Art Works

News flash:

Art works in Saranac Lake.

By this I mean, art is an effective engine of both cultural enrichment and economic growth. Art functions to draw the community together socially and to attract visitors to enjoy our village.

Of course, this is not unique to Saranac Lake; a recent Plattsburgh Press Republican article points out that "several development studies have concluded that a real revitalization of downtown cannot happen unless there is a strong arts corridor." To read the whole article, click on this link:

http://www.pressrepublican.com/ed_choice/local_story_160232423.html

Saranac Lake's "arts corridor" is dazzling. Perhaps because it is a relatively small town, art-related vitality permeates nearly everything. In recent months, a group called Saranac Lake Art Works has been re-energized, and is actively working to use the arts as a vehicle to promote and strengthen the whole town. (Click the link to see their website.)

At present, Saranac Lake Art Works consists of 11 arts-related businesses and individuals, and, since formally associating about 6 months ago, they have engaged in multiple promotions and events.

Over the winter, the group drafted an article about local arts for the 2009 - 2010 Visitors' Guide produced by the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. Besides the advertising support of several member businesses, the group itself created a full-page ad to highlight the village's creative wealth.

In April, they mounted and staffed a collective booth the Adirondack Living Show in Queensbury. Pictured above, it featured work representing each group member and also general information about Saranac Lake.

In August, Saranac Lake Art Works will be hosting the First Annual Adirondack Plein Air Festival. Plein air, or working outside in natural light, is favored by many artists, and many more are curious to try it. (Click here to see a previous NCPR report by Todd Moe about plein air artists.) Artists of all suitable media (painting, pastel, photography, etc.) will be invited to spend a weekend working en plein air in the Saranac Lake region from August 21 - 23, culminating in a show and sale of the weekend's work on Sunday afternoon.

And of course, Saranac Lake hosts the Third Thursday Art Walks every June, July, August, and September. The Saranac Lake Art Works group certainly didn't start this (though one of the group's members, Tim Fortune, did), but they are active in helping promote it. Similarly, the Artists at Work Studio Tour, a soon-to-be three-year-old event, was initiated and is run by others, but Saranac Lake Art Works invests in advertising it. (And again, one of the magnates of the Artists at Work Studio Tour, Sandra Hildreth, also belongs to Saranac Lake Art Works.)

Art works. A community with arts-related industry works. Saranac Lake is one of the most vibrant arts-related industrial centers of the North Country.