Glens Falls Looks to The Arts for Visible Array

GLENS FALLS — The Arts District of Glens Falls has completed the most visible piece of its Arts Trail to date, with seven electrical boxes along the trail featuring painted murals by artists.

“This is only the beginning,” spokesperson Chad Rabinovitz, former artistic director of Adirondack Theatre Festival and co-owner of The Candy Space in Lake George, said in a statement. “We have major plans for public art, from large-scale murals on buildings to statement sculptures. You won’t be able to come to Glens Falls without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a place that loves the arts.”

Artists chosen for the electrical box project were Hannah Williams, Shelley Fairbanks, Rodney Allen Bentley, Olga Aleksandrova, Kevin Clark, Stephanie Vaus and
Leah Hofgesang.

Also in the works is a Rain Art public art project — quotes from literature, chosen by the Teen Center at Crandall Public Library, spray painted onto the sidewalk outside the library with clear paint so the quotes are only visible when it rains.

Other components of the project to establish an Arts District, seven years in the making, include banners demarking the border of the Arts District, a website at www.artsdistrictgf.com, both of which are already completed. 

Coming soon: Expect to see sidewalk stamps around the border of the Arts District, and bike racks that will soon be installed at the ten arts destinations representing 14 arts organizations within walking distance from one another.

Funding has come from the Glens Falls Foundation, the Touba Family Foundation, and several individual donors. Establishing the Arts District was part of the Glens Falls Downtown Revitalization Initiative’s plans, and a fundraising campaign to bring the art to life is now underway, under the umbrella of LARAC (Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible.

Donate $100 and become an official Arts Hero. The Arts District is sending out pins to each Arts Hero who donates $10 or more to ten different arts organizations in Glens Falls, including the Arts District of Glens Falls, in the year 2021. Donations are tax-deductible. Fill out the form at: www.artsdistrictgf.com/hero. Six 1,000 sponsorships are available for a large Adirondack chair to be installed at the heart of Downtown Glens Falls, featuring a cityscape of Glens Falls by Anthony Richichi. 

Sponsorships are available for large scale murals and sculpture that are planned. Contact kate@advokate.net or 518-353-2121 to express your interest.