July 22-24, 2022

Upstate Art Weekend is upon us, moved up from Labor Day Weekend to now smack in the summer season signaling its place firmly in the art calendar. The other, perhaps more telling signifier of this multi-county event? The sheer number of participants: this year’s edition, the third ever, touts nearly 145 galleries, institutions, organizations, artist studios, and projects. Last year’s number? Around 60.

There hasn’t been a scamper up the Hudson to get in on the action, but rather a steady momentum and investment over the last five years, which accelerated over the last two for obvious reasons, has propelled the artist-run scene and the dealer-driven market. The artists were here first, but the community that includes the spectrum of arts professionals invested in seeing the success of this place is one about trying to change the presets of the art world game. Risks are taken, spaces are experimental, and there’s seemingly a place for everyone to engage in the art world tiers at their own level. It’s almost improbable that the geographic region the Upstate Art Weekend covers is still within the 200-mile radius of Art World Nexus of NYC.

But it is. And that’s still a pretty vast region. This is why we’re here to help navigate this open-armed weekend that’s part-open studios, part-art fair, a dash of a biennial, and mostly “connecting the dots,” founder Helen Toomer always says. One could easily take the proprietary map and draw and quarter it into four quadrants, and just tackle one or two areas. It’s a tried-and-tested approach (we’ve been at this a few years, eh)?

Yet, with so many participating venues, and our familiarity with the experience, we thought it’s best to impart a range of journeys—for the type of art person or morning mood you find yourself next weekend (July 22-24). And just to be extra nerdy: We created individual maps, too.