52 Main Street
Address: 52 Main Street
Old Address: 45 Main Street
The Adirondack Artists Guild has occupied the former Green's Market on Main Street since 1997.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 4, 1997
As SL hopes for arts, a gallery springs up
By THOMAS ABELLO
Enterprise Staff Writer
SARANAC LAKE -- Downtown revitalization through the arts is beginning to become a reality with the opening of the North Country Artists Guild, which will feature the works of five area artists and a frame maker, on Main Street.
Mark Kurtz, a photographer who will be displaying his work in the gallery, indicated that the opening of the gallery provides an avenue for their work. Previously, he said, they didn't have the outlet to display their newest creations.
Ralph Prata, sculptor; Eleanor Sweeney, photographer; Ray Jenkins, water colorist; Cory Pandolph, cartoonist; and frame maker Margaret Boettcher will also be displaying their creations at the gallery.
Kurtz indicated the opening of the gallery marks the first result of the efforts of the village's downtown revitalization committee. "This is the first tangible example of evidence of what a group of artists can do when they unify their powers," said Kurtz.
Kurtz said the group initially began examining the Newberry lot as a possible home for the gallery, but they quickly realized it was too big for their purposes. Soon after, Small Fortune Studio owner Tim Fortune suggested the group move into a building on Main Street directly across from his own studio.
The group immediately began working out the details to move in. With a deadline looming, they were able to secure a lease for the building from Alicia Paolozzi.
"We almost didn't get the space, but things fell into place at the end," said Kurtz.
The fine arts gallery will offer high end priced work, but, Kurtz insists, there will be more affordable pieces on sale. The gallery will also maintain an orientation to the community and respond to the needs of the community by holding photography workshops and poetry readings periodically. The artists will be working closely with Fortune in an effort to generate an increased amount of interest in the arts.
"Anything worthwhile has to come from a grass-roots effort," said Fortune. "This (revitalization through the arts) is coming from the people of Saranac Lake not imposed on them."
Kurtz credits Waterhole No. 3 owner Billy Allen as a driving force behind the revitalization efforts through the arts. Allen has been instrumental in the movement to refurbish the basement of Harrietstown Town Hall in an effort to make it more acoustically friendly for concerts.
Recently, Planner Ralph DiBart met with community members to look at ways to economically enhance the village through the arts. DiBart was the key planner for the successful economic revitalization of the town of Peekskill - located just north of New York City - through the development of the arts.
The Peekskill revitalization started in 1980 when a group of private citizens leased a former vaudeville theater that was slated to be demolished by the city. The group restored the building with support from various public and private sources, including then-Peekskill Mayor George Pataki.
Staging a wide array of productions, the theater limped along for the remainder of the 1980s. In 1990, a real estate developer urged the city to convert much of the downtown zoning laws to allow artists to live in many of the unoccupied buildings. Word spread and within two years, more than 100 artists lived in the downtown area.
Building on the success of Pendragon Theatre, Festival of the Lakes, and the American Music Festival, Saranac Lake residents are looking to duplicate the advances of Peekskill through the arts.
Fortune stressed the importance the arts can bring to the economy of the area.
"We can really fill a niche here," said Fortune. "This is something we can work on and promote."
The gallery will formally open on Dec. 13 in conjunction with the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce's Sparkle Christmas.
External link: Adirondack Artists Guild
