Tim Nekritz | nekritz@gmail.com
An original play where, on an alternate timeline, the Apollo 11 astronauts battle aliens and Soviet spies. Art openings. Halloween-related activities including a musical spooktacular, scary tales and comedy, a witches’ tea and a movie marathon. A summer youth arts camp. Popular plays for the whole family. Crafting and baking classes for kids and teens.
These are only some of the activities that the Art Scene at the CNY Arts Center in Fulton has hosted in the past few months. It points to filling a role that promotes creativity, craftiness and community for folks of all ages.
Most notable from the outside due its large art deco neon decoration, the building at 121 Cayuga St. is a stone’s throw from the Oswego River, nestling just south of the former bank building that is now the 114 Reserve coffeehouse and just north of the Cayuga Street Steakhouse (formerly the Blue Moon Grill).
Much as the neighborhood around it has changed and evolved, so does this space continue to adapt. On a late October weekend, Bonnie McClellan — the organization’s interim director — worked on a mural high up on the south side of the building that is one of so many tasks of those who drive the nonprofit organization.
McClellan’s artistic skills are in full display in the building’s signature piece: A giant multicolored art deco LED neon light with the word “theater” in it. You definitely know you’ve found this interesting, quirky space when you see this beacon.
The sign’s creation was supported by funding from Fulton’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative as well as American Rescue Plan Act allocations, with logistical help from Universal Metal and Knapp Electric. For the scrappy organization, partnerships and grants make much of its work possible, with Richard S. Shineman Foundation funding supporting its website, https://cnyartscenter.com.
Setting the stage
I had the joyous opportunity of performing on the center’s stage and getting to know its facilities better as part of the Stage Fright production in October. My duo, Whiskey Spirits, was part of a bill that also included the eclectic styling of Oswego band The Dust Creatures and the surf rock of Syracuse-based Underwater Bosses, who performed in deep-sea diving outfits.
My Whiskey Spirits musical partner, Gina Mazzoli, served as the artistic director bringing together the various elements while volunteers filled positions ranging from lighting designer to set construction to dancing ladies. Gina and I devised an original ghost story for her to read as well.
It’s the kind of original and community-oriented production this space and vibe make possible. Perhaps nothing embodies this more than an earlier production of “Space Race,” written by local playwright Nick Gentile (who is also on the center’s board) with musical score by Sarah Galvin.
The musical envisions an alternate timeline where, instead of piloting Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong has lost his courage and instead flies a luxury airliner filled with strange characters, villains and interstellar intrigue — until his one-time flightmates Buzz Aldrin (played as a teen idol) and Michael Collins (played more like Scotty from “Star Trek”) crash into his starship and start Armstrong’s arc back toward a hero.
If that sounds like a strange plot, it doesn’t even do the production justice, but it nonetheless sold out its three-night run (after intended as a one-night-only production). Gentile and Galvin previously collaborated on a similar farce but of alternative local history, “The 1812 Underture” at Fort Ontario.
But such inventive productions in its modest yet comfortable theater are only one chapter of the Art Scene’s story. Many of its activities provide creative outlets and support for the imagination of area youths. An Express Yourself through the Arts baking class for “teens and tweens” is one example.
In this six-week course running Tuesday evenings through November and December, participants used the center’s commercial kitchen facilities to learn about kitchen safety, cleanliness and how to bake cakes, cookies and other holiday treats.
The icing on the cake is that the Arts Scene strives to keep this and other opportunities affordable and accessible. Prices range from free to very affordable and family-friendly.
It all adds up to an organization and facility in the heart of Fulton providing a little something for everybody and much like its neon sign, remaining distinctive and different while bringing a little more light to the community.
