Roost Arts Finds Its New Home On Main Street 

In 2015, Roost Studios and Cooperative Art Gallery was born from the mind of Marcy Bernstein, an artist and educator whose career paused after a severe biking accident the year prior. Though she had always seen a need for a place in New Paltz for artists to gather and play, her recovery from multiple reconstructive surgeries gave her the time she needed to make the idea of a cooperative studio and exhibition space a reality. Through her recovery and resilience, a little brick gallery at 69 Main St. was born. After closing the center six months into the pandemic, Bernstein has made sure the non-profit organization outlasted the COVID-19 crisis through online engagement and pop-up events around the area over the last four years. In the spirit of this resilience, Roost is officially coming back to Main Street at the end of October.

Now under the name Roost Arts, the gallery is at 122 Main St., just a little ways down the road from the previous location. It’s in a prime location across the street from some of the town’s most frequented restaurants and just a few streets away from the SUNY New Paltz campus. Roost has been collaborating with Gordon Pine, the owner of the home, to elevate the space. Pine is giving the organization a reduced rent to get the center up and running again, along with helping to redo the floors, repaint and put up lighting. 

“We pitched him the idea because we knew that this beautiful building had been vacant for a while. It has amazing curb appeal,” Bernstein said. “He’s really supporting what we’re doing so that we can grow. This place just feels like a center for the arts.”

This new location is on its way to becoming the physical center Bernstein dreams it to be. Roost is currently only taking up part of the first floor, but there’s plenty of room for expansion. Five rooms upstairs are still available for other artists or galleries to rent in collaboration with Roost and the Pine family. Roost affiliate Jennifer Green is starting a business in the other two rooms on the first floor where she can help artists with social media and marketing as well as offer a co-working space. 

Roost will be holding a small gallery warming potluck from 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 28 for returning and prospective members. They will be debuting the space to the public on Oct. 31 in their Halloween Arts Bash featuring the work of Tyson Goldfisch. People can stop into the space anytime between 3-8 p.m. to enjoy his works and drink apple cider. Their opening celebration will be from 6-8 p.m. on Nov. 1, where guests can eat spooky brain jello and meet the artist. 

The new space is completely handicap-accessible, something they couldn’t offer with the steep stairway at their last location. Having this accessibility will not only widen their reach but allow them to apply for grants they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to consider. Their members consist of fellow artists and locals, but Roost is hoping to engage more of the community, especially students. Their upcoming Holiday Art Gala Extravaganza on Dec. 7 will fundraise for student scholarships. They’re asking artists to pick up blank postcards or canvases and return them by Nov. 24 for them to showcase and sell at the fundraiser. They’re also open to student internships and volunteers, with a Holiday Paint and Sip coming up on Dec. 13. Bernstein wants to revive some of the events they used to do: restaurant collaborations to offer dinner dates while kids create, film Fridays and artist discussions where the artist is amongst the audience. Ultimately, she wants to get the community excited about art.

“I still have my own work, but when it’s not all about you, some kind of ego gets removed and you get to be this conduit for other people and their energy,” Bernstein said. “The real joy and real love is just creating a space. Whether it’s the physical space or a metaphorical space for people to get their projects and their vision realized and to have that exist.”