A new way to connect our community!

A ONE OF A KIND CULTURAL SITE – FOR ALL

Established in 1974 as a collaboration between New York State Parks and the nonprofit Artpark & Company, Artpark welcomes artists to enjoy and be inspired by the dramatic scenery and rich history of the Niagara River Gorge, and welcomes visitors and locals to enjoy the art and experiences created on its 150 acres. Over the decades, Artpark has hosted tens of thousands of groundbreaking visual artists, cutting-edge theater, dance and cirque arts performers, beloved bands and musicians representing a multitude of genres, festivals featuring local, national and international artists, poets and writers, and more, earning a worldwide reputation as a special place for people of all ages and walks of life to make and experience art. This living cultural legacy weaves into the area’s history and present-day significance to Western New York’s Indigenous population and the Niagara River and Gorge’s extraordinary natural beauty, accessible to visitors through forested trails, sculpture gardens, and outdoor recreation areas. Artpark is all this and more. Come experience it for yourself.

LIVING CULTURAL LEGACY

Shaping Artpark – a Public and Nonprofit Partnership

The Earl W. Brydges Artpark in Lewiston, New York was established in 1974 and funded initially through the Natural Heritage Trust as a place for the people of the State of New York to enjoy live theatrical performances, musical concerts, dance, and the creation of visual, performance, and other experimental art in a scenic, accessible, and family-oriented setting. Named after the longtime New York State Senator Earl W. Brydges, who represented Niagara County from 1949-1972, Artpark’s 150 acres reclaimed a site left from the creation of state-funded hydroelectric power projects along the Niagara River.

The Niagara Frontier Performing Arts Center—renamed Artpark & Company in 1976—is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit created for the sole purpose of providing programming, operational, and financial support to the Earl W. Brydges Artpark State Park. Since 1997, Artpark & Company has operated and continues to manage Artpark through a long-term collaborative agreement with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The unique natural and cultural site known as “Artpark” opened in 1974 as an unprecedented experiment in artist-public interaction and site-specificity, balancing a populist mission of public access with a bold commitment to commission some of the most avant-garde, investigational art of the day. This legacy continues. For fifty summers, this groundbreaking public-nonprofit partnership has preserved a space where art, history, nature, and diverse contemporary communities come together for experiences that couldn’t happen anywhere else.

Since 1997, Artpark & Company has raised and earned over $80,000,000 for cultural programming and attracted millions of visitors. Click here to see our 2023 Community Impact Report.