The Medina Triennial is a new contemporary art triennial—rooted in place, shaped by community, resonant with global ideas, and free for all.

As the first initiative of its kind in the region, the inaugural Medina Triennial will bring together 35 artists and collectives from across the globe from June 6 to September 7, 2026, to realize a town-wide exhibition and public programs that are both expansive in scale and grounded in the local context.

Artist-led and community-centered, the Triennial is co-curated by Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo, and will reimagine how contemporary art can live in—and grow from—rural environments. Taking place every three years, it supports long-term research, site-responsive commissions, and collaborations that position small-town geographies as vital sites of cultural and critical imagination.

Titled All That Sustains Us, the inaugural edition features more than 100 artworks. The curatorial framework of the Triennial sits at the intersection of art, ecology, architecture, and rural contexts and considers maintenance not only as a physical act of upkeep, but also as a social, political, and environmental process shaped by fragility and resilience. The Triennial brings together artistic practices that examine how civic and ecological systems are structured by labor, regulation, extraction, and repair. At its core, the Triennial asks: What essential efforts and commitments are required to sustain life in our fractured world?

Located in Medina, along the historic Erie Canal in Western New York, the Triennial draws on the town’s layered histories. With a population of 6,000, Medina embodies the convergence of industry, agriculture, immigration, and civic life, reflected in its preserved 19th-century architecture and engaged community. Though modest in scale, the town is rich in cultural and ecological significance, situated between Buffalo and Rochester, and surrounded by farmland, wetlands, and canal infrastructure.

The Medina Triennial Hub launched in Fall 2025 as a space for collaboration and community engagement leading up to the 2026 Triennial. Located in the center of Medina, the Hub is a storefront that serves as both a public programming and residency site. Designed by the University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning and Serweta Peck, the Hub combines workspace, program areas, a free art library, and adaptable gathering spaces.

The inaugural residency season hosts artists Mary Mattingly and James Beckett. Mattingly’s Triennial commission, Floating Garden (2026)—a barge-based living artwork on the Erie Canal—began production in Fall 2025 with the participation of local residents and volunteers. A third residency, in collaboration with the Medina Railroad Museum, and a fourth, centered on agricultural research, continue through 2026.

The Triennial was initiated with major support provided by the New York Power Authority and the New York State Canal Corporation, as part of a broader effort to revitalize the Erie Canal. It builds on alliances with art institutions and universities in Western New York and beyond. These partnerships will shape the inaugural Triennial and will continue into the second edition in 2029.

Triennial sites range from post-industrial buildings to public spaces and locations on the Erie Canal. Artist’s works will be presented at the historic Medina High School, Medina Railroad Museum grounds, Medina Memorial Hospital, Rotary Park, State Street Park, and Sacred Heart Church, as well as installations directly on the Erie Canal. More information about sites can be found here.