Providing grants, programs, and services to the artists and audiences of Tompkins County for 30 years

Local Arts Organizations

Here's a list of Tompkins County Organizations! Visual Arts, Music Performance, Theatres, Literary Happenings, Museums and more! Please visit their websites to see their current offerings.

 

Visual Art Organizations

MONTHLY EVENT: First Friday Gallery Night in downtown Ithaca
www.gallerynightithaca.com

BEYOND Art Collective, Doug Shire and Laurence Clarkberg, Lead Artists
offers interactive, immersive installations of multimedia art for local and regional municipal/public and private events, and welcomes new members! (607) 339-7085 / dougshire@hotmail.com
http://seebeyond.art

GALLERY: CAP Artspace
features monthly exhibits / 110 N. Tioga Street, Tompkins Center for History and Culture
www.artspartner.org/content/view/cap-artspace.html

GALLERY: Community School of Music and Arts
provides instruction in music, dance, visual arts, theater, and language arts. Their gallery features monthly exhibits. / 330 E State/MLK Jr. Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.csma-ithaca.org

GALLERY/STORE: Corners Gallery
Corners Gallery is a contemporary art gallery and framing studio. / 903 Hanshaw Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.cornersgallery.com

GROUP:The Fine Arts Booster Group (FABG)
an affiliate of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI). FABG strives for increased student access and participation in arts programs. Join the group and volunteer to work on goals – communication, grant giving, development, community connections, and instrument recycling. president@fabgithaca.org / 607-256-4734 / @fabgithaca / join listserve by e-mailing fineartsboostersithaca+subscribe@groups.io.
www.fabgithaca.org
 
GROUP: Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
Part of a worldwide professional group of science illustrators, members of this local chapter discuss topics related to science, nature, and art techniques. Members promote public understanding of scientific art and visual communication through local and regional exhibitions and other events. Members of all levels of experience are welcomed.
https://www.gnsi-fingerlakes.com

STORE:  The Frame Shop on Buffalo Street
Quality service, extensive product line and ease of location. 414 W. Buffalo Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.theframeshopithaca.com

STORE and ATTRACTION: Gourdlandia
Come and visit... there's a lot to see and do at Gourdlandia. It's the perfect Finger Lakes activity destination for all ages. Learn how to grow and dry gourds, explore the gourd garden, shop, be inspired, and maybe even make something! Graham Ottoson, (607) 277-0589 / graham.ottoson@gmail.com
gourdlandia.com / facebook.com/Gourdlandia

OCTOBER OPEN STUDIOS, MONTHLY OPEN STUDIOS, and BY APPOINTMENT: Greater Ithaca Art Trail
The Greater Ithaca Art Trail is a collection of over 40 Tompkins County artists.  Visit on October weekends and monthly First Saturday events.
www.ArtTrail.com

GALLERY: Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College
Enhance the academic offerings of Ithaca College with a diverse range of scholarly exhibitions, lectures, colloquia and events.
www.handwerkergallery.com

MUSEUM: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Located on Cornell University campus, the Museum’s permanent collection numbers more than 35,000 works
114 Central Ave, Ithaca, NY 14853
www.museum.cornell.edu

GALLERY: The Ink Shop Printmaking Center & Olive Branch Press
offers exhibitions, classes, workshops, and is a year-round studio facility for printmakers and bookmakers.
330 E. State Street, Ithaca NY 14850 (2nd floor)
www.ink-shop.org

STORE: IthacaMade
Ithacamade is a store that sells local products and goods.  Home of Silk Oak & Spirit and Kitsch.
DeWitt Mall, 215 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca NY 14850
www.ithacamade.com

STORE: Handwork
Handwork is a Cooperative Craft Store / 102 W. State/MLK Jr. Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.handwork.coop

GALLERY/STORE: Mix Art Gallery and Event Space
Urban to Upscale. Thoughtful to Cool. Art for You.
156 E. State Street, 2nd Floor, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.mixartgallery.com

RESIDENCY: Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts 
serves New York State artists and writers. We offer subsidized space for flexible, do-it-yourself retreats and all-expenses paid, stipend-supported juried residencies in facilities that feature universal accessibility. The general public benefits from accessible Open House events and yearly exhibitions and readings featuring residency alumni. Located on 200 beautiful acres eight miles east of downtown Ithaca.
www.saltonstall.org

