The month of August brings a lot of great art to view in our region, but especially in the Saranac Lake area where there are six new exhibits opening plus the Adirondack Plein Air Festival, Aug 15-18.

Bluseed Studios, 24 Cedar St., starts off the month with “Paper Migration”. This is an international collaborative exchange between Bluseed and a cooperative of artists in Mazatlan, Mexico. Saranac Lake residents have had the pleasure of seeing one of the Mexican artists working outdoors on a large painting in Berkely Green. Bluseed always has exciting, cutting edge shows and this collaboration, between Adirondack artists and Mazatlan artists should prove to be another one. Learn more about it on the Bluseed website. The exhibit opens Thursday August 1 from 5 – 7 and will continue through September 15.

Donna Foley will be the featured artist at the Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery, 52 Main St. She will be displaying new handwoven tapestries, made from the lustrous wool of her own sheep and hand-dyed with traditional and locally found natural materials – hence the title of the exhibit “Local + Color”. At a recent gallery meeting Donna said “In this new exhibit of work, I have revisited my love of collecting local plants and combined their soft muted colors with the traditional bright colors from such natural dyes as indigo, madder root and cochineal.” Don’t miss it – this may be the last exhibit Donna has in the Adirondacks. The opening reception is Friday Aug 2 and the show will run until September 2.

NorthWind Fine Arts, 36 Broadway, will also have a reception on Friday Aug 2, from 5 – 7,  for new works by member LeeAnn Sporn.

Pendragon Theatre’s Gallery is displaying the oil, plein air paintings of Northville artist Janet Marie Yeates. Her painting of the Union Depot is featured on the cover of the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Visitors Guide. Coming August 6 will be “Face-it”, an exhibit by pastel artist Diane Leifheit, of Gabriels. Since she is currently in France, the content of the exhibit is unknown at this time – but sounds like it may be portraits. The opening reception will be during the next 3rd Thursday ArtWalk, Aug 15, from 5 – 7 pm and the exhibit will continue to Sept 2. Pendragon Theatre also has a great schedule of performances in August including “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “Doubt”, “Dirty Blonde”,  “Alladin”, and the “Oldest Living Confederate Widow: Her Confession”.

The Gallery at the Paul Smith’s College VIC is currently displaying the works selected for the annual “Life on the Lakes” Juried Show. The “Plein Air Invitational” will open on Aug 7. It will consist of paintings done outdoors, at the various locations at the VIC by a number of regional artists. The reception will be on Friday Aug 16 from 5 – 7 and the show will continue until September 5.

The Paint & Palette Club of Saranac Lake will be holding their annual Summer Show in the Cantwell Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. A “meet the artists” opening reception will be held during the 3rd Thursday ArtWalk, Aug 15, from 5 – 7. The exhibit continues to Sept 5.

The Adirondack Plein Air Festival takes place from Aug 15 – 18 with approximately 50 artists from all over New York state and beyond coming to Saranac Lake to paint the Adirondacks. Watch for a separate post about that event.

Other exhibits in the region: “Castaways”, an exhibit of photographs by Georganne Mennin opens at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Friday Aug 2 with a reception from 5 – 7 pm. The exhibit will continue through September 7. I have an exhibit of my Adirondack paintings in the gallery at the Northville Public Library through Aug 30. At VIEW, in Old Forge, the Central New York Watercolor Show has an opening reception on Friday Aug 2, and the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors has an opening reception and preview on Friday Aug 16 from 5 – 7 pm.

Don’t forget about “Songs to Keep”, the Adirondack Music Project on Kickstarter. The $10,000 goals has been reached and there is just 5 days to go. If you like Adirondack history and music, this project needs your support.

We are most fortunate to have art all around us – the art of nature and the art that has been created by all the talented artists in the Adirondacks.

I’m sure there are many other great exhibits I’m not aware of. If you know of one, share info about it in the comments below.