Last Saturday a special ribbon cutting ceremony marked the official opening of a special art, photography and design venue called Studio 89, located at 89 Vineyard Avenue, between Sal’s Place and Elia’s Meat Market, in the heart of the hamlet of Highland.

Amy Dooley and Stefan Bolz decided to locate their studio in Highland, in part, because their house simply became “too crowded” during the pandemic.

“I decided I wanted to look for some studio space to work in so I wasn’t always distracted at home,” Amy said.

Dooley discovered that the entire building, along with an apartment upstairs, was for sale.

“It just made it doable and our ideas started to spark all over the place,” she said.

Stefan said what started out as a Sunday stroll in the hamlet turned into A very concrete idea for their gallery.

“It ended up with us owning the building and opening the gallery; none of that was planned three months ago,” he said.

Since closing on the building 7 weeks ago, Amy said they redid the roof, put in a new heating system, a floor and repainted everything.

“It was quick and fast and here we are,” she said.

Stefan calls himself the “contractor/handyman.”

“I’m here to take care of the house and Amy’s here to take care of the inside,” he laughed.

Amy said her daughter, Chloe Mosbacher, contributed a number of her paintings for the opening gallery show that will run through June 21. In addition, the show contains works by Beacon based artist Rick Price and Morgan Suter, from Rhinebeck.

Amy says she “dabbles” in painting but has a background as a graphic designer and as a photographer.

“I also love to do hands-on work; I make concrete planters and I work in clay sometimes. I did a mosaic for our kitchen recently, so that’s why I was looking for space,” she said.

Stefan said during the renovation work, about 40 people stopped by the Studio, “saying hi and how happy they are that we’re here. The welcoming was so warm, it was amazing and we have a really great feeling about Highland.”

At the ribbon cutting, Supervisor Fred Pizzuto said he expects Highland will continue to attract people into town who come to the Walkway Over The Hudson.

“We look forward to operations like Studio 89 to enhance our village. Congratulations,” he said.

Charles Glasner, Chairman of the Lloyd Economic Development Committee, presented Amy and Stefan with a ‘Welcome Award 2021-22’.

“I want to thank you for establishing a new business here and thank you for coming to the Town of Lloyd,” he said.

Studio 89 is open Wednesday through Sunday, with hours to be determined. Amy can be reached at 845-594-7807.