Re-Vision

I love to see old things re-used in creative, beneficial ways. It satisfies on so many levels: by re-using, you save resources; by restoring, you honor the original... It especially delights me when an abandoned building is revived to a new use.



I first experienced this when my sister lived in a Brooklyn building that had been a cinnamon factory. The neighborhood was iffy, but the space was splendid: ancient brick had been repaired, creaky old floors had been polished, and everywhere clung the faint, stimulating fragrance of cinnamon.



Saranac Lake is home to a great deal of old architecture crying out for re-use; fortunately, some of it has already been claimed and revived. Todd Smith, artist and visionary, has transformed a small, once-forgotten building into a community art space named for the town's latitude and longitude coordinates: 7444 Gallery.



About a hundred years ago, the railway was Saranac Lake's lifeline; at its peak, eighteen to twenty trains came through daily. Parcels were transported too, and, as passengers would await the next train at the elegant depot, packages also needed a place to wait. So a small, utilitarian warehouse of sorts was built by the Railroad Express Package Company (which evolved, over time, into the United Parcel Service).



Now owned by the New York State Department of Transportation, this little warehouse is actually on the National Register of Historic Buildings, though it does not bear a plaque. There is nothing fancy about it - no baroque flourishes or birchbark embellishments: but it is beautiful. The builders of an earlier age used quality materials, and did their work well. Today, the floor has been restored to its original warm hardwood, and the multi-paned window casements still feature sturdy brass hardware. Just as my sister's apartment bore the fragrance of its cinnamon-dusted past, so this place is redolent of history, and the dignity of honest hard work. Lay your palm on the whitewashed wall, close your eyes, and you can almost hear the voices of people collecting their goods, the shuffle of crates passing from hand to carriage.


The richness of this life long gone infuses the life now there. All year round, 7444 Gallery showcases the art of people exploring materials, methods, meanings, and minds. At present, nine different artists, called the 7444 Collective, share work in diverse media. From fiber to pottery to wood, from glass to paint, a wide range of expression is on display to illuminate the viewer. A formal opening reception will be held tomorrow, Saturday, January 9th 2010, from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.


One can only speculate on the variety of belongings that may have passed through this old building. But now, one can visit, and admire, and enjoy a great variety of art. What a fine new life for an old piece of architecture.

Histories Explored

Like many families, ours has boxes of old snapshots: pictures of grandparents and parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; old blurry black-and-whites of wide eyes and Easter hats; faded color shots of ourselves in outdated hairstyles and bell-bottoms.







My father even has a box with some silvered old Daguerrotypes, slowly fading in their hinged leather frames; sadly, few of the subjects' names were written down.







Time passes, but images remain. Photography is powerful that way to remember where we came from, the experiences which shaped us, the transitions we have experienced. Photos carry feeling - feeling enhances knowledge. Two photography exhibits are opening in Saranac Lake in the next few days which will help us remember, feel, and understand.








Tonight, Friday November 6, the Adirondack Artists Guild hosts an opening reception for the show "bridges I have crossed", by Mark Kurtz. I have written before of Mark's work (click here); this show is his prize as first place winner of the Guild's 2009 Juried Show back in March.







Bridges carry both physical and symbolic resonance. These days, we realize that a bridge also has very practical importance in the North Country: the sudden closure of our bridge across Lake Champlain has been devastating.







Mark's new show, featuring dreamy sepia-toned images, chronicles numerous bridges. Some will be familiar to North Country travelers, such as the Covered Bridge in Jay or the bridge over Lower Saranac on State Route 3. The Brooklyn Bridge is represented, as are bridges in Europe. But, familiar or new, each image is startling - either for its perspective, or the lighting, or something less easily defined...







In his Artist's Statement, Mark mentions that he has crossed many bridges in his life - I think most of us have. These images are the more powerful for helping us see layers of meaning in such crossings.





Another photography exhibition opens in Saranac Lake this week: "The Stones Have Memories", by Kelly Gorham, at the 7444 Gallery on Depot Street. This show is subtitled: "an exploration of Berlin's Cold War landmarks".









