Skip to main content
Be prepared with helpful travel tips!
  • See & Do
    • See & Do
    • See all
      • See all
      • Seasons
        • See all
        • Spring
        • Summer
        • Fall
        • Winter
      • Accessibility
      • Arts
      • Attractions
      • Downtown
      • Health & Wellness
      • History
      • Live Music
      • Parks
      • Shopping
      • Stories
      • Weddings
  • Outdoors
    • Outdoors
    • See all
      • See all
      • Hiking
        • See all
        • Nature Walks
      • ADK Guides & Tours
      • Birding
      • Boating
      • Camping
      • Cross-Country Skiing
      • Cycling
      • Downhill Skiing
      • Fishing
      • Golfing
      • Ice Fishing
      • Mountain Biking
      • Paddling
      • Snowmobiling
      • Snowshoeing
  • Eat & Drink
    • Eat & Drink
    • See all
    • Cafés & Coffee Shops
    • Craft Beer & Cocktails
    • Restaurants
  • Events
    • Events
    • See all
    • Adirondack Snowshoe Fest
    • ArtWorks ArtMarkets
    • Can-Am Rugby Tournament
    • Celebrate Paddling ADK
    • First Night Saranac Lake
    • Plein Air Festival
    • Winter Carnival
    • 3rd Thursday Art Walks
  • Stay
    • Stay
    • See all
    • Cabins & Cottages
    • Camping
    • Inns, Lodges, Bed & Breakfasts
    • Resorts, Hotels, Motels
    • Vacation Rentals
  • First Time Visitors
    • First Time Visitors
    • See all
      • See all
      • Accessibility
      • Downtown
      • Getting Here
      • Greater Region
      • Stories
      • Seasons
        • See all
        • Spring
        • Summer
        • Fall
        • Winter
  • Local
    • Local title-header
      • Live Here
        • See all
        • Meet the Locals
        • Real Estate
        • Town of Harrietstown
        • Town of North Elba
        • Town of St. Armand
        • Village of Saranac Lake
      • Do Business Here
        • See all
        • Chamber Job Board
        • Essex County IDA
        • Franklin County Economic Development Co.
        • Professional Services
        • Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
      • Community Initiatives
        • See all
        • Arts & Culture Master Plan
        • Downtown Revitalization Initiative
        • Saranac Lake Brand
        • Village Community Development Department
What can we help you find?
  • See & Do
      1. See & Do
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Seasons
          • See all
          • Spring
          • Summer
          • Fall
          • Winter
        3. Accessibility
        4. Arts
        5. Attractions
        6. Downtown
        7. Health & Wellness
        8. History
        9. Live Music
        10. Parks
        11. Shopping
        12. Stories
        13. Weddings
  • Outdoors
      1. Outdoors
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Hiking
          • See all
          • Nature Walks
        3. ADK Guides & Tours
        4. Birding
        5. Boating
        6. Camping
        7. Cross-Country Skiing
        8. Cycling
        9. Downhill Skiing
        10. Fishing
        11. Golfing
        12. Ice Fishing
        13. Mountain Biking
        14. Paddling
        15. Snowmobiling
        16. Snowshoeing
  • Eat & Drink
      1. Eat & Drink
      2. See all
      3. Cafés & Coffee Shops
      4. Craft Beer & Cocktails
      5. Restaurants
  • Events
      1. Events
      2. See all
      3. Adirondack Snowshoe Fest
      4. ArtWorks ArtMarkets
      5. Can-Am Rugby Tournament
      6. Celebrate Paddling ADK
      7. First Night Saranac Lake
      8. Plein Air Festival
      9. Winter Carnival
      10. 3rd Thursday Art Walks
  • Stay
      1. Stay
      2. See all
      3. Cabins & Cottages
      4. Camping
      5. Inns, Lodges, Bed & Breakfasts
      6. Resorts, Hotels, Motels
      7. Vacation Rentals
  • First Time Visitors
      1. First Time Visitors
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Accessibility
        3. Downtown
        4. Getting Here
        5. Greater Region
        6. Stories
        7. Seasons
          • See all
          • Spring
          • Summer
          • Fall
          • Winter
  • Local
      1. Local
        1. Live Here
          • See all
          • Meet the Locals
          • Real Estate
          • Town of Harrietstown
          • Town of North Elba
          • Town of St. Armand
          • Village of Saranac Lake
        2. Do Business Here
          • See all
          • Chamber Job Board
          • Essex County IDA
          • Franklin County Economic Development Co.
          • Professional Services
          • Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
        3. Community Initiatives
          • See all
          • Arts & Culture Master Plan
          • Downtown Revitalization Initiative
          • Saranac Lake Brand
          • Village Community Development Department

The Bugs are Here: Art is Decidedly Different in Saranac Lake

Watch Video
Be prepared with helpful travel tips!
ADK Grasshopper
June 07, 2021

Updated: April 2022

Submitted by guest blogger Kathy Ford


The creative spirit of Saranac Lake is on display in our numerous art galleries, exhibit spaces, unique shops, and music venues, all with their doors open to visitors again. Galleries and historic museums are ready to operate normal hours, live music and plays are in the works, and public art is popping up all around downtown. 

