DAVID LANE

Frederic Church & Thomas Cole Cross the Hudson

Sunday, September 30, 2 - 4p

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Once again, AOH teams up with The Olana Partnership and Olana Historic Site to stage a free theatrical happening during the 2nd Annual Skywalk Arts Festival on Sunday, September 30th.

Theater artist David Lane of New England Puppet Arts is creating larger-than-life head puppets of Thomas Cole and Frederic Church. The two men will be walking the Rip Van Winkle Bridge conversing about the environment, the picturesque, the futuristic steel artifice that now crosses the Hudson River, while deciding upon the ideal vantage point for their next paintings. To see this improvisatory, immersive, site specific puppet performance, plan to cross the bridge between 2 and 4 pm.

David Lane is a painter, writer, and theatre artist living and working in North Adams, MA. He is a two-time Jim Henson Foundation grant recipient for his original play The Chronicles of Rose, which tells the story of Rose Valland who helped save countless European paintings from being lost forever during WWII.

When he is not in his studio, David teaches performance and classes in creative-practice at Siena College in Albany, NY. In 2016, Siena produced his original clown play The Painting, which was selected to be presented at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region One.

Last year, David was a co-creator and the lead designer of Iinisikimm, an illuminated, night-time puppet performance in celebration of the return of Buffalo to Banff National Park, Canada. This summer, David will direct the 3rd annual Berkshire Lantern Walk, a community festival of light, in collaboration with the New England Puppet Intensive and Clark Art Institute.

David studied Drama at the University of Calgary with the likes of Clem Martini and improv guru Keith Johnstone, and earned an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

In 2006, David started his blog, Porchlight Paintings to connect with like minded artists and collectors from around the world. Since then, his small scale paintings have allowed him to practice classical technique and develop a naturalistic style that has become a signature element of his paintings.