Wednesday, NOVEMBER 6 at 8:00pm Eastern
Ronald Ladouceur: The Cave Painters of Schoharie County
The fabled history of Secret Caverns’ billboards, with bits that might even be true
Just east of Cobleskill, New York, a dozen or so peeling billboards advertise, though only barely, a show cave called Secret Caverns. Considered eyesores when first painted in the 80s and 90s, perhaps even satanic, 35 years of weathering, retouching and some simple getting used to have transmuted the billboards into a now legendary display of outsider art.
Join SCA board member Ronald Ladouceur on a journey into the imaginings of the key artists responsible for these wild creations – three small town kids, too smart by half, searching for something to leaven the backbreaking labor they were assigned; kids who loved comics, music, and weed (not necessarily in that order); kids with no formal artistic training who matured into psychedelic Picassos.
We’ll explore the artists’ influences, from the Grateful Dead to a parady religion called the Church of the SubGenius, examine archival materials (including a sketchbook gifted to the presenter), ruminate on the artists’ motivating personal and professional rivalries, and dive deep into the amazing weirdness that emerged as its product. Along the way, we’ll detour into the history of show caves, arguably among America’s first roadside attractions.