Ms. Ingrid Van Slyke. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.
Lake Placid is a beautiful place. That is exactly what Northwood’s very own award-winning artist and art teacher, Ms. Ingrid Van Slyke, is trying to capture in her series called Finding the Ordinary: A Portrait of Everyday Shared Spaces. Her series will consist of 52 oil paintings over a year, which will require her to average a painting every week.
Finding the Ordinary captures the “non-touristy everyday places that Lake Placid has to offer,” says Ms. Van Slyke. This effort sheds light on the Lake Placid local perspective and changes the audience for the artwork. Often, when Ms. Van Slyke’s work is displayed in galleries, “buyers are from out of town and not local residents,” she says. Her series aims to “allow locals to be the audience for my art—so now the parent that passes the stop sign every day to drop their kid off at school can have a painting of that.”
Ms. Van Slyke had already completed 22 paintings when she got the news from The Adirondack Lakes Center of the Arts (ALCA) and the New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA) that she had been awarded a grant for her project. Her 52 paintings will be displayed in the Lake Placid Main Street Library, which fits the theme of her series and is welcoming to her target audience.
Ms. Van Slyke’s series will avoid landmarks such as the 1980 arena or Whiteface Mountain, which she expects to be appealing to locals who can now have a piece of art and a piece of community. As a result of her efforts, her art will go directly back into the community.
All proceeds made from the gallery will go to Mercy Care for the Adirondacks. Mercy Care is especially important to Ms. Van Slyke because they helped her mother when she was struggling with illness. It is truly inspiring to see an artist work so hard to support the efforts of her community, so please, if you see Ms. Van Slyke, congratulate her and thank her for giving back to her community.
Ms. Van Slyke’s project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.
