CCE facilitates deep and sustainable relationships with Bard’s neighbors. We support students and faculty in their work with partners to address real issues facing our communities, promote dialogue and debate, and effect change. Partnerships can take many forms, including internships, volunteer and community-based learning opportunities, joint projects, conferences, and research, as well as innovative cross-cultural and artistic initiatives.
Curious about becoming a CCE partner? Contact [email protected].
Curious about becoming a CCE partner? Contact [email protected].
Sustainable Communities Art Box Project
Art That Imagines Our Shared Future
The Sustainable Communities Art Box Project is a collaborative public art initiative hosted by the Town of Red Hook by the Red Hook Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) and the Town of Red Hook Comprehensive Planning Committee in partnership with the Bard College Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) the Red Hook Community Center, Bard College Office of Sustainability, Red Hook Together, Red Hook Public Library, the Ascienzo Family Foundation, and other community partners.
Originally launched through Red Hook's Sustainable Communities Program, the Art Box Project supports an annual call for artists who live, work, or attend school in and around Red Hook to submit original artwork based on a given theme. Selected works are installed for one year in four art boxes placed strategically in everyday public spaces into accessible outdoor galleries. This year, we hope each encounter encourages residents and visitors to reflect on the places we share and the future we hope to create together.
2026 Theme: Envision Our Town: Aspirations for Red Hook 2036 and Beyond
The 2026 exhibition invited artists to imagine Red Hook's future through visual storytelling. Inspired by the Town of Red Hook's Comprehensive Plan, the selected works explore environmental stewardship, creativity, belonging, memory, and the enduring connections between people and place.
Originally launched through Red Hook's Sustainable Communities Program, the Art Box Project supports an annual call for artists who live, work, or attend school in and around Red Hook to submit original artwork based on a given theme. Selected works are installed for one year in four art boxes placed strategically in everyday public spaces into accessible outdoor galleries. This year, we hope each encounter encourages residents and visitors to reflect on the places we share and the future we hope to create together.
2026 Theme: Envision Our Town: Aspirations for Red Hook 2036 and Beyond
The 2026 exhibition invited artists to imagine Red Hook's future through visual storytelling. Inspired by the Town of Red Hook's Comprehensive Plan, the selected works explore environmental stewardship, creativity, belonging, memory, and the enduring connections between people and place.
Greg Ulfik
PETAL II
PETAL II
LOCATION: Greig Farm
227 Pitcher Lane, Red Hook
227 Pitcher Lane, Red Hook
Greg Ulfik
PETAL II
Greg Ulfik is a local artist and graphic designer who works across an eclectic mix of traditional and digital media, creating everything from comics to amateur music videos. Some might call his creative practice eclectic, but he prefers to think of it as indecisive. He lives with his family somewhere in the hills of Dutchess and Columbia Counties. You can find more of his work online at @Ulfikedup.
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Janene Gentile
Abstract
Abstract
LOCATION: Holy Cow / St. Margaret's
7251 S. Broadway, Red Hook
7251 S. Broadway, Red Hook
Janene Gentile
Abstract
An American Abstract Expressionist and Action Painter, Gentile's practice is direct, instinctual, and deeply devoted to personal expression. Her paintings embrace the chance effects of dripping, sweeping, and spilling paint, drawing inspiration from the 'automatic' techniques developed in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Free from traditional aesthetic conventions, her work invites viewers to experience painting as an immediate and emotional encounter with movement, color, and creativity.
Seryca Kaye
The Everyday Observatory
The Everyday Observatory
LOCATION: Key Bank, 28 W Market St., Red Hook
Seryca Kaye
The Everyday Observatory
Inspired by the shop windows around Red Hook, The Everyday Observatory offers a series of small 'windows' into the activities and ways of living that make up the community. The piece is constructed from recycled cardboard and incorporates collage materials, fabric, stickers, ribbon, and oil pastels, including the same recycled materials used in Bard College's Kollage Club, where Seryca serves as co-club head.
A Written Arts student at Bard College originally from Portland, Oregon, Seryca often draws inspiration from home in both her writing and visual art. Through The Everyday Observatory, she hopes viewers are reminded of a cherished memory each time they encounter the work.
Veronica Berrettini
On Blue
On Blue
LOCATION: Red Hook Community Center
59 Fisk Street #173, Red Hook
59 Fisk Street #173, Red Hook
Veronica Berrettini
On Blue
Veronica Berrettini is a Studio Arts student at Bard College whose work explores memory, landscape, and atmosphere through painting and mixed media. Drawing inspiration from symbolism and personal experience, her paintings balance delicacy with tension, combining detailed imagery with expressive brushstrokes and color. She is particularly interested in the relationship between empathy, perception, and the natural world. Through On Blue, Veronica envisions Red Hook continuing to grow as a walkable, welcoming community where people remain connected to the environment, to one another, and where everyone can feel at home.
BOLD25 Balkan Regional Youth Leadership Workshop: Civic Engagement in the 21st Century
Bard College Center for Civic Engagement and the United States Embassy in Serbia announce a year-long workshop focused on community engagement in the 21st Century, exploring themes of leadership and the challenges of being an engaged citizen.
Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences:
Community Partner Course Proposals
Are you a local organization interested in working with Bard College students and faculty developing a project, collaborating on research, or sharing resources? Reach out to us via email at [email protected] for assistance or additional information about the Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences program.
Civic Engagement During the Language and Thinking Program
Every August, Bard College first-year students come to campus for an intensive, three-week introduction to the liberal arts known as the Language and Thinking Program. In addition to the academic program, new students take part in civic engagement opportunities on campus and in the community. Activities have included: refurbishing the Red Hook Food Pantry, working on the Bard Farm, visiting with residents of Ferncliff Nursing Home, and doing science experiments with children at the Red Hook Library.
The Nourish Your Neighbor Food Drive
Bard and Community Partners Collect 7,000 Donations of Nonperishable Foods
Bard partnered with the Ascienzo Family Foundation, Red Hook Rotary, and Red Hook Faculty Association to collect donations of nonperishable foods during the holiday season. Bard contributed 1,267 items, eclipsing the previous year’s total. The joint effort of Bard organizers and community partners collected about 7,000 donations.
Bard partnered with the Ascienzo Family Foundation, Red Hook Rotary, and Red Hook Faculty Association to collect donations of nonperishable foods during the holiday season. Bard contributed 1,267 items, eclipsing the previous year’s total. The joint effort of Bard organizers and community partners collected about 7,000 donations.