Jess
Fügler

Which place do you currently call home and where do you work on your projects?

I live outside Hudson, New York with my daughter, partner, and growing assortment of pets. I mainly work from home at the moment with the weekly trip into New York City by train for teaching and taking meetings.

Where is your studio located & how does it look?

My studio is intermingled with my home life. I often work from the dining table on my laptop, sketching in the sun room.. We have a barn that we turned into workshop in the backyard that is for woodworking and making prototypes and a I have a ceramic studio with a kiln in our basement.

Are there any projects that are personally important to you—whether recently completed or currently in progress?

Many of my self directed projects never feel finished, they all tend to become ever evolving themes that lead to another project or application. Most of my work is focused discovery within a certain material and the process of making, whether its a handcraft or a repeat production technique, this then is often then applied to the design of a functional object that is a commentary or response to a larger human narrative.

For the past three years I have been co-curating a design exhibition in New York with my dear friend Eliza. The exhibition is called Paraphernalia, we run a call for entries with a new theme every year.

The practice of reviewing work, creating an exhibition and also developing work myself to be shown has been inspiring for me—nothing like a deadline and a public event to really get your creative muscles moving. This year the theme is Alien, I am working through some ideas at the moment that involves the lumber industry, furniture, and the concept of absurdity.

Do you have a favorite place in your area where you like to relax and linger?

In the summer I enjoy having a drink and listening to live music at the Greenhouse Cidery, a part of a local farm store called Chatham Berry Farm. Another spot to have eat, drink, and enjoy the garden is Kitty’s in Hudson, its right next to the train station so I love coming here after getting back from the city. Besides eating and drinking outdoors, I like to do long hikes with my dog Birdie through the many trails in the Catskills and Berkshires mountains.

Are there any urgent political issues or problems in your region?

Yes, if anyone is watching the news about the US you can see we have a lot of terrible political scenarios all playing at once. Top of mind for me, and the most upsetting, would be the issues where the government is not treating people equally and respectfully.

Such as the prosecution of transgender people and restricting gender-affirming care along with the treatment and removal of immigrants in our country.

In your opinion, what has developed well in the last 5 years—and what has not?

My partner and I moved up to this area in 2019 after may years of living in the city. During the pandemic we saw the large movement of people moving up, whether taking a second home or moving here permanently. There’s pros and cons to this, but from my perspective it’s brought life to the area and you can see old houses being fixed up and lived in and the schools are getting better with more funding and support.

The one development that hasn’t caught up yet is our internet and cell service. There will be spots with no signal and days or hours where you may not have internet because a tree has taken out a wire.

Do you know a hidden gem when it comes to local manufacturers—whether it’s arts and crafts, sustainable products or food?

Hudson is filled with furniture makers, craftsmen, artists, is truly a great place to be as a creative person. I have worked on a few projects with a local glassblower, Nathan, at Hoogs and Crawford glass they are so talented! There are so many farms in the area that you can go to any farm stand on the side of the road for fresh eggs and produce. I like walking through the weekend Hudson Farmer’s Market for cheese, breads, and coffee.

Is there anything particularly innovative in your region? Also in comparison to other places you have already visited?

I feel this area of the Hudson Valley is unique because it’s relatively affordable to live here, you can have the space you need to be creative with nature in your backyard and diversity in the people that live around you, all the while just a train ride away from the city. I haven’t lived anywhere like it in the US, but I’d align it to my experience of living in Weimar, Germany where you are in this bubble of a creative town surrounded by land but a train ride away from Berlin.

Do you have a secret restaurant tip that you would like to share with us?

When folks visit Hudson they tend to keep to center of town with the main drag of shops and restaurants. There are so many hidden gems just a 10-15 minute drive away and cute little villages surrounding the area. We love People’s Pub in the town Chatham, the food is top notch and when there is not live music they play old school punk and ska. For special occasions we go up the road to Local 111 in Philmont, NY the food is always changing and based off of the local produce they receive.

Is there a local shop whose products are only available in your region?

I love the cheese at Churchtown Dairy. The farm has a wonderful shop for all milk made products plus you can walk around and see the cows.

What are your 3 favourite apps that you use every day and couldn’t live without?

Duolingo, slowly bringing up that French score. Live Auctioneers is an app that shows the catalogues of different auction houses in the area and you can bid on the items.

I’m addicted to searching and hunting for furniture, homegoods, any sort of odd thing—it’s become a bit of an obsession. My Notes app, I don’t always have a sketchbook on me these days, so I have many random thoughts, ideas, finger sketches, schedules that I pop into the Notes app in a pinch.

Do you have any favourite newspapers or online magazines? And how do you keep up to date with politics or social and cultural issues?

I deleted all of the news apps after the first Trump election, the constant news was addicting and not so great for my mental health. Now I listen to the radio daily for my news—NPR, the National Public Radio station that also covers local news and WBGO, a Jazz station out of New Jersey is on every night in our house and weekend morning. They play mostly music but I do get news from there as well.

Imagine you could be mayor for a year—what would you change?

Free childcare, revitalize the old factories and abandoned buildings into art studios and work places.
Increase funding and support for local animal conservancies.

That’s probably a lot for one year?

One last question: If you could choose another place to live—regardless of financial or time constrains—which one would you choose?

It’s an internal pull for me to want to be in a city but at the same time have acres of land where I can be alone with nature and space to create. For city life, I’d say Paris or London. I’ve lived in both places and would have loved to stay.

Paris has the culture, art, music that would be so fulfilling and London felt so easy with lots of green spaces—I think raising a family there would be nice. For the remote fantasy, it honestly could be anything from a old farm house in the south of France with a vineyard to a sheep farm in Ireland, that dream is always morphing!