PHOENICIA.NY

The Heart of the High Peaks Region of the Catskill Mountains

Varga Gallery

VARGA Gallery / Phoenicia Festival of the Arts

60 Main Street
Phoenicia, NY 12464
Phone 845.768.6311

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Phoenicia Festival of the Arts

About Phoenicia Festival Of The Arts

The Phoenicia Festival of the Arts is an annual celebration produced by Christina Varga of VARGA Gallery & Studio. PFOA is dedicated to promoting creativity, sustainability, and community engagement. By leveraging the power of art and culture, the festival strives to ignite positive change and foster a profound connection with the world around us.

Mission and Vision

PFOA’s mission is to invigorate tourism and raise public awareness of Phoenicia and Shandaken through a dynamic social sculpture that champions Consciousness, Community & Creativity via the Arts. Its vision extends beyond mere celebration, aiming to inspire attendees to catalyze positive personal and global change through creative expression, fostering a ripple effect of transformation in their own communities.

Christina Varga Christina Varga Biography

Christina Varga (b. 1971, Milwaukee, WI) is a self-taught visionary artist living in the Hudson Valley. Her work incorporates a variety of materials including up-cycled and discarded objects, appropriated day-to-day ephemera such as vintage maps and magazines, holographic mylar, tissue paper, and mixed media including paint pens, pastels, acrylic, and oil paints. Her subject matter references pop culture trends, interdimensional patterns, and a repetition of Pixelated squares. In 2003 Christina Varga founded VARGA Gallery in Woodstock, New York. For over a decade she showcased an eclectic variety of cutting edge artists and conceived, planned, publicized, and curated hundreds of exhibitions. She directed and produced the weekly cable access program “Apocalypse VARGA”, an Arts, Culture, and Media Variety Show – a showcase for artists represented by VARGA Gallery as well as musicians, speakers, and other creative industry professionals. The show was a “visual concoction of transitions, video effects, and improvisation.” During its 5 year run Apocalypse VARGA had an international audience via live webcasts. Varga’s work has been shown at The American Visionary Art Museum in the 13th mega exhibit: “All Faiths Beautiful,” The Cathedral Church of St. John The Divine, and at Kunsttiendaagse in Bergen, North Holland. Her work is in the collections of Uma Thurman, Grace Potter, Dweezil Zappa, Kate Pierson, and Dave Wakeling. Varga has been featured in The Sufi Journal, Resurgence Magazine, Raw Vision Magazine, as well as other regional, national, and international publications. “Golden Mosaic Buddha” was the cover art of Chronogram Magazine’s December, 2006 edition. Varga launched The Phoenicia Festival Of The Arts in Phoenicia, New York in August 2023. The festival showcases the town center as a gem in the panoply of cultural opportunities in the upstate region, Catskills and Hudson Valley that is easily accessible from New York City and beyond. Christina Varga lives and works in Phoenicia, NY. Her studio is at 60 Main Street in Phoenicia and fuses her love of gardening, creativity and motherhood. She is the proud mother of two children and a self-proclaimed Art/Garden/Life-ist.

Christina Varga

Artist Statement

The artwork I create is a testament to my commitment to environmental stewardship, addressing the pressing issues of pollution, especially from single-use plastics and the waste associated with parenting. Using up-cycled materials, I create immersive environments that urge viewers to rethink consumption habits. As a mother, I strive to instill in my children a deep respect for our planet, inspiring artworks that blend creativity with ecological responsibility. Based in Phoenicia, NY, I merge art with my passion for sustainable living and nurturing a greener future via a permaculture garden.

 

Phoenicia Festival Of The Arts

The Phoenicia Festival of the Arts (PFOA) is set to return for its second annual event, promising a month-long extravaganza aimed at uniting communities through the transformative power of art and creativity. PFOA aims to invigorate tourism and draw people to Phoenicia, creating a dynamic social sculpture through the arts that extends beyond mere celebration, inspiring attendees to catalyze positive personal growth. Scheduled to commence on August 1st and culminate in a grand finale on August 31st, the festival will unfold across various venues in Phoenicia in the Town of Shandaken, nestled in the picturesque Catskill Mountains.

Event Highlights Throughout the festival’s 31 days, participants can immerse themselves in a rich tapestry of art exhibits, workshops, mixers, performances, and community art projects. The festival opens on Thursday, August 1st, with a sunset intention-setting gong ceremony offered by HariPrakaash, a poetry reading by Sparrow highlighting the uniqueness of Phoenicia, and an acoustic guitar tribute to the Catskills by Paul McMahon.


Creative Workshops at VARGA Gallery include:

  • Mushroom Oracle workshop by artist and mycophile Christine Moss on August 10 at 10 AM
  • Art workshop by Woodstock School of Art instructor Melanie Delgado on August 4 at 11 AM
  • Encaustic Art Workshop by R&F teacher trained artist Christina Brady on August 11 at 11 AM
  • Children’s EcoArt Labs with Amanda Marlowe on Sundays from 1 – 3 PM
  • Poetry Workshops with Sparrow on Thursdays at 4 PM
  • Songwriting Workshops with Paul McMahon on Thursdays at 5:30 PM
  • Somatic Yoga with Elizabeth Dare Andes on Thursdays from 2 – 3 PM
  • Deep Rest, Somatic Sound Healing & Sacred Movement with Daeira & Elizabeth on Sundays from 4 – 5 PM

Talks & Mixers on the Boardwalk include:

  • Tapping Into the Flow State with Mami Onami, Saturday, August 10 from 1 – 3 PM, followed by an Anything Goes Q&A.
  • AI x ARTISTS, Saturday, August 10 at 5 PM – Artist/activist/model Robyn Lawley joins BioArtist Adam Zaretsky in a discussion about the intersection of AI, Artists, and Autonomy.
  • Leaning Into Your Unique Style of Parenting with Mami Onami, Saturday, August 24 from 1 – 3 PM.
  • High Tea with the Ladies of Hinterland, Sunday, August 18 at 4 PM – Meet the collective of women artists, designers, makers, and artisans from the Hudson Valley.
  • Media Mixer, Friday, August 30 at 6 PM with Theresa Widmann of the “I Want What She Has” Radio Show, Brett Barry of the “Kaatscast” podcast, and Terry Dagrosa, Editor In Chief of Inside+Out Upstate NY.

Performances on the Boardwalk include:

  • Princess Wow in Woodstock – How a Hat Designer Started A Revolution – Mindy Fradkin, Friday, August 9 at 6 PM
  • Laszlo Lang, Woodstock-based guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Friday, August 16 at 6 PM
  • Scarlett Cussell and Nichole Washington, Saturday, August 17 – Live Art Performance Piece

The festival concludes with a grand finale on Saturday, August 31st, promising a climactic celebration of creativity and community spirit with performers and performances TBA. A full schedule is available at www.VARGAgallery.com.

Partnerships and Support: The festival acknowledges and values the support of local partners such as Shandaken Skate Park, Phoenicia Diner, Phoenicia Farmer’s Market, Ulster Savings Bank, and Emerson Resort & Spa. Collaborative efforts with these community stakeholders are pivotal in making the event a success.