HOW TO WATCH “SOMEPLACE IN THE SUN” on OCTOBER 6 at 8PM (EDT)

written and directed by Karen Ludwig
starring Laura Gardner and Frank Collison (courtesy of SAG-AFTRA)

JUST CLICK THIS LINK: https://youtu.be/oLNk6eodZ3E
(AND…it’s going to be available for the foreseeable future) !!!

Once a play performed at HB Playwright’s, has now been filmed during the pandemic directed remotely with a volunteer cast & crew.

Karen Ludwig- a Westbeth resident since 197-…known for work as an actor in the theater with Wally Shawn & Andre Gregory to Broadway with Joan Rivers, in films with Meryl Streep in Manhattan and Kevin Costner in 13 Days and TV as Ethyl Rosenberg in HBO’s Citizen Cohn & many episodics— to her 2017 solo show at Joe’s Pub-
with years of Westbeth performances with Shami Chaikin and Stories Around the Table, a director/teacher at HB Studio and the New School- now presents free access to the premiere of her new 7 minute film !

2020 Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region
Albany Institute of History and Art.
September 19, 2020 – January 3, 2021

Susan Berger. Cruise Ship Family Voyage

Celebrating its eighty-fourth year, the 2020 Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region, hosted by the Albany Institute of History & Art, highlights the work of the best visual artists in the region. This juried exhibition is sponsored jointly by the Albany Institute of History & Art, the University Art Museum, University at Albany, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York, and Albany Center Gallery. The exhibition is open to all visual artists residing within a 100-mile radius of the Capital District and Glens Falls.

Juried by Susan Cross, Senior Curator at MASS MoCA, the exhibition features 73 artists and 108 works ranging from paintings and drawings to prints, photography, collage, sculpture, textiles, and installation works. A catalogue of the exhibition will be available.

Plan your visit! Be sure to check out our Visit section for up-to-date information about timed tickets and new policies and procedures, such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing while at the museum.

More info: Albany Museum

Arts Mid Hudson, Poughkeepsie, NY
Online Exhibition,
“Look Back in Wonder”

Susan Berger
My Page from the Yearbook.

Look Back in Wonder is an online exhibit hosted by Arts Mid-Hudson and curated by Elisa Pritzker and Greg Slick.
Look Back in Wonder deals with the constant human quest through time and how artists respond to it. Whether personal, social or anthropological, the artists’ approach to the past through various media has one thing in common: who are we and where do we come from?

More info at

Susan Berger Bio

Susan Berger was born in New Haven, Ct and was educated at art school there. After receiving her certificate in fine arts received a scholarship at the Art Student’s League and later decided to go for a special certificate at the School of Visual Arts in film. She had exhibited at the Judson Church, which was known for reaching out to young artists living in lower Manhattan. She became very interested in using fiber and switching from the traditional art form of painting. She had lived in a small loft in “Little Italy” which was tenuous and learned of her acceptance to Westbeth Artist Complex in the Far West Village. She was 21 years of age and one of the pioneers of its beginnings in 1970. Susan did exhibit around the country of her tapestries, which was more accepting outside of New York City. Susan decided to pursue more academic studies, which was library school at Columbia. She became a school librarian for many years with New York City Board of Education until she retired in 2009. During the 1970s and 1980s she exhibited at Art Centers in Scottsbluff, NE, St Louis, MO, Springfield, IL, Scottsbluff, NE, Monterey, CA and Westport, CT. During the early 2000s, Susan participated in special fiber oriented national exhibitions like Blue Door Gallery in Yonkers, NY; Craft USA at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan CT, and Monmouth Museum of found objects incorporated into fiber type work. Since she had a studio in Hudson Valley in NY and was honored in being accepted to special exhibitions in Albany and Glenn Falls, NY called Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region and received special recognition of awards. She has been on special online exhibitions at White Columns called “Wise Child”, Ely Center for Contemporary Art; Arts Mid Hudson Gallery called “Look Back in Wonder.” Susan has been accepted at various Artists Residencies at Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, LA, Brydcliffe Art Colony, Woodstock, NY; Hambridge Center for Arts, Hambridge, GA, Art Park, Lewiston, NY; Cummington Artist’s Community, Cummington MA and very early at the MacDowell Artist Colony, Peterborough, NH. Along the way, in helping her create more of her work she was honored by receiving grants such as Puffin Foundation, The Pollack-Krasner Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation and New York Foundation

photo: Kate Walter

OCTOBER 2, 2020
The Village Sun
BY KATE WALTER |

“‘Hey, Kate, welcome back,” said my neighbor in the hallway of Westbeth.

We were friends from the singing group, now meeting on Zoom. As we chatted, the first thing I noticed was her Biden-Harris mask. That made me feel good. I had just returned from a long stay in Trump Land in Ocean County on the Jersey Shore.

