Art on the
Rail Trail

ART is a volunteer committee of the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy.

ART’s mission is to support and improve the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail by creating public works of art along the Rail Trail. These unique art installations encourage local and regional visitors of varying ages and physical abilities to enjoy this amenity, both increasing the diversity of trail users and benefiting the local economy. In addition to bringing public works of art to the Rail Trail, ART also hosts community events including the annual Chalk the Walk every September. Follow ART on social media to stay up to date on happenings!

Donate to Art on the Rail Trail

ART News 2024‍

Check out ART's Year-End Summary 2023 documenting the committee's accomplishments through the year.
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miniMoCA518

The Passing
‍‍by Gina Occhiogrosso
Mixed media installation
2024

Exhibition Dates: October 6 - December 31
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‍Location: miniMoCA518, Corner of Hudson Avenue and Adams Street

My work is about time and process and is usually two-dimensional. I am interested in painting as a process of chance and intention. The act of collage informs the work and I have devised a method of cutting and sewing painted muslin fabric as an act disrupting an image to create complex spaces, full of dislocated forms. When I was asked to create awork for miniMoCA on the Rail Trail, of course, I thought of the natural environment that the Rail Trail provides. I also thought of my dollhouse growing up. I enjoyed controlling the interiors and creating stories in miniature. With this piece, I wanted to tell the story about all of us artists who work a day job in the arts - me, a gallery manager at Opalka Gallery at Sage College, in Albany, NY. This piece is about the struggles we have balancing our artwork with the demands of life. The artwork also references the fragility of nature through photo collage and natural surfaces. The figure, a person cleaning the gallery, sweeps the detritus of someone else’s artwork in hopes of creating their own.

Gina Occhiogrosso’s national exhibition experience includes group exhibitions at The Painting Center, Sarah Crown New York, Kathryn Markel Fine Art, and The High Line, in New York City, Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn, Providence College in Providence, RI, Zinc Contemporary in Seattle, WA, and TheTang Teaching Museum, in Saratoga Springs, NY. She has had one-person shows atsuch places as ZINC contemporary, Seattle WA, Wilson Gallery at LeMoyneCollege, and The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY. Gina has been in residence at the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, MacDowell, Constance Saltonstall Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, The Vermont Studio Center, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Inc (VCCA), and Millay Arts. She was also a Visiting Artist at The American Academy of Rome in Italy in 2014. Her work has been mentioned in the Brooklyn Rail and The New York Times. Gina’s work is represented by Cura Contemporary in Morgan Hill, CA, and Bernay Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA
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‍‍NEW in 2024: Mural by Quill Harrison
Quill Harrison's mural, titled Gales of Spring, is ART's latest addition to the Rail Trail. ‍The mural is located at the Slingerlands trailhead on Kenwood Ave. Learn more about the artist below.
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‍Mini MoCA 518
At the Rail Trail entrance near the intersection of Hudson Ave and Adams St.
MiniMoCA518 will feature free, rotating exhibitions of small-scale artworks commissioned specifically for the gallery. Expanding upon the trend of small, free lending libraries and miniature public art galleries throughout the United States and abroad, MiniMoCA518 aims to present quality family-friendly art programming through ongoing exhibitions at the gallery.

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miniMoCA 518 - view installations

Sponsorship Opportunities‍

You are invited to join Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy as a valued sponsor of our Art on the Rail Trail (ART) project. If you'd like to sponsor ART, please contact art@mohawkhudson.org.

THANK YOU TO OUR 2023 SPONSORS!

I Love Books, Little Art Gallery Exhibit Sponsor (D. Colin installation and poetry reading)
McSharry & Associates Realty, Little Art Gallery Exclusive Sponsor
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Open call for ART

Artist contact information (name, email, phone, mailing address)
Artist website (if applicable)
Proposal images (1-5)
Examples of past work
Artist CV
Preliminary budget
Proposal summary

Open Call for ART sites

Do you own a property or business along the Rail Trail? Would you like to see more ART along the trail? If so, let’s talk!
Email art@mohawkhudson.org to start the conversation.

View Our Work

Check out the art installations at these locations:

Quill Harrison mural at the Slingerland trailhead on Kenwood Ave (2024)
Fernado Orellana art on the columns under Cherry Ave bridge in Slingerlands (2022).
‍Mini MoCA 518, rotating miniature gallery at the Adams St. Rail Trail entrance in Delmar.
Inaugural exhibition Preschool by Roger Bisbing, 2022.
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Oh my! Murals Share the Trail, a public safety campaign sponsored by Albany County at multiple site on the trail (2021).Susan Togut art installations between Main St. and Grove St. in Voorheesville (2020).
‍Young People’s Mural at the Kenwood Ave. trailhead in Slingerlands (2019). A community mural designed by student Emily Meier, project work led by artist Andrea Hersh.
Angela Cuozzo mural for Bliss Juice Bar on Delaware Ave. in Delmar (2019).
John DeMarco art on the columns under the Cherry Ave. bridge in Slingerlands (2018-2022).
Ramiro Davaro-Comas mural on the Rail Trail bridge crossing Delaware Ave. in Delmar (2018).
Andrea Hersh mural at the Adams St. Rail Trail entrance in Delmar (2017).‍

Check out our photo gallery on Facebook

Featured Artists of the Rail Trail

Quill Harrison

Quill Harrison is a multi-passionate artist based in New York. Their artwork mainly consists of illustrations, murals, and sculptures. Within it, they show their experience as a black and queer artists as well as anxiety, existentialism, communication, and the ways humans connect.

Fernando Orellana

Fernando Orellana created the new mural on the piers under the Cherry Ave bridge in 2022. Fernando is a professor of Visual Arts at Union College, Schenectady.

Angela Cuozzo

Angela Cuozzo is designer and artist with over 25 years of corporate experience in graphic design and marketing. She created the mural for Bliss Juice Bar on Delaware Ave. in Delmar.

Susan Togut

Susan Togut is an educator, therapeutic facilitator, and curator, who works from personal perspectives and community-based, worldly concerns. Her installation features a series of painted pieces that hang from the trees along the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail between Main Street and Grove Street in Voorheesville.

John DeMarco

John DeMarco's created the first mural featured on the piers under the Cherry Ave. bridge in Slingerlands. (The artwork had been damaged during bridge repairs and was eventually replaced by a new mural in 2022.)

Ramiro Davaro-Comas

Ramiro Davaro-Comas is an Argentine/American artist and entrepreneur living and working in Upstate New York. The mural he created is on the Rail Trail bridge crossing Delaware Ave. in Delmar.

Andrea Hersh

Andrea Hersh holds a BS in painting and drawing from Skidmore College and an MFA from the University at Albany. Her large mural at the Adams St. Rail Trail entrance in Delmar was the first ART installation on the Rail Trail.

Art on the Rail Trail believes that public art is a transformative vehicle for uniting diverse individuals and outlooks from throughout the Albany-Helderberg region. ART strongly welcomes participation from creative voices representing diverse backgrounds and embraces projects that celebrate community building through inclusive approaches. ART does not discriminate based on factors of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disabilities/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status, and/or socioeconomic background.