The Catskill Chronicle

Story and photos by Carol Montana

LIBERTY – Allen Wright knows an opportunity when he sees one. He’s been a property owner in Liberty for over 15 years. But when he moved to Liberty full time in 2008, Wright really started noticing the vacant store fronts. “It struck me that this is an opportunity to use it as an art space.”

So Wright marched into the Liberty Community Development Corporation (CDC) office – unannounced – and said “you know I’ve got this great idea, blah, blah, blah, I’m here, how can I help.”

Wright was welcomed as a volunteer, and has worked on several different projects including the holiday lights on Main Street. This past May, he became the CDC’s Project Director, and the first thing he was tasked with was his idea about using vacant store fronts – and some other stores – to exhibit art.

“So I put out a call that I spread around to different art galleries and businesses,” said Wright. “I went to the Catskill Artists Gallery and told them to spread the word. People started to talk about it and contacted me at the office. Very slowly it started to happen.”

Then Wright had to contact the property owners. And that was actually easier than it sounds, because the CDC office is right across the hall from the Village of Liberty code enforcement officer. “She knows who owns everything,” Wright says.

The result of all the work is the Liberty Art Walk, which had its opening reception on Friday, October 9 at the Liberty Museum and Art Center. There are 10 artists in 13 displays from South Main Street to North Main Street – all on the east side of the street.

At the reception, Wright thanked everyone involved and told the artists, “You can’t imagine how often people stop me and compliment me on your work.”

CDC Executive Director Heinrich Strauch explained that the CDC is a “private/public partnership and membership based organization that was incorporated five years ago to focus on the redevelopment of the community. That means not only economic development, but also beautification, housing, youth activities, anything that makes Liberty a more livable and attractive place to live for the residents.”

Some of the CDC’s projects include a microenterprise program that helped nine business get started or expand; a skate park that will hopefully be built next spring; and a housing development for working families and seniors. “We also did a beautification project which culminated in the traffic circle that was completed this spring,” said Strauch.

Funding for the CDC comes from the Town and Village of Liberty, the Gerry Foundation, private memberships and approximately 60 paying members.

Three of the artists whose work is on display accompanied several community members on the walk to see the displays.

Nick Roes, whose drawings are being exhibited at Sunflower Health Food Store, works mostly in art markers. “They are bright colors and when you make a stroke you can’t take it back.” Roes’ work has been used to raise funds for both WJFF Radio and NACL Theatre in Highland Lake. Roes said the Liberty Art Walk “sounded really interesting and exciting. It was a no lose proposition. It ‘s great for the artists and great for Liberty and it’s a lot of fun even being here today, I’m glad I was a part of it.”

At 13 South Main, you can see the work of Silvia Sanza, who does multi media assemblages. “I think that anything that brings people to Main Street and gets them to stop and see all the beauty, I mean the architecture is lovely and to me it has all the important things that make a good main street – a library, churches, a dollar store and if the windows are something that draw people in I think it’s great.”

Donna Wymore has worked for Cobalt Studios, a scenic design studio, for 2 ½ years. She got her experience on the job and in college at SUNY Oswego, and she worked in Los Angeles for 11 years on film and TV, and in theme parks like Disney and Universal Studios.  A theatrical drop by Cobalt Studios is on display at 91 N, Main Street. Wymore thinks that the art “makes the town look better so we don’t have a lot of empty windows … it really sparks it up.”

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Art exhibits are on display at the following addresses – heading from south to north

Liberty Free Theater, 109 S. Main Street – Theatrical Set Design by Alexis Siroc

33 S. Main Street – Paintings by Raphael Wettenstein

29 S. Main Street – Multi-media Sculpture by Robert Friedman

27 S. Main Street – Photography by Hand Schneider & Digital Photography by Frank Ruisi

13 S. Main Street – Multi-media Assemblages by Silvai Sanza

11 S. Main Street – Wood Sculpture by Enrico Sulis & Tatyana Sulis

Sunflower Health Food Store, 71 N. Main Street – Drawings by Nick A. Roes

91 N. Main Street – Theatrical Set Design by Cobalt Studios

For more ideas on how art is making a hit on Main Street check out Ted Waddell’s story Livingston Manor’s “Windows on Main.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from the Liberty Art Walk visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.