GALLERY: State of the Art Gallery
State of the Art Gallery is a cooperative fine art gallery showing new creative work by area artists.
120 W. State/MLK Jr. Street, Ithaca NY 14850
www.soag.org

 

Local Music Organizations

Cayuga Chamber Orchestra
A professional 35 member orchestra which performs a regular orchestral concert season, as well as a Sunday afternoon chamber music series, an annual Holiday Concert: Caroling by Candlelight and youth concerts.
ccoithaca.org

Cayuga Vocal Ensemble
The Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, is directed by Dr Sean Linfors (appointed in the spring of 2020). The Ensemble has been performing broad selections of choral music since 1976 to Ithaca audiences and around Tompkins County. Each season, the Ensemble usually presents three or four major concerts in Ithaca, often with guest musicians.
cayuga-vocal.org

Chamber Music at New Park
Annual chamber music festival presenting world-class performers in a relaxed and natural venue on Taughannock Blvd in Ithaca. www.chambermusicatnewpark.com

Cornell Savoyards
have been producing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas since 1953. They delight in exposing modern audiences to the wonderful wit and music of G&S. They also produce light opera, Broadway musicals, revues and sing-a-longs.  https://www.facebook.com/CornellSavoyards

Cornell University Concert Series
The Cornell Concert Series has been hosting musicians and ensembles of international stature since 1903. Originally featuring Western classical artists, the series presented Ravi Shankar in 1987 and has since grown to encompass a broader spectrum of the world's great art musics.
www.cornellconcertseries.com

Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers
Dedicated to the preservation of Negro Spirituals and the legacy of Dorothy Cotton.  https://www.dorothycottonjubileesingers.org/

Dryden Area Intergenerational Band & Chorus
The DAIBC provides a non-competitive, fun, free summer music ensemble experience to anyone of any age or musical ability. www.daibc.org

Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble
A chamber music ensemble, with a regular season of chamber concerts, solo and lecture-recitals performing in Ithaca and Lodi. www.fingerlakeschamberensemble.org

Ithaca Community Chorus (hosts four groups):
www.ithacacommunitychoruses.org

Ithaca Community Chorus & Chamber Singers (ICC&CS)
Founded in 1976, the Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers includes over 100 and Tompkins County residents. The Chorus membership finds commonality in the dedication to learning and performing history’s best choral offerings. The Chamber Singers is a select sub-group of the Chorus.

VOICES Multicultural Chorus
Founded in 2002, VOICES expands Ithaca Community Choruses’s outreach to the Ithaca community and by creating a multicultural group of singers interested in learning, sharing, and singing songs from diverse ethnic choral traditions.

Ithaca Gay Men’s Chorus
Founded in the spring of 2009, the Ithaca Gay Men’s Chorus expands Ithaca Community Choruses’ outreach to the Ithaca community by embracing all men who wish to perform music set for the male voice.

SummerSing
Summer Sing is a summer choral project of Ithaca Community Choruses. Everyone is welcome. You do not have to know how to read music and there are no auditions.

Ithaca Community Orchestra
The Ithaca Community Orchestra (ICO) supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of the classical orchestral repertoire, as well as music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
www.ithacacommunityorchestra.org

Ithaca Concert Band
Ithaca's official community band for more than 40 years, celebrating music-making for all ages. ICB offers free concerts throughout the year, including an outdoor summer concert series.
ithacaconcertband.org

Ithaca Underground
presents events featuring national touring, regional, and local bands and performers on a year-round basis, averaging 40+ shows a year. Events primarily revolve around hardcore, punk, math-rock, hiphop, noise-rock, grindcore, progressive and experimental genres and all of their subsequent sub-genres that continue to evolve.
www.ithacaunderground.com

Music’s Recreation
Music's Recreation is devoted to exploring new concert formats that integrate professional performance of a wide range of music with intriguing and educational commentary in a very informal atmosphere.
musicsrecreation.org

 

NYS Baroque performs music of the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods on period instruments.
nysbaroque.com

