Before the onset of the pandemic, arts and cultural organizations in the Greater Ithaca area were thriving, offering performances, shows, and cultural events that brought our community together in ways that truly united us all as one. It was just two summers ago that performers, artists, local officials, business leaders, and members of the community came together as we do best to enjoy all that our city and countyâs cultural organizations have to offer. Letâs get back to that feeling and sense of community, as we work to turn the corner on COVID-19 this summer.Â
Americans for the Arts surveyed various organizations in the arts and culture sector, and determined that in Tompkins County alone, almost $2,000,000 in financial losses were expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a devastating blow that our friends and partners simply cannot endure. While government programs are helping, it is up to people like you and me to step in and remind each other how much the a
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Cornell poet’s play “Trap Door” opens an aperture into Ithaca history
“Trap Door,” a “headphone walking play” that opens May 20 in downtown Ithaca, invites audiences to notice the streets they travel, said Cornell poet Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon.
“Meandering these streets, one might happen upon a landmark site or a name easily recognized. But how many stories go untold? Which ones have slipped into gaps in history? What place do such silences hold in shaping a community?” said Van Clief-Stefanon, associate professor of literatures in English and lead writer of the play. “‘Trap Door offers an aperture: one the walking play format encourages us to pass through, allowing us to see our surroundings in a new light.”