Earlier that morning, my left-wing friend Gerry had driven me to the train station in Bay Head. As we rode along Route 35 North, I noticed many yard signs for Trump and lots of banners flying from houses. They had increased since I’d arrived in the middle of August. It was now the end of September.

“What happened to your Biden sign?” Gerry asked when she pulled up in front of my house. I had taken it down because my conservative niece was coming the next day with her kids and I didn’t want to upset an already fragile relationship. She and her husband are the only Trump supporters in my family. Gerry thought I should’ve left it up to needle her.

Two weeks earlier I’d asked Gerry to bring over a Biden sign. (It was actually a bumper sticker that I taped into my window.) What prompted me was when the house in front had been rented to a bunch of Trumpers with New Jersey and Connecticut license plates.

As soon as they arrived, they tossed a big Trumpy party (with awful country music). One female guest opened up her car trunk filled with signs. She handed them one: “I Stand for the Flag and I Kneel for the Cross.” They put it in front of their rented house. That did it. I had to counteract this.

Although they did take down the silly sign when the party ended, I still had to walk past their cars with Trump bumper stickers. I saw them giving my house the side eye when they went past it the next morning and saw my Biden-Harris sign. Even though the Trumpers left, I’m planning to put the sign back up when I return in mid-October.

I want to get a Biden-Harris mask to wear when I go into Rite Aid in Lavallette, the local town. The first time I saw some guy wearing a Trump hat in Rite Aid, we were standing in the aisle in front of the dairy products. (Everyone I saw wearing a Trump hat was a white male.)

I couldn’t control myself. “Trump is a racist,” I blurted out.

“Oh, yeah?” he retorted. “If Biden wins, we will become a communist country.”

“You really drank the Kool-Aid,” I replied as I headed to the register.

On my last evening, I went to see the moon over the ocean. As I turned to walk up the ramp, I saw an older white man sitting on a bench with a Trump visor. The New York Times had just run that big story about his taxes.

“Trump is going to jail,” I said and stomped off.

“Why are you doing this?” asked my therapist, worried about my safety. I told her I hate Trump and it offends me that people are walking around wearing these hats in the county where I grew up as a summer resident. They can wear their stupid hats and visors but they’re not getting away without me commenting. Maybe if I get the Biden-Harris mask, I’ll be able to keep my mouth shut.

I have often wondered how my ultra-liberal friend Gerry can live in such a conservative area year-round. But people are attracted to the area’s natural beauty. Gerry loves the beach life and still goes boogie boarding at 78!

Barnegat Island is a narrow strip of land between the bay and the ocean and the beaches are beautiful. That’s what attracted my parents so many years ago. It was also an affordable area for them to buy a bungalow in a small summer community.

When my mother died three years ago, my siblings and I inherited the house in Ocean Beach that my parents bought in 1949. I’m glad my mother lived long enough to vote for Hillary. Mom and Gerry used to play Scrabble together.

Ocean County was always solidly Republican in terms of the people who live there year-round. The second-home owners tend to be Democrats from North Jersey or New York City. As more people from North Jersey relocate to Ocean County year-round, the demographics are changing. My liberal brother moved his family there many years ago. He too hates Trump.

When I was living in the bungalow during the month of September, I noticed way more people than usual were around because they are working remotely and their kids are going to school remotely. I wondered if some would decide to relocate permanently.

Considering the changing demographics, I would have expected to see a few more Biden signs. During my bike rides, I saw only one, while I was blinded by houses with two or three Trump banners blaring from their rooftops. Very ostentatious. Maybe they feel a need to do this because New Jersey is a blue state.

It’s always a culture shock staying in Ocean County since I live in Greenwich Village.

But this year it was more intense. As I walked the hallways of Westbeth and visited the courtyard, I felt grateful for the warm “welcome home” greetings from neighbors and staff. And I felt grateful to live in New York City.

I’m still dreading winter but at least I won’t see any Trump hats in the Rite Aid on Hudson Street.

Walter is a freelance writer and the author of the memoir “Looking for a Kiss: A Chronicle of Downtown Heartbreak and Healing.” She is working on a collection of essays about her life during the pandemic in New York City.

Read more of Kate’s essays in The Village Sun

Giant Step Arts Presents “Walk With The Wind” in honor of John Lewis.
featuring
The Nasheet Waits Trio:
Nasheet Waits , drums
Mark Turner, tenor sax
Rashaan Carter, bass

Saturday Sept 26 at 1PM
Central Park “The Mall”
near the Shakespeare Statue at 66th St

Photo: Jimmy Katz

The renowned drummer and composer, Nasheet Waits grew up and lives at Westbeth. He recently joined the New England Conservatory of Music Jazz Studies Faculty.

Profiles in Art Interview with Nasheet Waits HERE