apARTment Tour Benefits Arts in Education Grant Program

The Third Annual apARTment Tour will be held on Sunday, October 26 on historic Market Street in Corning. The event supports arts in education grants made by the region's arts council, The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes (The ARTS).


The Tour, sponsored by Market Street Coffee & Tea, benefits The ARTS' Local Capacity Building grant program, which provides matching funds to school programs that incorporate the arts into the academic curriculum. Tour proceeds will supplement funding The ARTS receives for the program from the New York State Council on the Arts. Since the program's inception in 2002, The ARTS has granted close to $130,000 to schools in Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties.


Pam Weachock, owner of Market Street Coffee & Tea and a member of The ARTS' Board of Directors, stated, "Market Street Coffee & Tea is excited to sponsor the apARTment Tour for a third year. This is a great event, which over the past two years has raised close to $7,000 for local schools."

Stops on this year's Tour include the Henkel Block Building at 72 East Market Street, which was shown unfinished last year; apartments at 45-47, 61, 81 and 88 East Market; and unfinished spaces at 76-78 and 80 West Market. Ginnie Lupi, The ARTS' executive director, said "there will also be a couple of surprises on this year's Tour." A full list of sites will be provided to participants on the day of the Tour.


Current research indicates that the arts can have a positive impact on student performance, especially when integrated into academic classes like math, language arts, science and social studies. "Through the Local Capacity Building grant program, The ARTS is able to assist schools in building necessary partnerships with artists and arts/cultural organizations, to create programs that make a huge difference for students throughout our region," said Tom Oberg, The ARTS' arts in education coordinator. "This event allows The ARTS to support more projects than would otherwise be possible, in Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben and Allegany counties."

The apARTment Tour begins at Market Street Coffee & Tea, 61 East Market Street and will run from 1 - 4 pm. A post-Tour reception will be held at The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, 32 West Market Street, from 2 - 5 pm. Tour Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 the day of the Tour and are available at Market Street Coffee & Tea and at The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.

Original artwork by Janet Howie of Corning, New York