Opening Reception for “Going Upstate: The Avery Family in Woodstock”

March Avery, Zena Cornfield, 2001, oil on canvas, 56″ x 40″

curated by Dr. Bruce Weber
Exhibition on view July 11 – October 25, 2026
Opening reception
Saturday July 11, 2026, 3-6 PM

For 125 years, Byrdcliffe has cultivated a community of artists at the base of Mount Guardian in the hamlet of Woodstock, NY.  Founded on principles of camaraderie, fidelity to quality, a reverence for nature and deep respect for fellow creators, Byrdcliffe has welcomed an impressive roster of artists and thinkers to this important art colony.

While many of these creative denizens went on to reknown — Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Bob Dylan, Eva Hesse, Philip Guston, Thorstein Veblen and many more — few so embodied the spirit of Byrdcliffe than the Avery Family.

Spanning four generations, the exhibition brings together works by Milton Avery and Sally Michel Avery, their daughter March Avery, her husband Philip G. Cavanaugh, their son Sean Cavanaugh, and his child Delilah Cavanaugh. For the first time, the public will have the opportunity to experience an intimate look at the art created in Woodstock by the Avery family — a body of work deeply rooted in American modernism.