Hulking over Chestertown in Warren County, NY, the Rising House was a prime Adirondack destination, but saw its last visitor years ago. Today, its sky blue paint is peeling, and the double-deck veranda vanished long ago. Past faded curtains is a dusty derelict bar, replete with its abandoned neon signs.
In a new exhibition, Stevie Artemis Latham captures the Rising House’s deterioration in photographs, paintings, and installations.
“I’m working with obscured and reflected layers, to reveal the old and new, our ever-changing culture, and nature’s relentless renewal in the Adirondacks,” Latham says.
A tavern was established on the site of the Rising House by Hobby Mead “in the second quarter” of the 19th century according to H.P. Smith’s History of Warren County (1885), but “relapsed into the seclusion of a private dwelling until about 1881, when Milo Graham reconstructed it into a hotel.”
Joel W. Rising from nearby Hague tool over in March, 1882 and was responsible for refitting the hotel to accommodate 75 guests. The establishment was said to provide “a toothsome, wholesome table prepared three times a day for guests.”
Like many others who witness this now abandoned historic building, Latham says she can feel like she is “outside looking in.” For her, “looking through the locked doors of the Rising House, it’s like looking into the fascinating but uneasy world that we try to find our place in.”
Stevie Artemis Latham grew up in a small Southern Tier town, played at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City with their punk rock band, searched the South for folk art and cooking, was chef owner of Old Devil Moon in New York City, crusaded for an “Urban Oasis” in Jersey, taught in Harlem, and performed on trapeze.
The exhibit opens with a reception on Friday December 13, at 4 pm and will be on view during the month of December during library hours at the Town of Chester Library, in the Chestertown Municipal Center at 6307 State Route 9.
Photo, above: A postcard of the Rising House in its prime.
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