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Arts Forum
What if...The Erie Canalway became the Longest Outdoor Gallery in the nation?
That’s one of the questions more than 70 artists, community leaders, and canal enthusiasts explored during a daylong Arts Forum held on April 17, 2008 at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie. Hosted by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, the forum investigated ways to use the arts to stimulate community connections, recognize the region’s heritage, and invite people to further explore the 524-mile long canal system.
Nationally recognized planner and place-making expert Ronald Lee Fleming of the Townscape Institute kicked off the forum with a discussion of how heritage-based art can be used to enhance not only the beauty of our communities, but to showcase what makes them unique. Fleming’s comments and images of public art projects nationwide stimulated lively discussions during subsequent roundtables.
Why Heritage-in-Arts?
The unique combination of arts, heritage, and landscape within the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor presents an exceptional opportunity for canal communities to come together to foster community pride, attract new visitors, and stimulate a creative economy through the arts.
Already, a number of arts initiatives are taking place along the Erie Canalway, including Art Walks on Water based in Brockport, Mural Mania in Lyons, Canaltown Studios and Art Trails based in Jordan, and Art and Pottery Trails in Ithaca and New York’s Capital District. The forum gave many of the artists and promoters of these projects the opportunity to meet for the first time and discuss ways to collaborate.
Join the Discussion
Smaller groups convened during the Arts Forum to explore three potential approaches to strengthening the arts in the Canalway Corridor: Developing a 500 Mile Long Public Art "Gallery", Creating and Linking Art Trails, and Promoting Art Museums and Collections. Read the disussion questions:
500 Mile Long Gallery
Art Trails
Canalway Collections
For more information or to join the discussion on next steps, contact Community Planner Hannah Blake at hannah_blake@nps.gov
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Murals in Medina (top) and Albion (bottom)
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