Saranac Lake, NY, Aug 18, 2011 — Saranac Lake is taking the arts to the streets again during its summer "Third Thursday Art Walk" tonight. One of the attractions you'll find downtown is a vintage vending machine that's making it easy to collect original art. The Art Vending Machine is filled with miniature works -- watercolors, prints, photos, poems, theater tickets and music.

Like a lot of things, the cost for the original art has gone up, from one dollar last summer to two dollars this year. That's eight quarters for an original work of art. The Saranac Lake Artworks group is hoping the vintage vending machine will help connect members of the public with local artists. Todd Moe found it last summer and spent a handful of quarters at an Art Walk event.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Aug 04, 2011 — Some very large watercolors by Saranac Lake artist Tim Fortune will be on display at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, starting Friday, August 12th. Watercolor Encounters is a one man show that will include 15 large format watercolors that Tim has worked on over the last four years. He spoke with Todd Moe about the sheer size of the paintings and their impact on viewers.  Go to full article

Prescott, ON, Aug 02, 2011 — Crane School of Music professor of piano Paul Wyse has mastered two art forms. He's a classically trained concert pianist and also paints portraits. Two of Wyse's recent portraits of pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher have become part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian.

He's performed at the piano on the concert stage around the world, and his oil portraits hang in public and private collections and appear in national publications.

So, how does a classically trained concert pianist become an award winning visual artist? "It's hard to explain," says Wyse. But he adds that it's not uncommon for musicians who study the structure of a symphony to use those same skills in the visual arts.

During a visit to his portrait studio in his home near Prescott, Ontario, he told Todd Moe that the mystery of transforming cloth and pigment into something that is looking back at you is powerful, alluring, and part of the compulsion to paint.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Jul 07, 2011 — The St. Lawrence County Arts Council and the State Council on the Arts are offering grants to artists and schools for the coming academic year. St. Lawrence County Arts Council Executive Director Hilary Oak says the new "ArtStart" program is designed to get artists and teachers to develop art programs with their students, and get local artists into classrooms on a regular basis. She spoke with Todd Moe about the new grant opportunity and previews some of this summer's events.  Go to full article

Glens Falls, NY, Jun 09, 2011 — The Hyde Collection, in Glens Falls, opens its major summer exhibition Friday evening. The art show, titled "New York, New York! The 20th Century", runs through mid-September and features more than 60 paintings, photographs and sculptures that capture life in New York City from 1889 to 2009. It includes works by Edward Hopper, George Bellows, Stuart Davis, Diane Arbus, Berenice Abbott and Rube Goldberg. Hyde Executive Director David Setford told Todd Moe that the new exhibit examines the metropolis and "the human interaction within".  Go to full article

Madrid, NY, Jun 01, 2011 — The windows in many of the rural churches in the North Country were created by one of the best stained-glass window artists in the country. Harry James Horwood designed stained-glass windows in the late 19th and early 20th century. His factory was in Ogdensburg. A local historian says Horwood supplied windows for country churches and even the parliament building in Ottawa.

Todd Moe talks with Dave Martin, who has spent the last five years photographing church windows in St. Lawrence, Franklin and Jefferson counties. Martin is determined to find out more about the family that was devoted to the art of stained-glass.  Go to full article

Glens Falls, NY, Mar 03, 2011 — This year one of the biggest names in college basketball is from the North Country.

"BYU is led by that guy, Jimmer Fredette," ESPN declared earlier this year. "The senior from Glens Falls is making it rain!"

Jimmer Fredette is a guard for third-ranked Brigham Young University and he's been wrecking defenses, averaging more than 30 points a game.

Fredette has become a hometown hero in Glens Falls. But tangled up in Jimmer's break-out year is the story of his brother TJ.

TJ Fredette is a rapper whose music tells the story of the Fredette family's life, on and off the basketball court. Brian Mann has our profile.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Nov 03, 2010 — More than 50 St. Lawrence County artists will open their doors to the public for the 23rd Annual Artists' Studio Tour this weekend. Works by artists and craftspeople will be on display in studios and galleries across the county. Todd Moe spoke with St. Lawrence County Arts Council director Hilary Oak about the annual tour.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Sep 15, 2010 — A Clarkson University artist spent this summer in Minnesota studying a river, the logging industry and the human element. Dave Beck directs the Digital Arts and Sciences Program at Clarkson University. His new show, titled "Continuation," includes sculpture, video and a 20-foot tall projected 3D animation. Beck was an artist-in-residence at the Science Museum of Minnesota and worked with biologists and park rangers to gather images, video and data on the St. Croix River. But he says the exhibit also connects with his hiking and paddling experiences in the Adirondacks. The show opens Thursday in the Gibson Gallery at SUNY-Potsdam. Todd Moe toured the exhibit with Beck and gallery director April Vasher-Dean.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Aug 24, 2010 — A dollar doesn't buy much these days. You could take it to a discount store, or spend it on art. In Saranac Lake, a vending machine that once dispensed cigarettes, is now making it easy to collect original art. The Art Vending Machine is filled with miniature works -- watercolors, prints, photos, poems even theater tickets. All it costs is four quarters. The Saranac Lake Artworks group is hoping the vintage vending machine will help connect members of the public with local artists. Todd Moe found it and spent a buck, or two, at a recent Saranac Lake Art Walk.  Go to full article