Labor Day weekend event envisions Corning civic center as future arts park

A free Labor Day weekend event geared to amplify the Finger Lakes as an art destination and as an art-filled community, named IMAGINE, will kick off Sept. 2 at Nasser Civic Center Plaza in Corning. 

The event, conceived by Meghan O'Toole as a demonstration of the potential of the Civic Center to be a site for public art, opens at 6:30 p.m. and runs through Sunday, with a celebration of "the diversity of our region."

"Art opens up hearts and allows us to build community across divisions," O'Toole said. "That is why public art is so important. This is an incredible space for an art park. To me, it is about having art in the public [space] and accessible to everyone.” 

Connie Sullivan-Blum, executive director of The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, said the event envisions the Civic Center Plaza as a future Public Arts Park, in line with the city's long-term park strategy.

What's going on this weekend at Nasser Civic Center?

The public is invited to bring a chair and a picnic to IMAGINE, which will feature local artists, street performers, temporary art installations, dynamic open-air theater, music and dance performances.

O’Toole said a ribbon-cutting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 2, and will be accompanied by a performance of African American Gospel music featuring John Walton and his family. 

Walton has been playing piano and drums in local congregations since he was a teenager, and currently serves in the music ministries of Monumental Baptist Church and Frederick Douglas AME Zion Church in Elmira.

O'Toole said at 7 p.m. Thursday, a dance performance sponsored by Corning Price and created by Mark Schmidt and Remi Harris, named the Civil Social, will be presented by American Dance Asylum at the Civic Center. The event is sponsored by Corning Pride.

"Originally from the Corning area, Mark Schmidt is a choreographer, performer, and educator who first found solace on the dance floors of New York City’s underground house music and LGBTQ club scene in the 1990s," O'Toole said. "This performance is part of a larger project to bridge the urban/rural divide and allow Mark to share his craft with his hometown."

City officials support IMAGINE event, public art push

City Manager Mark Ryckman said it’s great to see the arts community funding this event.

“An art park was one of the staff ideas that made the final Parks Strategy,” Ryckman said. “Civic Center Plaza has been historically underutilized. Having art displays and performers is a perfect use of the space.”

Alex Hamilton, city recreation director, agreed. 

“I am glad to see the Civic Center Plaza being utilized in a manner that was mentioned in the City’s Comprehensive Parks Strategy,” Hamilton said. “The Arts Council has been working hard to organize this public art event for the community to enjoy.”

Mayor Bill Boland called the event a wonderfully constructed and diverse weekend-long public art event that presents and offers art in its many forms. 

“IMAGINE promises to be creative, uplifting, engaging, inclusive, positive and entertaining,” Boland said. “Art feeds the soul. Come everyone, and feed your soul in Corning this weekend.”

O’Toole said the weekend event will feature artwork by SatyaVani Pippalla Akula and Jharmi “Cuba” Leach, as well as many others.

A full event schedule is available at https://www.earts.org/programs/imagine-public-art-in-the-plaza/imagine-schedule-of-events/.

Major event sponsors include the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, the Corning Inc. Foundation and Elmira Little Theatre.