Spotlight Series: Nadine Lemmon

The D&H Canal Historical Society has been fortunate to have the support of invaluable and skillful board members, consultants, volunteers, advisory board members, and staff. This issue’s Spotlight Series focuses on Nadine Lemmon, Advisory Board member. Executive Director, Jack Braunlein (blue text) had a conversation with Nadine about her varied career and how it drove her pursue numerous passions, including her work with the Canal Society. 

Jack: Nadine, are you from this area?

Nadine: You know, I am not. I was born In Gladwyne outside of Philadelphia. I went to grad school in New York City and then had to find someplace quiet to write my dissertation and that's when I came up here.

Jack: You went to Duke first. What drew you to Duke?

Nadine: Being honest, I didn't get into my first choice. About eight people from my high school went to Duke. At that point, Duke was a little easier to get into. So that was kind of a backup for all of us.

Jack: And you got a degree in economics.

Nadine: I did. And that was a matter of me not even knowing what the term meant. I thought, maybe I should learn something at college. I knew that money ran the world and that I should at some point know something about it. 

Jack: But then from there, you got an MFA. 

Nadine: I did. Directly out of college, I went into a bank. I lasted about six months in a corporate credit banking job before I veered off into areas that were of more interest to me. So, I went to grad school for in photography at the School of Visual Arts, wanting to be a photographer. There, I met a historian who amazed me, so I started studying the History of Photography. I took his classes, and when he no longer wanted to teach some of the adjunct classes he had, I started teaching them. I taught the History of Photography up at the International Center for Photography before I had even taken the course myself. It was one of those situations where on Monday I'd go to the library. I'd make my slides, which dates when I was doing it. The next day I would go back to the library. I would study the books thoroughly. Wednesday I would memorize it, Thursday I would teach. And then I would hope that none of the students would ask me any questions for what was going to be coming the following week. 

Jack: And then you did that for one semester or longer than that? 

Nadine: I taught for ten years. I had one course at NYU, a bunch of courses at City College and Ramapo College. Then I taught a couple courses up here at SUNY New Paltz, in the sociology department: Sociology of Art and Class and Power in the United States. 

Jack: Well, you got a degree, your PhD, in sociology.

Nadine: I did. I wrote about photo images, from a sociological perspective. I worked with a fantastic professor, Stanley Aronowitz, who a leading voice in Cultural Studies. He enabled me to be a little bit weird and combine a whole bunch of disciplines. I wrote about medical imaging technology, actually, for my dissertation.

Jack: Your resume is just so varied. You have done such different and exciting things. It's quite interesting. 

Nadine: Some people refer to it as schizophrenic.

Jack: No, I think it's really quite good, all the things you've done. You set up a foundation, the Gunk Foundation, and you're the founder of the Critical Press, and you became Director of both those organizations.

Nadine: Yeah. I was in grad school for photography between ‘89 and ‘91. It was a time that I wasn't really thrilled with the commercial art market and the types of work being shown in that world. Most of us don't take the time to walk into a museum, and don't understand all the interesting ideas that happen in a museum. I wondered, can you take that work that is in the museum and put it out in the public realm? And how does the changed context change the meaning of that work? That was the impetus for starting the Gunk Foundation—funding art projects out in the real world that had some social relevance. Karl Marx actually talked about that, bringing art out of the museum and into the real world where people can think about it in the midst of their daily lives. 

Jack: Thereby applying your Economic Theory of Art. 

Nadine: I did take History of Economics and came across that. He had some very interesting ideas about art. When I ran for political office in Gardiner, they found an interview of me online expounding the theories of Marx and how wonderful his thoughts were on art. The next thing I know, there's a letter to the editor in the local paper calling me a communist. When I saw that letter to the editor, I said, “I'm going to win this election”; it really motivated me. To be red-baited for something like that was very difficult. They were trying to win the election their way. I ended up winning in my way.

Jack: So what were you running for?

Nadine: I ran for Town Board in Gardner, right at the point that the Save the Ridge project was taking off. There were three Democrats who were running. Gardiner was a historically Republican town, but during our election there was one more Democrat than Republican registered. And we did win. It was such a hot little issue. I think we broke state records for voter turnout and it was a really exciting election to be a part of. I think they had a proposed water system, or sewer system up on the mountain and it was in contradiction to our zoning laws so we took them to court. That was when they really understood that the public was behind stopping the project. The developers hosted a dog and pony show at the local high school, because that was the only place that could gather that many people. Maurice Hinchey stepped to the podium to introduce the project and all of a sudden he just came out against it so strong. There were tears in everyone's eyes and it was wonderful to see how a politician's words could galvanize a community. That was a good, positive lesson for me to learn. I have faith that there are others like him, his daughter for one. I think that she is following in his footsteps. People should be encouraged to get involved on a local level because you can make real things happen on a local level especially. National politics is so depressing today, but at the local and state level, you can make things happen.

