New artistic director charts course for RiverArts
Rather than a dark cloud caused by the pandemic, Kate Ashby sees a silver lining as the new artistic director of RiverArts, the 58-year-old nonprofit organization based in Hastings.
“It’s a difficult time, but it’s also an exciting time because it’s given us a chance to explore offering programs in new ways,” she said on March 1. “It’s encouraged us to become creative, offering new programs and in different formats.”
Ashby succeeds Doug Coe of Hastings, who was executive director of RiverArts since 2013. Last summer, the executive director role was divided into two positions: artistic director and managing director. Josh Suniewick of Hastings came on board as managing director, while Coe remained as artistic director until he retired last month.
A 47-year-old professional dancer and musician, Ashby has been involved with RiverArts since she and husband Juan Franco, a classical singer, moved to Hastings with their three children in 2011. She first volunteered with RiverArts, helping out with mailings. She became Coe’s assistant in 2013, and then music program director, from 2014-2018.
Though scheduling is in progress, Ashby outlined RiverArts’ plans for the near future, barring major changes in coronavirus restrictions — for better or worse.
Spring events, which will be virtual, will include the premiere of “Imprint of Light,” a 2021 dance and film collaboration between Maxine Sherman of Hastings, former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Martha Graham Dance Company, and composer Steven Brent, also of Hastings. The film will be shown in May.
RiverArts is even launching a new program, the virtual Composition Lab. On five Tuesday evenings beginning March 9, composer Sima Wolf will lead student musicians through the creation of an original work that RiverArts faculty will perform on Tuesday, April 20, on Zoom. Each student will receive a recorded copy.
This spring, a livestreamed chamber music concert by cellist Peter Seidenberg of Hastings and pianist Hui-Mei Li will be held on a date to be determined, as will a series of Artist Conversations.
Open Mic nights hosted by RiverArts Music Tour producer Adam Hart of Hastings continue on March 25, and in April and May.
In April, May, and June, Salon Sundays will provide online tours of artists’ studios, each tour followed by a live Q&A. “It’s substituting for the [annual] Studio Tour,” Ashby noted. RiverArts has decided to hold off on the studio tour until 2022.
“Yard Art,” RiverArts’ outdoor tour of artwork displayed on private and public properties, will return. Seeking to mount a safe, socially distant exhibit last summer, artists installed work outside their homes in Hastings, and even in Hillside Woods. The art was mapped on the RiverArts website.
Discussion continues about one of RiverArts’ most successful events, the annual one-day Music Tour. Coe conceived and debuted the tour in 2015, featuring more than 150 musicians, 80 performances, and 24 venues. The most recent tour, in 2019, included 275 musicians, 130 performances, and 36 venues.
Regarding the obstacles presented by Covid-19, Ashby asserted, “We do have vibrant programming continuing despite the pandemic. We’re very pleased to continue bringing the arts to audiences in the community.”
As soon as large get-togethers are safe, Ashby said, she wants to hold “a multi-arts celebration of a return to life” throughout the Rivertowns. Prior to that, RiverArts will hold a virtual celebration honoring Coe this spring.
In the meantime, Ashby’s vision is that RiverArts “will continue to grow, expand our horizons, be creative and innovative, and look for ways to connect with audiences.”