Opera Ithaca
Opera Ithaca brings professional opera to Ithaca, New York and the surrounding Finger Lakes and Southern Tier region.
operaithaca.org

State Theatre of Ithaca
The historic and restored State Theater is a venue for national, international and community performances and programming.
www.stateofithaca.com

Triphammer Arts
Triphammer Arts consistently bring together dancers and musicians from the area to resent high quality, audience-friendly music and dance productions both outdoors and indoors.
www.operacowpokes.com

 

Performing, Film, Literary Organizations

Ithaca Ballet
The Ithaca Ballet, under the direction of Cindy Reid, is Upstate New York’s only repertory company and is the resident ballet company at the beautiful State Theatre in downtown Ithaca. IthacaBallet.org

Actor's Workshop of Ithaca
a Meisner technique and audition prep studio. The performance branch is called AWI Theatre Company which mounts at least one full production a year. www.actorsworkshop.biz

Art & Soul
Authentic creative experiences, arts education opportunities, unique performances and one-of-a-kind arts-based events. Art & Soul
Classes: Art & Soul @ The Cherry Artspace Summer Camps

Cinemapolis
a first-run movie theater located in the heart of downtown Ithaca, specializing in independent, foreign, and locally-produced films.
www.cinemapolis.org

The Cherry
under Artistic Director Samuel Buggeln, hosts an evolving ensemble of Ithaca's most talented and dynamic professional theatre artists that is Radically local, Radically international, and Formally innovative.
www.thecherry.org

Civic Ensemble
creates theater that explores and explodes the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. Through the production of new and overlooked plays, community-based plays, and re-imaginings of classics, Civic Ensemble works to bring audiences of different races, classes, and experiences together in a public forum on the American experiment.
www.civicensemble.org

Clockmaker Arts
An international process oriented storytelling and theater company with an emphasis on "human first, artist second" is dedicated to creating a safe space to explore different forms of storytelling.  Specializing in Resident Theater Teaching Artist Programs, Original Theatrical Work, Community Classes and Storytelling Resources, Clockmaker Arts seeks to promote connection and healing through the creative process as well as creative performance. 

Cornell Cinema
provides an array of classic Hollywood and foreign films, independent titles, documentaries, experimental work, recent international cinema, silent films with live musical accompaniment, cult classics and recent Hollywood and arthouse hits, in addition to guest appearances by visiting film and videomakers.
www.cinema.cornell.edu

Cornell Department of Performing and Media Arts
Staff and students in Cornell's Department of Performing and Media Arts have created an entertaining, intriguing and invigorating set of performances and events for next year's calendar, including a mixture of new work, film screenings, and dance festivals.
http://www.pma.cornell.edu/

Encore Players Community Theatre
is a venue for children, youth, and adults to participate in the rewarding experience of theater, http://encoreplayers.org/

Fitz&Startz Productions
Theatre for All Ages!
https://www.kitchentheatre.org/fitzandstartz.html

Hangar Theatre
The Hangar Theatre is an award winning professional regional theatre presenting full-scale musicals, beloved classics, comedies, dramas, cabaret, and world premieres, along with a sparkling lineup of plays and musicals for kids of all ages and year-round education programs. TICKETS & INFORMATION: 607.273.ARTS (2787). Located at 801 Taughannock Blvd in Cass Park.
801 Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca, NY 14850
www.hangartheatre.org

House of Ithaqua
produces dark theatre and film in order to entertain, unsettle, inspire and promote thought-provoking dialogues in our community. https://www.houseofithaqua.com/

Ithaca City of Asylum
COA provides refuge in Ithaca, New York, for writers and artists whose works are suppressed, whose lives are threatened, whose cultures are vanishing, and whose languages are endangered.
www.ithacacityofasylum.com

Ithaca College Main Stage Theater
Theater by the Ithaca College Theater Department for the general public. 
Ticket office - 607-274-3224, Monday through Friday, between noon and 5:00 p.m.
www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/theatre/mainstage

Ithaca Shakespeare Company
presents three fully staged productions each year, including an indoor show in February and two outdoor shows performed in rotating repertory on the grounds of Cornell Plantations each July.
www.ithacashakespeare.org

