{"id":215430,"date":"2026-06-10T11:06:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/215430\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:06:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:06:57","slug":"medina-triennial-a-major-arts-initiative-viewed-as-new-way-to-reimagine-erie-canal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/215430\/","title":{"rendered":"Medina Triennial, a major arts initiative, viewed as new way to reimagine Erie Canal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 June 2026 at 9:00 pm <\/p>\n

\t\t\tOfficials praise village in Orleans County as a model for blending historic resources with vision for future
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Photos by Tom Rivers: Saturday was a big day for the Medina Triennial with a grand opening celebration. Pictured from left during a ribbon cutting for the Medina Triennial outside the former Medina High School on Catherine Street include: artist Victoria-Idongesit Udondian; Joseph Kessler (in back), executive vice president and chief operating officer of New York Power Authority; Debbie Padoleski, mayor of Medina; Ben Walsh, director of New York Canal Corp.; Aaron Ott (in back), Medina Triennial board member and curator of public art for Buffalo AKG Art Museum; Heather Hungerford, supporter of the Triennial; Kari Conte, executive director and co-artistic director of Medina Triennial; artist James Beckett (in back); Karin Laansoo, co-artistic director of Medina Triennial; and Angelyn Chandler, vice president of planning for New York State Canal Corporation and New York Power Authority.<\/p>\n

MEDINA \u2013 The primary supporters of the Medina Triennial, which debuted last weekend in Medina, see the village is Orleans County as a model for other small towns in the state and country, showing you can find new ways to utilize historic resources to lay a foundation for the future.<\/p>\n

The Triennial features 39 artists with exhibits and works at 10 main sites in Medina.<\/p>\n

An arts triennial is typically in a larger city. But the New York Power Authority and NYS Canal Corp. committed to bringing an international arts exhibition to Medina, a village of about 6,000 people.<\/p>\n

The idea first emerged in 2021 when then Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul was in Medina with then Canal Corp. director Brian Stratton. Then were promoting kayaking and hydrobiking on the Erie Canal. The Canal Corp. and Power Authority officials also were in town to see the damage to the concrete wall on the north side of the canal. The wall was crumbling in spots and still needs attention. The Canal Authority said it will be repaired soon.<\/p>\n

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These people relax on a bench inside the historic Medina High School, where many of the art exhibits are located. In back are some of the sculptures that were made by beavers. Artist AKI INOMATA entitles this piece as \u201cHow to Carve a Sculpture.\u201d Based in Tokyo, INOMATA traveled to five zoos in Japan providing material for beavers to create these gnawed-wood sculptures. The smaller sculptures were made by beavers and the bigger ones were machine-carved versions on a larger scale.<\/p>\n

Right after that visit in 2021 to the Canal Basin, the Canal Corp. and Power Authority officials met with local leaders for a discussion. The state leaders wanted to hear how the canal could spur further revitalization in Medina, which is already the envy of many villages with its vibrant downtown and strong manufacturing base.<\/p>\n

The question was raised of using contemporary art as a catalyst for the canal. The group wanted to make it happen and would go on to line up more support and advisors from the NYS Council of the Arts, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester as well as leaders from Medina, regional arts organizations and philanthropists.<\/p>\n

The result: about $2 million raised and committed for the Medina Triennial, which has formed its own non-profit organization with a board of directors. The group is committed to bringing the arts exhibition to Medina every three years, bringing artists from around the world to share a powerful message.<\/p>\n

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Ben Walsh, the Canal Corp. director and former mayor of Syracuse, praised Medina as an \u201cauthentic community.\u201d He commended generations of residents for their contributions to the village, for keeping and caring for the historic resources while keep an eye on the future.<\/p>\n

He said the preservation efforts in Medina, the downtown resurgence and now an international arts showcase deserve a big spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have here is worthy of the attention of the world,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we are doing here in Medina will be a model not only for other communities on the canal but communities around the state and country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Erie Canal last year marked its bicentennial. The canal is now in its third century, Walsh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud of our history, but history alone can\u2019t sustain us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to look to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kari Conte (left), executive director and co-artistic director of Medina Triennial, and Karin Laansoo, co-artistic director of the Triennial, speak at a grand opening celebration on Saturday for the Triennial. They are part of a team that has put in 80 hours a week the past 18 months to make the exhibition a reality.<\/p>\n

