Since 1976, Tupper Lake has been celebrating its artists and artisans that make up the small community. Before Tupper Arts, there was the Tupper Lake arts council, then named Tupper Lake Presents. Throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, the arts council continued strong, most notably starting the annual tradition that is the Tupper Lake Arts Show, now entering its 49th year. As time went on, there was a decline in support for Tupper Lake Presents, mostly due to a lack of community interest and volunteers.

Several years later in 2018, current Tupper Arts Vice President Louise McNally enthusiastically headed the planning to re-establish the arts council as the community entity it is today. Along with eleven excited board members, the arts council was saved and renamed as Tupper Arts and incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to allow for the collection of donations to start strengthening the arts involvement in Tupper Lake.

As Tupper Arts has grown, it’s seen several buildings around Tupper Lake as temporary homes, including the Tupper Lake Public Library, the Ginsberg Building (now the location of the Adirondack Store & Gallery), and the Train Station in the Tupper Lake Junction, until serendipitously settling on its current home in 106 Park Street, which came to current board member Liz Cordes in a dream. From these locations, Tupper Arts set up a tradition of year-round programming to involve the community and provide easy access to the arts, through gallery shows, classes for all ages, live performances, and community events.

In 2020, Tupper Arts launched its 2021-2023 Capital Campaign with the hopes of buying the building at 106 Park Street and completing interior and exterior improvements to better fit Tupper Arts’ growing needs. With the help of generous donors and grant funds, Tupper Arts has raised over half of their $450,000 goal and bought their permanent home on October 28, 2021. Tupper Arts will be finishing its first round of construction in the summer of 2022, having worked through the winter in preparation for the exciting 2022 season.

Tupper Arts has proudly accepted grants through NYS Council on the Arts, the ADK Foundation, the Aseel Legacy Fund, ADK for Kids Foundation, Main Street Grant, Stewart’s Grants, the Cloudsplitter Foundation, and more, which have all gone towards Tupper Arts’ goal of supporting artists and artisans within and around the Tupper Lake region and supplying artistic opportunities for the Tupper Lake community.