When people think of an international art exhibition, they probably don't picture a village of about 6,000 people. But Medina, halfway between Rochester and Buffalo, is exactly where organizers wanted one. On purpose.
The Medina Triennial, a contemporary art exhibition, occupies space in 10 different areas in and around historic downtown Medina and features 39 local and international artists and collectives from five continents, interpreting the theme "All That Sustains Us." The free art exhibit runs through Labor Day; it has drawn about 400 visitors a day from Thursday through Sunday, when all the exhibits are open.
The idea was to do something different, have people discover rural New York as a place to generate novelty that is normally seen
in larger urban centers, said Joana Pires Pacheco, capital planning manager for the New York Power Authority, parent company of the New York State Canal Corporation.
Officials began discussing the project while considering repairs to a canal wall in Medina, a significant investment for the area. They wanted to build on that momentum, said Jackie Schillinger, senior communications strategy manager at the New York State Canal Corporation. With the Erie Canal running through rural areas, "we are working to create senses of place and bring more people in these communities," she said.
We want to have people see the canal as being about culture and identity as well as a recreational corridor and using the waterway to connect those things will have people see there is more to see of New York in the area between Niagara Falls and New York City, explained Pires Pacheco.
Medina was an attractive spot to sponsor a project, being halfway between Rochester and Buffalo, and had its own life, hotels, restaurants and it is a catch-area for the communities between the two large cities. With that in mind, they built an advisory group that included municipalities and artists to find out what would be the ideal format to bring culture and art to the region, Pires Pacheco said.
“The goal was to be ambitious, otherwise you won’t get noticed,” said Karin Laansoo, co-artistic director and co-curator of the Medina Triennial. “There are so few chances to do something for the first time.”
The theme speaks to people and they understand it, Laansoo said. The show is open Thursday through Sunday, with Sundays designated as tour days. Some installations can be viewed around the clock because of their locations.
Their goal was to attract 50,000 visitors. By the time the exhibit closes, they are on track to hit it, said Laansoo. They probably had more visitors than they could track, since several of the exhibits are in public spaces, she said.
As far as the theme, they didn’t want it to make it so literally about the canal. They wanted to make it more universal to the viewer, how they sustain family, village or planet, Laansoo said. In addition, local artists organized and set up their own satellite shows. "The wider impact that happened was people came for the art and discovered the village," she said.
“It’s just a good opportunity to showcase our community here, because we do have a great community here in Medina,” said longtime resident Todd Bensley, who was volunteering at the Medina Visitor Center.
It has made a difference economically with people from out of town coming into the village spending their money shopping and eating. On a personal level, in terms of pride, Bensley said, Medina is a community with vitality. "It could have been anywhere, but it was here in Medina," Bensley said. "This is a way to show that rural areas can appreciate art as much as urban areas can."
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How a village of 6,000 landed an international art show
