Fairport’s main street is cut in half by a unique bridge that has drawn plenty of attention to the upstate New York village in the past century.
The 139-foot Fairport Lift Bridge spans the Erie Canal with a distinctive 32-degree tilt, with an electrical motor system that lifts and lowers the structure about 10 feet. It’s also only a five-minute walk from Railroad Street Artworks, an artists’ cooperative gallery that cofounder and board president Pamela Renfro hopes will become a similar claim to fame for Fairport.
“The lift bridge that we have here is — I don’t know if it’s like any other lift bridge in the world,” Renfro said. “That was its claim to fame at one point because it lifts up. It’s not a drawbridge.”
For some of the three dozen artists on display in the Railroad Street gallery, which opened in August 2024, the Canal’s presence only a couple of blocks away is an inspiration.
“I do love the water and the reflections,” Railroad Street board member and photographer Nikki Bittner said. “I grew up in Pittsford. … It’s beautiful, and it’s on the Canal too, but it never changes. Whereas in Fairport, there’s always something going on.”
The gallery houses a local collection — each artist lives within 20 miles of Fairport — and a variety of media that include plein air (outdoor) paintings, photography and mixed media. Renfro said the artists have all been juried — had their pieces judged by a panel and selected for exhibition — in other art shows or by an organized art society.
“We are forming our own jury for future artists that may be just breaking into the industry, and so we will have a jurying process,” Renfro said. “For right now, all of the artists on the wall are recognized before.”
Renfro emphasized that Railroad Street was built around what artists said they needed from a space, including lower fees for showcasing their art and uninhibited access. Artists invest in the gallery through the display fees and by working afternoon shifts at the front desk whenever the gallery is open.
“It is so exciting to have a new space that’s clean and bright, and it’s refurbished,” Railroad Street member and painter Melanie Rinn Martinek said. “It’s in a great neighborhood, and it’s accessible to everybody.”
Martinek — who also serves as the president of the Rochester Art Club (RAC), one of the oldest active art groups in the United States — said the cooperative “did a phenomenal job” coming together in less than six months to open the gallery where the RAC now regularly meets.
“They have worked really hard, and it’s happened in such a short amount of time,” Martinek said. “So we’re really appreciative that they will allow us to use the space.”
Besides being a gallery and meeting space, Railroad Street offers classes for artists of all levels to engage with their creative side. These range from introductory oil painting to a one-off class where participants paint their own wine glasses. In addition, the space hosts classes on the business side of being an artist.
Bittner said the distinction Railroad Street brings to Fairport is in the diversity of backgrounds and talents the artists offer.
“We all bring a different flair,” Bittner said. “Which makes it work because everybody brings something different to the table. We’re not all the same.”
