(light music) (light music) - Explore the paintings of author and director Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

Chat with art teacher Lisa Gutta.

♪ You can leave me ♪ And catch a performance from Mark Munzert and Ernie Sites.

♪ Keep kicking me in the side ♪ It's all ahead on this episode of "AHA!

A House for Arts" ♪ I feel a runaway coming on ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for "AHA!"

Has been provided by your contribution, and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, and The Robison Family Foundation.

- At M&T Bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M&T Bank is pleased to support WMHT programming that highlights the arts, and we invite you to do the same.

(light music) - Hi, I'm Matt Rogowicz, and this is "AHA!

A House for Arts", a place for all things creative.

Beatles fans know Michael Lindsay-Hogg as the director of the 1970 documentary film, "Let it Be".

He also directed videos for The Rolling Stones, and The Who, and other projects such as the TV series "Brideshead Revisited" which premiered right here on PBS in 1982.

Now based in Hudson New York, I had the chance to meet up with Michael Lindsay-Hogg to learn about his paintings, which are currently showing at Hudson Hall.

- You have a frame, and in the frame is whatever the artist puts there.

And that seems to be a kind of order, because so much of life is not ordered, so much of life is random.

(lively music) My mother was an actress, an Irish actress called Geraldine Fitzgerald.

And I partly grew up in California, 'cause she was working at Warner Brothers.

And then, she and my father split up when I was quite young, and he went back to Ireland, where he also was from.

And then my mother met someone and fell in love, and we moved to New York when I was six.

And I wasn't a successful child, partly because I couldn't read until I was almost nine.

And as a result of that, this has turned out to be good, my literature came from comic books, comic strips.

And so I'd be able to tell what the story was from the panels.

And so I started to draw a lot when I was young, and I kept on drawing.

I was the most out of it teenager god ever invented.

I went to work when I was 16 in a summer theater in Stratford Connecticut.

I amazingly got into Oxford University, and when I say amazingly, everyone was stunned that I passed the exam, me most of all.

And, but when I was in England, still theater this is, I got an offer to assist on and be in a production of a "Chimes at Midnight" with Orson Welles.

And I was a really bad actor, I mean I wasn't, I could never have made a living as an actor, but it was the world I wanted to be in.

And it was really only when I started to direct a rock and roll show in English television, "Ready Steady Go!"

that I started to have the camera (light acoustic music) in my life.

It was this rock and roll show that had been on for like a year before I joined.

I really wanted to direct it, and I also wanted to shoot rock and roll in a way which I hadn't seen done before.

I became friends with the musicians, and they asked me to do videos.

The first ones I did were with The Beatles, "Rain" and "Paperback Writer".

And following that was "Jumpin' Jack Flash" for The Rolling Stones, and The Who.

(upbeat music) And then The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, and then "Let it Be" the documentary with The Beatles.

I wasn't painting because I didn't know how to paint.

And but when I met my wife Lisa, after we'd been together for about eight or 10 years she said, "Why don't you paint?"

And I said, "I don't know how."

And she says well, "Hmm, well why don't we "go and get a canvas and get tubes of paint, "a couple of brushes, and see?"

And so I did paint, and it turned out all right.

I've been doing it for 25 years now.

I paint on really what's ever there, canvas, board, panel of the door or something, and I'd paint on that.

I paint on anything really.

I suppose I was drawn to portraits and pictures of people because people I think are what interest me the most, being a people myself.

And, I find you know you walk down the street and you look in someone's face, or the way they walk, and you think, I wonder who that person is?

And a lotta times people to me look confused, or out of it the way I was.

I'm very interested in people who are kind of out of it like I was.

Confused, and sometimes also you notice in some of my pictures is there's might be a displacement of power, like who's more important, and who's the master, and who's the servant?

And do they like their roles?

Why should they come to see my paintings at Hudson Hall?

No reason I can think of, except they're interesting, I think they're unusual, I think they're good, and I think you won't see them or see similar paintings in many other places.

