The gallery scene resumes in Woodstock this Saturday, March 6, when the region's oldest existing membership arts organization, the Woodstock Artists' Association and Museum (WAAM), kicks off its 2010 series of art shows with a full plate of six openings in its Village Green building's many gallery spaces. The chief draw for those outside the local arts scene will undoubtedly be the new Best-Of historic show, "The Beauty of Discord: Selections from the Permanent Collection," featuring the great George Bellows' famed series of antiwar prints. But the big draws for what's promising to be a substantial bash of an opening celebration will be the other exhibitions, group and solo, featuring the region's top contemporary artists.

Looming large in that grouping will be the main gallery extravaganza, "Recent Work," juried by Beacon gallery-owner and artist Carl Van Brunt, whose taste is exquisitely contemporary and sure to keep local art wags talking about why certain pieces got in and this and that artist didn't make the cut. In the solo gallery, longstanding sculptor and pioneering eco-artist Susan Togut, long-known as one of the more astute and creative grantwriting artists of the area, will be showing a retrospective of recent pieces in her enigmatically original blend of personalized gathering, intricate collage and original aesthetics. She will also give a talk about her art on Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m. in the gallery.

In WAAM's downstairs galleries, look for a show of "Small Works" juried by local artists John Kleinhans and Paula Nelson, as well as a smaller solo show of abstract color photographs by Howard Finkelson (the latter shows through March 28). Augmenting all that will be a special show of student work from Saugerties High School in WAAM's Youth Exhibition Space (YES!).

Given the breadth of all that will be on view, the number of artists involved and the dearth of other arts events in Woodstock of late, the opening event, which runs from 4 to 6 p.m., should be complexly conversational and exhaustively inspirational. There'll also be wine and refreshments.

The Woodstock Artists' Association and Museum is located at 28 Tinker Street, right in the center of Woodstock. For further information on all things WAAM, including the big historic show featuring the Bellows work, call (845) 679-2940 or visit www.woodstockart.org.