‘All That Sustains Us’ concludes today in Medina

Photos by Tom Rivers: This group is on a bird-watching expedition on June 7 on the Glenside Avenue canal bridge, looking towards the wooded area along the Erie Canal towpath. The Triennial hosted several workshops and expeditions in the past three months exploring the environment, ecology and sustainability. The exhibitions have an overall theme of “All That Sustains Us.”

MEDINA – The Medina Triennial concludes today after three months as a showcase of art installations from 39 artists at 10 locations in Medina.

Most of the works are located in the former Medina High School. The $2 million initiative has been funded by the New York Power Authority, the Canal Corp. and other sponsors. There is no admission charge.

About 30,000 people have come to Medina to see the Triennial in the three months. Attendance has grown, especially in August. On Saturday, more than 500 people stopped by the Medina Triennial Hub, the welcome center that also includes two of the art installations.

Organizers are pleased with the response from the public, many glowing reviews in art publications and the funding support. Kari Conte, co-director of the Triennial, said she fully expects there will be a second triennial in three years – 2029.

Kari Conte, co-curator and artistic director of the Triennial, introduces Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens at Rotary Park on June 7. The two artists created a whimsical toolshed that highlights how birds use tools. They will be back today for another discussion at Rotary Park from 2 to 3 p.m.

Medina has felt the increase in visitors, said Jim Hancock, the Medina Tourism Committee chairman. He helps staff the Visitor Center at Rotary Park.

“We have people stop by Visitor Center asking about the Triennial,” Hancock said. “Our visitors are way up. There have been a lot more people in town than in years past. It’s just been busy.”

Federico Rosario, the community engagement and programs coordinator for the Triennial, said there was a noticeable jump in visitors after an Aug. 1 article in the Buffalo News that encouraged people to see the Triennial and its exhibition of artists from 21 countries.

He said about 35 to 40 percent of the visitors had never been to Medina before. Some visitors have come back more than once to fully experience the Triennial.

Most of the visitors make a day trip from Buffalo, Rochester and Toronto.

“Word of mouth has been the most powerful way people are learning about the Triennial,” Rosario said.

The former Sacred Heart Church site in Medina features an installation, “Exhibit” by Mary Mattingly. Rooted in a living sculpture: a multi-tiered shelving unit of glass jars and terrariums containing edible plants adapted to a changing climate. Mattingly also created the popular floating garden on a barge that is moored in the Canal Basin.

Sacred Heart Church hosts works from four artists or collectives including a palm tree constructed from 540 handmade soap bars cast from recycled cooking oil. This was created by FIBRA, an all-women collective – Lucia Monge, Gianine Tabja, and Gabriela Flores del Pozo – from Lima, Peru.

An exhibit of trophies repurposed to pay homage to working people is in the gym of the old high school. Jean Shin, an artist who works out of New York City and the Hudson Valley, has given a new purpose to more than 400 trophies on display at the old high school. Instead of celebrating athletic achievements, Shin now has the trophies to highlight everyday professions: caregivers, food service employees, postal carriers, sanitary workers and others whose labor is often unappreciated.

This group gathers for food and conversation at the Triennial Hub on Saturday. This is the office and welcome area for the Hub. It is located in the former NAPA Auto Parts building at 345 Main St. This site had more than 500 visitors on Saturday.

People on Sunday check out the exhibits inside the historic Medina High School, where many of the art exhibits are located. In back artist Aki Inomata entitles this piece as “How to Carve a Sculpture.” Based in Tokyo, Inomata traveled to five zoos in Japan providing material for beavers to create these gnawed-wood sculptures. The smaller sculptures were made by beavers and the bigger ones were machine-carved versions on a larger scale.

‘A wonderful experience for us in Medina’

By Ginny Kropf, Correspondent

Photo by Scott Robinson: Roux, 5-year-old son of Scott Robinson and his wife Alix Gilman, is fascinated by a painting of the late Niagara Falls artist Jay Carrier. The painting is in Room 102, with several other artists’ work in the historic Medina High School.

