Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) returns for its seventh edition from June 25 to June 29, 2026, spanning the Hudson Valley and Catskills. Founded by Helen Toomer in 2020, the festival brings together over 160 participating museums, galleries, sculpture parks, and artist studios, with more than 400 artists engaged through Open Studios. Highlights include curated regional routes such as the River Route (featuring Dia Beacon and Magazzino Italian Art), the Kingston Corridor, Hudson + Columbia County, and Catskills + Mountain Towns, plus parties and performances at venues like Olana State Historic Site, PS21 in Chatham, and Assembly in Kingston.
The festival matters because it has grown from a local initiative into a nationally recognized cultural platform, drawing visitors from New York City and beyond to experience world-class contemporary art in a rural setting. Praised by The New York Times as home to “New York’s Best Summer Art Shows,” UAW underscores the Hudson Valley’s emergence as a major art destination, supporting a dense creative ecosystem of artist-run spaces, museums, and galleries that might otherwise be overlooked.