Artists mourn closure of two Saranac Lake arts venues: BluSeed and ADK ArtRise
By Lauren Yates
After more than 23 years of providing arts services to the village of Saranac Lake, BluSeed Studios announced May 14 that it will dissolve its organization and sell its building at 24 Cedar St.
BluSeed – a nonprofit led by Executive Director Marissa Hernandez and a board of directors – announced the closure in a social media post and on its website.
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“Although a significant effort has been put forth by staff and volunteers, it has been extremely challenging to maintain the finances of a small arts center in a low population, rural area,” the post said. “We want to thank our dedicated community and supportive organizations for their support through the years!”
More than 200 people reacted to the Facebook post, with dozens commenting that they were saddened or devastated.
BluSeed last year saw the launch of the new Blu/Pen Artist Residency Program, an artist-in-residence program in partnership with Pendragon. The organization also offered its studios for ceramics, printmaking, letterpress and textile/fabric arts; local art exhibits and events; events like the Trash Couture Fashion Show and other fashion shows, workshops, music performances and open mics; and an art thrift store with second hand paints, brushes, and fabrics.
Jill Michalsky, the president of BluSeed’s board of directors, said the studio will still host its upcoming kids’ movie and art night on May 30 and will try to keep the studio open as much as possible until the building sells.
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“As long as we can keep it open, we will,” she said.
The more than 7,600 square foot building, located on the Adirondack Rail Trail, is now listed at $450,000 through Coldwell Banker. Michalsky said there’s been a lot of interest in the building, as well as a few showings, but no offers yet.
To officially dissolve the nonprofit, BluSeed must sell all of its assets as well as return any unused grant money, repay any debts, and distribute any leftover funds to other nonprofits in a plan approved by the state Attorney General. Then, the board must pass a resolution to dissolve and submit it to the AG.
ADK ArtRise to close, too
BluSeed is the second art studio in Saranac Lake to announce its impending closure. Adk ArtRise, a for-profit studio that offers workshops and hosts arts events, announced in March that it will close its doors at the end of June.
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Both studios have made their financial concerns public over the last couple of years. In October 2022, ArtRise co-owners Brittany Sternberg, Jess Ackerson and Julia Csanko asked the community to support their studio by enrolling in workshops. Csankso said it’s been tough to keep engagement up in a rural place like Saranac Lake, especially as the cost of doing business goes up.
In June 2024, BluSeed told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise it was facing a “dire” financial crunch and started a GoFundMe fundraiser to offset costs, ultimately raising more than $40,000 to “keep the lights” on through January 2025.
Michalsky said BluSeed’s board came into the new year knowing the studio might not make it out the other side.
“We knew pretty early on what we were going to be doing, so we didn’t apply for the usual grants that we do,” she said.
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The board was considering steps to dissolution by February. By April, Michalsky said, the board had decided to dissolve BluSeed and met with NYCON, the New York Council of Nonprofits, for guidance.
As a 501(c)(3), BluSeed has sourced funding from various donors and grants over the years, including awards from the state Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Adirondack Foundation, Cloudsplitter Foundation, Franklin County, Lake Champlain Basin Project, Pearsall Foundation, Stewarts and the Charles R. Wood Foundation. But in the last “handful” of years, Michalsky said, funding has dramatically dwindled – including the NYSCA funding for payroll – while the costs of keeping the building up – including mortgage, liability insurance, heating and electric – have skyrocketed. Hernandez’s last day was May 15, according to Michalsky, when NYSCA funding dried up.
BluSeed history
Local artist Carol Vossler founded BluSeed as a nonprofit in August 2001 in a former train warehouse on Cedar Street. She’d spent her graduate school years at Syracuse University creating new art, meeting other artists, and learning about diverse mediums and artforms. She wanted to bring that creative thinking back to the Tri-Lakes, where the landscape painting reigned supreme.
Vossler, a mother of three, wanted to create a studio that hosted artists in residence from all over the world, and that’s what she got: artists from places like Mexico, Chile, Germany and California, who brought something new to the area but also gleaned something new from the local community. On BluSeed’s opening night on Aug. 11, 2001, Vossler said the building was nothing but 2x4s – the perfect place for artist Fred Gonzalez to showcase an installation of 75 umbrellas.
Vossler stayed at BluSeed for 18 years, until 2019, when she started her own LLC, Lunar Horizons. Hernandez took over as executive director in 2020.
“It was a super amazing ride,” Vossler said. “I would do it again.”
Peter Seward, a Saranac Lake artist, has exhibited at BluSeed throughout the decades. His first solo art exhibit was at BluSeed in 2007, and he just wrapped up another exhibit at BluSeed this past March.
Vossler is the one who fostered Seward’s music-programming ambitions, which he said encouraged him to start and program the Hobofest music festival in Saranac Lake – now known as Northern Current – and eventually open his own space at studio and event space Lake Flower Landing.
“BluSeed’s community is why we moved to Saranac Lake,” he said.
Though BluSeed and ArtRise are closing their doors, Csanko and Seward said they were confident that area artists will continue to find spaces to create. Csanko plans to continue teaching art and offering art workshops at venues around the community.
“I want to continue (making art), especially with us closing, and with BluSeed – and just in this particular time in the world – I feel like we need art more than ever,” she said.
Photo at top courtesy of https://buildout.com/website/bluseed-studios
This story was updated 1 p.m. May 22 with information from Jill Michalsky, the president of BluSeed’s board of directors.
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