Jack: Well, you certainly get involved in things in the state here, like Parks and Trails New York.

Nadine: When I left Gardner politics, I went up to Albany to become a policy person and a lobbyist on transportation and land use issues. I worked for an organization called Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which is basically about getting people out of their cars and into greener modes of transportation, whether that's walking or biking or public transit. On that job, I worked with Parks and Trails New York (PTNY) as a lobbyist. We were all little organizations that teamed together specifically to work on the Complete Streets legislation that you've probably heard of, about making sure that everyone's safe when they walk or bike in our streets. PTNY was a great little organization. When the former Executive Director, Robin Dropkin, asked me to join the board, I was very excited because at that point I had left my job, but still wanted to stay involved. Recently, we hired a new Executive Director who's local here in Gardner, a guy named Paul Steely White. He's fantastic. He ran the sister organization to Tri-State called Transportation Alternatives. He's one the key advocates who worked with Mayor Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan. She's the one that got all those bike lanes and pocket parks into New York City. She was bold and, with the support of Bloomberg, really transformed the city in quite positive ways. When I saw that Paul was interested in the PTNY job, I was thrilled.

Jack: But then you got involved with the Center for Photography in Woodstock (CPW).

Nadine: I did. That kind of harkens back to what I had been doing before. I had taught the History of Photography for 10 years and I defended my dissertation two weeks after September 11th. Falling towers and ivory towers clashed in my brain. At that point, I diverted away from academia just because I needed to do something more immediate and real and concrete. Then, after spending 20 years in public policy, the pandemic forced me to reevaluate what I was doing in the world. My husband is a photographer, so I have been involved with photography, to some degree, all along. But, amidst the pandemic, I wanted to get back to something that I loved, and that was photography. It has been an incredible almost three years working with CPW. 

Jack: I remember when I was in Woodstock. It was a great little setting there. They had the cafe there, too. 

Nadine: Yes. That's the cafe where Bob Dylan played. Before I joined the board, they decided to move and sell that building. 

Jack: So they already had that in the plans. 

Nadine: That was in the midst of the pandemic. When I heard that they were moving to Kingston, I thought, I want to be part of that organization because that is a brilliant decision. Kingston has really changed in the last 10 years. It's become a little art mecca. It's got a very progressive government that is willing to do things. It passed an Arts and Culture Master Plan, which is very unique in this country for a small, small town to recognize the value of arts and culture as a driver of economic development. And that's relevant for the D&H’s mission as well. You know, these little museums can have a tremendous impact on a local community. 

So, I agreed to join the board when I heard they were moving to Kingston, and then we immediately had to hire a new Executive Director. Brian [Wallis] put his name in the hat. I thought, wow, because he is a substantial name in the photo world. He had actually written my textbook when I was in grad school. He was also super important for my own philosophy of art and why I had started the Gunk Foundation. He had worked on the Windows on Broadway project in NYC where they had taken boarded-up storefront windows and displayed art in them. People just walking in the street would see art, without having to go into the museum.

Jack: Again, tying back to your Karl Marx.

Nadine: Yeah, yeah. It's about connecting. How do you connect museums, and all the wonderful ideas that happen in museums, to everyday lives. It’s what you two do [Jack & Bill]. How do you reach the everyday person, who's kind of struggling to get to work and, you know, pick up the kids? It's hard to inject ideas into that world, into their lives. 

Jack: You've got quite a project there too, that building. It was wonderful seeing it when we had our Advisory Board meeting there. It's an amazing project.

Nadine: Yes. It is both crazy exciting and crazy scary. When we were looking for an Executive Director, some people told me, “oh, you need to find an administrator.” Luckily, our search consultant said you need to find someone with vision. Money follows vision. Excitement follows vision. Brian is very interested in the community-oriented museum, which is a change from traditional museums that he had worked in previously.  That was an exciting vision for us on the board.

Jack: Where had he been prior to that?

Nadine: He had been at the International Center for Photography from 2000 to 2015. But he's also worked at the Guggenheim, Art in America, the New Museum, the Walther collection—which is a very interesting collection of vernacular photography. And he is just a general theorist on American art and culture.

Jack: What got you involved in the D&H? What was it that brought you to us?

Nadine: Well, Peter [Bienstock] is very persuasive on one hand, but I am interested in the impact of transportation on the landscape. When I was in Gardiner, I never really thought about transportation so much. When we got elected, we pulled straws on who got what project to lead, and I pulled the straw for getting sidewalks in. All of a sudden I was kind of educating myself very quickly on why a town would want sidewalks. How does that help develop the social network of the community? One doesn’t usually make those connections between just walking and sociality, or how people interact. From there, I experienced first-hand the huge impact transportation has on the environment. The Save the Ridge project was all about putting roads into places where you don't want them. That project proposed a network of roads up on the Shawangunk Ridge. Those roads would have caused the water shoot down the mountain and not soak into the aquifers, affecting the future drinking water for the town. All these connections that one doesn't necessarily think about. Similar issues with trains and canals and other modes of transportation that have such an impact on the way that we develop the land and the way that we develop our communities. Those kind of really abstract ideas intrigue me. 

