Thank You To Everyone Involved!

Photo by Sara Lynch

Saturday, November 16th, was the culmination of my Support For Artists grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) 2024 project sponsored by the Village of Potsdam Public Museum, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything came together.

We kicked things off back in May with a walk around Fall Island, guided by Dr. Glenn Johnson, followed by two private events; one, with local Girl Daisy Troop 50216, Brownie Troop 50240, and the other with the Canton Green team, where we managed to learn about plants and ecology despite very wet weather. We then had a public ceramics and plant identification workshop with Dr. Tom Langen teaching us all about the plants, birds, and insects of Fall Island. To finish the exploratory events off we partnered with Potsdam Pride and Dan French of Nature Up North for an informative gathering learning about things like riparian buffer zones and trying out cedar soda made from the cedar trees on Fall Island.

I then got to work finishing my new art about Fall Island and organizing the other artists’ work inspired by Fall Island. I also started a mural at the museum with the intent of it being fairly simple, but a week or so into working on it I got obsessed with looking at drone photos and trying to fit everything in.

Photo by Dustina Hooper

In between working on the mural, I was getting all the ceramic projects through their various kiln firings and, of course, one of my kiln elements gave up partway through a firing. Thankfully, I was able to come up with a temporary repair that involved using a propane torch to heat the element and twist the broken parts together, enabling me to get everything fired in time for setup.

Setting up was also full of surprises as the museum had several long-awaited (and very heavy) new display cases delivered two days before the opening, making for a lot of last-minute furniture moving. I was certain I would be setting up long into the night, but with the help of museum staff Hunter Crary, Hans Kuno, and director Dr. Trevor Blank, we were able to get everything ready and leave at a reasonable hour.

Photo by Sara Lynch

To kick off the opening, we had Ben Lacy playing guitar while folks mingled. A reporter from North Country This Week stopped by and put together a slideshow capturing some great moments. Members of St. Lawrence Area Poets (SLAP), as well as writer Alesa Bernat, finished up the event by reading their reflections on the Exploring Fall Island programming, as well as nature and life in the North Country. As a primarily visual artist, I truly appreciate having writers and a musician make this a well-rounded multidisciplinary event.

If you haven’t made it to the exhibit yet, the museum is having its Holiday Open House on December 19th from 3 to 6 pm. Ben will be back with more music and, if we can figure out the technical aspects, I’ll be there making pottery on a miniature pottery wheel.

For folks that can’t make it, or just want to see some pictures, check out the gallery below to see pictures from myself and Dustina Hooper.

For a podcast about the project, check out my chat with Dan French on Naturally Speaking.

Sara explaining the taxidermy class she took to make the starling.

Neobiota By Sara Lynch is a taxidermied starling ceramic sculpture with ball bearings found on Fall Island.

Works by Jennifer Sampson and Catherine LaPointe Vollmer

Persistence of Asteraceae By Sara Lynch is a diptych wall-hanging of weavings made with found trash and prints of drawings made by “Exploring Fall Island” programming.

Detail of Persistence of Asteraceae. Materials shown include a real bumble bee and fish hooks collected on the shore of Fall Island

Detail of Persistence of Asteraceae. Materials shown include foam collected on the shore after a flood and the tape from a VHS found in the parking lot of the civic center

Drawings made by the Canton Green Team during their field trip to Fall Island.

Rapid Movement By Melanie Kimbler

Various works including a hand-made steel chain and ceramic elements necklace by Mary (Harding) McCallion and porcelain dishes wheel-thrown by Sara Lynch and decorated with plants found on Fall Island

Porcelain bowl decorated by Mary (Harding) McCallion

Pottery and works on paper by David Crowell and Catherine LaPointe Vollmer

New display cases with assorted works of art

Assorted girl scout troop projects

Drawings made by the Canton Green Team during their field trip to Fall Island and sculptures made by Daisy Troop 50216 and Brownie Troop 50240.

Donald McNutt reading and reflecting on his experience living in a building pictured in the mural

Poems by Alesa Bernat and print of Donald McNutt’s drawing of chicory in a flower journal provided by Nature Up North

Alesa Bernat's poems

Alesa Bernat reading

Raquette River Watershed depicting Fall Island in fall

Raquette River Watershed, a wheel-thrown porcelain bowl decorated with plants found on Fall Island, including yarrow and sensitive ferns and then painted with the Raquette River at various scales

Raquette River Watershed depicting the section of the Raquette where Fall Island is

Raquette By Michale Glennon. A felted wool set of coasters depicting the Raquette River in the town of Potsdam from above, Fall Island in green.

Artist Sara Lynch and museum director Dr. Trevor Blank in front of Sara's Fall Island mural

This project was made possible by a Support For Artists grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). If you would like Sara to offer similar programming at your organization, email her at saraelynch@gmail.com to discuss your ideas.