Past Programs and Exhibitions
Renewable Energies: Balancing Outputs and Historic Landscapes
The 2019 Montgomery Place Fall Salon Series, Renewable Energies: Balancing Outputs and Historic Landscapes, presented two sessions highlighting how a local community balances the implementation of renewable energies within an historically significant landscape.
Session 1: Solar Energy | November 12, 3–5 p.m.
Session 2: Hydro Energy | December 3, 3–5 p.m.
The Gilded Garden: Historic Ornament in the Landscape at Montgomery Place
The gardens at Montgomery Place once featured decorative garden ornaments and furniture, displaying a wide mix of styles, alongside the plants. Examples of statuary, furniture, potted plants, and hanging baskets that have been documented in early photographs of Montgomery Place were presented in this exhibition in 2019.
Exhibition produced in partnership with and curated by Barbara Israel and her staff from Barbara Israel Garden Antiques. Funding provided by the A. C. Israel Foundation and Plymouth Hill Foundation.
Toward an Ethical Imagination: Gilsonfest
Gilsonfest was a Bard College–led 2019 collaboration including Historic Red Hook, the Dutchess County Historical Society, and the Red Hook Quilters, funded by the Lumina Foundation, that focused on the life of Alexander Gilson (c. 1824–89). Gilson was an African American who labored for 50 years at Montgomery Place, eventually becoming the head gardener.
Funding provided by the Lumina Foundation.
Spring Salon Series on Music of the Gilded Age
A series of 2019 concerts and lectures hosted in partnership with Hudson River Heritage and coproduced and curated by Christopher Brellochs.
Pictured: The Musical Life of Cora Livingston Barton and Her Husband Thomas Barton at Montgomery Place. Recital with Christopher Brellochs, saxophone and Rita Costanzi, harp. Montgomery Place Mansion House Parlor. Photos by Karl Rabe
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Christopher Brellochs -
Rita Costanzi -
Dr. Brellochs addresses the audience.
The Gardener of Montgomery Place and the Composer of Newburgh, New York
Outdoor performance with Christopher Brellochs, soprano saxophone; Eric Aweh, alto saxophone; Joe North, tenor saxophone; Wayne Tice, baritone saxophone. Montgomery Place North Porch. May 2019. Part of the Music of the Gilded Age Salon Series.
Salon Series on Agriculture
Saturday, October 6, 2018
A daylong gathering of community members, students, and academics, representing farmers, lawyers, journalists, business and finance, and more, came together to address these questions: Can the Northeast feed itself? If so, should it? At what environmental or other costs/benefits? The 2018 Montgomery Place Salon Series was organized in partnership with Rose Hill Farm and the Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition.
Trees under Threat: Pests and Diseases that Endanger Our Trees Today
August 10 – October 31, 2018
Presented by the Landscape and Arboretum Program at Bard College, this seasonal exhibition focused on some of the tree insects and diseases that are endangering trees across the Northeast. The interpretive exhibit, which was installed in the Greenhouse Tool Room on the Montgomery Place Campus, explored signs and symptoms, early detection, and efforts under way to protect trees and promote tree conservation.
Montgomery Place: A Window on the World of Alexander Jackson Davis’ Architecture and Design
April 14 – May 5, 2018
Our Spring Salon Series, organized in partnership with Hudson River Heritage, took place on four consecutive Saturdays beginning April 14. The series centered on the work of Alexander Jackson Davis, America's leading architect of country houses in the mid–19th century—many of them, including Montgomery Place, located in the Hudson River Valley.
Historic Garden Tools of Montgomery Place
July – October 2017
Historic Garden Tools of Montgomery Place is a virtual exhibition of the garden implements used at Montgomery Place for vegetable gardening, landscaping, orchard care, and floral display from the late 19th to mid-20th century. This online exhibit is based on an exhibition organized by the Bard Landscape and Arboretum Program that was on display in the Greenhouse Tool Room on the Montgomery Place Campus from July to October 2017.
Hudson Valley Climate Salon Series
October 29 – November 19, 2017
Over four Sundays in October and November 2017 we examined a changing climate and its impact on the people and places of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Each week we explored a different theme: the Hudson River, farming, forests, and Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.