Some say that after a year of doing something it finally begins to pick up real traction built on consistency, reliability and trust. This is my 52nd Friday List, and thus marks a full year of me diving into events in Kingston every weekend through every season of the year. This column also, unfortunately, is my last.

At the office here we have recently undergone some staffing changes which have led to me taking on more work to supplement the extra brain and body that has been lost. Because of this I’ve had to make some sacrifices in my work output. This column was the first casualty. Apparently it isn’t lucrative enough to continue doing.

I will admit that this column takes up a significant amount of time during my week. The writing itself is usually the easy part, but the research that goes into it and curating the selection of events can take a while. And, if you haven’t been able to tell, it’s rare if this is under 1,000 words. So as much as I understand the time it takes out of my already-busy week, I can’t help but reflect back on this past year and muse over how cool it’s been to write a weekly column for a newspaper.

It weirdly feels so retro in an age where short-form media has become so prevalent. It’s been a joy to hear from people in the community that they’ve been reading along and enjoying my personal ramblings and selection of events each weekend. The whole experience has helped me stay up-to-date on weekly happenings as much as I’ve helped you all. It’s given me many excuses to talk to artists and organizers and step into gallery spaces where I’m analyzing the art a bit deeper than just as a passive participant.

I’ll still be reporting on special events, so I won’t be going anywhere really, but this column, as all good things, has reached its end.

In the sake of true consistency, I’ll continue the rest of this column as I always have, with some upcoming events this weekend as we roll into autumnal October.

Starting this Friday, Oct. 2, The Bhangra Liberation Orchestra, a new music collective, is coming to Unicorn Bar to showcase their “rebellious and joyful music to fortify our hearts on and off the dancefloor.”

The orchestra was created by musician Sunny Singh, and also includes Miwi La Lupa, Jonathan Goldberger, Nikhil Yerawadekar and Varun Das. The music is a complex mix of bhangra, qawwali, Afrobeat and jazz, with some improvisation melded into the rolling melodies of the band. Queeraoke will precede the concert.

The orchestra hails from New York City and their set at Unicorn Bar will also feature DJ Harlan. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. They can be purchased here. Unicorn Bar is located at 224 Foxhall Ave.

ASK Asks You to Perceive

The Arts Society of Kingston is holding the opening reception for their October gallery shows on Saturday, Oct. 3. The notable show for this month is Perception, art by Nepalese artist Gurmi Lama.

The work in the exhibit, shown in ASK’s Front Gallery, includes work from Lama’s past and present and is offered as a dialogue between these two periods of the artist’s life. Lama employs traditional technique in his paintings, known as thangka, and uses this method to explore his heritage through his contemporary reinterpretations.

Lama also teaches the thangka technique in Kathmandu and at Naropa University in Nepal. The art displayed in this selection, the press release states, “explores his perceptions of an ever-changing world, drawing from humor, trauma, dreams, delusion, happiness, and the frustrations of everyday life.”

The show will be displayed at ASK along with Color Inferno, the juried members show, and Watler Relieves, art by Walter Fancourt.

The reception for each of these shows will take place from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3. The show will be open to view during ASK’s open hours until October 31. ASK is located at 97 Broadway and more information can be seen here.

Gettin' Pixy With It

The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) is holding the reception of their fall exhibitions from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, giving you just enough time to visit the ASK show before scooting up Broadway to CPW’s sprawling headquarters on Dederick Street.

Two shows will be presented simultaneously: Woven, an Ecological Tapestry and Relationship Material, photography by Tanyra Marcuse and Pixy Liao, respectively. Each show is quite different in content – with Marcuse exploring the relationship between beauty and decay and Liao showing, through intimate photographs, the closeness and dynamics of a romantic relationship.

Marcuse’s photography spans five years of work, from 2015 up until the start of the pandemic, but instead of displaying societal disorder, it shows the ecological and environmental implications of the climate crisis. CPW astutely notes that her “meticulously constructed ecologies reflect on a world in which abundance is inseparable from precarity and loss and tips into plunder, where flourishing nature and environmental ruin coexist.”

Her work is composition heavy and tells a story, almost to a folkloric extent, about the fragility of the natural world and what happens when rampant decomposition is displayed alongside that which is virulent.

In stark contrast to this is Liao’s Relationship Material, nearly 45 works spanning almost two decades. In collaboration with Liao’s partner Takahiro Morooka, the works are staged photographs of the two in various positions and angles in connection to each other.

The result of these portraits is an intimate examination of love and power/gender dynamics in romantic relationships through these scenes that are both humorous and performative. The exhibit also relates to Liao and Morooka’s music group PIMO, which will perform live at the reception at 7:30 p.m.

The show will take place at CPW, 25 Dederick Street, and is open for the public to attend. Learn more about the shows and CPW here.

Let's Glow!

Finally, if you have time to fly on a bit further down Broadway to Iwo Jima Lane, you’d cap your Saturday night with the reception for Fluorescent Vantage at the Midtown Kingston Arts District, which will be held from 6-8 p.m.

We’ve already tackled music, painting and photography in this column, and now, finally, MKAD brings a multimedia show from three artists working in audio and visual media. The show is sculptural and installation-forward, integrating a full spectrum of sensory experience for attendees.

The show is curated by the Youth Workforce interns and is designed by Sophi Kravitz. Participating artists include Lisa B Kelly, a vocalist, performer, writer and also MKAD’s Director, Iuah, Brendan Sullivan & co., an artist and musician, and Sebastian Rodriquez-Delgado, a comic artist who recently published All Over!, a serialized comic that will be released on a monthly basis.

The exhibit is located at The DRAW Gallery, 24 Iwo Jima Lane, and if you don’t have time to view the exhibit on the 3rd, it will run until the 31st. It’s free to attend, and more information about it can be seen here.

Get Gourded at Seed Song

Finally, in honor of the best season of the year, I think it’s only appropriate to shout out Seed Song Farm’s Pumpkin Palooza, happening every weekend in October. It’s exactly what you’d want from a fall farm day: u-pick fields, hayrides, farm animals, a corn maze, fall treats, live music and more. The farm employs sliding scale admission and you can RSVP here. Seed Song Farm is located at 160 Esopus Ave.

That’s all for today. Thank you all again for joining me this past year – it’s been a pleasure. I’m sure I’ll see you around Kingston soon.