‘Then & Now' photo exhibit explores changes

MONROE-The Orange County Citizens Foundation and Museum Village will host ‘Then & Now: A Black and White Photographic Essay of Orange County’ at Museum Village now through Sunday, Dec. 4. Photographers from around the county will exhibit black and white photos of specific locations from the turn of the 20th century to the present, which will provide viewers with a startling contrast between today’s Orange County and that of yesteryear. “Land use, transportation, and demographic changes have all played a large role in converting Orange County from a rural, farming community to a more suburban area,” said Pat Gilchrest, foundation president. Along with the changes in rural and urban areas, the exhibit will highlights many of the changes brought about by a decline in manufacturing within the urban centers. “Urban renewal and the end of the trolley system devastated some of the most vibrant portions of our cities,” said Marie Liu, exhibit committee co-chairperson. “Photographers and local historians have pinpointed the sharpest contrasts and turned them into a photographic history of the entire area.” The exhibit made its debut in Sugar Loaf on Thursday, Sept. 8, and will travel throughout the county over the next year, going next to the County Government Center in Goshen for six weeks beginning in January. Future locations include SUNY Orange, the Tuxedo Park Library, and Stewart International Airport. The citizens foundation oversees cooperation and dialogue between Orange County and Hudson Valley residents, businesses, and government entities to safeguard the county’s historic and cultural heritage, to preserve open space and agriculture, to promote clean air and a serene environment, and to encourage improvement in jobs, transportation, parks and recreation, and government. For more information, call 469-9459. For more information about the exhibit at Musuem Village, call 782-8247 or visit www.museumvillage.org.