February 1st Friday

For any of you regular 1st Friday goers you might have noticed that we took a short hiatus from participating in the 1st Friday receptions here at the BID office at 245 Lark Street. Well, that hiatus is about to end. We are lining up our shows for the year and are very excited about each of the artists that we have coming up!


First up in February, we have Becky Holt & Ashley Blouin from Studio 209 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire...

studio 209

Studio 209 is located in the Button Factory, a building in downtown Portsmouth, NH occupied by artists and craftspeople. It has become widely known for its Annual “Open Studios” where various artists open their doors and welcome the public to view and purchase original artwork from the local artists.

Painter/Photographer Ashley Blouin and Painter Becky Holt, who have a shared love and passion for the inspirational art world, share a studio space on the second floor of the Button Factory overlooking Portsmouth’s main street- Islington Street. Ashley and Becky welcome you to come by and visit the infamous “Studio 209” anytime or inquire about “Open Studios” and our favorite “Wine Night!” Read more about the history of the Button Factory at http://www.buttonfactorystudios.com/building_history.htm.

becky holt

Becky was raised in Newburyport, Massachusetts and currently lives and works in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She received a BFA from Alfred University’s School of Art and Design in 2008. Her work explores issues of environmental conservation and the integration of technology into everyday life. Becky is known for her recognizable large scale paintings, which have been displayed in local Restaurants and Coffee shops in downtown Portsmouth. Another unique feature in her work is her clever and humorous take on otherwise controversial subject matter. Becky’s work has exhibited internationally and can be view at: www.beckholt.com. 

ashley blouin

Ashley is originally from St. Albans, Vermont and currently resides in

Portsmouth, NH. She graduated in 2002 from Notre Dame College with BA in Biology and a BA in Fine Arts. Her work includes an independent study of portraits done with oil paint and more recent paintings done in a

“reversed painting” style using glass as a canvas. Lately, she has focused on photography and is in the infant stages of a “Juxtapose Series” looking at such symbols as “life and death” and “freedom and restraint.” She prints most of her photography on stretched canvas. Ashley can be contacted for freelance work at  ashleyblouin@homail.com. 

We hope you will join us on Friday, February 4th from 5-9pm!

Late Night Bus Service Offered

Capital Cruiser, LLC a local bus transportation company, is offering Late Night Bus Service to the Lark Street neighborhood. For the second year in a row, the company is offering $2.00 bus rides Friday and Saturday nights to the public while school is in session. 

The Weekend Late Night Bus Service connecting the State University At Albany campus with Madison Ave., Lark St., and Downtown Albany. The service will operate from 12:00 midnight until 4:00 am and is aimed at providing safe, reliable service for the General Public traveling late at night and not drinking and driving. 

Capital Cruiser states that "Our hope is to get the Students of UAlbany and College of St. Rose to visit and patronize the establishments along Madison Ave and Lark St. who haven't had any transportation available along these major streets. By offering this service, we hope to reduce the amount of students drinking and driving as well as providing a safe mode to get to and from the Campuses. Students safety is a big concern lately and we are also assisting the Albany Police and University Police with reporting any suspicious activities involving the general public and students. Students will be allowed to board the bus to keep out of harms way at anytime by flagging the bus down anywhere along the route." 

Right now, students and the general public have to rely on taxicabs in Albany to get to and from the Campuses, which is a major inconvenience and costly to all. For a mere $2.00, anyone can ride the scheduled service.  

For more information on the service and the schedule, please call 518.596.3321 or visit the website at www.capitalcruiser.com.

We have a winner!

After anxiously watching the poll numbers over the past 10 days, we at the Lark Street BID are happy to announce that our little Birdie has a name! Petula Lark was chosen as the favorite with 318 votes!

The bird naming journey began in November when we asked the public to email us their suggestions for the bird's name. During the month of December, we received around 70 unique names and many more duplicated suggestions. The list was whittled down to our four favorites and again we returned to the public to help us. In the 10 days that the poll was open, over 630 people voted and for a few of those days it looked as if Sir Larksalot was going to win. After the special message that we received from Jacob and his connection to Petula Clark, the numbers soon started favoring Petula again.

Thank you to everyone who voted and a special thank you to Todd Palmiere who suggested Petula. 

Be sure to keep your eyes out for Petula Lark throughout the year to help us announce all of our big news & events!

Bird Name News

The bird naming poll has been keeping us here at the BID all aflutter! Will it be Petula or Sir Larksalot? Is it possible for Joan or Art to come in from behind? We will just have to wait and see however, after receiving an email this morning we think that Petula might have some strong support from far away places.

Jacob Friedman, a 13 year old from Cleveland, OH, wrote us to let us know of his support for the bird being named Petula. Jacob is a brain cancer survivor and is a huge fan of Petula Clark's music. While he was going through cancer treatments he would listen to Clark's music. In fact, Jacob credits her music as a source of strength and courage; especially the song Downtown.

Petula Clark & Jacob Friedman

We would like to wish Jacob the best & thank him for his support!

Event Dates Announced

It is just the start of the New Year but we are already planning the lineup of events for the year. Get out your calendars because you are going to want to save these dates!

2011 is a BIG year for us here at the BID. This year will mark the 15th annual Art on Lark, the 30th Annual LarkFEST, 5th Annual Winter WonderLARK!

Champagne on the Park- Our Annual Fundraiser--
       Thursday, May 5th

Art on Lark- 15^th Annual-- 

      Saturday, June 11th    

                             

LarkFEST- 30^th Annual--  

       Saturday, September 17th       

               

Winter WonderLARK- 5^th Annual--  

       Saturday, December 10th                       

It's time to vote!

The time to vote on the little bird's name has come! After receiving close to 70 unique names for the bird over the past month we have narrowed down the list to our top 4 choices.

The choices, in alphabetical order, are:

• Arthur or "Art" for short--- we are Albany's Art District after all

• Joan of Lark

• Petula Lark--- A nod to Petula Clark, the 60's singer who sang "Downtown"

• Sir Larksalot

You can vote right here on the blog just under the street sign picture. Voting will end Friday, January 14th.

Thank you to Chris Schloss, Neal Kern, Todd Palmiere, and CT for their suggestions and to everyone who submitted a name to us!