Press

ALBANY - By the time J. Erwin Porter made his drawings of the Erie Canal in the 1960s, the
system had long since lost its stature as an important national thoroughfare for commerce.
But with "All Along the Erie Canal: The Pastels of J. Erwin Porter,'' exhibited from Nov. 17, 2001, through April 7, 2002 at the New York State Museum , viewers get a glimpse of the canal's
historical importance and a sense of how much a part of the upstate landscape it has become.
The exhibit, 40 pastels and rubbings from the series of over 70 that Porter's three sons
donated in 1984 and 1985, is on view in the Museum's Photography Gallery. Also exhibited are
canal-related artifacts from the Museum's collection, including a 20th century canal locktender's booth.

A free gallery tour for adults will be offered Dec. 4 from noon to 1 p.m.

Porter, who died in 1981, produced his canal series in the 1960s, following his retirement as a
commercial artist. Many of the images have never before been displayed. They have become
especially important as a record of upstate townscapes in the mid-20th century, long after
the canal thrived and before many of the buildings disintegrated or burned to the ground.

"The canal is part of our history. Its legends and stories contributed to the culture of 19th
century New York beyond its economic importance,'' said Ronald Burch, the Museum's curator
of Art and Architecture. " It created a folklore; it determined where towns were. Now,40 years after Porter's studies, some of those structures have disappeared, and the landscape has changed. But we have a more complete record.''
Porter was born in Medina, Orleans County, and settled in Penfield, near Rochester. After
studying art at the Rochester Institute of Technology and working as an illustrator and art director
in New York City, he ran an advertising firm in Penfield, retiring in 1960 . He clocked more than 25,000
miles on his car to capture bridges, locks and outbuildings from Whitehall on the Champlain Canal, to
Tonawanda. Some structures still stood as testament to a rich industrial past, while the remains of others Porter had to dig out of the brush. The 363-mile Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, secured New York City as the nation's largest port and created a path of cities and bustling towns across the state. Even 100 years after the system's heyday, Porter's work reflects the great importance assigned to the design of its structures.. He shows bridges, towpath and aqueduct structures reflecting almost 150 years of growth and commerce.
In "Gasport's Shafer Warehouse,'' Porter shows a great 19th century vernacular stone building in Niagara County that remained the oldest cold storage warehouse in the nation until it burned in 1967. "Schoharie Creek Aqueduct,'' built in 1841 recalls, as do other aqueducts recorded by Porter, the
magnificent stone structures of ancient Rome.
In the "Great Stone Aqueduct over the Genesee'' at Rochester, and his image of the Weighlock Building in Syracuse, Porter presents 19th century structures in a 20th century cityscape. Porter's work shows how the canal was often tucked behind homes, and out of sight, as evidenced by the back porches and clotheslines in several of the pastels.

"Today we're an auto culture. We're used to seeing the barge canal from our cars,''said Burch. "Ironically, in the Mohawk Valley the thruway often follows the old bed of the original Erie."