In the early 80s, I visited both West and East Germany. The West thrilled me with colorful flowers and fields, grand architecture, and, everywhere, sparkling cleanliness. The East, by contrast, impressed me as grey, unswept, and decrepit. Nowhere was this contrast sharper than in Berlin - that famous city divided. On the West side: fashionable people, dancing trees, neon lights, bustling boulevards. On the East side: grey. Grey buildings, grey streets, grey grit - even the plant life seemed colorless. I recall the empty, unresponsive eyes of the ladies shuffling along the sidewalks in head kerchiefs and dusty overcoats. I was traveling with a group of young people - Americans and West Germans - and we felt we could not laugh aloud. The very air was heavy, as I'm told happens before a tornado.

Unbeknownst to us, of course, a tornado WAS imminent. Before the end of that decade, that brutal grey wall - with its guard towers, barbed wire, and land mines - fell. I remember looking in wonder at photos of young people standing atop the ruins of that edifice - rejoicing with them at its destruction.

Gorham's new show opens at 7 pm on Monday, November 9, 2009: twenty years after the wall came down. I have not seen the images yet, but I look forward to it. In an interview featured in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Gorham points out that this story is in danger of being forgotten. He says, "It's not really covered in history in school anymore. Why would kids know about it?"

He has a point. Like the fading old Daguerrotypes in my family's box, these images need to be named, so that future generations will know them.

"Art Takes a Village" in Adirondack Life

The latest issue of Adirondack Life magazine (Dec. 2008) features a long, thoughtful article by Mary Thill titled "Art Takes a Village: A Creative Cure for Saranac Lake's Downtown".


Thill traces the lure of Saranac Lake's natural beauty and community life to the proliferation of arts related activities, events, and businesses. Despite the lack of a "central organizing force", the arts, she points out, are an increasingly significant element of this town.


The article is illustrated with layered, refracted photo collages by Aaron Hobson - gem-like art works in their own right.


There is also a list, titled "Affairs of the Art", of venues and events. Did you know that 7444 Gallery is hosting art from Clarkson University in early November? I didn't!

Did you realize that the ACNA's Cover Art show will be at the Cantwell Room next month? I didn't know that either!


If you can get your hands on a copy, read it. It's exciting.

Where? Saranac Lake

Of all the hot spots for North Country art, Saranac Lake is the hottest. At least, I know more about the Saranac Lake art scene than any other. I will enumerate the places of which I am aware - again, please correct my omissions with your comments.

Bluseed Studios is a dynamic cultural center - an abandoned warehouse, rescued from its slow decay by Carol Vossler and re-imagined as a beacon of creativity.

Another former industrial site now houses the 7444 Gallery, right next to the train depot. Artist and owner Todd Smith rotates shows featuring works of local artists.

If you are near the depot, stroll down the street past the playground and you will see Greens & Beans, an eatery which offers yummy, healthy foods along with locally made artwork. In the same vein, the Blue Moon Cafe on Main St. fills its wallspace with the works of local artists to enhance your dining experience (which will be fabulous anyway!).

Never miss a chance to visit the Saranac Lake Free Library, near Berkley Green. Not only will you find yourself in an oasis of tranquility, but if you go downstairs you will find another gallery space, this one called the Cantwell Room. And, if your taste runs this way, a collection of taxidermy is just across the hall.

A wealth of art defines Main Street. Tim Fortune has a tiny but magnificant storefront, The Small Fortune Studio. I love to walk in and smell the paints, the papers, the very air of creation. And Tim has long been amongst my favorite artists anywhere.

A few doors down from Tim's place, Georgeanne Gaffney also has a small storefront studio. Her paintings are luminous and varied, featuring landscapes and figures bathed in light.

On the other side of the village parking lot, further down Main Street, is my own favorite spot - The Adirondack Artists' Guild. This Guild (co-founded by Tim Fortune 20 years ago) is a co-operative of 14 artist members, each of whom helps pay expenses. They take turns minding the shop, so on any given day, you don't know who will be there.

This place is practically a museum - but better, in a way, because the artists are people you can meet, and their work is available for purchase! In it, you will find a broad range of media on display. There are oil paintings, watercolors, and acrylic paintings -- but wait! There's more!

You will find works in silver and gemstones alongside fine pottery. One of the member artists works in fiber which she shears, combs, spins, naturally dyes, and weaves from her own flock of sheep.

Several of the members use cameras to produce images of all sorts. From near-abstract polaroid transfers, to sweeping Adirondack vistas, to close-ups that make familiar objects seem alien, the photographer members push the boundaries of their medium.

Do yourself a favor the next time you are in Saranac Lake: visit some - or all - of these venues, and revel in the riches of North Country art!