Painters, poets, potters and artists of all mediums worked with the Broome County Art Council this past weekend to form the Broome County Art Trail, an exhibition encouraging residents to explore their county and discover local artists.

Several venues hosted live music performances throughout the weekend. Each artist had a roughly two-hour set, and a wide range of music genres, like flute, piano and folk music, were featured. Some artists played on both days in different locations, giving attendees a chance to see a handful of sets without having to miss a particular artist.

For the event’s visual component, large organizations, including churches, galleries and artists with large studios, hosted other artists so the majority of the sites along the trail would include several mediums from acrylic to wood. Zoha Khan ‘24, the programs and marketing coordinator for the Art Council, described the process of organizing the trail.

“When it comes to organizing the artists with the venues, that comes down to our site coordinators,” Khan wrote in an email. “They’re the ones who put in the time to speak with venues and artists to ensure that every artist has a place to show their work. Without their work, the Broome Art Trail wouldn’t be possible.”

The first site on the trail, ArtFarm Studios & Gift Shop, is owned by Michael Schnurbusch, 45, of Binghamton. Schnurbusch uses several mediums, including photography and woodwork, but his main attraction for the Art Trail was his stained glass work. He developed his interest in art in high school and decided that he wanted to turn it into a career.

“I decided to take classes at Broome Community College,” Schnurbusch said. “I went the art route, but I realized that anybody can learn art, you can pick up an art history book and know what that’s about, but to really understand art, you can kind of figure that out on your own and what journey to go [on]. So, I switched my major to business so I can know how to market myself and run a business more appropriately.”

On his farm-turned-studio, Schnurbusch hosted Santia Eytina, 33, of Vestal, and owner of the online shop Lambs Wings Connect.

Another location that hosted several artists was the First Congregational Church on Main Street. Here, Brandy Brown, 45, of Binghamton, was selling crocheted garments and paintings from her shop, The Honey Suite. Brown said she had frequently attended the Art Trail but had never gotten involved until she joined the North of Main Community Center as an artist. She explained how four years ago, the Art Council reached out to ask if they would participate in the Art Trail and how they have been a participant ever since.

While many artists said the Council has been supportive of local artists, both Eytina and Brown noted that this was an improvement from previous years. An interview from 2015 with Sharon Ball, a former executive director of the organization, revealed that outreach to Broome County’s artists may have needed improvement.

“The communication part continues to be a challenge,” Ball said in 2015. “Trying to be a source of information for everything — not in this clique or that clique, not favoring one or the other but actually being a neutral promoter of all of the arts and all of the people who support, defend and patronize the arts.”

Many of this year’s Art Trail participants expressed gratitude that the council has been working to improve their programming.

“They’re really supportive of the artists and encouraging us to be ourselves and to put ourselves out there,” Brown said. “A long time ago, when I first started, it wasn’t really like that, but I feel like they’re more into working with the community.”