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

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.