Artpark announces arts & crafts events, resident writers

Submitted

Thu, Apr 24th 2025 11:10 am

Artpark & Company Press Releases

‘Creations and Libations’

Artpark & Company is excited to continue offering adults the exciting “Creations and Libations” adult art classes this summer: “Libations and Landscapes,” the new “Mojitos and Mosaics,” and the ever-popular “Wine and Wheels” programs. Artpark has a rich history of offering so many art-making classes that adults love coming back to create their own masterpieces with friends, family members and co-workers.

“Libations and Landscapes” and “Mojitos and Mosaics” go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, April 25.

‘Libations & Landscapes’

Participants can create a beautiful painting of a Niagara landscape with a little instruction – and maybe a few sips of wine. Prepare to enjoy an evening with friends under the skillful direction of artist Jennifer Russo.

All classes are for adults ages 21 and over, are held in the Artpark Gallery, and are limited to only 18 people. Each event includes:

√ Two single-serve bottles of wine or one 16-ounce can of Art Ale

√ One bottle of water

√ Two hours of painting (12-by-16-inch prestretched canvas and acrylic paint)

Preregistration is required. Sessions are 6-8 p.m. on the following dates:

√ Wednesday, June 4, and Friday, June 6

√ Thursday, June 12, and Tuesday, June 17

√ Wednesday, July 9, and Friday, July 11

√ Wednesday, July 23, and Friday, July 25

‘Mojitos and Mosaics’

Get ready to delight in the art of creating something beautiful from something broken. No two artworks will be the same, as you construct intuitive abstract mosaics at Artpark. Prepare to enjoy an evening with friends, mojitos and mosaics under the skillful direction of Russo. Sort, smash and fabricate while sipping an adult beverage, outdoors in the evening glow of the scenic Niagara River. Tile snippers, safety glasses and gloves will be provided.

This event includes:

√ Two single-serve Mojitos or one 16-ounce can of Art Ale

√ One bottle of water

√ Two hours of mosaic making (16-by-20-inch mosaic panel)

Preregistration is required. All classes are for adults ages 21 and over and are held at the lower info picnic shelter. Sessions are 3:30-5:30 or 6-8 p.m. on the following dates:

√ Saturday, Aug. 9

√ Saturday, August 23

‘Wine and Wheels’

(Sessions booking now!)

Learn the basic techniques of the potter's wheel. Our pottery wheels are manual, kick wheels developed in the 1970s. Please wear sneakers or shoes with backs, and be prepared to provide the power for your wheel with your right foot. Let your creative juices flow as the vino flows.

The result might just be a ceramic masterwork for the ages … or a misshapen, abstract impressionistic “idea” of a bowl. Either way, it’ll make for a good conversation piece on your mantle, right? ;-) All classes are for adults ages 21 and over, and are held in the pottery pavilion. There is a limit of 10 participants per session.

The event includes:

√ Two single-serve bottles of wine

√ One bottle of water

√ 90 minutes of unlimited throwing on the wheel with a clay instructor

√ Two best pieces of pottery to be glazed and fired, pottery to picked up at Artpark at a later date

Over 30 sessions available and they sell-out fast. See available sessions here.

Registration for all sessions can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or at the Artpark box office, 450 S. Fourth St., Lewiston. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturdays.

Artpark welcomes resident writers Elisa Gabbert & Christina Vega-Westhoff

This summer, Artpark will welcome writers Elisa Gabbert and Christina Vega-Westhoff to participate in its annual literary residency. Like past participants in this generative residency, Gabbert and Vega-Westhoff will enjoy summer-long access to Artpark in Lewiston, taking in the site’s 150 acres of natural beauty, dramatic views of the Niagara River and gorge, and packed schedule of arts programming, drawing on these experiences to inform new or ongoing writing projects.

Artpark President Dave Wedekindt stated, “The literary arts at Artpark have been an essential part of the organization’s legacy stretching back to our beginnings in 1974. We are delighted to continue this tradition and welcome these two wonderful talents to be a part of this season.”

About the residency

Artpark’s literary residency began in 2023 with an ambitious cohort of nine residents, a mix of local and visiting poets and writers. Several of the visitors also performed or taught at other literary and cultural institutions in the Niagara-Erie-Genesee cultural corridor, such as the Chautauqua Institution or Just Buffalo Literary Center.

Over the next two years, the residency evolved toward the current model, which pairs one visiting writer and one local writer. Program director and literary curator Aidan Ryan selects the visiting writer, and a committee of Artpark staff and board volunteers selects the local writer from a pool of applicants.