MEDINA – As the inaugural Medina Triennial approaches its last day, residents and visitors are reminded they have one more chance to view this first-time extravagant venture, which began the first week in June.

“Over the past three months, we have watched visitors from near and far come to experience artworks by 39 artists and collectives across 10 sites throughout the village,” said Kari Conte, creative director. “The response from both critics and visitors has been beyond anything we could have imagined.”

The Triennial’s primary indoor sites, Medina High School and Sacred Heart Church, are free and fully accessible. Conte shared that the high school now has a platform lift to the second floor, and accessible parking is available behind the building.

Twenty-eight of the 39 artists’ works are exhibited on the first and second floors of the high school, while James Beckett’s “A Good Wall” occupies the southeast corner of the front lawn.

Recently, Scott Robinson and his wife Alix Gilman took their 5-year-old son Roux to view the exhibits. Much to their surprise, many of the exhibits fascinated the young child. At Medina High School, he stood staring at Jay Carrier’s painting. They couldn’t tear him away from an ecological video, Robinson said.

“Roux joined me at the hospital for the artist’s overview, and to my shock he stood the entire time so ‘he could pay attention.’ Then on Sunday, we finally walked the old high school. Hours after we got home Roux asked Alix if we could do something for the people who lost their homes (referring to the exhibit of keys of people who have lost homes in Palestine.) He’s currently trying to figure out a way to build homes, invite the people over to ours or buy them food.”

Robinson is director of marketing at Medina Memorial Hospital, where one artist’s exhibit is available for viewing, half outside and the other side in a covered walkway.

“Over the last couple of months, I’ve been able to see firsthand the impact of the Medina Triennial,” Robinson said. “Everyday I watch as patients, visitors, team members and out-of-town guests view the installation at Medina Memorial Hospital. The response has been great. Questions are asked, opinions are shared and there is excitement that the hospital was able to participate. For a building that’s been part of the community for 101 years, it’s great to be able to take part in this exciting time. I’ve also had the opportunity to speak to many of the first-time visitors to our village. I bartend at the Shirt Factory once a week, and there hasn’t been a day over the summer where someone doesn’t set their Triennial book on the bar and invite a conversation about Medina – something I love talking about. There’s no question this has further put Medina on the map.

“On a personal note, we’ve made this a family adventure,” Robinson continued. “Our 5-year-old has participated in the butterfly release, he attended the presentation at the high school and we’ve all walked around the old Medina High School and Triennial Hub.”

During their recent trip to the historic Medina High School, Robinson said Roux never stopped asking questions, even after they returned home.

“Art is meant to be enjoyed, it’s meant to drive conversation, and it’s meant to share emotions,” Robinson said. “What we never realized was that our child would be so impacted by some of the installations he experienced. One of my fondest memories of this summer will be the moments we spent at the Medina Triennial sites.”

Jeanne Crane, a former nurse at Medina Memorial Hospital, said she has visited the display at the hospital and the barge in the Canal Basin.

“This has been a wonderful experience for us in Medina, especially for people who are unable to travel,” Crane said. “Many talented artists have exposed us to a world we do not see in our small community. It was well-publicized and many visitors have come and spent money in our community. This has been a wonderful event. Thank you to the organizers.”

Cora Goyette of Medina volunteered as one of the guides for the Triennial. Visiting the sites on one its last days, she said, “It’s quintessentially Medina.”

Resident says many people can’t afford roof projects, other costly repairs

Photo by Tom Rivers: Tim Zeiner Sr. speaks during a recent Village Board meeting when the board said it was concerned about lingering property maintenance issues in the village. From left include Trustee Jeff Wagner, Trustee Jess Marciano, Village Clerk/Treasurer Jada Burgess and Mayor Debbie Padoleski.

