Return on Experience: Investing in Public Art

In this episode of Fairport Forward, we explore how art shapes everyday life in Fairport and why that matters for the Village’s future. From benches, banners, and streetscape details to live music, seasonal events, and local maker spaces, creativity is woven into how Fairport looks, sounds, and feels. Joined by guest Pat Rapp, we discuss how art influences behavior downtown, strengthens community identity, and supports the local economy by increasing foot traffic, encouraging exploration, and signaling quality to businesses and investors. The conversation also looks ahead to opportunities like the proposed Public Art Trail and how Fairport can invest in art strategically as “soft infrastructure” that supports long-term growth.

Mentioned in this episode:

• 6x6 Art-Making Party on March 14, 2026
• Burning Man Project
• Meow Wolf
• Fairport Public Arts Committee

Find Fairport OCED Online:

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• Village of Fairport Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) Website

Transcript

Johnna McCooey 0:00

Hi, we're back with Fairport Forward. I'm Jonna McCoey. And I'm Amy Olps. And today we are talking about something we see every day and most people enjoy but don't think about the deeper parts of, and that's public art. We are joined by Pat Rapp, the chair of our public art committee, and she's gonna add a great local flavor to our conversation. We're gonna learn more about um how art supports our community, where it already exists, and the important things of um how it how, aside from just enjoying art, it has impacts on a lot of the things we've already talked about, like walkability, tourism, and importantly the economic impacts of art. So let's get started. Amy, let's talk about the survey, like we always do. Sure. So in the survey, we had obviously a few projects that lend themselves to art. Um, a lot of them were public. Um, we had the public art trail, which we'll get into later, and we have um the performing arts center potential for the Baptist Church. And I will say, overall, there is obviously a support for these types of projects that continue growing the creative side of things in Fairport. People value those quality of life enhancements that art brings. I would say the number one way to think about it is that a lot of the comments that tie to public art are really about something we talked about right from the beginning, which is the charm of our village. And art is a huge contributing factor to the feel and vibe and charm and character of Fairport. So, in that sense, there's obviously a huge support for anything that adds to that charm because people say that's one of the major things they care about. Charm and character. And to that point, we do have a public art committee, and um we're interested to hear your perspective on why that's important for our village, Pat. So tell us about the public art committee and what you guys do and how you see the role that art plays in our village.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Okay, thanks. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me here today. Uh, it's great to be here to talk about art. Um, we have a uh Fairport Public Art Committee, which was developed, kind of gotten started around 2012, and we were appointed by the mayor in 2016. We have a uh public art plan that gives us guidance on how we bring art into the village. And it also talks a lot about um, there's a lot of background history. The art plan is on our website. Um, it talks about what art does for a community, the economic value that you spoke of and enhancing placemaking, quality of life for people who work, live, and play in Fairport, but also attracts people into the village. So we're really excited. Uh the art committee, some of the things that we do is we facilitate art installations like sculptures or murals. And we also do a lot of interactivity in the community. We have events, we host a plenary event um where people come and paint in the village. And um we do things at Canal Days, we have a chalk art contest where kids can draw on the sidewalk with chalk and they can win a prize and a lot of interactive things like that. But we also have a six by six art making party coming up on March 14th. Oh, exciting. Where's that gonna be? That's gonna be at Railroad Street Artworks, and it's from noon to 4 p.m. And we're doing that. We we do this every year. We gather supplies, we buy little six by six canvases, and we invite the community to come in and paint. And then we let everything dry, and I collect it all and take it to Rochester Contemporary Art Center. And it's that's their big thing, right? And then you can go and you can actually buy them. Yeah, that's and and what's really great is so many families come and participate, and then they get to go take the kids to see their art hanging up in a gallery.

