Medina Triennial this weekend will offer tours of headquarters, chance to meet artist

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 12 September 2025 at 10:45 am

Mary Mattingly transforming a barge on the canal into floating garden

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Federico Rosario of Medina and co-curator Karin Laanso of Rochester wait in front of the former NAPA Auto Parts store on North Main Street for the arrival of artist Mary Mattingly from New York City, who plans to transform a barge on the Erie Canal into a floating garden. The project is part of the Medina Triennial in observance of the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal.

MEDINA – Medina Triennial has announced the inaugural edition of a new contemporary art triennial, which will take place June 6 to Sept. 7, 2026.

In preparation for the event, the opening of the Medina Triennial Hub Sept. 13-14 has been announced in the former NAPA building on North Main Street.

This barge docked in Medina’s canal basin is waiting for the arrival of Mary Mattingly, an American visual artist from New York City, who plans to transform the barge into a floating garden.

Also part of the Triennial is a barge docked in the Erie Canal Basin, which American visual artist Mary Mattingly of New York City is planning to transform into a floating garden. Mattingly, an ecological art pioneer, arrived last Saturday afternoon to begin assessing her project.

The inaugural edition next summer will feature more than 50 artworks at approximately 12 indoor and outdoor locations in Medina, highlighting Medina’s dynamic natural residency program and its education and welcome center, according to Federico Rosario of Medina, community engagement and program coordinator for the Medina Triennial.

The former NAPA Auto Parts building on North Main Street is a former sandstone hotel building in the heart of the village. The Medina Triennial is calling the building “The Hub” and it will be open this weekend for sessions about the art initiative.

Saturday Sessions

12 to 2 p.m. – Co-Artistic Directors Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo, architects Serweta Peck, and artist-in-residence Mary Mattingly introduce the Hub’s design and fall programming, followed by a tour of the building and Mattingly’s Floating Garden.
4–5 p.m. – “What is a Triennial?” Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo trace the history of the triennial format and discuss how the Medina Triennial reimagines it for a new context.

Sunday Sessions

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Roundtable on Labor and Ecology: Mary Mattingly and agricultural educator Todd Eick discuss care and invisible labor across art, ecology, and community life.
4 to 6:30 p.m. – Floating Garden Orientation: Mary Mattingly invites neighbors to plan and plant for her floating food forest on the Erie Canal.

The Medina Triennial was initiated by the New York State Power Authority and the New York State Canal Corporation as part of a broader effort to revitalize the canal and highlight its contemporary significance.

This event will feature new work by local, national and international artists and collectives, to create a free, village-wide exhibition that will be the first of its kind in the region.

Renowned commissioned artists will be invited to respond to Western New York’s communities and ecosystems, often working in collaboration with local residents to create work rooted in context.

Visitors are invited to stop by from noon to 6 p.m. weekends (always on Saturday and some Fridays and Sundays).

Federico Rosario, Community Engagement and Program Coordinator for the Medina Triennial, stands in the newly-renovated space in the former NAPA building, which will house an art triennial June 6 to Sept. 7, 2026.