Using Art to Support Literacy

Submitted by Rose Walker, Member, The Friends of The Community Library

COBLESKILL — The Friends of The Community Library in Cobleskill are holding an art show as a fundraiser this fall. Local artists are invited to decorate roof slates, which will be displayed at the Library and then sold in a "silent auction" on the evening of the art show in November.

The roof slates, which will serve as the "canvases" for new paintings, are relics of the original Cobleskill Union School and Academy (built in 1884). Students living within the Cobleskill school district attended at no charge and walked to school or rode the school bus. Out-of-district students paid tuition and occasionally “boarded” with local families. Some students commuted by train from as far away as Esperance, so that they could attend "high school" here.

The slates, which were salvaged from the Library's roof replacement project in 2009, measure 12"x14" if rectangular. However, some of the slates are angled, which is not unusual if you consider that they were produced to fit the complex roof structures of the late Victorian era.

Local artists are hereby invited to lend their talents to the cause of literacy by decorating and submitting slates for the upcoming art auction.  Anyone willing to join this effort should visit The Community Library at 110 Union Street in Cobleskill to register and pick up the necessary blank roof slate(s). Completed artwork and unused slates must be delivered to Library Director Kim Zimmer by Friday, October 24. The public art exhibition and auction will be held at the Library, 5 p.m.— 8 p.m., Friday, November 14, 2025.