RTPI Curator Maria Ferguson joined WRFAs Anthony Merchant to discuss the two new exhibit openings at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Art that Matters to the Planet 2023: Interconnectivity and Joseph Grice: Taking Flight

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David Niles of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute joined WRFA’s Anthony Merchant in the studios to discuss RTPI’s Holidays at the Lodge, Art After Five, the 2023 Banff Film Festival and much more

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WRFA’s Anthony Merchant joined Maria Ferguson at the Roget Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY to discuss 3 new exhibits at RTPI including works by Charley and Edie Harper, Fredonia artist Margaret Braun and various local artists who did art inspired by local nature

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Jamestown painter and punk rock musician Joseph Grice joins WRFA’s Anthony Merchant in studio to discuss Joe’s musical and artistic journeys, his upcoming art classes and residency at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, whether or not Joe can see himself playing in a band again, his solo music under the name “Joey Cobra”, future plans and goals and much more

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RTPI’s Maria Ferguson and George Harper speak with WRFA’s Anthony Merchant about the institutes new art exhibition called Art that Matters to the Planet, the on going Art After 5 series, how the Roger Tory Peterson Institute plans to celebrate Roger Tory Peterson’s 114th birthday this summer and much more

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Dennis Drew, Jeff Erickson and Steven Gustafson in front of the new sign honoring 10,000 Maniacs at the Jamestown city entrance (Image courtesy of 10,000 Maniacs).

JAMESTOWN, NY – Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist unveiled a new  sign at the city’s North Main St. entrance Monday morning, honoring 10,000 Maniacs.

Maniacs’ members and Jamestown natives Dennis Drew, Jeff Erickson and Steven Gustafson were on hand for the occasion, along with several other city and state officials.

Both Drew and Gustafson were founding members of the band when it first formed in Jamestown in 1981. Others in the original group included Rob Buck, John Lombardo, and Natalie Merchant – along with a rotating cast of drummers – including Tim Edborg, Bob “Bob-o-Matic” Watcher, and Jim Foti – on drums (Jerry Augustyniak would eventually become the Maniacs’ main percussionist in 1983 and has remained with the band ever since).

During the past 40 years, 10,000 Maniacs has released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums – selling millions of records and performing thousands of shows around the world. While the band has seen some members come and go (including Merchant, who left the band in 1994 and Buck, who passed away in December 2000) it has continued to perform and entertain audiences over the year, including putting on a sellout show at Reg Lenna Center for the Arts earlier this year. Current band members include Augustyniak, Drew, Erickson, Gustafson and Lombardo, along with Mary Ramsey on lead vocals.

Ten Thousand Maniacs joins Lucille Ball, Roger Tory Peterson and Robert H. Jackson as prominent natives of the Pearl City. The signs note that Jamestown is “The Birthplace of” both Ball and Peterson and “Home of” both Jackson and 10,000 Maniacs.

Others on hand for the unveiling included Assemblyman Andy Goodell (who actually served as an attorney for 10,000 Maniacs in the band’s early years) along with State Senator George Borrello.

WRFA’s Anthony Merchant went to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute to see and discuss the new Art of the Field Guide exhibit with RTPI’s Maria Ferguson and David Niles. The group talked about the artwork on display, what goes into putting together an exhibit, all the summer events coming to RTPI and more

The Art of the Field Guide exhibit is up from now until July, 17 2022

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The unveiling of the new mural by SUNY Fredonia graduate Erin Ruffino will take place on the center’s front porch at 1pm.

Throughout the event, there will be Nature Discovery Walks and Guided Bird Walks, leading to the Art and Nature Lab, where people can create a big birthday card for Roger.

There will be $2 off admission to enter the museum, plus a 10% discount on all museum store purchases and a 10% discount on memberships.

In the event of rain, the celebration will move indoors. For all indoor events, all staff will be wearing masks. RTPI requests all guests wear masks while inside the museum as well.

Gebbie Foundation executive director Greg Edwards speaks to the audience during the public unveiling of the AECOM Strategic Development Study for downtown Jamestown at the Robert H. Jackson Center on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015.

JAMESTOWN – An estimated 120 community leaders and members of the public were at the Robert H. Jackson Center Tuesday night to learn more about a strategic study that will help to guide the future of development in Jamestown as it relates to the National Comedy Center (NCC).

The study was commissioned by the Gebbie Foundation and was conducted by AECOM Technical Services Inc., an international consulting firm that integrates planning and design and economics for various communities and projects around the globe.

Gebbie Executive Director Greg Edwards said the presentation is the culmination of months of research that will help to guide future development in the city.

“What we’re all excited about is the National Comedy Center coming on line and very shortly – about mid 2017 – so if you’re looking to do planning for economic development and designing a strategy on how to do it, now is when that has to happen and that’s really been the focus of the Gebbie Foundation for the past four to five months,” Edwards said. “We’ve been working with a very talented, international firm AECOM to really be our professionals to take a look at downtown Jamestown and what we need to do to prepare for 100,000 annual visitors who are coming here with money to spend, and we’d like them to invest that money in Jamestown.”

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Two representatives from AECOM -– Linda Cheu and Vaughan Davies – facilitated the study and were on hand to present their findings and answer questions from the audience. Davies said several interesting items came out of the study.

One of the maps that AECOM incorporated into is strategic development plan for downtown Jamestown, NY.

“We definitely looked at the city as a whole, but you definitely have an anchor with the comedy center coming online on the west side,” Davies said. “You have a thriving east side (of downtown) and this is really a plan to link those and bring them together. So what we’ve done is sprinkled some bread crumbs, some very specific ideas and opportunities and we’re hoping that the real estate sector and developers will take the bait and see themselves as being part of the future with NCC.”

AECOM found that Jamestown is already a regional destination, even without the NCC being opened, because it has several international brands – including Lucille Ball, Robert H. Jackson and Roger Tory Peterson. The two consultants said that the study is simply designed to provide various options to help direct strategic development in the downtown over the next several years.

Among the key findings was that the city should take full advantage of the portion of the Chadakoin River that is immediately to the west of Main St. In addition, the city needs to become more pedestrian friendly, by making it easier for pedestrians to navigate through the downtown. They also suggested the city focus on increasing the number of downtown retail businesses.

(L to R): Jamestown City Development Director Vince DeJoy, Linda Cheu and Vaughan Davies from AECOM, and Jamestown Renaissance Corporation director Greg Lindquist field questions from the audience.

Now that the study is complete, Edwards said the hope is that key stakeholders in the community, from both the public and private sectors, will use it to help guide the future development in the downtown area to help maximize the city’s potential for both residents and visitors.

“I think that AECOM has really hit this out of the park,” Edward said. “My board of directors was fully engaged with several good questions and Vaughan and Linda provided great answers, so it really stimulated the energy in the room and the belief that not only is this possible – because we know its possible – but also how can it happen.”

The study – which is more than 50 pages long – will be provided to various foundations and city development groups. It will also be available to the public and posted online at JamestownUpclose.com for the public to review in the coming days.