Johnna McCooey 3:55

Well, that's neat. I had no idea that Fairport coordinated something too. That's really interesting. Is it common for villages to have or towns to have a public arts committee, or is this like a unique thing? You said 2012-ish, so it wasn't forever.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

It wasn't forever, and we're we are very unique. I I believe there's an art committee in Brockport.

unknown 4:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

But um, a couple of years ago, Monroe County sent somebody out to talk to the Fairport Public Art Committee because they are trying to get an art council going for Rochester in Monroe County. So they they're kind of looking to us as an example of how to get something like that off the ground. Paving the way. Yeah.

Johnna McCooey 4:31

So that's a those are really great examples to highlight. Um, sometimes when we think about art, we might think about it as just decorative, but it's more than a decoration or a pretty picture. It really has an impact on the community and and the place that you're in is shaped by the things around you. And when those things are um thoughtful and planned and complementary to the infrastructure and the natural surroundings, all of those things contribute to that feeling of place. So let's talk a little more about that. Art from um not just the enjoying art perspective, but art from the impact on the community perspective. Yeah. What do you think, Amy? I think that art is around us every day in ways that you might not think. Um things like benches, signage, you know, I think in we had talked before this, we were sit down to record, and you had mentioned even the iconicness of the lift bridge, you know, is artistic in some way. And that we're already kind of surrounded, surrounded by art. And that the more art there is, there's like a reason to to pause and and say, Whoa, like this is like making me feel something. Like it feels alive. The village feels alive if you're walking down the sidewalk and you see a really cool mural or a really cool sign. So I just that's my take on it. I don't know if you have anything that you want to add.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

I agree. I worked in the village of Fairport for almost 30 years, and on my lunch break, I would take a walk every day. And I was just stunned by the number of people who are out, no matter what the weather is. There's people out walking, and there really is, it does feel very alive. There's so much interactivity and things happening, and people are stopping and talking and chatting and looking at at you know, looking at the bridge or looking at the mule next to the bridge, but you know, the the artwork in Caneli Park. Yeah, there are so many things that bring people out. Um, make it pre-vibrant. Right.

Johnna McCooey 6:35

There's even like a um along the wetlands, like that trail, there's these like metal sculptures that also are signs, but they're actually beautiful sculptures that if you haven't seen, you should take a look. Um, there's just a lot of interesting art just kind of sneakily around, like that you might not think about.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Exactly. Those sculptures were actually OCED OCED placed those structures on on both ends of the wetlands, but also if you as you're walking, you'll notice there's also a sundial. And these were my favorite pieces because it just fits that site so well. It's it's very natural, made of stones that were made from the canal. So cool. So canal rocks that were hauled up and and made into a sundial. And as you're walking by, you can see people stop and read it and you know try to interact with it and and figure out what time is it.

Johnna McCooey 7:22

Yeah, it's really cool that you actually stand at a certain spot and you put your hands above your above your head and the sun creates your shadow. It just is like a life-size human scale. It is really neat. It's great. Um, this is a great conversation because it really highlights uh kind of two diametric points. Art gives you a reason to move, it highlights the walkability. You don't just um go from point A to point B. You are on your way, and you also might pause and linger. So it invites you out and it invites you into a place, but then it allows you to spend more time in that place and it contributes to that experience while you're in our village. Whether you might just be taking a break on for lunch and you've got 15 minutes, or whether it's intentionally attracting you. And that's another great contributor from that economic development perspective, is that art can be a benefit from a tourism perspective. So let's talk about that a little bit. The idea that um having art in your community, whether it's a an iconic piece developed by a famous artist, or having things where people can engage and and connect to either the natural surroundings like the sundial at the canal, or um both of those help draw people to your space. So what do you guys think about the thing about the mule and how if you're um somebody coming here for canal days or for you know more than canal days, we're more than canal days, folks. Um but even if you come on a nice weekend and you're walking down the shops and you're grabbing a coffee and your kids like they see that mule and they want to go over there, you know, that draws in families because it's an experience for the children. And then then it's like, oh, the parents could sit and enjoy a little cup of coffee while the kids enjoy photos with the mule, and it's just like an engaging experience and it's memorable. So I think like the idea that then your kid a year later is like, what we're gonna go back to the mule, or you know, so it's it's something that can stick with you. Yeah, we got it. What do you think?

