The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is an
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
, performing arts center and museum located at the site of the 1969
Woodstock Music & Art Fair in
Bethel,
New York. Located approximately from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, the site includes a 15,000-seat outdoor concert venue, a 1,000-seat outdoor terrace stage, an intimate 440-seat indoor hall, and the Museum at Bethel Woods. Concerts run June through September and feature many types of music genres.
History
In 1996,
Alan Gerry
Alan Gerry (born December 24, 1929)
Tuesday June 06, 2000 is an Am ...
, a longtime
Liberty, New York
Liberty is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 9,885 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Liberty. The village is bisected by New York State Route 52 (NY 52) and NY 55, and is ...
resident and founder of
Cablevision Industries
Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company.
The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these serv ...
, created a not-for-profit organization named the Gerry Foundation with the intent of revitalizing the economy of
Sullivan County, which had faced severe hardships following the collapse of the
Catskill's Borscht Belt
The Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the nort ...
tourism industry. That same year, the Foundation purchased the original
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
festival field and hundreds of acres surrounding it, with eventual plans for an arts center.
In 1998, the Foundation hosted a three-day festival on the site named "Day in the Garden", and in 1999 hosted a four-day celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original Woodstock.
Planning for the arts center, designed by architectural firm
DLR Group
DLR Group is an employee-owned integrated design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design. Their brand promise is to elevate the human experience through design. A self-described advocate for sustainable design, th ...
, began in 2002, and construction on the $150 million project started two years later.
The amphitheatre opened on July 4, 2006, with a performance by the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
.
On August 13, 2006,
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
performed before 16,000 fans at the new center, 37 years after their historic performance at Woodstock. For their encore, they performed the song "Woodstock".
The on-site museum, exploring the 1969 Woodstock festival and the culture of the 1960s, opened in June 2008.
In 2012, Bethel Woods was spun off from the Gerry Foundation into its own
501(c)(3) public
nonprofit. The next year, the site opened a
conservatory dedicated to expanding youth and teen education programs.
Venues
![BethelWoods](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Bethelwoods.jpg)
Bethel Woods features a main stage called The Pavilion, with 4,500 covered seats and a natural sloping lawn that can accommodate up to 10,500 people. The outdoor Terrace Stage, near the museum, has space for up to 1,000 people, and the
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
Festival Field can accommodate up to 30,000 people. Other venues at the center include 440-seat indoor Event Gallery, the 132-seat Museum Theatre, The Market Sheds event space, and two classrooms.
The Museum at Bethel Woods
![Museum at Bethel Woods](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Museum_at_Bethel_Woods.jpg)
The Museum at Bethel Woods opened in June 2006.
It aims to explore the unique experience of the 1969
Woodstock Music & Art Fair and its significance as a culminating event of a decade of radical cultural transformation, along with the continuing legacies of both the 1960s and Woodstock.
Permanent exhibits include The Sixties, The Woodstock Festival, Three Days of Peace and Music, and Impact of Woodstock & The Sixties, each featuring film and interactive displays, text panels, and collections of artifacts.
![1969 Woodstock Monument](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/1969_Woodstock_Monument.jpg)
In addition to information about the music festival, which is about two-thirds of the museum's scope,
the museum offers exhibits, personal stories and a
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
experience about various aspects of the 1960s, including music, fashion and political protest.
It focuses on issues such as the
baby boom,
Cold War,
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
,
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
, and the assassinations and riots that occurred during the decade, all of which contribute to the context of Woodstock.
The museum includes a 132-seat
high-definition theater and a gallery, as well as classrooms, a cafe, a museum shop, and a patio. A special exhibit gallery opened in 2009.
The Museum, and Bethel Woods Museum Development Group CEO Michael Egan, were the recipients of a 2010
Thea Award
The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its THEA Awards, which were founded in 1995 and ar ...
for excellence in themed entertainment.
Funding controversy
$1 million in federal funding earmarked for The Museum by the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in June 2007 was criticized after it was revealed the museum founder, Alan Gerry, then donated almost $30,000 to New York Senators
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and
Charles Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
, who had helped to secure the funding.
Clinton did not speak during the debate on the project, but Schumer strongly defended the Bethel project as a boon for an economically struggling county.
The funding was rescinded in October 2007 following criticism from
Republicans led by
John McCain,
although it did not affect the museum's scheduled opening
nor the more than $15 million in
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
funding.
Economic impact
Bethel Woods offers programs nine months out of the year. Opening the center helped revive tourism, which suffered in the region following the closure of many resorts following the decline of the
Borscht Belt
The Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the nort ...
.
Sullivan County has struggled with the legacy of Woodstock, and officials hoped the museum would help with reconciliation.
The opening of the performing arts center in 2006, led to increased development in Bethel, along the Route 17B corridor, and in nearby
Kauneonga Lake (formerly North White Lake),
and is one of the county's larger
economic development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...
programs, despite the initial controversy surrounding some of its funding.
A Bethel Woods report from 2018 indicated that $560.82 million of spending has been generated in New York. With 2.9 million visitors since 2006 and 214,405 visitors in 2018, an equivalent of 172 full-time jobs exist as a result, which includes direct wages of $5.1 million from Bethel Woods in Sullivan County.
See also
*
List of contemporary amphitheatres
This is a list of Amphitheatre#Modern amphitheatres, amphitheatres in use today.
})
,
, align="right", 3,000
, -
, Rhode Island
, Providence, Rhode Island, Providence
, Waterplace Park, Waterplace Park Amphitheatre
, Not covered
,
, -
, rowspan ...
References
External links
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts WebsiteThe Museum at Bethel WoodsSullivan County Visitor's Association homepageSullivan County Chamber of Commerce homepage
{{authority control
Performing arts centers in New York (state)
New York (state) culture
Music venues in New York (state)
Catskills
Museums in Sullivan County, New York
History museums in New York (state)
Music museums in New York (state)
Museums established in 2008
Hippie movement
Tourist attractions in Sullivan County, New York
2008 establishments in New York (state)