thing is to start where you are and be okay with that. It’s so important for artists to be able to do their own work and tell their own stories. Advocate for yourself. I don’t know that I would have done anything differently, except begin sooner. I have no regrets, only lessons. A piece of advice for artists making their own work is to begin the grant process early, if you’re going that route. It’s very time consuming and a lengthly process. Also be prepared to hear ‘no’ frequently, but keep going. Be honest with yourself about where you need to improve and be flexible about working with what you have until you can work with what you want.
What would you like the community to know about the local arts scene and creative economy?
The local arts scene and creative economy is rich and diverse. I myself am excited to become more immersed in it. We have a huge theatre scene, visual arts, dance, music & several films are made in Upstate NY each year. Go out and experience all of the different art forms, support one another, spread the word and if you don’t know here to begin – ask around.
If there was one thing you would change about our creative economy, what would it be?
This goes without saying, but there has to be more diversity. Employers, theatre companies, filmmakers, producers, galleries, creative businesses must be aware of having workspaces that are conducive to a positive environment for women and people of color. I’m not talking about filling your quota of diversity, having your one woman at the top, or your token person of color, but I am saying make space for everyone and be consciously aware of the environment that you create. Advocate to see more art by women and by people of color, ask for it, show up for it and PAY for it. Hire that female director. Fund that female producer. Demand equality and set the standard for it to be commonplace.
Lotus & Bamboo Productions + Albany Barn are proud to present the production of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf & The Women of Color in the Arts Expo! On September 27th we will be debuting the SHOW ONLY at 6 p.m. On September 28th & 29th doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the show will begin at 6 p.m. The Expo will immediately follow the production on September 28th & 29th. You will be able to mingle, enjoy art in all forms and shop a variety of artistic items + pieces.
The Expo on Friday, September 28th will feature live music by Audrey Zaccarya & Sibie LaVoz, spoken word by D. Colin, an art exhibit + sale with work from Takeyce Walter, Danielle Colin, Anusha Sekhar + Paula Frazzle, vendors, light passed hors d’eouvres by 677 Prime, plus Beer + Wine cash bar by Umana Restaurant & Wine Bar.
The Expo on Saturday, September 29th will feature DJ Poetik Selektions, moving art by Victoria Rutledge with live drumming, vendors, women of color in food showcase & sampling, plus a Beer + Wine cash bar by Umana Restaurant & Wine Bar.
Sponsored by Albany Barn, Mantralogy, Ungerman Electric, Fifi’s Frocks & Frills, 677 Prime, Umana Restaurant, The Good Karma Studio, Heart Space Albany, Jai Albany, Yoga Mandali, CHEEK by Re’z Cosmetics, Yoga Garden, Mel eMedia, and Birth New York.
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Where are you from, and where do you live now? I’m from Latham, NY and I live in Albany, NY
Where did you attend school? What did you study? I graduated from Shaker High School and then graduated from Ithaca College with a BA in Psychology.
Family? I’m the oldest of six kids and really only grew up with my immediate family, but they all live locally to this day.
What Job titles have you held? I’ve been at the Palace for a year and 7 months. I started in the Box Office as a Ticket Seller and then after 6 months I was promoted to Part-Time Event Night Supervisor and 10 months later I was promoted to Development Manager and Community Events Coordinator as a part of the Development Department here.
What got you interested in performing arts and acting? I honestly feel like I was born this way. I am the oldest of a tribe of children and I always turned our play time, into full scale productions in which I did costumes, constructed the set, directed and was the lead actor, hahaha! Everything I was involved in, until I finally began to perform in middle school, I brought to it, this very dynamic, performance aspect to it until I finally found my home on stage.
Do you have a favorite role you’ve played? Which? Last March, I played Mrs. Mueller in DOUBT at Schenectady Civic Playhouse.
