Hanford Mills Museums Online InterActions Series Continues April 8 Artist Richard Kathmann and Joshua Cerra, principal director for the Cornell Climate Change Garden, will be featu

Hanford Mills Museum continues its free online InterActions series on Thursday, April 8 at 7 pm with artist Richard Kathmann and Joshua Cerra, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University.

The InterActions series brings together local artists and scholars to discuss environmental justice, our shared landscape, natural resources, and sustainability.

Richard Kathmann paints abstract and landscape works of his Catskills surroundings. Along with the natural beauty, he is seeing the effects of climate change, invasive species, and variable forestry practices. A resident of East Meredith, Kathmann served as Hanford Mills Museum’s first executive director. 

Cornell Associate Professor Joshua Cerra has practiced as a designer and ecologist for over 25 years combined. Since 2013 Cerra has directed the Climate-adaptive Design (CAD), which in partnership with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Scenic Hudson and others links design students with flood-prone Hudson riverfront municipalities to develop alternative design strategies for more climate-adapted and connected waterfront areas. Cerra is also a principal investigator for the Cornell Climate Change Garden, an interpretive research installation on the Cornell. Cerra works with his students to explore landscape architecture design strategies as they relate to New York waterways and climate change, and his research focuses on the social-ecological systems created between humans and landscapes.

To register for the InterActions program, visit hanfordmills.org. The series is moderated by public historian William Walker, an associate professor of history at the Cooperstown Graduate Program.

“The InterActions series is designed to spark important conversations and inspire action,” says Liz Callahan, executive director of Hanford Mills Museum. She said that Hanford Mills will use these conversations to enhance visitors’ experiences at the Museum. 

This is the fourth InterActions series. Past programs, which are available to view on the Hanford Mills Museum YouTube Channel, featured: 

·         Christina Hunt Wood, a video artist and photographer based in Delhi, and Dr. Rachel Leibowitz, Associate Professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Co-Director of the Center for Cultural Landscape Preservation;

·         Ellen Wong, a landscape painter and visual artist, and Lisa Tessier, artist and Associate Professor of Arts & Sciences at SUNY Delhi; and

·         Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, acclaimed traditional musicians and co-founders of the Ashokan Center.

In 2020, Hanford Mills Museum, in collaboration with the Cooperstown Graduate Program (SUNY Oneonta), received a Creativity Incubator Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Greater Hudson Heritage Network. This grant offers financial support for museums to think more imaginatively about the interpretation of their collections and to explore new ways of engaging with contemporary audiences, with an emphasis on experimentation and creative thinking. With this series, Hanford Mills will bring together artists and scholars to lead virtual conversations on environmental justice, sustainability, and climate change.

About Hanford Mills Museum

As one of only a handful of operating water- and steam-powered mills, Hanford Mills Museum has earned a place on both the National and New York State Registers of Historic Places. The mission of Hanford Mills Museum is to inspire audiences of all ages to explore connections among energy, technology, natural resources, and entrepreneurship in rural communities with a focus on sustainable choices. This year is the 175th anniversary of the Mill Building.

Hanford Mills Museum, which will open for the season on May 15, is located at 51 County Route 12, at the intersection of Delaware County Routes 10 and 12, in East Meredith, NY, 10 miles from Oneonta, and 15 miles from Delhi. Tours can be reserved by calling 607.278.5744.

For more information, visit www.hanfordmills.org or call 607.278.5744.