The thing I miss most about directing, which I haven't done for a while for whatever reason, is the family.

Because when you direct, you make a, you choose your family, crew, actors.

Painting, it is more solitary, like writing, but I don't mind it.

- [Interviewer] Do you get to pick your crew?

- I get to (Michael laughs) pick my crew yeah, exactly.

- Lisa Gutta is an art teacher at Boulevard Elementary in Gloversville, and she started a wonderful art club for students that strives to bring the local community together.

Here's Jade Morrick with that story.

- Welcome Lisa, welcome to House for Arts.

- Thank you.

- You're an art teacher, and I just wanna hear about your journey of becoming an art teacher, like how did you find yourself in education?

- Well, I feel like most people who become teachers become teachers because they had an impactful educator at some point in their career.

And thinking back, I originally had a lot of really inspirational music teachers, and I wanted to be a music teacher, because I had so many teachers that made me feel seen.

I mean like as a kid you kinda feel like, oh I'm just part of this mass in the school system, and like we're all treated the same.

But I had a lot of music teachers that made me kinda feel like a whole person, it made me really love music, and love the collaborative nature of being in a band.

So I really wanted to be a music teacher.

My senior year of high school I did a visual and performance arts program, so that kind of got me to dabble a little bit more in the visual arts too.

But when I got to college I was like, not a huge fan of playing clarinet six hours a day, kinda got bored with that, and a lost a little bit of the passion of like oh being in a band, and like what do these lyrics mean?

All these more of like scales, all right, learning of the triads and all this.

So then I kind of gravitated more towards the visual arts, and I never got bored with that.

So, I just really wanted to extend my passion for the arts, and I think all the positive educators I've ever come across, really oozed that passion, and really wanna kinda make that contagious, they wanna pass on that passion to everyone else.

So I think that's kind of what led me to wanting to be an art teacher.

- So I know you teach grades I think third through fifth, correct?

So, what brings you joy about teaching younger students?

- So first off, I think they're still malleable right?

They're still like pretty curious, they're still pretty imaginative, they're happy to be in school, for the most part.

(Jade laughs) They haven't gotten that like (Lisa groaning) "I'm over this," kind of attitude.

So I think that like the malleable attitudes, and like wanting to still create, and imagine, and play, I think that's really fun to be around every day.

It kinda keeps me inspired and excited, because they come in, they're like, "What are we gonna make?

"What are we gonna do?"

So I really feed off their energy as well.

And I've been trying to do more choice based learning.

- Oh okay, what's that?

- So.

Choice based learning is pretty much where you set up more of an open ended project, and say like, "Hey, however you wanna interpret this, "whatever materials you think would best hit this, "go for it."

And then we kind of personalize, like how every student's approaching it, and try and get them to fulfill their vision, as opposed to saying, "We're all making a snow man, "pick up the blue paint, we're all gonna paint this blue."

So I've been trying to do that a little bit more to kind of ya know, allow them a little bit more personal creativity, and allow them to explore their own vision and imagination more.

- Why do you think having access to art classes, to creative classes, is important within the school system?

- Number one, I start off every class every year with, I'm not looking to create artists in here, I'm not looking to create, I have 600 students, I'm not creating 600 artists every year okay.

I'm looking to create creative problem solvers and creative thinkers, because those are skill sets that can be utilized no matter what they do, where they go, whatever area they really wanna focus on.

So I think, especially allows for that creative problem solving, it allows for you to fail right.

We experiment with so many different subjects, and mediums, so you know you're not gonna be perfect in all of 'em, I'm certainly not perfect in all of 'em.

So it allows you to fail, and adapt.

And I rarely let them start over, 'cause I'm like all right ya know, Bob Ross, happy accident, what do we do now?

