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HISTORY
The
Lake George Arts Project was established in 1977 to offer comprehensive
programs in the arts. Its mission is to provide exposure and income
opportunities to professional and emerging artists, and to provide quality
arts programming for the residents and visitors of the Lake George region.
Originally
a Comprehensive Employment Training Act project, the Arts Project's early
years produced the Prospect Mountain
Sculpture Show (1979), a major
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Prospect Mountain
Sculpture Show
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exhibition that attracted national media acclaim; the Summer
Concert Series (which continues
in Shepard Park during July and August); and numerous community arts
workshops, presentations, school programs, and fairs. The end of CETA in
1981 (and the consequent loss of six of the then seven employees) heralded
a period of rethinking and rebuilding of programs. A second major outdoor
visual arts exhibition, Ice and Air
Show, was held in 1983.
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Ice and Air Show
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In 1984, the Arts Project produced its first annual Jazz
Weekend, and moved to a
location capable of housing a gallery. The Courthouse Gallery opened in 1985, and marked the Arts Project's return
to year-round arts programming. In 1986, the Arts Project recommenced
literary programming with an annual three-month writer-in-residence.
Special visual art events have included
Riverrun Yes (1988, Dan George); Cross-Wind Tunnel (1991, George
Peters), and Birdwatching in Lake
George (1999, Jane Ingram Allen). A new Shepard Park stage, with input
and fundraising by LGAP was commemorated in 1990. Off-season jazz concerts
held at the Hyde Collection's new facility began in 1991.
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Nicholas Payton at Jazz Weekend 1998
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The Collectors' Club subscription to limited edition
works of art began in 1992, as did a yearly residency for young visual
artists. The Arts Project's biannual literary review, The Lake George Arts Project Literary Review,
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Lake George Literary Review
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was published in late 1993; the second volume came out in
the fall of 1995, and a third in 1997.
From 1997 Through 2008, jazz patrons John and Marilyn Breyo
donated over $200,000 toward performance fees for
the Lake George Jazz Weekend. Beginning in 2009 Kenneth and Susan
Gruskin have become major supporters of the Jazz Weekend.
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