- Caroga Arts Collective is an organization that focuses on re-imagining the Adirondack experience through the power of the arts.

We started in 2012 actually as a small music festival, and in 2016 got our nonprofit status.

A few years after that, we got ownership of Sherman's Park, and so, now we're here.

What takes place here is the Caroga Lake Music Festival, which is the core program, which is the one that's been going now for its 13th season.

And we also have year-round programs, community events, like a holiday tree lighting.

We'll have things open for the community, including carousel rides.

(upbeat jazz music plays) Back in the 1920s, Sherman's was founded, and so, it really started out as a big band dance hall and beach.

It brought in some incredible artists that a lot of people don't know about.

In the thirties and forties, they had Louis Armstrong here, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Tommy Dorsey's Band, and they were all hanging out in the kind of main building next to the lake in that original dance hall.

And so, there's incredible jazz history that's hidden in Caroga, and no one really knows about it.

(whimsical upbeat music plays) From there became more of the amusement park focus that a lot of people recognize it.

That was the cool thing about when we started diving into trying to, you know, look into taking ownership of the park, was realizing that, hey, this wasn't just an amusement park.

There's actually a huge, rich musical history here and cultural history.

(gentle music plays) You know, you have a gem right here that is really a special place, and we've had legends across all of, you know, music and art here in Caroga.

And so, it allowed us to really circle back and start to bring that history back to life and see how that could help propel the economy forward and the culture forward in this area.

(gentle music plays) I got connected to this place in Caroga Lake because my grandparents moved here in the early eighties, far before I was born.

So every school break, summer and winter break, we would come to Caroga Lake.

Sherman's was a place where we always would walk by it.

We'd wanted to see what would be going on with it, you know, and once in a while, the carousel would be open, but largely it was closed for my childhood, and we'd hear a lot of amazing stories, but I think for people like myself, it was this kind of idea of like, what could we do if we could bring that back to life?

- He was like an old man when he was a baby, we all used to say.

He'd, like, hang on the swing with his arm, just observe the world going around him.

So, yeah, so I think he was already way ahead of the game in watching and thinking about things that could happen.

(orchestra music plays) - Essentially, I come from a musical family.

My mom plays the viola.

My aunt played the cello, My dad likes to say he plays the radio.

But essentially, we grew up, you know, playing music together and naturally when coming up here we'd go to festivals and we would bring friends through Caroga just to stay overnight and enjoy the lake.

But that was really it, initially.

- We'd always drive by Sherman's growing up, and he's like, "Someday, like, we're gonna have "a concert there, and we're gonna do something."

And I was like, "You're crazy.

"That's, like, it's falling apart," you know?

In my head, I'm like, "Have to get permits "and like," you know?

He was like, "Yeah, it will happen," like, you know, "It'll happen."

I'm like, "Okay."

So fast forward to college and Kyle goes, "You know, "there's the chapel down the street from grandma's.

"We really should just have some of our friends come "and play a concert," and I was like, "Okay, that sounds great."

Like, "Sign me up for that."

(orchestra music plays) - And so we ended up having about, I'd say 80 people show up just based on a lawn sign in our front yard and come to the chapel, Caroga Chapel, nearby.

And that's really when everything started.

And I think the musicians realized this is something special.

The audience who was there was, like, blown away.

And for me, I really started to connect the dots.

And so, that was a really empowering thing of, like, wow, our love for music and our love for arts and our love for Caroga can actually be one thing that's put together.

(mellow upbeat music plays) So right now, we don't have an amphitheater, but we get to do amazing things in this old bumper car pavilion.

So (laughs) we kind of transform it, built a portable stage in there.

We have the audience sit in the bumper car with us, and it's a really unique spot for music.

You know, we've played orchestra concerts in there.

We've done July 4th programs in there.

We have done collaborations with Judy Collins and Levee in there.

So we've done some really interesting programs.

You know, with the glass back, you can still see the lake behind and watch the sunset.

♪ 'Cause the sun's sinking ♪ ♪ And my best friend's ♪ found a new guy ♪ ♪ I'm only getting older ♪ ♪ I've never had a ♪ shoulder to cry on ♪ ("Beethoven's 5th Symphony") - Today is really exciting.

We are essentially playing, for the first time, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, and we're doing a conductor list.

We're doing it inside the dance hall at Sherman's so a very intimate space with 40 of, I'd say my closest friends.

- [Woman Long Dark Hair] Many of us have played it certain ways and so some people are like, "Well, traditionally, we slow down here, "and we're," and some of us are, like, "Well, you know, that's in one, you know, interpretation."

And then some of us have not played it that way, and, you know, it's funny 'cause usually, the conductor is calling all the shots.

We kind of figured out our own interpretation together.

(orchestra music plays) - The community aspect is really what defines this place for me.

And it's both that, you know, Kyle has handpicked some of the, both the best quality musicians in terms of artistry, technical ability, but also musicians that are incredibly kind, generous, supportive, and really flexible in what they're able to do.

So a really cool artist community and then, an amazing community, a larger community of patrons, supporters, concert goers.

(orchestra music plays) - What we hope to see over time is continuing to enliven the property with an amphitheater that essentially we've designed with TRW and Consigli, these two firms that are really well known in the region and nationally.

But we also were donated another property a quarter mile from here called Myhill, and it was formally owned by the Shine family.

So we're looking to build residencies for artists year round up at Myhill so we can have these year round programs where artists can come in, can study their craft, can engage in our local education programs.

So it adds a different year-round facet to the organization so it's not just summer engagement.

We're really making an impact throughout the whole year.

And we received a million dollars from New York State Council on the Arts for the amphitheater.

And then at Myhill, we received just recently an $850,000 grant to build a lodge there.

So we've received a lot of great state funding and a lot of contributions from donors in the region to help, you know, jumpstart these projects.

You should come to visit Caroga Arts because I can guarantee you, you'll see something you've never seen before.

And whether it's musically, whether it's experiential with taking a carousel ride and listening to Beethoven's 5th Symphony, or getting to talk to the artists up close and personal, I think there's something unique for everyone.

(bold orchestra music plays) - Bravo.

(audience applauds) (audience cheers)