Ulster County artists seeking consistent art sales have been heading up to the galleries of our northern valley City of Hudson for years. The region's burgeoning high-end real estate market has been fed by those drawn by the town's antique shops, many of whom are now trained for art collecting as well. Several new group shows in town indicate the breadth and depth of these trends.

Standard landscapes, with a slightly urban twist, are on view at the veteran Carrie Haddad Gallery; there's a great new group show at Nicole Fiacco Gallery; and an innovative commissioned "Postmark" exhibit at Columbia Greene Community College, just outside town near the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. "Postmark" is a group show of 12 artists who were chosen to represent the entire mid-Hudson region last year as part of the New York Foundation of the Arts' Mark Program, an intensive, six-month career development program for artists who are selected to participate through an annual contest.

The artists showing paintings, sculpture, installation work and photography in the CGCC show comprise what is being termed the Rosendale Group, which includes artists from Saratoga Springs down to Irvington in Westchester County. Among those showing will be Roman Hrab of Bard College, Jodi Carlson of Mahopac, Richard Edelman of Woodstock, Jeanne Englert and Charise Isis of Kingston, Lorrie Fredette of West Park, Beth Humphrey of Saugerties, Wayne Montecalvo and Laura Moriarty of Rosendale, Kathleen Thum of Saratoga and Tricia Wright of Irvington. Yura Adams, the show's curator, is also a Mark fellow, from Athens. Most of the artists have been written about regularly in Alm@nac over recent years as key creative forces in the region's rising contemporary art scene.

The new show opens this Thursday, March 11 with an afternoon reception in the Foundation Gallery at Columbia-Greene Community College. "Postmark" will then run though April 16. For more information, call (518) 828-4181 or visit www.mycommunitycollege.com.

Over at the Carrie Haddad Gallery on Hudson's main drag, Warren Street, is the just-opened new "Painted Cities" exhibit, featuring works from 21 artists in a wide range of media, including watercolors, pastels, oils, graphite rubbings, burned paper and acrylics, plus some favorite artists from down in our neck of the woods. On view from March 4 through April 11, the exhibit mixes up views of major cities and minor burgs, with a penchant for the sense of community, as well as its lack, that draw us to communities in the first place.

Featured artists include Vicki Wulff, Darshan Russell, Robert Koffler, David Konigsberg, Eileen Murphy, Arthur Hammer, Tona Wilson, Judith Wyer, Ashley Cooper, Jessica Houston, Marlene Wiedenbaum, Bill Clutz, Dan Rupe, Tony Thompson, Paul Chojnowski, Kate Knapp, Richard Baumann, Staats Fasoldt, Margaret Crenson, Colleen Kiely, Richard Merkin, William Bond Walker, Bill Sullivan and Edward Avedisian. The gallery is located at 622 Warren Street in Hudson, and is open 11:30 to 5:30 p.m. every day except Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For further info visit www.carriehaddadgallery.com or call (518) 828-1915.

Finally, at the always-adventurous Nicole Fiacco Gallery further down Warren, at #336, these are the final two weeks of a great show of abstracted works on paper, "View Four: Robert Roane Beard, Stephen Courbois, Jeanette Fintz and Enrique Kico Govantes." We'll simply say that it's fun and colorful, as is the gallerist. For further information visit www.nicolefiaccogallery.com or call (518) 828-5090.