So, it really allows kids to kind of use a part of their brain that I don't think they necessarily use in the rest of the education system, where a lot of it is wrote learning, or wrote memorization, like, "You need to learn these dates, "you need to learn math 'cause that, "X equals Y or whatever."

And so I think having that open ended avenue is really important for kids, along with the emotional outlet, and kind of experimenting, and just being exposed to different cultures, and tactile.

I mean there's so many different aspects to art.

- And that kinda relates to your art club that I wanna talk a little bit about.

I know the audience is gonna love this.

So would you break down your art club that you did with the students in Gloversville?

- Yeah, so this has been pretty much in the works since last summer.

And it started, well my inspiration for it was I did a scavenger hunt with my son, where there were all these different animals hidden in all these different nature preserves.

And I just had a blast finding these natures with my son.

I mean he was like one, so he's just dangling off me, like whatever.

But I had a blast finding all these animals.

So I kinda wanted to bring that idea of the scavenger hunt somehow to Gloversville.

I wanted to create a community-wide event where my students were active in this project, and so was the community.

So I was holding a writing and illustration club, and we partnered up with the public library.

So it first started off with someone from the public library coming, and they did a presentation on the library, the resources they had, and the subject for their stories this year was monsters.

So they talked about, what is a monster?

Is it really just like something scary that hides in your closet?

Like what different attributes make a monster?

And they also brought a ton of different books with examples, and illustrations of monsters.

So then my fourth and fifth graders wrote their own stories about monsters, illustrated the monsters, and illustrated their stories.

And then I sent those illustrations up to the advanced sculpture students at the high school, and they actually sculpted the monsters out of clay.

- So cool.

- And painted and glazed them.

And then I took those sculptures and hid them around downtown Gloversville for a citywide scavenger hunt.

And then my students also did a public reading of all their stories with their illustrations behind them.

And I got prizes donated for people who participate in the scavenger hunt.

And I also partnered up with an outreach program, so they organized a middle school and high school monster hunt where they're actually like wandering around the city looking for it.

So it became this really like wonderful community project where all these different businesses, and people, and students were participating in this silly little idea I had last summer right, it just kinda blossomed.

And I just loved getting to all, like know all these different people and businesses that I've never communicated with.

And how this project has kind of tied all these things together.

- And what have you seen, how have the students reacted?

How have the kids reacted to such an amazing like I don't know, like art club initiative?

(Lisa laughs) - My student, well both sets of students, the high school students and my students, like adored it, they loved it.

From my students perspectives, they saw their imagination come to life, right, like they drew something and then some other artist some other place made it three dimensional, brought it to life.

And then it was put out into the community, which I think a lotta times, kids think their work in school just lives in those buildings, they don't think it has a life outside, or that anyone else cares about it outside.

So putting it into the community, and having all these other community members interact with it just put a whole new life to it.

So my kids have just been like, "This is amazing, "this is so cool."

And the high school just thought it was adorable, like, "Oh look at this cute little fuzzy monster.

"How can I turn it, or look at this horrifying monster, "how bloody can I make it?"

- Yeah, 'cause now they're like working on their sculpting and artistic skills to turn that 2D figure into a 3D figure.

- Exactly, so they came at it from a different perspective.

And my kiddos don't know yet, but the high schoolers are actually gonna gift the sculptures to the fourth and fifth graders.

- That's amazing.

- And we're gonna have like a little ceremony for them to like hand off the sculptures.

And the high schoolers are really excited to like meet their fourth and fifth grade counterparts, and to hand off the sculptures.

So it's been like a really beautiful relationship between like the big kids and little kids and.

- That's great, 'cause that's needed too ya know.

- [Lisa] Right.

- 'Cause they're eventually gonna be in high school themselves.

So do you plan to do another one of these coming up?

- I would love to, I think it kinda depends on how everything ya know settles after this one's done, and whether I'd reach out to different businesses, like whether the advanced sculpture or high school teacher has like a different idea for next year.

But I mean I'd definitely be open to something like this, or a different variety.

