Bittersweet Memories: Lost Towns of the Catskill Watersheds, a new augmented reality exhibition which explores the heartache and loss of homes taken for New York City’s Catskill and Delaware water systems is open Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. through September at the Time and the Valleys Museum, state Route 55, Grahamsville.
Seventeen local artists created the exhibition and their art creations with photos, stories and artifacts tell a heartbreaking story of the price of eminent domain or the taking of land without owners’ consent for the building of New York City’s water system in the early- to mid-1900s.
For the first time in the area the museum has partnered with SUNY Sullivan Graphic Arts Department to add an augmented reality overlay to some of the paintings. Looking at the paintings with their smart phone or tablet, exhibit visitors can see the artwork come alive with moving images, music, sound effects and more. A beautiful full color catalogue of the exhibition will be available for sale for $15. The augmented reality works in the catalogue, too.
Time and the Valleys Museum: Connecting Water People and the Catskills, the museum is open weekends Memorial Day to the end of September, noon to 4 p.m. At 332 Main Street, Grahamsville, admission is $5 for adults, children under 16, $2, and children under six are free.
Museum exhibitions are interactive and fun and educational for all ages:
• Water and the Valleys, an exhibit on the history of the Rondout and Neversink watershed area from early geological times to the 20th century. This exhibition includes interactives such as a Native American artifact guessing game, grinding corn with a mortar and pestle, videos and more.
• Tunnels, Toil and Trouble: New York City’s Quest for Water and the Rondout-Neversink Story, an interactive exhibit on New York City water supply system and the towns that were removed to build the system, which includes computer interactives, games, puzzles, videos and building a dam and tunnel.
• 1930s Lost Catskill Farm, a farmhouse, outhouse, barn, electric plant, milk house and working waterwheel help visitors experience life in the 1930s through displays, videos, games and hands on activities.
• Bittersweet Memories: Lost Towns of the Catskill Watersheds
The Time and the Valleys Museum is a Blue Star Museum, a collaboration between the National Endowment of the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and over 1,500 American museums to provide free admission to active duty military members (with ID) and up to five family members from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
For more information call 845 985-7700, email info@timeandthevalleysmuseum.org or visit www.timeandthevalleysmuseum.org. To schedule a group tour for children or adults, call 845-985-7700.
