The central mission of this exhibition project is to raise the awareness of the beauty and importance of the river environment and offer opportunities to educate on how we can protect this valuable resource. For the third year, The River Art Project will strive to help with donations from a portion of sales to support three organizations that are actively working to protect the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers: The Hudson Riverkeeper, the Housatonic Riverkeeper Initiative, and the Housatonic Valley Association. Through past efforts, the project has united various factions of the Berkshires and nearby communities with the goal of protecting our natural waterways through, education and awareness.
The exhibition features six recognized painters from the Berkshire region who work with the river as subject: Bart Elsbach, Michael Filmus, Ann Getsinger, Mary Sipp Green, Scott Prior, and Jim Schantz. Artists are uniquely situated to arouse public interest through the visual expression of nature’s beauty. The River Art Project does precisely that—harnessing the allure of the river as a catalyst for advocacy. The six participating artists evoke diverse landscape art traditions to create both exquisite works of art and inspiring agents of change.