I was even thinking, maybe I could find professional artists to come in and like sculpt, or imagine whatever thing we do next year.

- Well you hear that folks?

(Lisa laughs) Hit us up if you need, if you wanna collaborate with her.

Well awesome, well thank you for joining us tonight, and just keep being awesome, and really supporting our youth within your artistic endeavors, thank you.

- Thank you.

- And now for something extra special and unique, please welcome award-winning cowboy poet, Mark Munzert and Ernie Sites.

- Hey Mark, how's it going?

- Good Ernie, you ready?

- I am.

(upbeat acoustic music) - Let her rip.

♪ I've been riding the trail so long I'm feeling old ♪ ♪ Memories keep hanging on I can't let them go ♪ ♪ Old Montana you've stolen my songs ♪ ♪ And your winters are cold ♪ ♪ And now I'm trailing back to ole Mexico ♪ ♪ Where the weather's warm ♪ - Old hats at the wagon gate debating about the trail.

These cow folks tempt fate while others ship by rail.

Boats that are made for workin', trousers old and worn, coffee's near perking, wake up, it's nearly morn.

The crew begins assembling, the ramuda coming in.

Dirty horse ground trembling, let dawns long rise begin.

♪ I'm entering in a border town ♪ ♪ Going seems like you're gone ♪ ♪ And I told her that I was off to Montana ♪ ♪ How I loved her so ♪ ♪ Cowboys life can be lonesome and hard ♪ ♪ Times when the nights are long ♪ ♪ Sing a slowly round a lone star herd ♪ ♪ Sleepin' on the ground ♪ The trail boss bellows, "Wake up!"

And the cook clangs with his metal spoon, "Fill your bellies boys, ain't no rest til noon."

Old bones they are aching, the youngins are quick to chow.

"You want some of this here bacon?

"Ya better get it now."

First morsel of the new dawn, sleep rubbed from their eyes, breakfast grub quick gone, a hungry bunch of guys.

The leathers are a creakin' as we coo to our mouths.

The campfire like a beacon, as the sun begins moons trounce.

♪ I met her in a border town ♪ ♪ Though it seems like years ago ♪ ♪ And I told her that I was off to Montana ♪ ♪ But she wouldn't go ♪ ♪ I got my saddle and a good horse to ride ♪ ♪ I'll be crossing the great divide ♪ ♪ All the hostiles will chase me and rivers will rise ♪ ♪ But I'll be makin' good time ♪ ♪ Three-thousand miles to mexico ♪ ♪ Yeah the trail is long ♪ ♪ But I'll never ever push cattle no more ♪ ♪ Adios mi amigos I'm gone ♪ "Tighten up that cinch, let's tuck them bed rolls in."

I listen to morning orders, I take a pinch from a little tin.

"Rust and Joe, you ride flank.

"Henry, you got drag."

"Oh shucks boss, I know them boys got rank, "but all I'll do is gag."

"I ain't got no time for favorites son, "so keep your rag on high, "don't let none get around the end.

"Out here they'll up and die."

So up into the foot hills and down the valleys wide, river crossin' test the wills of riding side by side.

I don't think we lost one, that's a dang good thing.

Morning's nearly over, some them old boys begin to sing.

♪ Ole Montana you've stolen my songs ♪ ♪ And your winters are cold ♪ ♪ But now turn back to ole Mexico where the weather's warm ♪ "Let's pull up here and take a rest, "give them bovine a break.

"Richard, check up over that crest, "the trail should sorta snake."

Jerky and a biscuit's what you get for chuck, maybe a swig of lukewarm coffee if you're quick and in luck.

The afternoon across a former prairie, sand dry to the bone, the wind whipped our butts that day, wore down my quarter roan.

Cows too tired for bawling, horses with shut eye, fire, stare, sleep a calling under dark and starry sky.

Again, we come to nightfall, fed then fall towards sleep.

