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CORTLAND, NY (607NewsNow) — Ashe Martin, owner of Forged from Ashe Studios, has been bringing her experience in mosaic and multimedia art to the community in Cortland for almost four years now.
Opening in April 2021, she started with a small personal studio where she did one-on-one classes. About two years ago, she moved into a much larger space inside of the Cortland Corset Building which allowed for her to host larger classes. A native of Binghamton, New York, she’s lived in Cortland for about five years. Before settling down in Cortland, she did large scale mosaics in Binghamton as well as after school programs with marginalized youth.
At first, she focused her studio mostly on mosaics, as she found it to be fulfilling while in Binghamton. Since then, she has expanded what is offered at the studio.
“I realized that being a multimedia artist, I can offer people more than just mosaics and can teach people a lot of different things. I really believe that art acts as a form of therapy, especially with mosaics. You’re building a backwards puzzle, so just watching people zone out on it really fills my heart. Watching people take a moment to quiet their brain and just build something from the bottom up is a really cool process,” says Martin.
Martin has just taken over the position of chair of the Cortland Public Art and DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) Committee. Cortland was awarded $200,000 towards public art for the DRI, giving a boost to the local art scene.
“I think it’s easy, with smaller cities like Cortland, for that money to kind of just get lost in the mix. Cortland is on a precipice right now where there’s culture and we’re starting to see more art pop-ups, more galleries, more art events. The next step is public art; to get more murals up, to get more sculptures up, to do more with the public. Art creates a sense of belonging in a community, it can really bring people together.”
During a time where public art is on the rise in Cortland, it matters to support local artists.
“There’s an absurd number of local artists, and every single one of them has their own type of art and they’re all very talented. Supporting your local artists means going to gallery openings, purchasing local art, following their social media. It brings the community tighter, you learn about these people and where they get their inspiration from.”
Going into the fourth year of Crown City Mural Fest, which came about out of necessity during hold ups in the downtown Cortland construction and needing to keep the DRI public facing, Martin and local artist Crystal Lyon came up with the idea for the festival. Anyone in the community of any age can sign up to paint a mini mural (about four feet by three feet), with paint and brushes supplied. Local vendors and food trucks also participate, marrying together the art and business sectors of Cortland.
“Local businesses put up the mini murals in their windows to promote the public art aspect of the DRI. We have no budget for it really, so everything is donated. We have Sherwin-Williams, Meldrim’s, a lot of downtown local businesses donate to make it happen. It’s free and it’s always the weekend after Labor Day.”
Martin names the Cortland Corset Building as an incubator for local artist and small business. Lots of artist and small businesses rent spaces in the building, becoming a hub for the art scene in Cortland.
“The last two years, Peter, the owner of the building, has been very supportive and keeps the spaces affordable for people. He really loves art and really feels it when he hears music or sees art displays. Everybody is kind of like a community in there, there’s been a lot more new artists come into the building recently which is really exciting.”
Forged from Ashe Studios offers different types of memberships, gift cards, and drop-in studio passes. To learn more about how to participate in any of the classes offered, visit the website here.