"I've had an opportunity to cook in the TAUNY kitchen and understand why it’s a community favorite. It brings a Food Network setting to the streets of Canton. It also serves as a great venue to promote and keep alive some of the North Country's traditional dishes," she said.
"Since the completion of TAUNY's beautiful demonstration kitchen in 2015, it has become an important center of activity at The TAUNY Center," Executive Director Jill Breit noted.
"We are so grateful that the funding secured by Assemblywoman Jenne will allow us to take another step forward in realizing our full vision for the space. We are especially pleased to be able to invest in equipment that will allow us to launch a podcast series about regional foods and recipes," Ms. Breit said.
"It's an opportunity to get people to come in and share their family traditions. It's a way to get people together in a family setting," she added.
Assemblywoman Jenne said she was delighted to learn the funding will allow TAUNY to make some necessary equipment upgrades to the kitchen at 53 Main St. in Canton.
It will also enable TAUNY to purchase of video equipment to give audience members a better view of the demonstrations in the kitchen.
Ms. Breit also gave Assemblywoman Jenne a tour of the two major exhibits currently on display at TAUNY.
The Folklore Artist Spotlight features the work of Canton artist Kathy Montan. Her felt artwork is described as the culmination of a 30-year love affair with wool.
Assemblywoman Jenne also had an opportunity to check out the TAUNY Instrumental Stories exhibit, featuring a host of regional instruments, from improvised, home-made examples to the work of master craftspeople who supply many musicians in their communities. The exhibition includes an exploration of the context in which these instruments are used throughout Northern New York.
The exhibition features new and heirloom instruments made or used in Northern New York; highlights the craftspeople and community members who make, play and preserve them; and explains the social and spatial settings in which these activities take place.
Instruments came from private collections as well as regional museums and historical societies.
TAUNY collects, preserves, interprets, and presents the customs and traditions of the 14-county North Country region north of the Mohawk River, from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Champlain, including the Adirondack Mountains.
With archives, exhibits, and programs in Canton and throughout the region, TAUNY celebrates the diversity of living North Country traditions inherited from the past, maintained in the present and passed on to the future.
IN THE TOP PHOTO:
Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne (r) and Traditonal Arts of Upstate New York (TAUNY) Executive Director Jill Breit discuss some of the improvements that will be made with $10,000 the assemblywoman secured in state funding for TAUNY.
