Art on the
Rail Trail

ART is a volunteer committee of the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy.

ART’s mission is to support and improve the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail by creating public works of art along the Rail Trail. These unique art installations encourage local and regional visitors of varying ages and physical abilities to enjoy this amenity, both increasing the diversity of trail users and benefiting the local economy. In addition to bringing public works of art to the Rail Trail, ART also hosts community events including the annual Chalk the Walk every September. Follow ART on social media to stay up to date on happenings!

Donate to Art on the Rail Trail

ART News 2025‍

Check out ART's Year-End Summaries documenting the committee's accomplishments through the year.
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ART's Year-End Summary 2024
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‍ART's Year-End Summary 2023
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miniMoCA518

At the Rail Trail entrance near the intersection of Hudson Ave and Adams St.
MiniMoCA518 will feature free, rotating exhibitions of small-scale artworks commissioned specifically for the gallery. Expanding upon the trend of small, free lending libraries and miniature public art galleries throughout the United States and abroad, MiniMoCA518 aims to present quality family-friendly art programming through ongoing exhibitions at the gallery.

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A Proscenium of Dreams, or
The Misfortunes of Cardboard
by Charles Steckler

May 12, 2025

Charles Steckler is a stage designer and collage and diorama artist. He is a bricoleur, an artist who uses various means and materials, such as assemblage, painting, drawing, printmaking and photography, to create his artwork. Steckler has exhibited nationally in solo and group exhibitions, and has designed stage sets for some 200 theater productions.
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"Peering through the window into this box we see some two dozen characters, actors on a stage preparing an entertainment, an opera perhaps? My diorama takes the form of a traditional toy theater which was a form of household pastime during the nineteenth century. Families and guests would gather in the parlor to perform abbreviated versions of popular plays with paper characters on cardboard stages, often with sound effects and music; spectacle was emphasized. The do-it-yourself kits came as printed sheets to be cut out, assembled, and decorated. While very popular during the Victorian era in Europe and America, toy theaters went into a decline in the 20th century. Then, since about the 1960s, there has been a steady revival of the form among artists using the new technologies of photo-copiers, scanners,imaging software, printers and ubiquitous scrap and printed matter, to create innovative performances ina small box, inspiring a toy theater renaissance. Contemporary toy theater is alive and well. "
You can learn more about it at Great Small Works. https://greatsmallworks.org/toy.html
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miniMoCA 518 - view past installations

Sponsorship Opportunities‍

You are invited to join Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy as a valued sponsor of our Art on the Rail Trail (ART) project. If you'd like to sponsor ART, please contact art@mohawkhudson.org.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR!
McSharry & Associates Realty, miniMoCA518 Exclusive Sponsor
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Open call for ART

Artist contact information (name, email, phone, mailing address)
Artist website (if applicable)
Proposal images (1-5)
Examples of past work
Artist CV
Preliminary budget
Proposal summary

Open Call for ART sites

Do you own a property or business along the Rail Trail? Would you like to see more ART along the trail? If so, let’s talk!
Email art@mohawkhudson.org to start the conversation.

View Our Work

Check out the art installations at these locations:

Quill Harrison mural at the Slingerland trailhead on Kenwood Ave (2024)
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Fernado Orellana art on the columns under Cherry Ave bridge in Slingerlands (2022).
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‍Mini MoCA 518, rotating miniature gallery at the Adams St. Rail Trail entrance in Delmar.
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‍Oh my! Murals Share the Trail, a public safety campaign sponsored by Albany County at multiple site on the trail (2021).
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‍‍Angela Cuozzo mural for Bliss Juice Bar on Delaware Ave. in Delmar (2019).
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Ramiro Davaro-Comas mural on the Rail Trail bridge crossing Delaware Ave. in Delmar (2018).
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Andrea Hersh mural at the Adams St. Rail Trail entrance in Delmar (2017).‍

Check out our photo gallery on Facebook

Featured Artists of the Rail Trail

Quill Harrison

Quill Harrison is a multi-passionate artist based in New York. Their artwork mainly consists of illustrations, murals, and sculptures. Within it, they show their experience as a black and queer artists as well as anxiety, existentialism, communication, and the ways humans connect.

Fernando Orellana

Fernando Orellana created the new mural on the piers under the Cherry Ave bridge in 2022. Fernando is a professor of Visual Arts at Union College, Schenectady.

Angela Cuozzo

Angela Cuozzo is designer and artist with over 25 years of corporate experience in graphic design and marketing. She created the mural for Bliss Juice Bar on Delaware Ave. in Delmar.

Susan Togut

Susan Togut is an educator, therapeutic facilitator, and curator, who works from personal perspectives and community-based, worldly concerns. Her installation features a series of painted pieces that hang from the trees along the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail between Main Street and Grove Street in Voorheesville.

John DeMarco

John DeMarco's created the first mural featured on the piers under the Cherry Ave. bridge in Slingerlands. (The artwork had been damaged during bridge repairs and was eventually replaced by a new mural in 2022.)

Ramiro Davaro-Comas

Ramiro Davaro-Comas is an Argentine/American artist and entrepreneur living and working in Upstate New York. The mural he created is on the Rail Trail bridge crossing Delaware Ave. in Delmar.

Andrea Hersh

Andrea Hersh holds a BS in painting and drawing from Skidmore College and an MFA from the University at Albany. Her large mural at the Adams St. Rail Trail entrance in Delmar was the first ART installation on the Rail Trail.

Art on the Rail Trail believes that public art is a transformative vehicle for uniting diverse individuals and outlooks from throughout the Albany-Helderberg region. ART strongly welcomes participation from creative voices representing diverse backgrounds and embraces projects that celebrate community building through inclusive approaches. ART does not discriminate based on factors of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disabilities/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status, and/or socioeconomic background.

Art on the Rail Trail