The Glove Cities Arts Alliance logo was created by Linda Hinkle.

Parenthood, oil on canvas by Janelle Krause.

The Glove Cities Arts Alliance will host two weekends of free public events at the newly renovated Memorial Hall Cultural and Arts Center, 40 N. Main St., in advance of its permanent gallery opening.

The events will take place Thursday, Oct. 16, through Saturday, Oct. 18, and Thursday, Oct. 23, through Saturday, Oct. 25.

The Thursday and Friday events will run from 5 to 8 p.m., and the Saturday events will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. An opening reception will take place Thursday, Oct. 16, from 5 to 8 p.m.

“As we await the completion of our beautiful, cutting-edge gallery space at the Glove City Lofts, we wanted to give our community a preview of the kind of programming we plan to offer in our future home,” said GCAA member and regional artist Paul Sunday in a news release. “All are invited to join our opening reception, musical performances, exhibition hours, and an artists’ salon.”

Founded in 2020, Glove Cities Arts Alliance is a nonprofit coalition of artists dedicated to building community connections among local creatives and contributing to the revitalization of downtown Gloversville. The group, originally directed by Gloversville arts teacher Janelle Krause, is now led by regional artist Robert Tomlinson. Glove Cities Arts Alliance will soon take up permanent residence in a 2,000-square-foot gallery at the Glove City Lofts, 52 Church St., where it plans to host exhibitions, workshops, salons, readings, musical performances and other programming.

The Pop-Up Group Show is a collaboration between Glove Cities Arts Alliance and Memorial Hall, which received a Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant in 2022. The partnership allows GCAA members to present a fall exhibition while also showcasing newly restored spaces in the historic Schine building.

In addition to exhibition hours, Glove Cities Arts Alliance members will be invited to attend artists’ salons, a tradition dating back to the 17th century in which artists gather to discuss their work, collaborate, share skills, and deepen their understanding of the arts. Musical performances will include world-renowned jazz bassist Michael Bisio and a cabaret of original works presented by Gloversville-based production company Trust Your Gut Productions.

“We are so privileged to be partnering with the GCAA to bring high-end arts to the Greater Gloversville area,” said Michael Maricondi, co-founder and creative director of Trust Your Gut Productions, in the release. “Our community is so deserving of all sorts of arts, and creating the opportunity to couple incredible visual arts talents with musicians, actors, writers, and more really excites us. We’re all helping to pave the way to make Gloversville a place to be for the arts.”

For more information on GCAA or membership, visit facebook.com/glovecitiesarts.

The Canal Basin is seen from the Lower Bridge in Amsterdam, circa 1908. The Erie Canal transformed not only the communities along its route, but also New York State as a whole.

The Canal Basin is seen from the Lower Bridge in Amsterdam, circa 1908. The Erie Canal transformed not only the communities along its route, but also New York State as a whole.

The Canal Basin is seen from the Lower Bridge in Amsterdam, circa 1908. The Erie Canal transformed not only the communities along its route, but also New York State as a whole.

DeWitt Clinton — a mayor of New York City, U.S. senator from New York, four-time governor of the state and presidential candidate — probably never really warmed up to Schenectady.

Clinton, the man most responsible for the creation of the Erie Canal, was enjoying his third term as governor in October of 1825 as he traveled all 363 miles of the canal from Buffalo to Albany. Clinton and the Seneca Chief, a small canal boat that carried him on his journey, were being greeted by large, cheering crowds throughout the Mohawk Valley as they moved eastward toward the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers.

However, the small community of Rome out by Oneida Lake and the small, bustling city of Schenectady, which a century later would become “The City That Lights and Hauls the World,” weren’t so forthcoming with their adoration.

“Each town had put on a great show greeting Clinton along the way except Rome and Schenectady,” said retired Union College professor Clifford Brown. “Other than those two exceptions, there were dinners, plenty of speeches, fireworks — you name it — all along the route. Rome had a problem because they felt the canal........

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