Jack: Well, you made a good point there. Kingston really developed because of the Canal. The Rondout just boomed, visitation, the people living there. Kingston itself was not just the Canal but the Canal really established Kingston. 

Nadine: Even the Van Slyke & Horton cigar factory building that CPW just bought [at 25 Dederick Street in Kingston], it’s there because of the train. As an environmentalist, you want to encourage compact development, you don't want houses springing up in all the farm fields; you need to think about these transportation decisions that then impact where buildings go. Having a museum, like the D&H, that can educate the public on those issues is important. Transportation is not a terribly sexy subject matter for a lot of people, but it is so important for how we live our lives. If there were better education, maybe we wouldn't have the dilemma that we are having today. You've been following Governor Hochul's horrific decision last week? [Delaying congestion pricing in NYC.] Oh my God. I mean, I have put a lot of hours and money into lobbying for congestion pricing because it is such a key quality of life issue. If you drive in New York City, you literally go seven miles per hour because of the traffic. You can almost walk faster than that. And the environmental impact of all those cars, of all that particulate soot that is getting into the little kids’ lungs causing asthma. And I know ardent environmentalists who are opposed to congestion pricing, which to me means that we have some kind of a communication or education problem. 

Jack: Why are they opposed?

Nadine: There's any number of reasons that people come up with to get to their positions. And I don't want to put down anyone's particular positions, but if you look at the policy, if you look at the number crunching that has been done on congestion pricing, it really has been effective. If you look at the real examples across the world where it's been implemented, like in London, it's very successful. Those programs were also unpopular before they got passed and then they became popular when people experienced the change in the quality of life. It is such a short-sighted decision on Hochul’s part, and in large part we’re in this situation because we are just not educated about transportation and the impact it has on our world. 

Jack: That relates to our mission here, educating the public about transportation. And we also have the trail connection, our Five Locks Walk, which we hope to soon make into a Six Locks Walk. It connects to the O&W Trail, too. When the Open Space Institute completes its NYO&W/D&H Canal Trail project, there will be a trail on the D&H towpath from Port Jervis to Accord.

Nadine: There's a very interesting little organization up in the Adirondacks called Champlain Area Trails (CATS); I was the Chair there during the pandemic. They are both a land trust and a trail making organization. What they did was modeled on England. England has all these public walking paths across private property. What CATS does is they go to the landowners and they say, “Hey, would you mind giving us an easement so that people can walk across your land just for recreation?” And they've been very successful. They almost have a hundred miles of trails on private property. I know that things are changing in England. There's some push back against those trails. As you know, everything is political. When I was in Gardiner, the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail was the first project I worked on. It was bought from the railroad by the Wallkill Valley Land Trust and then they tried to sell it to the individual towns because the towns have the equipment to maintain the trails. Maintenance of these trails is the hardest thing. New Paltz bought theirs, Gardiner did not buy theirs. And they were very concerned about those ‘others’ who might come on to the trail, you know, fears of robberies and liability. But once Gardiner purchased the land, people all of a sudden started seeing it as a real recreational asset. 

Jack: It brings people through. There's no good reason to be against these trails. 

Nadine: The liability issue is hard. Even when I was putting the sidewalks in, people didn't want sidewalks because they were afraid someone would trip and fall on the sidewalks in front of their houses and then sue them. And I understand that fear to some degree; someone sued me, walking on my steps to my house, for 22 million dollars. Luckily, I had a very good insurance company. They took it all the way and didn't settle. He didn't get a dime. But there are those stories out there, and fears lodge in people’s minds. Lawsuits are a pain but that's part of negotiating public life. That's the value of getting people out of their houses and interacting on sidewalks and in public squares because then you kind of start to break down the fear of ‘others.’ You know, if you're all in your house and you're watching TV, you start thinking that it's all about cops and crime. So…lots of connections. 

Jack: Well, your resume is connections all over the place. It's wonderful to see what you've done and what you're doing here. I'm delighted you're working with us now too. You've contributed with your ideas on our management and things like that. You hosted the Advisory Committee at the Center for Photography. I'm just delighted that you're part of the team now. 

Nadine: Oh, good. I think that small museums are more attractive to me. You get into a big, mega museum and you get a little bit lost. But sometimes a small museum that focuses on a specific subject can be more welcoming for the public, more approachable for kids and others. That's helpful. It gives us a little history of where we live. I think so many people are coming up to this area and don't know about where they live and don't know about the history of what's gone on before. When they see those big grinding stones that you might see at a mill, they're like, huh, what's that? But then you learn that it came from the mill that was the center of the town and commerce. Those are nice little stories. 

Jack: Nadine, thank you so much. Do you have anything else you want to add?

Nadine: There's value to supporting your local organizations, because these are the things that enrich your life and your understanding of where you live.