Kitchen Theatre
In its intimate performance space. the Kitchen Theatre Company (KTC) creates professional theater that challenges the intellect, excites the imagination, informs and entertains. KTC nurtures a community of diverse artists and brings excellent art to the community and beyond.
417 W. State / W. MLK, Jr. Street, Ithaca, New York 14850  www.kitchentheatre.org

Running to Places Theatre Company
A youth community theatre company engaged in youth development..helping to raise our community's children and making excellent theatre in the process.  www.runningtoplaces.org

Triphammer Arts
brings together dancers and musicians from the area to resent high quality, audience-friendly music and dance productions both outdoors and indoors at the CRS Growers organic vegetable farm on Triphammer Road.  www.operacowpokes.com

Walking on Water Productions
​To present engaging, entertaining, and elevating works that stimulate the senses, intrigue the mind, woo the heart, and anchor the soul. www.walkingonwaterproductions.com

 

Literary Happenings

Buffalo Street Books
has author readings, performances, a bookclub and more.
www.buffalostreetbooks.com

Cornell Reading Series
During the academic year, the Creative Writing Program sponsors poetry and fiction readings by guest writers and writers in residence.
http://english.arts.cornell.edu/creative/readings/

New Voices Literary Festival
The New Voices literary festival is a collaborative effort of the Writing and English Departments of Ithaca College with invaluable support from the schools of Humanities and Sciences, Theater, and the Park School of Communications. Each year the festival invites authors at the beginning moments of rich literary careers to share work in a variety of genres. The festival is distinguished by the involvement of undergraduates at every stage of planning and implementation, and by the range of readings, panels, and class visits that make up the three day festival.
http://www.ithacanewvoicesfestival.com/

Novel Slices
is an international literary journal based in Ithaca that is dedicated solely to novel excerpts. Contests in January/February and July/August, and always looking to connect with Tompkins County writers. www.novelslices.com / novelslices@gmail.com

Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts & Saltonstall Arts Colony
serves New York State artists and writers. We offer subsidized space for flexible, do-it-yourself retreats and all-expenses paid, stipend-supported juried residencies in facilities that feature universal accessibility. The general public benefits from accessible Open House events and yearly exhibitions and readings featuring residency alumni. Located on 200 beautiful acres eight miles east of downtown Ithaca.
www.saltonstall.org

Spring Writes Literary Festival
The Spring Writes Literary Festival is an annual festival of combined workshops, panels, performances, and public events for writers and readers. There are more than 30 opportunities for education, inspiration and entertainment at locations in downtown Ithaca.
www.springwrites.org

Story House Ithaca
Story House Ithaca creates spaces where people of all interests and backgrounds can come together to share, study, create, and enjoy stories in all their forms. www.storyhouseithaca.org

Local Museums

The History Center
The History Center is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to preserve and encourage access to its unique collections, while designing learning experiences and services that create opportunities for people to learn about themselves and their place in the world.
401 E State St, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.thehistorycenter.net

Museum of the Earth
The Museum of the Earth provides an opportunity for scientists, science enthusiasts, families, and their children to learn about Earth in a fun and engaging way. There is always an exciting array of permanent and temporary exhibits to discover and a variety of rotating events to attend each month.
1259 Trumansburg Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.museumoftheearth.org

Sciencenter
The Sciencenter inspires excitement for science through interactive exhibits and programs that engage, educate and empower. The hands-on museum offers guests of all ages more than 250 exhibits, educational programs, a gift shop, and seasonal outdoor science playground and 18-hole mini-golf course. Look, touch, listen & discover at the Sciencenter.
601 1st St, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.sciencenter.org

Wharton Studio Museum
Wharton Studio Museum’s mission to preserve and celebrate the role Ithaca and the region played in the history of American filmmaking drives the organization to broaden awareness — locally, regionally and nationally —  of this unique history through programming of all kinds. Also central to our mission is WSM's plan to develop the Wharton Studio Museum and Park Center in the historic Wharton Studio building in Stewart Park, one of a handful of silent film studios still standing in the country.  fingerlakesfilmtrail.org
www.whartonstudiomuseum.org