PRIOR TO THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC.
♪ >> SPRINGTIME IN THE NORTHEAST, SURGING CASCADES, STARTLING POPS OF COLOR, AND A FRESH CAST OF LIGHT THAT CANNOT HELP BUT STIR THIS.
-- STIR THE SPIRIT ONTO NEW CHALLENGES.
BEACON, NEW YORK, CLUTTERED WITH COLOR AND QUIRK.
>> IT IS JUST AS YES IT IS A COZY RIVERTOWN.
THIS PLACE HAS A SPECIAL COMMUNITY.
BARBARA OF THE MARRIED ROYAL GALLERY SAYS THESE WERE NOT ALWAYS SO LIVELY.
>> IN A BLINK OF AN EYE, IT CHANGES.
BUT GOOD.
>> A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO, THIS COMMUNITY WAS DESPERATELY POOR AND VIRTUALLY ABANDONED BY THE INDUSTRIES THAT BUILT IT.
>> YOU COULD LAY DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF A STREET AND HE WOULD BE SAFE.
>> THIS END OF TOWN WAS BOARDED UP AND NOTHING DOWN HERE WHATSOEVER.
TODAY, A DIFFERENT STORY ENTIRELY.
>> WE MADE A LIST OF ARCHITECTURAL DIGESTS MOST BEAUTIFUL MAIN STREET IN AMERICA.
TO SEE THAT HAPPEN, TO KNOW WHAT WAS HERE BEFORE, WAS AMAZING.
>> JOHN GUILTY HAS SEEN HIS TOWN COME BACK FROM THE DEAD.
HIS GLASS COMPANY, ONE OF THE OLDEST BUSINESSES ON MAIN STREET.
>> PEOPLE CAN COME HERE AND HAVE AN EXPERIENCE, I CAN MAKE A CHRISTMAS OR AN END -- CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT FOR A SIX-YEAR-OLD.
>> YOU ARE SAYING THEY’RE A 6 -- YOU ARE SAYING ASEXUAL CAN DO IT BUT THERE IS NO GUARANTEE I CAN DO IT?
>> THERE IS MORE TROUBLE WITH ADULTS BECAUSE THEY DON’T LISTEN AS WELL.
>> WE WILL COME BACK LATER FOR A BLOW-BY-BLOW.
LET’S SET OUT TO MARK THE PARAMETERS OF THIS RIVERTOWN.
ON ONE SIDE, A WALL OF ROLLING HILLS.
ON THE OTHER, A BROAD RIVER.
IN BETWEEN, FERTILE GROUND FOR THE CREATIVE IMPULSE.
>> THIS TOWN MAY HAVE BEEN DOWN ON HIS LUCK AND IMPOVERISHED IN THE OBVIOUS SENSE, BUT IT WAS RICH IN OTHER WAYS AND DOWN -- ENDOWED WITH MASSIVE, INDUSTRIAL SPACES, PERFECT FOR ART.
♪ >> TWIN BROTHERS DOUG AND MIKE GOT THEIR START IN BOSTON BUT WOUND UP HERE IN SEARCH OF A SPACE AS LARGE AS THEIR IMAGINATION.
THEY WANTED TO TEST OUT THEIR BIG BAMBOO CONCEPT.
THIS IN NORMA’S, CLAIMABLE COMPLEX OF CHAOS AND DESIGN HAS HAD INSTALLATIONS AT MAJOR MUSEUMS IN JAPAN, ISRAEL, ITALY, AND THE ROOF OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM IN NEW YORK.
BUT THE STUDIO FEELS CRAMPED BY COMPARISON WITH THE LARGEST ARTSPACE IN TOWN.
♪ >> THE BUILDING IS ALMOST 300,000 SQUARE FEET, IT IS A BARELY BIG SPACE TO LOOK AT ART.
MIRACULOUSLY, NOT OVERWHELMING OR ALIENATING.
YOU DON’T FEEL SMALL, BUT YOU FEEL INVITED TO ROME.
>> IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SPACES FOR CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE WORLD.
A SETTING AS STUPENDOUS AS THE GIGANTIC WORKS ITS COLLECTION.
WHAT IS MORE, SAYS THE ASSOCIATE CURATOR, THIS FORMER BOX FACTORY IS ENTIRELY LIT BY NATURAL LIGHT.
>> AS CLOUDS MOVE, THE LIKABLE CHANGE AND YOU FEEL THERE IS A KIND OF ENERGY BECAUSE THE BUILDING IS ALIVE AS A RESULT OF THAT.
>> A BOREHOLE SERIES LONGER THAN A FOOTBALL FIELD, A SET OF MONUMENTAL RICHARD SARAH SCULPTURES, ROOMS SUFFUSED IN THE GLOW OF DAN FLAVIN’S LIFE SCULPTORS.
THE MUSEUM OPENED IN 2003.
ITS ECONOMIC EFFECT ON THE TOWN, NOTHING SHORT OF PROFOUND.
>> I HAVE SEEN RESTAURANTS OPEN UP, CLOTHING STORES, FURNITURE STORES, ARTISTS WHO’VE INTO THE AREA BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE NEAR THE MUSEUM.
THERE HAS BEEN THIS INFLUX OF CULTURAL PRODUCERS WHO HAVE MOVED HERE.
>> AND IMPACT EVERY BIT AS POWERFUL AS THE FEELING ONE GETS ON ENTERING THIS MASSIVE, MIND-BOGGLING SPACE.
>> SORT OF A BOW FACTOR.
-- WOW FACTOR.
>> THESE WINDOWS BOTH PULL YOU AND ARTAN READILY IMPRESSIVE IN TERMS OF ARCHITECTURE.
INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE AT ITS BEST.
>> UP THROUGH THE 1980'S, THAT HUGE BUILDING WAS FILLED WITH HUNDREDS OF WORKERS, CUTTING AND FOLDING COLORFUL CARTONS FOR OREO COOKIES, RITZ CRACKERS, AND OTHER NABISCO PRODUCTS.
IT SAT DORMANT FOR ABOUT A DECADE BEFORE FINDING NEW LIFE AS THE DIA BEACON MUSEUM IN 2003.
UP NEXT, WE’LL TAKE YOU TO PARTS OF BEACON THAT ARE A MYS