EVENTS, PROGRAMS, & WORKSHOPS
TAUNY is all about bringing people together to celebrate North Country heritage and living traditions! We missed visiting with you all during our temporary closure due to the pandemic, but we’ve been glad to stay in touch online, and we look forward to resuming in-person programming as soon as possible.
Please stay tuned for details about upcoming programs you can enjoy online or with safe social distancing, in accordance with public health recommendations. As we move through phases of re-opening, we look forward to continuing to bring people together in all the ways we can!
Upcoming Programs
As the Grasse Talks: 
A Virtual Tour of the River’s History
(Virtual Tour/Performance)
September 17-October 2
Click here to view the virtual tour/performance.
September 17 - October 2, visit TAUNY’s website to view the virtual tour/performance “As the Grasse Talks: A Virtual Tour of the River’s History.” This online experience features virtual, narrated dance performances that offer a deep and unique introduction to one of the area’s central waterways, all of which shape and are shaped by local and regional folklife, traditional occupations, and day-to-day practices.
From the artists:
“Nikentsiake / The Grasse River descends from the Adirondack Mountains to the Akwesasne Nation, where its waters join the Kaniataro’wanneneh / St. Lawrence River. Its natural history parallels the industrialization of the region and centuries of environmental exploitation…. In a 360-degree virtual tour/performance, the movement artists V. Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo will guide us through the river’s memories. Through dance, they will explore how this complex history continues to haunt the Grasse River’s waters, and the communities that have made their home along its banks. Performing in specific sites along the Grasse River, the dancers will embody the river’s natural history. The performances have been filmed with a 360-degree camera, so that the viewer can explore the sites in question and stand beside the performers as they reveal the river’s memory.
To accompany these virtual performances, the natural historian Tom VandeWater narrates the history of the Grasse. Experience the artwork and the historical narrations on TAUNY’s website to meet and explore the river. ‘As the Grasse Talks’ is part of the North Country Art, Land and Environment Summit and plays a crucial role in connecting the region’s past with its environmental future.”
Artists Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo are founding members of the Talking Wings Collective, a group of environmental artists and filmmakers who are working on Burning or Breathing: A Series About Earth Guardians. The documentary and multimedia project follows earth guardians from across Turtle Island/North America as they create a sustainable and restorative future. The collective’s work has been previously exhibited in the MassArt Godine Family Gallery, the K&P Gallery New York, Goddard College, the Dorchester Art Project, and the Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci.
“As the Grasse Talks: A Virtual Tour of the River’s History” and “Water & Origin: Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller” are part of the North Country Art, Land, and Environment Summit (September 9-October 2, 2020), in which TAUNY is a partner. The NCALE Summit is a series of outdoor exhibitions, online panel discussions, and arts presentations in which community members from the St. Lawrence Watershed, Haudenosaunee Territory, will come together to discuss sustainable and regenerative solutions for the climate crises.
This exhibition was put together in partnerships, and with funding from, the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery. In addition, this program was funded in part by Humanities New York, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and St. Lawrence University’s Art Collaborative. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Water & Origin: 
Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller
(Virtual Exhibition)
September 19-27
The TAUNY Center, (West) Front Display Window Exhibition/Screening
Stop by The TAUNY Center front display window for an ongoing presentation of “Water and Origin: Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller,” including a video screening and related works curated by Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguila-Izzo. This virtual exhibition reflects on the significance and vulnerability of the waterways throughout and beyond our region, which shape and are shaped by local and regional folklife, traditional occupations, and day-to-day practices. Related works on display include new creations by Mohawk ceramicist Katsitsionni Fox.
From the Artist Curators:
“Water flows in rivers and streams, in arteries and veins. It flows around us and through us. From raindrops to vast oceans, from the largest tree to the smallest pollinator, we are all part of its currents. The water moves through rivers, ancient beings that guard the stories of the living organisms that inhabit their banks and water. In the exhibition Water and Origin: Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller, artists from across Turtle Island/North America explore these vital narratives. Through photography, painting, quilting, and ceramics, artists share the cultural memories of their communities and the importance of protecting these waterways.”
The artists featured in the virtual exhibition include the Mohawk quilter Iakonikonriiosta, Mohawk ceramicist Katsitsionni Fox, the Mazatec art/farming collective Kjoaetzen, and the dancers/filmmakers Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguila-Izzo, from the Talking Wings Collective. The artist couple Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguila-Izzo also serve as the exhibition’s curators, visually weaving together the works of art. Through contemporary dance and videography, they delve into the environmental history of the Kaniatarowanénhne/St. Lawrence River Watershed on traditional Haudenosaunee territory and at the Antigua Watershed of Veracruz, Mexico, Totonac/Nahua Territory.
Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo are founding members of the Talking Wings Collective, a group of environmental artists and filmmakers who are working on Burning or Breathing: A Series About Earth Guardians. The documentary and multimedia project follows earth guardians from across Turtle Island/North America as they create a sustainable and restorative future. The collective’s work has been previously exhibited in the MassArt Godine Family Gallery, the K&P Gallery New York, Goddard College, the Dorchester Art Project, and the Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci.
“Water & Origin: Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller” and “As the Grasse Talks: A Virtual Tour of the River’s History” are part of the North Country Art, Land, and Environment Summit (September 9-October 2, 2020), in which TAUNY is a partner. The NCALE Summit is a series of outdoor exhibitions, online panel discussions, and arts presentations in which community members from the St. Lawrence Watershed, Haudenosaunee Territory, will come together to discuss sustainable and regenerative solutions for the climate crises.
This exhibition was put together in partnerships, and with funding from, the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery. In addition, this program was funded in part by Humanities New York, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and St. Lawrence University’s Art Collaborative. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
"Get the Folk Through It" Pandemic Documentation Project
We want to hear about your experiences and creative responses over the past months and going forward, with the pandemic changing many of our daily ways, while also reinforcing our sense of what’s most familiar and important to us. Fill out a survey here to give us an idea of your experience, and stay tuned for more subject-specific surveys. You can also check out the project description here for more about what we're looking for and how to share it with us, and you can email us at programs@tauny.org any time with questions about the project, stories, further materials, or anything else you'd like to share that the survey doesn't cover.
“St. Lawrence County Barn Quilt” Exhibit Small Group Tours
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