MEDINA – A village trustee said he wants to see more progress in the village with property owners fixing leaking roofs, painting buildings and tending to other property maintenance.

Jeff Wagner, a Village Board member, says some roofs have been covered with tarps for years. It is unsightly and unfair to neighbors and other residents to have that blighting effect, he said.

“We have to figure out how we can take this village from a B to an A,” Wagner said during last week’s board meeting.

Tim Zeiner, a Park Avenue resident, said aggressive enforcement may not be the answer because many residents are cash-strapped and can’t afford a new roof that he said can top $30,000.

“I understand the cost is prohibitive,” Wagner replied.

Code enforcement officer Dan Gardner said he issues many citations a month and tries to be reasonable in working with people to address the issues.

“Many people are long-term residents on fixed incomes,” Gardner said.

He issues tickets and many go to court, and the cases can drag on for months, even years without resolution.

Some of the residents said Gardner could use more help with code enforcement. The village used to have three part-time staff that assisted the codes officer.

Mayor Debbie Padoleski said new Police Chief Corey Black can be part of looking at the codes and seeing if police officers can help with enforcement.

“We get a lot of complaints,” Padoleski said about some of the problem properties.

Wagner would like to see more improvements among the home and building owners.

“I’m not talking about throwing people in jail,” he said. “It’s about holding people accountable and doing what they should be doing.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Construction has started on a new pedestrian bridge in Medina that will cross the Oak Orchard Creek.

RJT Construction Services in Rochester is the contractor for the project on Maple Ridge Road (Route 31A) in Medina. This area also will get about 2,000 feet of new sidewalks on the north side of the road.

The Medina Village Board on March 23 approved the $837,448 bid by RJT Construction Services to install the bridge and sidewalks. RJT was the lowest of four bidders when the bids were opened on Feb. 18.

The section of Maple Ridge Road by the creek has become busier with a housing development, several new businesses and also the GCC campus center. There are also about 200 available acres in the area being promoted for development by the EDA. (In this photo, the Mariachi de Oro Mexican restaurant is shown in the background.)

The new bridge and sidewalks have been several years in the waiting. The village in 2021 was awarded a $1,094,196 grant to construct the bridge and sidewalks as part of a multi-use path for pedestrians and bicycles. The funding was awarded by the state through a federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.

That is covering 80 percent of the project. The remaining 20 percent will be paid locally from the village ($55,000), Town of Shelby ($130,000) and Orleans County ($97,500).

In addition to the construction bid, the village has approved paying Barton & Loguidice $166,300 for construction services and inspections.

Crosby’s is the first business west side of the creek on the north side, near the approach to the new bridge.

Initiative showcases work by 39 artists at multiple sites

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Cora Goyette, left, and Bea Young of Medina inspect an exhibit on the bank of the Erie Canal in State Street Park created by Korean artist Anne Duk Hee Jordan for the Medina Triennial.

MEDINA – As the Medina Triennial goes into its final week, executive and creative director Kari Conte reflects with immense gratitude on the artists, partners, supporters, volunteers, residents and visitors who have brought the ambitious project to life.

The first time such an event has taken place in a small town, the Medina Triennial has brought thousands of visitors to Medina since the opening June 8. It’s final day is Sept. 7, Labor Day.

At the heart of the Medina Triennia is a vital commitment to accessibility, said Conte. The exhibition is free and open to everyone.

“We believe access to art should not depend on the ability to purchase a ticket,” Conte said. “Keeping the Triennial free allows people to visit spontaneously, return with friends and family, encounter new ideas and experience contemporary art within Medina’s distinctive cultural, architectural and ecological landscape.”

During the past three months, the Triennial has welcomed guests from 32 states and several foreign countries to experience more than 100 artworks by 39 artists across sites throughout the village. The response from critics and visitors alike has affirmed our belief that ambitious contemporary art can thrive outside usual cultural centers and create meaningful connections across generations and ideas, according to Conte.