SPEAKER_03 9:37

Yeah, and me for the meek is if they go a little farther back into the park, they see the mice from Mouse Paint. I love those mice. Mouse Paint is, I don't know if you remember from when your children were little, Mouse Paint is a a wonderful book about colors, and there's the three mice outside the children's room of the Fairport Library, and they get dressed up for every season.

Johnna McCooey 9:58

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

To check them out because and and it becomes another touchstone, a a point for people to go and see what are they wearing today? You know, it's fourth of July, are they gonna have their hats on or you know, and it's it's another piece. Um and there there are places like that all over the village where where you're walking along and you don't realize you're gonna see art until all of a sudden you do like the back of the wayfinding signs.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

Those it's they're signs that tell you where you are, but on the back of them are the Canal Days posters, and they're just beautiful.

Johnna McCooey 10:31

Yeah. There's another little mural that just suddenly popped up right near the plant shop. Um, crop me up, and you go around the corner and it's like this cute little mural with like frogs, I think. It's so cute. It's kind of like, oh, it's a it's a fun surprise. It is, and um, I don't know for sure this is the reason behind that, but when the uh store owner Sabrina. That sounds right. We'll look it up. Selena, we love you, Selena. Um her her ideal would have been to open up that that side and put there used to be a window there on that side of the building. And she had wondered, could we open up the window and could the window come back? And maybe it it turned out that she couldn't do that. And instead, now there's a really cool mural there. So instead of just leaving that like an ugly space, I'm sure she was behind the creation of that mural. It's a piece of what's inside of that store, it's an indicator of what you're gonna experience when you turn that corner and pop in.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

And it's another thing that just makes you feel great when you're walking down the street. You see that and and you feel like you're in a a place where people are happy. Yes, yeah, right? It's a great place.

Johnna McCooey 11:46

All of those things are about um something we were just learning about and talking about art in the public realm. And it's this concept of return on experience. So um we always hear about return on investment, and that's an important thing. But when you think about return on experience, well, what does that mean? It means people go to a place and they spend their time and money. And when they leave that place, how do they feel? You know, did they, was their experience enough to make them say, that was a worth worthwhile investment of my visit, my time, my money, you know, the valuable moments we have with our family. Was that worthwhile? Did I have that return on experience? And all of the things that we're talking about on our village contribute to that feeling. How did people feel when they were there? Will they come back? And not that not only ties directly to the tourism component, but at the higher business level, if people want to come here, then businesses want to come here. So, Amy, let's talk about business investment in a place and why does art matter then? Yeah, I just think that people want to invest where they feel feel something and they feel connected. So, to your point, if somebody is thinking about where they want to open a boutique or where they want to open their financial services firm and they want their employee, they're like, Oh, I remember that one time that I walk along the canal at lunch and I just feel like my stress melts away. And then, you know, that's the experience I want for my five employees. So you think, I want to be in Fairport. What's in Fairport? Somebody, you know, uh opening up a boutique might say they've walked down Main Street and had an enjoyable experience, or they've chatted with a shop owner who just has loved being here. So people want to be where they feel good. And that to your point, it is. It's a business owner's note, an investor, no different than a person that wants to live here, person that wants to visit here, person wants to invest here. They all have that pull, and it's due to things like charm, art, character, of the unique differentiators that Fairport is leaning into. Absolutely. Um, what are your thoughts, Pat, from uh like how does the art community come around those same kind of what I was gonna say off of what Amy said is um creative people like to be where there's creativity.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

So it's not just artists who want to be where there's creativity, it's also people like software developers, um, marketing people. They want to be in creative environments. Excuse me. And and in a place like Fairport, you can walk out and and you can have that experience and you feel like you're part of a vibe.