The coyotes howling night call, cow pokes in a heap.

(Ernie yodeling) (light acoustic music) ♪ Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost but now I'm found ♪ ♪ Was blind but now I see ♪ I went to a funeral just the other day, an ole cowboy passed away.

His family didn't understand him, nor his ways to roam.

They laid our part out in this hoity funeral home.

Funny to see dusty boots and hats come respectin', when suit's and tie's what's they're expecting.

Nicest duds they ever seen 'em in, all dressed in Amish black.

Look so good, that ole puncher might've liked to come back.

Was elegant dresses, and moist eyes, and murmured tones from them suits and ties.

Kids bewildered at all the cow folks there to wish him well, and amazed at the stories about him they would tell.

A preacher for the service to send him on his way, to meet the almighty maker on that heart heavy day.

Fancy limos to haul to his final resting place.

Shiny cars and dented pick ups in a long line of grace.

Far as I know, he'd rather be alone than have all that fuss.

He liked lonely much much more, ornery old cuss.

He weren't much for parties, nor pomp and circumstance.

I half expected him to push up and give a spiteful dance.

(Mark laughs) Now as we're at the marker, and they're lowering him to ground, so commotion on behind and heads swivel all around.

His grandson with a lead line attached to granddads horse, ain't a proper burial without your best friend of course.

I went to a funeral just the other day, an ole cowboy passed away.

♪ Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ Saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost but now I'm found ♪ ♪ Was blind but now I see ♪ I hear you was a dude wrangler at one time?

- Oh you know what, the hardest thing about doing a dude wrangler is feeling sorry for the horses.

- Oh of course.

- And well, with this song I'm gonna sing called "The Dude Horse Blues", is more about a relationship than that, but it's relative, okay we.

- Absolutely.

♪ I'm singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Just singing the dude horse blues ♪ (Mark laughs) ♪ Sang trail every day I'm feeling worn out and used ♪ ♪ Knot your cinch take your saddle let me roll in the dirt ♪ ♪ Knot your cinch take your saddle let me roll in the dirt ♪ ♪ Been on my back all day ♪ ♪ You know that you're causing me hurt ♪ ♪ He's up on the range you know that you're causing me pain ♪ ♪ He's up on the range you know that you're causing me pain ♪ ♪ You pull up and say go you kick and say whoa ♪ ♪ You're driving me insane ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Just singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Same trail every day I'm feeling worn out and used ♪ ♪ You can lead me to water but you cannot make me drink ♪ ♪ You can lead me to water but you cannot make me drink ♪ ♪ Keep kicking me in the side ♪ ♪ Don't care how I feel or think you know ♪ ♪ I feel a runaway coming on ♪ (Ernie laughs) ♪ I feel a runaway coming on ♪ ♪ Let me show my stepping pride and I'll be gone ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Just singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Same trail every day I'm feeling worn out and used ♪ ♪ But if you rub my nose trim my back comb my tail and mane ♪ ♪ Rub my nose trim my back comb my tail and mane ♪ ♪ Have me eatin' outta your hand ♪ ♪ You bring sweet sugar again yes sir ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Just singing the dude horse blues ♪ ♪ Same trail every day I'm feeling worn out and used ♪ (Ernie neighing) - "Dude Horse Blues".

(Ernie laughs) (horse galloping) (horse neighing) (upbeat country music) - Thanks for joining us.

For more art, visit WMHT.org/aha, and be sure to connect with us on social.

I'm Matt Rogowicz, thanks for watching.

♪ Running wild rolling free ♪ ♪ Running blues across this big country ♪ ♪ Running wild rolling free ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody gonna put the breaks on me ♪ ♪ Running wild rolling free ♪ ♪ Driving fast cross this wide country running wild ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for "AHA" has been provided by your contribution, and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, and The Robison Family Foundation.

- At M&T Bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M&T Bank is pleased to support WMHT programing that highlights the arts, and we invite you to do the same.