There is a veritable motherlode of artistry tucked away in the Catskills, concentrated in and around the Town of Shandaken’s dozen or so hamlets and its miles of back roads. The fourth annual Artist Studio Tour, happening this Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17, will include no fewer than 40 working artists, covering a region 30 miles long on the fringe of upstate civilization. Dave Channon, event co-coordinator with Judith Singer, reports the addition this year of a group of “outlanders”: new artists from the fringes of Shandaken.

“The rural ride is part of the tour’s appeal,” he says. “Visiting sculptors Bennett Wine and Kevin Van Hentenryck in Westkill will take you through one of the most spectacular notches in the region. Reach ceramic visionary Astrid Nordness in West Shokan by passing over mighty gorges. Travel a mile beyond the top of breathtaking Belleayre Mountain to a new sculpture garden along Route 49A.”

Others on the “new artists” list are Tim Slowinski, Euphema Robinson, Christina Varga, James McColgan, Mark Loete and the family of creatives Gavin, Margaret and Jesse Owen. Add these to an illustrious group that includes Wendy Drolma, Christie Scheele, Harper Blanchet, Bronson Eden, Shalom Gorewitz, Lynn Fliegel, Rita Schwab, Ken Lovelett, Anique Taylor, Stephanie Barnes, Mary Certoma, Ralph Persons, Michael Boyer, Cornelius and Ann McGillicuddy, Faye Storms, Mighty Xee, Jim Gardner and many more. Visitors can actually watch the artists as they work and talk about their creative methods to produce art that ranges from traditional landscape paintings to the very latest in electronic media.

On Sunday, Mathew Pokoik and Aynsley Vandenbroucke, founders of Mount Tremper Arts, will open their doors to tour visitors, and Richard Treitner’s work can be seen at the Pine Hill Bookstore. Another special exhibition connected with the show is the collage work of Emil Mare at the Ulster Savings Bank in Phoenicia. Dawne-Marie of the Skinflower Cosmic Arts tattoo parlor will be on the boardwalk. And Amy’s Takeaway is even creating edible art platters inspired by these artistic neighbors.

Co-coordinators Channon, a welded-metal sculptor, and Singer, an assemblage artist, see the Tour as an economic engine – partly for the artists, and to a greater extent for the community. Supported by a Dutchess County Arts Council/New York State Council on the Arts grant and the Catskill Heritage Alliance, the Shandaken Artist Studio Tour is a free event (although the artists do hope to sell their works!). The tour is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both weekend days. On Saturday night from 6 to 10 p.m., don’t miss opening parties at the Arts Upstairs and at Cabane Studio, both on Main Street in Phoenicia, for delicious refreshments and some more elbow-rubbing with the artists.

Come to the Town of Shandaken to meet painters, sculptors, glassblowers, weavers, photographers and video artists in their private studios. Many of them have exhibited in New York City galleries and beyond (like Rome, Berlin, the Venice Biennale and in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Contemporary Art and the Whitney), and some are just waiting to be discovered! Maps and directions to the festival locations are available in many locations around the area, and updates of the Tour can be found at www.shandakenart.com. Be sure to visit the website for a list of participating artists, and check out their work beforehand. Contact Channon at (845) 688-2977 for further information.