Johnna McCooey 14:26

Yeah, we have a pretty, pretty robust and growing creative uh community here already. You know, I was thinking of all of the different businesses and I won't list them here, but there are a lot of creative businesses here to your point, not just you know, art shops and stores and galleries, but performing arts and there's musical things and there's um what did you just say a second ago? Like, oh yeah, like just marketing and interior designers and all these things.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

People thrive in creativity.

Johnna McCooey 14:55

But yes, there's a collaboration like mentality that can happen. Um, you have experience at like I I want to talk about your Burning Man thing because I just find it so interesting. How many people have a Burning Man thing? So three albums. Just no, like uh okay, a brief discussion of your involvement with Burning Man because that's a similar thing, that there's like this like collection of creatives coming together and that there's like a bigger Yeah, no, it and and so you know, to take something like that where we there are about 80,000 people, and we come to the desert where there's absolutely nothing, we build a city, we build art, it's all creative, it's all interactive, people are helping each other.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Um, you don't buy or trade or sell anything there, everything is a gift, uh including the art, the art is a gift. And what happens is uh people will say, you know, oh I I want to do this thing, and somebody else will say, Hey, can I add this to it? And somebody else will say, Can we have a flame effect? And somebody else will say, Can we put these lights on it? And can we have sound and can we and it just things bubble up. And when you have creative people coming together, those kinds of things can happen, even in a place like Fairport.

Johnna McCooey 16:05

Yeah, well, it's interesting you mentioned like that nobody was buying the art or like that kind of thing. However, there are crazy statistics of how much economic development money, like how much money is spent but because of that festival every year, and it's like in the millions, but even on our village scale, it's still true that that artists coming together have an economic impact. Yeah. So um that that kind of answers the unspoken question from the skeptics why are we going to spend money on art, right? We should be spending it on infrastructure and all those things. But we've already laid that all right out right here in that in this conversation. And that is investment in art is it's not either or. It's part of the strategy overall in investing in your community. We've done a lot of um the village and from a public standpoint. We've invested in the streetscape. You know, that was a huge project that we are just wrapping up. We invested in um some harbor improvements with more to come along the canal. All the canal frontage projects and beautification we've done, all of those things are supported by art. So it's it's like a it's like a booster. You know, like having public art around those things will amplify the effect that the of the dollar spent there. So it's always like to me, I see it as like an enhancement that is important to propel all of those capital improvements even even more, you know, lucrative in all ways.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Right. It shouldn't be thought of as something that's extra that if we have enough money, we'll do this. It it needs to be part of the vision because it just makes everything better and and it attracts more interest.

Johnna McCooey 17:53

Yeah, and there are um some methodologies in the way that you can strategically invest in in art, uh, like a percentage for the arts, I think we've talked about, um John and I. Um, and I know that you know, we even had a comment in the survey about well, can't all of these have a small percentage put aside for the an artistic component? And my answer was like, I hope so. I think that would be wonderful to always have that be, you know, in the back of your mind. How can how can you supplement this with art and keep everything feeling vibrant and alive? I think we've talked about a lot of the reasons that uh art in the community is important. So to maybe shift gears, surprise to both of you. Oh boy. Lightning round question. Um tell me, what do you guys think would be a dream project from an art perspective in the village of Fairport? Oh, a dream project. Oh, I hope.

SPEAKER_03 18:48

Oh, well, you better you better go. Well, well, one of the ideas that we've talked about for quite a while in our art plan um is the public art trail, which is a trail of sculptures along the Erie Canal, going basically from Parrington Park out to towards Parrington Town Hall. So the entire part of the Erie Canal that's within the borders of Fairport, we would love to see sculptures along there. And what I like that is kind of outlined in the art plan is that we would have some what we're envisioning is some permanent sculptures that would be pieces that are spread out along that trail, and then spaces in between where we can intersperse smaller sculptures, maybe temporary pieces that might highlight a local artist or a student artist or a rising artist who maybe don't have the ability to build a a large permanent sculpture, but maybe something small that they want to sell later, and then we would just replace it with something, you know, a new piece.

