By Miles Hilton
The North Shore Arts Alliance’s “Chautauqua-Lake Erie Art Trail Hub Crawl” returns this Saturday and Sunday, September 2&3, at studios, galleries, and art spaces around the county. The Art Trail offers visitors the opportunity to meet artists, learn about their work, and “find unique treasures” to bring home. The twice-annual Art Trail supports local artists while promoting the artistic and cultural richness of Chautauqua County, and connecting its residents to artists and art centers near them.
Now in its fifteenth year, the Art Trail began as a studio tour organized by artists who wanted to share the work of marketing and publicizing an event. It’s since grown to include galleries, as well as art hubs for artists without public studio space.
across the county – from Pearl City Clay House in Jamestown to Living Glass
Gallery in Westfield. Other hubs will be in Fredonia, Sherman, and Kennedy, as
well as at locations all around Lake Chautauqua.
This year, twenty-eight artists will be sharing their work at fifteen locations across the county – from Pearl City Clay House in Jamestown to Living Glass Gallery in Westfield. Other hubs will be in Fredonia, Sherman, and Kennedy, as well as at locations all around Lake Chautauqua. Every location but the Janet Mandel Art Studio in Kennedy is physically accessible. This is “more artists than we’ve ever had, and more hubs” says Marcia Merrins, President of the North Shore Arts Alliance.
Participating artists span many mediums and styles. Debra Eck will be showing her “thread, paper, and text”-based work, which includes handmade paper journals, embroidered works, and richly decorated pages of blackout poetry. Visitors interested in ceramics will find a wealth of artists – from Marcia Merrins’s beautifully-colored sculptures to the illustrated flatware of Reno pottery, and the one-of-a-kind mugs of the Wayfaring Potter in Fredonia. Painters Melissa Meyers and Susan Gutierrez will be displaying their works, many inspired by local landmarks and themes, at the Bemus Point hub, and several artists will be displaying paintings, illustrations, fiber works, and ceramics at Portage Hill Art Gallery in Westfield. A full list of participating hubs and artists can be found at www.nsaachautauqua.org/art-trail.html
“The Art Trail is run by all the artists” who participate, says local artist and NSAA board member Melissa Meyers. Artists are responsible for securing funding and spreading the word about the trail. This year’s marketing is “reaching more outside the area”, she shares, “targeting Cleveland, Erie, and Pittsburgh”.
Because of these far-reaching marketing efforts, this year’s organizers secured a county Tourism Grant, intended to support events that draw overnight visitors to the county, as well as grants from Art Services Incorporated New York State’s decentralization program, and the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation. Local sponsors, including several of the participating galleries and local businesses, contributed as well.