Family Services to Receive Recognition for Supporting the Arts

Family Services to Receive Award at 34th Annual Dutchess County Executive's Arts Awards

Each year, The Dutchess County Executive, in collaboration with Arts Mid-Hudson, recognizes outstanding people and organizations that contribute to the artistic quality and vibrancy of Dutchess County. This year, Family Services is proud to announce that our organization has been selected to receive the Business Award at the 34th Annual Dutchess County Executive's Arts Awards for our extraordinary support of the arts and our vision of using the arts to enhance community life and enrich Dutchess County’s cultural heritage.

The honor is all due to the space and programming happening at the Family Partnership Center (FPC). The Family Partnership Center is a vibrant community center where 70,000 people come together each year for conversation and the exchange of ideas, to participate in athletics and arts programming, and where individuals and families receive enhanced, collaborative services from a variety of nonprofits that are located under one roof. While the FPC is located in the City of Poughkeepsie, its reach extends to Dutchess County and beyond with visitors coming from across the Hudson Valley to see a theater production in the auditorium, participate in a Naturalization Ceremony, or receive the help they need to improve their lives and communities.

Community members who visit the Family Partnership Center are greeted with artwork that reflects what the space is all about—collaboration, inspiration and community.

The first is a sculpture titled “A Music and Light Memorial to John” dedicated to the life and legacy of John Flowers, an unparalleled community organizer. The steel sculptures, once installed on Poughkeepsie’s Main Mall , were created twenty years ago by four Poughkeepsie Middle School Students. In recent years, they had languished at the city’s transfer station, but in 2018, Family Services secured the pieces so they might, once again, be rededicated as public art.

Once inside the FPC, visitors are delighted by a series of 14 murals created by local artist and muralist Nestor Madalengoitia and the youth of the R.E.A.L. Skills Network and Family Services’ Teen Resource Activity Center. Although each mural depicts a different scene, the series has a consistent focus with themes of community engagement and social justice. Moreover, many of the murals serve as a celebration of prominent figures and leaders within the Poughkeepsie community, the history of Poughkeepsie, and the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley.

In July, the Family Partnership Center welcomed its newest art installation, a series of 32 murals that were created by local artist Franc Palaia, the Mill Street Loft, and 100 local high school students. The purpose of the project was to expose students to a variety of occupations and careers and to encourage them to explore. The murals hung in the Poughkeepsie High School for many years and at the time was the largest public art mural in the Hudson Valley. Eventually the murals were taken down and placed in storage, but in 2019 Family Services learned of the murals and envisioned them as the perfect addition to the newly renovated FPC gymnasium. They now hang prominently around the FPC gymnasium as inspiration to another generation of youth.

We invite you to stop by the Family Partnership Center at 29 North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie to enjoy the artwork inspired by our community.