In a recent Hyperallergic review, “Art as Infrastructure at the Medina Triennial,” Sue Reisman described the Triennial as “sprawling yet rigorously organized” and “beautifully curated,” highlighting the exhibition’s engagement with the systems that sustain our shared lives, Conte shared.

The theme of the Triennial is “All That Sustains Us.”

Also, to sustain the Medina Triennial and assure its return in three years as a free event, donations are imperative, Conte stressed. Donors may log on the Medina Triennial website and choose to make a one-time donation or monthly donations.

In addition, the Triennial may be supported by purchasing one of several limited edition artistic items.

Conte also shared a letter from former Medina resident Burton Thomas, who wrote, “Medina is my hometown, and it was a wonderful place to be as a kid. I returned today to visit the Medina Triennial, a truly wonderful world-class art exhibition. I have never been prouder of this charming village, and I am grateful to the organizers and curators of this wonderful exhibition. I could have spent several days viewing the beautiful and thought-provoking works of so many amazing artists. If you value art, history and the environment, you must experience the Triennial. My only regret is I did not visit it more this summer.”

The final weekend of the Medina Triennial features a talk by Buffalo-based artist Matt Kenyon at 4 p.m. Saturday; a curatorial tour with Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo at 2 p.m. Sunday in the historic Medina High School on Catherine St.; a conversation on James Beckett’s A Good Wall with Nicholas Bruscia, assistant professor of architecture at the University of Buffalo, at 4 p.m. Sunday on the front lawn of Medina High School; and a walk and talk with artists Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens at 2 p.m. Monday in Rotary Park on Main Street.

All 10 exhibition sites will be open from noon to 6 p.m. the last weekend, Thursday through Labor Day, including the YMCA.

Conte’s invitation is, “We hope you will join us during this final week and continue to be part of what comes next.”

The Triennial is scheduled to return to Medina in three years.

MEDINA – The Medina emergency food pantry will be closed today due to flooding in the basement.

“We have some water in the food pantry area as well as other parts of the church basement,” said Michelle Capstick of the food pantry. “All the food is safe but the floors are wet.”

The food pantry is at St. Peter Lutheran Church on West Avenue.  The pantry is usually open on Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Medina was hit with two powerful storms on Wednesday, in the morning and then the evening that are requiring some cleanup at the church.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – A powerful thunderstorm this morning knocked down a tree that landed on 413 Park Ave. in Medina at about 7:45 a.m.

The house has three apartments and the six residents all need to relocate. None of them were injured. Medina Fire Chief Steve Cooley said they will be able to stay with other family and friends. The house next door also received some damage from branches.

The roof of the house at 413 Park Ave. was badly damaged and some of the windows were broken.

Pictured from left include Medina Fire Department Lt. Tim Miller, code enforcement officer Dan Gardner, Fire Chief Steve Cooley and DPW superintendent Jason Watts.

“It shook the whole house,” said Bryan Dimon, one of the residents. “I thought it was just thunder. It broke one of my windows.”

When he came outside to see the massive silver maple, laying on the house, he felt thankful.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

The village Department of Public Works will work to remove the tree from the site. A section of the street will be blocked off to traffic.

The tree missed the power lines, which are located on the other side of the street and also fell between the power connections for the houses.

Another tree fell at 203 Erin Rd. in Medina and broke a window and torn off some facia.

Sue Wilson was standing on her porch with her dog when a maple tree fell very close to her house.

She heard a crash. The tree knocked glass inside her house from the broken window. She also is thankful it didn’t do more damage. Firefighters said she can stay in her home while the tree is cleaned up.

Sue Wilson is on the phone with her insurance company after a tree fell close to her house, causing some damage this morning.