Conte said the artists committed to the Triennial despite some uncertain conditions and evolving sites. More than 100 people have contributed to the project, she said.<\/p>\n

Conte also thanked Roger and Heather Hungerford for making the former high school at Catherine Street available for the Triennial and for their recent upgrades to the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall towns are part of the conversation about the future,\u201d Conte said.<\/p>\n

She said the arts should be part of the fabric of a community.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture is civic infrastructure,\u201d Conte said.<\/p>\n

The debut of the Triennial has a theme: \u201cAll That Sustains Us.\u201d Conte said the theme grew from a question: \u201cWhat does it take to keep things going?\u201d<\/p>\n

She wanted the exhibition to explore what labor, what knowledge, what commitment is required to sustain civic life, ecological systems, and built environments\u2014especially when those systems are under strain.<\/p>\n

She praised the hospitality of the Medina community, with residents opening their homes to artists and sharing their insights. Some even contributed plants to Mary Mattingly\u2019s floating garden in the canal.<\/p>\n

The Triennial will be open Thursdays through Sundays until Sept. 7 and all the exhibits are free to visit.<\/p>\n

There are 10 sites with artwork: the Medina Triennial Hub at 345 Main St.; the Erie Canal behind the Hub building; Orleans County YMCA at 306 Pearl St.; the former Sacred Heart Church at 208 Ann St.; Medina Memorial Hospital at 200 Ohio St.; Medina Railroad Museum grounds at 530 West Ave.; Medina Theater at 603 Main St.; Rotary Park at 507 Main St.; and State Street Park at 325 East Center St.<\/p>\n

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Victoria-Idongesit Udondian, a native of Nigeria, speaks during the grand opening celebration. She has work exhibited in the high school gym and in room 212 of the former school. She said her work \u201cis a labor of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArt brings communities together to engage in conversation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Victoria-Idongesit Udondian creates works that reflect on global labor economies and on migrants who attempt sea crossings. Many of them do not survive.<\/p>\n

In \u201cMme Anam Utom\u201d she attached used coats to the floor with an epoxy resin to invoke fallen bodies. The installation links the migration crises of the present with those of the past.<\/p>\n

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Victoria-Idongesit Udondian also created a piece with metal, life-cast hands and second-hand clothes. She collaborated with a textile art center in Buffalo to create the piece that explores colonialism, migration and underpaid labor in global textile markets.<\/p>\n

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These Triennial visitors view work from Ash Arder of Detroit, Mich. She takes a dissembled car door from a 1987 Cadillac Sedan de Ville which she got from a junkyard and created a refuge and a listening chamber. The doors are wrapped in a gold vinyl. This artwork houses a multichannel video and sound installation. Some of the sound is from the Medina Waterfalls.<\/p>\n

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James Beckett created \u201cA Good Wall\u201d on the front lawn of the old high school. Beckett is based in New York City and Amsterdam. This is his largest project in North America to date. He worked with students from the University of Buffalo to examine the role of stone in contemporary building practices.<\/p>\n

Beckett used reclaimed sandstone in the piece. Sandstone defined Medinas prosperity. The quarries produced stone that was shipped along the Erie Canal.<\/p>\n

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James Beckett focuses his art pieces on industrial heritage and said he was drawn to the Medina Sandstone industry. He is hopeful the Medina Triennial show \u201cwill build bridges during these polarizing times.\u201d His mammoth piece served as the backdrop of Saturday\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n

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Taysir Batniji, a Palestinian artist based in Paris, has 120 photographs on display in an exhibit, \u201cJust in Case #2.\u201d Each photo centers on a key or keyring that belonged to someone displaced from a home in Gaza that was later destroyed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 June 2026 at 9:00 pm Officials praise village in Orleans County as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-215430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}