As an actor and an administrator, how does this impact your daily life and how do you find balance? I wish I could answer this in a more beautiful and inspiring way but the honesty and transparency is that I don’t always succeed at finding the balance. There are some days that I’m learning my lines frantically, backstage, as I’m awaiting my scene to approach. There are some days when I arrive to work two hours early because of the guilt of not being able to stay later the night before. There are days when I’m so exhausted, I feel like I feel it in the very tips of my fingers and toes and I’m just praying to get through the week and I ask myself, why do I continue to do this? The answer; I can’t NOT do this. On days when I am unsure about everything, that is the one thing I am completely certain of; I was meant to be an actor.
What does your job at The Palace entail? What do you enjoy about your job? I have a really big, community relations, aspect to my position here at the Palace. A key component to my roles and responsibilities is being the point of contact for all of our non-commercial events and help engage and potentially reengage the community in a way they may not have otherwise had a relationship with the theatre. I love the community. I truly and genuinely enjoy and am filled with immense gratitude to be afforded this opportunity to truly serve my community and through arts engagement. I have been so impacted by the arts and the ability to use the arts to connect, include, build, rebuild, and heal and to be able to share that with the community as both a professional and an artist; let’s just say the beauty isn’t lost on me.
Many people leave a job in order to grow and move ahead in their career but you’ve been able to grow and see opportunities for growth in your field while staying at the Palace. How have you navigated that? Well, I actually had a long-standing, retail managerial career that I left before I ended up at the Palace. I took a major pay cut and decided, that it was time to think about and take a chance on myself and what truly makes me happy.
Life is so unimaginably short and we only get one; what is the point if we don’t take every gift, privilege and opportunity afforded us and do something really amazing with it? My time, here at the Palace, has been relatively short in comparison to that eight-year career, but it has been so rich in experience and fulfillment. From working in the box office and getting to give amazing customer service and be a part of how excited people would get over their favorite artists or children absolutely beaming at the opportunity to see a movie or performance for the very first time in a theatre, to working in Development and getting to put together a film screening of, “I Am Evidence,” during Sexual Assault Awareness Month to call attention to the significant number of cases that have had justice impeded by backlogged evidence and then to take on the amazing, “Summer in the City” Program, to allow the community children a free movie series, incorporating their favorites, that allows them to enjoy the place that has really become my second home; this has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.
I truly believe in the mission and vision of the Palace Theatre and what we have and will continue to contribute to the local arts community and now, when I’m at home, still working or thinking about something work related, it’s not simply to hit a sales goal. I have a real opportunity to make a difference, in my own, totally unique way. That being said, it’s easy to think of longevity here instead of moving on to another job, because here, I can create opportunities for myself and others.
What’s one thing you want the community to know about the local arts scene? It’s larger than you think and probably just a Facebook invite away. [/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]
As we drove to our first stop, Teri explained to me the work that ASA does to safeguard the future of the farming communities of New York’s Rensselaer and Washington Counties. With the help of ASA, farm owners are able to conserve their land, which permanently protects it from development, and ensures that future generations can continue to enjoy the local agricultural traditions, landscapes, and products. The importance of this work was driven home as I watched the stunning vistas pass by through the car window.
We arrived at our first stop, the brand-new Bunker Hill Organic Creamery. We were welcomed by the sounds of nearby goats who wanted to make sure we came and said hello. After making their acquaintance, Teri brought me to the cow barn. The cows here eat and roam at their leisure. Teri showed me some of the equipment needed for the cows, such as a cattle headlock feeder and hay bales. It was really interesting to see. Thanks to two DeLaval robotic milking machines, the cows also milk at their leisure. These magical machines are able to identify the cow (so they aren’t being milked too often), sense the teats and milk the cow without aid of a human. That gives a level of freedom to the cow and to the farmer, who can use that time for other tasks around the farm. It’s a truly incredible system. As Teri told me, happy cows make the best milk. We’ll all be able to test that theory when Bunker Hill finishes their bottling building and are able to start selling their milk. They will be the only farm in Washington County to sell organic milk with the cream on top. In the meantime, they sell organic beef and pork in their shop.