Some village officials say hike from $35,000 to $135,000 for each town ‘not enough’

Photo by Tom Rivers: Mike Maak, a retired Medina firefighter who helped set up the ambulance service through the fire department in 2006, said it would be more fair for taxpayers if the service was billed through the county so one municipality, such as Medina, doesn’t bear the bulk of the cost. In back from left are Village Clerk/Treasurer Jada Burgess, Mayor Debbie Padoleski and Trustee Mark Prawel.

MEDINA – Village officials will be asking the towns of Ridgeway, Shelby and Yates to contribute $135,000 each in 2027 towards the ambulance service provided by the Medina Fire Department.

That is a significant jump from the $35,000 each town was paying in 2026. But Medina officials say, even with the big increase, the towns are still getting a deal compared to what the village taxpayers are spending for the service.

Yates Town Supervisor Jim Simon has publicly stated the $135,000 is too high for Yates. He has talked with Mercy Flight EMS to see if that agency would provide the service at a lower cost. Mercy Flight is contracted with the seven towns in central and eastern Orleans to provide ambulance coverage.

Medina Mayor Debbie Padoleski said the Village Board was trying for a multi-year contract with the three towns but now is looking at a one-year agreement. That should provide more data on the precise costs to the village for running the ambulance service.

Medina’s career firefighters also serve as EMTs and paramedics. About 90 percent of their calls are EMS-related.

Village Trustee Scott Bieliski said the ambulance service accounts for about $1.3 million of the village’s $3.96 million tax levy. The fire department expense outside of the ambulance is approximately another $400,000, he said.

“Paying $35,000 is now here nearly enough,” Mayor Debbie Padoleski said about the current town contribution. “We’re providing a service to them and we have to pay for that service.”

Trustee Mark Prawel said the $135,000 from each of the three towns is still too low and he wants them to pay more.

The other Village Board members agreed, but they opposed seeking more for now. Trustee Jess Marciano said it would appear to be in bad faith after telling the towns in the negotiations in recent months that the village’s requested number was $135,000.

Padoleski pushed to settle on that number so the towns can know what to expect as the town boards work to put together their town budgets for 2027. The towns are working on those spending plans now.

“I think it should be higher,” Prawel said during last week’s board meeting. “I think we shot too low.”

The seven towns in eastern and central Orleans County are in a three-year contract with Mercy Flight where that organization was paid $250,000 in 2025, $275,000 in 2026 and will be paid $300,000 in 2027.

The towns pay a share based on call volume. The Medina mayor said she opposes using call volume for a funding formula. The budget for the ambulance service doesn’t change for Medina if calls go up or down, she said.

‘There is no doubt this is an expensive service,” Padoleski said. “It’s going to be expensive no matter where you get it.”

If all three towns pay the $135,000 or $405,000 total, the village residents would still be funding about $900,000 of the cost.

“Medina village residents are paying a lot more for the ambulance,” Bieliski said. “It’s not even comparable.”

The Village Board also said they want to make sure the towns out the town expense for the ambulance in the outside-village fund so village residents don’t pay twice for the service in their taxes.

Bieliski said a one-year contract will give the village and town officials more time to digst the numbers and consider the future of the EMS services in western Orleans.

“The numbers are astronomical,” he said. “We get a great service. Everyone just needs to come together on the numbers.”

Mike Maak, a retired Medina firefighter, was part of the team that helped establish the ambulance service through the fire department in 2006. The Medina FD replaced Rural Metro for the ambulance service in western Orleans.

Maak said it would make more sense to fund the service through the county-wide taxes, similar to how the garbage and recycling is billed and paid for with an annual fee. That way, Maak said, the costs are spread out fairly without one entity bearing too much of the expense.

If the service continues through the Medina FD, there has to be significantly more buy in from the neighboring towns, he said.

“The can can’t be kicked down the road anymore,” Maak said during the meeting last week. “We are at the breaking point.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Village Board last week approved opening a new parking lot at 115 Pearl St. This photo was taken last Monday before the traffic cones were removed. The lot was used by the public later in the week.

