Thousand Islands Arts Center Celebrates Grand Opening of State-of-the-Art Facility
CLAYTON, NY — June 22, 2026 — The Thousand Islands Arts Center ~ Home of the Handweaving Museum celebrated the ribbon-cutting of its new state-of-the-art facility at 321 James Street on Monday, June 22, 2026. The ceremony marks the culmination of years of community dedication to expanding arts programming for the River community, creating a vibrant, year-round cultural destination in the heart of the village.
Designed by Clayton-based Taylored Architecture and built by Watertown-based Black Horse Construction Group, the new 13,000-square-foot facility triples the organization’s classroom capacity and more than doubles its gallery spaces. Crucially, the building provides a permanent, climate-controlled home for the center’s world-renowned collection of over 20,000 handwoven textiles and a comprehensive research library of over 2,250 titles focusing on American handweaving.
NYS Assemblyman Scott Gray, Lindsay Turley of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and Clayton Mayor Nancy Hyde joined patrons, staff, and area supporters to mark the historic occasion. The ceremony was followed by public guided tours through the multi-story facility.
“Today we celebrate our community’s collaboration, creativity, and a fierce commitment to our mission to bring arts and culture to the North Country,” said Mia Ramseier, the Arts Center’s Executive Director. “Our ribbon-cutting marks the official beginning of an exciting new chapter, bridging 60 years of creative tradition with the opportunities of tomorrow.”
The ambitious campus expansion was made possible by generous private donations from the regional community, alongside cornerstone capital grants from NYSCA and the Northern New York Community Foundation. The project was also supported by the National Park Service’s “Save America’s Treasures” program and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Arts Center’s inaugural exhibition in the new space, Along the River’s Edge, opens Wednesday evening and will be on display through July 25. The juried exhibition celebrates the