The Saranac Lake Arts & Culture Advisory Board is looking to work with property owners to establish pop-up galleries in empty storefronts like the one seen here on Broadway. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

SARANAC LAKE — Pop-up galleries in empty storefronts, painted street lamps and rain poems were three concepts discussed at Wednesday night’s village Arts and Culture Advisory Board meeting to get more art into public spaces.

Board members hope all three ideas will come to fruition this summer, around the start of the Third Thursday Art Walks from June to September.

Pop-up galleries

While Saranac Lake has many thriving downtown businesses, the village also has many empty storefronts. Board member and plein air painter Susan Whiteman said normally pop-up galleries are done in established, active businesses. She proposed filling up empty storefronts with work from local artists to help alleviate aesthetic gaps in the downtown.

The galleries would just be for viewing from the outside. Because the village would contract with private building owners, Whiteman said insurance, liability and safety risks would be involved if people are allowed to enter the stores.

At the meeting, board Chair Kathy Ford asked if the galleries would involve any performance art.

“We would love for it to involve performance art as well, and there is still an opportunity for that, but as a baseline, we’re starting with the window galleries,” Whiteman said.

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Street lamps

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Ford said many of the street lamps around the village are in rough shape and can use a coat of paint. The board’s plan is to colorfully paint approximately a third of the 27 street lamps that light up Main Street and Broadway. The lamps would only be painted on the bottom portions, just enough to add a pop of color to the streets. The designs would mirror the mosaic style found on the Saranac Lake Decidedly Different brand established by the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in 2018.

Currently, National Grid owns the street lamps, so the village would need permission before painting.

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Rain poems

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Board member and Adirondack Center for Writing Executive Director Nathalie Thill said she’s been collecting excerpts to feature on rain poems.

Rain poems use water-activated paint. On a dry, sunny day, the paint is invisible. As soon as it rains or people throw water balloons at it as the board hopes, the poem is revealed. Thill said the paint should last a few months.

Some of the spots where the board would like to put the poems are on the sidewalks by Riverside Park, outside the Saranac Lake Free Library and next to Berkeley Green. Thill also suggested putting one on the Riverwalk.

“I was thinking it could be a combination of obvious and hidden spots,” she said.

Thill said the poems or excerpts will be four or five lines long, and the public will get a chance to vote on their favorites. It will be a public vote with some discretion given to the board. Thill said she wants there to be a balance between regional and outside poets. She also doesn’t want every poem highlighting the same themes.

The arts board is seeking to get this idea approved by the village Board of Trustees at its April 27 meeting.