“First, I hope that this residency offers an opportunity for working writers to draw invaluable time and inspiration from an extraordinary place,” Ryan said. “But I also hope this program continues to demonstrate that Artpark is one of the most dynamic nodes in the cultural zone of Western New York and Southern Ontario, both a local treasure and a welcoming stop for travelers at the intersection of major regions of the country and continent.”

About the writers

Elisa Gabbert is the author of seven collections of poetry, essays, and criticism: “Any Person Is the Only Self” (FSG, 2024); “Normal Distance” (Soft Skull, 2022); “The Unreality of Memory & Other Essays” (FSG, 2020); “The Word Pretty” (Black Ocean, 2018); “L’Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems” (Black Ocean, 2016); “The Self Unstable” (Black Ocean, 2013); and “The French Exit” (Birds LLC, 2010).

“Any Person Is the Only Self,” “The Unreality of Memory” and “The Word Pretty” were each named a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Gabbert writes the “On Poetry” column for the New York Times, and her work has appeared in Harper’s, The Paris Review, The Believer, the New York Review of Books, A Public Space, The Yale Review, and many other venues.

Vega-Westhoff is a poet, translator, choreographer and educator living in Buffalo. She is the author of “Suelo Tide Cement” (Nightboat, 2018). Her poetry, translations and performance writing have appeared in Best American Experimental Writing, Words Without Borders, Emergency INDEX, and elsewhere. Recently, she served as translator for the bilingual “Stories that Cook: Art, Memories, and Recipes / Historias que Cocinan: Arte, Recuerdos, y Recetas” (Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, 2024), which features recipes, stories and art from migrant farmworker families and teachers and staff associated with migrant education programs in Western New York.

A recipient of a 2025 New York State Choreographers Initiative grant, she teaches aerial dance at The Bird’s Nest Circus Arts and is a teaching artist with Just Buffalo Literary Center.

Past residents included: Ana Božičević, Robert Giannetti, Joshua Thermidor, Philip Metres, Julianne Neely, Drew Pisarra, Hilary Plum, Zach Savich, Spencer Williams (2023); and Rachelle Toarmino, Ariel Aberg-Riger and Sony Ton-Aime (2024).

Artpark, the 150-acre New York state park and celebrated cultural institution atop the Niagara Gorge, is beginning another summer full of exciting performances, festivals and encounters with art and nature. In addition to Artpark’s popular series of touring concerts, additional highlights will include a new Cirque Festival; a special performance of Richard Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” with a cast of internationally touring opera singers and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus; and new visual arts programs for all ages. The current schedule is available at artpark.net.

Artpark event schedule

Additional 2025 events and programs at Artpark include: “Wine & Wheels” (multiple dates in June/July); The Driver Era (June 6); Artpark x BPO candlelight concert (June 11): The String Cheese Incident (June 18); Gary Clark Jr. (June 24); “Artcamps” (three sessions in July); George Thorogood and The Destroyers “The Baddest Show on Earth” + 38 Special (July 1); Todd Rundgren, “STILL ME (STILL WE) Tour” (July 3); Rick Springfield “I Want My 80's Tour" with John Waite, Wang Chung & Paul Young (July 5); Juanes (July 10); Artpark Fairy House Festival (July 12); Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (July 17); Rainbow Kitten Surprise with Medium Build (July 29); Lucy Dacus (July 30); Blackberry Smoke and Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs (July 31); Slightly Stoopid “Step Into The Sun Summer Tour 2025" (Aug. 1); Chicago (Aug. 8); “Beyond Buffalo A Celebration of Multiculturalism in Music and Dance” (Aug. 10); Fitz and The Tantrums “Man On The Moon Tour” (Aug. 12); Yacht Rock Revue (Aug. 13); Toad The Wet Sprocket with KT Tunstall and Sixpence None The Richer (Aug. 15); Artpark’s Cirque Festival (Aug. 17); Gregory Alan Isakov with Ocie Elliott (Aug. 24); “Wicked Sing-Along” movie night (Aug. 26); The Australian Pink Floyd Show “Wish You Were Here 50^th Anniversary” (Aug. 27); UB40 “The Relentless Tour” (Aug. 29); “Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood: Asking for Trouble” (Aug. 30); “The Flying Dutchman” opera (Sept. 13); Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas (Sept. 21); Vance Joy (Sept. 26); and “CoComelon: Sing-A-Long LIVE” (Sept. 27).