The success over the years of the Agricultural Stewardship Association (ASA) in raising funds to support its mission to preserve farmland in Washington and Rensselaer counties in the upper Hudson River valley of upstate New York lifts the spirits.
In addition to funds from New York State’s Department of Agriculture and Markets Farmland Protection Program (which has disbursed over $180 million in protecting more than 76,300 acres of viable agricultural land on 299 farms across New York State), ASA’s annual Landscapes for Landsake Art Sale and Exhibition has been a significant source of funds for the non-profit land trust, which works diligently to protect and preserve farmland in two upstate New York counties.
Since 2002, artists have been generously donating 50% of the proceeds from the sale of their artwork at the annual Landscapes for Landsake art exhibitions to ASA. As ASA closes in on reaching the $1,000,000 mark in funds raised from these annual exhibitions over the past 18 years, Teri Ptacek, the Executive Director of the organization, in noting her thanks to enthusiastic collectors, has announced that the 2019 show set a record breaking $104,000 of artwork sold and still counting.
As we reported earlier this month, ASA has conserved 133 farms and over 22,300 acres of farmland over the past 29 years in Washington and Rensselaer counties of upstate New York.
Bravo!
(Frank W. Barrie, 10/29/19)
