By Colin Secore, Communications & Programs Assistant

The Midtown Kingston Arts District’s Todd Samara Art Award has been bestowed this year to Erin Dougherty and Kaya Keller, two emerging Kingston-based artists who are both alumni of Kingston High School, SUNY New Paltz Sculpture, and MKAD’s Youth Workforce formerly known as PUGG (Pop-Up Gallery Group). The two women are very close to us at MKAD, as well as the Kingston arts community as a whole. Lara Giordano, who founded PUGG and worked closely with Erin and Kaya, had this to say: “It’s great to see these youth grow into fully formed artists and are still sharing their gifts with the community. That’s what our Youth Workforce program is all about.”

The $1,500 prize was given to them for their proposal of The Roadside Rat Museum. Erin shared her excitement, saying, “The Todd Samara Art Fund Award is bringing our project to life sooner than we could have ever expected. The award provided us with the necessary funding and community support to turn our silly idea into a legitimate and tangible artist goal. It has been a greatly encouraging experience to receive this award in the early stages of our art careers.”

The Roadside Rat Museum will be a 6’x6’x8’ mobile rat-shaped structure made to contain various alternating artworks designed and themed around rats. It will act as a museum that can travel to various pop-up locations and interact with the community directly. The collection of rat art will come alive through its visitors, who will be encouraged to make their own rats through sculpture and craft workshops held at the museum itself, as well as any donations of rat art they wish to make. Then they can take a rat with them, contributing to the cycle of this heartfelt project.

Rats sit at the forefront of The Roadside Rat Museum to challenge public perception of them, as well as being the mascot for the relationship between celebration and collection. Erin and Kaya’s collaboration pulls inspiration from wacky roadside attractions seen across all corners of the United States, embodying the lighthearted and unserious spirit of such attractions. They ask: What counts as a museum, and who gets to decide what that is? The Roadside Rat Museum intends to push boundaries and do so with joy, a bright new icon of Kingston and the people within it. You can direct your inquiries about The Roadside Rat Museum to roadsideratmusuem@gmail.com or @roadsideratmuseum on Instagram. They will be posting more information as time progresses.

The Todd Samara Art Fund Award began thanks to the efforts of the friends and family of the artist Todd Samara. Todd’s work was closely tied to the Kingston community so his loved ones wished to keep his presence alive by helping fund the ambitions of other artists in Kingston. The fund was raised through an auction, and the award is administered by MKAD, with a committee formed to oversee it.