Johnna McCooey 19:52

That's awesome. Yeah, I really love that plan. I hope that um that continues to move forward. I love the idea of the anchoring sculptures with yes, and this the uh the outlet for other people.

SPEAKER_03 20:03

That's really neat. There's so many boats going by there and so many people walking and biking, having something visual would enhance that area.

Johnna McCooey 20:11

That's great. Um, you said there was more though. What else?

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Well, well, I would love to see um there there's a local person at Fairport who is looking for a space to create an immersive art experience. Okay, which is I don't know if you've heard of Meowwolf. No, which is a place in Santa Fe. Um you go in and it's you're just immersed in this art experience. It's like you're in another world. So you might walk in, um like one example is you're in a room that looks like a 1950s kitchen, and you open the refrigerator and you go in and all of a sudden you're in a spaceship.

Johnna McCooey 20:46

Oh, and so Alice in Wonderland wild down a rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

And these are kind of cropping up around the country and they're very popular. They are attracting a lot of people and they're bringing in a lot of money. Yeah.

Johnna McCooey 20:58

Is it intended to be like a longer term thing? Yeah, like a permanent installation.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Like a permanent installation, or it could be, you know, a permanent place where they maybe they swap out installations. Ah, that's cool. Because there are so many, um, again, talking about Burning Man, there are so many creative people in Burning Man who have art that they built and they end up putting it in storage because they want to build the next thing.

Johnna McCooey 21:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

So all these pieces are kind of sitting in storage and they can be pulled together to make an incredible experience.

Johnna McCooey 21:31

Oh, that is a very forward thinking. It is I'm into it.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Yeah, there's a place called Area 51. Meow Wolf was the first one. They got up Area 51 and um, it's Area 15. Area 51 is the I was gonna say, is it?

Johnna McCooey 21:45

I mean, what about aliens? We're getting weird. Uh what are their trademark issues there? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

That would be wonderful to have in the in the village, and there's somebody right here in town who wants to make that happen.

Johnna McCooey 21:54

That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 21:55

And has the ability to make it happen just as a space?

Johnna McCooey 21:58

Like an indoor space? All right, let's take that offline. Let's take that offline. Talk more about that.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

Um cool. I know that uh um yeah, the art committee we have a spreadsheet of ideas of this one's very not arcade. Interactive.

Johnna McCooey 22:14

It seems like they should be on like a platter wall.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Well, we do that, we do that first, and then I type them into a spreadsheet. But we have a spreadsheet of ideas of interactive, fun, engaging experiences that we would love to bring to the community. We just need a little boost.

Johnna McCooey 22:30

Well, that's it too. Like as much as we talk about the economic factors and all that, at the end, it's also just fun. Like art is fun and it it makes you feel something, whether you know whether it's happy or not. I suppose it's not all fun, but it's meaningful and it's it can draw you in.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Sometimes it's a lot of work for the artist, but when you once you see the the joy on somebody's face, like um we were gonna one of the things we wanted to do before COVID happened was I was planning uh with the OSAT, I was planning a unicorn day. Oh, because did you know that there's a national unicorn day? No, bro. There doesn't and so in Ithaca there is a 16-foot unicorn that you can ride. Oh my and so we were gonna we had this whole thing set up. We were gonna work with the ice cream shops to make unicorn ice cream and all all kinds of fun, you know, dye your hair type of thing. Not too late. Unicorn all going all around the village.

Johnna McCooey 23:22

And we could do this stuff, and we just put lots of horn on that mule, put a horn lots of ideas. Um okay, great. This has been a great conversation. Thank you so much for joining us, Pat. Um, one thing that the main thing that I would take away from this conversation is that art isn't just fun, it is fun, it isn't just cool, it's an important ingredient to all of the things that we're working on. And we have to keep it in mind as we um look at new projects, things that that change. One thing that's going to be consistent is art is an important part of our story, and we're glad to have um a committed group in our village dedicated to that. And I think we're doing some really great things already, and we're going to continue to do those. So thanks for being here. Thanks for listening to us.