A band plays in colorful lighting at an indoor venue.

From sculptures to art-in-motion, the art scene around town is as unique as the people here. In between outdoor adventures and classic Adirondack meals, make sure you check out what's happening in the wonderfully artsy village of Saranac Lake.

A six-legged scavenger hunt

Don't worry, these bugs aren't going to make you run for the insect repellent! Kids and kids-at-heart can learn and have fun throughout downtown Saranac Lake with the Bug Crawl, a fun and educational scavenger hunt launching this summer. The bugs themselves are large, anatomically accurate sculptures created by local artist and teacher Larry Robjent using scrap metal donated by the community. A Bug Crawl brochure will be available at the Saranac Lake Welcome Center in the Town Hall as well as at local businesses once the bug sculptures are installed this June. The brochure identifies the general location of each insect, but it's up to Bug Crawlers to find each one. Use the brochure to learn interesting facts about each bug, and hit the streets to locate a monarch butterfly, luna moth, ladybugs, black fly, and more. The Bug Crawl is a joint project of the village's Arts and Culture, Downtown, and Parks and Trails volunteer advisory boards. If you take a selfie with each bug, you can pick up a Bug Crawl sticker at the Welcome Center. See how many bugs you and your family can find!

Rainy day poetry

In Saranac Lake, there’s something refreshingly unique waiting around every corner, even on rainy days! Thanks to the Raining Poetry project, those drizzly afternoons bring out our lyrical side as poems magically appear on our sidewalks. This summer, several poems will be stenciled on downtown sidewalks by members of the Adirondack Center for Writing in collaboration with Saranac Lake’s Arts and Culture Advisory Board. The catch is, the paint is invisible unless it’s wet, so the poems will only appear when it’s raining. How cool is that?

A sidewalk poem written using ink that only appears when it's wet/raining.

Art that moves

On an evening stroll downtown or by Riverside Park, you may find art that comes to life with colors, light, and interactive designs projected onto the side of Downhill Grill and into the back of the Riverside Park bandshell. Projection art turns any surface into a canvas, and in Saranac Lake it showcases artwork by local artists, time-lapse videos of Adirondack scenery, as well as expressions of poetry, dance, history, and more, making people smile and take a moment to admire art in an unexpected location. 

Art this is displayed via projector on a downtown building. It shows a man looking at the words "Art that comes naturally."

Downtown murals

Local artists fill the streets of Saranac Lake with murals demonstrating their art and cultures! Take a walk down these historic streets, and take a look at some of the best (and biggest) art in town. The walls of these buildings are certainly #DecidedlyDifferent.


One of the bug sculptures made from scrap metal. It is a fly with green wings.

There is nothing that stops Saranac Lake from igniting passion for the arts and building community pride. We are #DecidedlyDifferent! Come, stay awhile, and see why.

A band plays in colorful lighting at an indoor venue.
A sidewalk poem written using ink that only appears when it's wet/raining.
Art this is displayed via projector on a downtown building. It shows a man looking at the words "Art that comes naturally."
One of the bug sculptures made from scrap metal. It is a fly with green wings.

Related Stories

4 Reasons to Hire a Guide
Local Spotlight: Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation
Faces of Music in Saranac Lake
The Taste of Community: Saranac Lake
Saranac Lake's Creative Community Celebrates 25 Years of Local Art
The Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance Shines Its Light in Saranac Lake
Capturing the Little Things
Get Up and Get Down(town)
Running With the Sun
The Return of the Decidedly Different Local
Saranac Lake Local Spotlight: Meet Jason Smith
Explore Your Inner-Artist at ADK ArtRise
The Bugs are Here: Art is Decidedly Different in Saranac Lake
Art All Around
Decidedly Artful
What can we help you find?
Sign up to receive more information.
Enter Email
Do•Stay•Eat•Shop•Events
Work Here•Contact Us•DEI•Media Kit•Privacy Policy
39 Main Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Powered by the Regional Office of
Sustainable Tourism
THERE’S MORE TO EXPLORE
We’ve got the best ideas for things to do on your next Adirondack adventure, and we will deliver them right to your inbox! THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! Your next adventure awaits you in your inbox! Tell us more about what interests you, and we can help you plan your next trip.
MANAGE YOUR PREFERENCES