The lot is at the southwest corner of the intersection of Pearl Street and Proctor Place.  It is rectangular in shape with dimensions of approximately 132 feet frontage on Pearl Street and 100 feet frontage on Proctor Place.

This land was donated to the village by 415 West Avenue LLC, which is owned by Dr. Syed Shah, a cardiologist.

The DPW removed concrete from the site and put down the millings. It will be paved in the future.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Volunteers, including Brianna Stewart in front, get chicken barbecues dinner ready on Saturday during the first Cared by Koleson fundraiser.

Koleson Meakin’s family and friends put on the event near the Glenwood Lake boat launch as a fundraiser for the new Cared by Koleson foundation.

The event was a sellout with all 300 dinners sold. The chickens were cooked by Chiavetta’s.

Brady and Dominque Meakin started the foundation in honor of their son, Koleson, who passed away on Jan. 3 at age 4. Koleson lived with TPK1 Thiamine-Deficient Leigh Disease, a rare genetic condition.

The foundation will raise money for gift cards for DoorDash, Uber Eats and hospital café at children’s hospitals in Rochester and Buffalo for the families.

There were some leftover meals from Saturday’s even from people who paid ahead but didn’t pick up the meal. Brady and Dominique delivered those meals to the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester. They also shared the mission of their new foundation, and connected with a father of child with a serious illness.

“We cried on the way home. Not because we were sad, but because we are just so incredibly thankful. Thankful for everyone who is supporting us, believing in our mission, and helping us carry on Koleson’s legacy,” Dominique and Koleson posted on the Cared for Koleson Facebook page. “We miss him beyond words, but we know his light shines through us. How blessed are we to be his parents!”

Dominique Meakin chats with two of the event volunteers, Sara Page at left and Dominique’s mother, Jennifer Hughes, at right.

Brady Meakin, in back, gets a hug from a person picking up a dinner.

Major art exhibition continues in village until Sept. 7

Photos by Tom Rivers: Evelyne Leblanc-Roberge created an exhibit “All the Hours” at Medina Memorial Hospital. It is staged entirely in decorative glass appendage that bridges the building and the outside world.

MEDINA – The Medina Triennial is winding down, with only two weekends left.

“People from 32 states have come so far, and so should you,” said Kari Conte, co-artistic director for the Triennial. “This has been an extraordinary summer for Medina, with the inaugural Medina Triennial transforming the village into a destination for contemporary art and welcoming visitors from 32 states.”

The Medina Triennial is heralded as a major success for the community, drawing national attention to Medina’s history, architecture, canal front, parks, public spaces and distinctive character.

Conte called the Medina Triennial a remarkable opportunity for Orleans County residents to experience an ambitious contemporary art exhibition in their own backyard.

Familiar local places seen through a new lens, Main Street, the canal front, Rotary Park, Medina Memorial Hospital, Medina Theater, the YMCA, State Street Park, Medina Railroad Museum, Sacred Heart Church and the historic Medina High School are highlighted with exhibits from 39 artists worldwide.

Special programming is planned from noon to 2 p.m. today of Leblanc Robarge’s hour-long film “As the Hour Turns Blue” at the Medina Triennial Hub, 234 Main St.

The Triennial says of the exhibit: “Like of piece of visual poetry broken into stanzas, the installation plays with the experiences of felt temporarily, becoming a gentle and deeply interior reflection on resilience, mourning and change.”

Also today, an artist-led tour of her newly-commissioned installation “All the Hours” will take place at 4 .p.m. at Medina Memorial Hospital. This is a site-responsive work shaped by the hospital’s rhythms of care and its importance as a place of wailing, resilience, mourning and change – experiences that touch nearly every local family. This will be a rare opportunity to walk through the installation with the artist and hear about the research and creative process behind a work made specifically for Medina.

A full schedule of events is planned for the closing weekend of the Medina Triennial Sept. 5-7 – the final opportunity to experience the full village-wide exhibits of “All That Sustains Us.”