Our next stop was at Gardenworks Farm, owned by third-generation farmer, Meg McEachron Southerland. What was originally a poultry farm started by her grandfather, now boasts endless fields of raspberries, blueberries, flowers, pumpkins, and more. This farm used quality commercial LED grow lights for indoor growing, and you could tell! The fruits and vegetables that were growing under the lights looked so delicious! I learnt about the benefits of growing crops indoors compared to outdoors and why LED lights are so effective. One could easily spend a whole day here. Start your day picking blueberries and raspberries. Then enjoy a delicious lunch prepared with locally-sourced ingredients in their café, followed by a tour of the art and antique farm and ranch equipment on display. Finish with some shopping in their market that sells everything from local meats, cheeses and veggies to jewelry to beautiful dried flowers that Meg dries on-site. There’s even a B&B on the property if you just can’t bring yourself to go home… and I wouldn’t blame you. I could have easily spent a lot more time here.
But leave we did and headed to our third stop, Lavenlair Farm. Row after row ofmagnificent lavender plants await you as you pull onto the property. It’s hard to feel anything but relaxed here. Between the photo-worthy scenery and the fragrant lavender, Lavenlair Farm is a peaceful retreat from the bustle of daily life.
As soon as I stepped out of the car, I could feel the calm spreading over me. There is even a 100ft diameter, lavender planted, Petit-Chartres labyrinth – “Lavenrinth” – for meditative strolling. The on-site shop sells a variety of lavender items giving visitors the opportunity to take the Zen vibe home with them. Note: There are bee hives on the farm, so they caution visitors to not wear bright colors or wear strong perfumes.
Our last stop was Hicks Orchard and Slyboro Ciderhouse. We were fortunate to enough to have owner, Dan Wilson, spend some time with us and share his thoughts on the future of cider. As New York’s oldest U-Pick apple orchard, starting a ciderhouse was a natural addition to the farm. They make all their cider on-property and have a charming tasting room where you can sample them and take your favorites home with you. Dan sees a huge future in the evolution of cider, and is planting new and unusual varieties of apples at Hicks in an effort to develop complex ciders. Because cider uses a similar fermenting process as wine and pairs well with food, he doesn’t see why cider couldn’t become an everyday drink as well. I think he may be on to something big here.
Driving back to ASA, I was struck by the abundance and beauty I had seen and then by the realization that I had barely scratched the surface of what Washington County has to offer. I will definitely be making a point of coming back and discovering more. This City Girl has a future spending quality time in the country.
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Do not miss the opportunity to experience these wonderful places for yourself. Buy your ticket for the ACE Washington County Farm Tour and get your own inside look at what makes each of these places unique.
In addition to these four farms, the tour starts and stops at Hubbard Hall where you can start the day at the Farmer’s Market and end it with a beer at Argyle Brewing (opening especially for this tour) and conversation with WAMC’s Joe Donahue. A tour of Hubbard Hall by Executive & Artistic Director David Snider will available as well.
Tickets are $55 each and include transportation on a chartered, air-conditioned bus to all tour stops, tour/entrance fees, cider tasting and a custom tote bag for transporting all your goodies.
Tour date: July 15, 2018
Time: 12pm – 6pm
Purchase tickets and get additional details at: upstatecreative.org
Partners:
Agricultural Stewardship Association
Washington County Tourism
Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation
Gold Sponsor:
Workforce Development Institute
Silver Sponsor:
Nordlys Foundation
Bronze Sponsor:
Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company
Special thanks to Salem Farm Supply for their generous support.[/cs_text][x_feature_box title=”Guest post by Rachel Dunn, Marketing Consultant & Strategist” title_color=”” text_color=”” graphic=”image” graphic_size=”100px” graphic_shape=”square” graphic_color=”#ffffff” graphic_bg_color=”#2ecc71″ align_h=”left” align_v=”top” side_graphic_spacing=”20px” max_width=”none” graphic_image=”https://www.upstatecreative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Headshotish.jpeg”]Rachel Dunn is a freelance Marketing Consultant & Strategist, who has spent 20+ years thinking about how to sell other people’s stuff. She is a recent transplant to Saratoga Springs from Florida, and enjoys exploring her new surroundings, provided it’s not too cold outside.[/x_feature_box][rev_slider citygirlgoescountry-rachel][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]