2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal’s completion. The Canal transformed New York State in the 19th century. Today, eighty percent of the upstate population lives within twenty-five miles of the waterway, yet in much of the public’s imagination, the canal remains confined to the past. The 2024 Erie Canal Artists-in-Residence—Alon Koppel, Judit German-Heins, and Clara Riedlinger—each embarked on a year-long photographic exploration contemplating the Canal’s current condition, activating the landscape, and considering the waterway’s lasting impacts on present-day American culture. At Water’s Edge: Reflections on 200 Years of the Erie Canal highlights the culmination of these artists’ projects.
At Water’s Edge is organized by the Erie Canal Museum, Syracuse, New York. The Artist-in-Residence program was created through a partnership between the New York State Canal Corporation and the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse.
